Essential oil composition and antimicrobial activity of Sphallerocarpus gracilis seeds against selected food-related bacteria

Sphallerocarpus gracilis from China is a little-investigated edible and medicinal plant. In the present study, the essential oil composition from S. gracilis seeds was investigated by GC and GC–MS. A total of 34 compounds representing 94.69% of the essential oil were tentatively identified. The main constituents were p-cymene (17.42%), γ-terpinene (25.58%) and α-asarone (33.12%). The antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the essential oil from S. gracilis seeds were evaluated against eight Gram-positive bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis), four Gram-negative bacteria (Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli) and one fungus (Aspergillus niger). Results revealed that the essential oil from S. gracilis seeds exhibited significant in vitro antimicrobial property. Among all the tested microorganisms, the essential oil showed the strongest inhibitory effect against K. pneumoniae, whereas no inhibitory effect was found against L. monocytogenes and A. niger. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe morphological changes of bacteria treated with the essential oil from S. gracilis seeds. SEM observations confirmed the physical damage and considerable morphological alteration to the tested microorganisms treated with the essential oil. The data of this study suggests that the essential oil from S. gracilis seeds has great potential for application as a natural antimicrobial agent to preserve food.     

Exploring the potential of functionally graded materials concept for the development of fiber cement

In this study we establish the concept of functionally graded fiber cement. We discuss the use of statistical mixture designs to choose formulations and present ideas for the production of functionally graded fiber cement components for Hatschek machines. The feasibility of producing functionally graded fiber cement by grading PVA fiber content has been experimentally evaluated. Thermogravimetric analysis (TG) was employed to assess fiber distribution profiles and four-point bending tests were applied to evaluate the mechanical performance of both conventional and graded composites. The results show that grading PVA fiber content is an effective way to produce functionally graded fiber cement, which allows for a reduction of the total fiber volume without a significant reduction on modulus of rupture of composite. TG tests were found adequate to assess the fiber content at different points in functionally graded fiber cements.     

牛蒡菊糖的提取及其分离纯化

以水提醇沉工艺,采用单因素实验和正交实验设计方法研究料液比、提取温度、提取时间以及提取次数对牛蒡菊糖提取率的影响,得到牛蒡菊糖提取的最佳因素组合：料液比1∶15（g∶mL）,提取温度80℃,提取时间90 min,提取2次,提取率为90.86%。比较不同的脱色、脱蛋白方法,得到纯度较高的均一多糖。     

Review of Broadband Metamaterial Absorbers: From Principles,Design Strategies,and Tunable Properties to Functional Applications

Metamaterial absorbers have been widely studied and continuously concerned owing to their excellent resonance features of ultra-thin thickness, light-weight, and high absorbance. Their applications, however, are typically restricted by the intrinsic dispersion of materials and strong resonant features of patterned arrays (mainly referring to narrow absorption bandwidth). It is, therefore essential to reassert the principles of building broadband metamaterial absorbers (BMAs). Herein, the research progress of BMAs from principles, design strategies, tunable properties to functional applications are comprehensively and deeply summarized. Physical principles behind broadband absorption are briefly discussed, typical design strategies in realizing broadband absorption are further emphasized, such as top-down lithography, bottom-up self-assembly, and emerging 3D printing technology. Diversified active components choices, including optical response, temperature response, electrical response, magnetic response, mechanical response, and multi-parameter responses, are reviewed in achieving dynamically tuned broadband absorption. Following this, the achievements of various interdisciplinary applications for BMAs in energy-harvesting, photodetectors, radar-IR dual stealth, bolometers, noise absorbing, imaging, and fabric wearable are summarized. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for future development of BMAs are discussed.     

Probiotic biological strategies to decontaminate aflatoxin M1 in a traditional Iranian fermented milk drink (Doogh)

Aflatoxin M₁ is an important mycotoxin mostly found in milk and dairy products. The main objective of this work was to study the effects of probiotic strains, a probiotic inoculated population, the physiology of probiotic bacteria and final fermentation pH at four consecutive stages on the reduction of 0.500 ppb of free aflatoxin M₁ (AFM₁) in Doogh (a traditional Iranian fermented milk drink). Samples’ biochemical, microbial and AFM₁ binding characteristics were monitored during fermentation and storage (5 °C for 28 days). An immunoaffinity column was used to extract AFM₁ and a high-performance liquid chromatograph with a fluorescence detector was used to measure it. Results showed that Lactobacillus acidophilus was probiotic strain that most reduced free AFM₁. Inoculation of L. acidophilus at 9 log cfu/mL, despite the higher cost, revealed significantly higher free AFM₁ binding capacity than 7 log cfu/mL. Heat-killed (dead) L. acidophilus bacteria reduced less free AFM₁ at the end of storage than viable. Samples with a final fermentation pH of 4.5 bound more free AFM₁ during fermentation and storage than those with a pH of 4.2. It is concluded that inoculation of 7 log cfu/mL L. acidophilus viable cells in Doogh with a final fermentation pH of 4.5 supplied a safety- and health-promoting and cost-effective drink.     

Does waiving preventive food control inspections in Finland weaken the prerequisites for safe food handling in restaurants?

Finnish food control authorities waived pre-inspections of food premises in 2011, leaving food business operators to begin operating with no pre-operation food control. This study aims to investigate the effects of this food policy change on the preconditions for Good Hygienic Practices (GHPs) on food premises. Of the 916 food premises that were included in this study, 379 were pre-approved whereas 537 merely notified their operations. The results show that notified food service premises (restaurants) preparing food displayed significantly more non-compliance pertaining to infrastructure than did restaurants pre-approved for food preparation (11.5% and 1.8% of the premises, respectively) (p < 0.05). Significant differences also emerged in the number of premises with non-compliance pertaining to cleaning facilities and equipment, and marked differences in the adequacy of hand and other washing sites. Such instances of non-compliance weaken the preconditions for GHPs. The results suggest that re-introducing pre-inspections of restaurants would strengthen the preconditions for GHPs and possibly provide a model for other countries with similar food control systems.     

Removal of aflatoxin B1 by roasting with lemon juice and/or citric acid in contaminated pistachio nuts

Nowadays, aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) could be considered as one of the most hazardous mycotoxins for humans, and nuts comprise one of the major responsible food categories for human exposure to this mycotoxin. Thus, complete elimination of AFB₁ or reduction of its content in nut foods, such as pistachio attracted lots of attentions. In the current study, the efficacy of roasting process by incorporation of lemon juice and/or citric acid on the reduction of AFB₁ in contaminated pistachio nuts (AFB₁ at two levels of 268 and 383 ng/g) was investigated. Significant degradation of AFB₁ (up 93.1% for AFB₁) was recorded by applied treatment protocols. Although roasting of 50 g pistachio nuts with 30 ml water, 30 ml lemon juice and 6 g of citric acid at 120 °C for 1 h resulted to a significant degradation (93.1 ± 8.2%) of AFB₁, this treatment altered the desired physical properties. Roasting with 30 ml water, 15 ml lemon juice and 2.25 g of citric acid at 120 °C for 1 h reduced the level of AFB₁ in 49.2 ± 3.5% of the initial level without a noticeable change in desired appearance of pistachios. Hence, a synergistic effect between heating and lemon juice/citric acid in order to AFB₁ degradation was observed. It could be concluded that roasting process with lemon juice and citric acid could be applied as a useful and safe degradation method of AFB₁ in naturally contaminated pistachio nuts.