Feeding rolled barley grain steeped in lactic acid modulated energy status and innate immunity in dairy cows

Feeding dairy cows large proportions of cereal grain is commonly associated with rumen acidosis, activation of innate immunity, and perturbation of intermediary metabolism. We previously showed that steeping barley grain in 0.5% lactic acid (LA) decreased the rate of starch degradation, lowered the risk of subacute rumen acidosis, modulated rumen fermentation profile, and increased milk fat content in dairy cows. This study sought to investigate whether feeding of LA-treated barley grain would affect carbohydrate and lipid metabolism as well as innate immunity. Eight rumen-fistulated late-lactation (approximately 217 d in milk, DIM) Holstein cows were randomly assigned, in a 2 × 2 crossover design, to 1 of the 2 dietary treatments consisting of 27% (dry matter basis) rolled barley grain steeped for 48 h in an equal volume (wt/vol) of tap water (CTR) or 0.5% LA (TRT). Each experimental period lasted 21 d, with the first 11 d for diet adaptation. Blood and rumen samples were collected on d 12, 15, 17, and 21 of the experimental period before the morning feeding to evaluate the effects of dietary treatment on preprandial day-to-day variation of plasma and rumen variables. To establish the effect of treatment on diurnal variation of plasma variables, blood samples were collected on the last day of each period at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 h after the morning feeding (i.e., 0800 h). Results of the day-to-day study showed that cows fed the TRT diet had greater overall preprandial concentrations of glucose, cholesterol, and insulin, and a lower concentration of haptoglobin in plasma. Diurnal data indicated lower concentrations of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A and a tendency for greater plasma lactate in cows fed the TRT diet. A treatment by time interaction was observed for glucose, lactate, insulin, haptoglobin, and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, suggesting a role for both the processing of grain and the time of sampling on those variables. No effect of diet on plasma concentrations of cortisol, β-hydroxybutyrate, and nonesterified fatty acids or rumen endotoxin was evidenced. Taken together, our results demonstrated that feeding barley grain steeped in 0.5% LA modulated both energy status and innate immunity of dairy cows fed relatively high levels (45% of dry matter) of dietary concentrate.     

Monitoring biochemical changes during grape berry development in Portuguese cultivars by NMR spectroscopy

¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was applied for the metabolic profiling of grapes from three Portuguese cultivars including ‘Trincadeira’, ‘Aragonês’, and ‘Touriga Nacional’, at four developmental stages. Two kinds of extraction methods including deuterated NMR solvent extraction and solid phase extraction (SPE) were used for the metabolomic analysis and all the metabolites detected in ¹H NMR were elucidated by two-dimensional NMR techniques as well as the in-house NMR chemical shift database. Multivariate data analyses were also performed to identify overall metabolic differences. Trincadeira was found different from the other two cultivars, having low phenolic contents as compared to other cultivars. The initial stages showed comparatively high phenolics and organic acid contents like caftaric and malic acid while the later stages showed higher glucose and fructose levels. Veraison was found to be a metabolically critical stage of berry development. On the basis of these findings distribution of metabolites among different cultivars at different developmental stages is discussed.     

Oil palm bunch ripeness classification using fluorescence technique

Oil palm is Malaysia’s major agriculture product and it covers approximately 5 million hectares of Malaysia’s land. Limited land resources have been an important factor that motivated the need to increase oil extraction rate (OER). OER of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) depends highly on their maturity stage. The ripe oil palm FFB will produce high OER while the under ripe and over ripe oil palm FFB will produce less oil. Thus, this paper presents a method of classification between oil palm FFB into ripe, under-ripe and over-ripe categories. This research was done at an oil palm plantation in peninsular Malaysia. A total of two-hundred and ten oil palm FFB that consist of seventy bunches for each category of under-ripe, ripe and over-ripe had been used. Each bunch was scanned ten times randomly with a hand-held multi-parameter fluorescence sensor called Multiplex®3. The parameter measured was the Blue-to-Red Fluorescence Ratio (BRR_FRF) obtained from blue-green (447 nm) and far-red (685 nm) emission signal by using ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diode as excitation light source. The novel contribution of this research is to prove that the oil palm FFB maturity can be determined using the Blue-to-Red Fluorescence ratio index. This is based to our finding of a significant difference among the three categories of ripeness based on the parameter. Classification and Regression Tree (C&RT) method was proposed in this paper. Hundred-fifty samples were used to develop the model by trained it using C&RT method and the remaining sixty samples for the test component. By using the C&RT method, the results show the best accuracy of overall testing classification is 90%. This research will be useful for future development of non-destructive, automatic and real time oil palm FFB grading system.     

Identification of a gamma-irradiated ingredient (garlic powder) in Korean barbeque sauce by thermoluminescence analysis

Thermoluminescence (TL) analysis was applied to identify gamma-irradiated garlic powder in Korean barbeque sauce before and after pasteurization (85 °C, 30 min), when blended in different ratios (1%, 3%, and 5%). The sauce sample with nonirradiated garlic powder gave a background glow curve. However, the sample blended with irradiated ingredient (1 and 10 kGy) showed typical TL glow curves at temperatures of 150 to 200 °C. The identification properties of sauce samples were more influenced by blending ratios than by irradiation doses, showing that 3% and 5% added samples produced glow curves at 150 to 250 °C. After pasteurization of the samples containing the irradiated ingredient, TL glow intensity decreased but did not change its shape or temperature range. As a result, the pasteurization of Barbeque sauces containing irradiated ingredients had reduced TL glow intensity, but the shape and temperature range of glow curve were still able to provide information required for confirming irradiation treatment. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: To monitor the irradiated food in international market, thermoluminescence (TL) analysis is considered most promising identification technique because of its sensitivity and long-term stability. In this study the applicability of TL analysis to detect an irradiated ingredient (garlic powder) added in low quantity to a food matrix (sauce) was investigated. The effect of processing (pasteurization) on TL results was also evaluated.     

Effects of high hydrostatic pressure on structure and colour of red ginseng (Panax ginseng)

BACKGROUND: The conventional method of processing ginseng (Panax ginseng) roots into red ginseng involves mainly heating and drying processes. In the present study, this method was modified by using high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) to improve the physicochemical characteristics of red ginseng. RESULTS: The HHP process (600 MPa for 1 min) significantly improved the histological properties of red ginseng by increasing cellular disruption and release of cell contents. The total reducing sugar content was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (increased from 10.67 to 15.25 mg g^?1) in red ginseng processed at 600 MPa for 1 min. Similarly, the total free amino acid content also increased significantly (from 2.81 to 7.77 mg g^?1). The HHP process resulted in superior and more even colouration and gave an attractive visual appearance to red ginseng. The optical density at 420 nm and Hunter's colour a value (redness) of extracts prepared from red ginseng increased significantly (P < 0.05) with the application of HHP. CONCLUSION: HHP‐processed red ginseng has significantly higher reducing sugar and free amino acid contents together with a more compact cell structure and superior visual quality (brighter red colour). Hence the application of HHP in red ginseng processing can result in ginseng products of improved quality compared with those obtained by the conventional method. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry