Study of aroma compound formations and transformations during Jinxuan and Qingxin oolong tea processing

We characterised the formation and dynamic changes in the main aroma compounds produced during the manufacturing process of Jinxuan and Qingxin oolong tea. Thirty-five aroma compounds were investigated. Subsequent principal component and cluster analyses showed that the fresh leaves, spread leaves and rocked leaves of the two varieties of tea were distinguished from each other. Particularly, the aldehyde and ‘other’ compounds showed the highest correlation coefficients (0.71 and −0.70) among the principal. The heat map showed that the proportions of acetic acid, 3-methylbutanal and 2-methylbutanal significantly changed during the manufacturing process of the two tea varieties. The key amino acids (isoleucine, leucine, valine and aspartic acid) and enzymes (branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase) involved in the synthesis of 3-methylbutanal and 2-methylbutanal differed between the two varieties during manufacture. Our study reveals the characteristics of different varieties of oolong tea and their aroma formation after manufacture using the same process.     

Cellulose nanoparticles synthesised from potato peel for the development of active packaging film for enhancement of shelf life of raw prawns (Penaeus monodon) during frozen storage

In this study, the cellulose nanoparticles (CNP) isolated from potato peel were used for reinforcement of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based active packaging film. The above film was used to pack the raw prawns (Penaeus monodon) at −20 °C, and the colour change, protein content, TVB-N, TMA and microbial analysis were done at regular interval for prawns stored in CNP-PVA active packaging film. A significant difference was observed in the quality of prawns stored in potato CNP-PVA film compared with prawns packed and stored in polyethylene film. The newly designed active packaging with CNP and fennel seed oil enhanced the shelf life of prawns up to two months for both HOSO (head on shell on) prawn and PD (peeled and deveined) prawn. Hence, the study recommends the potato peel CNP-PVA film with fennel seed oil as better choice to extend the shelf life of the prawns during storage compared with polyethylene packaging.     

Biofortification with selenium and lithium improves nutraceutical properties of major winery grapes in the Midwestern United States

Enriching the micronutrients, selenium (Se) and lithium (Li), in grapes to improve their nutraceutical properties were implemented by foliar application of organic fertiliser rich in Se and Li onto five grape cultivars. The effects of this biofortification on vine vigour, fruit quality, overall micronutrients and phenolic compounds also were investigated. Agronomic biofortification was found greatly increased the Se and Li content in the whole grape by multiple times, meanwhile it did not significantly affect the vine vigour and fruit quality of grapes. However, the biofortification did impact the Ionome (including all the mineral nutrients and trace elements) and phenolic compounds in grapes and this varied among cultivars. This study demonstrated foliar spray of organic Se/Li fertiliser was a very effective strategy to biofortify these micronutrients in grape berries, particularly in the skin, and therefore might be a promising strategy to increase the consumption and awareness of these grapes.     

Development and characterisation of structurally reforming engineered flat-rice xerogel for hot water cooking

Shape transforming foods are an emerging area of interest that could be customised according to consumer needs with the desirable structure and reduced package space. The current work aims to investigate the shape transformation behaviour of a 2D xerogel developed from rice hydrogel at the concentration of 4% and 90 °C. This flat xerogel is coated with ethyl cellulose as constraint material in the form of linear equally spaced strips. Immersing the xerogels in hot water over a temperature of 70 °C, resulted in a 3D transformation of the discs in 12 s (Video  S1 ). The transformation is achieved owing to xerogel's increased swelling power (0.27–0.78) due to the anisotropic nature. This is confirmed by the SEM images of top (smooth) and bottom (rough) xerogel. In order to characterise the process of shape transformation bending analysis was done wherein a significant difference in bending angle (35.86–63.10°), height (24.73–50.26 mm), curvature (0.57–2.38 μ mm⁻¹) and end-to-end distance (118.23–15.11 mm) from 2 to 12 s. The formed 3D shape was similar to the commercial tubular (penne) pasta. This study opens up the utilisation of less concentrated rice xerogel in shape transformation for designing engineered food.     

Cross-language postevent misinformation effects in Spanish–English bilingual witnesses.

Three experiments examined whether postevent misinformation affects eyewitness memory across languages in bilingual witnesses. Participants watched a videotaped simulation of a robbery, read a postevent narrative that contained misleading information about the robbery, and answered either forced-choice or cued-recall questions about 6 target items from the videotape. Experiment I was conducted entirely in English, but Experiments 2 and 3 tested Spanish–English bilingual participants who were exposed to 1 of 3 language combinations of the postevent narrative and memory test—Spanish–Spanish, English–Spanish, or Spanish–English (as well as English–English in Experiment 3). Across all 3 experiments, the effects of postevent misinformation were as large in the cross-language conditions as in the same-language conditions. This study has important implications for the justice system, and the results suggest new ways to study postevent misinformation effects and bilingual memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simple conceptual model for predicting the dissolution of phosphate rock in soils

Laboratory experimental and literature data were integrated to develop a simple, conceptual model to describe and predict the dissolution of a reactive phosphate rock (Gafsa phosphate rock, GPR) in soils. The model showed that initial solution Ca concentration strongly influences the time required for a single application of GPR (at 30 kgP ha^?1) to dissolve. The model predicts that all of the GPR will dissolve within a year of application in an unlimed, acid (pH_w 4.5) loam. However, if the soil has previously been limed to (pH_w 5.8, and contains permanent charge only, the model predicts that only about 50% of the GPR would have dissolved by the end of the second year after application. On the other hand, if a previously limed soil ((pH_w 5.8) contains variable-charge components, the model predicts that virtually all of the GPR would have dissolved in this soil by the end of the second year after application. These results emphasise that, even in the presence of a high proton supply, solution Ca has an overriding influence on the dissolution of GPR. The faster rate of GPR dissolution in the limed soil with variable charge, compared to that in the limed soil with permanent charge only, demonstrates the ability of the variable-charge component of soil to act as a sink for some of the lime-derived Ca. According to the solubility product principle, this allows more GPR to dissolve. Because of the generally stronger buffering of soil for P than for Ca, a relatively large proportion of any P removed by leaching and plant uptake is buffered by the sorbed phase. Consequently, the influence of leaching and plant uptake on GPR dissolution is attributed primarily to the removal of the relatively less-strongly buffered Ca.     

Unsupervised Extraction of Structural Information from High Dimensional Visual Data

We present three unsupervised artificial neural networks for the extraction of structural information from visual data. The ability of each network to represent structured knowledge in a manner easily accessible to human interpretation is illustrated using artificial visual data. These networks are used to collectively demonstrate a variety of unsupervised methods for identifying features in visual data and the structural representation of these features in terms of orientation, temporal and topographical ordering, and stereo disparity.     

Silica-precipitating peptides isolated from a combinatorial phage display peptide library

Many biological organisms contain specialized structures composed of inorganic materials. Cellular processes in vivo facilitate the organized assembly of mineral building blocks into complex structures. The structural hierarchy and complexity across a range of length scales are providing new ideas and concepts for materials chemistry. Proteins that direct biomineralization can be used to control the production of nanostructured materials and facilitate the fabrication of new structures. Here, we demonstrate that some of the silica-binding peptides isolated from a combinatorial phage peptide display library can be used in precipitating silica from a solution of silicic acid. The results described in this report demonstrate that peptides displayed by phages act as templates in inorganic material synthesis and provide a means of understanding how some of the biological systems may be carrying out materials chemistry in vivo.