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Pulsed light, pulsed electric field and cold plasma are three different non-thermal and non-chemical sterilization techniques that are becoming exceedingly important in food industry for pushing towards a reduced downstream CO2 footprint. These techniques are found especially promising to alter the physicochemical, thermal, structural, pasting and digestibility characteristics of starch. This review discusses the effects of experimental conditions as well as equipment selected for starch modification using these three methods and discusses plausible mechanisms behind the observed changes in functional properties such as cross linking, depolymerization, esterification and dehydrogenation, of modified starches from different sources. The morphology and crystal polymorph of the treated starch is observed to be retained following physical modification, yet exhibiting similar characteristics as that of depolymerized, crosslinked or esterified starches. The information compiled in this study is evaluated as important for the food industry to select treatment conditions for preparing tailor made functional starches, flours and films with these mild non-thermal and non-chemical approaches.

Pulsed light, pulsed electric field and cold plasma are three different non-thermal and non-chemical sterilization techniques that are becoming exceedingly important in food industry for pushing towards a reduced downstream CO2 footprint. These techniques are found especially promising to alter the physicochemical, thermal, structural, pasting and digestibility characteristics of starch. This review discusses the effects of experimental conditions as well as equipment selected for starch modification using these three methods and discusses plausible mechanisms behind the observed changes in functional properties such as cross linking, depolymerization, esterification and dehydrogenation, of modified starches from different sources. The morphology and crystal polymorph of the treated starch is observed to be retained following physical modification, yet exhibiting similar characteristics as that of depolymerized, crosslinked or esterified starches. The information compiled in this study is evaluated as important for the food industry to select treatment conditions for preparing tailor made functional starches, flours and films with these mild non-thermal and non-chemical approaches.

Pantothenate kinase (PanK) catalyzes the phosphorylation of pantothenate, the first committed and rate-limiting step toward coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis. In our earlier reports, we had established that the type I isoform encoded by the coaA gene is an essential pantothenate kinase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and this vital information was then exploited to screen large libraries for identification of mechanistically different classes of PanK inhibitors. The present report summarizes the synthesis and expansion efforts to understand the structure-activity relationships leading to the optimization of enzyme inhibition along with antimycobacterial activity. Additionally, we report the progression of two distinct classes of inhibitors, the triazoles, which are ATP competitors, and the biaryl acetic acids, with a mixed mode of inhibition. Cocrystallization studies provided evidence of these inhibitors binding to the enzyme. This was further substantiated with the biaryl acids having MIC against the wild-type M. tuberculosis strain and the subsequent establishment of a target link with an upshift in MIC in a strain overexpressing PanK. On the other hand, the ATP competitors had cellular activity only in a M. tuberculosis knockdown strain with reduced PanK expression levels. Additionally, in vitro and in vivo survival kinetic studies performed with a M. tuberculosis PanK (MtPanK) knockdown strain indicated that the target levels have to be significantly reduced to bring in growth inhibition. The dual approaches employed here thus established the poor vulnerability of PanK in M. tuberculosis.