Effect of glycosylation with sugar beet pectin on the interfacial behaviour and emulsifying ability of coconut protein.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of glycosylation with sugar beet pectin (SBP) on the interfacial behaviour and emulsifying ability of coconut protein (CP). The physical stabilities of the emulsions were predicted by transmission variation, droplet distribution and zeta potentials. The results showed that SBP-CP-stabilized emulsions showed better stability during centrifugation than those stabilized by CP because SBP-CP reduced the degree of variation in the CP transmission profile. The adsorption kinetics of all emulsifiers at the oil-water interface were determined to investigate the relationship between the interfacial behaviour and emulsion stability. The presence of SBP considerably reduced the adsorption rate of CP (0.698 mN/m/s1/2) and hampered the development of a highly viscoelastic network at the oil-water interface. The values of the dilatational elastic modulus (Ed = 19.477 mN/m) and dilatational viscous modulus (E = 19.719 mN/m) were approximately equal, indicating that the adsorption process was mainly dominated by elastic behaviour. Additionally, the SBP-CP interaction enhanced the dilatational property of the CP-absorbed layer.

Arecanut (Areca catechu L.) Seed Polyphenol-Ameliorated Osteoporosis by Altering Gut Microbiome via LYZ and the Immune System in Estrogen-Deficient Rats.

Polyphenol can improve osteoporosis and is closely associated with gut microbiota, while the mechanism and the relationship among polyphenol, osteoporosis, and gut microbiota colonization remain unclear. Here, an osteoporosis rat model established by ovariectomy was employed to investigate the improving mechanism of arecanut (Areca catechu L.) seed polyphenol (ACP) on osteoporosis by regulating gut microbiota. We analyzed the bone microstructure, Paneth cells, regulating microbial protein (lysozyme (LYZ)), proinflammatory cytokines, macrophage infiltration levels, and gut microbial communities in a rat. ACP improved the trabecular microstructure compared to OVX, including the increased trabecular number (Tb.N) (P < 0.01) and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) (P < 0.001) and decreased trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) (P < 0.01). At the phylum level, Bacteroidetes was increased after ovariectomy (P < 0.001) and Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were increased in ACP (P < 0.001). Antiosteoporosis groups with lower LYZ and Paneth cells (P < 0.001) showed that the microbiota Alistipes, which have a negative effect on bone metabolism were decreased in ACP (P < 0.001). Altogether, these studies showed that the estrogen deficiency could induce the shedding of Paneth cells, which leads to the decrease of LYZ, while ACP could increase the LYZ expression by maintaining the population of Paneth cells in an estrogen-deficient host, which were implicated in gut microbiota regulation and improved osteoporosis by controlling the inflammatory reaction.

Comparative Metabolomic Analysis of Dendrobium officinale under Different Cultivation Substrates.

Dendrobium officinale, a precious herbal medicine, has been used for a long time in Chinese history. The metabolites of D. officinale, regarded as its effective components to fight diseases, are significantly affected by cultivation substrates. In this study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was conducted to analyze D. officinale stems cultured in three different substrates: pine bark (PB), coconut coir (CC), and a pine bark: coconut coir 1:1 mix (PC). A total of 529 metabolites were identified. Multivariate statistical analysis methods were employed to analyze the difference in the content of metabolites extracted from different groups. By the criteria of variable importance in projection (VIP) value ≥1 and absolute log2 (fold change) ≥1, there were a total of 68, 51, and 57 metabolites, with significant differences in content across groups being filtrated out between PB and PC, PB and CC, and PC and CC, respectively. The comparisons among the three groups revealed that flavonoids were the metabolites that fluctuated most. The results suggested the D. officinale stems from the PB group possessed a higher flavonoid content. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis indicated that the significantly regulated metabolites were mainly connected with flavonoid biosynthesis. A comprehensive profile of the metabolic differentiation of D. officinale planted in different substrates was provided, which supports the selection of an optimum cultivation substrate for a higher biomass yield of D. officinale.

Preparation and properties of ferulic acid-sugar beet pulp pectin ester and its application as a physical and antioxidative stabilizer in a fish oil-water emulsion.

A ferulic acid-sugar beet pulp pectin complex (FA-SBPP) was prepared using an immobilized enzyme (Novozym 435®) as the catalyst at 60 °C in a vacuum-controlled system. The structure of FA-SBPP was characterized by FT-IR and NMR (1H and 13C). In addition, the antioxidant activity of FA-SBPP was evaluated according to the DPPH free radical scavenging ability and ORAC values. Moreover, the physical and oxidation stability of the emulsion was evaluated by particle size distribution, cream index (CI), peroxide value (POV), and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) formation. The results showed that esterification between FA and SBPP was confirmed, and the reaction mainly occurred at the C-2, C-3, and C-6 positions. When the concentration was 1.0 mg/mL, the DPPH scavenging activity and total antioxidant activity of FA-SBPP-3 were 80.03% and 355.72 µmol TE/g, respectively. Compared with SBPP, FA-SBPP-stabilized emulsions exhibited significant smaller droplet sizes and lower CIs, POVs and TBARS amounts. Thus, the introduction of FA changed not only the chemical reactivity but also the polarity of SBPP, thereby improving its antioxidant ability and affinity for the oil-water interface. Thus, we provide a multifunctional stabilizer that can reduce the dose of antioxidants or even replace them in oil-in-water emulsions.

Systematic and practical solvent system selection strategy based on the nonrandom two-liquid segment activity coefficient model for real-life counter-current chromatography separation.

Solvent system selection is the first step toward a successful counter-current chromatography (CCC) separation. This paper introduces a systematic and practical solvent system selection strategy based on the nonrandom two-liquid segment activity coefficient (NRTL-SAC) model, which is efficient in predicting the solute partition coefficient. Firstly, the application of the NRTL-SAC method was extended to the ethyl acetate/n-butanol/water and chloroform/methanol/water solvent system families. Moreover, the versatility and predictive capability of the NRTL-SAC method were investigated. The results indicate that the solute molecular parameters identified from hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water solvent system family are capable of predicting a large number of partition coefficients in several other different solvent system families. The NRTL-SAC strategy was further validated by successfully separating five components from Salvia plebeian R.Br. We therefore propose that NRTL-SAC is a promising high throughput method for rapid solvent system selection and highly adaptable to screen suitable solvent system for real-life CCC separation.

A novel variable selection approach that iteratively optimizes variable space using weighted binary matrix sampling.

In this study, a new optimization algorithm called the Variable Iterative Space Shrinkage Approach (VISSA) that is based on the idea of model population analysis (MPA) is proposed for variable selection. Unlike most of the existing optimization methods for variable selection, VISSA statistically evaluates the performance of variable space in each step of optimization. Weighted binary matrix sampling (WBMS) is proposed to generate sub-models that span the variable subspace. Two rules are highlighted during the optimization procedure. First, the variable space shrinks in each step. Second, the new variable space outperforms the previous one. The second rule, which is rarely satisfied in most of the existing methods, is the core of the VISSA strategy. Compared with some promising variable selection methods such as competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination (MCUVE) and iteratively retaining informative variables (IRIV), VISSA showed better prediction ability for the calibration of NIR data. In addition, VISSA is user-friendly; only a few insensitive parameters are needed, and the program terminates automatically without any additional conditions. The Matlab codes for implementing VISSA are freely available on the website: https://sourceforge.net/projects/multivariateanalysis/files/VISSA/.

Separation of nine compounds from Salvia plebeia R.Br. using two-step high-speed counter-current chromatography with different elution modes.

Nine compounds were successfully separated from Salvia plebeia R.Br. using two-step high-speed counter-current chromatography with three elution modes. Elution-extrusion counter-current chromatography was applied in the first step, while classical counter-current chromatography and recycling counter-current chromatography were used in the second step. Three solvent systems, n-hexane/ethyl acetate/ethanol/water (4:6.5:3:7, v/v), methyl tert-butyl ether/ethyl acetate/n-butanol/methanol/water (6:4:1:2:8, v/v) and n-hexane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water (5:5.5:5:5, v/v) were screened and optimized for the two-step separation. The separation yielded nine compounds, including caffeic acid (1), 6-hydroxyluteuolin-7-glucoside (2), 5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxy-6-methoxyflavanone-7-glucoside (3), nepitrin (4), rosmarinic acid (5), homoplantaginin (6), nepetin (7), hispidulin (8), and 5,6,7,4'-tertrahydroxyflavone (9). To the best of our knowledge, 5,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxy-6-methoxyflavanone-7-glucoside and 5,6,7,4'-tertrahydroxyflavone have been separated from Salvia plebeia R.Br. for the first time. The purities and structures of these compounds were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy. This study demonstrates that high-speed counter-current chromatography is a useful and flexible tool for the separation of components from a complex sample.

A strategy that iteratively retains informative variables for selecting optimal variable subset in multivariate calibration.

Nowadays, with a high dimensionality of dataset, it faces a great challenge in the creation of effective methods which can select an optimal variables subset. In this study, a strategy that considers the possible interaction effect among variables through random combinations was proposed, called iteratively retaining informative variables (IRIV). Moreover, the variables are classified into four categories as strongly informative, weakly informative, uninformative and interfering variables. On this basis, IRIV retains both the strongly and weakly informative variables in every iterative round until no uninformative and interfering variables exist. Three datasets were employed to investigate the performance of IRIV coupled with partial least squares (PLS). The results show that IRIV is a good alternative for variable selection strategy when compared with three outstanding and frequently used variable selection methods such as genetic algorithm-PLS, Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination by PLS (MC-UVE-PLS) and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS). The MATLAB source code of IRIV can be freely downloaded for academy research at the website: http://code.google.com/p/multivariate-calibration/downloads/list.