Preparation of curcumin-loaded pectin-nisin copolymer emulsion and evaluation of its stability.

In the paper, Nisin was grafted onto native pectin by the 1-ethyl-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC·HCl) method. Structure characterisation showed that the carboxyl group of pectin interacted with the amino group of Nisin and formed an amide bond. The highest grafting ratio of the modified pectin was up to 24.89 %. The emulsifying property of modified pectin, significantly improved, and emulsification performance improved with increasing grafting ratio. Emulsifying activity, emulsion stability, Zeta potential, and droplet morphology data demonstrate a notable enhancement in pectin's emulsifying properties due to Nisin's introduction, with the degree of grafting showing a direct correlation with the improvement observed. Pectin-based emulsion is utilized to load curcumin, enhancing its stability and bioavailability. Research findings highlight that the incorporation of Nisin-modified pectin significantly elevates curcumin encapsulation efficiency, while decelerating its release rate. Moreover, the stability of curcumin loaded in the modified pectin under light exposure, alkaline conditions, and long-term storage is also significantly improved. Ultimately, the bioavailability of curcumin escalates from 0.368 to 0.785.

Evaluation of amidated pectin as fat substitutes for minced chicken breast: Physicochemical properties and edible quality.

An investigation was conducted to assess the gelation characteristics of amino acid amidated pectin and its subsequent influence on the quality of minced chicken breast (MCB) when employed as a lipid substitute. Through experimentation, it was evidenced that amidated pectin, such as glycine amidated pectin (AP@Gly), glutamic amidated pectin (AP@Glu), and lysine amidated pectin (AP@Lys), demonstrated superior viscosity and gelation capacity in comparison to their native pectin (PE) counterpart. In contrast to PE, amidated pectin samples exhibited the potential to form high-strength hydrogels under conditions of minimal restriction. Additionally, evaluations conducted on all samples established that MCB samples enriched with pectin and amidated pectin demonstrated superior water retention capability. Before thermal processing, MCB samples fortified with amidated pectin showcased higher hardness and L* values in comparison to PE and the control group. However, upon thermal processing, no significant divergence was found in the chroma and texture profile analysis (TPA) attributes across all MCB samples, and the electronic tongue sensory evaluation was closely aligned with the control group. This evidence substantiates the effectiveness of amidated pectin samples as viable lipid substitutes in MCB products.

Correlation between vitamin D metabolites and rheumatoid arthritis with osteoporosis by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS).

INTRODUCTION: Our aim is to study the correlation between vitamin D metabolites and osteoporosis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). At the same time, other influencing factors and serum biomarkers of osteoporosis in patients with RA were studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with RA admitted from January 2020 to December 2020 were selected at our hospital. The subjects were divided into the normal bone mineral density (BMD), osteopenia, and osteoporosis groups. The differences of vitamin D (VD) metabolites among groups were compared. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the relationship between BMD and various parameters. The relationship between BMD and influencing factors was studied by a multiple linear regression equation. RESULTS: A total of 287 patients with RA were included. RA patients with 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] deficiency accounted for 43.63% and 25(OH)D insufficient levels accounted for 31.37%. There were 31 cases (10.80%) in the normal BMD group, 161 cases (56.10%) in the osteopenia group, and 95 cases (33.10%) in the osteoporosis group. The BMD of L1-4 (T- score) was negatively correlated with age (P < 0.05), course of disease (P < 0.05), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (P < 0.05), and positively correlated with 25(OH)D3 (P < 0.05). The multiple linear regression model results showed that age and 25(OH)D3 were independent predictors of BMD; this explained 22.11% of the total variation. CONCLUSIONS: VD deficiency and insufficient are common in RA patients. RA patients can be appropriately supplemented with VD. VD3 may be a better choice.

Myrothins A-F from Endophytic Fungus Myrothecium sp. BS-31 Harbored in Panax notoginseng.

Endophytic fungi play important roles for host's stress tolerance including invasion by pathogenic microbes. Small molecules are common weapons in the microbe-microbe interactions. Panax notoginseng is a widely used traditional Chinese medicinal plant and harbors many endophytes, some exert functions against pathogens. Here, we report six new compounds named myrothins A-F (1-6) produced by Myrothecium sp. BS-31, an endophyte isolated from P. notoginseng, and their antifungal activities against pathogenic fungi causing host root-rot disease. Their structures were elucidated with analysis of spectroscopic data including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS. Myrothins B (2) and E (5) showed the weak activity against Fusarium oxysporum and Phoma herbarum, and myrothins F (6) showed weak activity against F. oxysporum.

The interaction of polysaccharide from Auricularia polytricha with quantum dots and the protection of plasmid DNA from damage.

As a kind of folk medicine, edible mushrooms are known to be of medicinal characteristics, for example antitumor activity. However, the mechanism is not clear. In this study, the fluorescence (FL) spectroscopy was used to study the binding reactions of polysaccharide extracted from Auricularia polytricha with quantum dots (QDs). The modified Stern-Volmer quenching constant at different temperatures and corresponding thermodynamic parameters were calculated (∆G < 0, ∆H < 0, and ∆S < 0). The results show that the quenching constant is inversely correlated with temperature. It indicates that the quenching mechanism is the static quenching in nature rather than dynamic quenching. The negative values of free energy (∆G < 0) suggest that the binding process is spontaneous; ∆H < 0 and ∆S < 0 suggest that the binding of polysaccharide to QDs is enthalpy-driven. QDs were found to damage the plasmid DNA according to atomic force microscopy images. DNA damage is the important factor to induce tumor. Many chemical substances can induce tumor, which has been proved by modern medical science. In the presence of polysaccharide from A. polytricha, however, DNA was protected from damage due to polysaccharide winding around QDs, which is the basis for the bioeffect of polysaccharides. This study helps to understand that antitumor activity of edible mushrooms is attributed to protection of DNA from damage in the presence of harmful substances.