[Analysis of soluble Ca content in banana pulp based on pretreatment of digestion model in vitro].

In the present paper, soluble Ca content in banana pulp was analyzed with pretreatment of digestion model in vitro. All the samples were digested by strong acid (perchloric acid and nitric acid with 1 : 4 ratio) and determined by AA700 flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (FAAS). Meanwhile, the reproducibility of the analytical method was investigated. The results showed that (1) Content of Ca was 1.479 mg x g(-1) x DW in eighty percent maturity banana pulp. And the relative standard deviation was 4.12%. (2) Contents of Ca in the soluble and insoluble fractions were 1.108 and 0.412 mg x g(-1) x DW, respectively in eighty percent maturity banana pulp with pretreatment of digestion model in vitro. The extraction rate was 74.9% and the residue rate was 27.8%. (3) The relative standard deviations of the analytical results of Ca contents in those two fractions were 2.56% and 9.10%, respectively, in the reproducibility tests. It was showed that the digestion model in vitro did not affect the reproduction quality significantly. Moreover, the deviation between the theoretical value and the summation value of the extraction and the residue rates was only 2.7%, which showed good availability of the digestion model in vitro to be used as a pretreatment method in mineral element analysis process. (4) Relative standard deviation and recovery yield in the determination procedure were 0.11% (n = 9) and 99.2%, respectively.

[Analysis of primary elemental speciation distribution in mungbean during enzymatic hydrolization].

In the present paper, trace elements contents of cuprum, zincum, manganese and ferrum in mungbean and their primary speciation distribution during enzymatic hydrolization were investigated with ICP-AES OPTIMA 5300DV plasma emission spectroscopy. The trace elements were separated into two forms, i.e. dissolvable form and particulate form, by cellulose membrane with 0.45 microm of pore diameter. All the samples were digested by strong acid (perchloric acid and nitric acid with 1 : 4 ratio ). The parameters of primary speciations of the four elements were calculated and discussed. The results showed: (1) Contents of cuprum, zincum, manganese and ferrum in mungbean were 12.77, 31.26, 18.14 and 69.38 microg x g(-1) (of dry matter), respectively. Different treatment resulted in different elemental formulation in product, indicating that more attention should be paid to the trace elements pattern when producing mungbean beverage with different processes. (2) Extraction rates of cuprum, zincum, manganese and ferrum in extract were 68.84%, 51.84%, 63.97% and 30.40% with enzymatic treatments and 36.22%, 17.58%, 7.85% and 22.99% with boil treatment, respectively. Both boil and enzymatic treatments led to poor elemental extraction rates, which proved that it was necessary to take deep enzymatic hydrolysis treatment in mungbean beverage process as the trace element utilization rate was concerned. (3) Amylase, protease and cellulose showed different extraction effectiveness of the four trace elements. Generally, protease exhibited highest efficiency for the four elements extraction. All of the four trace elements were mostly in dissolvable form in all hydrolysates and soup. (4) Relative standard deviations and recovery yields are within 0.12%-0.90% (n = 11) and 98.6%-101.4%, respectively. The analysis method in this paper proved to be accurate.

Self-assembled natural rubber/silica nanocomposites: Its preparation and characterization.

A novel natural rubber/silica (NR/SiO2) nanocomposite is developed by combining self-assembly and latex-compounding techniques. The results show that the SiO2 nanoparticles are homogenously distributed throughout NR matrix as nano-clusters with an average size ranged from 60 to 150 nm when the SiO2 loading is less than 6.5 wt%. At low SiO2 contents (⩽4.0 wt%), the NR latex (NRL) and SiO2 particles are assembled as a core-shell structure by employing poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) as an inter-medium, and only primary aggregations of SiO2 are observed. When more SiO2 is loaded, secondary aggregations of SiO2 nanoparticles are gradually generated, and the size of SiO2 cluster dramatically increases. The thermal/thermooxidative resistance and mechanical properties of NR/SiO2 nanocomposites are compared to the NR host. The nanocomposites, particularly when the SiO2 nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed, possess significantly enhanced thermal resistance and mechanical properties, which are strongly depended on the morphology of nanocomposites. The NR/SiO2 has great potential to manufacture medical protective products with high performances.