Comparative evaluation of nutritional compositions between transgenic rice harboring the <Emphasis Type="Italic">CaMsrB2</Emphasis> gene and the conventional counterpart

As a part of a safety assessment of new transgenic crops, compositional equivalence studies between transgenic crops with non-transgenic comparators are almost universally required. This study was conducted to compare nutritional profiles of proximate composition, and fatty acid, amino acid, mineral, and vitamin contents, and anti-nutrients, between transgenic drought-tolerant Agb0103 rice harboring the pepper methionine sulfoxide reductase B2 gene CaMsrB2 and the parental rice cultivar, ‘Ilmi’ as a non-transgenic control. Both transgenic and non-transgenic rice were grown and harvested in 2 different locations. Proximate compositions of moisture, starch, protein, lipid, and ash content of Agb0103 rice were similar to parental non-transgenic rice. There were no differences between transgenic and non-transgenic rice with respect to the whole nutritional composition, except for minor locality differences for a few nutritional components. Agb0103 rice with improved resistance to drought is nutritionally equivalent to the parental rice cultivar.     

Comparative analysis of phytochemicals and polar metabolites from colored sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) tubers

Food Science and Biotechnology - We determined the phytochemical diversity, including carotenoids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and phenolic acids, in sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas L.) with...     

Multifunctional hybrid polymer nanocomposites for automotive-battery packaging

Global sales of new electric vehicles (EV) already passed a million units last year. Lithium-ion battery packs are composed of cells and assembly of modules. Nevertheless, the development of light-weighted with high oxygen and moisture barrierability remains one of the untouched issues in battery technology. This study aimed to fabricate multifunctional hybrid nanocomposites for barrier films for Li-ion battery packs on electric vehicles applications. The synthesized carbon supported MgO nanoparticles (hereafter referred to as CSMO) were dispersed in high density polyethylene (HDPE) polymer to satisfy several requirements for EV battery packs. The loading amount of MgO was achieved up to 22 wt % of carbon, and the size distribution was in the range of 50 to 100 nm. The hybrid nanocomposites were characterized by water-vapor transmission rate (WVTR), various spectroscopic methods, thermo-gravimetric analysis and elemental analysis. Mechanical properties were also tested. The extremely low WVTR value of CSMO/HDPE composites below 0.5 mgm⁻² day⁻¹ is the lowest value among any other gas barrier films reported in the literature. Suitable mechanical properties were also achieved. The newly proposed multifunctional hybrid nanocomposites would be very promising for barrier films on automotive packaging applications.