Effect of cinnamon powder on quality attributes and off-flavor in fried chicken drumsticks made from long-term thawed Korean native chicken.

The effect of cinnamon powder on the quality and mitigation of off-flavor in fried chicken drumsticks made from long-term thawed Korean native chicken (Woorimatdag No. 1, WRMD1) was investigated. The WRMD1 drumsticks were categorized into 5 groups: conventional thawing (16 h, CT), long-term thawing (48 h, LT), cinnamon powder added into 'LT' as marinade (0.03%, CM) or incorporated into the batter (1.35%, CB), and long-term thawing with cinnamon powder incorporated both in the marinade and batter (0.03% + 1.35%, CMB). The crude fat content was significantly higher in the CT and CMB than that of the CB. The CM, CB, and CMB showed significantly lower levels of 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance compared with the CT and LT. The predominant fatty acids in all treatments were C18:1n9, C18:2n6, and C16:0. The LT displayed lower total unsaturated fatty acid content than the CT (P < 0.05). The CM effectively decreased lipid oxidative volatiles, such as 1-octanol, 1-octen-3-ol, and 2-octen-1-ol, (E), in the LT (P < 0.05). Both the CM and CB showed an inclination to increase specific pyrazines associated with pleasant notes compared with the LT, and showed higher levels of pyrazines, such as pyrazine, 2-ethyl-6-methyl-, and pyrazine, 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethyl-, than those of the CMB (P < 0.05). The CM contained higher levels of 2,3-butanedione when compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that cinnamon had an effect in discriminating the treatment groups with cinnamon addition from both the CT and LT, whereas the CM, CB, and CMB formed distinct clusters. The CM and CMB received significantly higher aroma scores from panelists in comparison to the other groups. These findings suggest that the CM (0.03% cinnamon powder) can be used to enhance the aroma in fried WRMD1 drumsticks by reducing or masking the off-flavor volatiles associated with long-term thawing.

Developing an Online Health Community Platform for Facilitating Empowerment in Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

This study aimed to develop an online health community platform for facilitating the empowerment of people with chronic diseases dwelling in the community regarding disease prevention and health promotion. The user-centered design approach included four main steps: (1) identifying the health problems and needs of target users, (2) developing the content of the platform, (3) constructing the platform, and (4) pilot testing, refinement, and finalization. An online health community platform available both in a mobile application and a Web-enabled application has been launched to facilitate empowerment and self-management by people with chronic conditions. The main components of the application comprised (1) screening for chronic diseases and health problems, (2) setting personal goals for health promotion and action planning to achieve the goals themselves, (3) offering an online health community with shared group goals that help users engage with their peers to attain their goals, and (4) creating one's own online health community and inviting others to participate. The platform has the potential to encourage people with chronic conditions to proactively engage in their own health promotion. Future studies are needed to determine the impact of the application on self-management and empowerment for its users.

Physicochemical Features and Volatile Organic Compounds of Horse Loin Subjected to Sous-Vide Cooking.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of temperature and time of sous-vide cooking method on the characteristics of Thoroughbred horse loin. Sliced portions (200 ± 50 g) were cooked by boiling (control) and sous-vide (65 and 70 °C for 12, 18, and 24 h). The samples were analyzed for proximate composition, pH, color, texture, microstructure, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), microbiology, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nucleotide content, and fatty acids composition. The color analysis showed decreased redness at elevated temperatures. Improved tenderness, demonstrated by reduced shear force values (36.36 N at 65 °C for 24 h and 35.70 N at 70 °C for 24 h). The micrographs indicated dense fiber arrangements at 70 °C. The SDS-PAGE revealed muscle protein degradation with extended sous-vide cooking. The VOC analysis identified specific compounds, potentially distinctive markers for sous-vide cooking of horse meat including 1-octen-3-ol, decanal, n-caproic acid vinyl ester, cyclotetrasiloxane, octamethyl, and 3,3-dimethyl-1,2-epoxybutane. This study highlights the cooking time's primary role in sous vide-cooked horse meat tenderness and proposes specific VOCs as potential markers. Further research should explore the exclusivity of these VOCs to sous-vide cooking.

Analysis of direct immobilized recombinant protein G on a gold surface.

For the immobilization of IgG, various techniques such as chemical linker, thiolated protein G methods, and fragmentation of antibodies have been reported [Y.M. Bae, B.K. Oh, W. Lee, W.H. Lee, J.W. Choi, Biosensors Bioelectron. 21 (2005) 103; W. Lee, B.K. Oh, W.H. Lee, J.W. Choi, Colloids Surf. B-Biointerfaces, 40 (2005) 143; A.A. Karyakin, G.V. Presnova, M.Y. Rubtsova, A.M. Egorov, Anal. Chem. 72 (2000) 3805]. Here, we modified the immunoglobulin Fc-binding B-domain of protein G to contain two cysteine residues at its C-terminus by a genetic engineering technique. The resulting recombinant protein, RPGcys, retained IgG-binding activity in the same manner as native protein G. RPGcys was immobilized on a gold surface by strong affinity between thiol of cysteine and gold. The orientations of both IgG layers immobilized on the base recombinant protein Gs were analyzed by fluorescence microscope, atomic force microscope (AFM), and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Our data revealed that IgG-binding activity of RPGcys on gold surface significantly increased in comparison to wild type of protein G (RPGwild), which was physically adsorbed due to absence of cysteine residue. Immobilization of highly oriented antibodies based on cysteine-modified protein G could be useful for the fabrication of immunosensor systems.