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Roasting is a key process in production of nuts. Improving the flavor and crispiness of texture in nuts is considered as a purpose of roasting, which increases the overall acceptance of the product. This review aims to introduce the infrared method as a new technique of roasting and evaluate the quality characteristics of some nuts after infrared roasting. Usually, the traditional roasting methods are time-consuming with high energy consumption and low production efficiency. One of the best ways to decrease roasting time and energy consumption is to provide heat by infrared (IR) radiation. However, the low penetration power of infrared radiation is one of the limitations of this method. The combination of infrared with other thermal methods can overcome this limitation. Studies have been done on roasting of nuts and other foods by different IR roasting methods such as IR, IR-hot air, and IR-microwave roasting methods. This paper reviews the effect of different IR roasting methods on the quality characteristics of roasted pistachio, peanut, hazelnut, almond, sunflower, soybean, and other food products. IR heating has been applied successfully to the roasting of some nuts. The use of infrared roasting has several advantages in comparison with traditional convective roasting methods. According to the results of most of these studies, the combination of infrared with other thermal methods to roast nuts has distinctly improved the potential of the technology as compared to the IR roasting alone.

In recent years, the consumption of the fresh-cut products has been increased due to the consumers’ lifestyle and awareness. However, maintaining the quality and nutritional value of these products during storage is being difficult in comparison to whole fruits and vegetables. In actual, the procedures used in the fresh-cut industry may intensify the deterioration caused by physical damage by minimal processing. Commonly, the quality degradation, discolouration, loss of moisture, loss of firmness, microbial load increase, and loss of nutrients and flavor occur in the fresh-cut product after minimal processing. To maintain the quality and increase the shelf-life of the fresh-cut product, it is necessary to use various techniques, including physical, chemical, and nondestructive processes. In this review, first, an introduction to minimal processing and its effect on fresh-cut product quality was expressed, and then, the methods used to maintain fresh-cut product quality after minimal processing were reviewed. Finally, the effect of cold plasma on the qualitative characteristics in some fresh-cut products was investigated. The review showed that cold plasma treatments can significantly inhibit microorganisms and extend the shelf-life of fresh-cut products. In addition, no or minimal impacts were observed on physicochemical and organoleptic quality attributes of the treated fresh-cut products. Therefore, the use of cold plasma is promising for the fresh-cut industry.

In this study, the effectiveness of ACP in inactivating Aspergillus flavus inoculated to military rations snack using response surface methodology (RSM) was investigated. Additionally, the effect of this treatment on the total count and yeast-mold count, as well as some quality properties of military rations snack, was examined. RSM was applied to study the voltage effects (5-15 kV), the distance between ACP emitter and sample (3-7 cm), and different treatment time (2-10 min) on the physicochemical properties of the military rations snack. Increasing voltage and time, together with reducing distance, caused a decrease in A. flavus, total count, yeast and mold count, total aflatoxin, as well as color difference. The peroxide value also increased with increasing voltage levels. The optimum conditions for treated military rations snack by ACP are as follows: a system voltage of 9 kV, a distance of 3 cm between the sample and the emitter, and a time of 6 min. Under these conditions, the responses, including the utmost reduction of 4.31 log CFU/g for the total count, 4.64 log CFU/g for yeast-mold count, and 2.98 log CFU/g for A. flavus were found from starting level of 5.2, 2, and 3.1 log CFU/g, respectively. It was found that snack samples had a 3.66% decrease in moisture content, 76.13% decrease in total aflatoxin, 3.01% increase in color difference, and 0.22 meq O 2 .kg/oil increase in peroxide value as a result of ACP application. ACP has the potential to increase microbiological safety by maintaining desirable quality properties in military rations snack.