Trypsin from zebra blenny (Salaria basilisca) viscera: Purification,characterisation and potential application as a detergent additive

An alkaline trypsin was purified from the viscera of zebra blenny (Salaria basilisca) by ammonium sulphate (40?80% saturation) precipitation, Sephadex G-100, Mono Q-Sepharose and ultrafiltration. A yield of 12% with a purification-fold of 4.2 was obtained. The trypsin had an apparent molecular weight of 27 kDa. Soybean trypsin inhibitor and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride showed a strong inhibitory effect on the purified trypsin. Trypsin had maximal activity at pH 9.5 and 60 °C for the hydrolysis of Nα-benzoyl-dl-arginine-p-nitroanilide (BAPNA). It was stable at low temperatures and in the pH range of 7.0?12.0. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the first 12 amino acids of the purified protease was IVGGRECTEPSQ. S. basilisca trypsin, which showed high homology with other fish trypsins, had a charged Arg residue at position 5, where Tyr is common in marine vertebrates and mammalian trypsins. The trypsin kinetic constants, K_m and k_cat for BAPNA, were 0.6 mM and 1.38 s^?1, respectively.     

Betalain and Phenolic Compositions,Antioxidant Activity of Tunisian Red Beet (Beta vulgaris L. conditiva) Roots and Stems Extracts

In the present study, betalains content, phenolic composition, and antioxidant activity of different parts of red beet (Beta vulgaris L. conditiva) (i.e., roots and stems) were compared. Crude extract of root showed the highest betalain content with a maximum of 53 ± 4 mg betanin eq and 46 ± 3 mg vulgaxantin I eq g^?1 of extract stems showed higher total phenolic concentration than roots, ranging between 2.0 ± 0.4 and 14.6 ± 0.5 mg gallic acid eq^?1 of extract. Chemical composition was analyzed using LC-MS. Betalains (vulgaxanthin I, betanin, and isobetanin) and phenolics (gallic acid, ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, ellagic acid myricetin, quercetin, rutin, kampferol) were identified in roots and stems. Betalain extract obtained from roots showed higher antioxidant activity than extract obtained from stems.     

Evidence of in vivo satietogen effect and control of food intake of smooth hound (Mustelus mustelus) muscle protein hydrolysate in rats

Protein hydrolysates are of a significant interest, due to their potential application as a source of bioactive peptides in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical domains. The present study was focused on the effect of protein hydrolysate from smooth hound (Mustelus mustelus) (SHPH) in the regulation of components of the food intake control such as satiety. SHPH was produced by intestinal digestive proteases from the same species. The amino acid analysis by GC/MS showed that the hydrolysate was rich in leucine, alanine, glycine, threonine, serine, lysine and glutamate. The molecular weights of peptides in SHPH were estimated by ESI-MS to be between 200 and 2500 Da. Biological in vivo capacities of SHPH in rats were evaluated by determination of the CCK-like peptides and insulin content using a clinical human radioimmunoassay. The food intake and the body weight of rats were measured during the period of treatment. Rats treated with SHPH showed a significant decrease in body weight at the end of treatment, as well as a decrease of food intake. Our findings revealed a possible mechanism of the beneficial effects of SHPH in appetite regulation, and this might be important to prevent the risk of a number of medical conditions including type II diabetes.     

High levels lycopene accumulation by Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1 using lycopene cyclase inhibitors in a fed-batch process

In an attempt to accumulate lycopene in the bacterium Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1 cultured in beet molasses, the influence of lycopene cyclase inhibitors on carotenogenesis (within the range 0–60 ppm) were evaluated. All inhibitors blocked the biosynthesis of canthaxanthin and resulted in accumulation of lycopene as the predominant carotenoid. As the final step of a study aiming at the optimization of culture conditions, a central composite design to a fed-batch process was applied to optimize the concentrations of lycopene cyclase inhibitors (within the range 0–50 ppm) in order to achieve high level accumulation of lycopene from D. natronolimnaea HS-1 cultured in beet molasses. On the basis of this approach, the optimum concentrations of lycopene cyclase inhibitors required to achieve the highest level of lycopene accumulation (8.26±0.17 mg/L) were determined as follows: imidazole, 24.74 ppm; nicotinic acid, 28 ppm; piperidine, 24.05 ppm; pyridine, 27.6 ppm; and triethylamine, 23.22 ppm.     

Adaptive RANSAC and extended region-growing algorithm for object recognition over remote-sensing images

Multimedia Tools and Applications - In this paper, a new approach is proposed for object recognition in remote-sensing images. In the proposed approach, the matching process between the object in...