Application of microwave vacuum drying for snack production: Characteristics of pure cheese puffs

The aim of the study was to obtain and describe crispy snacks purely made of cheese (also referred to as ‘pure’ cheese snacks) using microwave vacuum drying technology. An acid‐set ripened cheese (Harzer cheese) was tested as the raw material. Cutting, hot air drying and microwave vacuum drying were applied in the technology process. This paper investigates the impact of these processes on the physical properties of the puffs; it also includes sensory evaluation of the resulting product. The cheese pieces expanded by ca. 1000% of their original size with a sharp decrease in the bulk density of the puffed samples. Water activity, hardness and brittleness of the cheese puffs were 0.35, 1511.17 g and 3.20 mm, respectively. The CIE LAB coordinates (in spin position), L*, a* and b*, were 82.81, 1.51 and 20.54, respectively. This paper shows that a new form of dairy product can be produced using microwave technology.     

Novel Positive Allosteric Modulators of µ Opioid Receptor—Insight from In Silico and In Vivo Studies

Opioids are the drugs of choice in severe pain management. Unfortunately, their use involves serious, potentially lethal side effects. Therefore, efforts in opioid drug design turn toward safer and more effective mechanisms, including allosteric modulation. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations in silico and ‘writhing’ tests in vivo were used to characterize potential allosteric mechanism of two previously reported compounds. The results suggest that investigated compounds bind to μ opioid receptor in an allosteric site, augmenting action of morphine at subeffective doses, and exerting antinociceptive effect alone at higher doses. Detailed analysis of in silico calculations suggests that first of the compounds behaves more like allosteric agonist, while the second compound acts mainly as a positive allosteric modulator.     

Crowding as an Agronomic Factor Determining the Development of Plants and the Productivity of Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.)

ABSTRACT

Nine sowing densities of linseed were compared in a two-year experiment. Self-regulation of the density of a linseed stand resulted in a differentiated branching of the plants. The number of capsules on a linseed shoot, as well as seeds in the capsule, and the number of seeds from the shoot were highly varied from year to year, and there is even a stronger differentiation in the weight of 1000 seeds. Linear relationships were noted between the mass of seeds from the linseed plant and the number of capsules. The yield of linseed was affected by both factors. An increasing sowing rate reduced the seed yield from the shoot and the plant. At lower seeding rates, the lateral shoots contributed in the seeds yield of the plant to a higher degree compared to the main ones.     

A Stochastic Petri Net-Based Model of the Involvement of Interleukin 18 in Atherosclerosis

Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory and proatherogenic cytokine with pleiotropic properties, which is involved in T and NK cell maturation and the synthesis of other inflammatory cytokines and cell adhesion molecules. It plays a significant role in orchestrating the cytokine cascade, accelerates atherosclerosis and influences plaque vulnerability. To investigate the influence of IL-18 cytokine on atherosclerosis development, a stochastic Petri net model was built and then analyzed. First, MCT-sets and t-clusters were generated, then knockout and simulation-based analysis was conducted. The application of systems approach that was used in this research enabled an in-depth analysis of the studied phenomenon. Our results gave us better insight into the studied phenomenon and allow revealing that activation of macrophages by the classical pathway and IL-18-MyD88 signaling axis is crucial for the modeled process.     

Biological Characteristics and Osteogenic Differentiation of Ovine Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Stimulated with FGF-2 and BMP-2

Cell-based therapies using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a promising tool in bone tissue engineering. Bone regeneration with MSCs involves a series of molecular processes leading to the activation of the osteoinductive cascade supported by bioactive factors, including fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). In this study, we examined the biological characteristics and osteogenic differentiation potential of sheep bone marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs) treated with 20 ng/mL of FGF-2 and 100 ng/mL BMP-2 in vitro. The biological properties of osteogenic-induced BM-MSCs were investigated by assessing their morphology, proliferation, phenotype, and cytokine secretory profile. The osteogenic differentiation was characterized by Alizarin Red S staining, immunofluorescent staining of osteocalcin and collagen type I, and expression levels of genetic markers of osteogenesis. The results demonstrated that BM-MSCs treated with FGF-2 and BMP-2 maintained their primary MSC properties and improved their osteogenic differentiation capacity, as confirmed by increased expression of osteocalcin and collagen type I and upregulation of osteogenic-related gene markers BMP-2, Runx2, osterix, collagen type I, osteocalcin, and osteopontin. Furthermore, sheep BM-MSCs produced a variety of bioactive factors involved in osteogenesis, and supplementation of the culture medium with FGF-2 and BMP-2 affected the secretome profile of the cells. The results suggest that sheep osteogenic-induced BM-MSCs may be used as a cellular therapy to study bone repair in the preclinical large animal model.     

The effects of cooking method on selected quality traits of broccoli and green asparagus

Broccoli and green asparagus were cooked using boiling water, steam, microwave oven and combi oven with overheated steam and combination of hot air with overheated steam (only broccoli). Vegetables were analysed for chlorophylls a and b, carotenoids, total polyphenols, antioxidant activity, colour parameters and sensory properties. Cooking in the combi oven with overheated steam was an effective method to achieve the highest levels of polyphenols and antioxidant activity, but it negatively influenced the contents of chlorophylls in both vegetables and carotenoids in asparagus. Boiling and cooking in the combi oven with overheated steam or hot air and steam ensured the best and comparable sensory properties of broccoli. Asparagus showed a lower susceptibility to heat treatments than broccoli as none of the treatments applied caused significant differences in colour redness and yellowness, polyphenol content and sensory properties of this vegetable.     

Influence of yeast on the yield of fermentation and volatile profile of ‘Węgierka Zwykła’ plum distillates

The character of plum brandies depends on a unique aroma profile of the plum and the microbiota present on the surface of the fruits, as well as yeast used for fermentation. In this study, an evaluation of the effect of microorganisms applied for the fermentation of W?gierka Zwyk?a var. plum mashes and processing temperature (18 °C, 30 °C) on its efficiency and volatile profile, as well as taste and flavour of distillates obtained was performed. An estimation of the odour activity values (OAVs) of the volatile compounds was also conducted. Regardless of whether the fermentation was carried out using Saccharomyces bayanus wine yeast or by native microflora present on plums as well as raisins, the efficiency of this process was high and ranged between 91.7 and 96.7% of the theoretical efficiency. Especially rich in esters (among others ethyl acetate and isoamyl acetate) was the distillate derived after fermentation with the microflora of plums and raisins, at 18 °C. An evaluation of the individual aromatic effect of chemical compounds present in tested distillates, in terms of their OAVs, revealed that the highest OAVs were reached with isovaleraldehyde. Other compounds that showed aroma values >1 and possibly had an effect on the overall aroma of tested plum distillates were the following: hexanal, benzaldehyde, ethyl acetate, isoamyl acetate, ethyl benzoate, ethyl hexanoate, 1‐propanol, 2‐methyl‐1‐butanol, 3‐methyl‐1‐butanol and 1‐hexanol. The performed sensory ranking showed that the best rated distillate was the one obtained after fermentation with the indigenous microflora of plums and raisins, at 18 °C. Copyright © 2016 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling