Microstructure of Feta Cheese Made Using Different Cultures as Determined by Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy

ABSTRACT: The objective of this work was to observe the microstructure of feta cheese using confocal scanning laser microscopy. Low fat cheese and cheese containing capsule-producing cultures were made. The protein network was observed using the reflectance mode of the confocal microscope. Fat was stained by Nile red dye diluted with whey. More even distribution of fat with a larger number of smaller globules was observed in cheese made with noncapsule-forming culture compared to that made with the capsule-forming culture. Nonfat cheese had compact structure when made with noncapsule-forming culture which contrasted with the open structure observed in cheese made with the capsule-forming culture     

Impact of the addition of an enzyme pool on an activated sludge system treating dairy wastewater under fat shock loads

BACKGROUND: The application of lipase‐rich enzyme pools (such as the crude solid enzymatic preparation (SEP) obtained from Penicillium restrictum solid‐state fermentation of agro‐industrial wastes) to activated sludge systems may be an effective strategy for preventing various operational problems. The continuous addition of SEP to the treatment system can become cost‐prohibitive when in situ production and/or storage are factored in. The application of SEP to high‐fat wastewater treatment would only be justified as an emergency measure, such as a sudden increase in the fat content of the bioreactor influent. Therefore, the primary objective of this work was to investigate the efficiency of a crude SEP during fat shock loads, simulated through the periodic addition of dairy industry waste containing high fat concentrations to the feed stock of an activated sludge system, operated in continuous mode. RESULTS: The test bioreactor exhibited a higher average chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency than the control bioreactor (83% for control and 90% for test) and the fat accumulation in the biological flocs of the test bioreactor was 3.2 times lower than that in the control bioreactor. Turbidity was also lower in the effluent of the test bioreactor (123 and 66 FTU in control and test, respectively) and it had a shorter recovery time between shock loads, especially when the interval between loads was shorter than one month (biweekly and weekly shock loads). CONCLUSION: The addition of SEP during fat overloads in the reactor feed maintained efficient COD removal in the test bioreactor for 270 days without any operational problems. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

The Effect of Lactates on the Quality of Microwave-Cooked Chicken Patties during Storage

ABSTRACT:  The aim of this study was to determine the effect of adding 3.3% sodium lactate (SL), 0.25% calcium lactate (CL), and 1.65% SL along with 0.125% CL (SL+CL) on the physicochemical properties, cooking characteristics, and microbiological quality of microwave-cooked chicken patties compared to control (no added lactates). The addition of lactates did not affect the proximate composition of cooked chicken patties. The pH of CL- or SL+CL-containing patties was significantly ( P < 0.05) reduced compared to control or SL patties. The SL-containing patties had lower ( P < 0.05) a _w values compared to control or CL patties. The CL- or SL+CL-containing patties had lower denatured myoglobin and higher ( P < 0.05) cooking yield, surface redness (CIE a *), and chroma values. However, addition of CL alone resulted in higher total expressible fluid, indicating lower water-holding capacity. The CL-containing patties exhibited lower Warner–Bratzler shear force values and higher ( P < 0.05) penetrometer reading compared to the SL-containing patties, indicating soft texture. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values were significantly ( P < 0.05) reduced in all lactate-containing patties compared to control up to the 7th day of refrigerated storage under aerobic conditions. No difference ( P > 0.05) was observed in aerobic plate counts between control and lactate-added patties during 28-d storage.     

Effects of different cooking methods on the formation of food mutagens in meat

Hamburgers and chicken fillets were cooked in convection ovens, deep‐fried or contact fried and analysed for mutagenic activity using the Ames test. For the three different convection ovens, the cooking parameters studied included the presence of steam, air velocity, air temperature and holding time. For deep‐frying and contact frying, the cooking parameters included cooking temperature and cooking time. In cooked hamburgers, mutagenic activity was only detected in those that had been deep‐fried. In chicken fillets, mutagenic activity was detected in samples prepared with all cooking methods, being highest in the deep‐fried samples. Factorial analysis indicated that heat transfer was the most important factor affecting mutagenic activity. High temperature and high air velocity in the convection ovens enhanced mutagenic activity. The presence of steam reduced the mutagenic activity, except when high temperature was used in combination with high air velocity. In chicken fillets, high mutagenic activity correlated to high weight loss during cooking. Pan‐fried chicken fillets were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the mutagenic/carcinogenic heterocyclic amines 2‐amino‐3,8‐dimethylimidazo[4,5‐f ]‐quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2‐amino‐1‐methyl‐6‐phenylimidazo‐[4,5‐b]‐pyridine (PhIP) and the co‐mutagenic heterocyclic amine Norharman (9H‐pyrido[3,4‐b]‐indole) were identified. The HPLC fractions were tested for mutagenic activity and, apart from the mutagenic fractions corresponding to MeIQx and PhIP, several mutagenic fractions were detected that did not correspond to known heterocyclic amines.     

Component fatty acids of Cladosporium herbarum fat

Cladosporium herbarum grown as a surface culture in a chemically defined medium of sucrose and inorganic salts gave a high yield of fat (29.2%). The component acids of this fat have been found to be palmitic (34.2%); oleic (15.9%); linoleic (34.2%) and linolenic (15.7%). The combined proportion of linoleic and linolenic acids being about 50 per cent, the fat will be of great value for the manufacture of oil-modified resins as the films produced by such resins do not become yellow with age.     

The Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane Model: A New In Vivo Tool to Evaluate Breast Cancer Stem Cell Activity

The high plasticity of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) allows them to differentiate and proliferate, specifically when xenotransplanted subcutaneously into immunocompromised mice. CSCs are highly tumorigenic, even when inoculated in small numbers. Thus, in vivo limiting dilution assays (LDA) in mice are the current gold standard method to evaluate CSC enrichment and activity. The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a low cost, naturally immune-incompetent and reproducible model widely used to evaluate the spontaneous growth of human tumor cells. Here, we established a CAM-LDA assay able to rapidly reproduce tumor specificities—in particular, the ability of the small population of CSCs to form tumors. We used a panel of organotropic metastatic breast cancer cells, which show an enrichment in a stem cell gene signature, enhanced CD44⁺/CD24^−/low cell surface expression and increased mammosphere-forming efficiency (MFE). The size of CAM-xenografted tumors correlate with the number of inoculated cancer cells, following mice xenograft growth pattern. CAM and mice tumors are histologically comparable, displaying both breast CSC markers CD44 and CD49f. Therefore, we propose a new tool for studying CSC prevalence and function—the chick CAM-LDA—a model with easy handling, accessibility, rapid growth and the absence of ethical and regulatory constraints.     

Different Expression of Mitochondrial and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Genes in Epicardial Adipose Tissue Depends on Coronary Atherosclerosis

The aim of our study was to analyze mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) gene expression profiles in subcutaneous (SAT) and epicardial (EAT) adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, and myocardium in patients with and without CAD undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Thirty-eight patients, 27 with (CAD group) and 11 without CAD (noCAD group), undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valvular surgery were included in the study. EAT, SAT, intercostal skeletal muscle, and right atrium tissue and blood samples were collected at the start and end of surgery; mRNA expression of selected mitochondrial and ER stress genes was assessed using qRT-PCR. The presence of CAD was associated with decreased mRNA expression of most of the investigated mitochondrial respiratory chain genes in EAT, while no such changes were seen in SAT or other tissues. In contrast, the expression of ER stress genes did not differ between the CAD and noCAD groups in almost any tissue. Cardiac surgery further augmented mitochondrial dysfunction in EAT. In our study, CAD was associated with decreased expression of mitochondrial, but not endoplasmic reticulum stress genes in EAT. These changes may contribute to the acceleration of coronary atherosclerosis.     

The influence of food emulsifiers on fat and sugar dispersions in oils. III. Water content,purity of oils

The influence of water on the interactions between fat and sugar crystals dispersed in triglyceride (vegetable) oils was qualitatively estimated from sedimentation and rheological experiments. The experiments were performed both with and without food emulsifiers (monoglycerides and lecithins) present in the oil. The effects of minor natural oil components (nontriglycerides) on the interactions and on emulsifier adsorption to the crystals were examined by comparing a commercial refined oil and a chromatographically purified oil. The results show that water generally increases the adhesion between fat and sugar crystals in oils and also increases the surface activity of the oil-soluble food emulsifiers. Minor oil components give a small increase in the adhesion between fat and sugar crystals in oils, but do not influence the adsorption of food emulsifiers in any systematic way.     

快干型芭蕉芋淀粉粘合剂的制备

介绍一种快干型芭蕉芋淀粉粘合剂，它特别适合于粘结瓦楞纸板，其制法是芭蕉芋等直链淀粉含量较代低的天然植物淀粉为原料，经氧化、糊化、交联等步骤而制得；产品结力强，产品性能稳定，贮存期长。     

Polymorphic stability of some shortenings as influenced by the fatty acid and glyceride composition of the solid phase

A number of North American vegetable and animal fat shortenings, which had been analyzed previously for their physical and textural characteristics, were analyzed also for their chemical composition. The fatty acid and triglyceride composition of the solids were calculated by analyzing the composition of the original product and the liquid phase, and by determination of the solid fat content (SFC) of the fat. The solids were also isolated by isopropanol (IP) separation, and the high melting glycerides (HMG) by acetone crystallization at 15°C. There was not much difference in total saturates andtrans content between vegetable and animal fat shortenings. Changing formulations from soy-palm to soy-cottonseed does not change the total saturates plustrans content. The solids of the vegetable shortenings in the β form contained about 20% of 16:0, those in the β′ form 30% or more. The animal fat shortenings were mainly in the β form, their solids contained 30% or more of 16:0. C54 triglyceride content of the solids of β vegetable shortenings (calculated and IP-separated) was >45%, that of all animal fats was <25%. Solids of animal fat shortenings contain high levels of C52. The C54 triglycerides are β-tending and should be kept low in vegetable shortening. In the HMG the C54 should not exceed 30%. This can only be achieved by incorporation of a β′ hard fat, preferably palm hard fat. Animal fat, especially lard, crystallizes in the β form because the palmitic acid in the glyceride molecule is located in the 2-position, whereas those of vegetable fats are in the 1- and 3-position.