Search

With the increasing awareness of health, more people have shown a preference for low-alcohol beverages. Seeking various methods to improve the quality of kiwi wine is now a major research interest in the wine industry. In this study, kiwi wine was fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and different non-Saccharomyces strains (Torulaspora delbrueckii, Kluyveromyces thermotolerans, Pichia fermentans) in three methods (pure fermentation, simultaneous, and sequential co-fermentation). The physicochemical characteristics, color parameters, phenolic profiles, total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activities, organic acids, and taste sense of the different wines were evaluated to determine the effects of different yeasts and fermentation methods on the quality of the kiwi wine. Results indicated that co-fermentation reduced the contents of alcohol while enhancing the lightness of the kiwi wine. The TPC of sequential co-fermentation with K. thermotolerans/S. cerevisiae was significantly higher than that of their simultaneous co-fermentation. Compared to K. thermotolerans/S. cerevisiae, the antioxidant activities were increased by co-fermentation of T. delbrueckii/S. cerevisiae and P. fermentans/S. cerevisiae. Principal component analysis showed that kiwi wines fermented by different yeasts and inoculation methods could be separated and grouped. Correlation analysis presented positive correlations of phenolic composition, antioxidant activities, and color intensity. This study provided theoretical guidance for co-fermentation of non-Saccharomyces/S. cerevisiae and accelerated the industrialization process of kiwi wine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the storage time of cucumbers, this research investigated the impact of chitosan (CS) and hyperbranched poly-L-lysine (HBPL) on the quality and nutritional attributes of cucumbers when stored at a temperature of 25 °C. The results demonstrated that sensory evaluation scores for cucumbers treated with a CS–HBPL combination were significantly higher than the control (CK), CS, and HBPL groups. On the 18th day of storage, cucumbers in the CK group exhibited significant decay and softening; however, there was a decrease in hardness observed in the CS–HBPL group and no decay or noticeable sour taste was detected. Furthermore, compared to the CK group, treatment with CS–HBPL effectively delayed cucumber decay and weight loss rate while significantly inhibiting decreases in cucumber hardness and growth of surface microorganisms. Additionally, it substantially reduced losses of soluble protein content as well as vitamin C (Vc), reducing sugars, and total phenolic compounds within cucumbers, which were 4.7 mg/g, 4.7 mg/g, 0.94 mg/g, and 0.52 mg/kg, respectively. Moreover, compared to the CK group, combined treatment with CS–HBPL significantly inhibited malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and reducing relative electrolyte permeability within cucumbers, which were 1.45 μmol·g−1FW and 29.82%. Furthermore, it notably enhanced activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), while exerting a significant inhibitory effect on polyphenol oxidase (PPO). In summary, the combined CS–HBPL treatment successfully prolonged cucumber shelf life at room temperature, enabling new possibilities for extending cucumber shelf life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To extend the shelf life of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), the effects of chitosan (CS) and hyperbranched poly-L-lysine (HBPL) combined treatment on quality characteristics, nutritional quality, storage characteristics, and enzyme activity of oyster mushroom during postharvest storage at 4 °C were investigated. The results showed that CS-HBPL combined treatment could significantly reduce rot degree and weight loss and significantly inhibit the browning of oyster mushroom. At the same time, the loss of reducing sugar, vitamin C, soluble protein, and total phenolic was significantly reduced. Compared with the control, CS-HBPL combined treatment could also significantly inhibit an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and significantly decrease the relative electrolyte leakage of oyster mushroom. In addition, the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), phenylalnine ammonialyase (PAL), and peroxidase (POD) were significantly improved, and the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was significantly inhibited in oyster mushroom. In conclusion, CS-HBPL combined treatment had a good protective effect on the membrane permeability damage of oyster mushroom and could effectively delay the oxidation of phenolic substances and browning of oyster mushroom. Therefore, CS-HBPL combined treatment can be used as a potential strategy to extend the storage time of oyster mushroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trypsin can significantly improve the storage quality of Hylocereus undatus (H. undatus). To verify the hub WRKY gene of H. undatus in trypsin preservation, joint analysis of transcriptome and protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was carried out, and virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) was conducted. In the transcriptome of H. undatus, GO directed acyclic graph (DAG) showed that the GO terms of 55 WRKY genes were mainly enriched in sequence‐specific DNA binding, DNA binding transcription factor activity, and so on. The GO enrichment chord diagram showed that HuWRKY40 was significantly up‐regulated in the enriched top10 GO terms. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that 55 WRKY genes were mainly enriched in plant–pathogen interaction and MAPK pathway. The results of PPI network showed that HuWRKY40 was a hub protein of WRKY transcription factors (TFs) family regulated by trypsin, which was consistent with the results of transcriptome analysis. Bioinformatics analysis showed that HuWRKY40 of H. undatus had the highest homology with Beta vulgaris L. and Spinacia oleracea L. The function of the core regulatory protein HuWRKY40 was further clarified by VIGS technology. The results of VIGS showed that there was a big difference between the phenotype of the pTRV2‐HuWRKY40 group and that of the control group. Finally, it was confirmed that HuWRKY40 accelerated the synthesis of flavonoids and improved the fruit quality during the storage of H. undatus. This study found that trypsin may regulate HuWRKY40 activity through the MAPK cascade pathway, affect the participation of flavonoid synthesis, and then delay fruit corruption. Practical applications: With attention of people to the safety and freshness of fruits and vegetables, biological preservation technology has become one of the hotspots in the field of preservation in recent years. Trypsin can significantly improve the antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables. As a new biological preservative, it is convenient to operate and economical. In the current work, the mechanism of trypsin on the WRKY TFs during H. undatus storage was investigated. The application of trypsin would provide a new strategy for the storage quality control of fruits and vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a significant challenge for the implementation of rechargeable Zn–air batteries. Herein, MnO2 nanotubes (NTs) are prepared as both templates and oxidants to grow polypyrrole (PPy) nanotubes (NTs), on which a zeolite imidazole framework-67 (ZIF-67) is grown. Following that, a single calcination step transforms MnO2, PPy and ZIF-67 into MnO nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Co–N doped carbon materials (Co–N/C), respectively to form a one-dimensional (1D) hierarchical ternary nanocomposite. In this composite, the CNTs encapsulate the MnO particles to effectively prevent their further agglomeration. The separated MnO particles possess a mixed valence of Mn2+/4+ inside the CNTs, which can greatly facilitate electrolyte diffusion and electron transfer during the redox reactions. Furthermore, the Co–N/C and micro-CNTs formed on the CNT provide multiple catalytic active sites (Co-Nx, Co–O, and C–N moieties). At the optimized calcination temperature of 700 °C, MnO@CNT@Co–N/C exhibits excellent ORR/OER catalytic performance with a ΔE value of 0.81 V while maintaining structural and compositional stability. Remarkably, the rechargeable Zn–air battery fabricated with MnO@CNT@Co–N/C as the air electrode catalyst displays a higher peak power density (200.8 mW cm−2) and improved cyclability (300 h) at 5 mA cm−2 compared to a precious metal commercial catalyst, indicating the potential application of this composite in energy storage and conversion technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known to improve the resistance of host plants against various heavy metal stresses. However, the arsenic (As) resistance mechanism of AMF-inoculated woody legumes remains unclear. In this study, black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) seedlings were cultivated in potted soils inoculated with or without AMF Rhizoglomus intraradices under three different levels of As stress (0, 100, and 200 mg As kg–1 soil) over 4 months. The objective of this paper was to investigate the effects of AMF on plant growth, root morphology, and the content and ratio of endogenous phytohormones and soil glomalin under As stress condition. As stress toxicity suppressed the AM spore germination and colonization, plant growth, and the content of soil glomalin and changed the morphological characteristics of the roots and the balance of endogenous hormone levels in plants. However, R. intraradices inoculation improved the shoot and root dry weights, total root length, root surface area, root volume, and the number of root forks and tips across all As treatments. R. intraradices inoculation obviously decreased the percentage of root length in the 0- to 0.2-mm diameter class and increased those in the 0.5- to 1.0-mm and >1.0-mm diameter classes; the percentages in the 0.2- to 0.5-mm diameter class were less affected by R. intraradice s inoculation. The concentrations of the easily extractable glomalin-related (EE-GRSP) and total glomalin-related soil protein (T-GRSP) were higher in the of R. intraradices -inoculated seedlings than those in the non-inoculated seedlings. Furthermore, R. intraradices inoculation increased the concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and abscisic acid (ABA), but decreased the concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA) and zeatin riboside (ZR). The phytohormone ratios of IAA/ABA, GA/ABA, ZR/ABA, and (IAA + GA + ZR)/IAA in the R. intraradices -inoculated seedlings were lower than those in the non-inoculated seedlings. These results indicated that R. intraradices alleviated As toxicity in R. pseudoacacia seedlings by improving their plant growth, altering root morphology, regulating the concentrations and ratios of phytohormones, and increasing the concentration of soil glomalin. The results suggested that AMF-inoculated R. pseudoacacia seedlings would be a critical factor in successful vegetation restoration and soil development in As-contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The employment of readily obtainable parameters, including voltage and temperature, derived from the battery management system facilitates the real-time evaluation of lithium-ion batteries health status. However, the complex aging mechanisms and noise interference inherent in lithium-ion batteries present substantial challenges to accurate estimation. Hence, this research proposes a multi-model fusion approach utilizing Gramian Angular Field encoding to accurately predict the health status of lithium-ion batteries. Battery voltage and temperature data are acquired through system aging experiments. The Gramian Angular Field-based image encoding transforms these data into images, accentuating the subtle characteristics of the data and thereby enhancing its recognizability by neural networks. Subsequently, two-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks are employed to extract features from the images, followed by one-dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks to reduce the dimensions of the feature matrix. The battery health status is then predicted utilizing Long Short-term Memory Networks. The culmination is the evaluation of the model performance through the application of quantitative error metrics. The study results show that the method can pinpoint the prediction error to within 2%, significantly improving accuracy over traditional prediction methods. It proves the great potential of direct data, such as voltage and temperature, in predicting battery health. • Predicting lithium-ion battery health state based on multi-easily accessible data. • The temperature and voltage data are converted into 2D images by applying GAF method. • Feature extraction and SOH prediction using CNN-LSTM fusion models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To extend the shelf life of oyster mushroom ( Pleurotus ostreatus ), the effects of chitosan (CS) and hyperbranched poly-L-lysine (HBPL) combined treatment on quality characteristics, nutritional quality, storage characteristics, and enzyme activity of oyster mushroom during postharvest storage at 4 °C were investigated. The results showed that CS-HBPL combined treatment could significantly reduce rot degree and weight loss and significantly inhibit the browning of oyster mushroom. At the same time, the loss of reducing sugar, vitamin C, soluble protein, and total phenolic was significantly reduced. Compared with the control, CS-HBPL combined treatment could also significantly inhibit an increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) and significantly decrease the relative electrolyte leakage of oyster mushroom. In addition, the activities of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), phenylalnine ammonialyase (PAL), and peroxidase (POD) were significantly improved, and the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) was significantly inhibited in oyster mushroom. In conclusion, CS-HBPL combined treatment had a good protective effect on the membrane permeability damage of oyster mushroom and could effectively delay the oxidation of phenolic substances and browning of oyster mushroom. Therefore, CS-HBPL combined treatment can be used as a potential strategy to extend the storage time of oyster mushroom.

Natamycin is widely used in food, medical and health, agriculture, and animal husbandry. In this study, Streptomyces natalensis HW-2 was used as the research object, and a mutant DES-26 with stable genetic characters was selected by UV-ARTP-DES compound mutation. The natamycin yield was 1.64 g/L, 86.36% higher than original strain. Differential expression genes were analyzed by transcriptomics, and results showed that 295 and 860 genes were significantly differentially expressed at fermentation for 48 h and 72 h. GO and KEGG analysis showed that compound mutagenesis had a significant impact on glycolysis, pentose phosphate, TCA cycle, fatty acid metabolism pathways, and several key enzyme genes in the pathways were up-regulated, and genes related to natamycin biosynthesis ( pimB - pimI ) and transcriptional regulator ( pimR ) were also up-regulated. qRT-PCR results confirmed that expression levels of these genes were consistent with transcriptional changes of RNA-Seq., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10068-022-01191-z., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© The Korean Society of Food Science and Technology 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

This work was to isolate and identify the bioactive secondary metabolite which was produced by myxobacterium Stigmatella eracta WXNXJ-B, and to evaluate its antitumor and apoptosis-inducing effects. The results showed that one novel compound (molecular formula C29H25NO3) was isolated, purified by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and preparative RP-HPLC, and identified as 5-(6-benzyl-quinolin-3-ylmethyl)-6- phenyl-3,7-dioxa- bicycle [4.1.0] heptan-3-one (named as quinoxalone) according to its UV, IR, HRMS and NMR spectra. The compound showed strong antitumor activity on B16, HepG2, MCF-7, SGC-7901, MDA-MB231 and CT-26 six tumor cell lines in-vitro. Nevertheless, it showed less cytotoxic to the mouse normal spleen cells (IC50 was 836.27 ± 13.02 µg mL(-1)). The cytotoxic study on HepG2 cells in-vitro showed that quinoxalone could induce the change of cell nuclear and arrested the cell division in the S and G2/M phase. Our results suggest that quinoxalone could be a potential anti-cancer agent.