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Polysaccharide-based aerogels show great potential in heat absorption, but it lacks comprehensive evaluation system for their endothermic properties. To fully assess their endothermic properties, konjac glucomannan (KGM)/starch aerogel was used and its heat absorption performance (HAP) was investigated. It was found that the heat absorption ability of the samples was attributed to thermal collapse of the samples at high temperature. The composition, structure, size and mass of aerogels would have effect on their HAP. The cellulose acetate (CA) aerogel showed better HAP than KGM/starch aerogel with the same volume. However, the performance of KGM/starch aerogel excelled CA under the same mass. These results were in accordance with the results obtained by thermal conductivity analyzer, which indicated the potential of the system to evaluate the HAP of the aerogels comprehensively.

A good aromatherapy experience of an incense stick with filter material depended heavily on the barrier effect of the filter material particles and the comfort temperature of the aroma. The lack of accurate methods to determine the aroma temperature greatly hindered the quality control and product development of aromatherapy. In this study, a novel method was proposed to measure the temperature of the filter material and aroma with an negative temperature coefficient thermistor and a needle thermocouple. The experimental results showed that the measurement accuracy of this method was up to ±0.01°C, and the surface temperature distribution of the filter media and the extracted aroma temperature can be obtained quickly and accurately. It was found that under the two different heating methods, the aroma temperature produced by heating non-combustion was significantly higher than that produced by the non-flaming combustion. Different aroma delivery intervals also had significant effects on the aroma. This paper showed that this novel method could contribute to quality evaluation of filter sticks for aromatherapy products.

Pickering emulsions stabilized by food-grade colloidal particles have attracted increasing attention in recent years due to their “surfactant-free” nature. In this study, the alkali-treated zein (AZ) was prepared via restricted alkali deamidation and then combined with sodium alginate (SA) in different ratios to obtain AZ/SA composite particles (ZS), which were used to stabilize Pickering emulsion. The degree of deamidation (DD) and degree of hydrolysis (DH) of AZ were 12.74% and 6.58% respectively, indicating the deamidation occurred mainly in glutamine on the side chain of the protein. After the treatment with alkali, AZ particle size decreased significantly. Moreover, the particle size of ZS with different ratios was all less than 80 nm. when the AZ/SA ratio was 2:1(Z2S1) and 3:1(Z3S1), the three-phase contact angle (θo/w) were close to 90°, which was favorable for stabilizing the Pickering emulsion. Furthermore, at a high oil phase fraction (75%), Z3S1-stabilized Pickering emulsions showed the best long-term storage stability within 60 days. Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) observations showed that the water-oil interface was wrapped by a dense layer of Z3S1 particles with non-agglomeration between independent oil droplets. At constant particle concentration, the apparent viscosity of the Pickering emulsions stabilized by Z3S1 gradually decreased with increasing oil phase fraction, and the oil-droplet size and the Turbiscan stability index (TSI) also gradually decreased, exhibiting solid-like behavior. This study provides new ideas for the fabrication of food-grade Pickering emulsions and will extend the future applications of zein-based Pickering emulsions as bioactive ingredient delivery systems.

Natural polymers such as protein and polysaccharide belong to the basic kinds of food soft mater. With great diversity and complexity, the intermolecular assembly structure formed by these polymers can form stable co soluble complexes or have phase separation according to components compatibility and assembly structure stability, which are of vital importance for the further development of food science and industry. This article introduces the compatibility and various assembly structures of soft matter components and the various interactions between polysaccharides and proteins and their impact on microstructure, and summarizes the existing methods for characterizing compatibility of food soft matter and the stability of assembly structure.

This study presents two methods to improve the air filtration performance of konjac glucomannan (KGM)-based aerogel air filters through physical structure design by changing the pore-size distribution and the surface area, using an air purifier. Results indicated that KGM-based aerogels had a comparable filtration effect with the commercial air filter with a longer purification time. This purification time could be shortened by over 50%, by changing the pore-size distribution from large size to small size or increase the surface area with the fold structure. This should boost the development of polysaccharide-based aerogel used as the air filter.

The pore size distribution of konjac glucomannan (KGM)-based aerogels seriously impacted the air filtration efficiency and filtration resistance. This study aimed to investigate the pore size distribution control of KGM-based aerogels through total solid concentration of the sol and to improve the filtration performance by preparing aerogel stacks, which were made by combining KGM-based aerogels with different pore size distribution (range: 0–180 μm). Results indicated that with increased total solid concentration from 50% to 100% of the origin formulae, aerogel pore size became smaller and the porosity was decreased for all the three sample formulae. Meanwhile, the aerogel mechanical property and filtration efficiency were both strengthened with increased total solid concentration, but the air resistance became significantly higher. The changing extent and rule were influenced by the sample components (KGM, starch, gelatin, wheat straw). The aerogel stacks prepared by in series combining the aerogel pieces with different pore size distribution (from large size to small size) was found to improve filtration efficiency (e.g. from 70% to 80% for K1G2S4WS2) and significantly lower the air resistance (e.g. from 270 Pa to 190 Pa for K1G2S4WS2). This study could guide the filtration performance improvement of aerogels.

The impact of preparation conditions including heating temperature (from 60 °C to 90 °C) and drying temperatures (from 25 °C to 90 °C) on the properties of pure curdlan film and konjac glucomannan (KGM) and curdlan blend films were analyzed. Microstructure analysis indicated the KGM addition could significantly improve the relatively poor film-forming property of curdlan. FTIR and X-ray analysis showed that at high heating temperature 90 °C, molecular interaction might be enhanced in the films due to the stretched structure of curdlan and dissociation of curdlan bundles or triple-helix structure. This was supported by the changes in the mechanical property, surface hydrophobicity, moisture barrier, and moisture tolerance property. The impacts of drying temperature were some different for the curdlan film and KGM/curdlan blend film, and were explained from the molecular hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity, compactness of the films, curdlan conformation, and molecular interaction. This work guided biodegradable film production especially with curdlan added.

Artemisia sphaerocephala Krasch. polysaccharide (ASKP) has attracted growing attention in the field of food and medical engineering due to its biological activity and colloidal property. In this study, the binding between ASKP and ferric ions was found and the binding mechanism was explored. The results showed that ASKP could form a hydrogel with three-dimensional network structure in the presence of ferric ions. Ferric ions could specifically bind with the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of the high molecular weight fraction of 60P with the binding stoichiometry of [M3+]/[repeating unit] = 2.5. The possible mechanism of the formation of ASKP-Fe3+ complex was proposed as two binding modes of monodentate and bridging binding. ASKP-Fe3+ complex exhibited higher thermal stability than ASKP revealed with DSC thermograms. The study indicated that ASKP would be a novel gelation biopolymer and the ASKP-Fe3+ complex hydrogel could be exploited as a new iron fortifier.

Different characterization methods spanning length scales from molecular to micron scale were applied to inspect the microstructures and mechanical/hydrophilic features of agar/konjac glucomannan (KGM) films prepared under different drying temperatures (40 and 60 °C). Note that the lower preparation temperature (40 °C) could increase the strength and elongation of agar/KGM films at high KGM levels (18:82

The practical features (e.g., sol-gel, mechanical and hydrophobic) of biopolymer systems are crucial for their materials applications. This work reveals how polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) inclusion affects the practical features of agar/konjac glucomannan (KGM) system. From rheological analysis, incorporating PVA (especially 6%) enhanced the chain entanglements of resulted ternary solution (A70K24P6) with stabilized sol-gel transition point. Such effect not only increased the zero-shear viscosity (ca. 1.5 times that of agar/KGM counterpart) and structural recovery degree of A70K24P6 solution, but also caused reduced crystallites and simultaneously increased tensile strength, elongation at break and hydrophobicity for A70K24P6 film from solution dehydration. This ternary film exhibited a tensile strength of ca. 105 MPa, an elongation at break of ca. 20%, and a water contact angle of ca. 97.6°. Additionally, incorporating PVA almost unaffected the morphology of film fracture surface. These results are valuable for the design of agar/KGM systems with improved practical features.

Konjac glucomannan (KGM) is a dietary fibre with potential to be used as a fat-replacer in Mozzarella cheese. The functional properties (texture, free oil, meltability and stretch performance) of full-fat cheese control (FFC), low-fat cheese control (LFC), skimmed cheese control (SKC), low-fat cheese with KGM (LF-KGM) and skimmed cheese with KGM (SK-KGM) after 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of storage at 4 °C were measured. The pizza bake properties (appearance for pizza bake and browning) and microstructure were evaluated. Generally, LF-KGM and SK-KGM had lower firmness but higher meltability than LFC and SKC, respectively. The firmness and meltability of LF-KGM were similar to those of FFC. Both the stickiness and free oil content of LF-KGM and SK-KGM were similar to LFC and SKC, respectively. The LF-KGM and SK-KGM showed more complete shred melt, less scorching and lower browning (higher L* value after baking) on the cheese surface than LFC and SKC, respectively, when they were baked as a pizza topping. Microstructure of FFC, LFC and SKC showed that fat globules filled the serum pores/channels in the protein matrix. LF-KGM and SK-KGM showed more dense protein matrix with more coalesced fat globules distributed in the matrix. The stickiness, free oil content and meltability of all the cheeses increased but firmness decreased during storage. We show that KGM may be useful as a fat replacer in manufacturing fat-reduced Mozzarella cheeses to improve functionality and pizza bake characteristics.

Kloeckera apiculata plays an important role in the inhibition of citrus postharvest blue and green mould diseases. This study was based on the previous genome sequencing of K. apiculata strain 34-9. After homologous comparison, scaffold 27 was defined as the mitochondrial (mt) sequence of K. apiculata 34-9. The comparison showed a high level of sequence identity between scaffold 27 and the known mtDNA of Hanseniaspora uvarum. The genome sequence of H. vineae T02/19AF showed several short and discontinuous fragments homologous to the mtDNA of H. uvarum. The shared and specific genes of K. apiculata, H. uvarum, and H. vineae were analysed by family using the TreeFam methodology. GO analysis was used to classify the shared and specific genes. Most of the gene families were classified into the functional categories of cellular component and metabolic processes. The whole-genome phylogram and genome synteny analysis showed that K. apiculata was more closely related to H. uvarum than to H. vineae. The genomic comparisons clearly displayed the locations of the homologous regions in each genome. This analysis could contribute to discovering the genomic similarities and differences within the genus Hanseniaspora. In addition, some regions were not collinearity-matched in the genome of K. apiculata compared with that of H. uvarum or H. vineae, and these sequences might have resulted from evolutionary variations.

Starch/agar systems are highly potential for versatile applications such as packaging and biomedical materials. Here, how combined factors affect the features of a starch/agar binary system were explored. An increase of starch amylose/amylopectin ratio from 0/100 to 50/50 increased the sol-gel transition temperature and gel hardness of the aqueous starch/agar mixture. An increased agar content (mainly from 30% to 70%) allowed increases in both the tensile strength (reaching 50–60 MPa) and elongation at break of the starch/agar binary films. This phenomenon should be related to the strengthened crystalline structure and the weakened hydrogen bonding between starch chains (reflected by infrared spectroscopy). Furthermore, a higher relative humidity (from 30% to 70%) allowed enhanced chain interactions and probably nanoscale molecular order but weakened the crystalline structure, leading to reduced tensile strength and increased elongation at break. This work could facilitate the design of starch/agar binary systems with improved sol-gel and mechanical performance.

With abundant renewable resources and good biodegradability, bio-based aerogels are considered as promising insulating materials for replacing the conventional petroleum-based foam. In this study, konjac glucomannan (KGM)-based aerogels were prepared as thermal insulation materials via a convenient sol&ndash, gel and freeze-drying progress with different content of plant polysaccharides, proteins, and wheat straw. The morphology, thermal conductivity, and flame retardancy of KGM-based aerogels were determined. The KGM-based aerogels showed a uniform three-dimensional porous microstructure. The addition of wheat straw could significantly reduce the pore size of aerogels due to its special multi-cavity structure. KGM-based aerogels showed low densities (0.0234&ndash, 0.0559 g/cm&minus, 3), low thermal conductivities (0.04573&ndash, 0.05127 W/mK), low peak heat release rate (PHRR, 46.7&ndash, 165.5 W/g), and low total heat release (THR, 5.7&ndash, 16.2 kJ/g). Compared to the conventional expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polyurethane (PU) foam, the maximum limiting oxygen index (LOI) of KGM-based aerogels increased by 24.09% and 47.59%, the lowest PHRR decreased by 79.37% and 94.26%, and the lowest THR decreased by 76.54% and 89.25%, respectively. The results demonstrated that the KGM-based aerogels had better performance on flame retardancy than PU and EPS, indicating high potential applications as heat insulation in the green advanced engineering field.

Biomass-based aerogel is a new promising environmentally friendly filter material to remove fine particle matter and minimize air pollution. This study aims to investigate the air filtration properties of biomass-based aerogels via tests in a transparent chamber and verification in a real room with a burning smudge stick as a the particle source. The biomass-based aerogel used in this study is made of polysaccharides, protein and waste agricultural by-product (wheat straw). The addition of wheat straw contributes to the increase of surface area and complexity of the biomass-based aerogel pore structure. Compared with other commonly used commercial filtration materials including high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, surgical mask, regular cloth and silica aerogel, biomass-based aerogel K0.9G1.8S3.6WS1.8 shows excellent performance to remove PM 2.5 (99.50%) and PM 10 (99.40%) from the environment. When using the biomass-based aerogel, the filter core sample has a smaller volume and simpler structure than HEPA to achieve the similar filtration performance. The filtration performance of the biomass-based aerogels has been verified with a real room test. The current work demonstrates the high potential of biomass-based aerogels for infiltration application in different fields and provides an avenue to reuse agricultural by-products.

Lineage-specific genes (LSGs) are defined as genes with sequences that are not significantly similar to those in any other lineage. LSGs have been proposed, and sometimes shown, to have significant effects in the evolution of biological function. In this study, two sets of Hanseniaspora spp. LSGs were identified by comparing the sequences of the Kloeckera apiculata genome and of 80 other yeast genomes. This study identified 344 Hanseniaspora-specific genes (HSGs) and 109 genes (‘orphan genes’) specific to K. apiculata. Three thousand three hundred thirty-one K. apiculata genes that showed significant similarity to at least one sequence outside the Hanseniaspora were classified into evolutionarily conserved genes. We analyzed their sequence features, functional categories, gene origin, gene structure and gene expression. We also investigated the predicted cellular roles and Gene Ontology categories of the LSGs using functional inference. The patterns of the functions of LSGs do not deviate significantly from genome-wide average. The results showed that a few LSGs were formed by gene duplication, followed by rapid sequence divergence. Many of the HSGs and orphan genes exhibited altered expression in response to abiotic stress. Studying these LSGs might be helpful for understanding the molecular mechanism of yeast adaption.

Core-shell structural capsules can encapsulate various food ingredients (e.g., nutrients), thus being highly potential for the design of many food products. This work reports how the gum (xanthan, locust bean or gellan) inclusion tailors the practical features of agar/konjac glucomannan (KGM) system for fabricating the core-shell structural capsules. The rheological and textural analyses revealed that xanthan gum inclusion could simultaneously increase the sol-gel transition point and gel strength (ca. 1.6 times higher) of agar/KGM system. The composite gels were dehydrated to generate shell materials. The materials including xanthan or locust bean gum showed stronger chain interactions than did that including gellan gum, accompanied by weakened crystalline features for the different shell materials. Again, compared to the agar/KGM counterpart, the shell materials including xanthan gum could display a similar tensile strength (close to 50 MPa) but an evidently increased elongation at break (ca. 2.5 times higher). Then, these agar/KGM based systems were used to prepare core-shell structural capsules. The capsules based on agar/KGM/xanthan gum materials exhibited the highest roundness and breaking stress. Regarding this, the increased sol-gel point reduced the time required for droplet hardening (to generate core-shell gel balls); such fact, together with the higher gel strength, weakened the deformation of gel balls and thus increased the roundness and breaking stress of capsules (resulting from drying of gel balls).

This study aimed to develop a new emulsified film based on konjac glucomannan (KGM)/agar/gum Arabic (GA) incorporating virgin coconut oil (VCO). The effects of VCO on the physical, structural, and water barrier properties of the film were investigated. The values of the mechanical and water barrier properties were different with statistical significance (p

Iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) is a major global public health problem, and the iron fortifiers in diet are clearly needed in the prevention and improvement of IDA for humans. A novel nano-scaled gel beads of λ-carrageenan (λ-car) specifically binding with ferric ions was developed to be a promising iron fortifier with no adverse organoleptic changes on food. Turbidity measurement, thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the successful chelating. The gel beads of λ-car-Fe3+ complex showed good dispersibility and solvent stability. The in vitro cell viability of HepG2 cells treated with λ-car-Fe3+ was over 75% at 5 mg/mL of ferric ions, indicating a significant cytotoxicity reduction of ferric ions. The stability of λ-car-Fe3+ complex powder was obviously increased against browning during 60 d storage with zein coating, which was attributed to the prevention of moisture permeation. Zein coated gel beads also performed a slow release of ferric ions in simulated gastrointestinal juices, resulting from the compact and hydrophobic zein surface delaying the dissociation of λ-car-Fe3+ in acidic environment. This λ-car-Fe3+ complex would have a great potential as a safe iron fortifier and facilitate iron supplementary with the advantage to relieve the side effects of iron ions.

Limonene is a kind of widely used flavor oil, susceptible to degradation with the loss of lemon-like odors and the formation of off-flavors. This study aimed to develop a novel structurally well defined zein-based core-shell microencapsules loaded with limonene for limonene protection and controllable release. The microencapsules were fabricated using a two-step heterogeneous precipitation process, with the shell being formed by direct zein precipitation on the oil-water interface and growing along with the water addition driven by hydrophobic interaction. The formation of core-shell microencapsules occurred at the limonene/zein ratio around 2.0 with D4,3 close to 10 μm and shell thickness about 25 nm, while the smaller self-assembled zein particles could be formed at the ratio of 0.1 and 5.0, suggesting that the mass ratio of core to shell affected the formation of encapsulation and the shell thickness could be controlled. An interior rough and porous shell of the microencapsules was also observed. Sodium caseinate (SC) was adsorbed onto hydrophobic zein surface by electrostatic interaction, contributing to a hydrophilic interface and improving the re-dispersibility of the freeze-dried powder in water. The release rate of limonene in the burst release phase from zein-SC microencapsules was significantly lower than that of whey protein isolate (WPI)-stabilized emulsion, and tended to be gradual in the sustained phase, followed the zero order kinetics. The limonene retention rate of the microencapsules was higher than that of the WPI-stabilized emulsion during an acceleration storage condition, attributing to the solid barrier of the zein-SC shell of the microencapsules. High linear relationship (R2 > 0.96) between limonene retention rate and storage time in both microencapsules and WPI-stabilized emulsion was observed, suggesting potential controllability of limonene degradation. The ability to design the natural biopolymer-based colloidal microcapsules with slow-release and oxidation prevention of the unstable flavor oils opens a new opportunity in a stable dispersions in aqueous foods.

The surface hydrophobicity of starch-based films could be regulated using a two-step surface modification method. Such modification was realized by grafting with alkanols of different chain lengths (hexanol, dodecanol and octadecanol) on the surface of starch-based films. The grafting of alkanol increased the mobility of glycerol as the plasticizer within the film surface. Also, this grafting increased the mass ratio of carbon to oxygen on the film surface but reduced the mass ratio of carbon to nitrogen. Under the same reaction conditions, there were fewer dodecyl chains grafted onto the film surface than hexyl or octadecyl chains. Furthermore, the results revealed that the surface hydrophobicity of starch-based films could be enhanced by simply increasing the alkyl chain length. Also, fewer alkyl chains tended to reduce the surface hydrophobicity of the films. These results are valuable for the rational design of starch-based materials with demanded hydrophobic properties.

An improved preparation method of konjac glucomannan-ethyl cellulose (KGM-EC) composite film was adopted to allow hydrophobic contents (EC) varying from 0% to 85.7% in the films, and may be explained by emulsification effect of both KGM and EC. Scanning electron microscopy images supported that all blend films had homogenous microstructures without phase separation. Moisture adsorption, water contact angle, swelling test, water vapor transmission, and mechanical tests were performed to evaluate the hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity and related properties of the films. Results indicated that EC addition significantly decreased the values of moisture adsorption, swelling, water vapor transmission, and mechanical strength of the films, and increased the contact angle. For composite films, linear relationships (most R2 > 0.9) were found between ingredient proportion and results of moisture isotherms, and water contact angle, indicating controllable hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity. Ingredient proportion was also found to correlate linearly with film tensile strength (TS) and elongation ratio (R2 = 0.7502 and 0.8974, respectively), and after immersion in water, TS still correlated linearly with ingredient ratio (R2 = 0.9767). These results support the hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity and related properties of KGM-EC film could be controllable through ingredient proportion, and this also offers the potential of the film to have unique property changes (e.g. linear) in response to different relative humidity or aw equilibrium condition under certain ingredient proportion.

This study aims to investigate the stability, microstructure and rheological properties of konjac glucomannan (KGM)/zein mixed systems in different mixing ratios. A phase diagram was established by centrifugation and visual observation. KGM/zein could form a stable homogeneous dispersion with appropriate mixing formula, and the particle size in mixed systems increased with increasing zein content. During storage, zein particles increased in size but were homogeneously distributed in the continuous phase of KGM without flocculation as observed by confocal light scanning microscopy. The rate of particle size change slowed down with increasing concentration of KGM. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images showed that zein particles were distributed in the KGM molecular network. The mixed systems showed shear-thinning behavior, and the temperature dependence of the viscosity was well-fitted by the Arrhenius equation. Based on dynamic viscoelasticity analysis, the mixed systems showed typical behaviors for entangled polymer solutions. The shift of cross-over frequency of storage (G′) and loss (G″) moduli to higher frequencies with increasing concentration of zein implied the shortening of the lifetime of the temporary entangled junction in the mixed systems.

Interfacial engineering approaches have been used to design functional foods so as to control lipase-induced digestion of emulsified lipids and release of bioactive lipophilic components in the gastrointestinal tract. In this study, emulsion droplets with the interface stabilized with gum Arabic (GA) and whey protein isolate (WPI) were prepared by mixing or sequential adsorption. WPI/GA intramolecular soluble complexes (ISCs) have superior emulsifying properties in stabilizing oil-in-water emulsions. The impact of the interfaces for WPI/GA ISC-layered (one-layered) and double-layered emulsions formed by sequential deposition of WPI or GA on the lipolysis of emulsions was investigated using an in vitro simulated gastrointestinal model. Transglutaminase and dithiothreitol were introduced to crosslink the interfacial proteins and improve the interfacial stability. The ISC-layered emulsion was less stable to aggregation than the double-layered ones in simulated gastric fluid due to dissociation of ISCs caused by the electrostatic screening of ions and proteolysis of interfacial proteins driven by pepsin. The ISC-layered emulsion conferred a significant slower rate and extent of lipid digestion compared to the double-layered emulsions post gastric proteolysis (P < 0.05). It is presumed for the ISC-layered emulsion that the destabilization to aggregation and coalescence within the simulated gastrointestinal fluids and the steric hindrance of the robust and thick interfacial layer might contribute to delaying free fatty acids release. It suggests that both the initial interfacial properties and the stability of the emulsified lipid droplets within the simulated gastrointestinal fluids play an important role in determining the rate and extent of lipid digestion. It is predicted that direct destabilization of emulsified lipids using interfacial engineering approaches has the potential of modifying lipid digestibility or bioactive release at specific sites within the gastrointestinal tract.

Lipid digestion is the process of enzymatic hydrolysis at the interface, and the interfacial structure play an important role in the lipid digestion. Non-ionic surfactant Tween80 (T80) presented a significant impact on the lipid digestion of gum Arabic (GA) stabilized oil-in-water emulsion. The interfacial structure of GA-T80 emulsion droplets has been investigated by using gel permeation chromatography-multiangle laser light scattering, interfacial measurement and atomic force microscope. With addition of T80, the surface loading of GA decreased until a plateau value reached. About 15% of GA still remained on the interface when T80 concentration increased to ∼4%. Addition of T80 contributed to a stiffening of the network formed at the droplets interface. The kinetics of lipid digestion exhibited a biphasic rate under this certain interface, shown as an induction period followed by a speeding up process. It probably resulted from the adsorption behavior of lipase on the emulsion interface during the lipolysis process. In was found that the accumulation of lipase on the emulsion droplets interface contributed to the lag period of the free fatty acids release. The biphasic rate of lipid digestion was mainly caused by the rate of lipase adsorption, which was highly dependent on the interface structure of emulsion droplets.

There is a growing interest in accounting for the environmental externalities and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the building industry. This study examines the life cycle environmental impacts of a novel biomass-based aerogel building material manufactured via freeze drying method comprising of three process stages, i.e., gel preparation, aging and freeze drying. The main focus of this study is to evaluate the contribution of each stage to the environmental load using life cycle assessment tool, figure out the main stage that has the greatest impact on the environment and propose some potential improvements by critical analysis of the production process. Life cycle impact scores are quantified as per functional unit of 1 m3 biomass-based aerogel for six midpoint impact categories (climate change potential, non-renewable energy potential, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification potential, terrestrial ecotoxicity and aquatic ecotoxicity). The respective LCA scores for these categories are depicted as 6.76E+02 kg CO2 eq., 1.65E+04 MJ, 4.21E-04 kg CFC-11 eq., 8.57E+00 kg SO2 eq., 2.07E+03 kg TEG soil and 9.87E+03 kg TEG. While comparing individual process substages, the freeze drying stage of the manufacturing process presents the highest overall impact contribution. Comparative environmental scoring with other aerogel types further reveals that the biomass-based aerogels are environmentally promising alternatives. Since the production is done at a laboratory scale, these results can be regarded as a conservative estimate, however they can act as steppingstones for process optimization for commercial scale manufacturing.

A series of konjac glucomannan (KGM)/zein blend films were successfully prepared with zein in proportions 0-30%. The hydrophobicity of blend films were significantly stronger than pure KGM film, indicated by increased contact angle, swelling and solubility properties, and moisture absorption. Moreover, other properties including mechanical, thermal, water vapor and oxygen barrier were also found to be increased. FTIR indicated that hydrogen bond interactions and Maillard reaction occurred between KGM and zein molecules, and microstructural observations indicated that the aggregated zein was homogeneously dispersed in the KGM continuous matrix. However, these zein aggregations were larger with increased proportion of zein, leading to weakened molecular interactions with zein proportion >10%. A mixing ratio of KGM:zein=9:1 was suggested to provide best film properties. This research offers an alternative improvement for KGM-based biodegradable films.

Konjac glucomannan (KGM) has potential to contribute functional properties to dairy products, but mixtures containing a sufficient amount of KGM and milk may show undesirable appearance because of incompatibility between the polymers. Thus, the effects of KGM solution (with concentration of 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5%) on the stability and phase behavior of KGM-milk mixtures were investigated. The phase separation diagram showed that only a low level of KGM (0.2%, w/v) was sufficient to induce phase separation in KGM-milk mixtures. KGM and milk appear to undergo segregative phase separation. The turbidity of the supernatant after centrifugation, precipitation percentages, particle size and zeta potential of the mixtures were measured to investigate the stability of the systems. The stability of the KGM-milk mixtures was related to both the concentration of KGM solution and the percentage of milk. In general, the stability of the mixtures was enhanced with increase in milk percentage and decrease in concentration of KGM solution. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was carried out to study the microstructures of the KGM-milk mixtures. When the concentration of KGM solution was higher than 0.5%, aggregate structures could be observed in the mixtures, and with increase in milk percentage, coarsening of the structures occurred. The microstructures also indicated that some KGM-milk mixtures were in metastable state even though no phase separation was observed in the mixtures after standing for 4 h at 22 °C.

Amphiphilic aliphatic amines grafted konjac glucomannan (KGM-g-AH8, KGM-g-AH12 and KGM-g-AH18) micelles were prepared via a simple two-step synthesis with Schiff's base as the "switch" to achieve intracellular acid-triggered curcumin release. The KGM-g-AH8 self-assembled into spherical nano-micelles (107.6±11.6nm) in an aqueous medium, and presented high curcumin loading capacity as well as good physical stability in 28 days. The in vitro curcumin release behaviors proved the controlled release property and the endosomal/lysosomal pH response of KGM-g-AH8 micelles. The cytotoxicity and cellular uptake studies were also investigated to exhibit the intracellular pH-sensitivity, safety and biocompatibility of KGM-g-AH8 micelles. This research focuses on the feasibility of KGM-based micelles to be extrapolated as promising strategies for cancer therapy and offers new potential options for intracellular drug delivery.

This study aimed to investigate molecular aggregation of curdlan on heating in water through atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), turbidity, and rheology tests. With improved sample preparation methods, AFM and TEM analysis revealed that curdlan morphologies changed with heating temperatures. Bundles of curdlan triple-stranded helixes had mainly hydration and swollen process at 40 °C, and bundled triple-stranded helixes were driven to separate from each other at 50 °C. These triple-stranded helixes would dissociate into partially opened triple-helical chains and single-helical chains at 60and 70 °C, and finally large amounts of dissociated single-helical chain were presented at 80 and 90 °C. Accordingly, structures of curdlan at temperatures ranging from 25 to 90 °C were proposed, and the turbidity and rheology results could be well explained with proposed structures. This research may provide new insights on revealing the behaviour of curdlan water dispersions on heating in water alone.