Assignment of raw material and authentication of spirits by gas chromatography, hydrogen- and carbon-isotope ratio measurements I. Analytical methods and results of a study of commercial products

Gas chromatography and the determination of natural isotope ratios are powerful analytical methods which can be used to check the authenticity of alcoholic beverages and to detect any adulteration. To check the origin and the authenticity of commercial fruit spirits, whiskies, etc., 197 samples were analysed by gas chromatography, ²H-NMR and ¹³C isotope mass spectrometry. The discrimination between different varieties was demonstrated by bivariate and multivariate discriminant analysis using different concentrations of volatile compounds such as methanol, butan-1-ol, 2- and 3-methyl-butanol, benzaldehyde and hexanol as well as isotopic data like (D/H)_I, (D/H)_II and ¹³C/¹²C isotopomers of ethanol. The results show that by using multivariate discriminant analysis it is possible to distinguish not only between different groups of spirits, e.g. those made of stone-fruit, malaceous fruit, grain and corn, but also between individual varieties, such as cherry, plum, mirabelle and apple. If the detection of highly rectified ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin and the identification of its raw materials are required, then natural isotope ratios are the only discriminant analytical parameters available.     

Trypsin inhibitor activity of soybean as affected by genotype and fertilisation

The presence of protease inhibitors in soybean prohibits the utilisation of the raw beans for food and feed. However, little information is available about environmental influences and the effects of nitrogen and sulphur supply on the antinutritional constituents of soybean. As these factors may influence protease inhibitors, soybean genotypes segregated according to the presence or absence of the Kunitz trypsin inhibitor have been evaluated for trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) in field trials. TIA was affected significantly by environment (geographical location), fertilisation treatment and genotype. Environmental means of TIA were between 69.5 and 104.8 mg g^?1. Nitrogen application, which caused an increase in seed protein content, resulted in a reduction in TIA by about 15% as compared with the control. Remarkably, simultaneous application of nitrogen and sulphur in the form of ammonium sulphate had a similar reductive effect on TIA to that of nitrogen application alone, although soybean protease inhibitors are rich in sulphur amino acids. Significant genetic variation in TIA was found both within the genotype class with the Kunitz inhibitor present as well as within the class lacking this inhibitor. The results suggest that TIA of soybean may be modified considerably by genetic improvement and appropriate agronomic management. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Methods used for the isolation, enumeration, characterisation and identification of Enterococcus spp. 2. Pheno- and genotypic criteria

This paper reviews the methodology applied for the identification and characterisation of enterococci and covers phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic techniques. Although conventional phenotypic typing schemes are useful for rapid and simple identification of enterococcal species for routine applications, other methods like standardised sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), antimicrobial susceptibility testing, serotyping, pyrolysis mass spectrometry (pyMS) and vibrational spectroscopic methods allow a more in-depth characterisation of enterococci. Many of the recently described enterococcal species exhibit deviations from hitherto so-called classical enterococci with regard to their phenotypical properties. Therefore, genotypic methods have to be used to clarify their possible assignment to the genus Enterococcus. In this review, special emphasis is given on recently developed polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based typing methods such as random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), specific and random amplification (SARA) and modifications of PCR-ribotyping as well as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and partial sequence analysis. The use of PCR and probes for genus and species identification of enterococci is also considered like the application of sequence data of conserved DNA regions (e.g., ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) genes) in the case of species identification.     

Gemeinsame österreichisch-ungarische Sedimentforschung im Rahmen des EFRE-Projektes SEDDON

The multiple uses of the Danube River for navigation, hydropower production and as a drinking water supply influence its ecological quality. Flow restrictions due to regulation as well as impacts on the sediment regime such as retention in the catchment area and interruption of the sediment continuum result in changes of the hydromorphological structures and can produce major problems in the context of sediment management. In light of these facts, cross-border investigations of sediment transport at the Danube River are called for. As there are no uniform research approaches shared by Austria and Hungary, the EU-funded project SEDDON (Sediment Research and Management at the Danube River) aims to compare different monitoring and modeling techniques used to determine sediment transport, and to develop mutual solutions. Further, the laboratory equipment currently used for hydraulic model experiments is evaluated and a research channel with a free flowing discharge of up to 10 m³/s without pumping will be constructed, allowing large-scale joint laboratory tests concerning sediment to be performed.     

Occurrence of benzene as a heat-induced contaminant of carrot juice for babies in a general survey of beverages

A survey of benzene contamination of 451 beverage samples, using headspace sampling combined with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS) with a quantification limit of 0.13 microg l(-1), was conducted. Artefactual benzene formation during headspace sampling was excluded by gentle heating at 50 degrees C only and adjustment of sample pH to 10. The incidence of benzene contamination in soft drinks, beverages for babies, alcopops and beer-mixed drinks was relatively low, with average concentrations below the EU drinking-water limit of 1 microg l(-1). Significantly higher concentrations were only found in carrot juice, with the highest levels in carrot juice specifically intended for infants. About 94% of 33 carrot juice for infants had detectable benzene levels, with an average concentration of 1.86 +/- 1.05 microg l(-1). Benzene contamination of beverages was significantly correlated to iron and copper concentrations, which act as catalyst in benzene formation. The formation of benzene in carrot juice was predominantly caused by a heat-induced mechanism, which explains the higher levels in infant carrot juices that are subject to higher heat-treatment to exclude microbiological contamination.     

Environmental and genetic variation of soybean seed protein content under Central European growing conditions

Seed protein content is important for both feed and food utilisation of soybean. In soybeans grown in Central Europe, considerable variation in protein content was due to seasonal influences, as demonstrated in different experiments from a breeding programme. In soybean genotypes of early maturity groups, average to high protein content (range 399—476 g kg⁻¹) was found in years with high air temperature and moderate rates of rainfall during the seed‐filling period, whereas seed protein content was drastically reduced (range 265–347 g kg⁻¹) in seasons of insufficient nitrogen fixation or higher amounts of precipitation during seed filling. In a set of 60 genotypes, protein content was increased both by late nitrogen fertilisation before the onset of seed filling and by inoculation of seed with nitrogen‐fixing rhizobia. Despite the high degree of environmental modification, genetic variation of seed protein content was considerable, and genotype × environment interaction was of low magnitude. Therefore selection of early maturing soybean genotypes with improved seed protein content appears to be feasible and is only limited by the moderately negative correlation between protein content and seed yield. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Kinetic Control of Long-Range Cationic Ordering in the Synthesis of Layered Ni-Rich Oxides

Deciphering the sophisticated interplay between thermodynamics and kinetics of high-temperature lithiation reaction is fundamentally significant for designing and preparing cathode materials. Here, the formation pathway of Ni-rich layered ordered LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ (O-LNCM622O) is carefully characterized using in situ synchrotron radiation diffraction. A fast nonequilibrium phase transition from the reactants to a metastable disordered Li_1−x(Ni_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2)_1+xO₂ (D-LNCM622O, 0 < x < 0.95) takes place while lithium/oxygen is incorporated during heating before the generation of the equilibrium phase (O-LNCM622O). The time evolution of the lattice parameters for layered nonstoichiometric D-LNCM622O is well-fitted to a model of first-order disorder-to-order transition. The long-range cation disordering parameter, Li/TM (TM = Ni, Co, Mn) ion exchange, decreases exponentially and finally reaches a steady-state as a function of heating time at selected temperatures. The dominant kinetic pathways revealed here will be instrumental in achieving high-performance cathode materials. Importantly, the O-LNCM622O tends to form the D-LNCM622O with Li/O loss above 850 °C. In situ XRD results exhibit that the long-range cationic (dis)ordering in the Ni-rich cathodes could affect the structural evolution during cycling and thus their electrochemical properties. These insights may open a new avenue for the kinetic control of the synthesis of advanced electrode materials.