Quercetagetin loaded in soy protein isolate–κ-carrageenan complex: Fabrication mechanism and protective effect

In the present study, the potential of soy protein isolate (SPI)–κ-carrageenan (κ-CG) complex as a protective carrier for quercetagetin was investigated at different pH values (pH 2.3 and 6.5). The particle size of the ternary aggregates was slightly increased at pH 2.3, yet dramatically decreased at pH 6.5 with increasing quercetagetin concentration. Moreover, the negative ζ-potential of the ternary aggregates was increased significantly (p < 0.05) at pH 6.5. The addition of quercetagetin to the SPI–κ-CG complex could highly quench the intrinsic fluorescence of SPI. Circular dichroism spectra further suggested that the bound quercetagetin could induce the rise of β-sheet and β-turn contents at the cost of α-helix and unordered coil fractions of SPI. In addition, quercetagetin could increase the viscoelasticity of the ternary aggregates at both pH. Furthermore, the SPI–κ-CG complex was found to be superior to single SPI or κ-CG in terms of improving light stability and radical scavenging ability of quercetagetin.     

Effect of ozone treatment on aflatoxin B1 and safety evaluation of ozonized corn

This paper studies the ozone treatment effect on degradation of aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) in corn with different moisture content (MC). The toxicity of the degradation products (DPs) of the ozone-treated AFB₁-Contaminated Corn (ACC) was also evaluated using the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) as model cells. The degradation rate of AFB₁ in corn increases with ozone concentration and treatment time. The results showed that ACC with 13.47% MC was easier to be degraded by ozone than with 20.37% MC. Treated with 90 mg L⁻¹ ozone for 20 min and 40 min, AFB₁ in corn with 13.47% MC decreased from 83 μg kg⁻¹ to 18.12 μg kg⁻¹ and 9.9 μg kg⁻¹, respectively, well meeting the China National Standard of AFB₁ in corn (20 μg kg⁻¹). In order to evaluate the safety of ozone used on ACC, the impacts of AFB₁ as well as untreated and ozone-treated ACC with the same level of AFB₁ content on HepG2's survival rate, morphology, and apoptosis were studied. The results showed that ACC had high cell toxicity while the toxicity of ozone-treated ACC had no significant difference with that of the AFB₁-free culture solution. It is concluded that ozonation can quickly and effectively degrade AFB₁ in corn and diminish ACC's toxicity, and therefore, ozonation is expected to be an effective, fast, and safe method for AFB₁ degradation in ACC.     

Lactulose formation catalysed by alkaline-substituted sepiolites in milk permeate

Alkaline-substituted (Na⁺, K⁺) sepiolites were used as catalysts for the formation of lactulose in milk permeate. Besides lactose and lactulose, other carbohydrates, such as galactose and epilactose, produced in side reactions, were determined. The effect of different washing cycles of sepiolite on the isomerisation of lactose and the exchange of cations with the permeate were also investigated. In general, the activity of the sodium sepiolite was higher than that of potassium form. Twenty per cent of lactulose formation (≈1000 mg/100 ml), with respect to the initial lactose, was obtained after 150 min of reaction, using sodium sepiolite washed during 10 cycles. Under these conditions, 25% of lactose degradation was detected, whereas small amounts of epilactose and galactose were formed. The exchange of Na⁺ between sepiolite and permeate decreased considerably with the number of washing cycles. The present work shows an appropriate method for obtaining lactulose in milk permeate with acceptable yields and without complicated purification steps.     

Dityrosine in food: A review of its occurrence,health effects,detection methods,and mitigation strategies

Protein and amino acid oxidation in food products produce many new compounds, of which the reactive and toxic compound dityrosine, derived from oxidized tyrosine, is the most widely studied. The high reactivity of dityrosine enables this compound to induce oxidative stress and disrupt thyroid hormone function, contributing to the pathological processes of several diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cognitive dysfunction, aging, and age-related diseases. From the perspective of food safety and human health, protein-oxidation products in food are the main concern of consumers, health management departments, and the food industry. This review highlights the latest research on the formation pathways, toxicity, detection methods, occurrence in food, and mitigation strategies for dityrosine. Furthermore, the control of dityrosine in family cooking and food-processing industry has been discussed. Food-derived dityrosine primarily originates from high-protein foods, such as meat and dairy products. Considering its toxicity, combining rapid high sensitivity dityrosine detection techniques with feasible control methods could be an effective strategy to ensure food safety and maintain human health. However, the current dityrosine detection and mitigation strategies exhibit some inherent characteristics and limitations. Therefore, developing technologies for rapid and effective dityrosine detection and control at the industrial level is necessary.     

Influence of storage time on protein composition and simulated digestion of UHT milk and centrifugation presterilized UHT milk in vitro

The centrifugation presterilizing UHT (C-UHT) sterilization method removes 90% of the microorganism and somatic cells from raw milk using high-speed centrifugation following UHT treatment. This study aimed to study the changes in protein composition and plasmin in the UHT and C-UHT milk. The digestive characteristics, composition, and peptide spectrum of milk protein sterilized with the 2 technologies were studied using a dynamic digestive system of a simulated human stomach. The Pierce bicinchoninic acid assay, laser scanning confocal microscope, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, and AA analysis were used to study the digestive fluid at different time points of gastric digestion in vitro. The results demonstrated that C-UHT milk had considerably higher protein degradation than UHT milk. Different processes resulted during the cleavage of milk proteins at different sites during digestion, resulting in different derived peptides. The results showed there was no significant effect of UHT and C-UHT on the peptide spectrum of milk proteins, but C-UHT could release relatively more bioactive peptides and free AA.     

Current major degradation methods for aflatoxins: A review

BackgroundAflatoxins are strong cancerogenic compounds predominantly produced by certain strains of the Aspergillus genus. Due to their extreme stability in different conditions, it is very difficult to remove them completely in human diet and animal feeds. In this way aflatoxins are triggering numerous healthy problems (such as liver cancer) and thus becoming a huge burden to the hygiene system and food industry worldwide.Scope and approachTherefore, seeking for an effective technique to degrade aflatoxins to a threshold level has been a “hot-topic” among researchers. Traditional methods to detoxify aflatoxins include physical and chemical treatments, such as an extrusion cooking process and ammoniation, respectively. Meanwhile a bio-degradation by microorganisms gains its popularity due to its friendliness to both environment and body health. Natural phytochemicals (plant extracts) which have great capability to remove aflatoxins without causing any damage on human and animals come out as an improvement.Key findings and conclusionHowever, a fully and systematically discussion of the methods of detoxification for aflatoxins is still not available. Therefore, in the present review we briefly enumerate several traditional strategies, update newly methods, particularly the potential use of natural phytochemicals, and discuss some mechanisms during the detoxification period, summarizing merits and demerits of these methods. We suggest that this important information and our humble opinions could help researchers to understand the degradation of methods for aflatoxins.     

Investigation of the contribution of radicals to the mechanism of the early stage of the Maillard reaction

Involvement of radical reactions in the mechanism of the Maillard reaction is demonstrated. Intermediate Maillard reaction product interactions with the stable 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazinyl radical, and also electron transfer, followed spectrophotometrically with phenanthrolin, allowed the contribution of these reactions in the Maillard system to be explored. It was, thus, possible to estimate which reaction mechanism (ionic or radical) dominates the early stage of the Maillard reaction, depending on the milieu and the reactants in a model system.The pH value has a significant influence on the participation of radical reactions. Whereas at pH 5 an ionic mechanism seems to be predominant, at increasing pH values reactions proceed with an increasing amount of radical participation. The influence of the amino acids used is marginal, especially at high pH values. In the glycine model, the amount of ionic reactions rises on changing the pH value from 8 to 7.The sugar influence on the reaction mechanism depends particularly on the ability to form sugar fragments and on the molar ratio of sugar to amino acid.     

Effect of ultrasound treatment on fruit decay and quality maintenance in strawberry after harvest

The effects of ultrasound treatment on fruit decay and physiological quality of strawberry fruit were investigated. Freshly harvested strawberries were treated with 0, 25, 28, 40 or 59 kHz ultrasound at 20 °C for 10 min and then stored at 5 °C for 8 days. The results showed that 40 kHz ultrasonic treatment significantly reduced decay incidence and numbers of microorganism. Ultrasound treatment also inhibited the decrease of firmness and maintained significant higher levels of total soluble solids (TSS), total titratable acidity (TA) and vitamin C. Treatments with 25 and 28 kHz ultrasound had no significant effects on fruit decay and quality deterioration of strawberry fruit. Thus, ultrasound treatment has potential to extend shelf-life and maintain quality in strawberry fruit.     

食品和腹泻患者分离耐环丙沙星大肠埃希菌耐药特征及耐药机制的比较研究

目的从食品和腹泻患者中分离耐环丙沙星大肠埃希菌进行耐药性及相关分子特征的研究。方法从645株食品和腹泻患者来源的大肠埃希菌中确定21株(3.3%)环丙沙星耐药菌株,并对分离株进行药敏试验,采用聚合酶链式反应和核苷酸序列分析技术对环丙沙星耐药菌株进行喹诺酮类染色体、质粒编码耐药机制、超广谱β-内酰胺酶耐药机制及系统发育分型研究。结果 21株环丙沙星耐药菌株均为多重耐药菌株,所有菌株分别在gyrA、parC和parE发生1~4个点突变,其中16株菌携带了质粒介导的喹诺酮耐药基因,包括oqx A、oqxB、qnrS、aac(6')-Ib-cr和qepA,同时所有分离株均携带bla基因。结论本研究提示食品和腹泻患者来源的耐环丙沙星大肠埃希菌耐药机制具有多样性的特点,编码耐药基因质粒存在潜在的传播可能,对公众健康产生巨大威胁。需进一步开展此类耐药菌株的监测,为研究此类菌株在食品和人群中的可能传播和评估其对人群的健康风险提供基础数据。