Report for the Eighth Asian National Control Laboratory Network meeting in 2023: Self-sufficiency strategy of plasma-derived medicinal products and regulatory harmonisation.

The Eighth Asian National Control Laboratory (NCL) Network meeting, entitled "Biological Products Quality Control and Self-Sufficiency Strategy focusing on plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs)" was held in Seoul on 31 August 2023. The participants were NCL experts from Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and the Republic of Korea. Special lectures included the PDMPs self-sufficiency strategies of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Indonesian Food and Drug Authority, and a case study on Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) assessment for vaccines by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The NCL delegates shared their current experiences with national lot releases and biological standardisation. The meeting contributed to a mutual understanding of the progress of the PDMPs self-sufficiency among Asian countries, the WHO's support strategies, and the NCL's plan for the preparation of the WHO GBT assessment. In the panel discussion, all participants agreed that building capacity in blood safety in the Asian region and harmonisation of relevant international regulatory requirements will support appropriate emergency preparedness, particularly source materials in the region, and will build the foundation for resolving the PDMPs supply insecurity that has worsened after the COVID-19 pandemic in some countries.

Potential of Syzygnium polyanthum as Natural Food Preservative: A Review.

Food preservation is one of the strategies taken to maintain the level of public health. Oxidation activity and microbial contamination are the primary causes of food spoilage. For health reasons, people prefer natural preservatives over synthetic ones. Syzygnium polyanthum is widely spread throughout Asia and is utilized as a spice by the community. S. polyanthum has been found to be rich in phenols, hydroquinones, tannins, and flavonoids, which are potential antioxidants and antimicrobial agents. Consequently, S. polyanthum presents a tremendous opportunity as a natural preservative. This paper reviews recent articles about S. polyanthum dating back to the year 2000. This review summarizes the findings of natural compounds presented in S. polyanthum and their functional properties as antioxidants, antimicrobial agents, and natural preservatives in various types of food.

Green extraction and biological activity of phenolic extracts from cashew nut testa using a combination of enzyme and ultrasound-assisted treatments.

BACKGROUND: A combination of enzymes and ultrasound treatment was employed to extract bioactive compounds from cashew nut testa, a by-product of the food industry. The total catechin, flavonoid, and phenolic content of extracts was investigated together with their biological activity. RESULTS: Enzyme and ultrasound-assisted extraction (E-UAE) was performed by incubation with Viscozyme L (20 mL kg-1 of testa powder, v/w) for 60 min before sonication for 40 min. Ultrasound and enzyme-assisted extraction (U-EAE) was carried out using sonication for 40 min before incubation with Viscozyme L (20 mL kg-1 of testa powder) for 60 min. Under appropriate conditions, the total phenolic, flavonoid, catechin, and epigallocatechin gallate content of the extracts from cashew nut testa obtained from a combination method (U-EAE or E-UAE) was significantly higher than that obtained using a single method (EAE or UAE). Extracts of cashew nut testa obtained from E-UAE displayed significantly higher antioxidant and α-amylase inhibitory activity than those from the U-EAE. The E-UAE extract at a concentration of 100 µg mL-1 had a greater impact on the cell viability of MCF-7 after treatment (22% cell viability) than did the doxorubicin (DOX) at 4 µg mL-1 (39% cell viability), and the E-UAE extract at 100 µg mL-1 was considered to be safe for healthy cells because the viability of the bovine aerotic endothelial cells treated with this extract was 91%, which was similar to the DOX treatment. CONCLUSION: The extract of cashew nut testa obtained from E-UAE is valuable and promising for the development of anti-inflammatory therapeutic drugs. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effects of microwave treatments and retrogradation on molecular crystalline structure and in vitro digestibility of debranched mung-bean starches.

The objective of this study was to investigate morphology, molecular crystalline structure, and digestibility of debranched mung bean starches with or without microwave treatment and retrogradation at different temperature. The mung bean starch was firstly debranched with pullulanase, and then the debranched starch containing 20% moisture content was treated by microwave irradiation for 3 min with or without further retrograded at +25, +4, or -18 °C for 24 h. All treated starches exhibited the B + V-type crystalline polymorph as determined by the XRD and the 13CNMR. The FT-IR results showed that the debranched starches had lower degree of order but higher degree of double helix than those of the native starch. The microwave treatment or further recrystallization of the debranched starch for more 24 h significantly improved crystalline structure of starch granules with higher degree of relative crystallinity, degree of order, and degree of double helices. The resistant starch content of the treated starch was in a range of 39.7-52.8%, significantly higher than that of the native starch (15.6%). As a result, the microwave-assisted debranched starch with further crystallization for 24 h was found to have highly ordered structure of granules, which highly resisted to the enzyme digestion.

Morphology, crystalline structure and digestibility of debranched starch nanoparticles varying in average degree of polymerization and fabrication methods.

The objective of this study is to investigate physicochemical characteristics and digestibility of starch nanoparticles (SNPs) fabricated from debranched cassava starch varying degree of polymerization (DP¯n) using nanoprecipitation and microemulsion methods. The high DP¯n starch (HDPS) with DP¯n > 35 monomers, medium DP¯n starch (MDPS) with 15 < DP¯n < 30) and low DP¯n starch (LDPS) with DP¯n < 10 were used. The SNPs fabricated from the HDPS were well-dispersed and smaller size, whereas those prepared from the MDPS and LDPS had bigger size and more aggregation. The SNPs produced by the microemulsion method were larger and more aggregated than those by the nanoprecipitation method. All SNPs exhibited the V + B-type X-ray diffraction pattern with higher relative crystallinity and more ordered structure than native starch. The SNPs fabricated from the LDPS also had higher amount of RS with lower blood glucose response in mice than those from the MDPS and HDPS.

Physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of mung-bean starches varying amylose contents under citric acid and hydrothermal treatments.

In this study, starches of three mung bean cultivars (Vigna radiata) having different amylose contents were isolated and modified using a combination of citric acid and heat-moisture treatment (CA-HMT) or a combination of citric acid and annealing treatment (CA-ANN). Physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of native and treated mung bean starches were investigated. Resistant starch (RS) contents of the high-amylose, medium-amylose and low-amylose starches treated with CA-ANN were 41.1%, 35.7% and 27.1%, respectively, being higher than those treated with CA-HMT or native starches in the same variety. The CA-ANN did not affect the morphology and crystallinity of the starches. However, the starches treated by the CA-HMT were partly gelatinized and had higher degree of relative crystallinity as compared to the native starches. The DP¯s, swelling power, and viscosity of the treated starches were significantly lower than those of the native starches. The high-amylose mung bean starch was greatly affected by the treatments rather than medium- or low-amylose mung bean starch.

Effect of heat-moisture treatment of unpolished red rice on its starch properties and in vitro and in vivo digestibility.

Changes in physicochemical and digestible characteristics of starches isolated from untreated and heat-moisture treated unpolished rice grains were investigated in this study. Heat-moisture treatment (HMT) at moisture content of 20%, 25% or 30% and heating temperature of 100 °C or 120 °C were applied for treating unpolished rice grains. The results indicated that granular morphology and crystalline structure of starches remained almost unchanged. However, a significant difference in the format and degree of agglomeration of starches of the rice grains treated at moisture content of 30% was observed. The HMT also suppressed the swelling and breakdown of the starch granules when treating at high moisture content and heating temperature. After HMT, amounts of resistant starch (RS) in the treated rice grains significantly increased as compared to that in the untreated rice grains. Moreover, the rice grains were heat-moisture treated with higher moisture contents or heating temperatures had higher RS contents. As a result, the rice grains treated at moisture content of 30% and heating temperature of 120 °C contained the highest amount of RS (49.1%), released the lowest blood glucose level and had GI value of 55, which is considered as low GI food.

Physicochemical characteristics and in vitro digestibility of potato and cassava starches under organic acid and heat-moisture treatments.

A combination of acid (citric acid or lactic acid) and heat-moisture treatment was used to modify cassava and potato starches in this study. Changes in physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of the treated starches were investigated. The cassava starch contained 17.0% amylose and possessed A-type crystallinity, whereas the potato starch had 27.4% amylose and possessed B-type crystallinity. After acid and heat-moisture treatment, the crystalline structure of the cassava starch remained unchanged (A type), while the crystalline structure of the potato starch changed from B type to the C (B+A) type. The acid and heat-moisture treatment increased gelatinization temperature, peak and final viscosities of cassava starch but reduced peak and breakdown viscosities of the potato starch. After acid and heat-moisture treatment, rapid digestible starch contents of the treated cassava and potato starches were significantly reduced. However, resistant starch (RS) contents of the treated starches significantly increased as compared to the native starches. Citric acid was found to have high impact on formation of RS in starches. The RS contents of cassava and potato starches obtained under the citric acid and heat-moisture treatment were 40.2% and 39.0%, respectively, two times higher than those of the native starches.

Phenolic Compounds of Cereals and Their Antioxidant Capacity.

Phenolic compounds play an important role in health benefits because of their highly antioxidant capacity. In this review, total phenolic contents (TPCs), phenolic acid profile and antioxidant capacity of the extracted from wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum, rye, oat, and millet, which have been recently reported, are summarized. The review shows clearly that cereals contain a number of phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, etc. The phytochemicals of cereals significantly exhibit antioxidant activity as measured by trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging, reducing power, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), inhibition of oxidation of human low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and DNA, Rancimat, inhibition of photochemilumenescence (PCL), and iron(II) chelation activity. Thus, the consumption of whole grains is considered to have significantly health benefits in prevention from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer because of the contribution of phenolic compounds existed. In addition, the extracts from cereal brans are considered to be used as a source of natural antioxidants.

In vitro digestibility and in vivo glucose response of native and physically modified rice starches varying amylose contents.

The native and physically modified rice starches with varying amylose contents were subjected to investigate the in vitro digestibility and the in vivo glucose tolerance in mice. The amylose and resistant starch (RS) contents of five native rice starches ranged in 4.7-30.6% and 6.3-11.8%, respectively. The RS contents of rice starches increased to 18.5-23.9% after heat-moisture treatment (HMT) and to 19.5-26.9% after annealing treatment (ANN). The heat-moisture and annealing treatments significantly reduced glycemic index (GI) values of the rice starches. GI values of the native, heat-moisture treated and annealed rice starches ranged in 68.9-100, 61.2-88.9 and 21.2-43.9, respectively. There was no correlation between amylose contents and the RS contents or GI values, while a strong negative correlation between RS contents and GI values was found (R(2)=-0.747, P<0.01).

Improvement of nutritional composition and antioxidant capacity of high-amylose wheat during germination.

High-amylose wheat was subjected to various germination conditions and changes in its nutritional values and antioxidant capacity were investigated. Amounts of soluble dietary fiber, total protein and free lipid of germinated high-amylose wheat increased with increased germination times, whereas no significant changes were observed for insoluble dietary fiber and free fatty acids. Total free amino acid contents of high-amylose wheat gradually increased from 129.7 to 314.4 mg/100 g of grain (db) during 48 h of germination. As compared to ungerminated wheat, essential and functional amino acids including isoleucine, leucine, phenylanaline, valine and gamma-amino butyric acid in the 48 h-germinated wheat increased by 3-10 times. Total phenolic contents of both free and bound phenolics and their antioxidant capacities significantly increased after 24 h of germination and were further improved with prolonged germination times. It appears that nutritional values and bioactive compounds of high amylose wheat significantly improved for enhanced food applications.

Comparison of antifungal activities of Vietnamese citrus essential oils.

Citrus essential oils (EOs) are volatile compounds from citrus peels and widely used in perfumes, cosmetics, soaps and aromatherapy. In this study, inhibition of citrus EOs extracted from Vietnamese orange (Citrus sinensis), mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco), pomelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck) and lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) on the growth of plant pathogenic fungi, Mucor hiemalis, Penicillium expansum and Fusarium proliferatum was investigated. The EOs of the citrus peels were obtained by cold-pressing method and the antifungal activity of EOs was evaluated using the agar dilution method. The results show that the EOs had significant antifungal activity. Lime EO was the best inhibitor of M. hiemalis and F. proliferatum while pomelo EO was the most effective against P. expansum. These results indicate that citrus EOs can be used as antifungal natural products in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

DnaJ sequences of Bacillus cereus strains isolated from outbreaks of hospital infection are highly similar to Bacillus anthracis.

Bacillus cereus is becoming an important nomosomial pathogen because of frequent isolation from blood cultures and from severe systemic infections. To differentiate highly pathogenic outbreak strain of B. cereus from other sources of the Bacillus cereus, we attempted to analyze their dnaJ sequences. Assays indicated that dnaJ sequence similarity of all of 52 blood culture isolates of B. cereus ranged from 92.8% to 100%. The distance between B. anthracis and B. cereus except six outbreak isolates ranged from 3.8% to 6.4%. The dnaJ sequences of six outbreak strains of B. cereus (GTC 02891, GTC 02896, GTC 02916, GTC 02917, GTC 03221, and GTC 03222) were closely related to those of B. anthracis (99.2%-99.5% sequence similarity). Ba813 sequences were only found in the six outbreak strains of B. cereus. The other pathogenic factors of B. anthracis were not found in these six outbreak strains, with the exception of GTC 02891 (cap-positive). The six outbreak strains formed clear ß-hemolytic colonies on a sheep blood agar plate. Our findings suggest that outbreak strains of B. cereus isolated from blood cultures are likely to have the risk of causing serious infection, and dnaJ and Ba813 are important markers to identify such strains. Phylogenetic analysis of dnaJ and MLST revealed that the six outbreak strains of B. cereus are closely related to B. anthracis.