Gul Palwasha, Khan Jabir, Li Yang, Li Qingyun, Zhang Huiyan, Liu Kunlun
College of Food Science and Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
College of Food Science and Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
Ultrason Sonochem. 2025 Jun 15;120:107432. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2025.107432.
Moringa oleifera (MO), is greatly appreciated for its high nutritional profile. Germination is an efficient technique to enhance the quality profile of seeds. This study examined the effects of germination and various pre-treatments on MO seeds. MO seeds were subjected to ultrasound dual-frequency 10 and 20 min (US 10 & US 20), microwave 30 and 60 s (MW 30 & MW 60), followed by 15-day germination at 25 °C in a biochemical incubator and subsequent infrared vacuum drying at 70, 60 and 50 °C. Several mathematical modelling were applied, among which Midilli-Kucuk model showed excellent fit R ≥ 0.9997, X ≤ 0.0030, RMSE ≤ 0.0010, and RSS ≤ 0.000, followed by Newton model respectively. The efficiency of the process varied across different treatment conditions, with values ranging from 3.4 % to 10.27 %, indicating significant differences in energy consumption and water removal rates. Overall in the subsequent drying, US 10 at60 °C significantly improved quality profile of MO seeds (p ≤ 0.05). Antioxidant potency composite (APCI) of germinated MO seeds showed superior APCI in US 10 dried at 60 °C (97.50 %) than control (56.55 %). The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a significant correlation matrix, explaining 62.14 % of the total variability in the nutritional and bioactive components of MO seed. GC-MS analysis revealed 50 volatile compounds, categorized into 9 chemical classes with acids being the most abundant. SEM analysis showed that 70 °C, drying caused structural degradation, whereas 60 °C preserved seed microstructure more effectively, revealed pre-treatments and temperature-dependent microstructural alterations. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of pre-treatments assisted germination and moderate-temperature infrared vacuum drying as a viable option for improving the nutritional profile of MO seeds. Importantly, this study did not employ formal optimization techniques such as response surface methodology (RSM), energy cost minimization, full techno-economic and life cycle assessments from an engineering perspective. Instead, it sufficiently explored the drying kinetics and the impact of different pre-treatments on the quality profile of MO seeds.
辣木（MO）因其高营养成分而备受赞誉。发芽是提高种子品质的有效技术。本研究考察了发芽及各种预处理对辣木种子的影响。辣木种子分别进行10分钟和20分钟的双频超声处理（US 10和US 20）、30秒和60秒的微波处理（MW 30和MW 60），随后在生化培养箱中于25℃下进行15天发芽，接着在70℃、60℃和50℃下进行红外真空干燥。应用了几种数学模型，其中Midilli-Kucuk模型拟合效果极佳，R≥0.9997，X≤0.0030，RMSE≤0.0010，RSS≤0.000，其次是牛顿模型。该过程的效率在不同处理条件下有所不同，数值范围为3.4%至10.27%，表明能耗和水分去除率存在显著差异。总体而言，在后续干燥过程中，60℃下的US 10显著改善了辣木种子的品质（p≤0.05）。发芽辣木种子的抗氧化能力复合物（APCI）在60℃下经US 10干燥处理后表现出比对照（56.55%）更高的APCI（97.50%）。主成分分析（PCA）揭示了一个显著的相关矩阵，解释了辣木种子营养和生物活性成分总变异性的62.14%。气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS）分析揭示了50种挥发性化合物，分为9个化学类别，其中酸类最为丰富。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）分析表明，70℃干燥导致结构降解，而60℃能更有效地保存种子微观结构，揭示了预处理和温度依赖性的微观结构变化。这些发现证明了预处理辅助发芽和中温红外真空干燥作为改善辣木种子营养成分的可行选择的有效性。重要的是，本研究未采用诸如响应面法（RSM）、能源成本最小化、从工程角度进行全面的技术经济和生命周期评估等正式优化技术。相反，它充分探索了干燥动力学以及不同预处理对辣木种子品质的影响。
