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The aim of this study was to determine the effects of soybean protein hydrolysates against intracellular antioxidant activity. Soybean peptides (1000 to 2000 Da range) were extracted by soybean proteolysis and ultrafiltration and sequenced with a Nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS. In this study we found that soybean peptides inhibited the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in HepG2 cells. Moreover, they also prevented the reduction of reduced glutathione (GSH) and up-regulated cellular resistance oxidase activity. In addition, soybean peptide treatment stimulated the mRNA and protein expression levels of antioxidant enzymes and nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). Activated Nrf2 up-regulated antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)) and inhibited ROS and MDA production. It was concluded that soybean peptides effectively activated the Nrf2/antioxidant response element (ARE) mediated activity.

The primary purpose of this study was to extract β-conglycinin (7S) and glycinin (11S) from soybean seed, soybean meals and soybean protein isolate and compare their yield and purity. The previous methods were modified for the extraction and isolation of 7S and 11S globulins. The adjustment mainly included sample to solution ratio of 1:10 (previously 1:15). Comparing the yield of 11S fraction in Tris-HCl and water as extractable solutions, it was almost doubled in soybean seed (16.97% to 32.41%) with purity from 96 to 98% respectively. In case of soybean meal, samples yield increased from 45.46 to 61.86% with purity from 94 to 98%. On contrary, 7S yield was significantly improved in soybean protein isolate sample from 30.33 to 53.81% along with no contamination in its purity while soybean seed and soybean meal samples had less increase in both yield and purity in Tris-HCl and water as extractable solutions. Results of this study will bring new insights into soybean 7S and 11S separation and purification techniques as well as pave the way for their application in food industry.

Lactobacillus plantarum strains have been extensively used in food processing and preservation. L. plantarum also has the potential to convert polyunsaturated fatty acids, e.g. linoleic acid (LA) into bioactive and less toxic fatty acid metabolites. The objective of this study was to assess the capability of probiotic L. plantarum 13-3 to convert Linoleic Acid (LA) to different fatty acid metabolites in the medium supplemented with differential concentrations of LA, and the relevant reactions were characterized by in silico calculation. L. plantarum 13-3 was grown in MRS medium containing LA from 1% to 10%, and the fatty acid metabolites formed in the medium were identified and quantitated by GC-MS and in silico studies were done to confirm the enzymatic reactions involved in its conversion. The results showed that L. plantarum 13-3 could convert LA at different concentrations to 5 different fatty acid metabolites i.e, (Z)-Ethyl heptadec-9-enoate, 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z), methyl ester, Octadec-9-enoic acid, cis-11,14-Eicosadienoic acid, methyl ester and (Z)-18-Octadec-9-enolide. Among these metabolites, the formation of an long chain fatty acid Octadec-9-enoic Acid, also known as 18:1, N-9 or Delta(9)-Octadecenoic acid, is classified as a member of the Long-chain fatty acids in media supplemented with 4% to 10% LA, is being reported for the first time. Putative candidate enzymes involved in biotransformation of LA into fatty acid metabolites were identified in whole genome of L. plantarum 13-3, sequenced previously. In silico studies confirmed that several enzymes including the linoleate isomerase, acetoacetate decarboxylase and oxidoreductase may be involved in biotransformation of LA into fatty acid metabolites. These enzymes could effectively bind the LA molecule mainly by forming hydrogen bonding between the acidic groups of LA and the proline residues at the active sites of the enzymes validating the putative reacting partners.

The objective of this study was to assess and scrutinize the competency of probiotic L. plantarum K25 to produce linoleic acid analogues in the medium supplemented with different concentrations of linoleic acid, ranging from 1% to 10%, in a dose dependent manner. The analogues produced were identified and quantitated by GC-MS and in silico studies were done to confirm enzymatic reactions involved in its conversion. The results showed that L. plantarum K25 could convert linoleic acid at different concentrations to 9 different fatty acid analogues at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 17.24 mg/L. Among these metabolites, formation of an essential fatty acid, the linolenic acid, in media supplemented with 9% linoleic acid, is being reported for the first time. Putative candidate enzymes involved in biotransformation of linoleic acid into linoleic acid analogues were identified in the whole genome of L. plantarum K25, which was sequenced previously. In silico studies confirmed that many enzymes, including linoleate isomerase and dehydrogenase, may be involved in biotransformation of linoleic acid into linoleic acid analogues. Both enzymes could effectively bind the linoleic acid molecule, mainly by forming hydrogen bonding between the acidic groups of linoleic acid and the proline residues at the active sites of the enzymes, validating putative reaction partners.

This article presents a broadband optical nano-antenna, which covers a broader range of optical communication wavelengths (666 to 6000 nm), used in nano-photonic applications. The proposed design is modeled and analyzed to obtain a satisfactory gain of up to 11.4 dBi for a single element-based antenna. The unique feature of the proposed antenna is the hybrid plasmonic waveguide-based feed, which receives the optical signal from the planar waveguide and redirects the signal out of the plane. The proposed antenna provides highly directional radiation properties, which makes it a suitable candidate for inter- and intra-chip optical communications and sensing applications. Moreover, an extension of the work is performed for an array configuration of the order 2 × 1 and 64 × 1, to increase the gain and directionality. Therefore, this shows that it can be equally useful for optical energy harvesting applications with a significant gain up to 26.8 dBi.

Lactic acid bacteria have been reported to be capable of converting polyunsaturated fatty acids, e.g. linoleic acid (LA) into bioactive and other fatty acid metabolites that are not toxic to the bacteria themselves, but the mechanism of this conversion is not clear. Here we reported for the first time that probiotic L. plantarum 12-3 derived from Tibet kefir when supplemented with LA from 1% to 10% in the MRS medium transformed LA to various fatty acid derivatives. These derivatives formed in the medium were identified with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. In silico studies were done to confirm the enzymatic reactions responsible for this conversion. We found that L. plantarum 12-3 could convert LA at different concentrations to 8 different fatty acid derivatives. Putative candidate enzymes involved in biotransformation of LA into fatty acid derivatives were identified via whole genome of L. plantarum 12-3, including linoleate isomerase, acetoacetate decarboxylase and dehydrogenase. Therefore, the present study provides further understanding of the mechanism of conversion of LA to health-beneficial fatty acid metabolites in probiotic L. plantarum, which can be explored for potential application in functional foods.

Plants integrate and monitor low temperature signals to cope with the continual variations in their environment. Arabidopsis thaliana cold responsive-element binding factor 3 (AtCBF3) plays its role in various cellular activities by modulating multiple genes induced under chilling stress. In this work, AtCBF3 transcription was remarkably induced following chilling stress. AtCBF3-overexpressors namely AtCBF3-Rio Grande, AtCBF3-Moneymaker, and AtCBF3-Roma showed defensible response to various levels of chilling stress, while their isogenic wild type plants indicated hypersensitive response to chilling stress. Detailed photosynthetic studies revealed that AtCBF3 gene has harmonious influences on the expression of a large set of genes by virtue of improved stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, and photosynthetic rate compared to wild type plants. The AtCBF3 lines limited the water status-mediated hypersensitive response by lowering leaf osmotic potential due to overexpression of AtCBF3 under chilling stress. Biochemical analyses followed by phenotypic studies demonstrated that AtCBF3 plants exhibited membrane stability and lush green appearance by limiting membrane ions leakage and malondialdehyde contents and by accumulating more proline, soluble sugars, chlorophyll contents, carotenoid contents, and antioxidant enzymes relative to wild type plants. Hence, with a several lines of evidence, these findings support that tomato transgenic plants overexpressing Arabidopsis CBF3 show enhanced chilling tolerance.

Chromium (Cr) pollution in soil has the greatest threat to human beings as it has a potential to enter into the food chain through contaminated soil. Chromium has no defined role in plant biology and has detrimental effects on plants. Biochar used as soil amendment has been demonstrated to diminish the bioavailability of trace elements. The current study investigated the effect of poultry litter biochar (PLB) on Cr bioavailability and its accumulation in spinach grown on Cr-contaminated soil. Data showed significant decline in bioavailable Cr concentration (DTPA-extraction) with an increasing biochar concentration, especially at 5% application rate in soil. With the 3% and 5% application of PLB, Cr concentration in shoots significantly (P

The effects of probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 in combination with prebiotic inulin on the probiotic survivability, physiochemical properties and stability of ice cream were evaluated. Addition of inulin increased the viability of S. boulardii CNCM I-745 with viable count of 6.16 log CFU/g in the synbiotic ice cream after 120 d of storage. Fermentation with the probiotic yeast and Lactobacillus-Streptococcus (LS) caused significantly (p

Soil contamination with cadmium has become major concern all over the world because of its adverse impacts on ecosystem health and agricultural land. Soil amendment with biochar may have varied effects on physical and chemical properties of soil. The objective of the study was to explore the impact of sugarcane filter-cake biochar on physiological performance and growth of lettuce in an aged soil. Four different doses (0, 1.5%, 3%, and 5%) of biochar were used in the soil and conditioned for 1 month. After this, lettuce seedlings were grown in the soil. The results showed that the biochar treatment improved the fresh and dry biomass of leaves and roots as well as plant height while diminished the bioavailability of cadmium from the soil. As compared to control, biochar significantly enhanced the chlorophyll content in lettuce leaves. Due to the biochar amendment, the oxidative stress decreased in lettuce shoots over the control. As compared to control, concentration of cadmium in lettuce significantly decreased after the application of biochar. It was concluded that biochar could mitigate the toxicity of cadmium in lettuce by altering the biochemical and physiological processes in cadmium contaminated soil.

Rice is one of the important cereal crops drastically affected by water scarcity in rice ecosystems. In a pot study, the impact of externally applied gibberellic acid (GA3), indole acetic acid (IAA) and kinetin was investigated on assimilates mobilization and yield parameters of rice under water stress. Twenty five days seedlings of two rice genotypes KS-133 and Basmati-2000 were transplanted in soil filled pots and sprayed with GA3, IAA and kinetin each of 10 M concentration at panicle initiation stage. Water stress was imposed to plants 80 days after transplanting for 10 days. Water stress (p≤ 0.05) reduced leaf chlorophyll content and yield of rice but increased the concentration of proline, leaf soluble protein and enhanced mobility of assimilates from leaves to grains. Application of GA3 and kinetin significantly (p≤ 0.05) increased chlorophyll content, growth and yield attributes in both genotypes under water stress conditions. However, IAA application did not improve the grain yield in rice genotypes under water stress. The positive impact of GA3 and kinetin spray was imitated in the form of enhanced solute accumulation; enhanced growth and greater grain assimilate deposition. This may be concluded that GA3 and kinetin can be applied exogenously prior to flower initiation in rice to reduce panicle sterility by increasing assimilates mobility under water deficit for optimal economic yield. © 2016 Friends Science Publishers

Saccharomyces boulardii is a unique species of yeast previously characterized as a probiotic strain (CNCM I-745) among a few probiotic yeasts reported to date. Inulin is one of the most common prebiotics that exhibit twisted hydrocolloidal properties in dairy products. The present study was designed to develop a synbiotic yogurt by incorporation of S. boulardii and inulin at 1%, 1.5%, and 2% (w/v), comparing with the probiotic and control plain yogurts. Microrheological, microstructural, microbiological, sensory properties, and volatile compounds of the yogurt samples were evaluated. Microrheological analysis showed that addition of inulin to yogurt slightly reduced the values of G&prime, and G&Prime, while solid&ndash, liquid balance (SLB) values confirmed more solid properties of the synbiotic yogurt (0.582~0.595) than the plain yogurt (0.503~0.518). A total of 18 volatile compounds were identified in the synbiotic yogurt, while only five and six compounds were identified in plain and probiotic yogurts, respectively. Physiochemical parameters such as pH, acidity, and protein content were in the normal range (as with the control), while fat content in the synbiotic yogurt decreased significantly. Addition of 1% inulin not only reduced syneresis but also maintained viability of S. boulardii after 28 days of storage. Microstructural and microrheological studies confirmed the dense, compressed, homogeneous structure of the synbiotic yogurt. Thus, addition of inulin improved the textural and sensory properties of the synbiotic yogurt, as well as survival of S. boulardii with viable count above 6.0 log CFU/g in yogurt, as generally required for probiotics. Therefore, novel synbiotic yogurt with desirable quality was developed as an effective carrier for delivery of the probiotic yeast exerting its beneficial health effects.

Aims: Current study was aimed to produce nitrogen fixing Azotobacter sp. (SR-4) and phosphorus solubilizers Aspergillus niger (A. niger) and to evaluate their efficiency as biofertilizers for agricultural practices. Methods: Two biofertilizer including nitrogen fixing and phosphorus solubilizing were grown. The nitrogen fixing efficiency of Azotobacter (SR-4) was determined by Kjeldahl method. Similarly, Vanadomoybdate method was used to measure the soluble phosphorus while Heinonen method was used to analyze concentration of phytase and phosphatase in the cultures. Furthermore, both biofertilizers were tested in a field trail on Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd) and Abelmoschus esculentus (okra). Results: The Azotobacter (SR-4) strain was found efficient nitrogen fixer as 35.08 mg of nitrogen per gram of carbon was produced after 72 h of fermentation. Similarly, A. niger strain excrete extracellular phosphate solubilizing enzymes such as phytase (133UI in 48 h of fermentation) and phosphatase (170UI in 48 h of fermentation) which can solubilize the rock phosphate and make it available to plants. In field trials on selected plants (L. siceraria and A. esculentus), both biofertilizers showed significant increase in plant height, leaf length/width, fruit size and number of fruits per plant when compared with controls/untreated plants. Furthermore, plants co-inoculated with both the N fixing Azotobacter and phosphorus solubilizing A. niger have enhanced performance than those treated with each biofertilizer alone. Conclusion: The inoculation of seeds with A. niger and Azotobacter may replace costly and environment toxic chemical fertilizers with environment friendly and cost effective biofertilizers. Keywords: Biofertilizers, Azotobacter, A. niger, Bottle gourd and okra

The purpose of this study was to prepare a series of pH-sensitive hydrogels from acrylamide, methacrylate, and acrylic acid using different crosslinking agents. Hydrogels were prepared by free-radical copolymerization in alcoholic solution in the presence of a redox initiator, benzoyl peroxide, and crosslinkers, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), and diethylene glycol dimethacrylate (DEGDMA). The effect of pH and the nature of the crosslinker on the swelling behavior of the copolymeric gels were investigated. Equilibrium swelling studies, in the pH range of 1–8, were performed to determine the average molecular weight between the crosslinks (Mc), the crosslink density (q), and the crosslink efficiency (f) using the Flory–Rehner equation. The average molecular weight between the crosslinks (Mc), 117–2394 for EGDMA and 81-14339 for DEHDMA, found to be increased with pH of the medium, whereas the crosslinking density (q) and crosslink efficiency (f) were decreased for EGDMA and DEGDMA as the pH of the m...

Conservation tillage and nitrogen may improve soil fertility, yield and income on sustainable basis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of three tillage systems viz. zero (ZT), reduced (RT), and conventional tillage (CT) and five N rates (0, 80, 120, 160, and 200 kg·N·ha-1) on yield and yield components, soil organic matter (SOM), total soil N (TSN), and income of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grown after rice (Oryza sativa L.). Nitrogen rates significantly affected yield and yield attributing characters with highest values recorded at200 kg·N·ha-1. Mean maximum grain yield (6390 -6845 kg·ha-1), net benefit (1359 - 1460 US$ ha-1), and benefit cost ratio (5.6 - 5.7) could be achieved at 160 to200 kg·N·ha-1. The tillage systems produced similar yield and yield components except spikes m-2. The SOM and TSN were highest in ZT compared to other tillage systems. Though tillage × N interactions were not significant for most of the parameters under study, the overall effect of ZT with200 kg·N·ha-1 appeared to be most favorable compared to RT and CT. Zero tillage resulted in highest number of spikes m-2 (304.4), SOM (9.6 g·kg-1) and TSN (0.5 g·kg-1) with200 kg·N·ha-1. The results suggest that ZT with200 kg·N·ha-1 was optimum and sustainable strategy to achieve higher yield and income and also to improve SOM and TSN on silty clay soil.

Drought is one of the major abiotic stress responsible for yield reduction of crops worldwide. Kinetin (KIN) and glycine betain (GB) have an essential role in regulating cell division during the early phase of grain setting; assimilate flow and osmotic adjustment under drought stress. Effects of exogenously applied kinetin and glycine betain on some metabolic and yield attributes of two rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars viz., Basmati-385 and KS-282 were evaluated under water stress. KIN and GB were applied by spraying the plants at flowering stage before drought stress treatment. Both treatments significantly increased proline concentration in leaves and panicles of both the rice cultivars as compared to their control. They also increased soluble sugar in the leaves and panicles under water stress. Starch concentration in leaves and panicles of both the rice cultivars were increased significantly (p