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Addition of methyl group(s) to either or both aromatic rings of fenamic acid (FA) afforded three FA derivatives (1–3), designed to investigate the effect on the polymorphic behavior of these compounds exerted by substitution. A relatively comprehensive polymorph screen led to the discovery of four polymorphs for compound 3, for which substitution took place on both aromatic rings, in contrast to the production of either two or one form(s) for compounds 1 and 2, both of which are mono-substituted. The observation indicated that both substitution position and pattern are important in the polymorphism of these compounds. The thermal properties of each system were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Conformational scans and Hirshfeld surface analyses were performed to study the mechanism of polymorphism and the intermolecular interactions contributing to the stability of each crystal form.

Modification of commercially available biaryl monophosphine ligands via ruthenium(II)-catalyzed P(III)-directed-catalyzed ortho C-H secondary alkylation is described. The use of highly ring-strained norbornene as a secondary alkylating reagent is the key to this transformation. A series of highly bulky ligands with a norbornyl group were obtained in excellent yields. The modified ligands with secondary alkyl group outperformed common substituted phosphines in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction at a ppm mole level of Pd catalyst.

Glass fiber sphere (GFS), used as support of MIL-100(Fe) to treat dye wastewater, was successfully synthesized using glass fibers from waste printed circuit board. Structural and textural features of MIL-100(Fe) supported by GFS (GFS/MIL-100(Fe)) were characterized by different techniques. GFS/MIL-100(Fe) showed higher specific surface area and better rhodamine B (RHB) removal performance as well as reusability. RHB removal percentage by GFS/MIL-100(Fe) reached 92% in 11 h, compared with 79% in 7 h of MIL-100(Fe). The highest RHB removal rate was obtained with the GFS/MIL-100(Fe) concentration of 20 g/L. Increasing RHB concentration over 100 mg/L reduced the time needed for saturated adsorption from 11 to 7 h. The best RHB removal performance of GFS/MIL-100(Fe) was obtained at pH = 3, and the removal percentage was almost the same in the pH range 5-11. The adsorption data fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetics better than the pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the adsorption isotherm data fitted Langmuir model better than Freundlich model. MIL-100(Fe) synthesized in organic solvents showed higher loading rate than that obtained in water. GFS/MIL-100(Fe) also showed promising removal performances for methylene blue, acid orange 7, and malachite green in water. The removal percentage of RHB was still 80% even after being used for 3 times. The results of this study indicate the prospect of synthesizing GFS with glass fibers from waste printed circuit boards and its use as the support of MIL-100(Fe).

A MoSi2 coating was prepared on the Mo1 wire mesh via pack cementation method, and its failure mechanisms under isothermal oxidation and hot-fire test using a hydroxylammonium nitrate based monopropellant were comparatively studied. Under isothermal oxidation at 1300 °C and 1400 °C, degradation of MoSi2 into Mo5Si3 caused failure of the coating, and interdiffusion made a much larger effect relative to oxidation. However, the MoSi2 coating failed because of the synergy of oxidation, ablation, and interdiffusion under hot-fire test. Besides, dissolution of mullite into SiO2 and ablation of high velocity flame contributed to the failure of the coating as well.

Polyphenols have various potentially beneficial effects on human health. However, the positive bioactivities depend on the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of polyphenols since many polyphenols are rapidly metabolized upon oral administration. Starch can interact with polyphenols and delivery them through the digestive tract. After physicochemical or enzymatic modification, the starch-based carriers can sustained-release or targeted-release polyphenols. The aim of this review is to discuss recent literature about impacts of bioactive polyphenols and starch on gut microbiota and the encapsulation of polyphenols by starch. Starch can control the polyphenol amount released in the upper digestive tract, thereby potentially protecting polyphenols to reach the lower parts of the digestive tract and alter abundance and composition of gut microbiota.

The contamination risks of microorganisms and mycotoxins in low-moisture foods have heightened public concern. Developing novel decontamination technologies to improve the safety of low-moisture foods is of great interest in both economics and public health. This review summarizes the working principles and applications of novel thermal decontamination technologies such as superheated steam, infrared, microwave, and radio-frequency heating as well as extrusion cooking. These methods of decontamination can effectively reduce the microbial load on products andmoderately destruct the mycotoxins. Meanwhile, several integrated technologies have been developed that take advantage of synergistic effects to achieve the maximum destruction of contaminants and minimize the deterioration of products.

This work presents a novel process to manufacture advanced Germanium-On-Insulator with integrated Silicon Nitride (GOIN) stripes as light waveguide for Ge photonic devices. Through the integration of GOIN stripes, larger tensile strain could be imposed to the bonded Ge layer which may could be used to tailor the bandgap of Ge material for short wave length infrared application. The successful fabrication of advanced GOIN substrate makes the opportunity for monolithic integration of high-performance Ge-based high mobility transistors with photonic components where silicon nitride is the waveguide with low optical loss.

Chromium (Cr) is one of the most widely used heavy metals in industrial processes, resulting in water and soil pollution that seriously threaten environmental safety. In this paper, we have directionally enriched a Cr(VI)-reducing bacterial community YEM001 from no-Cr(VI) polluted pond sedimental sludge by selectively growing it in Cr(VI)-containing media. This community could effectively reduce Cr(VI) in laboratory rich media containing different concentrations of Cr(VI), such as 61% reduction at 435 mg/L Cr(VI), 85% reduction at 355 mg/L Cr(VI), and complete reduction at 269 mg/L Cr(VI) in 93.5 h. It was also able to completely reduce 100 mg/L and 300 mg/L Cr(VI) in landfill leachate and natural sludge in 48 h, respectively. Optimal pH for Cr(VI) reduction of the YEM001 is between 7 and 8 and the best efficiency for Cr(VI) reduction occurs at 30 °C. Metagenomic data demonstrated that the YEM001 community was composed of multiple bacteria, including well-known Cr(VI)-reducing bacteria and non-Cr(VI)-reducing bacteria. Delftia, Comamonas, Alicycliphilus, Acidovorax, Bacillus, and Clostridioides account for 83% of total community abundance. The stability of the composition of the YEM001 community and its Cr(VI)-reducing activity allows for its application in bioremediation of environmental Cr(VI) pollution.

Background Low-moisture foods (LMFs) are generally considered “lower risk” in terms of food safety, however, the frequent foodborne illnesses involved in the consumption of LMFs has heightened the public concern. The low aw environments also offer considerable protection against microorganisms. Meanwhile, the relatively high contamination risk of mycotoxins in low-moisture foods is a challenge for the food industry. Thermal decontamination techniques usually destroy heat-sensitive nutrients and lower product quality, and they are not adequate for mycotoxins detoxification. Therefore, developing non-thermal decontamination technologies to improve the safety of LMFs is of great interest in both of economics and public health. Scope and approach This review discusses the effects of non-thermal decontamination technologies, including ultraviolet and pulsed light, ionizing irradiation, cold plasma, and ozone, on microbial population and mycotoxin contents on LMFs. Furthermore, the working principles, applications, factors affecting processing efficacy and limitations of these decontamination technologies are summarized. The further research opportunities in commercialization are identified and discussed. Key findings and conclusions Non-thermal decontamination technologies like UV and pulsed light, ionizing irradiation, cold plasma, and ozone have high potential as promising technologies for microbial inactivation and mycotoxin degradation for improving the safety and quality of LMFs. The operating conditions of the treatment, food property, species of microorganisms and mycotoxins are the major determinants affecting the processing efficacy. Further studies are recommended to evaluate the degradant toxicology and its interaction with food components, and particularly scaling-up the technology for commercial applications should be given more attention.

Ultra-high-purity silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) is demanded as an electronic-grade chemical to meet the stringent requirements of the rapidly developing semiconductor industry. The high requirement for ultra-high-purity SiCl4 has created the need for a high-efficient process for reducing energy consumption as well as satisfying product quality. In this paper, a mass of production technology of ultra-high-purity SiCl4 was successfully developed through chlorination reaction in the ultraviolet (UV)-based photo microreactor coupled with the distillation process. The influences of key operational parameters, including temperature, pressure, UV wavelength and light intensity on the product quality, especially for hydrogen-containing impurities, were quantified by the infrared transmittance of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) at 2185 cm−1 and 2160 cm−1 indicating that characteristic vibrational modes of Si H bonds, as well as the operating conditions of distillation were also investigated as key factors for metal impurities removing. The advanced intensification of SiCl4 manufactured by the integration of photo microreactor and distillation achieves the products with superior specifications higher than the standard commercial products.

Summary Background Previous clinical and animal studies suggested that medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) might be an alternative energy substrate for the brain and might benefit patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the clinical evidence is not substantial or totally convincing. Objective To investigate the effects of MCT on cognitive ability in patients with mild to moderate AD and explore the changes in peripheral blood metabolomics. Methods A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study was undertaken in 53 mild to moderate AD patients. Participants were randomized between two sequences (placebo followed by MCT or MCT followed by placebo) and took MCT jelly or placebo jelly (canola oil) by mouth three times daily (total daily fat dose: 17.3 g MCT, or 19.7 g canola oil) for 30 days per phase. The primary outcome was cognition as measured by the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive Subscale, Chinese version (ADAS-Cog-C). The secondary outcome was self-care as measured by the activities of daily living scale (ADL) and changes in plasma metabolites. Results This study showed a significant (p 0.05). The concentrations of TC, HDL-C, β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate were significantly higher in the MCT group than in the placebo group (p Conclusions MCT had positive effects on cognitive ability in mild to moderate AD patients with APOE4−/−. These effects of MCT might be related to the metabolism of LysoPC, oleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid, in addition to the ketogenic effect. Study ID number ChiCTR-IOR-16009737. Registry website WHO ICTRP Search Portal – http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/Default.aspx .

l -Asparaginases have the potential to inhibit the formation of acrylamide, a harmful toxin formed during high temperature processing of food. A novel bacterium which produces l -asparaginase was screened. Type I l -asparaginase gene from Acinetobacter soli was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant l -asparaginase had an activity of 42.0 IU mL−1 and showed no activity toward l -glutamine and d -asparagine. The recombinant l -asparaginase exhibited maximum catalytic activity at pH 8.0 and 40°C. The enzyme was stable in the pH ranging from 6.0 to 9.0. The activity of the recombinant enzyme was substantially enhanced by Ba2+, dithiothreitol, and β-mercaptoethanol. The Km and Vmax values of the l -asparaginase for the l -asparagine were 3.22 mmol L−1 and 1.55 IU μg−1, respectively. Moreover, the recombinant l -asparaginase had the ability to mitigate acrylamide formation in potato chips. Compared with the untreated group, the content of acrylamide in samples treated with the enzyme was effectively decreased by 55.9%. These results indicate that the novel type I l -asparaginase has the potential for application in the food processing industry.

In recent years, tannin degradation has been used to obtain tannin materials with an optimal molecular weight distribution (MWD) for synthesizing tannin-formaldehyde (TF) resin with high performance, but the optimal MWD of tannins is still unknown. The excellent formaldehyde reactivity of tannins is the basis for the synthesis of high-performance TF resin. Based on the formaldehyde reactivity of tannins, bayberry tannins and larch tannins were used to explore the optimal MWD of tannins for TF resin synthesis. Progressive solvent precipitation (PSP) was used to obtain tannin fractions with different MWDs. The formaldehyde reactivity of tannins was determined using the modified Stiansy method combined with the standard curve method (GB/T 17657-2013). The bayberry tannin fraction [weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of acetylated tannin: 4115, mean degree of polymerization (mDP): 6.64] and the larch tannin fraction (Mw of acetylated tannin: 3906, mDP: 5.84) had the best formaldehyde reactivity. Furthermore, significant differences in the formaldehyde reactivity of condensed tannins (CTs) with different MWDs were observed. The obtained results can be used to purposefully degrade tannins to achieve an optimal MWD, which is beneficial for the production of TF adhesives with high performance.

Genetic analysis of 4 major flavonoids in barley interspecific hybrids which were used as parents for half diallel crossingwas carried out. Compared with seven parents, the highest general combining ability of catechin content was Clipper barley, the higest general combining ability (GCA) of myricetin content were Schooner barley and Huangchangguang barley, the highest general combining ability of quercetin content were Ziguangmang barley and Kuanying barley, the highest general combining ability of kaempferol content were Ziguangmang barley and Schooner barley, the highest general combining ability of flavonoids are Schooner barley and Huangchangguang barley. The hybrid combination of a good matching were Clipper barley, Schooner barley, Ziguangmang barley and Kuanying barley, as a comprehensive general combining ability, specific combining ability, and combinations of which can be used as flavonoids in barley breeding.

The preparation and fractionation of oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs) are particularly important for the application of tannins in the biomedical field. By use of two different methods-gel filtration chromatography (GFC) with Sephadex LH-20 and progressive solvent precipitation-the OPCs were prepared and fractionated from mangosteen pericarp. The fractions were compared by reversed-phase and normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and gel permeation chromatography. GFC directly purified oligomers (monomer to pentamer) with polydispersity values close to 1 and generated fractions with a higher level of total phenols (800.59 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram) but a lower yield (7.72%). Progressive solvent precipitation rapidly prepared and fractionated OPCs with a lower level of total phenols (609.57 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram) but a higher yield (24.74%) and higher polydispersity. Additionally, we found pronounced structural and quantitative differences among different tannin-rich fractions, and fractions obtained by GFC better reflected the structural diversity and complexity of OPCs from mangosteen pericarp. This study presents different ways of preparing and fractionating OPCs in the biomedical field.

OBJECTIVE To investigate inhibitory effect of semen litchi drug serum on proliferation of human hepatoma HepG2 cells and its effect on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). STUDY DESIGN An experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY College of Pharmacy, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, China, from June 2017 to January 2018. METHODOLOGY Semen litchi drug serum with concentrations of 0 mg/kg (control group), 3 g/kg (low dose group), 6 g/kg (medium dose group) and 12 g/kg (high dose group) was used to act on HepG2 cells at the logarithmic phase. Inhibitory effect of semen litchi drug serum on cell growth, expression of VEGF and MMP-9 mRNA and protein was detected. RESULTS Inhibitory effect of semen litchi drug serum on the proliferation of HepG2 cells significantly increased with the increase of drug concentration, which was dose-time dependent. Expression levels of VEGF and MMP-9 mRNA in HepG2 cells after 48 hours of treatment by semen litchi low-dose group, medium-dose group, and high-dose group were lower than those in control group (all p

Nuclear grade zirconium and hafnium are important materials in nuclear power plants, which are usually produced with solvent extraction and separation technology. In this paper, the preferential extracting hafnium was successfully achieved by the selective complexation of the selected organic acids. Hydrochloric acid concentration, organic acid concentration, D2EHPA concentration were investigated to explore the optimum extraction conditions. Increasing acidity and extractant concentration was not conducive to the separation of zirconium and hafnium, while organic acid could effectively improve the separation factor, which was verified by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The largest separation factor, 9.936, for hafnium over zirconium was obtained.

Anthraquinone dyes, which contain anthraquinone chromophore groups, are the second largest class of dyes after azo dyes and are used extensively in textile industries. The majority of these dyes are resistant to degradation because of their complex and stable structures; consequently, a large number of anthraquinone dyes find their way into the environment causing serious pollution. At present, the microbiological approach to treating printing and dyeing wastewater is considered to be an economical and feasible method, and reports regarding the bacterial degradation of anthraquinone dyes are increasing. This paper reviews the classification and structures of anthraquinone dyes, summarizes the types of degradative bacteria, and explores the possible mechanisms and influencing factors of bacterial anthraquinone dye degradation. Present research progress and existing problems are further discussed. Finally, future research directions and key points are presented.

Highlights • Metabolic responses to ultrasonication made by Lactobacillus plantarum was studied. • Microbial growth, profiles of organic acids, amino acids and phenolics were examined. • Ultrasonication at lag and logarithmic phases benefited apple juice fermentation. • Ultrasonic effect on apple juice fermentation attenuated with fermentation. • Ultrasound could exert positive effect on derivation of some phenolic compounds., In this work, low-intensity ultrasonication (58.3 and 93.6 W/L) was performed at lag, logarithmic and stationary growth phases of Lactobacillus plantarum in apple juice fermentation, separately. Microbial responses to sonication, including microbial growth, profiles of organic acids profile, amino acids, phenolics, and antioxidant capacity, were examined. The results revealed that obvious responses were made by Lactobacillus plantarum to ultrasonication at lag and logarithmic phases, whereas sonication at stationary phase had a negligible impact. Sonication at lag and logarithmic phases promoted microbial growth and intensified biotransformation of malic acid to lactic acid. For example, after sonication at lag phase for 0.5 h, microbial count and lactic acid content in the ultrasound-treated samples at 58.3 W/L reached 7.91 ± 0.01 Log CFU/mL and 133.70 ± 7.39 mg/L, which were significantly higher than that in the non-sonicated samples. However, the ultrasonic effect on microbial growth and metabolism of organic acids attenuated with fermentation. Moreover, ultrasonication at lag and logarithmic phases had complex influences on the metabolism of apple phenolics such as chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, procyanidin B2, catechin and gallic acid. Ultrasound could positively affect the hydrolysis of chlorogenic acid to caffeic acid, the transformation of procyanidin B2 and decarboxylation of gallic acid. The metabolism of organic acids and free amino acids in the sonicated samples was statistically correlated with phenolic metabolism, implying that ultrasound may benefit phenolic derivation by improving the microbial metabolism of organic acids and amino acids.

Objective. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the main diabetic microvascular complications in clinical practice, which features a complicated mechanism and insignificant efficacy. Therefore, it is urgent to find effective drugs. Xinjiang Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt is a rare alpine wild plant with unique effects and extremely high medicinal value. Preliminary studies have shown that it can reduce elevated blood sugar, unhealthy lipids, and antioxidants. This study was intended to investigate the protective effect of the effective components of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt on the retinopathy of db/db diabetic mice and provide experimental basis for exploring the efficacy of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt and the development of new drugs for the treatment of DR. Method. The db/db diabetic mouse models were used, and the effective components of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt were obtained from Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt using macroporous resin enrichment method after alcohol extraction. These mice were divided into the normal group, model group, and high-dose Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt groups, the positive drug metformin group, and the metformin and Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt combination group. After these db/db type 2 diabetes mouse models were intervened for 10 weeks, their weight, blood sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin, serum MDA, SOD, and other indicators of each group were tested, and the expression changes of VEGF, ICAM1, PEDF, Bcl-2 in mouse retina were observed by immunohistochemistry method. Result. The effective components of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt were obtained using macroporous resin enrichment method after alcohol extraction, which were mainly comprised of chlorogenic acid, flavone mariside, mariside, dicaffeoyl quinic acid, and flavone oxanine, with a total content of 532.82 mg/g, and the total flavonoid content of 330 mg/g. The effective components of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt significantly reduced blood sugar and glycosylated hemoglobin and improved oxidative stress levels in db/db diabetic mice. Meanwhile, they reduced the expression of VEGF and ICAM1 in retinopathy and increased the expression of Bcl-2 and PEDF. The combination of Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt and metformin has the most significant effect. Conclusion. Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt can prevent and treat early diabetic retinopathy by affecting the expression of retinopathy-related factors.

In this study, 4 Lactobacillus plantarum strains and 5 Lactobacillus fermentum strains adapting well to the unfavorable fruit system were isolated under different fruit environments. The fermentation ability of these autochthonous lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains in blueberry juice, and the influence of microbial metabolism on juice composition were explored. After 48 h of fermentation, the viable cell counts exceeded 10.0 log CFU/mL, malic acid content decreased from 511.47 ± 10.50 mg/L to below 146.38 ± 3.79 mg/L, and lactic acid content increased from 0 mg/L to above 2184.90 ± 335.80 mg/L. Moreover, the metabolism of these strains exerted a profound influence on the phenolic composition of juice. Total phenolic content in blueberry juice increased by 6.1–81.2% under lactic acid fermentation, and the antioxidant capacity in vitro enhanced by at least 34.0%. Anthocyanin content showed a declining trend, while the profile of non-anthocyaninic phenolics exhibited complex changes. The increments of rutin, myricetin and gallic acid contents through 48 h lactic acid fermentation exceeded 136%, 71% and 38%, respectively. Instead, the contents of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and caffeic acid decreased with fermentation. Overall, Lactobacillus plantarum LSJ-TY-HYB-T9 and LSJ-TY-HYB-T7, and Lactobacillus fermentum LSJ-TY-HYB-C22 and LSJ-TY-HYB-L16 could be the suitable strains to produce fermented fruit juices, including blueberry in practical applications.

As one of Lianyungang's most famous specialties, Acanthogobius hasta is delicious and nutritious fish, but is extremely susceptible to spoilage during transportation and storage. In this study, Lactobacillus plantarum MMB-07 was isolated from traditional fermented sour fish to reduce losses and improve the utilization and food value of A. hasta. L. plantarum MMB-07 had good ability of acid production and acid resistance. Moreover, it could also inhibit common pathogens in food or aquatic products to ensure the safety of fermented products. MMB-07 was used to ferment A. hasta and obtain fermented Suanyu rich in nutrition value and good flavor. The volatile base nitrogen was 18.44 mg/100 g and the fermented fish meat maintained second-grade freshness. Thiobarbituric acid assay was 0.90 mg/kg and fat in fish meat was oxidized to a low degree. The studies indicated that MMB-07 has a high application prospect in low salt fermented fish.

Starch accumulation is key for the maturity of rice pollen grains; however, the regulatory mechanism underlying this process remains unknown. Here, we have isolated a male-sterile rice mutant, abnormal pollen 1 (ap1), which produces nonviable pollen grains with defective starch accumulation. Functional analysis revealed that AP1 encodes an active L-type lectin receptor-like kinase (L-LecRLK). AP1 is localized to the plasma membrane and its transcript is highly accumulated in pollen during the starch synthesis phase. RNA-seq and phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that the expression/phosphorylation levels of numerous genes/proteins involved in starch and sucrose metabolism pathway were significantly altered in the mutant pollen, including a known rice UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (OsUGP2). We further found that AP1 physically interacts with OsUGP2 to elevate its enzymatic activity, likely through targeted phosphorylation. These findings revealed a novel role of L-LecRLK in controlling pollen maturity via modulating sucrose and starch metabolism.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of metal salts on α-amylase-catalyzed hydrolysis of broken rice under a moderate electric field (MEF) by monitoring changes in hydrolysis efficiency, temperature, α-amylase activity, starch-metal ion interaction, and the structural and physicochemical properties of hydrolysates. Results showed that metal salts affected the hydrolysis mainly by altering α-amylase activity rather than by inducing thermal effect or interacting with starch. Reducing sugar content reached 125.0 g/L, while α-amylase activity increased by 18.16% when treated with 0.12 mmol/L Ca2+. Holes on hydrolysates treated with Ca2+ and Mg2+ were larger than those treated with Mn2+ and Cu2+. No M–O bond was formed after the hydrolysis. The crystallinity was slightly increased with the hydrolysis and the values for Ca2+- and Mg2+-treated samples were larger. The water and oil absorption capacity of the hydrolysate treated with Ca2+ was the highest. This study extended the knowledge of the roles of metal ions on MEF-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis and will contribute to the development of an innovative technology for starch modification.

In this paper, the influence of lactic acid fermentation on the metabolic profile of ginkgo kernel juice was studied. For this purpose, three lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus casei, were selected. The results showed that all the lactobacilli grew well in ginkgo kernel juice with viable cell counts exceeding 8.0 Log CFU/mL. The organic acid contents underwent dynamic changes, and the lactic acid production reached more than 3 g/L. The consumption of sugars and free amino acids by LAB was evident. Meanwhile, more than 70% of the ginkgolic acids were degraded by LAB, and the final concentrations in ginkgo kernel juice were below 1 mg/L after 48 h of fermentation. In contrast, the terpene lactones contents in fermented ginkgo kernel juice exceed 20 mg/L, which was 1.6-fold higher than that in the unfermented juice. Certain phenolics were significantly enriched, and the total phenolic content increased by approximately 9% through fermentation. In addition, lactic acid fermentation significantly enhanced the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of ginkgo kernel juice. Overall, the results indicated that lactic acid fermentation can effectively improve the nutritional value and safety of ginkgo kernel juice.

Liquid biphasic flotation (LBF) system has been recognized as an efficient, green, economically sustainable and biocompatible technique for biomolecules separation and purification. The main drawbacks of the conventional process of biomolecules separation are expensive production cost, utilization of phase components that are inefficiently recycled and global pollution due to high chemical consumption and wastage. In this paper, a novel approach of LBF system for lipase recovery utilizing recycling phase components comprising surfactant and xylitol was investigated. The scope of this study focuses on pollution prevention as well as clean and environmentally friendly process for enzyme extraction via LBF. The green process proposed in this study uses phase-forming components that have recovery and recycling abilities for minimal use of chemicals for enzyme extraction. This novel method utilized Triton X-100 and xylitol for lipase extraction from Burkholderia cepacia. A few parameters were optimized to obtain high lipase separation efficiency and yield. Based on the ideal conditions of LBF, the average lipase separation efficiency and yield are 86.46 and 87.49%, correspondingly. Phase components recycling were proposed in order to reduce the chemicals consumption in LBF system. Upscaling of the recycling study exhibited consistent result with the laboratory scale. It was found that 97.20 and 98.67% of Triton X-100 and xylitol were recovered after five times of recycling and that a total of 75.87% of lipase separation efficiency was obtained. Recovery and recycling of phase components in the extraction process are established as the principal green chemistry method, which yields high separation efficiency and is economically feasible on an industrial scale.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of moderate electric field (MEF, 0–10 V/cm, 50 Hz) on the glucoamylase-catalyzed hydrolysis of corn starch. The underlying mechanism was explored by monitoring changes in the hydrolysis rate, glucoamylase activity, substrate structure, temperature profiles, and hydrolysate properties. The results suggested that the hydrolysis rate highly depended on the MEF intensity. Low-intensity MEF (0–5 V/cm) increased glucoamylase activity by 7.1–22.4% by inducing mild electrophoretic and polarization effects, which resulted in the formation of porous starch. Although high-intensity MEF accelerated the thermal inactivation of glucoamylase, it completely destroyed starch granules due to the extensive ohmic heating; hence, a significant improvement in the hydrolysis efficiency and dramatic decreases in the pasting viscosity, gelatinization enthalpy, and thermo-stability were observed. Overall, this study clarified the mechanism of MEF-assisted enzymatic hydrolysis, which might contribute to expanding the applications of electric field-based techniques in starch modification.

Absract The reactions of pyrrole with rare-earth metal amides [(Me3Si)2N]3RE(μ-Cl)Li(THF)3 produced the bimetallic rare earth metal amido complexes (RE = Y(1), Nd(2), Yb(3)) in high yields. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the pyrrole was deprotonated with the pyrrolyl ring coordinated to one rare-earth metal in an η5 mode and the nitrogen atom coordinated to another rare-earth metal in an η1 modes forming the centrosymmetric structures. Complexes 1–3 as precatalysts for isoprene polymerization were investigated. Results showed that except for ytterbium system, all other complexes could initiate effectively the polymerization of isoprene to afford polyisoprene with high conversion, high regio- and stereo-selectivity (1,4-cis selectivity up to 95.2%) in the presence of cocatalysts.

Pretreatments of either water blanching or NaCl immersion and airborne ultrasound-assisted air drying were combined to dehydrate apple slices. The drying time was found to be reduced by 1.5–68.9% compared with air drying without any pretreatment and sonication. Meanwhile, it was found that sequential water blanching coupled with air drying with sonication gave the shortest drying time. A modified diffusional model incorporating temperature-dependent moisture diffusivity (Deff) could simulate the apple drying process well. Water blanching pretreatment and airborne sonication were found to lower the activation energy required for the enhancement of moisture diffusive ability, and intensified water exchange on apple surface to speed up the drying process. Both water blanching and NaCl immersion significantly increased the amounts of procyanidin B2 in dehydrated apple slices. However, airborne sonication promoted the loss of procyanidin B2 in apple slices with pretreatments during air drying. In addition, sonication had no obvious influences on apple PPO activity and individual organic acids throughout drying. Overall, the sequential NaCl immersion pretreatment (or water blanching pretreatment) and drying with airborne sonication are effective to improve the quality of dried apple slices.

Electronic packaging materials with efficient heat dissipation and anti-electromagnetic-interference performance are highly desirable to realize the long-term stable operation of highly integrated electronic devices. Such combined functions of heat dissipation and anti-electromagnetic-interference are achieved here by filling 3D CNF@C-Ni network skeleton in epoxy resins (EP). The CNF@C-Ni is a carbon nanofibers network skeleton embedded with micron flower-like C-Ni particles and has been obtained by carbonizing nickel metal–organic frameworks (Ni-MOF) embellished bacterial cellulose. The 3D CNF@C-Ni network skeleton provides a highly efficient heat transfer channel for EP, rendering a high thermal conductivity of 0.5 W·m−1K−1 at room temperature for the 5 wt% CNF@C-Ni filled EP, ~2.8 times higher than that of pristine EP. In addition, the flower-like C-Ni particles realize an optimization in the impedance matching of CNF@C-Ni/EP, enabling a high electromagnetic wave absorption performance in the wave-transparent epoxy resins. In particular, a lowest reflection loss value of −49.77 dB at 13.44 GHz with a maximum effective bandwidth of 5.44 GHz (from 12.08 to 17.52 GHz) has been achieved in the 5 wt% CNF@C-Ni filled epoxy resins with a thickness of 2.2 mm. Such a new dual-functionated epoxy resin with combined high electromagnetic wave absorption and thermal management performance shows great potential in manufacturing of highly integrated electronic devices.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Co-pigmentation pretreatment protected blackberry anthocyanins during drying. • Ethanol pretreatment with phenolic acids only enhanced water effective diffusivity. • Non-anthocyaninic soluble phenolics were better preserved under contact sonication. • Bound phenolics were less affected by pretreatments and ultrasound-assisted drying., In this work, the spraying of ethanol solution containing phenolic acid (ferulic acid or caffeic acid) was performed before subjecting to contact ultrasound-assisted air drying of blackberry. The mass transfer modeling results revealed that sonication intensified both internal water diffusion and external water exchange during drying, and ethanol pretreatment enhanced the effective diffusivity of water. Compared with air drying alone, the drying time for sequential ferulic acid pretreatment and drying with sonication was shortened by 89.2%. Owing to the co-pigmentation between phenolic acid and anthocyanins, the retention of anthocyanins was significantly enhanced after dehydration. At the end of drying, the total anthocyanin contents in the ultrasound-dried samples pretreated with ferulic acid and caffeic acid were 25.3% and 10.5% higher than the sonicated samples without pretreatments, respectively. Furthermore, drying simultaneously with sonication promoted the preservation of non-anthocyaninic soluble phenolics including catechin, phloretic acid, rutin in blackberry compared to air drying alone. Besides, bound phenolics in blackberry were less influences by the applied dehydration treatments. This study demonstrates that the combination of phenolic acid co-pigmentation pretreatment and ultrasound drying could be a promising method to protect anthocyanin pigments during dehydration of berry fruits.

Two real-time quantitative PCR detection systems that contained DNA Green saturated fluorescent dye for detection of Salmonella Enteritidis and Ly Green saturated fluorescent dye for detection of Salmonella spp. were constructed. Furthermore, the specificity of the amplification system increased with the addition of graphene quantum dots. The R2 values of the standard curves were 0.999 (S. Enteritidis) and 0.998 (Salmonella spp.), respectively. The sensitivities of the two amplification systems were evaluated based on three aspects: genomic DNA (1.36 fg/μL, 1.36 fg/μL); bacterial cell without enrichment (2.49 CFU/mL, 2.49 CFU/mL); plasmid containing Gene ID:1828390769 (11.6 copies/μL) and plasmid containing Gene ID:3335471 (1.08 copies/μL). Detection results of fruits and vegetables artificially contaminated with Salmonella showed that the traditional culture method exhibits a lower detection rate than the molecular detection method, and the culture time of the Selective Luria-Bertani broth (SLB) was short. The detection rate was increased compared with that of the Buffered Peptone Water-Selenite Cystine broth (BPW-SC). The two detection systems exhibit high sensitivity and specificity and are suitable for detecting Salmonella in ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables.

The concentrations of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in 128 surface soil samples from Xiangfen County, northern China. The total mass concentration of these PAHs ranged from 52 to 10,524ng/g, with a mean of 723ng/g. Four-ring PAHs contributed almost 50% of the total PAH burden. A self-organizing map and positive matrix factorization were applied to investigate the spatial distribution and source apportionment of PAHs. Three emission sources of PAHs were identified, namely, coking ovens (21.9%), coal/biomass combustion (60.1%), and anthracene oil (18.0%). High concentrations of low-molecular-weight PAHs were particularly apparent in the coking plant zone in the region around Gucheng Town. High-molecular-weight PAHs mainly originated from coal/biomass combustion around Gucheng Town, Xincheng Town, and Taosi Town. PAHs in the soil of Xiangfen County are unlikely to pose a significant cancer risk for the population.

A 20-kHz ultrasound was utilized to extract phenolics from chokeberry cultivated in China using both distilled water and 50% aqueous ethanol as solvents. Sonication was performed at different acoustic energy density and temperature levels. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was successful in correlating the operation parameters during extraction with total phenolic yield with the value of determination of coefficient higher than 0.97. In the constructed ANFIS model, “Gaussmf” was selected as the input membership function. Meanwhile, diffusion model was solved numerically to model the mass transfer process during sonication and identify the effective diffusivity of total phenolics. Generally, both AED and temperature had positive influences on the effective diffusivity of total phenolics. Furthermore, according to the analysis of high resolution mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography, delphinidin-3- O -rutinoside, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid and rutin had considerably high amounts in this Chinese chokeberry cultivar. In addition, through analyzing the phenolic composition in extracts, it was found that distilled water was an effective solvent for the extraction of some anthocyanins from chokeberry including cyanidin-3- O -glucoside, cyanidin-3- O -rutinoside and delphinidin-3- O -rutinoside, while sonication using 50% aqueous ethanol as solvent led to high recovery of phenolic acids and flavonols.

Various wall materials, including maltodextrin (MD), β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), whey protein isolate (WPI) and gum Arabic (Gum-A) were combined together as the wall materials for encapsulation of blueberry anthocyanin extracts through freeze drying. Simplex lattice mixture design was used to make the experimental design. Artificial neural network (ANN) combined with genetic algorithm (GA) was successfully applied to model the influences of formulation composition on encapsulation productivity (EP) and encapsulation efficiency (EE), as well as obtain optimum formulations. Four optimum formulations were provided by the ANN-GA approach. In all the optimum formulations, WPI had the highest content. Using the optimum formulations, EP values were higher than 96% and EE values exceeded 82%. On the other hand, the properties of resulting anthocyanin powders were analyzed from different aspects. Although there were some differences in bulk density, particle size and glass transition temperature among encapsulated powders using different formulations, all the samples exhibited similar moisture content, water activity, color property and crystallinity. More importantly, encapsulation using resulting optimum formulations was effective to protect blueberry anthocyanins against degradation during heating.

Searching for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitor from medicinal plants has become a potential method to discover small molecular cancer immunotherapy drugs. Using PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitory activity assay in vitro, a bioactive fraction was obtained from the ethanol extract of Gymnadenia conopsea. A sensitive UPLC-HRMS/MS method was established for the rapid screening and identification of compositions from bioactive fraction. Based on the characteristic fragmentation patterns of standards analysis and extracted ion chromatogram (EIC) method, 46 compounds were rapidly screened and identified (including 35 succinic acid ester glycosides and 11 other compounds), among which 17 compounds were tentatively identified as new compounds.

Two-dimensional images of fundus blood vessels are easy to obtain with low diagnostic accuracy. This study realized the reconstruction of three-dimensional vascular structures from two-dimensional fundus images to improve the accuracy to 95%.

In this study, four different selected wall materials (namely gelatin, soy protein isolate, maltodextrin and Arabic gum) were applied for blueberry anthocyanin extract encapsulation. The effect of these wall material types on the release and degradation of anthocyanin and the modulation of gut microbiota during in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation were investigated. It was found that the encapsulation of anthocyanin extract using appropriate wall material could significantly enhance the colonic accessibility of anthocyanins. Soy protein isolate and gelatin delayed the release of anthocyanins, whereas the other two wall materials displayed no significant effect on the release time of anthocyanins. Gut microbiota mainly metabolized some phenolic compounds such as 4-hydroxycinnamic acid and chlorogenic acid. Meanwhile, different fermented anthocyanin extract microcapsule broth could significantly decrease the composition and abundance of Firmicutes and increase that of Bacteroidetes. Furthermore, the presence of anthocyanin extract microcapsules, especially those encapsulated with soy protein isolate, promoted the biosynthesis of short-chain fatty acids by gut microbiota. It is concluded that, amongst the wall materials studied, soy protein isolate appeared to be a functional and suitable candidate to delay anthocyanin release and prevent disease through the promotion of gut health.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • GABA and Ca2+ were essential for phenolics accumulation. • GABA treatment induced an increase in calcium and calmodulin (CaM) content. • GABA treatment induced Ca2+ influx in barley root tips cells. • Ca2+ was involved in GABA signal transduction for phenolics accumulation., In this study, in order to investigate the role of Ca2+ in GABA signal transduction involved in phenolics accumulation in barley seedlings under NaCl stress, the seedlings were treated with exogenous GABA and its synthesis inhibitor, 3-mercaplopropionic acid (3-MP), as well as Ca2+ channel blockers La3+, Ca2+ chelator EGTA, and Ca2+ release channel inhibitor 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB). The results showed that GABA significantly enhanced phenolics, calcium and calmodulin content. It also induced Ca2+ influx in barley root tips cells, and altered the distribution of Ca2+, making calcium precipitates more uniform and intensive. While, 3-MP treatment led to opposite changes, which suggested that GABA was essential for calcium content increase. In addition, accumulation of phenolics was inhibited by LaCl3, EGTA and 2-APB treatments, and this inhibition could be alleviated partly by exogenous GABA. Taken together, Ca2+ was involved in GABA signal transduction for phenolics accumulation in barley seedlings under NaCl stress.

In this study, three potential probiotic strains were selected to ferment blueberry and blackberry juices. The viable cell counts of selected strains were increased by 0.4-0.7 log CFU/mL in berry juices environments after 48-h fermentation. Meanwhile, the contents of cyanindin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-glucoside decreased over 30%. Heatmap presented an upgrade trend of syringic acid, ferulic acid, gallic acid and lactic acid during fermentation. However, the contents of p-coumaric acid, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, critic acid and malic acid showed downgrade trend. The metabolism of phenolics probably contributed to the enhancement of the ABTS radical scavenging activity (40%-60%) in fermented berry juices. Moreover, the three strains presented different capacities on changing the quality of berry juices according to the PCA and LDA analysis. The contents of individual organic acids had positive correlations with sensory quality, especially for sourness. Overall, probiotic fermentation could improve the sensory quality of berry juices.

This study aimed to efficiently and selectively hydrolyze maize starch via induced electric field (IEF). The role of electrical conductivity in regulating hydrolysis efficiency and selectivity was investigated, and the structural and physicochemical properties of hydrolyzed products were characterized. Compared with water-bath heating, IEF induced the rapid and ordered migration of charged species, thus increasing the hydrolysis rate and narrowing the molecular weight distribution of hydrolyzed starch. The addition of KCl enhanced IEF-assisted hydrolysis due to the absorption of additional electrical energy into the reaction system. After hydrolysis, the molecular chains of maize starch exhibited cleavage, the granular surface became rough, the crystallinity increased, the gelatinization enthalpy slightly increased, the viscosity of starch paste reduced, the hardness of starch gel declined, and the re-crystallization showed no significant improvement. Overall, this study extends the potential applications of electro-techniques in preparing hydrolyzed starch with narrow molecular weight distribution in food and material fields.

Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) microalgae are well known for their high content of astaxanthin, which is a super potent antioxidant with various remedial effects. Ionic liquids (ILs) have been proposed as a promising solvent to permeabilize the robust microalgal cell wall for an effective extraction of bioactive compounds. Nonetheless, the removal of ILs from the extracted compounds requires the additional treatment steps that complicate the overall extraction process and the recycling of ILs. To address these shortcomings, we demonstrated a sustainable extraction system that utilizes CO2-based alkyl carbamate ILs to permeate H. pluvialis cells and extract astaxanthin. This class of ILs is readily distillable for an easy recovery of ILs from the extraction medium. Among the tested CO2-based alkyl carbamate ILs [dimethylammonium dimethylcarbamate (DIMCARB), dipropylammonium dipropylcarbamate (DPCARB), dibutylammonium dibutylcarbamate (DBCARB) and diallyammonium diallycarbamate (DACARB)], DIMCARB gave the best performance of astaxanthin extraction. The optimized extraction conditions [100% (w/w) of DIMCARB, 75 min and 45 °C] resulted in the high yield of astaxanthin (27.99 mg/g). The capability of DIMCARB to permeabilize the amorphous trilayered structure of cell wall was verified by the presence of pores on the cell surface of H. pluvialis as shown in the microscope images. The performance and recyclability of DIMCARB extraction system were also evaluated by conducting three successive rounds of astaxanthin extraction with the recycled DIMCARB solutions. In addition, the antioxidant capacity of the extracted astaxanthin was well retained, showing that this type of distillable IL was suitable for the extraction of phytonutrients from algal source.

This study has investigated on two objectives which are enhancing the microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana CY-1 cell disruption mechanism using thermal Fenton reaction and performing non-catalytic transesterification by ultra-sonication method. Radicles generated by Fenton reaction are rapid, dynamic, and the reaction was assisted by thermal heating to optimize the kinetic of the radical generation by obtained the lipid recovery for 53.3% and 977.41 mg/g at 36.5 °C with 4 min of contact time. The conversion of lipid into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) through rapid non-catalytic transesterification using ultrasound was also performed. The significant parameters were done by varying the ratio of methanol to lipid, duration and pulse mode of sonication, to optimize the bonding reaction with methyl ester compound to free fatty acids. The formation of hydrocarbon chains with C4, C6, and C10 was observed at 8.20 mg/g, 0.33 mg/g, and 0.24 mg/g, respectively. This is a promising method as it is marketable and can be conducted in large scale with high process yield of F.A.M.E in a rapid manner.

Enzymatically-catalytic conversion of starch-based industrial waste into porous materials was enhanced by a moderate electric field (MEF). Changes in the hydrolysis rate, α-amylase activity and starch structure during MEF treatment (0–20 V, 0–400 Hz, room temperature and 0–2 h) were monitored and the hydrolyzed products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and water/oil adsorption analyses. The results showed that MEF enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis mainly by destroying starch structure, rather than by altering α-amylase activity. The average number of pores of hydrolyzed starch increased when voltage increased from 2 to 15 V, but a further increase of voltage caused the gelatinization of starch, thus making it unfavorable for the preparation of porous materials. The crystallinity of electrically-treated porous starches was decreased by 2.87–5.06%. The water and oil adsorption capacity of the porous starches was much higher than that of their native counterpart. Overall, this study extends the applications of electric field-based techniques in an enzymatic modification of biomaterials.

1-Allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [AMIM]Cl hybrid perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) composite electrolyte membrane was prepared and characterized by TG and FTIR technique. The conductivity was measured using AC impedance method. The results showed that when raised from 20 to 90 °C, the conductivity of composite membrane was increased from 4.50 × 10−6 to 1.34 × 10−5 S cm−1, before and after the modification of triethylamine, the thermal stability of composite membrane was not changed, but the TEA-PFSA with [AMIM]Cl reactivity was a little difference. However, the heat resistance of composite membrane was significantly enhanced compared with that of PFSA membrane, the peak temperature of composite membrane almost disappeared in first stage, and offset to the high-temperature zone. When heated at 350 °C, the decomposition rate of PFSA, 10%[AMIM]Cl-PFSA and 10%[AMIM]Cl-TEA-PFSA membrane was 13.71, 3.67 and 1.26%, respectively. If the decomposition process follows isothermal first-order reaction and the conversion rate α is 10%, the activation energy E α of the composite membrane is 97.4 kJ mol−1. Besides, the isothermal lifetime of composite membrane was also measured.

FK506 (tacrolimus), which is produced by many Streptomyces strains, is clinically used as an immunosuppressive agent and for treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. Here, we identified that the FK506 biosynthetic gene cluster in an industrial FK506-producing strain Streptomyces tsukubaensis L19 is organized as eight transcription units. Two pathway-specific regulators, FkbN and Tcs7, involved in FK506 biosynthesis from S. tsukubaensis L19 were characterized in vivo and in vitro. FkbN activates the transcription of six transcription units in FK506 biosynthetic gene cluster, and Tcs7 activates the transcription of fkbN. In addition, the DNA-binding specificity of FkbN was determined. Finally, a high FK506-producing strain was constructed by overexpression of both fkbN and tcs7 in S. tsukubaensis L19, which improved FK506 production by 89 % compared to the parental strain.

Obesity is a leading health problem facing the modern world; however, no effective therapy for this health issue has yet been developed. A promising research direction to identify novel therapies to prevent obesity has emerged from discoveries on development and function of brown/brite adipocytes in mammals. Importantly, there is evidence for the presence and function of active thermogenic brown adipocytes in both infants and adult humans. Several new investigations have shown that thermogenic adipocytes are beneficial to maintain glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivity, and a healthy body fat content. Such thermogenic adipocytes have been considered as targets to develop a therapy for preventing obesity. This short review seeks to highlight recent findings on the development and function of brown/brite adipocytes in humans and to discuss potential treatments based on these adipocytes to reduce obesity and its related disorders.

We collected and analyzed 128 surface soil samples from Xiangfen County for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD), and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE). Total DDT concentrations (DDTs; sum of p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, and p,p'-DDT) ranged from ND to 427.81 ng g(-1) (dry weight, dw), with a mean of 40.26 ng g(-1) (dw). Among the three compounds, p,p'-DDD was the most dominant. The DDTs in Xiangfen County soils mainly originated from historical DDT use, but there were also new inputs likely related to dicofol use. The DDTs in Xiangfen County soils were mainly degraded under anaerobic conditions, and direct degradation to DDD was the main degradation route. Regions with relatively high concentrations of DDTs were mainly located in North and South Xiangfen County. In these regions, many soil samples contained p,p'-DDT as the predominant pollutant, suggestive of extensive new inputs of DDT. A health risk assessment revealed that there are no serious long-term health impacts of exposure to DDTs in soil, for adults or children.

In the study, osmotically dehydrated cherry tomatoes were partially dried to water activity between 0.746 and 0.868, vacuum-packed and stored at 4-30 °C for 60 days. Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was utilized to predict the physicochemical and microbiological parameters of these partially dried cherry tomatoes during storage. Satisfactory accuracies were obtained when ANFIS was used to predict the lycopene and total phenolic contents, color and microbial contamination. The coefficients of determination for all the ANFIS models were higher than 0.86 and showed better performance for prediction compared with models developed by response surface methodology. Through ANFIS modeling, the effects of storage conditions on the properties of partially dried cherry tomatoes were visualized. Generally, contents of lycopene and total phenolics decreased with the increase in water activity, temperature and storage time, while aerobic plate count and number of yeasts and molds increased at high water activities and temperatures. Overall, ANFIS approach can be used as an effective tool to study the quality decrease and microbial pollution of partially dried cherry tomatoes during storage, as well as identify the suitable preservation conditions.