Influence of the Salt Addition during the Fermentation Process on the Physical and Chemical Properties of Dried Yellow Beetroot

Reviewer:

The article entitled “Influence of salt content in the fermentation process on the physical and chemical properties of dried yellow beetroot”, submitted to the journal presents a comprehensive laboratory study focusing on the conditions suitable for the preparation of a probiotic functional food, fermented beetroot. The focus of the study is in line with the actual trend of growing interest in plant-based probiotic beverages and foods.

The manuscript is clearly structured and written in a language understandable to potential readers. The chosen methodology seems to be in accordance with the stated objectives of the study. The results obtained have been statistically processed and are fully discussed.

Answer:

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your work on our manuscript. We appreciate your comments and suggestions. We hope that after the corrections, the manuscript is more readable and improved.

Authors:

Anna Wierzbicka

and Emilia Janiszewska-Turak.

Specific comments

Reviewer

Answer

Introduction - Objectives, innovation should be better specified in the introduction. It is the use of yellow beet (and the study of the fermentation conditions of this raw material), the lyophilization of the product, etc. It would be useful to list the sub-objectives in bullet points.

The introduction section has been modified following all reviewer's comments.

Abstract - The abstract is somewhat unclear, it should better correspond to the following order: aim of the study, outline what were carried out, the key results and conclusion.

The abstract has been rewritten.

Results and discussion - I suggest the authors to consider processing the data of individual analyses by one of the multifactor analyses (and possibly moving some tables/figures to the supplement). Marking significant differences in lower and upper case in large tables/figures with three variables is somewhat opaque to the reader.

Check and complete the labelling of the figures, missing title fig. 2, two times fig. 3

Thank you for your comment. We consulted with a statistician before submitting the article. We performed both one-way ANOVA analysis on all data and multiple ANOVA analysis, which resulted in determinations that were difficult to read.

However, using two one-way ANOVA analyses, one taking into account only the day of fermentation (sorted by salt content) and the other taking into account only the salt content (sorted by day), showed clearer correlations from the tests.  Therefore, we conducted two one-way ANOVA analyses in the article as they were clearer.

However, due to the large amount of data, the results may not be easily discernible in tables. Therefore, we have presented the results of the Anova multivariate analysis in a graphical format. The two one-way ANOVA analyses have been retained in the graphs as they are still more readable.

Thank you for that comment. Second figure 3 should be numbered as a 4, corrected under the figure as well as in the text.

Conclusion - The text is too long and extensive. I recommend reconsidering and rewriting. Do no reiterate the results obtained. The conclusion should answer the aim of the present study. Conclude what new findings were found and how the findings advance our knowledge in the field.

The conclusion section has been shortened and modified.

The article brought a number of new findings useful in further research or future practice. I therefore recommend it for publication after addressing the above comments.

Thank you for your comment. We hope that after making corrections following the reviewer's comments, the article will be suitable for publication.

Reviewer:

The authors evaluated the Influence of salt content in the fermentation process on the physical and chemical properties of dried yellow beetroot.

The paper is well-organized and well-written.

Only few remarks are follow.

Answer:

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your work on our manuscript. We appreciate your comments and suggestions. We hope that after the corrections, the manuscript is more readable and improved.

Authors:

Anna Wierzbicka

and Emilia Janiszewska-Turak.

A crucial factor to consider during lactic fermentation is the use of table salt. Its addition controls the process, impacting the taste and fermentation outcomes What's more salt is an essential component of our diet, as it plays a vital role in maintaining the proper functioning of our body....Please rewrite

It has been changed into:

When engaging in lactic fermentation, it's important to take into account the use of table salt. Adding salt helps regulate the process, which affects the resulting taste and fermentation outcomes. Additionally, salt is a crucial component of our diet as it plays a vital role in maintaining proper bodily function.

Table 2.Ph of brine...Please write pH

It has been corrected

There are two Figure 3. Please correct

Under the figure and in the text, the correction has been made. The second "nr 3" should now be referred to as figure 4.

Reviewer:

The evaluated manuscript is relatively corresponding to the Aims and Scope of Applied Sciences and may be published after major revision

Answers:

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your work on our manuscript. We appreciate your comments and suggestions. We hope that after the corrections, the manuscript is more readable and improved.

Authors:

Anna Wierzbicka

and Emilia Janiszewska-Turak.

 Introduction is relatively well presented, but aim is not well formulated. It is not clear what exactly the authors want to protect? It is good to rewrite this part of introduction.

It has been clarified.

Methods are appropriate for the purposes of the study, but not well and fully presented.

Information in the methodology section has been added or deleted.

The so-called “research” materials used for the analyses are not well described - how many pieces or kg of these yellow beetroots were used, peeled or unpeeled, in what condition, and many other details that are missing.

We have included additional information in our previous description. The new details have been added to the material section and the fermentation section.

We bought 10kg of yellow beetroot to conduct tests from a local shop. We thoroughly checked the beetroots for any defects or signs of spoilage before peeling them for sample preparation. The beetroots were stored at low temperatures before the sample preparation process.

pH and total acidity

Is this not a classical method for determining acidity or are you describing a new method developed by the authors?

if it is a standard/classical method it is unnecessary to burden the manuscript with unnecessary and known descriptions.

There are standard methods.

We have deleted unnecessary information from those points.

Sample preparation information has been moved to the salt content measurement point because it was similar to the acidity and here information is crucial for calculation.

Results and discussion

Antioxidant activity and polyphenol content

Why only ABTS method is used? What is its advantage over other popular methods like DPPH or other?

We have chosen the ABTS method based on our previous experiments. We have obtained results from DPPH also, but only for dried material. For those results – behaviour was similar in both methods. That was the reason for presenting only one from them. What is

What is more as it is written by Liang, N., & Kitts, D. D. (2014). Antioxidant property of coffee components: assessment of methods that define mechanisms of action. Molecules, 19(11), 19180-19208.

“The results of the ABTS assay should be comparable to results found in the DPPH assay and may be viewed as confirmation of the DDPH assay, albeit that absolute values from the ABTS assay are generally higher.  Both radicals show the same stoichiometry with water-soluble vitamin E analogue, Trolox (e.g., two moles of ABTS• + [26] or two moles of DPPH radicals [27] are scavenged by one mole of Trolox). However, ABTS has an advantage to the DPPH assay, since ABTS can be used at different pH values and therefore takes into consideration the effect of pH on the antioxidant activity of the tested sample [28]. “ 

And in our research lower pH values were observed for fermented beetroot than for raw one.

In this paragraph one sentence is inaccurate: … Similar relationships can be seen for polyphenolic compounds, which include vitamins C, A, and B.” what is the relationship of these listed vitamins to polyphenols??? Besides, the concept of vitamin B means nothing - to lunch the connection???

Thank you for your comment.

You are correct about vitamin B.

The sentence has been corrected.

Thermal properties

The explanations in this paragraph are very detailed and the reader gets lost and confused in them. It is better to shorten and rewrite them.

Based on our previous articles and reviewer suggestions, we have decided to provide a more detailed explanation in this section. Thanks to your feedback, we have clarified this section.

Other comments from pdf file

the reviewer recommends that EU and other salt/sodium recommendations for daily intake to be included in the introduction, e.g.:

https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/health-promotion-knowledge-gateway/dietary-saltsodium_en

Thank you for that literature survey. We have added information from that into the introduction.

why is it highlighted in yellow by the authors??? – question to citation marked in yellow

It has now been changed. Thank you for your comment.

We added a yellow highlight because the Endnote program gave us a full list of authors during citation. We found the authors by highlighting their names. We made the required corrections but forgot to remove the yellow highlight after the changes.

What more method with a reagent of Folin–Ciocalteu was tested and it is known that it doesn't exclusively react with phenolic compounds; - clarify/rewrite

It has been rewritten for clarity.

Table 3 - what do the authors show in this black color???

In Table 3, the black colour was used to indicate that there was a different behaviour observed in samples after storage. The third section was not visible and the temperatures for ending the steps were also different. To avoid confusion, we have removed the colour now and left the space empty.

TGA - to clarify this abbreviation

The abbreviation TGA stands for thermogravimetric analysis. We have added this meaning as a point in the methodology section of our study. However, we realized that it might not be clear enough, so we also included it in the aim of the study, as this shortcut is appearing for the first time, and in the methodology description as well.