A comparison of flavonoids,carotenoids and vitamin C in commercial organic and conventional marinara pasta sauce

BACKGROUND: Characterising the levels of key phytochemicals in foods commonly consumed in the Western diet is critical for database development, estimating intake and assessing the potential health benefits associated with the consumption of these products. This paper describes a market‐basket evaluation of the key flavonoids, carotenoids and vitamin C in commercial organic (five brands) and conventional (five brands) marinara pasta sauces. RESULTS: Levels of ascorbic acid ranged from undetected up to 6.87 mg per 100 g fresh weight. The levels of total vitamin C in six of the ten samples were significantly lower than the amount listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel (P < 0.001 or P < 0.01). The contents of total vitamin C, flavonoids and lycopene were not statistically different between organic and conventional samples. Conventional pasta sauces demonstrated a significantly higher level of all‐trans‐β‐carotene (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This suggests that any beneficial differences in levels of flavonoids, carotenoids and vitamin C gained through cultivation practices are not measurable at the consumer level in processed tomato products. Additionally, the results point to a large disparity between the actual vitamin C content of these products and the content listed on the Nutrition Facts Panel. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Changes in the antioxidant capacity and phenolic compounds of <Emphasis Type="Italic">maesil</Emphasis> extract during one-year fermentation

This study aimed to identify the effects of soaking time and fermentation temperature and period on the total phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity of maesil extract. Green maesil fruits were fermented with brown sugar at 15 or 25°C for one year. After soaking maesil for 90 days, the fruits were removed and the remaining liquid was further ripened for 275 days, whereas other samples continued to ferment with maesil until 365 days. Total phenolics, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activities of the extracts fermented with maesil for one year were higher compared with those wherein the fruits were removed at day 90. The total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were relatively higher at 15°C, whereas the ABTS and ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) activities were significantly higher at 25°C. The total phenolic and total flavonoid contents highly correlated with the antioxidant activities. These results show that fermentation temperature plays a critical role in enhancing the phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of maesil extract.     

TM4SF5-Mediated Regulation of Hepatocyte Transporters during Metabolic Liver Diseases

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is found in up to 30% of the world’s population and can lead to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which has a poor 5-year relative survival rate of less than 40%. Clinical therapeutic strategies are not very successful. The co-occurrence of metabolic disorders and inflammatory environments during the development of steatohepatitis thus needs to be more specifically diagnosed and treated to prevent fatal HCC development. To improve diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, the identification of molecules and/or pathways responsible for the initiation and progression of chronic liver disease has been explored in many studies, but further study is still required. Transmembrane 4 L six family member 5 (TM4SF5) has been observed to play roles in the regulation of metabolic functions and activities in hepatocytes using in vitro cell and in vivo animal models without or with TM4SF5 expression in addition to clinical liver tissue samples. TM4SF5 is present on the membranes of different organelles or vesicles and cooperates with transporters for fatty acids, amino acids, and monocarbohydrates, thus regulating nutrient uptake into hepatocytes and metabolism and leading to phenotypes of chronic liver diseases. In addition, TM4SF5 can remodel the immune environment by interacting with immune cells during TM4SF5-mediated chronic liver diseases. Because TM4SF5 may act as an NAFLD biomarker, this review summarizes crosstalk between TM4SF5 and nutrient transporters in hepatocytes, which is related to chronic liver diseases.     

Degradation Pathways of Cobalt-Free LiNiO2 Cathode in Lithium Batteries

Electrode-electrolyte reactivity (EER) and particle cracking (PC) are considered two main causes of capacity fade in high-nickel layered oxide cathodes in lithium-based batteries. However, whether EER or PC is more critical remains debatable. Herein, the fundamental correlation between EER and PC is systematically investigated with LiNiO₂ (LNO), the ultimate cobalt-free lithium layered oxide cathode. Specifically, EER is found more critical than secondary particle cracking (SPC) in determining the cycling stability of LNO; EER leads to primary particle cracking, but mitigates SPC due to the inhibition of H2-H3 phase transformation. Two surface degradation pathways are identified for cycled LNO under low and high EERs. A common blocking surface reconstruction layer (SRL) containing electrochemically-inactive Ni₃O₄ spinel and NiO rock-salt phases is formed on LNO in an electrolyte with a high EER; in contrast, an electrochemically-active SRL featuring regions of electron- and lithium-ion-conductive LiNi₂O₄ spinel phase is formed on LNO in an electrolyte with a low EER. These findings unveil the intrinsic degradation pathways of LNO cathode and are foreseen to provide new insights into the development of lithium-based batteries with a minimized EER and a maximized service life.     

Lemon juice improved color acceptance of aronia (Aronia melanocarpa) pound cake by copigmentation

Food Science and Biotechnology - Anthocyanins can be changed into dark purplish color during pound cake preparation due to high temperature and alkaline baking soda, which lowers color acceptance...     

Highly Improved Photocurrent Density and Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells via Inclined Fluorine Sputtering Process (Adv. Funct. Mater. 25/2023)

Increase in incident light and surface modification of the charge transport layer are powerful routes to achieve high-performance efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by improving the short-circuit current density (J_SC) and charge transport characteristics, respectively. However, few techniques are studied to reduce reflection loss and simultaneously improve the electrical performance of the electron transport layer (ETL). Herein, an inclined fluorine (F) sputtering process to fabricate high-performance PSCs is proposed. The proposed process simultaneously implements the antireflection effect of F coating and the effect of F doping on a TiO₂ ETL, which increases the amount of light transmitted into the PSC due to the extremely low refractive index (≈1.39) and drastically improves the electrical properties of TiO₂. Consequently, the J_SC of the F coating and doping perovskite solar cell (F-PSC) increased from 25.05 to 26.01 mA cm⁻², and the power conversion efficiency increased from 24.17% to 25.30%. The unencapsulated F-PSC exhibits enhanced air stability after 900 h of exposure to ambient environment atmosphere (30% relative humidity, 25 °C under dark condition). The inclined F sputtering process in this study can become a universal method for PSCs from the development stage to commercialization in the future.