Dietary Fiber Ingredients Obtained by Processing Brewer's Dried Grain

Brewer's dried grain (BDG) was ground and separated into a coarse and fine flour suitable for increasing total dietary fiber and protein content of formulated foods. Process conditions were established to obtain yields of 40% fine (protein rich) flour and 60% coarse (fiber rich) flour. These had protein contents of 39.0% and 21.5% and total dietary fiber of 35.5% and 70.0%, respectively. Both flours were free of starch and sugar and contained less than 0.1% phytic acid as a result of the brewing process.     

Parallel Implementation of the Accelerated Integer GCD Algorithm

The accelerated integer greatest common divisor (GCD) algorithm has been shown to be one of the most efficient in practice. This paper describes a parallel implementation of the accelerated algorithm for the Sequent Balance, a shared-memory multiprocessor. For input of roughly 10 000 digits, it displays speed-ups of 1.6, 2.5, 3.4 and 4.0 using 2, 4, 8 and 16 processors, respectively.     

Nutritional Quality and Sensory Acceptability of Akara Prepared from Germinated Tepary Beans

Tepary beans, Phaseolus Acutifolius (ungerminatcd and germinated for 48 hr) were used to prepare akara. Cowpcas, ungerminated and germinated teparies, uncooked and cooked akara prepared from teparies and cowpeas were analyzed for proximate composition, amino acid (AA) profile, vitamin A, ascorbic acid and trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA). Proximate composition and AA profiles of ungerminated teparies and cowpeas were similar. Germination increased protein, vitamin A, and ascorbic acid by 12%, 56%, and 23-fold, respectively. TIA decreased by 2.9% while AA profiles showed slight to no change. Frying lowered protein, vitamin A, ascorbic acid, and TIA by 7%, 35–40%, 75–82%, and 12.6–24.3%, respectively. Taste panels found no significant differences (P≤0.05) in color, texture or flavor among the products.     

Composition of Disfichlis palmeri grain, a saltgrass

Seeds from the halophyte plant Distichlis palmeri were collected, ground, and chemically analyzed for nutrient composition. The seed's protein, fat, carbohydrate, and ash content were within ranges found in tables for barley, corn, sorghum, and wheat. Minerals were either the same, slightly lower or higher than table values given for other cereal grains. The sodium content of the seed was fourfold higher than other cereal grains.     

Copper and Zinc Binding to Dietary Fiber Sources: An Ion Exchange Column Method

The ion exchange capacities of dietary fiber sources for copper and zinc were studied via a factorial design: 4 fiber sources X 2 treatments X 3 solutions. The treatments were: (1) neutral detergent and (2) enzymatic. The treated fiber residues were used as the stable matrix in columns and mineral-containing solutions were pumped through the columns. The amount of minerals bound varied with fiber type and treatment type. All fiber residues bound more copper than zinc. Binding of both minerals was reduced when they were applied in combination. The treatment of the fibers produced residues with dissimilar physical properties. These results indicate the variability introduced by methodology.     

Influence of large solid spherical particles on the residence time distribution of the fluid in two-phase tubular flow

The effect of large solid particles on the residence time distribution of the fluid in two-phase flow was studied in a pilot scale continuous tubular system. The residence time distribution was characterized with four parameters: the normalized minimum and mean residence time, the normalized standard deviation and the skewness. The effect of particle concentration (1 and 3%) and particle diameter (diameters approximately 0.3 and 0.4 of the tube diameter) were analysed for fluids with different viscosities and at different flow rates. It was observed that the presence of particles, even at very low concentration, has a significant effect, increasing the mean residence time and decreasing the standardized dispersion. This effect was attributed to particles breaking the velocity profile of the fluid and causing some localized mixing due to their rotational velocity. Although the presence of particles affected the results, their concentration (or number) was not relevant, in the range tested, which is very low for particulate foods.     

Sperm ultrastructure of Mytella (Bivalvia) populations from distinct habitats along the northern coast of São Paulo State,Brazil

Ultrastructural analyses of bivalve spermatozoa are relevant in studies that aim to identify taxonomic traits for the purposes of discriminating species and conducting phylogenetic studies. In the present work, spermatozoa of mussel specimens of the genus Mytella, collected from two populations living in distinct habitats, were examined by electron microscopy. The objective was to identify sperm ultrastructural taxonomic traits that could be used to differentiate Mytella species. The specimens were from populations that live in intertidal zones on the southeast coast of Brazil, either buried in muddy-sand sediment or anchored to rocky substrates. The acrosomal vesicle was conical and long, the axial rod extended from the nucleus to the acrosome, the nucleus was an oblate spheroid with a condensed chromatin, the intermediate portion contained mitochondria encircling a pair of centrioles, and there was a single flagellum. The sperm was of a primitive type. The spermatozoon ultrastructure did not distinguish the specimens buried in muddy-sand sediment from those anchored to rocky substrates. The data suggest that the specimens analyzed, despite living in distinct habitats, belong to the same species, which conchological analyses identified as M. charruana. The presence of an axial rod in their sperm cells supports the inclusion of M. charruana in the subfamily Mytilinae.     

Bioavailability of Copper Bound to Dietary Fiber in Mice and Rats

The bioavailability of copper (Cu) was compared in mice or rats fed diets containing wheat bran-bound Cu and adequate Cu (unbound) or deficient Cu with cellulose or wheat bran. Cardiac and hepatic Cu content were comparable in mice fed bran-bound or adequate Cu and greater than mice fed deficient Cu. Cardiac Cu content was comparable in rats fed bran-bound Cu and adequate Cu and greater than rats fed deficient Cu. Hepatic Cu content, however, was less in rats fed bran-bound Cu than adequate Cu and greater in both than deficient Cu. Both rats and mice utilized dietary Cu bound to wheat bran, suggesting that mineral-fiber interactions may not decrease bioavailability when dietary mineral is adequate. Tissue Cu content in Cudeficiency was lower in animals fed wheat bran compared to cellulose, suggesting that the type of fiber may exacerbate effects of mineral deficiency.     

MODELING FINES ELUTRIATION FROM A SPOUTED BED OF PULP FIBERS

A model was developed to describe the elutriation of fines from a spouted bed of pulp fibers, which is a new method to separate fines from fibers. During spouting the pulp fibers are aggregated in fiber floes, which we model as coarse porous spheres. In general, we can distinguish three liquid regions inside and around a coarse particle in a shear flow: bulk liquid, liquid passing through the sphere, and liquid circulating inside it. A system of three ordinary differential equations describing the balance of fines in these regions was solved numerically. A source term was included to account for the release of fines during the dynamic equilibrium between formation and break-up of fiber floes. Comparison between theory and experiment showed that a simplified two-region model, which contains two adjustable parameters, is adequate to describe the elutriation data.