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The present study aimed to examine the protective effect of Bentong ginger oleoresin (BGO) on the occurrence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and its underlying mechanism. In the present study, 14-week BGO treatment reduced the high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity. The serum total cholesterol (TC) was reduced from 4.76 ± 0.30 to 3.542 ± 0.49 mmol/L and fatty liver score decreased to the normal level (1.6 ± 0.55). BGO had antihypercholesterolemia activity, alleviated abnormal lipid metabolism, and improved liver fat accumulation. In addition, liver inflammatory cytokine tests and Western blotting analysis indicated that BGO might play an anti-inflammatory role by mediating the NF-κB signaling pathway. Moreover, BGO regulated the gut microbiota in NAFLD mice and finally mediated their benefits for the host, which might be associated with reduced abundance of Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group and Fournierella. BGO showed effective liver protection and regulation of gut microbiota for the HFD-induced NAFLD in obese mice. As a result, BGO may serve as an effective dietary supplement for the improvement of NAFLD-related metabolic diseases. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study provides a new way to improve the added value of Bentong ginger. It also provides certain experimental data on BGO as a kind of the functional food ingredient. The current work also provides new ideas for the improvement and treatment of NAFLD.

Solar evaporation has attracted great attention regarding renewable energy capture and freshwater production. However, the clean water production is still limited by the heat loss and low evaporation rate of water. Herein, a 2D meshy MoS2/Ti membrane-based evaporator (MTiE) is designed to optimize the vapor diffusion process and realizes almost zero heat loss from evaporator to environment. The 2D meshy-metal structure dramatically reduces vapor-diffusion resistance and improves the effective evaporation area, resulting in lager vapor-concentration gradients and faster water collection rates. MTiE exhibits a high evaporation rate of 6.4 kg m-2 h-1 and a high-yield water rate up to 2.7 kg m-2 h-1 under one sun (1 kW m-2) coupled with ultra-low convection flow rate of 0.2 m s-1. Additionally, the flexible MTiE shows excellent long-term salt-resistant stability for continuous evaporative wastewater disposal. The 2D meshy structure provides a new pathway for the faster vapor diffusion and water collection in solar evaporators.

Solar vapor generation has attracted great attention regarding renewable energy capture and freshwater production. However, the clean water production is still limited by high heat loss and insufficient vapor diffusion at the evaporation front. Here, a meshy MoS2/Ti membrane based evaporator (MTiE) is designed to optimize the wind-assisted vapor diffusion process and realize almost no heat loss from evaporator to environment. The meshy-metal structure improves the effective evaporation area and amplifies the vapor-concentration gradient from inlet airflow to outlet airflow. Consequently, MTiE exhibits extremely-high evaporation rate of 6.4 kg m− 2 h− 1 and high-yield water rate up to 2.7 kg m− 2 h− 1 under one sun coupled with low wind speed of 0.2 m s− 1, which is among the best performance over similar evaporators. Furthermore, the flexible MTiE also exhibits excellent salt-resistant and long-term stability and performs an efficiently-continues wastewater treatment. The meshy evaporator is a potential method for capturing solar and wind energy without extra-energy input in real environment and using it to produce freshwater.

The plant-based products that are mainly produced by soy protein isolate (SPI) present significantly higher sodium (Na) content than the corresponding animal-based products. Accordingly, the production of low-sodium soy protein ingredients becomes a challenging task. For this purpose, alternative soy fractionation processes were investigated, and the use of KOH as the replacement for NaOH has been established to produce soy protein fractions (SPFs). The obtained MF-K contained 0.2 mg sodium and 24 mg potassium per 100 g of fraction, which was 3 % of the sodium content in the SPI, and the potassium content was over 10 times higher than SPI. Besides, using KOH increased the protein content of SPFs by almost 7 %, as well as their water holding capacity (WHC) and thermal stability; however, the yields of SPFs were dropped by around 4-8 % while the protein solubility of SPFs was reduced companied with the application of KOH. The fractionation processes mainly affected the protein composition, powder morphology, and viscosity of SPFs, while the sodium and potassium content showed limited impacts on the variations. Overall, the application of KOH during different fractionation procedures provided the possibility to produce low-sodium high‑potassium soy protein ingredients for the development of healthy soy-based foods.

Nanocapsule-based technologies constitute a unique and novel research field for the food and pharmaceutical industry. The potential benefits of applying these technologies include, for example, higher bioavailability, high shelf stability, and controlled release of active ingredients. Protecting hydrophilic ingredients in food or pharmaceutical applications is crucial but challenging because of their strong tendency to leak out of the capsules into the external aqueous phase. In this study, we developed nanocapsules synthesized by electrostatic interactions between chondroitin sulfate (CS) and egg white protein (EWP). The interactions were induced by acidic conditions and continuous ultrasonication because of the contribution of the hydrogen and amide bond formation. We optimized the preparation conditions at a CS : EWP ratio of 6 : 4, in which the CS–EWP nanocapsules had an average particle size of 133.2 ± 3.4 nm with a PDI of 0.2 and a zeta potential of −25.5 mV. Molecular docking analysis revealed that the linear helix chain of CS functioned as a skeleton structure by bonding with the random coil of EWP, confirming the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between CS and EWP. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images revealed that the microcapsules contained irregular spheres with a core and shell structure. The encapsulation efficiency and loading content of the nanocapsules demonstrated their potential to prevent leakage of the hydrophilic ingredients because of the dense shell. Nanocapsules formed via the CS–EWP interaction provide a green and sustainable method for efficiently encapsulating various hydrophilic food or pharmaceutical ingredients.

Membrane-bound polyphenol oxidase (mPPO) from the Granny Smith apple was purified and characterized. The enzyme was purified by a factor of 20.53 with a recovery of 1.8%. The molecular weight of purified mPPO was determined to be 65 kDa by electrophoresis and nano-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. mPPO exhibited its highest activity at a temperature of 35 °C and a pH of 7.0 and can be regarded as a diphenol oxidase. A low concentration of SDS (≤0.5 mM) enhanced the enzymatic activity, whereas mPPO was activated at high concentration EDTA (≥2 mM). The thermal transition temperature of mPPO was 76.98 °C. The circular dichroism spectrum showed that mPPO contains high α-helix content, the fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that the tryptophan residues of mPPO are partially buried. The particle size of mPPO was 5–10 nm with a complete structure. The structural characterization of mPPO provided better insights into the regions responsible for its activity.

Bovine β-casein (β-CN) has attracted increasingly interest as biocompatible nanocarrier for hydrophobic flavonoid due to its self-assembly ability to form micelles. This paper reported Maillard induced glycation reaction of β-CN using dextran in order to improve stability of naringenin-loaded β-CN micelles under acidic and high calcium environments. Our results showed that solubility of β-CN-graft-dextran was remarkable increased at acidic pH and the conjugation with 20 kDa dextran had the highest level of graft degree. Glycation restrained β-CN from aggregating around pH 5.0 where was close to the isoelectric point, forming spherical micelles with irregular and rough surfaces, which were significantly larger than the micelles at pH 7.0. β-CN-graft-dextran also overcame destabilization of the micelles induced by excess calcium and had no impact on the chelating ability of calcium. These findings appeared to be promising for future applications of modified β-CN-graft-dextran based on Maillard reaction as fairly stable nanocarrier under extreme condition.

The aim of the study was to conduct comparative analyses on drying kinetics, color, rehydration ratio, polysaccharide content and aromatic components composition of shitake mushrooms dried by using hot air drying, infrared drying and intermittent microwave assisted hot air drying. Intermittent microwave–assisted drying resulted in greatly reduced drying time and higher drying rate in comparison with the other methods. The highest polysaccharide content (240.28 mg/100 g) was achieved when microwave–assisted drying was used. Furthermore, microwave–assisted drying showed its predominance in the categories and amount of generated nitric aroma (1.17%) during drying, and it could be a method for improving fresh–like characteristics of dried vegetables due to the moderate level of aldehydes (0.26%) and ketones (4.22%) formed during drying. Shitake mushrooms treated with hot air drying showed the greatest amount of sulfuric aromatic compounds (7.7%) and the highest rehydration ability as well as a lower total color difference in the cap. Therefore, shitake mushrooms dried by hot air or combined with microwave should be considered due to their enhanced physical properties or chemical components.

The efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis is reduced by the naturally recalcitrant complex polymers comprising lignocellulose. Increasing enzymatic conversion, which the complex macromolecules converted into simpler molecules, is still had to be overcome. High hydrostatic pressure (HHP), an emerging technology, is expected to ameliorate the situation. The effects of enzymatic hydrolysis after HHP pretreatment on pumpkin lignocellulose were studied and compared with hydrothermal and alkaline pretreatment. Further investigation was performed to evaluate the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis of pumpkin combined with HHP treatment. The samples underwent HHP treatment simultaneously exhibited overall better performance in enzymatic hydrolysis than the untreated. The highest glucose yield of 91.2% and xylose yield of 84.2% was achieved when 400 MPa HHP with high enzyme loading was applied. HHP exerted positive effects on enzyme-substrate interactions during the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose, which implied that HHP technology combined with enzymatic hydrolysis could be used to pretreat pumpkin pomace.

β-casein (β-CN) from bovine milk has attracted increasingly interest as biocompatible, non-toxic nano-carrier for hydrophobic functional components due to molecules capable of self-assembly micellar nanostructures. In this study, Maillard reaction and genipin crosslinking were used for modifying β-CN micelles (G-CGDNs) aiming to enhance the stability and achieve a time-release capability as nano-carriers of naringenin. G-CGDNs showed a significant decrease in encapsulation efficiency of naringenin, while the controlled naringenin release properties were enhanced. In vitro studies, the effect of modification on digestibility by pepsin and trypsin were investigated using SDS-PAGE, TEM, DLS, MALDI-TOF-MS and LC-MS/MS. G-CGDNs and genipin crosslinked β-CN micelles loading naringenin (G-CNMs) were all more resistant towards action of the protease hydrolysis. Meanwhile, G-CGDNs digestive products could reassemble into uniform and large spherical micelles in the end of digestion, whereas G-CNMs and β-CN micelles loading naringenin (CNMs) were all damaged to irregular and aggregation or coalescence. Although more compact structure decreased the digestion sites of G-CGDNs to attack by pepsin and trypsin, there was slight change in the release of bioactive peptides. This research can help explore the impact of two modified approaches on β-CN micelles, which will improve stability, maintain nutritional value, and provide a delayed reaction in digestion.

The microbial transglutaminase (mTG) was used to improve the stability of the naringenin-loaded β-casein micelles (CNMs). The formation of cross-linked CNMs was confirmed by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, showing a decrease in monomeric β-CN levels with increasing crosslinking time. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) showed that after crosslinking the particle size distribution did not change upon dilution, suggesting occurrence of intra-crosslinking. Fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) showed that crosslinking induced only minor changes in the structure. Finally, release of naringenin in buffer at pH 7.4 demonstrated a slower release from the cross-linked micelles compared to the untreated micelles. In addition, the cross-linked micelles exhibited a partial resistance to pepsin enzyme. We conclude that crosslinking with mTG is a suitable method to modulate naringenin release kinetics from β-CN micelles and improves the potential of these micelles as delivery systems targeted to the small intestine.

We investigated the inhibitory effect and binding mechanism of four selected compounds (ascorbic acid, l-cysteine, glutathione, and citric acid) on membrane-bound polyphenol oxidases (mPPO) using spectroscopic and molecular docking techniques. Kinetic analysis demonstrated that these inhibitors reversibly inhibited the mPPO activity. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that the intrinsic fluorescence intensity of mPPO was quenched by inhibitors with a single class of the inhibition site on mPPO. Amino acid residues His 180, His 201, His 366, Cys 184, Glu 328, and Asn 333 were the important binding sites in the active center. These sites were identified using molecular docking techniques. Our findings suggested that the inhibitors were allosterically bound to the active center of mPPO through hydrogen bonds and ion contacts. This study provides new insights into the active site residues responsible for catalyzing mPPO and provides applicable information about the design of mPPO inhibitors.

Bell pepper seeds comprise the bulk of solid waste from bell pepper processing. Aiming to utilize rather than waste these seeds, we investigated the functional properties of bell pepper seed protein isolates extracted using two methods. Ultrasound-assisted extraction of bell pepper protein isolates (BPPIU) achieved a higher yield (6.05 g/100 g), protein content (83.93 g/100 g), and oil absorption (5.63 g/g), while the solubility and water absorption were lower, and emulsifying and foaming properties diminished, compared with those of bell pepper protein isolates from alkaline dissolving and acid precipitating (BPPI). We also evaluated effects of pH and NaCl concentration on BPPI and BPPIU because they were significantly correlated with the functional properties. The antioxidant properties of bell pepper protein hydrolysates were studied in vitro by measuring the radical scavenging capacity (DPPH, O2·ˉ, ABTS·) and Fe2+ chelating capacity. Flavourzyme protease hydrolysates (FH) showed better DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging, while alkaline protease hydrolysates (AH) exhibited higher O2·ˉ scavenging and Fe2+ chelating activities.

As hydrolysis of carotenoid esters is believed to be highly efficient in vivo, their insufficient hydrolysis in in vitro-digestion models, particularly, regarding zeaxanthin diesters, is a current issue. Therefore, in this study, several factors related to the enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated in an adapted version of the standardized INFOGEST in vitro-digestion model, using zeaxanthin dipalmitate (ZDP) as a substrate. The results showed that pancreatic lipase was able to hydrolyze ZDP, whereas carboxyl ester lipase (CEL) substantially contributed to ZDP cleavage. Replacement of commonly used porcine with bovine bile extracts and the substitution of coffee creamer for soybean oil at identical fat contents both significantly improved hydrolysis efficiency and bioaccessibility of total zeaxanthin to better mimic in vivo conditions. Thus, bile and lipids selection for in vitro digestion of carotenoid esters was crucial. The combined use of coffee creamer, pancreatin, CEL, and bovine bile led to the highest hydrolysis efficiency of 29.5%.

The mechanisms underlying the physiological benefits of dietary fibers are multifaceted, and the inhibitory effect of the binding of these fibers to digestive enzymes such as α-amylase may be one of the factors contributing to their nutritional functionality. In this study, soluble and insoluble dietary fibers (SDF and IDF) were isolated from mature kiwifruit and investigated for their inhibitory action against α-amylase using an in vitro digestion method. Both IDF and SDF showed a dose-dependent decrease in the initial starch hydrolysis velocity. When used at the same concentration, IDF showed a higher α-amylase inhibition effect. The analysis of the Michaelis–Menten kinetics of the hydrolysis reaction of α-amylase in maize starch with IDF indicated a mixed type of inhibition and the competitive inhibitor constant (Kic) for the enzyme–inhibitor (EI) complex was 4 mg/mL. The inhibition between SDF and α-amylase was observed to be non-competitive, and the dissociation constant for the EI complex was 12.5 mg/mL. The results suggested that IDF and SDF may, in general, have different mechanisms of action for their amylase inhibition activity and that both IDF and SDF obtained from kiwifruit can attenuate starch hydrolysis in vitro, thereby having potential applications in the food and nutraceutical industries.

A comparative study of the properties of membrane‐bound polyphenol oxidase (mPPO) from three apple cultivars, namely Red Fuji (FJ), Granny Smith (GS) and Golden Delicious (GD), was carried out for the first time. Data indicate that mPPOs from three cultivars exhibit significantly different properties. GS mPPO had the strongest affinity to catechol, but FJ mPPO had the highest maximum velocity. Red Fuji (FJ) mPPO had the significantly higher activity than those of GD and GS mPPOs. Red Fuji (FJ) mPPO had the highest activity at pH 8.00, while GD and GS mPPOs at 4.50 and 7.50–8.00, respectively. Red Fuji (FJ) mPPO was more stable than GD and GS mPPOs over the pH range of 5.0–8.5. The optimal temperature for GS mPPO was within 70–75 °C, which is higher than those for mPPOs from FJ and GD. Thermal inactivation of the three mPPOs followed a first‐order kinetic model with different inactivation kinetic parameters.

Chili seeds, which are a byproduct of the production of chili powder and chili paste, contain a variety of substances that can lead to useful products. The oxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids in chili seed oil can lead to off flavor for these products, so it is important to develop procedures for reducing the oxidation. In this paper, we analyzed the quality of chili seed oil extracted with supercritical fluid CO2, studied the viscosity and stability of different emulsion formulations, and investigated a way of protecting the chili seed oil by microencapsulation with a composite wall material composed of starch sodium octenylsuccinate and maltodextrin. The oil, which was extracted with supercritical carbon dioxide, CO2, was of high quality with an iodine value (IV) of 130.50 ± 1.75 g/100 g and a peroxide value (PV) of 2.81 ± 0.29 mmol/kg. Gas chromatography was used to identify ten different fatty acids in the chili seed oil, and 82.84% of them were found to be unsaturated. An emulsion containing 30% oil was stabilized by 10% composite wall material and spray drying using an inlet air temperature of 160 ± 2 °C and an outlet air temperature of 80 ± 2 °C. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a particle size of polyhedral microcapsules from 3 to 20 μm. The loading efficiency of the microcapsules was up to 94.35%, which suggested good liquidity and uniformity. We found that using starch sodium octenylsuccinate and maltodextrin as a composite wall material with spray drying is an effective way to encapsulate and protect chili seed oil.

The compositions of phenolic compounds in 10 cultivars of two mulberry species (Morus atropurpurea Roxb. and Morus alba Linn.) grown in four regions of China were analysed using HPLC-TOF-MS. Results showed that a total of 27 phenolic compounds were identified in these mulberry cultivars. The Taiwan cultivar from the Jiangsu region showed the highest concentration of hydroxycinnamic acids, quercetin derivatives, and anthocyanins. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that six mulberry cultivars grown in the region of Jiangsu, Ningxia, and Guangdong were differentiated regarding their species feature and regional characteristics. Cyanidin rhamnosylglucoside, 4-caffeoylquinic acid, dihydroquercetin, and quercetin were further screened out to be the key compounds for the differentiation of these cultivars. The correlation between the regional climate feature (including rainfall, humidity, and temperature) and the accumulation of phenolic compounds in these mulberry cultivars was established.

Formation of specific ultrastructural chromoplastidal elements during ripening of fruits of three different colored Physalis spp. is closely related to their distinct carotenoid profiles. The accumulation of color-determining carotenoids within the chromoplasts of ripening yellow, orange, and red fruit of Physalis pubescens L., Physalis peruviana L., and Physalis alkekengi L., respectively, was monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography/diode array detector/tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–DAD-MS/MS) as well as light and transmission electron microscopy. Both yellow and orange fruit gradually accumulated mainly β-carotene and lutein esters at variable levels, explaining their different colors at full ripeness. Upon commencing β-carotene biosynthesis, large crystals appeared in their chromoplasts, while large filaments protruding from plastoglobules were characteristic elements of chromoplasts of orange fruit. In contrast to yellow and orange fruit, fully ripe red fruit contained almost no β-carotene, but esters of both β-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin at very high levels. Tubule bundles and unusual disc-like crystallites were predominant carotenoid-bearing elements in red fruit. Our study supports the earlier hypothesis that the predominant carotenoid type might shape the ultrastructural carotenoid deposition form, which is considered important for color, stability and bioavailability of the contained carotenoids.

Physicochemical characteristics and phytochemical profiles of red (Physalis alkekengi L., RP) and yellow (P. pubescens L., YP) Physalis fruits cultivated in three provinces of China were characterized. YP fruits showed significantly lower levels of total organic acids and elevated total sugars than those of RP. A total of 18 compounds was tentatively identified in hydromethanolic extracts of Physalis fruits applying HPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn and HR-ESI-MS. Cinnamoyl and hydroxycinnamoyl conjugates prevailed in both fruits. Diverse mono- and dihexosides of cinnamic, coumaric, caffeic, ferulic, and sinapic acid were found in YP, while RP merely contained feruloyl and sinapoyl hexosides. N,N´-dicaffeoylspermidine isomers were found in YP fruits, whereas N,N´-bis(dihydrocaffeoyl)spermine was exclusively detected in two of the RP samples. Additionally, two HDMF (4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone) hexosides were tentatively identified for the first time in YP. Both RP and YP fruits collected from three different provinces in China showed a significant intraspecific variability regarding their phytochemical profiles, despite their similar morphological fruit traits.

Tea brewed from chrysanthemum flowers has been widely used in Chinese medicine. The possibly medicinal compounds in Chrysanthemum morifolium tea can be purified by preparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), but this is usually done with acidic conditions, which leads to the hydrolysis of glycosides. In hopes of avoiding this hydrolysis, we explored the effect of weakly basic conditions on the separation and purification of flavonoids and glycosides from Chrysanthemum morifolium. We also explored the effects of weakly basic conditions on chlorogenic acid (3-CQA) and apigenin-7-O-glucoside (A7G). Our results show that the concentration of the weakly basic ammonium hydrogen carbonate and time had no significant effect on A7G, p &lt, 0.01, but it had a significant effect on 3-CQA, p &lt, 0.01. HPLC and ultraviolet (UV) analysis showed that the structure of 3-CQA is destroyed in weakly basic conditions. Caffeic acid, quinic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid, which is a hydrolysate of 3-CQA, were identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). The results showed that weakly basic conditions could be used for the purification of flavonoids and glycosides but not for caffeoylquinic acids. Moreover, our work clarified the hydrolysis behaviour of caffeoylquinic acids, which can be helpful for research into their functional aspects.

The milk protein β-casein (β-CN) is an intrinsically unstructured amphiphilic protein that self-assembles into micelles. Naringenin is the main hydrophobic flavanone in grapefruit and has several beneficial biological effects: it exhibits, for example, antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity. This paper shows that naringenin can be encapsulated in β-CN micelles. Fluorescence spectroscopy, molecular docking modelling, dynamic light scattering (DLS), static light scattering (SLS) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) were applied to characterize the effect of naringenin on the protein association behavior and properties of the resulting micelles. Naringenin binds to β-CN at both pH 7 and pH 2, promotes the formation of micelles with a well-defined size distribution and stabilizes the micelles. It was found that naringenin-containing β-CN micelles have a lower critical micelle concentration (CMC) and a larger aggregation number (Nagg) compared to pure β-CN micelles. SLS and multi-angle DLS results suggest considerable differences between the structures of pure β-CN micelles and naringenin-containing β-CN micelles. In the presence of naringenin spherical micelles were formed with a relatively loose core (“hollow sphere”), while the pure β-CN micelles are smaller and seem to be elliptic. Notably, by uptake of naringenin in the micelles, the concentration of naringenin in aqueous solution could be raised considerably. These findings lead to the conclusion that β-CN micelles are very promising as effective delivery nano-vehicles for hydrophobic bioactive compounds.

The methods of enzymatic extraction (EE), acid extraction (ACE), and alkali extraction (ALE) were applied for extracting the soluble and insoluble dietary fiber (SDF and IDF) based on the kiwifruits. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), molecular weight, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), monosaccharide composition, and thermal properties were adopted for characterizing dietary fiber samples. This study demonstrated that, all the dietary fiber samples showed representative infrared spectral features of polysaccharides (LPS), whereas AC-IDF and E-SDF had the looser and more complicated structures. AL-IDF displayed greater thermal stability among IDFs, and there was no significant difference in the thermal stability of SDFs. Both AC-IDF and AC-SDF had higher molecular weights among the various IDFs and SDFs. In addition, the extraction method indeed had certain effect on the monosaccharide composition in dietary fiber samples. Furthermore, E-SDF, E-IDF, AC-SDF and AC-IDF exhibited higher glucose adsorption capacity (GAC), oil-holding capacity (OHC), water-holding capacity (WHC), bile acid binding capacity (BABC), and nitrite ion adsorption capacity (NIAC) than those of AL-SDF and AL-IDF. To sum up, our results indicate that, the kiwifruit-derived dietary fiber samples may potentially serve as the functional food ingredient.

The feasibility of sensors (Electronic Nose, EN; Electronic Tongue, ET) and spectra (Near Infrared spectrum, NIR; Mid Infrared spectrum, MIR) to evaluate raw honey samples (Vitex, Jujube and Acacia) was explored. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) model, support vector machine (SVM) algorithms model and Interval partial least squares (iPLS) model were used to classify the botanical origin. The results indicate that spectra and sensors could classify the botanical origin of honey rapidly and accurately, since total accuracy for calibration and prediction sets was all almost 100% in EN and ET analysis by SVM model and in NIR and MIR analysis by iPLS model. Then principal components analysis (PCA) and PLSDA model were used to determine the adulterants. Total accuracy for calibration and prediction sets was all above 96% in NIR, MIR and ET by PLSDA model. The results indicate that ET is more suitable for detecting honey adulteration.

Drying behavior and change of physicochemical compositions of sweet potato in intermittent microwave drying (IMD) and continuous microwave drying (CMD) combined with or without carbonic maceration (CM) pre-treatment were investigated. A quantity of 100 g of fresh or CM pre-treated samples were dried in IMD at 700 W with power on–off ratio of 1/6 (5 s/30 s, ton/toff) or dried in CMD with power density of 1 W/g. The results indicated that the process of CM + IMD as compared with IMD, CMD, and CM + CMD had the shortest drying time, the lowest activation energy (Ea), and the biggest effective moisture diffusivity (Deff) and exhibited the highest total content of phenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, β-carotene, ascorbic acid retention rate, as well as scavenging free radical capability 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydracyl of dried product. Meanwhile, color measurements indicated that CM + IMD could get the most desirable color of dried sweet potatoes. Therefore, CM pre-treatment is promising for industrial appl...

Molecular distillation residue (MD-R) from ginger had the most total phenol content of 247.6 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram (GAE/g) among the ginger oils. High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) technique in semi-preparative scale was successfully performed in separation and purification of 6-gingerol from MD-R by using a two-phase solvent system composed of n -hexane–ethyl acetate–methanol–water (10:2:5:7, v/v/v/v). The target compound was isolated, collected, purified by HSCCC in the head–tail mode, and then analyzed by HPLC. A total of 90.38 ± 0.53 mg 6-gingerol was obtained from 600 mg MD-R, with purity of 99.6%. In addition, the structural identification of 6-gingerol was performed by EI/MS, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR. Moreover, the orders of antioxidant activity were vitamin E (VE) > supercritical fluid extraction oleoresin (SFE-O) = MD-R = 6-gingerol > molecular distillation essential oil (MD-EO) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) = VE > 6-gingerol > MD-R = SFE-O > MD-EO, respectively in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH ) scavenging and β-Carotene bleaching.

The effect of the industrial chemical refining process on the physicochemical properties, fatty acid composition, and bioactive minor components of peanut oil was studied. The results showed that the moisture and volatile matter content, acid value, peroxide value, and p-anisidine value were significantly changed (P 0.05) in the iodine value was observed among all the peanut oil samples. Similar changes were observed in the DPPH radical scavenging activity and the total tocol content during chemical refining. In addition, chemical refining did not have much effect on the fatty acid composition, except for certain changes of several individual fatty acids. Moreover, the chemical refining resulted in 23.6, 23.1, and 9.5 % losses of squalene, total phytosterols, and total tocols (α, β, γ, δ-tocopherols and α, β, γ, δ-tocotrienols), respectively. The degumming–neutralization step caused the greatest overall reduction of these bioactive minor components. However, the concentrations of α-tocotrienol and γ-tocotrienol increased after full refining. Furthermore, chemical refining slightly changed the relative proportions of individual phytosterols and individual tocols.

β-casein (β-CN), an amphiphilic protein from bovine milk, has attracted increasingly interest as biocompatible, non-toxic nanocarrier in foods due to its ability to form micellar nanostructures through self-assembling. In this study, the formation of genipin-crosslinked β-casein micelles (G-CNMs) was investigated for the delivery of naringenin, a hydrophobic flavonoid abundant in grapefruits. Our results showed that the degree of micellar crosslinking was dependent on the genipin concentration, as indicated by SDS-PAGE and GPC-MALLS. At the suitable genipin concentration (β-CN/genipin molar ratio of 1:20), the G-CNMs showed intra-micellar crosslinking with average hydrodynamic radius (9.35 nm) as measured by dynamic light scattering. We found that the degree of crosslinking has a significant influence on the aspects of stability and controlled release. G-CNMs overcame destabilization of micelles induced by acid pH (pH = 2) when β-CN/genipin molar ratio was 1:15 or 1:20, while the stability against the high NaCl concentration was not influenced. Specifically, as compared to untreated CNMs, all types of G-CNMs in phosphate buffered saline buffer (10 mM, pH 7.4) revealed slower releases of naringenin. With the increase of genipin amount, the controlled drug release properties was enhanced. Such findings appear to be promising for future applications of β-CN as controlled release nanocarrier for hydrophobic functional ingredient, whose characteristics can be modulated by tailored genipin crosslinking.

One interesting phenomenon of Chrysanthemum morifolium tea is its formation of a green or dark green color after hours of brewing, and it is important to study the compounds that form this color and whether they might be involved in health benefits. Non-targeted metabolomics could clearly distinguish between green and non-green species by sparse partial least squares discriminant analysis (sPLS-DA) and heat-mapping. We found that the pH was the primary factor in the formation of the green color. Two green precursors (GP1 and GP2) were separated and purified with preparative HPLC. FT-IR analysis and the saccharide content analysis showed that GP1 had the typical characteristics of saccharides. GP2 was identified as chlorogenic acid by ESI-Q-TOF/MS and NMR. We raised the formation process of green substances was caused by the hydrolysates of chlorogenic acid reacting with glycosides or groups attached to the saccharides, which suggests a new mechanism for color-forming reactions.

The physico-chemical properties and free amino acids profiles of six wolfberry cultivars from Zhongning County were characterized and compared. Fructose and glucose were found to be the predominant soluble sugars, citric acid was the most abundant organic acid. The values of total free amino acids (TFAA) were 278.07–505.12 mg/100 g FW, the essential amino acids accounted for 17 %–30 % of TFAA. NQ7 was the best for drying processing, because it showed moderate size, higher content of total carotenoids, betaine, tartaric acid, and citric acid, relatively high essential amino acids content, lower alkaline amino acids content and relatively low reducing soluble sugars content. Principal component analysis (PCA) allowed the six cultivars to be differentiated clearly based on all these physico-chemical properties and free amino acids profiles determined in the study.

One interesting phenomenon of Chrysanthemum morifolium tea is its formation of green or dark green color after hours of brewing. We investigated the greening reaction and its bioactivities, including an analysis of the green compounds. Results showed that the green color was due to a decrease in the L* (lightness), b* (yellowness/blueness), chroma values and an increase in hue angle. The green substances were found to be substances with similar polarities and unstable in acidic conditions. There was no significant difference (p 0.01) in antioxidant activity between non-green and green samples. The green substances did not lead to cytotoxicity in PC12 cells at low concentrations, but at high concentrations, they caused a significant (p 0.01) decrease in cell viability. The saccharide percentage and FT-IR results showed that the greening reaction was affected by the glycosides or groups attached to the saccharides, which might suggest a new mechanism for color-forming reactions.

Polyphenol oxidase from Granny Smith apples was purified and characterized in both its soluble form (sPPO) and its membrane-bound form (mPPO). Both forms were purified by temperature-induced phase partitioning, precipitation with ammonium sulfate, and ion exchange chromatography. The specific activity of mPPO was 19.17 times that of sPPO. The optimum pH and temperature for both forms were 7.0 and 35 °C when catechol was the substrate. The Michaelis constant and maximum reaction rate for sPPO were 34.1 mM and 500 U/mL/min, whereas those for mPPO were 53 mM and 10,000 U/mL/min, respectively. The enzymes exhibited diphenolase activity, and their affinity was highest for catechol (sPPO) and 4-methylcatechol (mPPO). Inhibitors of sPPO and mPPO included ascorbic acid, glutathione, and l -cysteine. However, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid increased the activity of mPPO. Purified sPPO was dimeric with a molecular weight of 31 kDa, whereas mPPO was monomeric with an estimated molecular weight of 65 kDa.

The quality features of banana puree after high pressure processing (HPP) at 500 MPa for 10 min and thermal pasteurization (TP) at 90 °C for 2m in during 30 days of refrigerated storage were com- pared in this study. Initial counts in banana puree of greater than 3.80 log colony-forming units (CFU)/g of total aerobic bacteria (TAB) and 3.10 log CFU/g of molds and yeasts (M&Y) were reduced by HPP and TP. TAB were approximately 1.0 CFU/g, and M&Y were less than 0.3 log CFU/g in HPP- and TP- processed puree during storage. HPP and TP did not change pH, titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), lightness (L), and yellowness (b), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant capacity (AC), but HPP raised redness (a) and TP reduced a and ascorbic acid (AA). During storage, L, a ,a ndb in HPP- and TP- processed purees did not change but HPP-processed pu- ree increased pH and decreased TA. After storage, the percentage of TPC and AA was 75.85 and 55.09 % in the HPP group and 96.30 and 68.09 % in the TP group, indicating a significant loss of TPC and a greater loss of AA in HPP-processed puree. The loss of AC agreed with the loss of AA and TPC. HPP preserved particle size distribution and viscosity of purees, whereas TP increased the number of smaller particles and viscosity after processing and in storage. Twenty-six volatiles (18 esters) and 22 volatiles (15 esters) were detected in HPP- and TP-processed purees, and the ester fraction was 69.79 and 52.36 %, respectively. HPP was found to be an effective alternative pasteurization method for preserving the quality of fresh banana puree.

A water-soluble galactoglucofucomannan was extracted from pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo, lady godiva variety). GC-MS analysis indicated that the polysaccharide was composed of 1,6-linked-glucosyl, 1,2,6-linked-mannosyl, 1,3,6-linked-mannosyl, 1,2,6-linked-galactosyl, 1,2,6-linked-galactosyl, terminal fucosyl and terminal glucose. The solution properties of the polysaccharide were studied systematically by using size-exclusion chromatography combined with multi-angle laser light scattering, viscometry and dynamic light scattering at 25 °C. The weight average molecular masses (Mw), intrinsic viscosity [η], radius of gyration (Rg) and hydrodynamic radius (Rh) were found to be 12.7 × 10(5)g/mol, 780 ml/g, 68 nm and 116 nm, respectively. The fraction dimension and value of ρ (Rg/Rh) of the polysaccharide revealed that it existed in a sphere-like conformation in distilled water. The dependence of zero shear specific viscosity on the coil overlap parameter was analyzed using different models. Furthermore, degradation of samples upon autoclaving has been observed and quantified by intrinsic viscosity determination and SEC-MALLS.

Membrane-bound polyphenol oxidase (mPPO) in Fuji apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Red Fuji) was purified and analyzed with a nanoelectrospray ionization mass spectrometer. The three-dimensional model and binding site of mPPO to 4-methyl catechol were also studied using molecular docking. mPPO was purified 54.41-fold using temperature-induced phase partitioning technique and ion exchange chromatography. mPPO had a molecular weight of 67.3kDa. Even though a significant level of homology was observed between mPPO and the soluble polyphenol oxidase in the copper binding sequence, there was another region, rich in histidine residues, which differed in 13 amino acids. The three-dimensional structure of mPPO consisted of six α-helices, two short β-strands, and ten random coils. The putative substrate-binding pocket contained six polar or charged amino acids, His191, His221, Trp224, Trp228, Phe227, and Val190. Trp224 and Trp228 formed hydrogen bonds with 4-methyl-catechol.

A process for the optimization of arachin from defatted peanut cakes had been developed. The process included pre-treatment, extraction by Tris–HCl buffer solution, pH adjustment and final separation by centrifugation. A Box–Behnken design including independent variables such as extraction temperature ( x 1 ), extraction pH ( x 2 ) and liquid–solid ratio ( x 3 ) was used. The variable with the largest effect was extraction pH. The optimum extraction conditions were found to be extraction temperature 56.0 °C, extraction pH 8.7 and liquid–solid ratio 14:1, under which the arachin yield could reach 310.4 g/kg defatted peanut cakes. The effect of ultra-high pressure treatment on the physiochemical properties of arachin was also evaluated. After processing, solubility, emulsifying activity, emulsifying stability and surface hydrophobicity changed significantly. The content of free sulphydryl groups, which were often associated with aggregation and gelation of proteins, also decreased. All the processes widened the utilization of by-products generated from oil extraction as a source of protein in human diet.