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To investigate the effect of salt stress on the germination of sesame, a mixed salt solution of sodium chloride and calcium chloride was used as the culture medium to analyze the changes and correlations in growth characteristics, total phenolic content, total flavone content, antioxidant capacity, and antioxidant enzyme activity during the germination process of sesame. The results showed that salt stress could promote sesame germination and the accumulation of phenol and flavone, and improve the ABTS+ free radicals scavenging rate and the iron ion reduction ability of sesame. The effect of salt stress on antioxidant enzyme activity varied by enzyme species, and the treatment had a more obvious promoting effect on SOD and CAT activities compared with APX and POD activities. The correlation analysis results demonstrated that the total phenol of sesame cultured under salt stress was positively correlated with its total flavonoids, ABTS+ free radical scavenging rate, iron ion reducing ability, and POD enzyme activity. The correlation between total phenol and iron ion reducing ability, SOD activity and DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, POD activity and iron ion reducing ability of sesame was enhanced by salt stress treatment. This study could lay a foundation for further deciphering the physiological mechanism of salt stress on sesame germination, and provide theoretical basis for the development of sesame functional foods.

Jujube has a history of being used as both food and herbal medicine in China for thousands of years. Its nutritional value has long been recognized, as it contains various health-promoting bioactive components. Jujube polysaccharides are one of the major bioactive constituents. Extensive studies have shown that jujube polysaccharides exert multiple biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, immune regulatory, anti-fatigue, liver-protective, blood sugar-lowering, and blood lipid-lowering effects, through different or synergistic mechanisms. This article provides an overview of the physicochemical properties and structure-activity relationship of jujube polysaccharides, and summarizes the research progress on the bioactivity and mechanisms of jujube polysaccharides, both domestically and internationally in recent years. Based on these findings, the therapeutic potential of jujube polysaccharides for various diseases is discussed, aiming to provide references for further research and the development of related medicinal treatments involving jujube polysaccharides.

In order to explore the effect of edible dock powder on the quality of dough and noodles, edible dock powder (0~40%) was added to wheat flour, and the effects of different proportions of mixed powder on gelatinization properties, thermodynamic properties, rheological properties of dough and noodle quality characteristics were investigated. The results showed that when the addition amount of edible dock powder was 20%, the expansion potential of the mixed powder changed the most, from 7.44 g/g to 11.52 g/g, when the addition amount of edible dock powder was 40%, the retrogradation value of the mixed powder decreased from 1303 cP to 399 cP. The addition amount of edible dock powder was positively correlated with the viscoelastic modulus of dough and negatively correlated with cooking quality. When the addition amount of edible dock powder was 10%, the cooking loss rate of noodles was 3.28%, the elasticity and chewiness were 14.68 and 2519.94 g, respectively, which were not significantly different from those of pure wheat noodles (P>0.05). When the addition ratio exceeded 20%, the cooking loss rate of noodles increased sharply. Therefore, the quality of noodles was the best when the addition amount of edible dock powder was 10%. This study provides a new idea for the development and application of edible dock powder in the food industry.

In order to improve the yield and quality of tiger nut oil, the strategy of ultrasonic-assisted n-hexane was studied by response surface methodology. In this study, the total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, free radical scavenging rate, fatty acid composition, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-trinitrophenylhydrazine (DPPH) clearance rate in oil samples were investigated at three temperatures including 25 ℃ (room temperature), 47 ℃ (optimal temperature for ultrasound assisted extraction), and 60 ℃ (high temperature). The results showed that a high tiger nut oil extraction yield of 25.01%±0.03% was obtained at a solid-liquid ratio of 1:15 (g/mL), ultrasonic time of 20 min, ultrasonic temperature of 47 ℃, and particle size of 70 mesh. The obtained oil sample was yellow-orange and slightly turbid with a unique aroma of beans. Besides, tiger nut oil had a certain scavenging effect on DPPH free radicals. Ultrasound could better dissolve the nutrients in tiger nut, but it had a large destruction effect on tiger nut flavonoids, while the content of phenolic acids significantly (P

Modern food is evolving in the direction of green, healthy, and convenient products, and developing natural products with health benefits is an important direction for the food industry. Chlorella is rich in nutrients, such as carotene and fatty acids, which provide it with a variety of health benefits, and therefore widely used in the food industry as a health or functional food. This study reviews the research progress and specific applications of Chlorella in health, functional, and other foods, and expounds on the bottlenecks faced in the use of Chlorella in food industry. This review provides a theoretical basis for the research, utilisation, and production of new food materials involving Chlorella.

In recent years, the production of prepared and frozen foods has increased with economic development. However, during freezing, moisture migration forms ice crystals that damage food structure and reduce quality. This study investigates moisture migration changes in pre-fermented dough during frozen storage and effectiveness of Citrus fibre (CF) and Soya dietary fibre (SDF) on quality improvement. Pre-fermented frozen dough properties were evaluated at different freezing storage days with CF and SDF. Results showed frozen storage reduced water retention, converting deeply bound water to weakly bound and free water. Freezable water content increased significantly from 53% (fresh) to 56.95% (60d-control), forming disruptive ice crystals in gluten protein structure. SDF had superior water flow restriction compared to CF, preventing large ice crystal accumulation, enhancing water-holding capacity, and maintaining gluten protein structure. These findings lay a theoretical foundation for improving quality and industrial applications of pre-fermented frozen dough.

Continuum manipulators can conform to curvilinear paths and manipulate objects in complex environments, which makes it emerging to be applied in minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, different and controllable operating stiffness of the continuum manipulator is required during different stages of surgery to achieve safe access or stable and precise operation. This work proposes an operating stiffness controller (OSC) for the typical tendon-driven continuum manipulator based on the variable impedance control method with Lagrangian dynamic modeling. This controller can adjust the operating stiffness by modifying the driving forces along the driving tendons of the continuum manipulator without changing its material or structure. The proposed OSC converts the damping and stiffness matrices of the impedance control into variable parameters. This merit allows it to dynamically adjust the operating stiffness of the continuum manipulator according to the desired constant or time-varying stiffness. Furthermore, the OSC stability can be proven based on a Lyapunov function, and its stiffness control performances have been analyzed and evaluated in both simulations and experiments. The OSC controller generated average relevant error values of 7.82% and 3.09% for the operating stiffness control experiments with constant and time-varying desired stiffness, respectively. These experimental results indicate that the OSC has high accuracy, stability, and strong robustness in the operating stiffness control tasks.

A shape estimation method that utilizes two sensing modalities of a customized fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor and a commercial air pressure sensor for a pneumatically driven soft finger with an extensive bending angle range based on an artificial neural network model is proposed. The proposed FBG sensor utilizes two tiny nitinol rods as a backbone to attach the long‐grating FBG element fiber, enabling high strain transfer, shape sensing for large bending deformation, and preventing chirping failure and fiber sliding when bending. Its distal end is set free to slide and synchronizes with the extended length and reflects shapes for large bending deformation (up to 320° with a linearity of 99.96%), while its proximal end is fixed. The small packaged sensor unit enables modular design, easy assembly, and high repeatability with negligible effects on the soft finger's bending performances. The artificial neural network model is utilized to process the input of two sensing modalities, reducing errors from material nonlinearity, fabrication, and assembly of soft fingers while improving shape estimation's accuracy and transferability with average errors of 0.90 mm (0.69%) and 1.55 mm (1.19%) for whole shape and distal end position, respectively. Preliminary experiments also verify the potential for pressing force prediction and hardness recognition.

Goji berry, as a kind of typical and special agricultural material, has high water content, high sugar content, thin epidermis with waxy covering, and dense fleshy cell structure, which makes the drying process more complex than the dehydration of other bio-materials. To obtain high drying efficiency and the high quality products, most researchers have paid much attention on the different kinds of pretreatment and drying technology. This study aimed to examine all the corresponding published data in the literature and to compare the drying characteristics and quality of wolfberry dried by conventional and advanced wolfberry drying methods as well as different drying parameters. We conclude that heat pump drying with simultaneous control of temperature and humidity could replace traditional hot air drying in commercial production to increase the drying efficiency and quality of wolfberry. Infrared drying and microwave drying can be combined with other drying methods to improve drying efficiency; freeze drying, pulsed vacuum drying and electro-hydrodynamic drying are conducive to maintain the appearance and nutrients as well as higher rehydration ratio because of more porous microstructure compared with hot air drying. In addition, this study gives some suggestions and new horizons for directed wolfberry drying development both on the research and application in the future.

Slightly acidic electrolytic water (SAEW) treatment for seed germination is a promising technique for sustainable agriculture. This study investigated the antioxidant activity of germinated sesame seeds treated with SAEW for the first time. Specifically, the impact and correlation of SAEW on the activities of total phenols, total flavonoids, and antioxidant oxidase in sesame seeds were examined. The results showed that SAEW with low ACC inhibited sesame germination, SAEW with high ACC promoted sesame germination, and sesame buds treated with SAEW with 30 mg/L and 50 mg/L ACC showed lower antioxidant activity and total phenolic and flavone content compared to tap water. In contrast, SAEW with 30 mg/L ACC had no significant effect on sesame growth but positively influenced the antioxidant activity of sesame seed germination by promoting phenolic compound synthesis through increased phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity and enhancing antioxidant activity by boosting PAL, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and peroxidase (POD) activities. Generally, antioxidant ability was the most prominent in SAEW with 30 mg/L ACC, and positive correlations between antioxidation and total phenols and flavonoids content were found in sesame. These findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the enhanced antioxidant capacity observed in germinated sesame seeds under SAEW stress.

In this experiment, jujube kernel protein was extracted from defatted jujube kernel residue by alkali solution and acid precipitation, taking the inhibition rate of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and degree of hydrolysis as indicators to screen the compound enzyme species. Using the response surface method, with proportion of neutral protease/alkaline protease, pH, substrate concentration, enzymolysis temperature, digestion time as test factors, the optimum enzymatic hydrolysis parameters of ACE inhibitory peptide from jujube kernel were optimized. The results showed that neutral protease and alkaline protease were selected as complex enzymes, and the optimal amount of enzyme was determined to be 6000 U/g. The order of influence of five factors on the ACE inhibition rate and hydrolysis degree was: Enzymatic hydrolysis temperature, enzymatic hydrolysis time, pH, ratio of neutral protease to alkaline protease, substrate concentration. Through the fitting equation analysis, the optimum conditions of ACE inhibition of peptidyl enzymatic hydrolysis of jujube kernel were as follows: Neutral protease/alkaline protease ratio 2.1:1, hydrolysis temperature 54 ℃, substrate concentration 3.1%, pH7.5, hydrolysis time 62 min. Under these conditions, the actual ACE inhibition rate and hydrolysis degree of the hydrolysate were (79.46%±0.49%) and (31.45%±0.85%), respectively, which were close to the theoretical values. Compared with captopril, the ACE inhibitory rate of the prepared ACE inhibitory peptide was (79.46%±0.49%), and the deviation from captopril was (19.28%±0.12%), which proved that the ACE inhibitory peptide had a significant antihypertensive effect. This study proved that the ACE inhibitory peptide could be effectively obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of jujube kernel protein and optimized the enzymatic hydrolysis process, aiming to provide reference direction and theoretical basis for the reuse of jujube kernel residue.

In this study, the defatted jujube kernel residue was extracted by alkali solubilization and acid seperation method to obtain jujube kernel protein, and the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptide was obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of neutral protease and alkaline protease. Taking jujube kernel as the research object, the physicochemical properties of ACE inhibitory peptide were studied. In this paper, the functional activity and nutritional value of ACE inhibitory peptide in defatted jujube kernel were demonstrated from the aspect of amino acids by analyzing the basic nutrients of defatted jujube kernel and the amino acid composition of ACE inhibitory peptide in enzymolyzed jujube kernel. The enzymatic hydrolysis effect of jujube kernel protein was proved by molecular weight distribution, particle size distribution and microscopic structure observation. Finally, the physical and chemical properties of jujube seed, including solubility, thermal stability, water and oil retention, foaming and foaming stability, emulsification and emulsification stability, and sensory characteristics before and after proteolysis, were compared and analyzed. It was found that the protein content of defatted jujube kernel was (73.40±0.23) g/100 g, and the protein content was higher. The essential amino acid content and hydrophobic amino acid content in ACE inhibitory peptide of jujube kernel were 36.48% and 51.14%, and the content of glutamate was the highest. The molecular weight of ACE inhibitory peptides in Zizyphus jujube kernel was mainly in the range of 1000~3000 Da, accounting for 97.50%, and the polydispersity index was 1.088, indicating a narrow molecular weight distribution. The protein structure of jujube kernel was broken before and after enzymolysis of ACE inhibitory peptides, and the enzymolysis was sufficient. The study of physical and chemical properties showed that compared with the protein before enzymolysis, the thermal stability, solubility, water holding capacity, oil holding capacity and emulsification stability of the ACE inhibitory peptide of jujube kernel were significantly improved, while the foaming, foaming stability and emulsification ability significantly decreased（P

Biofilms are microbial communities that represent a high abundance of microbial life forms on Earth. Within biofilms, structural changes during clearance processes occur in three spatial and temporal dimensions; therefore, microscopy and quantitative image analysis are essential in elucidating their function. Here, we present confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) in conjunction with ISA-2 software analysis for the automated and high-throughput quantification, analysis, and visualisation of biofilm interiors and overall biofilm properties in three spatial and temporal dimensions. This paper discusses the removal process of Listeria monocytogenes (LM) biofilms using slightly acidic electrolytic water, non-electrolytic hypochlorite water, and alternating the use of strongly acidic and strongly alkaline electrolytic water. The results show that the biofilm gradually thins and gutters from the initial viscous dense and thick morphology under the action of either biocide. This process is consistent with first-level kinetics. After CLSM filming to observe the biofilm structure, analysis software was used to process and quantify the biovolume, average biofilm thickness, biofilm roughness and other indicators; fluorescence enzyme markers were used to verify the remaining amount of extracellular nucleic acid. In this study, we proposed and validated the theory of layer-by-layer elimination of LM biofilm.

This study investigated the broad-spectrum bactericidal activity of non-electrolytic hypochlorite water (NEHW) and detected its hydroxyl radical content compared with that of slightly acidic electrolytic water (SAEW). Based on the results of UV scanning and storage stability, higher hypochlorite content and stronger oxidation were found to be responsible for the stronger bactericidal effect of NEHW. NEHW can achieve 99% bacterial disinfection effect by treating with 10 mg/L available chlorine concentration for more than 5 minutes. At the same time, the storage stability of NEHW was higher than that of SAEW. After 20 days of storage under sealed and dark conditions, the pH value only increased by 7.9%, and the effective chlorine concentration remained nearly 80%. The results showed that NEHW had higher germicidal efficacy and storage stability than SAEW.

Germination of millet can improve its consumption quality, optimize its nutritional composition, and promote the accumulation of functional components such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In the present study, foxtail millet was germinated with tap water, a mixed salt solution of 7.5 mmol/L NaCl and 15 mmol/L CaCl2, and slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) with three available chlorine concentrations (ACCs; 10.92, 20.25, and 30.35 mg/L). The effects of the salt solution and SAEW on the germination of foxtail millet and the GABA, crude protein, and amino acid composition of the germinated millet flour were analyzed. The results showed that the salt solution and SAEW treatments promoted the growth of millet sprouts, contributed to the accumulation of GABA in germinated millet flour, and optimized the protein and amino acid composition. The GABA content of germinated foxtail millet flour treated with salt solution for 60 h (336.52 mg/100 g) was 29.5 times higher than that of ungerminated millet flour. In conclusion, the highest GABA content and amino acid scores of germinated millet flour obtained by germination treatment with salt solution at 25 °C and 86% humidity for 60 h were more acceptable for human nutritional requirements.

Background: Phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) are obtained from a wide range of sources and show strong biological and pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial and neuroprotective effects. However, intestinal malabsorption and the low bioavailability of PhGs seriously affect their application. Delivery systems are an effective method to improve the bioavailability of active substances. Scope and approach: In this article, the biological activities of and delivery systems for PhGs are introduced. The application statuses of delivery systems for echinacoside, acteoside and salidroside are reviewed. Finally, the problems of the lack of uniform standards for delivery systems and the poor targeted delivery accuracy of PhGs in the current research are proposed and suggestions for future research are put forward based on those problems. Key findings and conclusions: Although there are still some problems in the delivery system of phenylethanoside, such as inconsistent standards and inaccurate delivery, phenylethanoside itself has been proven to have a variety of physiological activities. Therefore, the action mechanism and application of phenylethanoside and its delivery system should be studied further.

In the present work, the bactericidal efficacy and mechanism of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) on L. monocytogenes were evaluated. The results showed that the strains of L. monocytogenes were killed completely within 30 s by SAEW whose available chlorine concentration (ACC) was higher than 12 mg/L, and it was confirmed that ACC is the main factor affecting the disinfection efficacy of SAEW. Moreover, our results demonstrated that SAEW could destroy the cell membrane of L. monocytogenes, which was observed by SEM and FT-IR, thus resulting in the leakage of intracellular substances including electrolyte, protein and nucleic acid, and DNA damage. On the other hand, the results found that SAEW could disrupt the intracellular ROS balance of L. monocytogenes by inhibiting the antioxidant enzyme activity, thus promoting the death of L. monocytogenes. In conclusion, the bactericidal mechanism of SAEW on L. monocytogenes was explained from two aspects including the damage of the cell membrane and the breaking of ROS balance.