Effect of crumb cellular structure characterized by image analysis on cake softness.

Sponge cake is a cereal product characterized by an aerated crumb and appreciated for its softness. When formulating such product, it is interesting to be able to characterize the crumb structure using image analysis and to bring knowledge about the effects of the crumb cellular structure on its mechanical properties which contribute to softness. An image analysis method based on mathematical morphology was adapted from the one developed for bread crumb. In order to evaluate its ability to discriminate cellular structures, series of cakes were prepared using two rather similar emulsifiers but also using flours with different aging times before use. The mechanical properties of the crumbs of these different cakes were also characterized. It allowed a cell structure classification taking into account cell size and homogeneity, but also cell wall thickness and the number of holes in the walls. Interestingly, the cellular structure differences had a larger impact on the aerated crumb Young modulus than the wall firmness. Increasing the aging time of flour before use leads to the production of firmer crumbs due to coarser and inhomogeneous cellular structures. Changing the composition of the emulsifier may change the cellular structure and, depending on the type of the structural changes, have an impact on the firmness of the crumb. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Cellular structure rather than cell wall firmness was found to impact cake crumb firmness. The new fast and automated tool for cake crumb structure analysis allows detecting quickly any change in cell size or homogeneity but also cell wall thickness and number of holes in the walls (openness degree). To obtain a softer crumb, it seems that options are to decrease the cell size and the cell wall thickness and/or to increase the openness degree. It is then possible to easily evaluate the effects of ingredients (flour composition, emulsifier …) or change in the process on the crumb structure and thus its softness. Moreover, this image analysis is a very efficient tool for quality control.

Radiolytic method as a novel approach for the synthesis of nanostructured conducting polypyrrole.

In this study, a novel and extremely facile method for the synthesis of conducting polypyrrole (PPy) was achieved in aqueous solution. This radiolytic method is totally free of template and environmentally friendly compared with traditional chemical methods. According to ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis, pyrrole (Py) monomers were polymerized into PPy thanks to their oxidation by HO(•) radicals produced by the radiolysis of water when exposed to γ irradiation. The morphology of PPy was characterized by cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) in aqueous solution and by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after deposition. In an original way, high-resolution atomic force microscopy, coupled with infrared nanospectroscopy, was used to probe the local chemical composition of PPy nanostructures. The results demonstrated that spherical and chaplet-like PPy nanostructures were formed by γ-radiolysis. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and electronic conductivity measurements showed that radiosynthesized PPy had good thermal stability and an electrical conductivity higher than that of chemically synthesized PPy.

Separation and quantification by high-performance liquid chromatography with light scattering detection of the main wheat flour phospholipids during dough mixing in the presence of phospholipase.

Phospholipids (PL) are minor components of wheat flour involved in baking quality and exogenous phospholipids are used as emulsifiers giving better loaf volume and crumb grain. Few biochemical data are available on the phospholipid evolution during mixing, probably because of the time-consuming methods proposed for their extraction, separation and quantification. In the present study, the extraction, separation and quantification of the main wheat flour phospholipids were carried out. Total lipids (2% dry mass of wheat flour) were extracted from flour or dough by a mixture of chloroform-methanol-water (1:1:1 (v/v)). The phospholipids were separated from the lipid extract on silica cartridge by solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure under a 1.5-4 mmHg vacuum, at a 0.8 mL min(-1) flow rate (1 mmHg = 133.322 Pa). The recovery of the lipid extract was 100%, whereas the SPE yield for the PLs was 50%. The resulting fraction was then submitted to HPLC with evaporative light scattering detection on a Diol stationary phase allowing the separation and quantification of each class of phospholipids, in less than 16 min. The developed method allowed to quantify the phospholipid amounts from eight wheat flours as well as their evolution during mixing in the presence of phospholipase.

The normal liver harbors the vitamin D nuclear receptor in nonparenchymal and biliary epithelial cells.

The liver is generally considered negative for the vitamin D nuclear receptor (VDR(n)), even though several studies have shown significant effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1,25(OH)(2)D(3)) on liver cell physiology. The low abundance of VDR(n) in the liver led us to propose that hepatocytes (the largest hepatic cell population) were most likely negative for the receptor, whereas the small hepatic sinusoidal and ductular cell populations that contain cell types known to express VDR(n) in other tissues should express the receptor. Using freshly isolated cells from normal livers as well as biliary and epithelial hepatic cell lines, our data show that the human, rat, and mouse hepatocytes express very low VDR(n) messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels. In contrast, sinusoidal endothelial, Kupffer, and stellate cells of normal rat livers as well as the mouse biliary cell line BDC and rat hepatic neonatal epithelial SD6 cells clearly expressed both VDR(n) mRNA and protein. In addition, specimens of human hepatocarcinoma as well as intrahepatic colon adenocarcinoma metastases were also found to express the VDR(n) gene transcript. Kupffer, stellate, and endothelial cells responded to 1,25(OH)(2)D(3) by a significant increase in the CYP24, indicating that the VDR(n) is fully functional in these cells. In conclusion, selective hepatic cell populations are targets for the vitamin D endocrine/paracrine/intracrine system.