Kumquat (Fortunella margarita Swingle), an important genus closely related to Citrus of the Rutaceae family, is widely cultivated in Asia-Pacific region. Kumquat fruit is frequently consumed as one of fruits all over the world (Nouri & Shafaghatlonbar, 2016). Unlike the fruits of other citrus species, kumquat fruit is usually eaten as a whole fruit together with the peel. It is well known that the peel of kumquat fruit is rich in essential oil which is an important factor affecting the taste of the fruit and is widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries owing to its various functional properties, such as an attractive aroma, a repellant agent against insects and animals, and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities (Wang et al., 2012).Extraction is an indispensable step for obtaining EO from natural plant. The common industrial method for EO is hydrodistillation extraction (HDE). However, HDE is a time-consuming and low-efficiency process (Périno-Issartier et al., 2013). Up to now, many attempts have been made to improve the HDE efficiency by using energy-intensive techniques, such as ultrasound pretreatment (UP) and microwave pretreatment (MP). Ultrasound utilizes the mechanical, cavitation, and thermal effects to destroy the cell walls of the plant matrix, which accelerates the release of contents into the extraction medium (Chemat et al., 2011). Therefore, UP can reduce the extraction time and improve the extraction efficiency (Dimaki et al., 2017;Taticchi et al., 2019). Microwave uses electromagnetic waves that pass through rapidly and dissipate volumetrically inside

The effects of combined infrared and steam blanching (ISB), steam blanching (SB) and infrared blanching (IB) on enzyme inactivation (peroxidase, POD, and polyphenol oxidase, PPO), characteristic bioactive components content (phenolics, carotenoids and flavonoids), 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (5‐HMF), micromorphology and color of Chrysanthemum indicum L. flower were comparatively studied. It was shown that ISB and SB treatments allowed a stable surface temperature at approximately 99°C, while IB caused the temperature rose up to a high value of 129.2°C. ISB treatment enhanced POD and PPO inactivation, and resulted in highest characteristic components, color, and micromorphology retention, as well as the lowest 5‐HMF content. The results demonstrated that ISB can be an alternative to conventional IB and SB for the inactivation of POD and PPO in fresh plants with the added values of higher retention of bioactive compounds, better external appearance, and lower evolution of maillard reaction. Practical applications Chrysanthemum indicum L. flower has a bright yellow color and various pharmacological active compounds. Because of the short blooming period and perishable characteristic, fresh Chrysanthemum indicum L. flower must be dried to extend its shelf‐life for off‐season use. Blanching is an essential step before drying of agricultural products to inactivate enzymes that cause brown discoloration and loss of bioactive components. However, conventional blanching methods are time‐consuming. Therefore, a method of combined infrared and steam blanching was proposed in this paper. The results can serve as a basis to design ISB treatment before drying of fruit and vegetables to save blanching time, control enzyme browning, and non‐enzyme browning and improve product quality.

In the current study, ultrasound-assisted vacuum extraction (UAVE) was applied to improve the efficiency of hydrodistillation extraction (HDE) and vacuum hydrodistillation extraction (VHE) and produce Kumquat peel essential oil (EO) with acceptable quality. To achieve these objectives, the effects of ultrasound power (210-300 W), ultrasound time (15-40 min), and pressure (600-900 mbar) were evaluated. Resultsshowed that the EO yield initially increased and then decreased with increasing ultrasound power, ultrasound time, and pressure, and the highest EO yield was achieved at 270 W, 20 min, and 800 mbar. The EO obtained by UAVE under conditions allowed How to cite this article:

perishable characteristic of fresh lotus seeds poses a real challenge to agriculture and food industries, due to their high water content which makes them susceptible to decomposition by microorganisms, chemical, and enzymatic reactions. Drying is one of the most important and worldwide spread methods for food preservation (