Characteristics of Pickering emulsions stabilized by microgel particles of five different plant proteins and their application.

Pickering emulsions stabilized by protein particles are of great interest for use in real food systems. This study was to investigate the properties of microgel particles prepared from different plant proteins, i.e., soybean protein isolate (SPI), pea protein isolate (PPI), mung bean protein isolate (MPI), chia seed protein isolate (CSPI), and chickpea protein isolate (CPI). MPI protein particles had most desirable Pickering emulsion forming ability. The particles of SPI and PPI had similar particle size (316.23 nm and 294.80 nm) and surface hydrophobicity (2238.40 and 2001.13) and emulsion forming ability, while the CSPI and CPI particle stabilized emulsions had the least desirable properties. The MPI and PPI particle stabilized Pickering emulsions produced better quality ice cream than the one produced by SPI particle-stabilized emulsions. These findings provide insight into the properties of Pickering emulsions stabilized by different plant protein particles and help expand their application in emulsions and ice cream.

Freeze-thaw stability of Pickering emulsion stabilized by modified soy protein particles and its application in plant-based ice cream.

Pickering emulsions are of great interest to the food industry and their freeze-thaw stability important when used in frozen foods. Particles of soybean isolate (SPI) were heat treated and then crosslinked with transglutaminase (TG) enzyme to produce Pickering emulsions. The protein particles produced using unheated and uncrosslinked SPI (NSPI) was used as the benchmark. The mean particle size, absolute zeta potential, and surface hydrophobicity of protein particles produced using heat treatment and TG crosslinking (at 40 U/g) SPI (HSPI-TG-40) were the highest and substantially higher than those produced using NSPI. The thermal treatment of protein particles followed by crosslinking with TG enzyme improved the freeze-thaw stability of Pickering emulsions stabilized by them. The Pickering emulsions produced using HSPI-TG-40 had the lowest temperature for ice crystal formation and they had better freeze-thaw stability. The plant-based ice cream prepared by HSPI-TG-40 particle-stabilized Pickering emulsions had suitable texture and freeze-thaw stability compared to the ice cream produced using NSPI. The Pickering particles produced using heat treatment of SPI followed by crosslinking with TG (at 40 U/g) produced the most freeze-thaw stable Pickering emulsions. These Pickering particles and Pickering emulsions could be used in frozen foods such as ice cream.

Vegetable oils: Classification, quality analysis, nutritional value and lipidomics applications.

Lipids are widespread in nature and play a pivotal role as a source of energy and nutrition for the human body. Vegetable oils (VOs) constitute a significant category in the food industry, containing various lipid components that have garnered attention for being natural, environmentally friendly and health-promoting. The review presented the classification of raw materials (RMs) from oil crops and quality analysis techniques of VOs, with the aim of improving comprehension and facilitating in-depth research of VOs. Brief descriptions were provided for four categories of VOs, and quality analysis techniques for both RMs and VOs were generalized. Furthermore, this study discussed the applications of lipidomics technology in component analysis, processing and utilization, quality determination, as well as nutritional function assessment of VOs. Through reviewing RMs and quality analysis techniques of VOs, this study aims to encourage further refinement and development in the processing and utilization of VOs, offering valuable references for theoretical and applied research in food chemistry and food science.

Advances of blend films based on natural food soft matter: Multi-scale structural analysis.

The blend films made of food soft matter are of growing interest to the food packaging industries as a pro-environment packaging option. The blend films have become a novel pattern to replace traditional plastics gradually due to their characteristics of biodegradability, sustainability, and environmental friendliness. This review discussed the whole process of the manufacturing of food soft matter blend films from the raw material to the application due to multi-scale structural analysis. There are 3 stages and 12 critical analysis points of the entire process. The raw material, molecular self-assembly, film-forming mechanism and performance test of blend films are investigated. In addition, 11 kinds of blend films with different functional properties by casting are also preliminarily described. The industrialization progress of blend films can be extended or facilitated by analysis of the 12 critical analysis points and classification of the food soft matter blend films which has a great potential in protecting environment by developing sustainable packaging solutions.

Effect of Physical Modifications on Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Walnut Protein.

Walnut protein is a high-quality vegetable protein with promising applications in the food industry; however, its potential is hindered by low solubility and associated properties. We utilized various physical modification techniques (cold plasma; ball milling; superfine grinding; ultrasound; wet ball milling; and high-pressure microjet) to enhance walnut proteins' physicochemical and functional properties. The changes in particle size, microstructure, surface hydrophobicity, fluorescence, solubility, foaming, and emulsification were investigated. Cold plasma and ultrasound treatments minimally affected particle size and morphology. Cold plasma increased the particle size D4,3 from 145.20 µm to 152.50 µm. Ultrasonication reduced the particle size D4,3 to 138.00 µm. The variation was within ±10 µm, while the particle size of walnut protein significantly decreased after the other four modification treatments. The greatest variation in particle size was in the superfine grinding, with the D4,3 being reduced to 23.80 µm. Ultrasound treatment converted the ß-sheet into an α-helix, while the other methods transformed the α-helix into a ß-sheet. The dispersion stability notably improved after wet ball milling and high-pressure microjet treatments, which was accompanied by a significant increase in solubility from 6.9% (control) to 13.6% (wet ball milling) and 31.7% (high-pressure microjet). The foaming and emulsification properties were also enhanced through these modifications (foaming improved from 47% to 55.33% and emulsification improved from 4.32 m2/g to 8.27 m2/g). High-pressure microjet treatment proved most effective at improving solubility in the functional properties of walnut protein. These findings are expected to help broaden the potential utilization of walnut protein in the food industry, including in beverages and emulsions.

Retraction Notice to: METTL3-mediated m6A modification of ZBTB4 mRNA is involved in the smoking-induced EMT in cancer of the lung.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2020.12.001.].

Mitogenomic analysis and phylogenetic relationships of Agrilinae: Insights into the evolutionary patterns of a diverse buprestid subfamily.

Agrilinae is the largest subfamily in Buprestidae, which includes the four tribes, namely Coraebini, Agrilini, Aphanisticini, and Tracheini. However, there is a need to verify the evolutionary relationships among the taxa in Buprestidae. Thus, to explore the phylogenetic position of Aphanisticini, the mitochondrial genomes of Endelus continentalis and Cantonius szechuanensis were sequenced using next-generation sequencing technology. Three other mitogenomes of agriline beetles, Agrilus discalis, Sambus kanssuensis, and Habroloma sp., were also sequenced for the phylogenetic analyses. The divergence time of Buprestidae was estimated based on the mitogenomes. The general features of the known mitogenomes of Agrilinae were compared, analyzed, and summarized. Out of these five species, S. kanssuensis had the shortest mitogenome length (15,411), while Habroloma sp. had the longest (16,273). The gene arrangement of the five new sequences was identical to that of the reported buprestid mitogenomes. The Ka/Ks ratios of Meliboeus (0.79) and Endelus (0.78) were significantly larger than those of the other agriline genera. The results of the phylogeny indicated that Aphanisticini was more closely related to Tracheini and that the genus Sambus separated from the base of the Agrilinae clade at about 130 Ma. Moreover, Aphanisticini and Tracheini diverged at around 26 Ma.

The non-redundant functions of PIWI family proteins in gametogenesis in golden hamsters.

The piRNA pathway is essential for female fertility in golden hamsters and likely humans, but not in mice. However, the role of individual PIWIs in mammalian reproduction remains poorly understood outside of mice. Here, we describe the expression profiles, subcellular localization, and knockout-associated reproductive defects for all four PIWIs in golden hamsters. In female golden hamsters, PIWIL1 and PIWIL3 are highly expressed throughout oogenesis and early embryogenesis, while knockout of PIWIL1 leads to sterility, and PIWIL3 deficiency results in subfertility with lagging zygotic development. PIWIL1 can partially compensate for TE silencing in PIWIL3 knockout females, but not vice versa. PIWIL1 and PIWIL4 are the predominant PIWIs expressed in adult and postnatal testes, respectively, while PIWIL2 is present at both stages. Loss of any PIWI expressed in testes leads to sterility and severe but distinct spermatogenesis disorders. These findings illustrate the non-redundant regulatory functions of PIWI-piRNAs in gametogenesis and early embryogenesis in golden hamsters, facilitating study of their role in human fertility.

Two new species of the pseudoscorpion genus Stenohya (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae) from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.

Two new pseudoscorpion species, Stenohya dongtianensis sp. nov. and S. jiahensis sp. nov., from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, are described and illustrated. An identification key is provided for all known representatives of the genus Stenohya from China.

The preparation of Diacylglycerol-rich soybean oil by acetylated modification of arachin nanoparticles for W/O Pickering emulsion system.

Pickering emulsion catalytic system (PEC) stabilized by nanoparticles is an efficient catalytic platform. Herein, a high-performance PEC was constructed by acetylated modification of arachin nanoparticles (AAPs). The results showed the pI of arachin was decreased from pH 5.5 to pH 3.5. The surface hydrophobicity index was significantly increased (from 56.28 ± 4.23 to 120.77 ± 0.79) after acetylated modification. The three-phase contact angle of AAPs was 91.20 ± 0.98°. AAPs were used as lipase immobilization carriers to increase the activity of free lipase fabricating lipase-AAPs. The immobilization efficiency and activity of lipase-AAPs were 12.95 ± 0.03% and 1.74 ± 0.07 U/mg, respectively. Enzymatic reaction kinetics showed that Vm of lipase-AAPs was twice of free lipase. Km was 1/5 of free lipase. The catalytic efficiency of PEC to prepare DAG was 2.36 times of biphasic catalytic system (BCS). This work provided a promising way to promote the efficiency of DAG preparation.

The complete mitochondrial genomes of four lagriine species (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) and phylogenetic relationships within Tenebrionidae.

It is common to use whole mitochondrial genomes to analyze phylogenetic relationships among insects. In this study, seven mitogenomes of Tenebrionidae are newly sequenced and annotated. Among them, four species (Cerogira janthinipennis (Fairmaire, 1886), Luprops yunnanus (Fairmaire, 1887), Anaedus unidentasus Wang & Ren, 2007, and Spinolyprops cribricollis Schawaller, 2012) represent the subfamily Lagriinae. In this subfamily, the mitogenomes of the tribes Goniaderini (A. unidentasus) and Lupropini (L. yunnanus and S. cribricollis) were first reported; they were found to be 15,328-16,437 bp in length and encode 37 typical mitochondrial genes (13 PCGs, 2 rRNAs, 22 tRNAs, and a single noncoding control region). Most protein-coding genes in these mitogenomes have typical ATN start codons and TAR or an incomplete stop codon T-. In these four lagriine species, F, L2, I, and N are the most frequently used amino acids. In the 13 PCGs, the gene atp8 (Pi = 0.978) was the most diverse nucleotide, while cox1 was the most conserved gene with the lowest value (Pi = 0.211). The phylogenetic results suggest that Pimelinae, Lagriinae, Blaptinae, Stenochiinae, and Alleculinae are monophyletic, Diaperinae is paraphyletic, and Tenebrioninae appears polyphyletic. In Lagriinae, the tribe Lupropini appears paraphyletic because Spinolyprops is clustered with Anaedus in Goniaderini. These mitogenomic data provide important molecular data for the phylogeny of Tenebrionidae.

Advances in preparation and application of food-grade emulsion gels.

Emulsion gel is a semi-solid or solid material with a three-dimensional net structure produced from emulsion through physical, enzymatic, chemical methods or their combination. Emulsion gels are widely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries as carriers of bioactive substances and fat substitutes due to their unique properties. The modification of raw materials, and the application of different processing methods and associated process parameters profoundly affect the ease or difficult of gel formation, microstructure, hardness of the resulting emulsion gels. This paper reviews the important research undertaken in the last decade focusing on classification of emulsion gels, their preparation methods, the influence of processing method and associated process parameters on structure-function of emulsion gels. It also highlights current status of emulsion gels in food, pharmaceutical and medical industries and provides future outlook on research directions requiring to provide theoretical support for innovative applications of emulsion gels, particularly in food industry.

Correlation between interfacial layer properties and physical stability of food emulsions: current trends, challenges, strategies, and further perspectives.

Emulsions are thermodynamically unstable systems that tend to separate into two immiscible phases over time. The interfacial layer formed by the emulsifiers adsorbed at the oil-water interface plays an important role in the emulsion stability. The interfacial layer properties of emulsion droplets have been considered the cutting-in points that influence emulsion stability, a traditional motif of physical chemistry and colloid chemistry of particular significance in relation to the food science and technology sector. Although many attempts have shown that high interfacial viscoelasticity may contribute to long-term emulsion stability, a universal relationship for all cases between the interfacial layer features at the microscopic scale and the bulk physical stability of the emulsion at the macroscopic scale remains to be established. Not only that, but integrating the cognition from different scales of emulsions and establishing a unified single model to fill the gap in awareness between scales also remain challenging. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview of recent progress in the general science of emulsion stability with a peculiar focus on interfacial layer characteristics in relation to the formation and stabilization of food emulsions, where the natural origin and edible safety of emulsifiers and stabilizers are highly requested. This review begins with a general overview of the construction and destruction of interfacial layers in emulsions to highlight the most important physicochemical characteristics of interfacial layers (formation kinetics, surface load, interactions among adsorbed emulsifiers, thickness and structure, and shear and dilatational rheology), and their roles in controlling emulsion stability. Subsequently, the structural effects of a series of typically dietary emulsifiers (small-molecule surfactants,proteins, polysaccharides, protein-polysaccharide complexes, and particles) on oil-water interfaces in food emulsions are emphasized. Finally, the main protocols developed for modifying the structural characteristics of adsorbed emulsifiers at multiple scales and improving the stability of emulsions are highlighted. Overall, this paper aims to comprehensively study the literature findings in the past decade and find out the commonality of multi-scale structures of emulsifiers, so as to deeply understand the common characteristics and emulsification stability behaviour of adsorption emulsifiers with different interfacial layer structures. It is difficult to say that there has been significant progress in the underlying principles and technologies in the general science of emulsion stability over the last decade or two. However, the correlation between interfacial layer properties and physical stability of food emulsions promotes revealing the role of interfacial rheological properties in emulsion stability, providing guidance on controlling the bulk properties by tuning the interfacial layer functionality.

Using MaxEnt Model to Predict the Potential Distribution of Three Potentially Invasive Scarab Beetles in China.

A hot topic in recent years is the prediction of the potential distribution of possible invasive insects. China is facing a great challenge due to invasive insects. Scarab beetles are a highly diverse group, and many of them are well-known invasive insects. Here, in order to prevent the invasion of scarab beetles in China, we screened the invasive insects globally and obtained a preliminary database of quarantine or invasive scarab beetles. From the obtained database, we selected the top five species (Popillia japonica, Heteronychus arator, Oryctes monoceros, Oryctes boas and Amphimallon majale) to discuss and analyzed the potential distribution of three species that have not invaded China by using the MaxEnt model. The prediction results show that every continent has potential distribution areas for these species. Specifically within China, Popillia japonica and Amphimallon majale were mainly concentrated in east central regions and Heteronychus arator and Oryctes boas were mainly distributed in the southwest areas, while Oryctes monoceros has no suitable area. Notably, Yunnan, Hunan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang province had a high risk of invasion. In general, local agriculture, forestry and customs departments in China should pay more attention to monitoring for the prevention of infestation by invasive insects.

First mitochondrial genome of subfamily Julodinae (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) with its phylogenetic implications.

Complete mitochondrial genomes of three species of the family Buprestidae were sequenced, annotated, and analyzed in this study. To explore the mitogenome features of the subfamily Julodinae and verify its phylogenetic position, the complete mitogenome of Julodisvariolaris was sequenced and annotated. The complete mitogenomes of Ptosimachinensis and Chalcophorajaponica were also provided for the phylogenetic analyses within Buprestidae. Compared to the known mitogenomes of Buprestidae species varied from 15,499 bp to 16,771 bp in length, three newly sequenced mitogenomes were medium length (15,759-16,227 bp). These mitogenomes were encoded 37 typical mitochondrial genes. Among the three studied mitogenomes, Leu2 (L2), Ser2 (S2), and Pro (P) were the three most frequently encoded amino acids. Within the Buprestidae, the heterogeneity in sequence divergences of Agrilinae was highest, whereas the sequence homogeneity of Chrysochroinae was highest. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses were performed based on nucleotide matrix (13 PCGs + 2 rRNAs) among the available sequenced species of Buprestidae using Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood methods. The results showed that the Julodinae was closely related to the subfamily Polycestinae. Meanwhile, the genera Melanophila, Dicerca, and Coomaniella were included in Buprestinae, which was inconsistent with the current classification system of Buprestidae. These results could contribute to further studies on genetic diversity and phylogeny of Buprestidae.

A Systematical Rheological Study of Maize Kernel.

In this study, the rheological behavior of maize kernel was systematically investigated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer. The loss in toughness caused by drying resulted in a downward shift in the relaxation curve and an upward shift in the creep curve. The long relaxation behavior became obvious when the temperature was above 45 °C, resulting from the weakening of hydrogen bonds with temperature. The maize kernel relaxed more rapidly at high temperatures, caused by a reduction in the cell wall viscosity and polysaccharide tangles. The Deborah numbers were all much smaller than one, suggesting that the Maxwell elements showed viscous behavior. Maize kernel, as a viscoelastic material, showed a dominant viscous property at high temperatures. The decline in ß with increasing drying temperature indicated an increase in the width of the relaxation spectrum. A Hookean spring elastic portion made up the majority of the maize kernel creep strain. The order-disorder transformation zone of maize kernel was about 50-60 °C. Due to the complexity of maize kernel, the William-Landel-Ferry constants differed from the universal values; these constants should be ascertained through experiments. Time-temperature superposition was successfully used to describe the rheological behavior. The results show that maize kernel is a thermorheologically simple material. The data acquired in this study can be used for maize processing and storage.

Effect of Encapsulation Material on Lipid Bioaccessibility and Oxidation during In Vitro Digestion of Black Seed Oil.

Different encapsulation materials might not only affect lipid hydrolysis but also lipid oxidation during in vitro digestion. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of two commonly used shell materials, starch and gelatin, on the extent of lipolysis and bioaccessibility of the main and some minor lipid compounds, as well as on the oxidative status in encapsulated black seed oil (Nigella sativa) during in vitro digestion. The study was carried out using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography-UV. It was shown that starch increased the level of lipid hydrolysis in black seed oil during gastric in vitro digestion, while no differences were observed in the intestinal digestates between starch-encapsulated oil and gelatin-encapsulated oil. Similarly, the bioaccessibility of minor compounds (tocopherols, sterols and thymoquinone) was not influenced by the shell materials. However, regarding lipid oxidation, a 20- and 10-fold rise of free oxylipins was obtained in oils encapsulated by starch and gelatin, respectively, after intestinal in vitro digestion. This study evidenced that gelatin rather than starch should be used for the encapsulation of oils to minimize the digestion-induced formation of bioactive oxylipins.

Janus particles: A review of their applications in food and medicine.

In contrast to conventional particles that have isotropic surfaces, Janus ("two-faced") particles have anisotropic surfaces, which leads to novel physicochemical properties and functional attributes. Janus particles with differing compositions, structures, and functional attributes have been prepared using a variety of fabrication methods. Depending on their composition, Janus particles have been classified as inorganic, polymeric, or polymeric/inorganic types. Recently, there has been growing interest in preparing Janus particles from biological macromolecules to meet the demand for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly food and pharmaceutical supply. At interfaces, Janus particles exhibit the characteristics of both surfactants and Pickering stabilizers, and so their behavior can be described using adsorption theories developed to describe these surface-active substances. Research has highlighted several potential applications of Janus particles in food and medicine, including emulsion formation and stabilization, toxin detection, antimicrobial activity, drug delivery, and medical imaging. Nevertheless, further research is needed to design and fabricate Janus particles that are suitable as functional ingredients in the food and biomedicine industries.

The larval, pupal and mitogenomic characteristics of Agrilusadelphinus Kerremans, 1895 (Coleoptera, Buprestidae) from China.

In this study, the larva and pupa of Agrilusadelphinus are described and illustrated. DNA barcoding (COI gene) was used to associate the larval and pupal stages with adults based on the maximum-likelihood method. In the resulting phylogenetic tree, species from the same species-group were found to be clustered on a branch with high support value. To better understand A.adelphinus, the complete mitochondrial genome of this species was also sequenced and annotated. Comparing this genome to the known mitogenomes of Agrilus species, the newly sequenced genome is shorter, with 15,732 bp. However, its whole mitogenome composition and gene orientation were consistent with that of most species of Buprestidae. In the mitogenome of A.adelphinus, the ATGATAG sequence was observed between ATP8 and ATP6, which is ATGATAA in other insect mitogenomes. Leu2, Phe, Ile, Gly, and Ser2 were the five most frequently encoded amino acids. The results further prove that DNA barcoding can remove the limitation of traditional taxonomy which cannot identify to species all developmental stages. This study also provides valuable molecular and morphological data for species identification and phylogenetic analyses of the genus Agrilus.