Nano cells from fruit bunch residue: Nestling nanotechnology within the circular oil palm milling residue management.

Nano-structured materials gain a vast market acceptance mainly due to their overarching endurance. Nanofibrillar cellulose (NFC) is one example of an augmenting agent unviable for production by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to the underlying process complexity. This study aims to characterise the NFC-alternative cells denoted as TRX-cellsⓇ, which is a mix of cellulose and non-cellulose components, ruling out its status as 'cellulose nanofibers, CNF'. The aim to test-fit the TRX-cells® production process into the circularity model was executed by deliberating on the usability of the byproduct. In doing so, fibrous oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) was treated with dioxydanyl radicals (DIOR) and homogenised. The rapid EFB-DIOR reaction at 70°C targeting dearomatisation reaction in a 10%-solid open system was performed before refining the DIOR-treated EFB to micro-scale fibres. Subjecting the micro-fibres to 17 kWh/mt PFI-milling yielded 85-95% of nano-scale fibrous mass. Relative to the stiff micro-fibres, the nano-scale cells web exhibit 34-41% softness enhancement judged from the web tear resistance profile associated with inter-fibre space reduction. Advanced chromatographic evidence for 27% xylan amongst TRX-cells®' total aldo-sugars was one form of the non-cellulose nano-component. High-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy hyphenated to Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-ray (HRTEM-EDX) elemental mapping showed a 0.4 atomic percentage of nano-biominerals, confirming the presence of the redistributed dearomatised cells adjacent to cellulose held in the web of the hemicellulose. Shearing at the dearomatised inter-cell wall layers by PFI mill peeled 5 nm-100 nm thickness laminae. The smorgasbord of cellulose and non-celluloses resulted in crystallinity comparable to softwood NFC of approximately 60%, with unique preservation and precision-printing enabling properties. Given the non-recyclability of the DIOR-treated EFB microfibres, nestling the rapid waste transformation process into the circularity model shed light on circular bio-nanotechnology to the spectrum of opportunity for zero-waste, reduced emission and net zero carbon practices on top of an added value from waste transformation to a product.

Celastrol alleviates high-fat diet-induced obesity via enhanced muscle glucose utilization and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism-mediated upregulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

Celastrol, a natural triterpene from the Tripterygium wilfordii has been demonstrated to possess attributive properties to attenuate various animal models of obesity-associated conditions. The present study aimed to elucidate the putative targets of celastrol on intracellular glucose utilization and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism in the isolated quadriceps skeletal muscle of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese male C57BL6/J mice. Here we showed that celastrol remarkably attenuated obesity and insulin resistance through improvement of systemic glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Enhanced mRNA transcription factors of key rate-limiting glycolytic and TCA cycle enzymes were observed following celastrol administration. The metabolic profiling revealed profound changes induced by celastrol administration on several key metabolites of glycolysis and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle including glucose-1-phosphate, pyruvate, citrate, α-ketoglutarate, succinate and fumarate. Celastrol effectively increased mitochondrial oxidative functions via increased pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) activity and downregulated pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4) expressions. Enhanced succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity was noticed following celastrol co-supplementation, leading to a steady establishment of the electrochemical gradient across mitochondrial membrane for ATP production and mitochondrial biogenesis. In conclusion, the current findings accentuate the therapeutic potential of celastrol against HFD-induced obese mice via enhanced glucose utilization and mitochondrial oxidative metabolism-mediated upregulation of PDC activity in the skeletal muscle.

Optimum Extraction Condition of Clitorea ternatea Flower on Antioxidant Activities, Total Phenolic, Total Flavonoid and Total Anthocyanin Contents.

Clitoria ternatea is a herbaceous plant with many health benefits. Extraction is crucial to obtain its bioactive components which contribute to its antioxidant properties. Therefore, this study was conducted to find an optimum extraction condition of C. ternatea flower on total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical-scavenging activity) as well as to determine its total flavonoid content (TFC) and anthocyanin content based on the optimum extraction condition generated by Response Surface Methodology (RSM)-Design Expert 7.1.5. TPC, TFC and total anthocyanin of C. ternatea were conducted by Folin Ciocalteu (FC), calorimetric assay and pH differential method, respectively. The ranges of selected independent variables were ethanol concentration (30°C-90% v/v), time (60-120 min) and temperature (30°C-70°C). The optimum extraction condition was obtained at 39.62% v/v ethanol concentration, 90 min and 44.24°C. However, these values were slightly adjusted according to the convenience of equipment to operate in which ethanol concentration was adjusted to 37% v/v, time remain at 90 min and temperature at 45°C. The predicted values of TPC and DPPH radical scavenging activity were 41.60 mg GAE/g dry samples and 68.12% inhibition and were experimentally verified to be 41.17 ± 0.5 mg GAE/g dry samples and 63.53 ± 0.95% inhibition of TPC and DPPH radical scavenging activity respectively. This result has showed RSM can optimise TPC and radical scavenging activity of C. ternatea. Upon the optimum condition, the TFC determined was 187.05 ± 3.18 mg quercetin/g dried sample which was higher than TPC and the total anthocyanin content was 28.60 ± 0.04 mg/L. Hence, the extractable phenolic, flavonoid and anthocyanin compounds indicated that C. ternatea is a good source of natural antioxidant.