Inhibitory effects of Broccolini leaf flavonoids on human cancer cells

Broccolini (Brassica oleracea Italica × Alboglabra) is a hybrid between broccoli and Gai Lan, also known as Chinese broccoli and Chinese kale. The aim of this study was to assess the antitumor activity of Broccolini leaf flavonoids (BLF). Cell growth inhibition was evaluated using a standard colorimetric MTT assay, cellular morphology was observed using phase contrast microscopy and flow cytometry was introduced to further investigate cells apoptosis effect. The results showed that BLF possess a dose-dependent antiproliferative effects on four human cancer cell lines (SW480, HepG2, Hela, and A549) and apoptosis induction activity on SW480 cell line. Thus, the hybrid species Broccolini could be considered as a functional vegetable with potential in assisting for the treatment of four human cancers examined here.     

颗粒状冷水可溶木薯淀粉的制备及性质研究

以木薯淀粉为原料，研究了常压下颗粒状冷水可溶淀粉的制备方法和性质特征。试验表明，醇解法所得的颗粒状冷水可溶淀粉的溶解度可以达到98．1％。反应的最佳条件为相对加入碱量为28mL，乙醇浓度为80％，淀粉乳浓度为14％，反应温度为35℃，反应时间为50min，对应的最佳颗粒冷水可溶木薯淀粉的冷水溶解度为95．3％（60g木薯淀粉）。经醇解法处理后所得到的不同冷水溶解度的颗粒状冷水可溶淀粉样品，颗粒保持完整，但其表面不再光滑，呈现出凹陷、空隙和裂缝等特征；随着冷水溶解度的提高，淀粉样品的偏光十字呈现逐渐减少的趋势，且结晶性逐渐降低直至完全消失。     

Physicochemical and sensory characteristics of soya protein isolate hydrolysates with added substrate‐like amino acids

Soya protein isolate (SPI) with or without added substrate‐like amino acid was subject to enzymatic hydrolysis catalysed by commercial proteases (Alcalase 2.4 L, flavourzyme and pancreatin). Addition of a small amount of amino acids (amino acid: SPI = 1: 2500, mol g^?1) during hydrolysis would cause a significantly (P < 0.05) reduced protein recovery, increased degree of hydrolysis, and altered amino acid composition and antioxidant activities of SPI hydrolysates. The SPI hydrolysates prepared with added Asp, Arg or Lys exhibited a higher antioxidant activity than the control. The bitterness of SPI hydrolysates was largely reduced upon addition of Met, Asp or Glu during hydrolysis, whilst the umami taste and mouthfeel‐liking were remarkably increased. Therefore, adding amino acid during hydrolysis is a feasible and beneficial approach to improve both the functional and sensory properties of SPI hydrolysate.     

Structural characteristics and rheological properties of plasma-treated starch

Corn starch was treated by a dielectric barrier discharge plasma, and the changes in the granule morphology, crystalline structure, and molecular structure, as well as the rheological properties, were investigated using diverse techniques. Dielectric barrier discharge plasma could change not only the granule surface but also the internal structures of the starch granule through its pinholes. Specifically, after the plasma treatment, as the pinhole diameter increased, the relative degree of crystallinity decreased, accompanied by molecular chain oxidation, i.e., the generation of carboxyl groups, and degradation, i.e., molecular weight reduction. Therefore, the rheological behavior changed from pseudo-plastic to Newtonian with a decrease in the paste viscosity. The results indicate that dielectric barrier plasma could be used to produce modified starch with low viscosity at a high concentration for food and non-food applications.Industrial relevanceAs an eco-friendly and non-thermal physical technique, dielectric barrier discharge plasma has attracted great attention in polymer modification due to the interest in reducing generated wastes during modification and producing polymer products with high safety. Starch is traditionally a main material for foods and has been widely used in food and non-food industries. For improving the properties of starch and thus widening its industrial applications using a specific technique, it is indispensible to understand how the technique affects starch's structure and property. The present work revealed that not only was the surface of starch granules altered by the dielectric barrier discharge plasma but also the internal structure was affected, since the pinholes promoted the penetration of the plasma into granule interior. In particular, along with a reduced degree of crystallinity, molecular chain oxidation and degradation occurred, as confirmed by the generation of carboxyl groups and the molecular weight reduction. Then, the rheological behavior of starch paste changed from pseudo-plastic to non-Newtonian, together with a decreased paste viscosity. These results have demonstrated that dielectric barrier discharge plasma could be used as a new physical method to modulate the structure and rheological properties of starch, for the production of starchy food products with relatively low viscosity at a high concentration.     

Enhanced bioactivity of Zanthoxylum schinifolium fermented extract: Anti-inflammatory,anti-bacterial,and anti-melanogenic activity

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强碱催化亚油酸共轭反应动力学研究

在假设反应一步完成,且为不可逆恒容反应的基础上,建立了强碱催化亚油酸共轭反应的幂函数动力学模型,同时,经理论推导得到了机理模型。并通过实验拟合确定了2个模型的参数。结果表明:反应物的初始浓度、催化剂浓度、温度对反应速率都有重要影响,第1步为速率控制步骤。幂函数模型适用于催化剂浓度、温度等条件变化较大,且对预测结果要求不高的过程。而对于那些催化剂浓度、温度等条件恒定不变的过程,机理模型能提供准确的结果预测。     

Effect of thermal treatment on the characteristic properties of loach peptide

The effects of thermal treatment on the changes in the colour, the molecular weight distribution, amino acid profiles and the overall antioxidant activities of loach peptide were investigated. When the thermal temperature was rising, the browning was enhanced. The contents of free amino acids Gly, Arg, Thr and Tyr were increased, whereas those of Asp, Ser, Met, Cys, Trp and Lys were decreased. The scavenging activities (1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and the reducing power of loach peptides after different thermal treatments were lower than those of the control, whereas the Cu²⁺ chelating activity was higher (except from the sample treated at 100 °C, 20 min). The heat treatment at 121 °C, 15 min was shown to be the best thermal processing, as it caused the least loss in radical scavenging activity and showed relatively higher Cu²⁺ chelating activity.     

A fast and non-destructive method to discriminate beef samples using TD-NMR

Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) and Continuous Wave Free Precision (CWFP) pulse sequences were used to obtain time-domain ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (TD-NMR) data of beef samples. A total of 99 beef samples from different bull race (Angus, Bonsmara and Canchim) and sex (heifers and steer) were used in this study. The CPMG and CWFP data sets were processed using univariate and multivariate analysis in order to develop classification models to discriminate the samples according to the animal sex and bull race. A paired Student's t test indicated that the univariate models obtained with CWFP data set (using M_z/M_o) had superior performance than those obtained with CPMG (using T₂ values). Multivariate models showed similar predictability for both pulse sequences, with an average of correct classification higher than 80% for most of models developed. In general, the results showed that the TD-NMR spectroscopy when combined with univariate and multivariate analysis could provide a valuable tool for tracing the sex and bull race of beef samples, providing a reliable identification in a rapid, relatively cheap and non-invasive way, even in packages.     

High selectivity of erythritol production from glycerol by Yarrowia lipolytica

The effect of different vitamins and nitrogen sources on the yield, productivity and selectivity of erythritol production from glycerol in batch and fed-batch cultures by Yarrowia lipolytica Wratislavia K1 strain was examined in the study.Thiamine was a vitamin necessary for efficient erythritol production and the yeast extract (YE) turned out to be its best source. The YE was additionally a very good source of nitrogen in this process. Erythritol production may be efficient in the media containing only yeast extract and crude glycerol. The application of a high substrate concentration (325 kg m⁻³) in the fed-batch system with pulsed addition of glycerol resulted in erythritol production of 201.2 kg m⁻³ after 168 h of cultivation. The mass fraction of by-products, such as other polyols and organic acids, did not exceed 10%. The study showed that by-products formation could be significantly reduced by the addition of a nitrogen source after glycerol depletion from the media. Wratislavia K1 strain does not utilize erythritol in the presence of other carbon sources and this feature was used in order to increase product selectivity up to 99.7% and protein content in yeast biomass up to 28.7%. The factors determining the use of biomass as animal feed, i.e. protein concentration and presence of metal ions, were discussed as well.