Angelica sinensis, a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal herb with the unique property of being both a medicine and an edible plant, has been widely used for promoting blood circulation, modulating immunity, and relieving pain. This review comprehensively investigates the extraction methods, structural characteristics, and biological activities of its primary bioactive components, such as polysaccharides, volatile oils, organic acids, and flavonoids. The biosynthesis pathways of these compounds, along with the key enzymes and transcription factors involved, are investigated to understand the factors influencing their synthesis and accumulation. Additionally, the biological activities of A. sinensis, including hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, immune-modulatory, anti-tumor, circulatory benefits, and neuroprotection, along with their underlying mechanisms are introduced. These findings provide a solid foundation for the development of A. sinensis as a valuable resource in functional foods and pharmaceutical products.

Resistant starch (RS) comprises starch fractions that resist digestion in the small intestine and reach the colon, where they are fermented by the microbiota. Resistant starch harbors functional properties and health-promoting ingredients that can regulate blood glucose and lipid levels, prevent cancer, and enhance the quality of life. Consequently, new technologies for the preparation of RS are continually being developed to support its industrial production. This review describes the structural and nutritional properties of RS and examines recent advancements in RS preparation methods. Emphasis is placed on how RS structure influences its properties and the physiological mechanisms in vivo. This review aims to stimulate further research into the preparation methods, functional characteristics, and utilization of RS, thereby supporting ongoing developments in the food industry.

Flavor substances endow foods with unique characteristics, which determine the aroma and taste sensory attributes of foods, directly affect food quality and reflect the characteristic quality and quality requirements of foods.Flavor substances play an important role in the research, production and consumption of foods, and deep research, development and utilization of flavor substances are important for the development of the food industry.In this paper, the definition and classification of flavor substances in foods are introduced, the synthesis mechanism of flavor substances through the fatty acid, amino acid, and carbohydrate metabolic pathways are elucidated, and the detection methods of flavor substances and their applications in the food processing industry are reviewed.Finally, the limitations of flavor substance detection are discussed and an outlook on future directions in this field is given.We hope that this review will provide directions for the development and utilization of food flavor substances.

The effects of 5 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) fermentation on the pasting properties of glutinous rice flour were compared, and suitable fermentation strains were selected based on the changes of viscosity, setback value, and breakdown value to prepare LAB compound starter cultures. The results revealed that Latilactobacillus sakei HSD004 and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HSD005 had apparent advantages in increasing the viscosity and reducing the setback and breakdown values of glutinous rice flour. In particular, the compound starter created using the two abovementioned LAB in the ratio of 3:1 had better performance than that using a single LAB in improving the pasting properties and increasing the water and oil absorption capacity of glutinous rice flour. Moreover, the gelatinization enthalpy of the fermented samples increased significantly. For frozen glutinous rice dough stored for 28 days, the viscoelasticity of frozen dough prepared by compound starter was better than that of control dough, and the freezable water content was lower than that of control dough. These results indicate that compound LAB fermentation is a promising technology in the glutinous rice-based food processing industry, which has significance for its application.

It has been reported that fresh edible rice has more bioactive compounds and its protein is easier to digest and has lower hypoallergenic than mature rice. In this paper, the changes in structure and functional properties of proteins at five different stages, including early milky stage (EMS), middle milky stage (MMS), late milky stage (LMS), waxy ripe stage (WS) and ripening stage (RS), during the seed development were investigated. It was found that with the seed developing, the molecular weight of fresh rice protein gradually become larger while the secondary structure changed from the highest content of disordered structure at MMS to the highest content of ordered structure at RS, which affect the surface hydrophobicity and then the functional properties of proteins, including foaming properties, emulsifying properties and oil holding capacity. Fresh rice protein at MMS has the strongest surface hydrophobicity while fresh edible rice protein at RS has the strongest oil holding capability. The results of our study can provide a theoretical basis for the application of fresh rice protein in the food industry and help to develop new fresh edible rice food.

The relationships between chemical composition, structure and physicochemical properties such as pasting, thermal, and textural properties of 12 temperate rice cultivars grown in Heilongjiang Province, China were investigated in this study. There were significant differences in the content of fat, protein, ash, amylose, damaged starch among 12 cultivars. Brabender Viscograph results showed that gelatinization time, peak viscosity, pasting and peak temperature ranged from 9 min to 15 min, 2100 BU to 2500 BU, 58.75 ℃ to 72.00 ℃ and 63.75 ℃ to 84.45 ℃, respectively, except for the waxy one Longjing 9. T_o, T_p, T_c and ΔH were found in the range of 58.34 ℃ to 67.96 ℃, 65.39 ℃ to 75.38 ℃, 78.47 ℃ to 90.69 ℃ and 2.036 J/g to 3.127 J/g respectively. Scanning Electron Micro-photograph results showed that all starch granules were polyhedral with irregular shapes, except Longjing 9 showing signs of the loss of physical integrity. The hardness, adhesiveness, springiness, gumminess, cohesiveness and resilience ranged from 395.87 g to 1161.76 g, -90.842 g·mm to -36.4 g·mm, 0.498 to 0.747, 78.631 g to 466.837 g, 0.199 to 0.569, 0.321 to 0.504, respectively. Correlation studies indicated that amylose, damaged starch, protein, fat and ash played a more important role in determining the rice properties of pasting, thermal, crystallinity and texture.