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The integrity of the packaging of a liquid foodstuff makes it difficult to detect spoilage. Therefore, it is important to develop a sensitive, fast and real-time material for liquid food detection. CMC, as lignocellulose derivatives and starch are widely used in the food industry. In this study, starch films with pH-responsive properties are successfully prepared from full-component starch and corn amylopectin (CA) by adding CMC. The effects of CMC on the mechanical properties, morphology characteristics, physical and chemical structures, stability and pH responsiveness of the starch films are analyzed. The starch/CMC-1.0 g composite films display good electrical conductivity and reduce the resistance of the composite film by two orders of magnitude. The composite films have pH response ability; in the simulation of orange juice spoilage experiment, the CA/CMC composite film has a more sensitive current response and was more suitable for the application to liquid food quality detection. Additionally, the starch/CMC composite films have potential applications for rapid detection and real-time monitoring of the safety of liquid food.

A comparative study was conducted among the flesh (SOF) and pericarp (SOP) of Stauntonia obovatifoliola, a wild edible fruit in China. The nutrient composition of both these tissues was firstly quantified, and liquid-liquid extraction was then used to separate their methanolic extracts to get petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and residual aqueous fractions, which were evaluated for their total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant capacities, and α-glucosidase and acetylcholinesterase inhibition abilities. Finally, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze their phytochemical composition. The results revealed the excellent nutritional properties of both SOF and SOP, especially SOP (total dietary fiber, 15.50 g/100 g; total amino acids, 0.80 g/100 g; vitamin C, 18.00 mg/100 g; Ca, 272.00 mg/kg; K, 402.00 mg/100 g). For both tissues, their ethyl acetate fractions showed the highest TPC (355.12 and 390.99 mg GAE/g DE) and TFC (306.58 and 298.48 mg RE/g DE). Surprisingly, the ethyl acetate fraction of SOP exhibited the strongest DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacity with 1046.94 and 1298.64 mg Trolox/g, respectively, which were higher than that of controls Vc and BHT. In contrast, their chloroform fractions exhibited the strongest ferric reducing antioxidant power (1903.05 and 1407.11 mg FeSO4/g DE) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (951.12 and 1510.21 mg Trolox/g DE). In addition, the ethyl acetate fraction of SOF displayed superior α-glucosidase inhibition ability with the IC50 value of 0.19 mg/mL, which was comparable to control acarbose. In comparison, the ethyl acetate fraction of SOP had the best acetylcholinesterase inhibition ability with the IC50 value of 0.47 mg/mL. The HPLC analysis results demonstrated that the ethyl acetate fraction of SOP showed significantly higher phenolic content, particularly for phenolic acids (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, 8.00 ± 0.65 mg/g) and flavonoids (epicatechin, 28.63 ± 1.26 mg/g), as compared to other samples. The above results suggest that Stauntonia obovatifoliola, especially its pericarp, had excellent nutrient compositions, bioactive properties and phytochemical characteristics, and had the potential to be developed as natural functional food.

The objective of the research was to investigate the digestion and fecal fermentation characteristics of the flowers of Juglans regia (FJR), by using in vitro simulated digestion model (oral, gastric, and intestine) as well as colonic fermentation. As a result, the contents of most active substances and functional activities of FJR were decreased as the digestion proceeded, and showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing in the fecal fermentation phase. In the oral digestion phase, the total phenolic and total flavonoid contents were released most with the values of 11.43 and 9.41 μg/mg, respectively. While in the gastric digestion phase, the antioxidant abilities, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory abilities were the weakest. By using high-performance liquid chromatography, 13 phenolic acids and 3 flavonoids were detected. Of these, the highest number of identified compounds were found in the undigested and the oral digestion stages, which were mainly salicylic acid, epicatechin, 3,5-dihydroxybenoic acid, vanillic acid, and protocatechuic acid. However, great losses were observed during the gastric and intestinal digestion stages, only epicatechin, salicylic acid, and protocatechuic acid were found. Surprisingly, fecal fermentation released more abundant phenolic substances compared to gastric and intestinal digestion. Additionally, FJR reduced the pH values in the colonic fermentation system, significantly promoted the production of short-chain fatty acids, and regulated the microbe community structure by improving the community richness of beneficial microbiota. This indicated that FJR had the benefit to improve the microorganismal environment in the intestine. Further Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis revealed that FJR could suppress the metabolic pathways related to diseases, such as infectious diseases, metabolic diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. In conclusion, although the bioactivities of FJR decreased significantly after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and fecal fermentation, it still maintained certain antioxidant and hypoglycemic ability in vitro. This study described the detailed changes in the active compounds and bioactivities of FJR during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and fecal fermentation, and its effects on microbiota composition and SCFAs levels in feces. Our results revealed the potential health benefits of FJR, and could provide a reference for its further research and development.

The interactions between non-host roots and pathogens may be key to the inhibition of soilborne pathogens in intercropping systems. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) can be intercropped with a wide range of other plants to inhibit soilborne pathogens in biodiversity cultivation. However, the key compounds of fennel root exudates involved in the interactions between fennel roots and pathogens are still unknown. Here, a greenhouse experiment confirmed that intercropping with fennel suppressed pepper (Capsicum annuum) blight disease caused by Phytophthora capsici. Experimentally, the roots and root exudates of fennel can effectively interfere with the infection process of P. capsici at rhizosphere soil concentrations by attracting zoospores and inhibiting the motility of the zoospores and germination of the cystospores. Five terpene compounds (D-limonene, estragole, anethole, gamma-terpenes, and beta-myrcene) that were identified in the fennel rhizosphere soil and root exudates were found to interfere with P. capsica infection. D-limonene was associated with positive chemotaxis with zoospores, and a mixture of the five terpene compounds showed a strong synergistic effect on the infection process of P. capsici, especially for zoospore rupture. Furthermore, the five terpene compounds can induce the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially anethole, in hyphae. ROS accumulation may be one of the antimicrobial mechanisms of terpene compounds. Above all, we proposed that terpene compounds secreted from fennel root play a key role in Phytophthora disease suppression in this intercropping system.

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs) are soil-borne pathogens that severely affect Panax notoginseng growth and productivity. Thus, there is an urgent need for biological control agents or green nematicides to control root-knot nematodes. Rhizosphere bacteria can effectively control RKNs through different mechanisms. In this study, the three rhizosphere Bacillus strains, isolated from the root of P. notoginseng, were evaluated for the nematicidal activity and biological control efficacy against root-knot nematodes. In addition, we also evaluated the colonization ability of the two bacterial strains with significant biocontrol effect and dynamic regulation of genes related to systemic resistance in P. notoginseng. The rhizosphere Bacillus velezensis GJ-7 and Bacillus cereus NS-2 showed high nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne hapla in vitro and significantly reduced the number of root galls in three different control experiments. The results of colonization experiments showed that the strains GJ-7 and NS-2 colonized P. notoginseng root rapidly and stably. Additionally, the colonization of the strains NS-2 and GJ-7 activated the defense-responsive genes in P. notoginseng. These results indicated that the B. cereus strain NS-2 and B. velezensis strain GJ-7 have the potential for successful ecological niche occupation and enhance plant resistance and therefore could be considered as potential biocontrol agents against root-knot nematodes.

Adjusting planting density is a common agricultural practice used to achieve maximum yields. However, whether the quality of medicinal herbs can be improved by implementing appropriate planting densities is still uncertain. The medicinal crop Panax notoginseng was used to analyze the effects of planting density on growth and ginsenoside accumulation, and the possible mechanisms of these effects were revealed through metabonomics. The results showed that P. notoginseng achieved high ginsenoside accumulation at high planting densities (8 × 8 and 10 × 10 cm), while simultaneously achieved high biomass and ginsenoside accumulation at moderate planting density of 15 × 15 cm. At the moderate planting density, the primary metabolism (starch and sucrose metabolism) and secondary metabolism (the biosynthesis of phytohormone IAA and ginsenoside) of the plants were significantly enhanced. However, the strong intraspecific competition at the high planting densities resulted in stress as well as the accumulation of phytohormones (SA and JA), antioxidants (gentiobiose, oxalic acid, dehydroascorbic acid) and other stress resistance-related metabolites. Interestingly, the dry biomass and ginsenoside content were significantly lower at low densities (20 × 20 and 30 × 30 cm) with low intraspecific competition, which disturbed normal carbohydrate metabolism by upregulating galactose metabolism. In summary, an appropriate planting density was benefit for the growth and accumulation of ginsenosides in P. notoginseng by balancing primary metabolism and secondary metabolism.

Negative plant-soil feedback (NPSF) frequently cause replant failure in agricultural ecosystems, which has been restricting the sustainable development of agriculture. Biochar application has appealing effects on soil improvement and potential capacity to affect NPSF, but the process is poorly understood. Here, our study demonstrated that biochar amendment can effectively alleviate the NPSF and this biochar effect is strongly linked to soil microorganism in a sanqi (Panax notoginseng) production system. High-throughput sequencing showed that the bacterial and fungal communities were altered with biochar amendment, and bacterial community is more sensitive to biochar amendment than the fungal community. Biochar amendment significantly increased the soil bacterial diversity, but the fungal diversity was not significantly different between biochar-amended and non-amended soils. Moreover, we found that biochar amendment significantly increased the soil pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, available phosphorus, available potassium, and C/N ratio. The correlation analysis showed that these increased soil chemical variables have a significantly positive correlation with the bacterial diversity. Further analysis of the soil microbial composition demonstrated that biochar soil amendment enriched the beneficial bacterium Bacillus and Lysobacter but suppressed pathogens Fusarium and Ilyonectria. In addition, we verified that biochar had no direct effect on the pathogen Fusarium solani, but can directly enrich biocontrol bacterium Bacillus subtilis. In short, biochar application can mitigate NPSF is mostly due to the fact that biochar soil amendment modified the soil microbiome, especially inhibited pathogens by enriching beneficial bacterium with antagonistic activity against pathogen.