Effects of non-thermal plasma treating wheat kernel on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles

The effects of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles ( FWN) were investigated. The results showed that NTP effectively decreased the total plate count (TPC), yeast and mould count (YMC) and Bacillus spp. in wheat flour. Wet gluten contents and the stability time reached the maximum when treated for 20 s. The viscosity of starch increased significantly after treatment due to the increased of damaged starch. The contents of secondary structure were altered to some extent, which was because that the ordered network structure of gluten protein broken. Furthermore, compared with the control, texture properties of FWN were enhanced significantly at 20 s, and the darkening rate of FWN was greatly inhibited due to the low polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. Consequently, the most suitable treatment was 500 W for 20 s, providing a basis for the application of NTP in flour products.     

Effects of malondialdehyde-induced protein oxidation on the structural characteristics of rice protein

Malondialdehyde (MDA) was selected to represent a secondary by-product of lipid peroxidation during rice ageing. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MDA modification on the structural characteristics of rice protein. The results showed that as MDA concentration increased, rice protein carbonyl and disulphide groups increased, but sulphydryl content decreased. The blue shift of maximum fluorescence peak, the decrease of rice protein intrinsic fluorescence intensity and the reduction of surface hydrophobicity indicated the formation of protein aggregates caused by MDA oxidative modification. The results of molecular weight distribution and particle size distribution showed that MDA modification resulted in the formation of soluble protein aggregates, and the decrease of rice protein solubility indicated that insoluble protein aggregates were formed. Results of protein electrophoresis showed that MDA modification contributed to rice protein aggregation via non-disulphide covalent bonds. The results showed that rice protein gradually aggregated with increasing MDA concentration.     

Performance evaluation of structural concrete using controlled quality coarse and fine recycled concrete aggregate

This paper presents the fresh, mechanical, and durability performance, of a structural concrete mix classified as C-1, by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) made with controlled quality Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA). Five mixes with water-to-cementing material (w/cm) ratio of 0.40 were produced with various RCA contents and tested against two 0% RCA control mixes made with General Use (GU) cement, and General Use Limestone cement (GUL). The RCA contents in the mixes were 10%, 20%, and 30% by coarse aggregate volume replacement, as well as 10% and 20% fine and coarse (granular) aggregate volume replacement. All evaluated mixes met the specifications from the CSA for fresh, mechanical, and durability properties. The coarse RCA mixes performed better than the granular RCA mixes in terms of flexural and splitting tensile strengths, linear drying shrinkage, water sorptivity, and rapid chloride-ion permeability, where the test results were significantly affected by the ultra fines present in the granular RCA.     

Phenolic Phytoalexins in Rice: Biological Functions and Biosynthesis

Phytoalexins are inducible secondary metabolites possessing antimicrobial activity against phytopathogens. Rice produces a wide array of phytoalexins in response to pathogen attacks and environmental stresses. With few exceptions, most phytoalexins identified in rice are diterpenoid compounds. Until very recently, flavonoid sakuranetin was the only known phenolic phytoalexin in rice. However, recent studies have shown that phenylamides are involved in defense against pathogen attacks in rice. Phenylamides are amine-conjugated phenolic acids that are induced by pathogen infections and abiotic stresses including ultra violet (UV) radiation in rice. Stress-induced phenylamides, such as N-trans-cinnamoyltryptamine, N-p-coumaroylserotonin and N-cinnamoyltyramine, have been reported to possess antimicrobial activities against rice bacterial and fungal pathogens, an indication of their direct inhibitory roles against invading pathogens. This finding suggests that phenylamides act as phytoalexins in rice and belong to phenolic phytoalexins along with sakuranetin. Phenylamides also have been implicated in cell wall reinforcement for disease resistance and allelopathy of rice. Synthesis of phenolic phytoalexins is stimulated by phytopathogen attacks and abiotic challenges including UV radiation. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that biosynthetic pathways including the shikimate, phenylpropanoid and arylmonoamine pathways are coordinately activated for phenolic phytoalexin synthesis, and related genes are induced by biotic and abiotic stresses in rice.     

Effect of chitosan on Bacillus cereus inhibition and quality of cooked rice during storage

Improper cooling of cooked rice at an inappropriate temperature or leaving cooked rice at room temperature can cause food poisoning attributed to Bacillus cereus. Natural food preservative of either squid or crab polymer chitosan solution was added to examine their antibacterial properties against Bacillus cereus in cooked rice during storage at 37 and 4 °C. Both types of chitosan could retard the growth of B. cereus and total aerobic counts in cooked rice stored at 37 °C up to 1 day. In addition, the effect of chitosans on the physical and textural properties of cooked rice during storage was studied. Both chitosans slightly increased the moisture content of cooked rice. However, chitosans had no effect on the whiteness and hardness of cooked rice during storage (P > 0.05). Therefore, both chitosans have a potential to be used as food preservative for cooked rice with no negative effects on rice quality.     

一种5 重real-time PCR筛查转基因水稻方法的建立

以转基因水稻中最常用的CaMV35S启动子、NOS终止子、Cry1Ab/Ac基因、HPT基因及SPS水稻内标基因为研究对象，利用5 种不同的荧光信号（FAM、HEX、Taxas Red、Cy5、Cy5.5）进行多重实时聚合酶链式反应（real-time polymerase chain reaction，real-time PCR）检测方法的研究。通过引物组合筛选、反应体系优化、特异性测试、灵敏度测试、适用性测试等一系列实验，建立了5 重real-time PCR方法，灵敏度可达0.032%。此方法具有灵敏度高、结果准确、通量大等优点，可实现水稻中转基因成分的快速、高效检测。     

Why do small business butcher shops fail to fully implement HACCP?

This study aims to assess the degree of HACCP implementation in small business butcher shops and understand which factors most influence butchers' intention to fully implement it, through the application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. One hundred and one butchers managing or owning small butcher's responded to the interview regarding their Attitudes, Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavioural Control, Personal Norm, and Knowledge with regard to their Intention to fully implement a HACCP system in their shops. Before the interviews, a certified veterinarian visited all the shops. Visits included an inspection of the establishments using the Official Portuguese Control Plan checklist for meat retailers. Conformance level measured past performance regarding food safety practices. Based on past performance, butchers were divided into “high performers” and “low performers”. “High performers” yielded high values of Attitude and Intention towards the Behaviour. For these, Attitude and Personal Norm emerge as predictors of the Intention to fully implement a HACCP system. For “low performers”, Personal Norm was the strongest predictor of Intention, with results pointing to the need for an intervention from the authorities to promote increased conformance to food safety practices. For both groups, neither Social Norm nor Perceived Behavioural Control acted as significant predictors of Intention.     

Application of Vis–NIR hyperspectral imaging in classification between fresh and frozen-thawed pork Longissimus Dorsi muscles

Fresh and frozen-thawed (F-T) pork meats were classified by Vis–NIR hyperspectral imaging. Eight optimal wavelengths (624, 673, 460, 588, 583, 448, 552 and 609 nm) were selected by successive projections algorithm (SPA). The first three principal components (PCs) obtained by principal component analysis (PCA) accounted for over 99.98% of variance. Gray-level-gradient co-occurrence matrix (GLGCM) was applied to extract 45 textural features from the PC images. The correct classification rate (CCR) was employed to evaluate the performance of the partial least squares-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) models, by using (A) the reflected spectra at full wavelengths and (B) those at the optimal wavelengths, (C) the extracted textures based on the PC images, and (D) the fused variables combining spectra at the optimal wavelengths and textures. The results showed that the best CCR of 97.73% was achieved by applying (D), confirming the high potential of textures for fresh and F-T meat discrimination.