A Rapid and Ultrasensitive Tetraphenylethylene-Based Probe with Aggregation-Induced Emission for Direct Detection of α-Amylase in Human Body Fluids.

α-Amylase plays a key role in the physiological cycle of the human body; its function is constantly explored and used as an important indicator of some related diseases like acute pancreatitis, acute organophosphorus pesticide poisoning, and anxiety or depression. However, currently, including the assay kit, existing methods suffer from low sensitivity and time consumption or are indirect assays that require the aid of a tool enzyme or inhibitor of competitive substrates; hence, they are not suitable for the low activity and nondestructive sensing of α-amylase in body fluids. A rapid, highly sensitive, and simple direct α-amylase determination in human body fluids is still challenging. In this work, an AIEgen-based small molecule α-amylase sensing system was first established. The probe has no emission signal in aqueous media because of its good solubility, but the insoluble AIE residues can be released after hydrolysis by α-amylase, lighting up fluorescence significantly. In this novel sensing system, the detection limit is calculated to be 0.14 U L-1 in MES buffer with a linear range of 0-45.5 U L-1, having been shortened to 3 min of test time and excellent selectivity to α-amylase compared to other proteins. Moreover, our method is successfully employed to demonstrate the applications in acute pancreatitis diagnosis and psychological stress analysis. The acquisition of this AIE-based method not only provides a simple technique for clinical diagnosis of related diseases but also has a promotional value for the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Preparation of Carriers Based on ZnO Nanoparticles Decorated on Graphene Oxide (GO) Nanosheets for Efficient Immobilization of Lipase from Candida rugosa.

Herein, a promising carrier, graphene oxide (GO) decorated with ZnO nanoparticles, denoted as GO/ZnO composite, has been designed and constructed. This carrier was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry. Then, Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) was immobilized onto the GO-based materials via physical adsorption. Our results indicated that the lipase loading amount on the GO/ZnO composites was about 73.52 mg of protein per g. In the activity assay, the novel immobilized lipase GO/ZnO@CRL, exhibited particularly excellent performance in terms of thermostability and reusability. Within 30 min at 50 °C, the free lipase, GO@CRL and ZnO@CRL had respectively lost 64%, 62% and 41% of their initial activity. However, GO/ZnO@CRL still retained its activity of 63% after 180 min at 50 °C. After reuse of the GO/ZnO@CRL 14 times, 90% of the initial activity can be recovered. Meanwhile, the relative activity of GO@CRL and ZnO@CRL was 28% and 23% under uniform conditions. Hence, GO-decorated ZnO nanoparticles may possess great potential as carriers for immobilizing lipase in a wide range of applications.

Preparation of functional oils rich in diverse medium and long-chain triacylglycerols based on a broadly applicable solvent-free enzymatic strategy.

To address the problems of long reaction times and limited range of adaptation in enzymatic synthesis medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCTs), a broadly applicable solvent-free enzymatic interesterification strategy was proposed. Candida sp. lipase (CSL) was immobilized on hydrophobic hollow mesoporous silica spheres (HHSS) to construct a biocatalyst designated as CSL@HHSS with a 15.3 % immobilization yield and a loading amount of 94.0 mg/g. The expressed activity and the specific activity were 20.14 U/g and 173.62 U/g, which were 4.6 and 5.6 times higher than that of free CSL, respectively. This biocatalyst demonstrated higher activity, wider applicability, and excellent reusability. Linseed oil, sunflower oil, perilla seed oil, algal oil, and malania oleifera oil were applied as substrates to produce MLCTs with medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCT) catalyzed by CSL@HHSS through interesterification in yields ranging from 69.6 % to 78.0 % within 20 min. Specific fatty acids, including linolenic acid, oleic acid, DHA, and nervonic acid (the first reported), were introduced into MLCT's skeleton, respectively. The structures were finely analyzed and identified by GC and UPLC-MS. The catalytic efficiency value of CSL@HHSS in catalyzing interesterification between linseed oil and MCT (70 ℃, 20 min, lipase 6 wt%) is 0.86 g/g∙min, which is the highest ever reported. This paper presents an effective and sustainable strategy for functional MLCTs production.

Preparation and investigation of novel endopeptidase-exopeptidase co-immobilized nanoflowers with improved cascade hydrolysis.

Enzymatic hydrolysis is a promising approach for protein and food processing. However, the efficiency of this approach is constrained by the self-hydrolysis, self-agglomeration of free enzymes and the limited applicability resulted from enzymes' selectivityt. Here, novel organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers (AY-10@AXH-HNFs) were prepared by coordinating Cu2+ with both endopeptidase of PROTIN SD-AY10 and exopeptidase of Prote AXH. The results indicate that the AY-10@AXH-HNFs exhibited 4.1 and 9.6 times higher catalytic activity than free Prote AXH and PROTIN SD-AY10, respectively, for the enzymatic hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-L-arginine ethyl ester (BAEE). The kinetic parameters of Km, Vmax and Kcat/Km by AY-10@AXH-HNFs were determined to be 0.6 mg/mL, 6.8 mL·min/mg and 6.1 mL/(min·mg), respectively, surpassing the values obtained from free endopeptidase and exopeptidase. Furthermore, the ability of AY-10@AXH-HNFs to retain 41 % of their initial catalytic activity after undergoing 5 cycles of repeated use confirmed their stability and reusability. This study introduces a novel approach of co-immobilizing endopeptidase and exopeptidase on nanoflowers, resulting in significantly enhanced stability and reusability of the protease in catalytic applications.

Co-Extraction of Flaxseed Protein and Polysaccharide with a High Emulsifying and Foaming Property: Enrichment through the Sequence Extraction Approach.

A new focus with respect to the extraction of plant protein is that ingredient enrichment should target functionality instead of pursuing purity. Herein, the sequence aqueous extraction method was used to co-enrich five protein-polysaccharide natural fractions from flaxseed meal, and their composition, structure, and functional properties were investigated. The total recovery rate of flaxseed protein obtained by the sequence extraction approach was more than 80%, which was far higher than the existing reports. The defatted flaxseed meal was soaked by deionized water to obtain fraction 1 (supernatant), and the residue was further treated to get fraction 2 (supernatant) and 3 (precipitate) through weak alkali solubilization. Part of the fraction 2 was taken out, followed by adjusting its pH to 4.2. After centrifuging, the albumin-rich supernatant and precipitate with protein content of 73.05% were gained and labeled as fraction 4 and fraction 5. The solubility of fraction 2 and 4 exceeded 90%, and the foaming ability and stability of fraction 5 were 12.76 times and 9.89 times higher than commercial flaxseed protein, respectively. The emulsifying properties of fractions 1, 2, and 5 were all greater than that of commercial sodium caseinate, implying that these fractions could be utilized as high-efficiency emulsifiers. Cryo-SEM results showed that polysaccharides in fractions were beneficial to the formation of network structure and induced the formation of tighter and smoother interfacial layers, which could prevent emulsion flocculation, disproportionation, and coalescence. This study provides a reference to promote the high-value utilization of flaxseed meals.

Investigation of volatile thiol contributions to rapeseed oil by odor active value measurement and perceptual interactions.

Volatile thiols are important aroma components of rapeseed oil. This study established an identification and quantification method of volatile thiols via headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-sulfur chemiluminescence detection. Four thiols (phenylmethanthiol, 3-sulfanyl-1-hexanol, 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, and 2-furylmethanthiol) were newly identified in microwaved rapeseed oil, and cause sesame, roasted meat, and garlic odors. The total concentration of the four thiols in rapeseed oil obtained from 13 rapeseed varieties ranged from 11.47 to 153.72 µg/kg. Determination of the threshold revealed that 3-sulfanyl-1-hexanol possessed the highest odor active value (7565), followed by phenylmethanthiol (3589), 2-furylmethanthiol (626), and 2-methyl-3-furanthiol (28). Further, perceptual interactions between volatile thiols and characteristic odor (3-butenyl isothiocyanate) of rapeseed oil were evaluated by Feller's addition model and S-curve method, which revealed that 2-methyl-3-furanthiol, 2-furylmethanthiol, phenylmethanthiol, and 3-sulfanyl-1-hexanol present a positive effect with 3-butenyl isothiocyanate. This study provides deep insights into the impact of sulfur-containing compounds on the aroma of rapeseed oil.

Free-Radical-Mediated Formation Mechanism of Polar Polymeric Triglycerides in Vegetable Oil Studied by Electron Spin Resonance and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography.

The free-radical-mediated formation mechanism of polar polymeric triglycerides (TAGs) was derived based on the formation of lipid-derived radicals and the degradation of TAGs in palm oil (PO), rapeseed oil (RO), and sunflower oil (SO). The experimental spectra were simulated by alkoxyl, alkyl, and 5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO)-oxidized adducts. DMPO-oxidized adducts were the main radical adducts in the initial stage. Then, alkyl radical adducts became the dominating radical adducts after 12 min in PO and RO. The intensity of alkyl radical adducts was the highest in SO. Therefore, based on the bimolecular reaction, polar polymeric TAGs were mainly bonded by -C-O-O-C- in the initial stage and then by -C-C- and -C-O-C- after 30 min. Besides, according to the correlation analysis between the amounts of polar polymeric TAGs and the degradation of TAGs, the main structures of polar polymeric TAGs in PO, RO, and SO were POL-LOP, POL-OOP, and POO-OOP; OLL-LnLO, OLLn-OLnO, OOO-OLO, and OLLn-OOO; and LLL-LLO, LLL-LLL, and OLL-LLO, respectively.

Process optimization and characterization of arachidonic acid oil degumming using ultrasound-assisted enzymatic method.

Ultrasound assisted enzymatic method was applied to the degumming of arachidonic acid (ARA) oil produced by Mortierella alpina. The conditions of degumming process were optimized by response surface methodology with Box- Behnken design. A dephosphorization rate of 98.82% was achieved under optimum conditions of a 500 U/kg of Phospholipase A1 (PLA1) dosage, 2.8 mL/100 g of water volume, 120 min of ultrasonic time, and 135 W of ultrasonic power. The phosphorus content of ultrasonic assisted enzymatic degumming oil (UAEDO) was 4.79 mg/kg, which was significantly lower than that of enzymatic degumming oil (EDO, 17.98 mg/kg). Crude Oil (CO), EDO and UAEDO revealed the similar fatty acid compositions, and ARA was dominated (50.97 ~ 52.40%). The oxidation stability of UAEDO was equivalent to EDO and weaker than CO, while UAEDO presented the strongest thermal stability, followed by EDO and CO. Furthermore, aldehydes, acids and alcohols were identified the main volatile flavor components for the three oils. The proportions of major contributing components such as hexanal, nonanal, (E)-2-nonanal, (E, E)-2,4-decadienal, (E)-2-nonenal and aldehydes in UAEDO and EDO were all lower than CO. Overall, Ultrasound assisted enzymatic degumming proved to be an efficient and superior method for degumming of ARA oil.

Extraction of rapeseed cake oil using subcritical R134a/butane: Process optimization and quality evaluation.

The optimal extraction conditions of rapeseed cake oil using subcritical R134a/butane were established by response surface methodology. The quality of subcritical R134a/butane extraction oil (SRBEO) was compared with supercritical CO2 extraction oil (SCO2EO) and hexane extraction oil (HXEO). The results showed the highest extraction yield obtained by subcritical R134a/butane in the condition of R134a-butane ratio of 1.5 kg/kg, at 45°C for 50 min. Compared with SCO2EO and HXEO, the extraction yield and ß-carotene content of SRBEO (87.76%, 357.21 µg/100g) were the highest. The content of phospholipids and canolol in SRBEO (3.01 mg/g, 118.51 mg/100 g) was higher than SCO2EO (not detected, 95.82 mg/100 g) and less than HXEO (25.78 mg/g, 131.85 mg/100 g). The tocopherols in SRBEO were equivalent to SCO2EO but phytosterol content of SRBEO (560.19 mg/100 g) was less than SCO2EO (591.40 mg/100 g). For fatty acids, the three extraction oils had slight difference. Thus, subcritical R134a/butane extraction appeared to be feasible for rapeseed cake oil extraction.

An Aggregation-induced Emission Probe Based on Host-Guest Inclusion Composed of the Tetraphenylethylene Motif and γ-Cyclodextrin for the Detection of α-Amylase.

α-Amylase, an essential biomarker in pancreas related diseases and perform a major role in carbohydrates metabolism. Hence, monitoring the dynamic changes of α-amylase is crucial for better clinical diagnosis of diseases. However, the existing methods are suffered from low sensitivity, time consumption and indirect assay with aid of tool enzyme or inhibitor of competitive substrates, the rapid and non-destructive sensing of α-amylase in biological samples was highly desired. In this work, a very simple tetraphenylethylene motif and γ-cyclodextrin based supramolecular fluometric sensing system was firstly established. This system has no emission signal in aqueous media for the freely rotation of phenyl rings in the cavity of γ-cyclodextrin, but the AIE residues can be released in to water after the α-amylase hydrolysing γ-cyclodextrin, then turn on the fluorescence. In this system, the detection limit is calculated to be 0.007 U mL-1 in MES buffer with a linear range of 0-0.35 U mL-1 , having excellent selectivity to α-amylase compared to other proteins. At last, our probe can be applied to the quantitative analysis of α-amylase in human serum, showing potential in point of care testing.

Novel amphiphilic polyvinylpyrrolidone functionalized silicone particles as carrier for low-cost lipase immobilization.

The high catalytic activity, specificity and stability of immobilized lipase have been attracting great interest. How to reduce the cost of support materials has always been a hot topic in this field. Herein, for the development of low-cost immobilized lipase, we demonstrate an amphiphilic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) grafted on silicone particle (SP) surface materials (SP-PVP) with a rational design based on interfacial activation and solution polymerization. Meanwhile, hydrophilic pristine SP and hydrophobic polystyrene-corded silicone particles (SP-Pst) were also prepared for lipase immobilization. SP-PVP was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetry. Our results indicated that the lipase loading amount on the SP-PVP composites was about 215 mg of protein per gram. In the activity assay, the immobilized lipase SP-PVP@CRL exhibited higher catalysis activity and better thermostability and reusability than SP@CRL and SP-Pst@CRL. The immobilized lipase retained more than 54% of its initial activity after 10 times of re-use and approximately trended to a steady rate in the following cycles. By introducing the interesting amphiphilic polymer to this cheap and easily obtained SP surface, the relative performance of the immobilized lipase can be significantly improved, facilitating interactions between the low-cost support materials and lipase.

Fluorometric probing of the lipase level as acute pancreatitis biomarkers based on interfacially controlled aggregation-induced emission (AIE).

As a sudden inflammation of the pancreas, acute pancreatitis presents severe complications and a high mortality rate, despite treatment. Lipase in serum serves as an essential biomarker of acute pancreatitis and even pancreatic cancer. Therefore, developing robust, convenient and sensitive probing of lipase levels is greatly needed. In this work, we present glutamate functionalized tetraphenylethylene (TPE) as a "turn-on" fluorescent probe (S1) based on the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) mechanism for lipase levels with new recognition units. In heterogeneous media, the hydrophilic amino and carboxyl groups in the probe were specifically introduced to facilitate its full access to lipase at the oil-water interface and achieve an interfacially controlled AIE process. The linear response of fluorescence ranging from 0 to 80 U L-1, which included the concentration range of the lipase level in human serum, considering the dilution factor if necessary, the limit of detection as low as 0.13 U L-1, and the fast response time (7 min) were determined. The value of the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) was obtained as 4.23 µM, which indicated superior affinity between lipase and the probe molecule. The selectivity, photostability, dynamic monitoring of the enzymatic reaction, and preliminary commercial enzyme activity screening were summarized. As far as we know, this is the fastest, easiest and most sensitive method for lipase level probing in the reported literature. Finally, probing the lipase level for the first time in real human serum samples was also conducted successfully.

A facile and efficient strategy for the fabrication of porous linseed gum/cellulose superabsorbent hydrogels for water conservation.

The linseed gum/cellulose composite hydrogels were successfully fabricated by mixing cellulose and linseed gum solutions dissolved in the NaOH/urea aqueous system and cross-linked with epichlorohydrin. The morphology and structure of the composite hydrogels were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The swelling ratio and water retention properties were investigated. The results revealed that linseed gum mainly contributed to water adsorption, whereas the cellulose acted as a backbone to strengthen the porous structure. This work provided a simple way to prepare cellulose-based superabsorbent hydrogels, which could be potentially applied as an effective water conservation material in agriculture.

Characterization of the factors that influence sinapine concentration in rapeseed meal during fermentation.

We analyzed and compared the difference in sinapine concentration in rapeseed meal between the filamentous fungus, Trametes sp 48424, and the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in both liquid and solid-state fermentation. During liquid and solid-state fermentation by Trametes sp 48424, the sinapine concentration decreased significantly. In contrast, the liquid and solid-state fermentation process by Saccharomyces cerevisiae just slightly decreased the sinapine concentration (P ≤ 0.05). After the solid-state fermented samples were dried, the concentration of sinapine in rapeseed meal decreased significantly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Based on the measurement of laccase activity, we observed that laccase induced the decrease in the concentration of sinapine during fermentation with Trametes sp 48424. In order to eliminate the influence of microorganisms and the metabolites produced during fermentation, high moisture rapeseed meal and the original rapeseed meal were dried at 90 °C and 105 °C, respectively. During drying, the concentration of sinapine in high moisture rapeseed meal decreased rapidly and we obtained a high correlation coefficient between the concentration of sinapine and loss of moisture. Our results suggest that drying and enzymes, especially laccase that is produced during the solid-state fermentation process, may be the main factors that affect the concentration of sinapine in rapeseed meal.

Effect of microwave treatment on the efficacy of expeller pressing of Brassica napus rapeseed and Brassica juncea mustard seeds.

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of microwave heating on the efficacy of expeller pressing of rapeseed and mustard seed and the composition of expeller meals in two types of Brassica napus rapeseed (intermediate- and low-glucosinolate) and in Brassica juncea mustard (high-glucosinolate). Following microwave treatment, the microstructure of rapeseed using transmission electron microscopy showed a significant disappearance of oil bodies and myrosin cells. After 6 min of microwave heating (400 g, 800 W), the oil content of rapeseed expeller meal decreased from 44.9 to 13.5% for intermediate-glucosinolate B. napus rapeseed, from 42.6 to 11.3% for low-glucosinolate B. napus rapeseed, and from 44.4 to 14.1% for B. juncea mustard. The latter values were much lower than the oil contents of the corresponding expeller meals derived from the unheated seeds (i.e., 26.6, 22.6, and 29.8%, respectively). Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents showed no differences except for the expeller meal from the intermediate-glucosinolate B. napus rapeseed, which increased from 22.7 to 29.2% after 6 min of microwave heating. Microwave treatment for 4 and 5 min effectively inactivated myrosinase enzyme of intermediate-glucosinolate B. napus rapeseed and B. juncea mustard seed, respectively. In low-glucosinolate B. napus rapeseed the enzyme appeared to be more heat stable, with some activity being present after 6 min of microwave heating. Myrosinase enzyme inactivation had a profound effect on the glucosinolate content of expeller meals and prevented their hydrolysis to toxic breakdown products during the expelling process. It appeared evident from this study that microwave heating for 6 min was an effective method of producing expeller meal without toxic glucosinolate breakdown products while at the same time facilitating high yield of oil during the expelling process.

Production of novel "functional oil" rich in diglycerides and phytosterol esters with "one-pot" enzymatic transesterification.

Diglycerides and phytosterol esters are two important functional lipids. Phytosterol esters mixed with dietary diglyceride could not only influence body weight but also prevent or reverse insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia. In this study, a kind of novel "functional oil" rich in both diglycerides and phytosterol esters was prepared with "one-pot" enzymatic transesterification. First, lipase AYS (Candida rugosa) was immobilized on the porous cross-linked polystyrene resin beads (NKA) via hydrophobic interaction. The resulting immobilized AYS showed much better transesterification activity and thermal stability to freeways. On the basis of the excellent biocatalyst prepared, a method for high-efficiency enzymatic esterification of phytosterols with different triglycerides to produce corresponding functional oils rich in both diglycerides and phytosterol esters was developed. Four functional oils rich in both diglycerides and phytosterol esters with conversions >92.1% and controllable fatty acid composition were obtained under the optimized conditions: 80 mmol/L phytosterols, 160 mmol/L triglycerides, and 25 mg/mL AYS@NKA at 180 rpm and 50 °C for 12 h in hexane. The prepared functional oil possessed low acid value (≤1.0 mgKOH/g), peroxide value (≤2.1 mmol/kg), and conjugated diene value (≤1.96 mmol/kg) and high diglyceride and phytosterol ester contents (≥10.4 and ≥20.2%, respectively). All of the characteristics favored the wide application of the functional oil in different fields of functional food.