This comprehensive work explores the multifaceted field of electrolyzed water (EW) and its crucial role in altering the textural characteristics of various food categories. The analysis begins by providing a clear explanation of EW and its different types, including slightly acidic (AC) EW, plasma-activated EW, neutralized EW, alkaline EW, and weakly ACEW. The review highlights the novelty of EW in preserving food quality, making it a significant alternative to various cleaning and disinfecting methods. The focus then shifts to the applications of EW, examining the impact of different EW types on the textural compositions of various food categories. The examination of the textural profile of foods, which is a crucial determinant of consumer preference, is comprehensively conducted across various categories, encompassing baked goods, meat and poultry, marine foods, fruits and vegetables, as well as ready-to-cook items like noodles. Furthermore, the review investigates the combined effects of EW, when utilized in conjunction with other technologies. The integration of EW with ultrasound, high-pressure processing, plasma activation, slurry ice, and other technologies, assessing their collective impact on textural attributes, was explored. As a consequence, this paper examines the present uses and impacts of electrolyzed water on the texture of food and also investigates its potential synergies with other technologies. The thorough analysis presented here establishes a basis for future research directions in this rapidly developing area, facilitating the exploration of inventive methods for food processing and preservation.

Electrolyzed water (EW) has gained immense popularity over the last few decades as a novel broad‐spectrum sanitizer. EW can be produced using tap water with table salt as the singular chemical additive. The application of EW is a sustainable and green concept and has several advantages over traditional cleaning systems including cost effectiveness, ease of application, effective disinfection, on‐the‐spot production, and safety for human beings and the environment. These features make it an appropriate sanitizing and cleaning system for use in high‐risk settings such as in hospitals and other healthcare facilities as well as in food processing environments. EW also has the potential for use in educational building, offices, and entertainment venues. However, there have been a number of issues related to the use of EW in various sectors including limited knowledge on the sanitizing mechanism. AEW, in particular, has shown limited efficacy on utensils, food products, and surfaces owing to various factors, the most important of which include the type of surface, presence of organic matter, and type of tape water used. The present review article highlights recent developments and offers new perspectives related to the use of EW in various areas, with particular focus on the food industry.

An increasing world population is projected to increase water, energy and food requirements, three vital resources for humankind. Projected climate change impacts will aggravate water availability, as well as flood risks, especially in urban areas. Nature-based solutions (NBS) have been identified as key concepts to defuse the expected tensions within the Water-Energy-Food (W-E-F) nexus due to their multiple benefits. In this paper, the authors outlined the theories and concepts, analyzed real-life case studies, and discussed the potential of NBS to address the future W-E-F nexus. For this purpose, we performed a systematic literature review on the theories of NBS that address the W-E-F nexus, and we summarized 19 representative real-life case studies to identify the current knowledge gaps and challenges. The quantitative and qualitative data was used to differentiate and discuss the direct and indirect potential benefits of NBS to the W-E-F nexus. The study further expanded on the challenges for the implementation of NBS and highlighted the growing possibilities in the context of circularity and the implementation of NBS in urban planning. It was concluded that the potential impacts of NBS on the W-E-F nexus have been identified, but the quantitative effects have not been analyzed in-depth. Moreover, indicators are mostly single-purpose and not multipurpose, as required to fully characterize the W-E-F nexus and circularity holistically. Overall, there is a need to adopt systemic thinking and promote the multipurpose design of NBS.

The Weibull distribution function can be used to describe cleaning kinetics of high pressure water jets. This function has been proposed previously to describe the soil removal of heat exchangers in milk industry during CIP processes. Weibull distribution function can be applied to model different types of kinetics by use of two parameters. Thus, characteristic cleaning times can be calculated more precisely than using an exponential function. This is necessary for proper simulation of the cleaning process of machines and equipment in food industry. Experimental trials were performed in cleaning milk protein soil from stainless steel plates with pressures from 20 to 60 bar at temperatures of 30–50 °C. In many cases, experimental data could be described equally well using an exponential function, but in specific cases, e.g. at low pressure (20 bar) or low temperature (30 °C), the Weibull distribution function resulted in much better fit.

These studies examined the effects of incorporating bubbles of air in the water used for cleaning surfaces. Small (<50 μm) or large (millimetre) bubbles were used, and these could aid cleaning by a scrubbing action, energy release or free radical production. Small or large bubbles improved the removal of biofilm from steel surfaces by 1.0 log₁₀ or 1.6 log₁₀, respectively. Biofilm removal from a polypropylene pipe wall was improved by 0.9 log₁₀ by incorporating bubbles into the cleaning water. Further trials showed increased removal of carbohydrate, fat and protein deposits from stainless steel by incorporating bubbles into the water. These results suggest that the use of air bubbles in water could provide small improvements in cleaning or potentially similar contamination removal using less water.

The synergistic antimicrobial effects of plasma-processed air (PPA) and plasma-treated water (PTW), which are indirectly generated by a microwave-induced non-atmospheric pressure plasma, were investigated with the aid of proliferation assays. For this purpose, microorganisms (Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Pectobacterium carotovorum, sporulated Bacillus atrophaeus) were cultivated as monocultures on specimens with polymeric surface structures. Both the distinct and synergistic antimicrobial potential of PPA and PTW were governed by the plasma-on time (5&ndash;50 s) and the treatment time of the specimens with PPA/PTW (1&ndash;5 min). In single PTW treatment of the bacteria, an elevation of the reduction factor with increasing treatment time could be observed (e.g., reduction factor of 2.4 to 3.0 for P. carotovorum). In comparison, the combination of PTW and subsequent PPA treatment leads to synergistic effects that are clearly not induced by longer treatment times. These findings have been valid for all bacteria (L. monocytogenes > P. carotovorum = E. coli). Controversially, the effect is reversed for endospores of B. atrophaeus. With pure PPA treatment, a strong inactivation at 50 s plasma-on time is detectable, whereas single PTW treatment shows no effect even with increasing treatment parameters. The use of synergistic effects of PTW for cleaning and PPA for drying shows a clear alternative for currently used sanitation methods in production plants. Highlights: Non-thermal atmospheric pressure microwave plasma source used indirect in two different modes&mdash;gaseous and liquid; Measurement of short and long-living nitrite and nitrate in corrosive gas PPA (plasma-processed air) and complex liquid PTW (plasma-treated water); Application of PTW and PPA in single and combined use for biological decontamination of different microorganisms.

Au sommaire de cet article: intérêt d'une gestion globale de l'eau. Les usages de l'eau dasn les IAA. Caractéristiques des effluents des IAA. Audit préliminaire. Mise en place d'indicateurs. Connaissance des réseaux d'évacuation d'eau. Optimisation des circuits d'eaux propres. Production plus sobre. Optimisation des nettoyages. Prévention des pollutins accidentelles. Sensibilisation du personnel. Traitements ultérieurs

This paper provides a view of the major facts and figures related to infectious diseases with a focus on food-borne and water-borne diseases and their link with environmental factors and climate change. The global burden of food-borne diseases for 31 selected hazards was estimated by the World Health Organization at 33 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2010 with 40% of this burden concentrated among children under 5 years of age. The highest burden per population of food-borne diseases is found in Africa, followed by Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean sub-regions. Unsafe water used for the cleaning and processing of food is a key risk factors contributing to food-borne diseases. The role of quality and quantity of water to the general burden of infectious diseases deserves attention, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, as its effects go beyond the food chain. Water-related infectious diseases are a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, and climate change effects will exacerbate the challenges for the public health sector for both food-borne and water-borne diseases. Selected case studies from Africa and Asia show that (i) climate change extreme events, such as floods, may exacerbate the risks for infectious diseases spreading through water systems, and (ii) improvements related to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene could result in a significant reduction of intestinal parasitic infections among school-aged children. There is a need to better anticipate the impacts of climate change on infectious diseases and fostering multi-stakeholder engagement and multi-sectoral collaborations for integrated interventions at schools, community and household levels. The paper calls for giving priority to improving the environmental conditions affecting food-borne and water-borne infectious diseases under climate change.