Purification, characterization, and functional properties of a novel glycoprotein from tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tartaricum) seed.

A pure glycoprotein (BGP4-I) was obtained from tartary buckwheat seeds by aqueous extraction followed by DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow ion exchange chromatography and Sephadex G-100 gel filtration chromatography. The average molecular weight of BGP4-I, as determined by high performance gel permeation chromatography, was 123.43 kDa. The structure of BGP4-I was characterized based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, etc. Based on the nano-liquid chromatography-coupled electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis of the amino acid sequence of BGP4-I, belongs unequivocally to the glycosyl hydrolase family 1 in the Carbohydrate Active Enzymes database by alignment studies. The specific activity of BGP4-I was 18.44 µmol/min/mg on the substrate p-nitrophenyl-ß-d-glucopyranoside. Furthermore, BGP4-I is unique in its specificity for some substrates. These results suggest that the BGP4-I from tartary buckwheat seeds is a novel specific ß-glucosidase setting the foundation for potential applications in the food industry.

Effect of Tartary Buckwheat Peptides on Shelf Life of Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Fillets.

Tartary buckwheat peptides (TBPs), produced from tartary buckwheat through solid-state fermentation, were used as a dip treatment solution to preserve tilapia fillets. Fillets were dip treated with different concentrations of TBPs (0.5, 1, and 2% [v/v]) and stored at 4°C for 12 days. The effect of TBPs on thiobarbituric acid, total volatile base nitrogen, surface color, texture profile analysis, total viable counts, and changes in sensory properties of tilapia fillets during storage was investigated. Compared with the control group, the groups treated with TBPs displayed reduced rates of quality deterioration in physicochemical, bacteriological, and sensory characteristics. Based on total volatile base nitrogen content, total viable counts, and sensory scores, the shelf life of control tilapia fillets was 4 days and that for TBP-treated fillets was 8 days, twice as long as that of the control group. Thus, TBPs can be used as preservatives to maintain the quality and extend the shelf life of tilapia fillets stored at 4°C.

ß-Glucosidase from tartary buckwheat immobilization on bifunctionalized nano-magnetic iron oxide and its application in tea soup for aroma and flavonoid aglycone enhancement.

ß-Glucosidase (BG) was immobilized on the surface of bifunctionalized nano-magnetic iron oxide with silica and amine groups (Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2). The aroma and flavonoid aglycone enhancement effect of BG in tea soup was investigated. The immobilized BG-synthesized nanocomposite morphology and structure were characterized by using different analytical techniques, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The immobilized BG showed enhanced pH and temperature endurance at an optimum pH of 5.0 and temperature of 65 °C. After seven cycles of reuse, immobilized BG showed 51.8% initial activity. Immobilized-BG treatment in green tea and black tea soup elevated the aroma content by approximately 16% and 48%, respectively. In addition, flavonoid aglycones, such as myricetin, kaempferol, and quercetin, in green tea and black tea soup increased by approximately 65- and 5-fold, respectively. These results suggested that immobilized BG showed excellent potential in the enhancement of aroma and effectively hydrolyzed the flavonoid glycosides to release flavonoid aglycones in tea soup. Hence, this study provides a green and sustainable approach for the tea industry to efficiently enhance tea soup properties.

Tartary Buckwheat Extract and Chitosan Coated Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) Fillets Determine Their Shelf Life.

The preservation effects of tartary buckwheat extract (T) and chitosan (C) coatings on the physicochemical (pH value, thiobarbituric acid value, Peroxide value (PV), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), K value, surface color and the texture profiles), bacteriological (total viable counts (TVC) and psychrotrophic bacteria counts (PBC)), and sensory characteristics of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets storage at 0 °C for 18 days were evaluated. The fillets coated with 0.5% T + 1.0% C, 1.0% T + 1.0% C and 1.5% T + 1.0% C maintained better quality and had longer shelf life with respect to samples coated with chitosan alone and the control. Base on the limit values of TVB-N, K value, TVC and sensory preference scores, the shelf life of control fillets was 6 days. By contrast, shelf life of 9 days for 0.5% T + 1.0% C-coated fillets, 12 days for 1.0% T + 1.0% C treated-fillets, and 15 days for 1.5% T + 1.0% C-treated fillets were obtained. Therefore, TBE combined with chitosan coatings have the potential to extend the shelf life of tilapia fillets during storage at 0 °C. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study provides basic theory regarding the application of TBE to fish preservation. The edible coating of TBE combined with chitosan has potential use in developing activity food preservation coating.

A novel autophagy inhibitor berbamine blocks SNARE-mediated autophagosome-lysosome fusion through upregulation of BNIP3.

Increasing evidences reveal that autophagy inhibitor could enhance the effect of chemotherapy to cancer. However, few autophagy inhibitors are currently approved for clinical application in humans. Berbamine (BBM) is a natural compound extracted from traditional Chinese medicine that is widely used for treatment of a variety of diseases without any obvious side effects. Here we found that BBM is a novel auophagy inhibitor, which potently induced the accumulation of autophagosomes by inhibiting autophagosome-lysosome fusion in human breast cancer cells. Mechanistically, we found that BBM blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion by inhibiting the interaction of SNAP29 and VAMP8. Furthermore, BBM induced upregulation of BNIP3 and the interaction between SNAP29 and BNIP3. BNIP3 depletion or SNAP29 overexpression abrogated BBM-mediated blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion through the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8, whereas BNIP3 overexpression blocked autophagosome-lysosome fusion through inhibition of the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8. These findings suggest that upregulation of BNIP3 and interaction between BNIP3 and SNAP29 could be involved in BBM-mediated blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion through inhibition of the interaction between SNAP29 and VAMP8. Our findings identify the critical role of BNIP3 in blockade of autophagosome-lysosome fusion mediated by BBM, and suggest that BBM could potentially be further developed as a novel autophagy inhibitor, which could enhance the effect of chemotherapy to cancer.

Effects of tartary buckwheat polysaccharide combined with nisin edible coating on the storage quality of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the effect of tartary buckwheat polysaccharide (TBP) combined with nisin edible coatings on the preservation of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets, fillets were dip treated with different concentrations of TBP (5, 10 and 15 g kg-1 ) combined with nisin and stored at 4 °C for 12 days. The pH values, thiobarbituric acid contents, total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) content, total viable count (TVC), surface colors, textures and sensory properties of the tilapia fillets at storage were all periodically investigated. RESULTS: TBP combined with nisin-treated groups significantly improved the bacteriological, physicochemical, and sensory characteristics of the tilapia fillets to a greater extent compared to the control group and presented better quality preservation effects than nisin coating alone. Based on the limits of the TVB-N, TVC and sensory scores, the shelf life of the control tilapia fillets was 4 days, whereas that for nisin with TBP-coated fillets was 8-10 days. CONCLUSION: Edible coatings made from TBP combined with nisin are suitable for maintaining qualities and enhancing the shelf lives of tilapia fillets stored at 4 °C. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Cardioprotective effects of lipoic acid, quercetin and resveratrol on oxidative stress related to thyroid hormone alterations in long-term obesity.

This study investigated possible mechanisms for cardioprotective effects of lipoic acid (LA), quercetin (Q) and resveratrol (R) on oxidative stress related to thyroid hormone alterations in long-term obesity. Female C57BL/6 mice were fed on high-fat diet (HFD), HFD+LA, HFD+R, HFD+Q and normal diet for 26weeks. Body weight, blood pressure, thyroid hormones, oxidative stress markers, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and ion pump activities were measured, and expression of cardiac genes was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. HFD induced marked increase (P<.05) in body weight, blood pressure and oxidative stress, while plasma triidothyronine levels reduced. ACE activity increased (P<.05) in HFD mice (0.69±0.225U/mg protein) compared with controls (0.28±0.114U/mg protein), HFD+LA (0.231±0.02U/mg protein) and HFD+Q (0.182±0.096U/mg protein) at 26weeks. Moreover, Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-ATPase activities increased in HFD mice whereas NOS reduced. A 1.5-fold increase in TRα1 and reduction in expression of the deiodinase iodothyronine DIO1, threonine protein kinase and NOS3 as well as up-regulation of AT1α, ACE, ATP1B1, GSK3ß and Cja1 genes also occurred in HFD mice. Conversely, LA, Q and R inhibited weight gain; reduced TRα1 expression as well as increased DIO1; reduced ACE activity and AT1α, ATP1B1 and Cja1 gene expression as well as inhibited GSK3ß; increased total antioxidant capacity, GSH and catalase activity; and reduced blood pressure. In conclusion, LA, resveratrol and quercetin supplementation reduces obesity thereby restoring plasma thyroid hormone levels and attenuating oxidative stress in the heart and thus may have therapeutic potential in heart diseases.

Tea consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

BACKGROUND: Tea consumption has been extensively studied in relation to various diseases, several epidemiologic studies have been performed to investigate the association of tea consumption with type 2 diabetes; however, the results of these studies were not entirely consistent. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a meta-analysis of studies that assessed the association of tea consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a systematic literature search through November 2008 in PUBMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The search was limited to English-language studies. Studies were excluded if they were type 1 diabetes, animal studies. Nine cohort studies were identified by two authors, and summary relative risks (RRs) were calculated using a random-effects model. RESULTS: We identified nine cohort studies, including 324,141 participants and 11,400 incident cases of type 2 diabetes with follow-up ranging from 5 to 18 years. The summary adjusted RR did not show that tea consumption was associated with a reduced type 2 diabetes risk (RR, 0.96; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.92-1.01). Evidence from the results of our stratified analyses revealed that tea consumption > or =4 cups per day (RR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.7-0.93) might play a role in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. However, no statistically significant association was observed for sex and the follow-up durations stratified between tea consumption and type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis indicates that tea consumption > or =4 cups per day may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.