Tunable durian seed gum-derived eutectogel as a novel coating material: Rheological, thermal, textural and barrier properties for enhanced food preservation.

As a promising green and sustainable coating material, gum was extracted from durian seed to produce eutectogel, which the properties were tunable using natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES). Ten different eutectogels were successfully synthesized using durian seed gum (DSG) and xanthan gum (XG) gelators at different composition (5, 10, 15 %) to gel choline chloride-glucose (1:1), choline chloride-fructose (1:2) and betaine-glucose-water (1:1:1) NADESs. Results revealed that eutectogel was non-Newtonian and weak gel material with excellent thermostability up to 200 °C. When the gum content increased, the resulted eutectogel showed higher viscosity, yield stress, hardness, gumminess, adhesiveness, and weight holding capacity. In overall, choline chloride-fructose (1:2) NADES and 10 % of DSG formed an excellent eutectogel which remained stable and compatible upon 12 weeks of storage. It displayed superior viscoelastic, texture, gases and moisture barrier properties which were beneficial for food coating application. This eutectogel was able to extend the shelf life of fresh-cut apples during storage with lower weight loss and higher total phenolic content (TPC). The potential future of this well-characterized tunable DSG-derived eutectogel includes, but not limited to, food and pharmaceutical industries, smart sensing, flexible wearable electronics, water purification, supercapacitors and batteries.

Synchronized Analysis of FTIR Spectra and GCMS Chromatograms for Evaluation of the Thermally Degraded Vegetable Oils.

Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) are two common instruments used for analysis of edible oils. The output signal is often analysed on the software attached to the workstations. The processing software is usually individualised for a specific source. The output of GCMS cannot be analysed on the FTIR hence analysts often need to juggle between instruments when multiple techniques are employed. This could become exhaustive when a large dataset is involved. This paper reports a synchronised approach for analysis of signal from FTIR and GCMS. The algorithm is demonstrated on a dataset of edible oils to investigate the thermal degradation of seven types of edible oils treated at 100°C and 150°C. The synchronised routines identify peaks present in FTIR and GCMS spectra/chromatograms where the information is subsequently extracted onto peak tables for further analysis. In this study, it is found that palm based products and corn oils were relatively more stable with higher content of antioxidants tocopherols and squalene. As a conclusion, this approach allows simultaneous analysis of signal from multiple sources and samples enhancing the efficiency of the signal processing process.