Process optimisation for recovery of carotenoids from tomato waste

Carotenoids constitute an important component of waste originating from tomato processing plants. Studies were carried out to assess the extraction yield of tomato waste carotenoids in different solvents and solvent mixtures and to optimise the extraction conditions for maximum recovery. A mixture of ethyl acetate and hexane gave the highest carotenoid extraction yield among the others examined. Extraction conditions, such as percentage of hexane in the solvent mixture of ethyl acetate and hexane, ratio of solvent to waste and particle size were optimised using a statistically designed experiment. A regression equation for predicting the carotenoid yield as a function of three extraction variables was derived by statistical analysis and a model with predictive ability of 0.97 was obtained. The optimised conditions for maximum carotenoid yield (37.5 mg kg⁻¹ dry waste) were 45% hexane in solvent mixture, solvent mixture to waste ratio of 9.1:1 (v/w) and particle size 0.56 mm.     

Electroconvulsive shocks exacerbate the heightened acoustic startle response in stressed rats.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been successfully used in the treatment of depression, particularly when the illness is refractory to pharmacological therapy. A recent study has shown that ECT is also effective in reducing both depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in patients with major depression (MDD) and co-occurring PTSD. This raises the possibility that ECT might be effective in the treatment of PTSD, a disease whose prevalence has increased substantially in recent years. A characteristic symptom of PTSD is an exaggerated reactivity to startling sounds (acoustic startle response; ASR). In the present study, we investigated the effects of electroconvulsive shocks (ECS) on the ASR, in a rat model of traumatic stress. The animals were subjected to a restraint/tailshock paradigm and then administered ECS. ASR measurements were obtained at several time points following ECS administration. Although ECS had no effect in control rats, it significantly exacerbated the already potentiated ASR in the stressed group. While ECT may prove to be an effective treatment for certain symptoms of co-occurring MDD/PTSD or PTSD alone, it may exacerbate heightened arousal associated with PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the antioxidant potential of Teucrium polium extracts by HPLC–SPE–NMR and on-line radical-scavenging activity detection

Teucrium polium is a popular medicinal plant that is used in the daily diet and the in vitro and in vivo antioxidant potency of its extracts has been widely investigated. In the present work, polar extracts from T. polium were analyzed in terms of its composition and radical-scavenging activity with the employment of the state-of-the-art HPLC-SPE-NMR and HPLC-DPPH techniques in the search of new antioxidant agents for food industry. NMR and MS data revealed the presence of phenylpropanoid glycosides verbascoside and poliumoside, the flavones apigenin and its derivatives and two methoxyflavones. The on-line DPPH experiments showed that poliumoside is the most active component of the extracts and the antioxidant potential of T. polium polar extracts is mainly attributed to phenylpropanoid glycosides (66–80%). Our results suggested that T. polium extracts could be a promising source of natural antioxidants. This holistic approach also revealed that poliumoside or polar extracts of T. polium can be used in food industry as antioxidant agents with natural origin. The HPLC-SPE-NMR and HPLC-DPPH analysis of the extracts was performed for first time in the same device without any modification of the instrumentation, avoiding the need for isolation of the individual components.     

Development and Validation of an ETAAS Method for the Determination of Tin in Canned Tomato Paste Samples

The determination of tin in canned food became very important in the last few years since it gives information about the contamination process helping to increase canned food quality and safety. The present work describes the development of a method for the determination of tin in canned tomato paste by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry in order to investigate the influents of (1) the industrial sample pretreatment procedure of canned tomato paste and (2) the type of materials used in packaging, on the total concentration of tin in canned tomato paste samples. For method validation, precision (repeatability and reproducibility) and accuracy (by recovery tests) have been assessed as performance criteria. The calculated recoveries ranged between 87.9% and 91.9%. The calculated expanded uncertainties based on the EURACHEM/CITAC Guidelines achieved from three different concentration levels were also calculated. The obtained results indicated that the method is efficiently and properly implemented. The validated method was applied for tin concentration determination in canned tomato paste purchased from the local market. In all analyzed samples, tin concentrations levels were lower than the maximum permissible value recommended by the European Regulation.     

Looking through the qualities of a fluorimetric assay for the total phenol content estimation in virgin olive oil,olive fruit or leaf polar extract

As an alternate to the Folin-Ciocalteu assay (F-C) we propose a fluorimetric estimation of the total phenol content in virgin olive oil (VOO), olive fruit and leaf polar extracts. Phenol content was determined at excitation/emission wavelengths set at 280/320 nm. Standard operational procedures (slit widths, temperature, pH) and method validation were carried out according to Eurachem guidelines. The qualities of the proposed assay are better than those of the F-C one, as the procedure is more sensitive (LOD and LOQ values 10-fold lower), three times faster, needs no reagents and most importantly, is not destructive for the sample that can be further used in HPLC or other assays. Data for VOO extracts correlated well with the colorimetric ones (r = 0.69, n = 65). HPLC coupled with diode array and fluorescence detectors supported the above findings. Good correlations were also found between the respective data for olive fruit and leaf extracts (r = 0.96, n = 18).     

Factors affecting the insecticidal efficacy of an enhanced diatomaceous earth formulation against three stored-product insect species

An enhanced mixture of diatomaceous earth (DE) with the plant extract bitterbarkomycin (BBM) was evaluated in the laboratory against adults of three major stored-product pest species. This mixture (DEBBM) was applied at three dose levels; 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 150 ppm and on four grain commodities; hard wheat, barley, rice and maize. The species tested were Sitophilus oryzae, Tribolium confusum and Cryptolestes ferrugineus. In order to determine the influence of temperature and r.h. on the efficacy of DEBBM the bioassays were carried out at three temperatures; 20, 25 and 30 °C and two relative humidity (r.h.) levels; 55% and 75%. Mortality and progeny production of each species were assessed after exposures of 7 and 14 d. DEBBM efficacy was increased with the increase of dose, exposure and temperature whereas it was decreased with the increase of r.h. Mortality of all species was higher in treated barley compared to the other grains, although significant differences between barley and wheat were not recorded in all cases. Also, DEBBM performance in maize and rice was lower compared to that in barley or wheat. DEBBM was very effective against C. ferrugineus as mortality of this species that was achieved with 150 ppm was always >85%. Of the remaining species the least susceptible to DEBBM was T. confusum. Although DEBBM caused significant mortality to all three species, progeny production was not totally avoided. However, progeny production was significantly lower in comparison with the untreated commodities.     

The effect of process time and temperature on the accumulation of polar compounds in cottonseed oil during deep‐fat frying

The deterioration of oil during successive fryings of potato chips, especially the accumulation of polar compounds, was studied in the temperature range 155–195 °C. The content of polar compounds increased linearly with process time. The analysis of individual polar compounds showed that the products of thermal and oxidative degradation dominated over the products of hydrolytic cleavage as frying proceeded. Dimeric triglycerides increased linearly with process time, while polymerised triglycerides increased exponentially. The rate constants of the degradation reactions increased slightly with temperature, following an Arrhenius‐type equation. Oxidised triglycerides increased with frying time up to 6 h, thereafter remaining constant or increasing further upon prolonged frying. The increase was greater at higher temperature. The products of hydrolytic cleavage were not significantly affected by temperature. Mono‐ and diglycerides increased initially to reach a plateau, while free fatty acids remained almost constant throughout frying. The thermo‐oxidative alterations induced by heating the oil were also measured and compared with those observed during frying at the same temperature. Dimeric and polymerised triglycerides showed higher rates of increase during heating as compared with frying at the same temperature. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

LC-UV-solid-phase extraction-NMR-MS combined with a cryogenic flow probe and its application to the identification of compounds present in Greek oregano

Structure elucidation of natural products usually relies on a combination of NMR spectroscopy with mass spectrometry whereby NMR trails MS in terms of the minimum sample amount required. In the present study, the usefulness of on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) in LC-NMR for peak storage after the LC separation prior to NMR analysis is demonstrated. The SPE unit allows the use of normal protonated solvents for the LC separation and fully deuterated solvents for flushing the trapped compounds to the NMR probe. Thus, solvent suppression is no longer necessary. Multiple trapping of the same analyte from repeated LC injections was utilized to solve the problem of low concentration and to obtain 2D heteronuclear NMR spectra. In addition, a combination of the SPE unit with a recently developed cryoflow NMR probe and an MS was evaluated. This on-line LC-UV-SPE-NMR-MS system was used for the automated analysis of a Greek oregano extract. Combining the data provided by the UV, MS, and NMR spectra, the flavonoids taxifolin, aromadendrin, eriodictyol, naringenin, and apigenin, the phenolic acid rosmarinic acid, and the monoterpene carvacrol were identified. This automated technique is very useful for natural product analysis, and the large sensitivity improvement leads to significantly reduced NMR acquisition times.