Evaluating How Different Drying Techniques Change the Structure and Physicochemical and Flavor Properties of Gastrodia elata.

We evaluated the drying characteristics and structure, as well as the physicochemical and flavor properties, of G. elata treated by hot-air drying (HAD), vacuum drying (VD), freeze drying (FD), microwave drying (MD), and microwave vacuum drying (MVD). We found that MD and MVD showed the shortest drying times, while FD and MVD were able to better retain the active ingredients and color of the samples. However, the different drying methods did not change the internal structure of G. elata, and its main components did not fundamentally change. In addition, E-nose and HS-SPME-GC-MS effectively differentiated the volatile components, and 36 compounds were detected by HS-SPME-GC-MS. Of these samples, alcohols and aldehydes were the main substances identified. In particular, MVD samples possessed the most species of organic volatiles, but the FD method effectively eliminated pungent odors from the G. elata. Overall, MVD shows the most obvious advantages, improving drying rate while maintaining the original shape, color, and active components in G. elata. Ultimately, MVD is the preferred method to obtain high-quality dried G. elata, and our drying-method characterizations can be used to investigate similar structural and chemical changes to similar herbs in the future.

A new pre-gelatinized starch preparing by spray drying and electron beam irradiation of oat starch.

As a green and safe physical technology, irradiation is increasingly used to improve starch properties. In the study, oat starch was pre-gelatinized at 70 °C followed by spray drying. Subsequently, the spray-dried starch (SDS) was exposed to electron beam (e-beam) irradiation at different doses to obtain new pre-gelatinized starch. Spray drying caused a decrement in the ratio of long B3 chains and the molecular weight of starch. Spray-dried starch (SDS) slightly increased solubility and swelling power than native starch. When SDS was subjected to e-beam irradiation, its solubility and swelling power increased dramatically, but the pasting viscosities, gelatinization temperatures, apparent viscosity, storage modulus (G') and lost modulus (G″) reduced. The depolymerization of starch molecules and the breakage of amylopectin chains might be responsible for changing the physicochemical properties of e-beam irradiated starch. These results showed that spray drying combined with e-beam irradiation would potentially produce new pre-gelatinized starch.

Encapsulation of Capsaicin in Whey Protein and OSA-Modified Starch Using Spray-Drying: Physicochemical Properties and Its Stability.

The poor water-solubility and stability of capsaicin limits its widespread application in the industry. Spray-dried capsaicin microcapsules were fabricated using whey protein (WP) and octenyl-succinic-anhydride-modified starch (OS) as wall materials in this study. The aim is to investigate the impact of protein/starch ratio on microcapsules' physicochemical characteristics and stability. SEM images showed that microcapsule granules were uneven in size, and irregular, with some wrinkles and dents. FTIR illustrated a chemical interaction between capsaicin and composite wall materials. XRD showed that the spray-dried powders were mainly in amorphous form. As the whey protein content decreased, the yield (9.32-68.18%), encapsulation efficiency (49.91-94.57%), wettability (158.87-232.63 s), and solubility (74.99-96.57%) of samples decreased, but the mean particle size (3.22-26.03 µm), apparent viscosity, and shear stress tended to increase. Besides, DSC revealed that the glass transition temperatures (Tg) of samples were at around 85 °C. Capsaicin microcapsules with WP:OS at the ratio of 7:3 possessed the highest Tg, and the best storage stability. Based on our research, microencapsulation significantly improved the stability and the water-solubility of capsaicin. A small amount of OSA-starch mixed with whey protein as a promising carrier for capsaicin would greatly promote the application of capsaicin in the food industry.

Combining e-nose and e-tongue for improved recognition of instant starch noodles seasonings.

Seasonings play a key role in determining sensory attributes of instant starch noodles. Controlling and improving the quality of seasoning is becoming important. In this study, five different brands along with fifteen instant starch noodles seasonings (seasoning powder, seasoning mixture sauce and the mixture of powder and sauce) were characterized by electronic nose (e-nose) and electronic tongue (e-tongue). Feature-level fusion for the integration of the signals was introduced to integrate the e-nose and e-tongue signals, aiming at improving the performances of identification and prediction models. Principal component analysis (PCA) explained over 85.00% of the total variance in e-nose data and e-tongue data, discriminated all samples. Multilayer perceptron neural networks analysis (MLPN) modeling demonstrated that the identification rate of the combined data was basically 100%. PCA, cluster analysis (CA), and MLPN proved that the classification results acquired from the combined e-nose and e-tongue data were better than individual e-nose and e-tongue result. This work demonstrated that in combination e-nose and e-tongue provided more comprehensive information about the seasonings compared to each individual e-nose and e-tongue. E-nose and e-tongue technologies hold great potential in the production, quality control, and flavor detection of instant starch noodles seasonings.

Discrimination of five brands of instant vermicelli seasonings by HS-SPME/GC-MS and electronic nose.

The flavor profile of five brands of instant vermicelli seasonings were identified by headspace solid-phase micro-extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) and electronic nose (e-nose). GC-MS showed that the volatile compounds of instant vermicelli seasonings were significantly different. Alkenes, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones were the major volatile compounds in instant vermicelli seasonings. The seasonings could be classified based on differences in volatile compounds. The overall volatiles profiles were also analyzed by e-nose. E-nose determination and GC-MS statistical analysis had similar results. The volatile compounds showed good correlation with e-nose sensors according to partial least square regression models. Both methods had good potential application in evaluating flavor quality and differentiating among instant vermicelli seasonings.

Comparison of structures, physicochemical properties and in vitro bioactivity between ferulic acid-ß-cyclodextrin conjugate and the corresponding inclusion complex.

In this study, ferulic acid (FA) was covalently bound to one of the primary hydroxyls of ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) via an ester linkage to improve its stability and biological activity. Experiments using UV, FTIR, FS, NMR, MS and FE-SEM were performed to characterize the structure of the FA-ß-CD conjugate. Physicochemical properties such as solubility, crystallinity, thermal stability and photo-stability of the conjugate were also investigated, and the results revealed that the conjugate was in an amorphous form with improved thermal stability and photostability compared with the FA/ß-CD inclusion complex. Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity of the FA-ß-CD conjugate against HepG2 cell was enhanced with effective growth inhibition. Taken together, the present study indicates that the FA-ß-CD conjugate might be a novel and potential functional composition for application in food and medicine.

Case report: an unusual case of Brugada syndrome combined with a ventricular septal defect: A case report.

RATIONALE: Brugada syndrome (BrS) is a cardiac ion channel disease that is caused by an autosomal dominant genetic abnormality. A ventricular septal defect is a common congenital heart disease, in which genetic defects play a significant role. PATIENT CONCERNS: We report an extremely rare case of a 42-year-old male with congenital heart disease, who suffered recurrent syncope and gastrointestinal bleeding. His electrocardiogram showed an unusual right bundle branch block-like pattern and ST-segment elevation in leads V1-V3. DIAGNOSES: The patient was eventually diagnosed with Brugada Syndrome Combined with a Ventricular Septal Defect. INTERVENTIONS: The patient was treated with ICD implants. OUTCOMES: We extracted his blood and performed whole exome sequencing. Whole exome sequencing revealed mutations in genes, which encode ion channels and proteins important for embryonic heart development. However, a novel mutation in the SCN5A gene was also found. LESSONS: To our knowledge, this is the first genetically proven case of BrS combined with a ventricular septal defect.

Effects of removal of surface proteins on physicochemical and structural properties of A- and B-starch isolated from normal and waxy wheat.

The effects of protein removal on the physicochemical and structural properties of normal and waxy wheat and their A- and B-type granule fractions were investigated. No evident changes were observed in the morphological, birefringence pattern and X-ray diffraction pattern after treatment, but there was evidence showing that the relative crystallinity, swelling power and percentage syneresis of all samples were significant increased. Protein removal treatment increased the peak, setback, final viscosity, breakdown viscosity of normal and waxy native wheat starch, and their A- and B-type starch granule fractions, whereas it decreased the pasting temperature, peak time and trough viscosity. Meanwhile, the thermal transition temperatures (To, Tp, Tc) and gelatinization temperature range (ΔTr) of normal and waxy wheat and their isolated A- and B-type granules were increased, but the enthalpy decrease slightly. The different genetic factors and amylose content in normal and waxy wheat starch and their A- and B-type wheat starch granules fractions were related to the different physicochemical and structural characteristics of those starches.

Recrystallization characteristics of high hydrostatic pressure gelatinized normal and waxy corn starch.

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) can lead to starch gelatinization at room temperature, while the retrogradation mechanism of HHP gelatinized starch is not well known. HHP gelatinized normal and waxy corn starches were stored at room temperature for 192 h in order to investigate the retrogradation characteristics. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), polarised light microscopy and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis showed that the pressurization of normal and waxy corn starch suspensions with concentration of 30% (w/v) at 600 MPa for 15 min resulted in a complete gelatinization. In addition, the pressure-gelatinized normal and waxy corn starch gels were stored and subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, resistant starch content determination, swelling power and pasting behavior. The retrograded normal maize and waxy maize starch showed a substantial loss of A-type crystallinity. Both pressure-gelatinized normal and waxy corn starches showed an increase in resistant starch content and relative crystallinity degree with the increase of storage time. In addition, restricted starch swelling power and lower pasting viscosities were observed for these two retrograded starches. The amylose molecule within starch granules has been regarded as the main factor to affect the structural and physicochemical properties during the retrogradation process of HHP-gelatinized starch granules.

Physicochemical characteristics of high pressure gelatinized mung bean starch during recrystallization.

The changes in physicochemical and structural properties of Ultra high pressure (UHP) gelatinized mung bean starch were investigated during 0 to 196h retrogradation process by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). XRD analysis showed that the UHP-gelatinizated granules regenerated its original C-type crystallinity structures after retrogradation. The swelling power and solubility of native starch were increased with the increase in the assay temperatures from 50 to 90°C, while the changing trend of the retrogradated granules was more gradual over entire assay temperatures. In addition, retrogradated granules showed a progressive decrease in the light transmittance and an increase in the amount of resistant starch as the ageing time increased from 0 to 192h. DSC analysis suggested a slight increase in the transition temperatures (To, Tp and Tc) and the retrogradation enthalpy as the storage time increased. In contrast no endothermic transition peak could be observed using DSC after storage of heat-gelatinized mung bean starch gel.

Physicochemical properties of A- and B-starch granules isolated from hard red and soft red winter wheat.

Large A- and small B-starch granules separated from hard red and soft red winter wheat grains were investigated for their morphological, structural, and physicochemical properties. A-granules displayed a disk or lenticular shape, and B-granules showed a spherical or polygonal shape according to SEM. XRD analysis showed that both A- and B-granules had A-type crystallinity. A-granules contained a higher amount of amylose and a lower protein content and amylopectin/amylose ratio than B-granules. A-type granules exhibited a higher hydrolysis extent and swelling power and a lower iodine affinity than did B-granules. A-granules showed a higher peak, trough, breakdown and final viscosity, and gelatinization enthalpy than did B-granules, while B-granules exhibited a higher gelatinization temperature. The study demonstrated that the A- and B-granules separated from both hard red and soft red winter wheat grains exhibited a similar structure and very different physicochemical properties.

Effect of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization on accumulation characteristics and physicochemical properties of A- and B-wheat starch.

The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization at the rates of 0 and 230 kg hm(-2) combined with selected sulfur (S) fertilization rates of 0, 46, 56, 77, and 115 kg hm(-2) on A- and B-wheat starch granule accumulation, composition, and thermal and pasting properties were investigated. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that A- and B-starch granules accumulation during grain filling can be influenced significantly by N and S fertilization, and B-granules tend to be more sensitive to S fertilization than A-starch granules. The doses of nitrogen and sulfur fertilization on starch properties were not positively correlated; higher concentration of fertilizers failed to cause a higher effects. N230S46 and N230S56 treatment resulted in the higher peak viscosity, trough viscosity, breakdown viscosity, final and setback viscosity, and gelatinization temperature (To, Tp, Tc) according to differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and rapid visco analyzer (RVA), respectively.