Self-organized Ce(1-x)Gd(x)O(2-y) nanowire networks with very fast coarsening driven by attractive elastic interactions

Assembling arrays of ordered nanowires is a key objective for many of their potential applications. However, a lack of understanding and control of the nanowires' growth mechanisms limits their thorough development. In this work, an appealing new path towards self-organized epitaxial nanowire networks produced by high-throughput solution methods is reported. Two requisites are identified to generate the nanowires: a thermodynamic driving force for an unrestricted elongated equilibrium island shape, and a very fast effective coarsening rate. These requirements are met in anisotropically strained Ce(1-x)Gd(x)O(2-y) nanowires with the (011) orientation grown on the (001) surface of LaAlO(3) substrates. Nanowires with aspect ratios above ≈100 oriented along two mutually orthogonal axes are obtained leading to labyrinthine networks. A very fast effective nanowire growth rate (≈60 nm min(-1)) for ex-situ thermally annealed nanostructures derives from simultaneous kinetic processes occurring in a branched network. Ostwald ripening and anisotropic dynamic coalescence, both promoted by strain-driven attractive nanowire interaction, and rapid recrystallization, enabled by fast atomic diffusion associated with a high concentration of oxygen vacancies, contribute to such an effective growth rate. This bottom-up approach to self-organized nanowire growth has a wide potential for many materials and functionalities.     

Magnetically Guided Self‐Assembly and Coding of 3D Living Architectures

In nature, cells self‐assemble at the microscale into complex functional configurations. This mechanism is increasingly exploited to assemble biofidelic biological systems in vitro. However, precise coding of 3D multicellular living materials is challenging due to their architectural complexity and spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Therefore, there is an unmet need for an effective assembly method with deterministic control on the biomanufacturing of functional living systems, which can be used to model physiological and pathological behavior. Here, a universal system is presented for 3D assembly and coding of cells into complex living architectures. In this system, a gadolinium‐based nonionic paramagnetic agent is used in conjunction with magnetic fields to levitate and assemble cells. Thus, living materials are fabricated with controlled geometry and organization and imaged in situ in real time, preserving viability and functional properties. The developed method provides an innovative direction to monitor and guide the reconfigurability of living materials temporally and spatially in 3D, which can enable the study of transient biological mechanisms. This platform offers broad applications in numerous fields, such as 3D bioprinting and bottom‐up tissue engineering, as well as drug discovery, developmental biology, neuroscience, and cancer research.     

A Rapid Size-Exclusion Solid-Phase Extraction Step for Enhanced Sensitivity in Multi-Allergen Determination in Dark Chocolate and Biscuits by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Enhanced sensitivity for the simultaneous determination of five nut allergens in biscuit and in dark chocolate complex matrices was obtained by introduction of a rapid size-exclusion solid-phase extraction-based step before liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS²) analysis. A very fast and efficient separation (<12 min) of marker peptides with selected reaction monitoring detection was obtained. Limits of detection in the 0.1–1.3 mg nut/kg and 5–15 mg nut/kg ranges for biscuit and dark chocolate samples as well as high recoveries (84(±6)–106(±4)% for biscuits and 98(±5)–108(±6)% for dark chocolate) proved the excellent capabilities of the exploited sample treatment method combined with the LC-MS² analysis. Good precision in terms of intra- and inter-day repeatability was calculated, being always lower than 19 % (n?=?75). Linearity was demonstrated up to four and three orders of magnitude for biscuit and dark chocolate, respectively. Finally, the validated method was successfully applied to the investigation of hidden nut trace allergens in commercially available biscuits and chocolates of different brands aiming to ascertain possible discrepancies between allergen content and food allergen labelling.     

Modelling the survival of starter lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacterium bifidum in single and simultaneous cultures

The inactivation kinetics at 4 degrees C of Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, cultured alone or consociated in a laboratory medium (modified MRS broth), were modelled through the Weibull model and a second-order polynomial equation. The initial cell number of S. thermophilus and L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus was approximately 6-7log (CFU/ml); the viability loss after 30 days of storage was 2.87 and 1.99log (CFU/l) for L. delbruckii subsp. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus, cultured alone, respectively; whereas the consociation of lactobacilli and streptococci with bifidobacteria reduced viability loss during storage (0.28 and 0.54log CFU/l for lactobacilli and streptococci, respectively). Finally, the consociation of lactobacilli and streptococci with B. bifidum improved their oxygen uptake.     

Estimation of rheological properties of gelato by FT-NIR spectroscopy

The control of gelato powder mixture production usually is carried out evaluating the gelato liquid phase. The rheological measurements from the present study were conduced on gelato unfrozen liquid phase in order to indirectly evaluate its rheological properties by FT-NIR spectroscopy applied on gelato powders. The calibration set was composed by samples obtained from different recipes having increasing percentage of thickeners, maintaining the proportions of the others compounds constant. After the NIR acquisitions the powders were mixed with warm milk, blended and than settled in order to obtain the unfrozen liquid phase needed for the rheological measurements. For each of the 60 tested recipes three batches with the same thickeners concentration were prepared. The flow curves were obtained with a rotational viscosimeter and were evaluated by using the Ostwald de Waele’s equation and the goodness of fit was evaluated by the R², which was above 0.95. Predictive models of rheological parameters were set up by means of PLS regressions in order to predict the apparent viscosity (η), the consistency coefficient (K) and the flow behaviour index (n) from spectral acquisitions. A high correlation of calibration was found between NIR spectra and apparent viscosity with R² of 0.943. A good correlation was also found between the NIR spectra and the consistency coefficient (K) and flow behaviour index (n), with a determination coefficient (R²) of 0.895 and 0.874, respectively.The good prediction of the models encourages applying them to reduce significantly the time of the powder mixing control during production.     

Effect of ultrasound treatment on properties of gluten-based film

Gluten films obtained in acid conditions display some protein dispersion difficulties. Ultrasound treatment (UT) could represent an interesting strategy for improving gluten film appearance. Different UT exposure times were applied to film-forming dispersion. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of ultrasound treatment on gluten-based films at molecular and mesoscopic levels. Distribution in gliadin and glutenins was determined with SE-HPLC. The UT improved protein dispersion and final film appearance. Sonication did not lead to large changes in various gluten fractions, which suggests absence of important protein breakdown at the molecular level. Gluten showed high tolerance to UT. Surface properties of untreated and treated films were investigated by contact angle measurement: sonication promoted hydrophilic surface properties.Industrial relevanceBio-based packaging has been receiving increasing attention in view of its beneficial impact on the environment. Among proteins, gluten resulted as a very interesting film-forming material. Gluten films prepared in acid conditions showed problems in protein dispersion. Sonication represents a physical strategy which allowed us to obtain gluten-based films without the addition of chemical additives, such as sodium sulphite.     

Supplementation of amino acids in apple must for the standardization of volatile compounds in ciders

The aim of this study was to identify the main amino acids responsible for the production of esters in ciders. The experiments were carried out in apple must and synthetic must. The amino acids were analysed by high‐performance liquid chromatography and the volatile compounds by gas chromatography. Aspartate, asparagine and glutamate positively influenced the production of esters in the cider models and were used in the experiments with mixtures. The response surface generated by the proposed model yielded two regions that maximized the production of esters. In addition, the combination of aspartate and glutamate predicted a higher production. The optimal suggested concentrations were 43.4% of aspartate and 56.6% of glutamate for 120 mg/L of total nitrogen. The apple must supplemented with these two amino acids resulted in four times more esters than in the same cider without supplementation, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed model.     

Rapid and Simultaneous Analysis of Xanthines and Polyphenols as Bitter Taste Markers in Bakery Products by FT-NIR Spectroscopy

The food industry has a direct interest into bitter-tasting substances either for the identification of negative off-flavors or for the monitoring of a desired organoleptic quality. A rapid technique, based on Fourier transform-near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy and able to detect taste molecular markers in bakery commodities, was developed, focusing the attention on biscuits category. Xanthines (caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline) and polyphenols (catechins and epicathechins), considered as mainly responsible for the bitter-taste of coffeecocoachocolate based products, were firstly checked using a confirmatory liquid chromatography (LC)-ESImass spectrometry (MS)-MS procedure after hot methanol–water extraction. Correspondent data were used for the calibration of the FT-NIR through PLS regression. Values of the standard errors of prediction (lower than 10 %) were comparable to the values of the standard errors of cross-validation. Coefficients of determination indicated a good predictive power in the calibration model (R ² xanthines?=?0.97, R ² polyphenols?=?0.96) and a satisfying discriminating power among different contents in the validation models (R ² xanthines?=?0.96, R ² polyphenols?=?0.96). A testing phase on the generated model was executed by a comparison of LC-MS and sensory panel data with FT-NIR responses recorded on unknown biscuits: differences between found and predicted levels were generally below 5 % and the best predictability was achievable in chocolate-based biscuits. This methodology is able to work directly on solid products, has the potential to be expanded on other categories of gustative molecular markers (like sugars) and can be conceived as applicable for a routine control of a standardized bitter taste quality in a real industrial production.     

Classification of juices and fermented beverages made from unripe,ripe and senescent apples based on the aromatic profile using chemometrics

The aim of this study was to assess differences between apple juices and fermented apple beverages elaborated with fruits from different varieties and at different ripening stages in the aroma profile by using chemometrics. Ripening influenced the aroma composition of the apple juice and fermented apple. For all varieties, senescent fruits provided more aromatic fermented apple beverages. However, no significant difference was noticed in samples made of senescent or ripe fruits of the Lisgala variety. Regarding the juices, ripe Gala apple had the highest total aroma concentration. Ethanal was the major compound identified in all the samples, with values between 11.83 mg/L (unripe Lisgala juice) and 81.05 mg/L (ripe Gala juice). 3-Methyl-1-butanol was the major compound identified in the fermented juices. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were applied and classified the juices and fermented juices based on physicochemical and aroma profile, demonstrating their applicability as tools to monitor the quality of apple-based products.