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Starch is one of the natural encapsulant materials widely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Starch with high amylose content (above 40 %, w/w) is prone to form single helices V-type allomorph with a hydrophilic outer surface and a hydrophobic inner cavity making them suitable for encapsulation of hydrophobic compounds such as essential oils, fatty acids, and vitamins. Pea starch obtained from pea protein processing industries have a high amylose content (40 %, w/w) rendering them unsuitable for direct food applications as ingredients. Therefore, in this study, an in-house spraying procedure was used to synthesize nanoparticles using pea starch, to encapsulate neem oil, a natural antimicrobial compound obtained from neem plant (Azadirachta indica) seed. The synthesis of the oil-encapsulated starch nanoparticles (OESNP) was optimized using a Box-Behnken experimental design to study the influence of the processing parameters such as the initial starch concentration, homogenization speed, duration of homogenization, sample injection rate, and quantity of antisolvent (ethanol). The optimized sample showed an 80-90 % encapsulation efficiency and particle size of <500 nm. The spherical OESNPs also demonstrated sustained release of the oil compared to free oil when dispersed in water. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the coexistence of C-type and V-type polymorphs in the loaded and unloaded nanoparticles. It is concluded that the synthesized OESNPs with controlled release hold the potential to utilize industrial pea starch waste for the delivery of natural pesticides in agriculture., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Ashutosh Singh reports financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Abdallah Elsayed reports financial support was provided by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Fruits and vegetables are an integral part of our diet attributed to their appealing taste, flavor, and health-promoting characteristics. However, due to their high-water activity, they are susceptible to microbial spoilage and diseases at any step in the food supply chain, from pre-harvest treatment to post-harvest storage and transportation. As a result, food researchers and engineers are developing innovative technologies that can be used to reduce the loss of fruits and vegetables on-farm and during postharvest processing. The purpose of this study was to gather and discuss the scientific data on the disease-suppressive activity of nanoparticles against plant pathogens. The progress and limitations of innovative approaches for improving nanoparticles' efficiency and dependability have been studied to develop effective substitutes for synthetic chemical fungicides and pesticides, in managing disease in fruits and vegetables. The findings of this study strongly suggests that nanotechnology has the required ability for disease suppression in fruits and vegetables. Applications of specific nanoparticles under specified conditions can enhance nutrition delivery to plants, provide better antibacterial and disease suppression activity. Nanoparticles can also lessen the quantity of agrichemicals/metals released into the environment as compared to standard formulations, which is one of the most impressive advances.

Rhamnolipids are one of the most promising eco-friendly green glycolipids for bio-replacements of commercially available fossil fuel-based surfactants. However, the current industrial biotechnology practices cannot meet the required standards due to the low production yields, expensive biomass feedstocks, complicated processing, and opportunistic pathogenic nature of the conventional rhamnolipid producer strains. To overcome these problems, it has become important to realize non-pathogenic producer substitutes and high-yielding strategies supporting biomass-based production. We hereby review the inherent characteristics of Burkholderia thailandensis E264 which favor its competence towards such sustainable rhamnolipid biosynthesis. The underlying biosynthetic networks of this species have unveiled unique substrate specificity, carbon flux control and rhamnolipid congener profile. Acknowledging such desirable traits, the present review provides critical insights towards metabolism, regulation, upscaling, and applications of B. thailandensis rhamnolipids. Identification of their unique and naturally inducible physiology has proved to be beneficial for achieving previously unmet redox balance and metabolic flux requirements in rhamnolipids production. These developments in part are targeted by the strategic optimization of B. thailandensis valorizing low-cost substrates ranging from agro-industrial byproducts to next generation (waste) fractions. Accordingly, safer bioconversions can propel the industrial rhamnolipids in advanced biorefinery domains to promote circular economy, reduce carbon footprint and increased applicability as both social and environment friendly bioproducts., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors would like to declare no competing interest in terms of financial or personal relationships which could have influenced the review work., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles by green route is an emerging technique drawing more attention recently because of several advantages over the conventional chemical ways. The overall objective of the research was focused on the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using pomelo peel waste via a rapid and eco-friendly ultrasonic-assisted technique and their characterization. Different factors affecting the synthesis, like methodology for the preparation of extract and various treatment conditions for the synthesis, were also studied. The developed nanoparticles were characterized for their optical, molecular, microstructural, and physical properties by UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta-potential measurements, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The green synthesized nanoparticles were found almost spherical when treated at room and high temperatures and cubical when treated with ultrasonication. As obtained from the XRD studies, the size of crystallitenanoparticles was 35 to 40 nm in diameter. The EDX, FT-IR, and zeta potential analysis corroborated the role of phenolic compounds in capping and reduction of the metal ion. The capping ability of the polyphenolic component in the extract was used to achieve size stability. The nanoparticles also showed antibacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, owing to the inherent antibacterial capability of silver nanoparticles., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Non-thermal food processing is a viable alternative to traditional thermal processing to meet customer needs for high-quality, convenient and minimally processed foods. They are designed to eliminate elevated temperatures during processing and avoid the adverse effects of heat on food products. Numerous thermal and novel non-thermal technologies influence food structure at the micro and macroscopic levels. They affect several properties such as rheology, flavour, process stability, texture, and appearance at microscopic and macroscopic levels. This review presents existing knowledge and advances on the impact of non-thermal technologies, for instance, cold plasma treatment, irradiation, high-pressure processing, ultrasonication, pulsed light technology, high voltage electric field and pulsed electric field treatment on the structural changes of food components. An extensive review of the literature indicates that different non-thermal processing technologies can affect the food components, which significantly affects the structure of food. Applications of novel non-thermal technologies have shown considerable impact on food structure by altering protein structures via free radicals or larger or smaller molecules. Lipid oxidation is another process responsible for undesirable effects in food when treated with non-thermal techniques. Non-thermal technologies may also affect starch properties, reduce molecular weight, and change the starch granule's surface. Such modification of food structure could create novel food textures, enhance sensory properties, improve digestibility, improve water-binding ability and improve mediation of gelation processes. However, it is challenging to determine these technologies' influence on food components due to differences in their primary operation and equipment design mechanisms and different operating conditions. Hence, to get the most value from non-thermal technologies, more in-depth research about their effect on various food components is required., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Analysis of codon usage bias (CUB) is very much important in perceiving the knowledge of molecular biology, the discovery of a new gene, designing of transgenes and evolution of gene. In this study, we analyzed compositional features and codon usage of MT-CO ( COI , COII and COIII ) genes among the classes of Arthropoda to explore the pattern of CUB as no research work was reported yet. Nucleotide composition analysis in CO genes suggested that the genes were AT-rich in all the four classes of Arthropoda. CUB was low in all the classes of Arthropoda for MT-CO genes as revealed from a high effective number of codons (ENC). We also found that the evolutionary forces namely mutation pressure and natural selection were the key influencing factors in CUB among MT-CO genes as revealed by correlation analysis between overall nucleotide composition and nucleotide composition at the 3rd codon position. Correspondence analysis suggested that the pattern of CUB was different among the classes of Arthropoda. Further, it was revealed from the neutrality plot that natural selection had a dominant role while mutation pressure exhibited a minor role in structuring the pattern of codon usage in all the classes of Arthropoda across COI , COII and COIII genes.

Codon usage bias (CUB) is defined as the usage of synonymous codons unequally for an amino acid in a gene transcript. It is influenced by both mutation pressure and natural selection and is a species-specific property. In our current study, we used bioinformatic methods to investigate the coding sequences of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate gene (MT-ATP) in different classes of arthropoda to know the codon usage pattern of the gene as no work was described earlier. The analysis of compositional properties suggested that the gene is AT rich. The effective number of codons revealed the CUB of both ATP6 and ATP8 gene was moderate. Heat map showed that the codons ending with AT were negatively associated with GC3 while the codons ending with GC were positively associated with GC3 in all the classes of arthropoda. Correspondence study revealed that the pattern of codon usage of ATP6 and ATP8 genes differed across classes. Neutrality plot suggested the codon usage bias of these two genes in phylum arthropoda was influenced by both mutation pressure and natural selection.