Sodium caseinate–maltodextrin conjugate hydrolysates: Preparation,characterisation and some functional properties

Hydrolysates of sodium caseinate (NaCN)–maltodextrin (Md40 or Md100) conjugates were prepared with a limited (<10%) and moderate (>10%) degree of hydrolysis. When assessed in the pH range 2.0–8.0, each conjugate hydrolysate had improved solubility compared to NaCN and their respective native unhydrolysed conjugate. Oil-in-water emulsions containing NaCN (1%, w/w, protein) and various combinations of conjugate hydrolysates (0.2%, w/w) and/or glycerol monostearate (0.07–0.3%, w/w, GMS) were prepared; emulsion storage stability (at 45 °C for up to 20 days) and heat stability (at 140 °C for up to 20 min) was determined by measuring changes in the mean size of fat globules in emulsions. NaCN plus conjugate hydrolysate-stabilised emulsions had improved storage stability compared to a NaCN stabilised emulsion. In general, NaCN plus conjugate hydrolysate-stabilised emulsions were less heat-stable than NaCN or NaCN plus GMS stabilised emulsions; however, emulsions stabilised by NaCN plus one of the conjugate hydrolysates (CH102) had improved heat stability in comparison to the NaCN stabilised emulsion. The results show that hydrolysates of NaCN–Md conjugates have potential for use as emulsification aids in emulsion-based food products.     

High-throughput droplet digital PCR system for absolute quantitation of DNA copy number

Digital PCR enables the absolute quantitation of nucleic acids in a sample. The lack of scalable and practical technologies for digital PCR implementation has hampered the widespread adoption of this inherently powerful technique. Here we describe a high-throughput droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) system that enables processing of ~2 million PCR reactions using conventional TaqMan assays with a 96-well plate workflow. Three applications demonstrate that the massive partitioning afforded by our ddPCR system provides orders of magnitude more precision and sensitivity than real-time PCR. First, we show the accurate measurement of germline copy number variation. Second, for rare alleles, we show sensitive detection of mutant DNA in a 100,000-fold excess of wildtype background. Third, we demonstrate absolute quantitation of circulating fetal and maternal DNA from cell-free plasma. We anticipate this ddPCR system will allow researchers to explore complex genetic landscapes, discover and validate new disease associations, and define a new era of molecular diagnostics.