Influence of storage,brine concentration and in‐container heat treatment on the stability of white brined Nabulsi cheese

Microbial levels were significantly (P < 0.05) affected by the temperature‐time treatments used during in‐container heat treatment of the curd, brine concentration and storage duration. A heat treatment of 115 °C × 2 min, in the absence of NaCl, was sufficient to eliminate Mesophilic micro‐organisms, Coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus and Yeast and Moulds for the duration of 1 year of storage. Sensory scores for colour, appearance and texture increased significantly (P < 0.05) with the increase in the NaCl in brine concentration regardless of the temperature‐time treatment.     

Predicting the colour properties of viscose knitted fabrics using soft computing approaches

The aim of this paper was to predict the colour strength of viscose knitted fabrics by using fuzzy logic (FL) model based on dye concentration, salt concentration and alkali concentration as input variables. Moreover, the performance of fuzzy logic (FL) model is compared with that of artificial neural network (ANN) model. In addition, same parameters and data have been used in ANN model. From the experimental study, it was found that dye concentration has the main and greatest effects on the colour strength of viscose knitted fabrics. The coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square (RMS) and mean absolute errors (MAE) between the experimental colour strength and that predicted by FL model are found to be 0.977, 1.025 and 4.61%, respectively. Further, the coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square (RMS) and mean absolute errors (MAE) between the experimental colour strength and that predicted by ANN model are found to be 0.992, 0.726 and 3.28%, respectively. It was found that both ANN and FL models have ability and accuracy to predict the fabric colour strength effectively in non-linear domain. However, ANN prediction model shows higher prediction accuracy than that of Fuzzy model.     

Application of response surface methodology (RSM) for optimization of cassava starch grafted polyDADMAC synthesis for cationic properties

Response surface methodology was used to study the process optimization of cationic percentage through grafting diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC) into cassava starch. Based on Box–Behken design, quadratic models were developed to correlate the synthesis variables: concentration of DADMAC (A), concentration of initiator (B), and polymerization temperature (C), to the responses of cationic percentage (y). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the concentration of initiator was the most significant variable for the response. The optimum preparation conditions for starch grafted polyDADMAC were 14% cationic using 31 g DADMAC/10 g dry starch of concentration DADMAC, a polymerization temperature of 74°C, and 4.92 g cerric ammonium nitrate/10 mL of initiator concentration.     

Isomers of dechlorane plus in Lake Winnipeg and Lake Ontario food webs

The extent of bioaccumulation of the syn- and anti-isomers of Dechlorane Plus (DP) is assessed in archived food web samples from Lake Winnipeg and Lake Ontario. Concentrations of the isomers were determined using purified analytical solutions of individual isomers as opposed to the technical mixture. The syn-isomer was consistently detected in all samples from both lakes; the anti-isomer was detected in all Lake Ontario samples, but only 45% of the samples from Lake Winnipeg. The pattern of bioaccumulation was different for the isomers in Lake Winnipeg. The anti-isomer was dominant in higher trophic level (TL) organisms like walleye [arithmetic mean +/- 1 x standard error: 730 +/- 120 pg/g, lipid weight (1w)] and goldeye (760 +/- 170 pg/g, Iw) while the syn-isomer dominated the lower TL organisms like zooplankton (550 +/- 40 pg/g, Iw) and mussels (430 +/- 140 pg/g, Iw). In Lake Ontario, the extent of bioaccumulation of the isomers and concentrations was greatest in the lower TL benthic organism, Diporeia (syn, 1307 +/- 554; and anti, 3108 +/- 898 pg/g Iw) and also high in zooplankton (syn, 719; and anti, 1332 pg/g Iw). This suggests that the isomers are bioavailable in sediment and that, despite their molecular size, diffusion from the water column into zooplankton can occur. Differences in the mean fractional abundance of the anti-isomer (mean fanti = mean concentration of the anti-isomer divided by sum of mean syn- and anti-concentrations) were pronounced in sediments between lakes (Lake Winnipeg mean fanti = 0.610, Lake Ontario mean fanti = 0.860) and the extent of enrichment (anti-) and depletion (syn-) of the isomers were more marked in Lake Winnipeg biota. There were also differences in the biomagnification potentials, as measured bythe trophic magnification factor (TMF), between the isomers in the Lake Winnipeg food web; no statistically significant TMFs for either isomer were found for the     

Determination of polyphenolic constituents and biological activities of bark extracts from different Pinus species

BACKGROUND: The most common commercially available pine bark extract is Pycnogenol^®, a standardised extract of Pinus maritima, which has been reported to have cardiovascular benefits and enhance microcirculation. The present study was conducted to determine the chemical composition of four pine bark extracts, assess their biological activities and to compare the results with Pycnogenol^®. RESULTS: The Pinus species were analysed by LC and LC‐MS; extracts of P. brutia and P. nigra showed higher levels of phenolic constituents compared to P. sylvestris and P. pinea. In particular, P. brutia contained extremely high concentrations of taxifolin (18.5%). The highest radical scavenging activities were attained with P. pinea (88.6%), P. nigra (87.2%) and P. brutia (86.4%) bark extracts. Additionally, anticarcinogenic effects of the extracts and their kinetics were determined in four cell lines including human prostate (PC‐3, DU 145, LNCaP) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) by the MTT assay. Cell viability was reduced to 40% by extracts of P. pinea, and P. sylvestris in PC‐3 cells showing a similar effect like the positive control, CPT‐11. CONCLUSION: Pinus species other than P. maritima definitively possess high biological activities, and therefore present a huge potential to be utilised in the food and the pharmaceutical industries. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Antioxidant activity and phenolic content of phenolic rich fractions obtained from black cumin (Nigella sativa) seedcake

The antioxidant activities of crude methanolic extract (CME) and its fractions using ethyl acetate (EAF), hexane (HF) and water (WF) of black cumin seedcake were investigated. DPPH radical scavenging activity, β-carotene–linoleate bleaching, and inhibition of corn oil oxidation were used to evaluate the antioxidant capacity. The total phenolics were found to be 78.8, 27.8, 32.1 and 12.1 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g in EAF, CME, WF and HF, respectively. The CME and EAF exhibited the highest DPPH followed by WF and HF. The extract/fractions showed high effect on reducing the oxidation of β-carotene. The effect of extract/fractions on the oxidative stability of corn oil at 70 °C was tested in the dark and compared with butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA). The oil peroxide and anisidine values were generally lower with addition of PRFs in comparison to a control. The predominant phenolic compounds identified by HPLC–DAD in CME and WF of black cumin seedcake were hydroxybenzoic, syringic and p-cumaric acids.     

The flavour components of plum

Summary Gas chromatographic and gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric examination of the aroma components of canned plums obtained by both atmospheric distillation and headspace techniques showed them to be both quantitatively and qualitatively different from those of fresh plums. 25 components were identified, the major ones being 3-hydroxy-butan-2-one, benzaldehyde, nonanal and 2-furaldehyde. Benzaldehyde and nonanal together with benzyl acetate are believed to make a significant contribution to the aroma of canned plums.

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Die Geschmackskomponenten der Pflaume:Eine Untersuchung über die flüchtigen Inhaltsstoffe der Pflaumen in Dosen

Zusammenfassung Gaschromatographische und gaschromatographische-massenspektrometrische Analysen zeigten, daß die Aromastoffe der dosenkonservier ten Pflaumen, sowohl durch atmosphärische Destillation als auch nach der Kopfraum-Technik erhalten, quantitativ sowie qualitativ verschieden von denen der frischen Pflaumen sind. Es wurden 25 Komponenten identifiziert, darunter als Hauptbestandteile 3-Hydroxy-butan-2-on, Benzaldehyd, Nonanal und 2-Furfurol. Benzaldehyd und Nonanal zusammen mit Benzylacetat stellen einen bedeutsamen Beitrag zum Aroma dosenkonservierter Pflaumen dar.