Red Orange and Bitter Orange IntegroPectin: Structure and Main Functional Compounds.

DRIFT, HPLC-MS, and SPME-GC/MS analyses were used to unveil the structure and the main functional compounds of red (blood) orange (Citrus sinensis) and bitter orange (Citrus aurantium). The IntegroPectin samples show evidence that these new citrus pectins are comprised of pectin rich in RG-I hairy regions functionalized with citrus biophenols, chiefly flavonoids and volatile molecules, mostly terpenes. Remarkably, IntegroPectin from the peel of fresh bitter oranges is the first high methoxyl citrus pectin extracted via hydrodynamic cavitation, whereas the red orange IntegroPectin is a low methoxyl pectin. C. aurantium IntegroPectin has a uniquely high concentration of adsorbed flavonoids, especially the flavanone glycosides hesperidin, naringin, and eriocitrin.

Pectin: A Long-Neglected Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial.

First reported in the late 1930s and partly explained in 1970, the antibacterial activity of pectin remained almost ignored until the late 1990s. The concomitant emergence of research on natural antibacterials and new usages of pectin polysaccharides, including those in medicine widely researched in Russia, has led to a renaissance of research into the physiological properties of this uniquely versatile polysaccharide ubiquitous in plants and fruits. By collecting scattered information, this study provides an updated overview of the subtle factors affecting the behaviour of pectin as an antimicrobial. Less-degraded pectin extracted by acid-free routes, we argue in the conclusions, will soon find applications from new treatments for polymicrobial infections to use as an implantable biomaterial in tissue and bone engineering.

Interactions of L-alanine with alumina as studied by vibrational spectroscopy.

The interactions of L-alanine with gamma- and alpha-alumina have been investigated by diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). L-alanine/alumina samples were dried from aqueous suspensions, at 36.5 degrees C, with two amino acid concentrations (0.4 and 0.8 mmol g-1) and at different pH values (1, 6, and 13). The vibrational spectra proved that the nature of L-alanine interactions with both aluminas is the same (hydrogen bonding), although the groups involved depend on the L-alanine form and on alumina surface groups, both controlled by the pH. For samples prepared at pH 1, cationic L-alanine [CH3CH(NH3+)COOH] displaces physisorbed water from alumina, and strong hydrogen bonds are established between the carbonyl groups of alanine, as electron donors, and the surface Al-OH2+ groups of alumina. This occurs at the expense of alanine dimer dissociation and breaking of intramolecular bonds. When samples are prepared at pH 6, the interacting groups are Al-OH2+ and the carboxylate groups of zwitterionic L-alanine [CH3CH(NH3+)COO-]. The affinity of L-alanine toward alumina decreases, as the strong NH3+...-OOC intermolecular hydrogen bonds prevail over the interactions with alumina. Thus, for a load of 0.8 mmol g-1, phase segregation is observed. On alpha-alumina, crystal deposition is even observed for a load of 0.4 mmol g-1. At pH 13, the carboxylate groups of anionic L-alanine [CH3CH(NH2)COO-] are not affected by alumina. Instead, hydrogen bond interactions occur between NH2 and the Al-OH surface groups of the substrate. Complementary N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms showed that adsorption of L-alanine occurs onto the alumina pore network for samples prepared at pH 1 and 13, whereas at pH 6 the amino acid/alumina interactions are not strong enough to promote adsorption. The mesoporous structure and the high specific surface area of gamma-alumina make it a more efficient substrate for adsorption of L-alanine. For each alumina, however, it is the nature of the specific interactions and not the porosity of the substrate that determines the adsorption process.