Cationic Conjugated Polymer Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer for DNA Methylation Assessment to Discriminate the Geographical Origins of Lonicerae japonicae flos.

The flavor and taste of Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJF) products are heavily influenced by geographical origin. Tracing the geographical origin is an important aspect of LJF quality assessment. Here, DNA methylation analysis coupled with chemometrics revealed that, in 10 CpG islands upstream of genes in the chlorogenic acid and iridoid biosynthetic pathways, DNA methylation differences appear close association with LJF geographical origin. DNA methylation status in these CpG islands was determined using the cationic conjugated polymer fluorescence resonance energy transfer method. As a result, LJFs from 39 geographical origins were classified into four groups corresponding to Northern China, Central Plain of China, Southeast China, and Western China, according to cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the modulation of LJF taste and can assist in understanding how DNA methylation in LJF varies with geographical origin.

Application of high-resolution melting analysis for authenticity testing of valuable Dendrobium commercial products.

BACKGROUND: The accurate identification of botanical origin in commercial products is important to ensure food authenticity and safety for consumers. The Dendrobium species have long been commercialised as functional food supplements and herbal medicines in Asia. Three valuable Dendrobium species, namely Dendrobium officinale, D. huoshanense and D. moniliforme, are often mutually adulterated in trade products in pursuit of higher profit. RESULTS: In this paper, a rapid and reliable semi-quantitative method for identifying the botanical origin of Dendrobium products in terminal markets was developed using high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis with specific primer pairs to target the trnL-F region. The HRM analysis method detected amounts of D. moniliforme adulterants as low as 1% in D. huoshanense or D. officinale products. CONCLUSION: The results have demonstrated that HRM analysis is a fast and effective tool for the differentiation of these Dendrobium species both for their authenticity as well as for the semi-quantitative determination of the purity of their processed products. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Insights into the emission reductions of multiple unintentional persistent organic pollutants from industrial activities.

Industrial activities result in unintentional production of multiple types of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at various concentrations. Because of the potential adverse effect of these POPs on the environment, biota and human health, methods for controlling emission of POPs are required. Development and application of techniques for controlling emissions of POPs can be a technical and economic burden for the industry involved. Therefore, from the point of view of cost-benefit analysis, reducing emissions of multiple pollutants at the same time is optimal for sustainable industrial development. Although techniques have been developed for reducing the emissions of individual POPs, such as dioxins, further work is required on multi-POP control emissions from industrial activities. This paper discusses three important aspects that need to be taken to achieve multi-POP control. These aspects include the establishment of a comprehensive system for evaluating the risk from emissions of multiple POPs, determination of indicators for total emissions of multiple POPs, and the preparation and application of functional materials to inhibit formation of multiple POPs. These discussion might be helpful for the future research on the multi-POP control in industry.