Search

In batch tests, the biohydrogen yield from glucose declined gradually from 3.00 mol/mol to 2.00 mol/mol along with the substrate level increasing from 15 g/L to 60 g/L, respectively. The mechanism was revealed through stoichiometric and thermodynamic evaluation. In accordance with quantitative evaluation of the e− equivalent (e−-eq) balances, the decline of hydrogen yields generally accompanied with more e−-eq converting directly from acetate formation to butyrate and ethanol formation. Meanwhile, the acetate/butyrate ratio decreased from 2.1 to 0.6 with the increment of substrate concentration. Likewise, improved yield of the byproduct ethanol (from 0.16 mol/mol to 0.61 mol/mol) was obtained with the rising substrate concentration. It could be attributable to the decrease of Gibbs free energy from −3.9 KJ/e−-eq to −5.6 KJ/e−-eq, which indicated that the higher substrate concentration was more favorable for the fermentation.

The influence of botanical source (waxy corn, glutinous rice, tapioca and potato), either based on crystallization or morphology, and the debranching time (6-48 h) on the physicochemical properties of debranched starches (DBSs) were systematically investigated. The divergence of depolymerization among different botanical sources within same hydrolysis time suggested that the debranching treatment was not only depending on the molecular profile and crystalline structure, but also related with the granular size and morphology of native starches. Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) suggested that long-term debranching reaction produced DBSs with improved degree of crystallization and reduced iodine binding capacity. Simulated in-vitro digestion assay showed that the proportion of digestive fractions from different botanical originated DBSs differed greatly. Additionally, prolonging the debranching time yielded increased level of resistant starch. The study may provide guidance for exploring DBSs with various molecular weight to fulfill their tailored applications.

Dihydro-β-agarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids are characteristic metabolites of Celastraceae plants, and the extracts of these plants have been developed into botanical pesticides. In the course of our efforts to find novel natural biologically active products, eight new dihydro-β-agarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids (

The formation of complex coacervation using chitosan and octenyl succinic anhydride modified starch (OSA starch) and microencapsulation of algae oil were investigated in this study. The zeta-potential, turbidity and coacervate yield were evaluated as a function of pH and the chitosan- OSA starch mass ratio. The highest coacervate yield was achieved at pH 6.0 with a chitosan to OSA starch ratio of 1:3 (w/w). Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) indicated favorable affinity (Ka = 1.51 × 10

A pilot-scale airlift bioreactor (ALBR) system was built and operated continuously for refinery excess sludge (RES) reduction. Combined ALBR and function-enhanced microbes (composed of photosynthetic bacteria and yeast) were integrated into the system. The pilot-scale ALBR was operated for 62 days, and the start-up time was 7 d. Continuous operation showed that the sludge reduction efficiency was more than 56.22%, and the water quality of the effluent was satisfactory. This study focused on investigating the effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on the stability of the system and the effect of sludge reduction. Under different HRT conditions of 40, 26.7, 20, and 16 h, the sludge reduction rates reached 56.22%, 73.24%, 74.09%, and 69.64%, respectively. The removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN) decreased with decreasing HRT, whereas the removal rate of NH4+-N increased. The removal rate of total phosphorus (TP) was approximately 30%. Results indicate that the ALBR and function-enhanced microbe system can reduce sludge and treat sewage simultaneously, and the effluent is up to the national emission standard. Addition of function-enhanced microbes can promote the degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon substances in the sludge, especially alkanes with low carbon numbers. This study suggests that the optimal HRT for the system is 16 h. The total operation cost of the ALBR combined with the function-enhanced microbe system can be reduced by 50% compared with the cost of direct treatment of the RES system.

Twenty-nine dihydro-β-agarofuran-type sesquiterpenoids, including 17 new and 12 known compounds, were obtained from the seeds of

Protein corona (PC) usually changes the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles (NPs) and determines their ultimate fate in the physiological environment. As NPs are widely used in food, it is important to obtain a deep understanding of PC formation in the gastrointestinal fluid. Herein, we explored the adsorption of pepsin to chitin nanowhiskers (CNWs) and their interactions in simulated gastric fluid. Results suggest that the binding of pepsin reduced the surface potential of CNWs from 22.4 ± 0.15 to 12.9 ± 0.51 mV and caused their aggregation. CNWs quenched the fluorescence of pepsin and induced slightly changes in its secondary structure containing a reduction in the β-sheet content (∼ 3%) and an increase in the random coils (∼ 2%). The isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) data suggested that the interaction forces between CNWs and pepsin were mainly hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces.

Because of their biocompatibility and biodegradability in vivo, natural polysaccharides are effective nanocarriers for delivery of active ingredients or drugs. Moreover, bioactive polysaccharides, such as tea, Ganoderma lucidum, and Momordica charantia polysaccharides (TP, GLP, and MCP), have antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor, and antiviral properties. In this study, tea, Ganoderma lucidum, and Momordica charantia polysaccharide nanoparticles (TP-NPs, GLP-NPs, and MCP-NPs) were prepared via the nanoprecipitation approach. When the ethanol to water ratio was 10:1, the diameter of the spherical polysaccharide nanoparticles was the smallest, and the mean particle size of the TP-NPs, GLP-NPs, and MCP-NPs was 99 ± 15, 95 ± 7, and 141 ± 9 nm, respectively. When exposed to heat, increased ionic strength and pH levels, the nanoparticles exhibited superior stability and higher activity than the corresponding polysaccharides. In physiological conditions (pH 7.4), the nanoparticles underwent different protein adsorption capacities in the following order: MCP-NPsTP-NPsGLP-NPs. Moreover, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radical, and superoxide anion radical scavenging rates of the nanoparticles were increased by 9-25% as compared to the corresponding polysaccharides. Compared to the bioactive polysaccharides, the nanoparticles enhanced antimicrobial efficacy markedly and exhibited long-acting antibacterial activity.

1,3-Distearoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-stearoyl-glycerol and 1-stearoyl-2-oleoyl-3-arachidoyl-glycerol are typical high-melting symmetrical monounsaturated triacylglycerols (Hm-SMT) found in cocoa butter improver (CBI). These triacylglycerols help to increase the hardness of chocolate products in tropical climates. In the present study, natural CBI products were produced from mango (Mangifera indica, Linn) kernel fat (MKF) by selective three-stage fractionation using acetone. The second stearin (fraction I) from the first precipitate of MKF by fractionation for 180 min at 15 °C contained 86.9% of Hm-SMT, and the third stearin (fraction II) obtained from fraction I by further fractionation for 180 min at 18 °C was enriched with 94.4% Hm-SMT. High percentages of such triacylglycerols in these products contributed to higher slip melting points (36.5–37.7 °C) than commercial cocoa butter and cocoa butter equivalent (26.7 and 27.9 °C). Also, their differential scanning calorimetry properties and solid fat content values were superior to those in traditional confectionery fats, indicating that the tailored stearins could be used as ideal CBI. In particular, the hard fat blends consisting of 55–70% cocoa butter (CB) and 30–45% fraction II were considered as the preferred heat-resistant chocolate ingredients. In addition, the mixture of the oleins (fraction III) was rich in diunsaturated and triunsaturated triacylglycerols and showed similar thermal properties to super palm oil, thus making it more suitable as special fat ingredients and modified fat sources.

11 China-specific mango varieties, i.e., Tainong, Xiangya, Okrong, Keitt, Chiin Hwang, Guifei, Yuexi, Biantao, Guixiang, Zihua and Guire, were selected from South China, and the kernels were separated from pulps and then dried to extract mango kernel fats (MKF). 5.65–11.14 % of the fats could be obtained from dried kernels using hexane extraction, and their iodine values, slip melting points, triacylglycerols, sn-2 fatty acids and micronutrients were analyzed. MKF were comprised predominantly of triacylglycerols reaching 85.09–92.72, and 78.28–84.37 % of oleic at the sn-2 position. 29.99–55.44 % of SOS, 11.17–23.34 % of SOO and 13.10–19.79 % of POS occupied the main percentages of triacylglycerols, indicating MKF have diversified application after fractionation. Certain variety characterized as moderate values mentioned above, therefore, was selected and then fractionated by two-stage processes to produce typical MKF fractions. The stearin (Fraction-II) fractionated from the first solid fraction (Fraction-I) with 68.09 % of SOS and 15.43 % of POS was more suitable as cocoa butter improver, while the olein (Fraction-III) produced from the first liquid fraction was rich in SOO (45.59 %), POO (11.37 %) and OOO (11.14 %), which are considered as ideal cooking oil or frying fat ingredients. In addition, high amounts of micronutrients, including sterol, tocopherol and squalene, were also found in MKF ranged from 3837 to 7085, 81 to 916, and 164 to 941 mg/kg among different varieties, respectively. In particular, squalene levels were higher compared with most of other vegetable oils.

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) isomers (22:5n-6 and 22:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) derived from tuna oil were concentrated by three stages of urea fractionation at various crystallization temperatures and different fatty acid/urea ratios. Thereafter, polyunsaturated fatty acids concentrate containing comparatively enriched DPA levels was purified by argentated silica gel column chromatography. A product containing 22.2 ± 0.6 % EPA, 4.6 ± 0.0 % DPAn-6, 5.9 ± 0.1 % DPAn-3 and 42.3 ± 1.2 % DHA was obtained at 1:1.6 fatty acid/urea ratio (w/w) by crystallization at −8 °C for 16 h, −20 °C for 8 h, and −8 °C for 16 h. A DPA isomer concentrate containing 26.1 ± 0.5 % DPAn-6 and 22.3 ± 0.4 % DPAn-3 was achieved by argentated silica gel chromatography in the 6 % acetone/n-hexane solvent fraction (v/v), and the recovery of both fatty acids was 66.1 ± 3.2 and 70.7 ± 2.2 %, respectively. Furthermore, 91.9 ± 2.5 % EPA and 99.5 ± 2.1 % DHA with recoveries of 47.8 ± 2.0 and 56.7 ± 3.3 %, respectively, were obtained in various fractions.

In order to investigate the molecular mechanisms of the heat-induced cis/trans isomerization and oxidative cleavage of trilinolein, a highly purified sample was heated at a range of temperatures (120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 220 °C) for 5 h. The reaction process of cis/trans isomerization of C18:2 was studied by a combination of the gas chromatogram (GC) method with density functional theory (DFT). When trilinolein was heated to 180 °C, a small amount of trans/trans C18:2 was obtained (0.074 mg g−1). As the temperature increased to 220 °C, the amount of trans C18:2 reached 0.198 mg g−1. This study shows that C18:2-9c12t and C18:2-9t12c were the main trans fatty acids in heated trilinolein. The molecular mechanisms of isomerization and oxidative cleavage were verified by Gaussian 09 W software. All the geometry was optimized using DFT at the B3LYP/6-31*G level. The energy difference between cis and trans linoleic acid was equal to 6.2 kJ mol−1. Therefore, vegetable oil with a higher linoleic acid content should be maintained at 140 °C or less to avoid the formation of trans linoleic acid.

Infant formulas are usually based on bovine milk and caprine milk. Pasteurization, homogenization and spray-drying are basic processes for the production of infant formulas. In this study, confocal Raman spectroscopy had been used to rapidly determine the differences between human, bovine and caprine milk fat globules (MFGs). The unsaturated fatty acids in human colostrum and mature MFGs were over 2 times more than in bovine and caprine MFGs. The phospholipid bands at 860 cm − 1 of human colostrum MFGs were 5 times more than human mature, bovine and caprine MFGs. The carotenoid content varied according to the species of milk, with human MFGs containing more carotenoids than bovine and caprine MFGs. And the cholesterol content was not correlated with the size of the MFGs. Human MFGs were more mobile than bovine and caprine MFGs. The lipid composition and mobility of MFGs were underwent significant changes under different processing conditions. These results laid the foundations for the improvement and development of powdered milk formulas.

The main objective of the present work was to increase the contents of n-6 docosapentaenoic acid (DPAn-6, C22:5n-6) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n-3) from Schizochytrium sp. oil. Low-temperature solvent crystallization was carried out to effectively concentrate DPAn-6 and DHA by using oil (triglyceride, TAG) and free fatty acids (FFAs) as starting materials. Several variables, such as the fractionation temperature, type of solvent, FFA (TAG)/solvent ratio, and fractionation time, were investigated for optimization of the process. The optimum concentrations of DPAn-6 and DHA when using FFAs as the starting material were found to be 26.26 ± 0.06% and 64.81 ± 0.69%, respectively, with acetonitrile at a 1:5 FFA/solvent ratio (w/v) upon crystallization at −60 °C for 80 min, with corresponding yields of 53.58 ± 2.14% and 52.57 ± 2.09%. In the case of TAG, the best result was obtained with acetone at a 10% oil/solvent ratio (w/v) upon crystallization at −80 °C for 4 h. In this case, the concentrations of ...

Research on quantitatively controlling the ligand density on the surface of nanocarriers is in the frontier and becomes a technical difficulty for targeted delivery system designing. In this study, we developed an improved pre-conjugation (Imp) strategy, in which herceptin as a ligand was pre-conjugated with DSPE-PEG2000-Mal via chemical cross-linking, followed by conjugation onto the surface of pre-prepared paclitaxel-loaded PLGA/DODMA nanoparticles (PDNs) through hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic attraction for paclitaxel delivery. Compared with the post-conjugation (Pos) strategy, in which the ligand was conjugated onto the nanoparticle surface after the preparation of the nanoparticles, it realized a precise control targeting effect via adjustment of the herceptin density on the surface of the nanoparticles. Within the range of 0-20% of DSPE-PEG2000-herceptin in the blend, it showed a linear relation with the ligand density on the surface of the nanoparticles. The Imp strategy protected the bioactivity of the ligand during the preparation of nanoparticles. At the same time it avoided the waste of an excess amount of herceptin to drive the conjugation reaction in comparison with the post-conjugation (Pos) strategy. The nanoparticles from the Imp strategy showed much better cytotoxicity (p < 0.001), tumor targeting and cellular uptake efficiency (p < 0.001) than that of the other strategies in BT474 cells, in which BT474 cells were HER2 receptor over-expression breast cancer cell lines. A significant reduction in cellular uptake of the nanoparticles from the Imp strategy was observed in the presence of sucrose and cytochalasin D, indicating that clathrin-mediated and caveolae-dependent endocytosis was as a primary mechanism of cellular entry for these antibody-modified nanoparticles.

The study was conducted to determine the effect of sewage sludge components on hydrothermal drying using the sludge of various wastewater treatment plants. According to the tests of equivalent reaction temperature and reaction time the moisture content of sludge can reduce to less than 60%. The solubilization ratio of BJ-Sample, HS-Sample1 and HS-Sample2 at reaction temperature of 190 °C were 5.32%, 6.58%, and 10.44%, respectively. There were still about 90% of the materials in the solid phase. It can be said that the characteristics of sludge had no effect on the hydrothermal drying. Thus this showed that hydrothermal drying technology was feasible for the treatment of sewage sludge. The volatile matter and fixed carbon was decreased after hydrothermal treatment, but the ash was increased. It was also observed that with the temperature rising, the volatile matter and fixed carbon were increased gradually and the ash was increased gradually as well. The natural drying characteristics of sludge product were monitored at the same time. From the results we can see that after 24 h the moisture content of sludge was reduced to less than 20%. 0–24 h was the rapid evaporation stage, 24–48 h was slow evaporation stage. The evaporation rate was 4.4 times higher than the untreated sludge samples in the rapid stage. Three different sludge natural drying tests showed that despite the different sludge samples, the results were the same. The optimum reaction temperature and time are 190 °C and 30 min respectively.

Drying of sewage sludge is an effective way for treatment and utilization of sewage sludge, where reduction of energy consumption is one of the major technical challenges. So we experimentally investigated the possibility of the hydrothermal treatment. We have found that treatment of sewage sludge by saturated steam with the temperature of 190°C and pressure of 20 bar can dramatically improve the dehydration performance of the slurry like product. And the water content can be reduced down to about 55% by a mechanical dehydration. After natural drying 24 h it can be reduced down to about 20%. The final product is almost odorless and can easily be used for the refuse derived fuel (RDF). The sewage sludge product may be used as land-fill, or burned in a boiler or incinerator.

We evaluated the long-term efficacy of the combination of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) using cisplatin-lipiodol suspension, transultrasonic portal vein chemoembolization (SPVE), radiofrequency ablation (RF), percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) for treatment of advanced small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).A total of three hundred and eighteen patients with HCC were enrolled in this study. According to the blood supply characteristics to the tumor, individual combined therapy models were adopted: one hundred and fifty-nine patients with HCC less than 5 cm were treated with a combination of RF and PEI (RF/PEI group) and one hundred and one patients with HCC greater than 5cm were treated with a combination of TACE, RF and PEI (TACE/RF/PEI group). One hundred and eleven HCC nodules confirmed to be hypervascular by color Doppler flow imaging were treated with a combination of TACE, RF, SPVE and PEI (TACE/ RF/SPVE/PEI group).The combination treatment of RF and PEI (RF/PEI group), the TACE/RF/PEI group, TACE/ RF/SPVE/PEI group, the 1-year survival rates and the 3-year survival rates were 97.3% and 82.4%; 73.5% and 44.9%; 74.1% and 37.9%, respectively; The vanishing rate of blood flow around and within the tumor, the tumor size decrease rate, AFP transformed to negative rate, were significantly raised compared to those in the TACE treatment only group.The individual combined therapy models combination of TACE, PEI, SPVE, RF appears to prolong survival, compared with one treatment alone (TACE). This combination therapy method is an effective way for treating HCC, and color Doppler can provide important information to verify the therapeutic effects.