Lactobacillus plantarum ZLC-18 fermentation improve tyrosinase inhibition activity and antioxidant capacity in soybean hulls

Soybean hulls, the main byproduct in soybean processing, have many biological activities. However, the value of this byproduct is still far from being fully exploited. In this study, we investigated the anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant capacities in soybean hulls fermented by Lactobacillus plantarum ZLC-18 (L. plantarum ZLC-18). We found that L. plantarum ZLC-18 fermentation could markedly improve the anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities of soybean hulls. The anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities were positively correlated with the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. UPLC–MS analysis suggested that phenolic compounds (daidzin, genistin, vanillic acid and so on) were increased in soybean hulls after fermentation, and some of these compounds were shown to have anti-tyrosinase and antioxidant activities. Our study demonstrates that fermentation is an efficient strategy to enhance the bioactive function of soybean hulls. Moreover, this study provides evidence that soybean hulls can be used as a kind of functional food ingredient, thereby improving their economic benefits.     

Improving water retention of chicken breast meats by CaCl2 combined with pulsed electric fields

Frozen poultry meat is the most widely consumed animal-based food. However, water loss often leads to quality loss of poultry meat. Therefore, the present study sought to investigate the combined effect of calcium chloride (CaCl₂) and pulsed electric fields (PEF) treatment on chicken breast meats and the mechanisms underlying protein degradation. The results showed that the synergistic effect was superior to the single treatment. Compared with the untreated group, the combination of CaCl₂ and PEF increased water holding capacity of chicken breast meats by 16.61% and decreased cooking loss by 28.93%. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) results indicated that the synergistic treatment promoted water molecules' binding capacity in myofibrils of poultry meat, which exhibited higher immobilised water. Additionally, the combination of CaCl₂ and PEF led to increased degradation of proteins of high-molecular weight and surface hydrophobicity of myofibrillar protein. Furthermore, the extension of the protein molecule and microenvironmental changes promoted interaction between protein and water. In conclusion, the synergistic treatment of CaCl₂ and PEF enhanced water retention and improved physicochemical properties of the myofibrillar protein in chicken breast meats.     

Stabilization for Schrödinger Equation with Internal Damping and Boundary Disturbance

In this paper, the stabilization for Schrödinger equation subject to internal damping and boundary disturbance at the control end is investigated. Due to its immeasurability, the nonlinear observer system is designed to obtain the state information, and the existence of weak solution and its convergence for the nonlinear observer system are proved. The feedback control is realized by the backstepping transformation. In addition, the adaptive disturbance rejection control is applied to estimate the disturbance. According to the observer and disturbance estimation, the feedback control is finally designed to stabilize the system asymptotically.

     

Performance of a Degassing Cyclone with Main and Subsidiary Chambers

Based on the premise that large bubbles are removed in larger cyclones and small bubbles in smaller cyclones, a combined degassing cyclone with main and subsidiary chambers was designed to enhance liquid degassing. The pressure loss, liquid flow rate at the gas outlet, split ratio, gas flow rate at the liquid outlet, and degassing efficiency of the degassing cyclone were measured and calculated. Pressure loss correlations were established which relates the Euler number to the gas and liquid Reynolds numbers in the main chamber. Most cases exhibit a degassing efficiency greater than 0.998 when the liquid flow rate is more than 0.7 m³h^?1. The contours of pressure loss, split ratio, and degassing efficiency provide an effective guidance for designing a degassing cyclone.     

Effect of microwave heating time on the gel properties of chicken myofibrillar proteins and their formation mechanism

The present work was conducted to illustrate the mechanism of gel formation of myofibrillar proteins (MPs) under different microwave heating times. The results showed that the denaturation enthalpy (ΔH) of the MPs significantly decreased when the heating time increased from 3 to 9 s and then completely disappeared as the heating time progressed, indicating that the MPs gradually denatured and subsequently aggregated with increasing heating time, which was further verified by the changes in the secondary structure, electrophoretic bands, and gel properties (e.g., water holding capacity and textural profiles) of the MPs. Microstructural images indicated that the MP gel formed under 12 s had the most compact network, indicating that extended microwave heating time could induce quality deterioration of MP gels. Moreover, the hydrophobic forces, electrostatic forces, and disulphide bonds of the MPs gradually intensified with increasing microwave heating time, suggesting that both non-covalent and covalent bonds could promote molecular denaturation and subsequent aggregation of MPs. In addition, correlation analysis revealed that the changes in the molecular conformation of MPs induced by different microwave heating times could effectively regulate the formation of MP gels and their related properties.     

Protein from Hylocereus polyrhizus protects MRC-5 cells against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced damage

Food Science and Biotechnology - The cytoprotective and potential molecular mechanisms of Hylocereus polyrhizus protein (RFPP) were investigated on the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-triggered damage in...     

ZnO·2.7Al2O3 nanocomposite with high optical transparency

Here we report a transparent dual-phase ZnO·2.7Al₂O₃ ceramic. The composite is pore-free and consists of thin nanosheets with a spinel phase and a hexagonal phase, while the two phases match closely in both lattice and refractive index. Such features result in excellent optical transmittance (maximum value >80% in the visible spectrum) at comparable phase volume. This work may provide a new thought for the rational structural design of optical nanocomposites.