Effect of cut‐type on quality of minimally processed papaya

BACKGROUND: This research was undertaken to study the effects of different cut‐types (cube, parallelepiped, cylinder and sphere) on the quality and shelf‐life of papaya cv. Sunrise Solo. Physicochemical analyses were carried out during 10 days of storage at 4 °C to determine colour, firmness, pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids, weight loss and vitamin C content. Microbiological analysis and sensory evaluation were also performed. RESULTS: Papaya spheres (1.55 cm radius) presented the most favourable physicochemical and microbiological properties (smaller changes in colour parameters L*, a*, b*, chroma and hue angle, firmer texture, lower increase in pH, higher titratable acidity, almost constant total soluble solids, reduced weight loss, high vitamin C content and lower microbial loads) and sensory characteristics on day 10, while papaya cubes (1.4 cm side) proved to be the least acceptable. CONCLUSION: The results of physicochemical, microbiological and sensory analyses performed on different cut‐types of papaya indicated acceptable fresh‐cut produce during 10 days of storage at 4 °C. The potential shelf‐life at 4 °C is therefore 10 days, provided that no contamination occurs in the postharvest period and during minimal processing operations. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Fluorescence in situ hybridization for detection of classical propionibacteria with specific 16S rRNA-targeted probes and its application to enumeration in Gruyère cheese

The classical or dairy propionibacteria have well-documented industrial applications and have been proposed for probiotic applications. Given their industrial importance it is necessary to employ fast and reliable techniques to monitor the growth during products elaboration, industrial fermentations or the intestinal transit. Therefore, the aim of this investigation was to design oligonucleotide probes targeting the 16S rRNA of dairy propionibacteria and optimise the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) protocol to detect these bacteria. Two specific probes were in silico designed to detect Propionibacterium freudenreichii and P. jensenii, named Pfr435 and Pj446 respectively. The FISH protocol was optimised for the hybridisation of propionibacteria cells with the universal probe Eub338 and the designed probes. These probes were assayed in situ for their specificity to hybridise species of propionibacteria by observation using fluorescence microscopy and results were compared with the probe Pap446 previously designed for P. acidipropionici. Probes Pap446, Pfr435 and Pj446 were also evaluated by fluorescence spectrophotometry to assess the influence of cells physiological state during growth in batch culture in the fluorescence intensity. The maximum fluorescence intensity was observed at the onset of the stationary phase of growth and was then reduced. However, changes on the cells permeability did not reduce the efficiency of 16S rRNA hybridisation with the fluorescence-labelled probes. Propionibacteria counts obtained by FISH and plate count methods were compared in a commercial Gruyère cheese. The results showed that this method can be used as a rapid technique for the enumeration of these bacteria in cheese samples.     

RNA fingerprinting using RAP-PCR identifies an EBAF homologue mRNA differentially expressed in rat oviduct.

As a step towards the identification of genes preferentially expressed in the oviduct during early rat embryo development, we isolated a cDNA fragment (Pr14) by using RNA arbitrarily primed PCR (RAP-PCR), being its expression restricted to oviduct and uterus; its mRNA is mainly expressed in oviduct during late luteal phase and early pregnancy. This fragment is 100% identical to a rat DNA sequence (Accession No. NW_047400) downstream the terminal exon of a Ratturs norvegicus gene (Locus Link Accession No. LOC289316) similar to ebaf (endometrial bleeding-associated factor), a novel member of the Transforming Growth Factor superfamily. Northern analyses showed that this sequence hybridizes with 2.9 kb and 4.1 kb mRNAs in early pregnant rat oviducts. However, only the 4.1 kb mRNA was detected in the oviduct of non-pregnant rats, showing an increase from proestrus to diestrus. The expression of this oviduct-uterus specific mRNA suggests that the products of this gene may play a role in the oviductal reproductive process.