Improvement of Stability of Tea Polyphenols: A Review.

Tea polyphenols have received much attention from the pharmaceutical and food industries owing to their extraordinary antioxidant and antibacterial characteristics. However, tea polyphenols are very unstable in processing and storage, since they are sensitive to the environmental factors like temperature, light and pH. Therefore, the effective application of tea polyphenols requires a protective mechanism to maintain its activity. The utilization of compounded tea polyphenols, instead of raw materials, can potentially help to improve their stability. This review focuses on the summarization of the compounding technologies for tea polyphenols, including physical technologies, chemical-interfacial technologies and nano-scale compounding technologies. Of which, the emerging nano cellulose bio-carrier, as a promising technology, is particularly proposed.

Cellulosic Nanomaterials in Food and Nutraceutical Applications: A Review.

Cellulosic nanomaterials (CNMs) are organic, green nanomaterials that are obtained from renewable sources and possess exceptional mechanical strength and biocompatibility. The associated unique physical and chemical properties have made these nanomaterials an intriguing prospect for various applications including the food and nutraceutical industry. From the immobilization of various bioactive agents and enzymes, emulsion stabilization, direct food additives, to the development of intelligent packaging systems or pathogen or pH detectors, the potential food related applications for CNMs are endless. Over the past decade, there have been several reviews published covering different aspects of cellulosic nanomaterials, such as processing-structure-property relationship, physical and chemical properties, rheology, extraction, nanocomposites, etc. In this critical review, we have discussed and provided a summary of the recent developments in the utilization of cellulosic nanomaterials in applications related to food and nutraceuticals.

Combination of microsized mineral particles and rosin as a basis for converting cellulosic fibers into "sticky" superhydrophobic paper.

The unique features of cellulosic paper including flexibility, biodegradability, and low cost enables it as a versatile, sustainable biomaterial for promising applications. In the paper industry, microsized mineral particles are widely used in the production of printing/writing paper grades, while rosin derived from trees is the earliest internal sizing agent for paper hydrophobication. On the basis of existing commercial practices associated with the use of mineral particles and rosin in paper production, we present a process concept of converting cellulosic fibers (paper-grade pulp) into "sticky" superhydrophobic paper involving the use of microsized mineral particles and rosin (a tree-derived natural product, mainly a mixture of resin acids, especially abietic acid with chemical formula of C19H29COOH). Internal filling of cellulosic networks with mineral particles was basically used to hold out the mineral particles added at the surface, and the delicate integration of wet-end/surface applications of mineral particles with paper surface engineering with rosin/alum led to the development of "sticky" superhydrophobicity, i.e., ultrahigh water-repellency and strong adhesion to water. This proposed concept may provide valuable implications for expanding the use of paper-based products to unconventional applications, e.g., ultrahigh-performance ink jet printing paper for mitigating the "coffee-ring effect" and paper-based microfluidic devices for biomedical testing.

Preparation of cellulose nanocrystals from asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) and their applications to palm oil/water Pickering emulsion.

Nano cellulosic materials as promising emulsion stabilizers have attracted great interest in food industry. In this paper, five different sized cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) samples were prepared from stem of Asparagus officinalis L. using the same sulfuric acid hydrolysis conditions but different times (1.5, 2, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5h). The sizes of these CNC ranged from 178.2 to 261.8nm, with their crystallinity of 72.4-77.2%. The CNC aqueous dispersions showed a typical shear thinning behavior. In a palm oil/water (30/70, v/v) model solution, stable Pickering emulsions were formed with the addition of CNC, and their sizes are in the range of 1-10µm based on the optical and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) observation. The CNC sample prepared at 3h hydrolysis time, showed a relative efficient emulsion capacity for palm oil droplets, among these CNCs. Other parameters including the CNC, salt, and casein concentrations on the emulsion stability were studied.

Mechanical pretreatment improving hemicelluloses removal from cellulosic fibers during cold caustic extraction.

Hemicelluloses removal is a prerequisite for the production of high-quality cellulose (also known as dissolving pulp), and further recovery and utilization of hemicelluloses, which can be considered as a typical Integrated Forest Biorefinery concept. In this paper, a process of combined mechanical refining and cold caustic extraction (CCE), which was applied to a softwood sulfite sample, was investigated. The results showed that the hemicelluloses removal efficiency and selectivity were higher for the combined treatment than that for the CCE alone. The combined treatment can thus decrease the alkali concentration (from 8% to 4%) to achieve a similar hemicelluloses removal. The improved results were due to the fact that the mechanical refining resulted in increases in pore volume and diameter, water retention value (WRV) and specific surface area (SSA), all of which can make positive contributions to the hemicelluloses removal in the subsequent CCE process.

Furfural formation from the pre-hydrolysis liquor of a hardwood kraft-based dissolving pulp production process.

This study aimed to produce furfural from the PHL. Results showed best furfural yield of 32.8% and the furfural selectivity of 37.7% in the monophase system (170 °C, 100 min), while they were 60.1% and 69.8%, respectively in the biphase system. The lower furfural selectivity in the monophase system was explained by more side reactions, such as fragmentation, condensation reactions, resinification and others. Model compounds such as: xylose, furfural, syringaldehyde, were used to confirm/identify these side reactions. The addition of dilute sulfuric acid/acetic acid in the system under the same conditions decreased the recovery of furfural. The addition of syringaldehyde into the PHL also led to a decrease in the furfural yield, supporting the conclusion that lignin structures in the PHL may also be involved in the side reactions, thus decreasing the furfural yield.

An integrated process for removing the inhibitors of the prehydrolysis liquor of kraft-based dissolving pulp process via cationic polymer treatment.

The prehydrolysis liquor (PHL) of the kraft-based dissolving pulp production process contains various amounts of hemicelluloses that can be utilized in the production of value-added products. In this work, a new process was proposed for removing the inhibitors of PHL via employing a flocculation concept to facilitate the utilization of hemicelluloses. Lignin, lignocelluloses/cationic polymer complexes, and possibly ethanol are the main products of this process. This process has been experimentally evaluated with an industrially produced PHL and cationic polymers. The results showed that 16% of lignin, 19% of acetic acid, 43% of furfural, and insignificant amount of sugars were removed from PHL via pretreating PHL with acid and lime at pH 7. Furthermore, by adding 0.4-0.5 mg g(-1) polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) or chitosan to the pretreated PHL, 12-14% acetic acid, 40-50% furfural, 5-6% monomeric sugars, and 25% oligomeric sugars were removed from the PHL. The complexes made from these components may be applied as organic fillers in various industries. Alternatively, by adding 1.2 or 1.4 mg g(-1) PDADMAC or chitosan to the pretreated PHL, 30 or 35% of lignin was removed, respectively, which induced complexes that could be used as a fuel source. The composition of the complexes formed was also determined in this work.

Improvement of high-yield pulp properties by using a small amount of bleached wheat straw pulp.

In this study, the potential of using bleached wheat straw pulp (BWSP) was explored to improve the tensile strength of the high-yield pulp (HYP) while preserving its high bulk property. The results showed that with the addition of 5-10% refined BWSP, the HYP tensile strength can be increased by about 10-20% without sacrificing the bulk. Similar results were obtained by adding refined BWSP into a mixed furnish of bleached kraft pulps (BKPs) and HYP. The explanation was that micro fines from refined BWSP can act as binders to improve the HYP interfiber bonding, as a result, the HYP tensile strength can be improved by using a small amount of BWSP, while the HYP bulk is not significantly affected.