Chemical characterization and discovery of novel quality markers in Citrus aurantium L. fruit from traditional cultivation areas in China using GC-MS-based cuticular waxes analysis.

Citrus aurantium L. fruit is a commonly used Chinese medicine whose therapeutic effects tends to be affected by growing conditions. In order to gain insights into the effects of growing location on the cuticular wax composition of C. aurantium L. fruit, we analyzed the differences in the wax composition of its fruits collected from different regions. The findings showed that the cuticular waxes in the fruit peels were mainly composed of fatty acids, which differed quantitatively in the chemical profiles of C. aurantium L. samples from different geographical conditions. Particularly, the concentrations of linoleic acid and stearic acid in the total component content of the fruit peel were above 1%, with a greater level in the geo-authentic samples. Thus, GC-MS-based wax analysis was first used for the chemical characterization and quantification of cuticular waxes, which could be considered as a rapid way for evaluating the quality of medicinal fruits.

Identifying markers volatiles in Brazilian virgin oil by multiple headspace solid-phase microextraction, and chemometrics tools.

A protocol was optimized to determine the volatile profile from monovarietal virgin olive oil (VOO) by multiple headspace solid-phase microextraction (MHS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. For this, a Plackett-Burman (PB) and central composite rotational designs (CCRD) were used to define the best condition of extraction. Moreover, fatty acids profile and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify markers among the cultivars. The amount of 0.1 g of sample was enough to express the volatile composition of the olive oils by MHS-SPME. Volatile compounds [nonanal, (Z)-3-Hexen-1-ol, (Z)-3-Hexenyl Acetate, Hexyl Acetate, 3-Methylbutyl Acetate, (E)-2-Hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-Hexenyl Acetate] and fatty acids [C17:1, C18, C18:1, C18:2] were those reported such as the markers in the varieties of olive oils. The PCA analysis allowed the classification of the most representative volatiles and fatty acids for each cultivar. Through two principal components was possible to obtain 81.9% of explanation of the variance of the compounds. The compounds were quantified using a validated method. The MHS-SPME combined with multivariate analysis showed a promising tool to identify markers and for the discrimination of olive oil varieties.

Ethnopharmacology of Rubus idaeus Linnaeus: A critical review on ethnobotany, processing methods, phytochemicals, pharmacology and quality control.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Rubus idaeus Linnaeus (RI) is a Chinese herbal medicine that has been widely used in China for a long time to reinforce the kidney, nourish the liver, improve vision, and arrest polyuria. AIM OF THE STUDY: This work aims to evaluate the recent progress of the chemical composition, pharmacological activity, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and quality control and of Rubus idaeus, which focuses on the insufficiency of existing research and will shed light on future studies of Rubus idaeus. METHODS: Literatures about "Rubus idaeus","Red raspberry" and "Fupenzi"are retrieved by browsing the database, such as Web of Science (http://www.webofknowledge.com/wos), Pubmed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), CNKI (http://www.cnki.net/), and Wanfang Data (http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn). In addition, related textbooks and digital documents are interrogated to provide a holistic and critical review of the topic. The period of the literature covered from 1981 to 2022. RESULTS: Approximately 194 compounds have been isolated from Rubus idaeus, which is rich in phenols, terpenoids, alkaloids, steroids, and fatty acids. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that Rubus idaeus exhibits many pharmacological activities, including hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic, anti-Alzheimer effect, anti-osteoporosis, hepatoprotective, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, anti-bacteria and skin care, etc. However, it is worth noting that most of the research is not associated with the conventional effect, such as reducing urination and treating opacity of the cornea. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of Rubus idaeus has been proved by its long-term clinical application. The research on the pharmacological activity of Rubus idaeus has flourished. In many pharmacological experiments, only the high-dose group can achieve the corresponding efficacy, so the efficacy of Rubus idaeus needs to be further interrogated. Meanwhile, the relationship between pharmacological activity and specific compounds of Rubus idaeus has not been clarified yet. Last but not least, studies involving toxicology and pharmacokinetics are very limited. Knowledge of bioavailability and toxicological behavior of Rubus idaeus can help understand the herb's pharmacodynamic and safety profile.

Encapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus in solid lipid microparticles via cryomilling.

We herein delved into the microencapsulation of Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA) into solid lipid microparticles (SLMs) via the cryomilling technique. For this aim, a frozen lipid mixture containing LA was pulverized at different times (7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 min) using a cryogenic mixer mill to produce probiotic-loaded SLMs. The impacts of different cryomilling durations on the SLMs properties (morphology, particle size, water activity, polymorphism, crystallinity, and thermal behavior) and the viability of LA were evaluated. Microencapsulation improved the viability of LA in simulated gastrointestinal fluids, heat stress, and different concentrations of salt and sucrose. SLMs also were suitable to be incorporated into foods. However, once the cryomilling time was prolonged, the viability of encapsulated LA declined, and particle size grew. The cryomilling technique showed great potential as an alternative approach for encapsulation due to the lack of solvent, short processing time, and simplicity.

Increasing the pH value during thermal processing suppresses the starch digestion of the resulting starch-protein-lipid complexes.

To date, how the pH conditions of thermal processing tailor the structure and digestibility of resulting starch-based complexes remains largely unclear. Here, indica rice starch (IRS), stearic acid (SA), and a whey protein isolate (WPI) were used as materials. Increasing the pH value from 4 to 8 during thermal processing (pasting) mainly suppressed the starch digestion of starch-WPI-SA complexes rather than starch-SA counterparts. The starch-SA complexes showed moderate structural changes as the pH value rose, and there was less rapidly digestible starch (RDS) only at pH 8. For the starch-WPI-SA complexes, an increased pH value allowed larger nonperiodic structures and more V-type starch crystallites, with almost unchanged short-range orders but apparently collapsed networks at pH 8. Such ternary complexes displayed more resistant starch (RS) as the pH value rose. The ternary sample at pH 8 contained ca. 29.87% of the RS fractions.

Starch-fatty acid complexes improve the gel properties and enhance the fatty acid content of Nemipterus virgatus surimi under high-temperature treatment.

The effect of high amylose corn starch (HAS)-fatty acid complexes on the gel properties, protein secondary structure, microstructure, fatty acid content, and sensory properties of surimi under high-temperature treatment were investigated. The formation of HAS-fatty acid complexes increased melting temperature and decreased average particle size of HAS. The addition of HAS-fatty acid complexes significantly improved the breaking force, deformation and whiteness of surimi gels. The water in surimi gels containing HAS or HAS-fatty acid complexes became increasingly immobilized. HAS or HAS-fatty acid complexes promoted protein conformational transition from α-helix structure to other three secondary structure. Surimi gels added with HAS-fatty acid complexes had more compact network structure and higher fatty acid content. Moreover, the better sensory properties were obtained in surimi gels containing HAS-fatty acid complexes. Therefore, starch-fatty acid complexes not only could improve the gel properties of surimi, but also enhance its fatty acid content.

The effects of the phytochemistry of cocoa on the food chemistry of chocolate(s) and how disease resistance in cocoa can be improved using CRISPR/Cas9 technology.

Consumers' rating of "chocolate brands" are majorly based on texture and taste rather than packaging. The texture/taste of a chocolate bar is largely influenced by the cocoa variety used for its production, whereas, its bioactive constituent is directly affected by the seed processing/chocolate manufacturing technique(s) adopted, and the additives used. Cacao is the key ingredient for chocolate production; therefore, the choicest varieties must be used to protect consumers' interest. Currently, the availability of the African variety is the only reason why it is globally sought-after for chocolate production rather than its taste. Therefore, a transfer of genetic materials from quality cocoa breeds into the high-yielding and resilient African variety or vice versa, would inferably increase the availability of quality cocoa beans all-year-round, and also increase the chances of obtaining sumptuous and palatable chocolates anywhere in the world.

Discrimination of genotypes coffee by chemical composition of the beans: Potential markers in natural coffees.

The chemical composition of coffee beans varies according to the cultivar used, but there is little information about the differences among them resulting in different sensory profiles. The purpose was to find potential chemical markers to discriminate genealogical groups of coffee using regression analysis by partial least squares. Twenty-two accessions of C. arabica were used with two repetitions each. There were chromatographic and physical-chemical analyses to determine the composition of raw beans and chemometric analysis as the PCA and the PLS-DA. The analysis of PCA did not showed detailed information about the differences between the groups. The model PLS-DA identified the most important variables in the discrimination of the genealogical groups. Arachidic acid and stearic acid the markers for the Bourbon group; the myristic and linoleic acids and sucrose for the Exotic group; and lauric, palmitoleic and oleic acids, and the protein content to the Timor Hybrid group.

Potential Pickering emulsion stabilized with chitosan-stearic acid nanogels incorporating clove essential oil to produce fish-oil-enriched mayonnaise.

The aim of this study was to introduce Pickering emulsions stabilized by chitosan (CS)-stearic acid (SA) nanogels incoporating clove essential oil (CEO) as a new way to enrich mayonnaise with fish oil. Firstly, fish oil-in-water Pickering emulsion was prepared, which the most stability of emulsion was achived at 2 % (w/w) CS-SA nanogels and 60 % (w/w) fish oil. Then, the fish oil-in-water Pickering emulsions stabilized with 2 % CS-SA nanogels as well as 2 % CS-SA nanogels incorporating CEO were used in formulation of mayonnaise. The results showed that the use of fish oil in the form of emulsion stabilized with CS-SA nanogels increased the oxidative stability of mayonnaise. Moreover, rheological studies indicated that the use of CS-SA nanogels could increase the elasticity of mayonnaise, which higher elasticity was observed about mayonnaise containing CS-SA nanogels incorporating CEO. Overall, CS-SA nanogels incorporating CEO can be used for increasing gel-like structure of the fish-oil-enriched mayonnaise.

Functionalized starch as a novel eco-friendly vulcanization accelerator enhancing mechanical properties of natural rubber.

A novel eco-friendly vulcanization accelerator, starch supported sodium isobutyl xanthate (SSX) has been synthesized firstly. The modification of starch using sodium isobutyl xanthate (SIBX) has improved the thermal stability significantly, and the vulcanization process of natural rubber (NR) could be accelerated by SSX at 145 ℃ accordingly. More importantly, SSX can be dispersed into NR matrix uniformly along with the strong interfacial interaction between SSX and NR, as evidenced by the constrained rubber chains around SSX surface. In addition, mechanical properties of the obtained NR have been enhanced remarkably, showing a 22.4 % increase in tensile strength when compared with traditional vulcanization accelerator. Laying on the fact that a novel vulcanization accelerator has been fabricated successfully using SIBX functionalized starch, new strategies for the preparation of green vulcanization accelerators and the functional application of biopolymers can be provided.

Effect of clones, year of harvest and geographical origin of fruits on quality and chemical composition of Argan oil.

Argan oil is precious oil with food and cosmetic uses. In recent years, this oil has been subject to an increasing national and international demand. The present work aims at studying the effect of clones and age, year of harvest and geographical origin on Argan oil quality and chemical composition. The results indicate that age does not affect Argan oil quality and fatty acids content. However, clones had a significant effect on fatty acids and tocopherol levels. Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were highly influenced by the year of harvest and geographical origin, presumably due to climatic conditions. Unsaturated fatty acids varied from 78.28% to 81.77%. Depending on clones, total tocopherols varied from 687.40 mg/kg to 1068 mg/kg. This study is useful for the choice of clones with the aim of developing Argan trees orchards destined to oil production.

A worldwide reliable indicator to differentiate wild vs. farmed Penaeid shrimps based on 207 fatty acid profiles.

Shrimps and prawns are especially subject to food fraud, which has consequences not only on the economy but also represents a potential risk for public health. Fatty acids (FA) of Penaeid shrimps have been largely explored in the literature, and although they are unable to discriminate shrimps geographical origin or species, they might provide an interesting tool to distinguish their production method (wild vs. farmed). The present study is based on a literature compilation of Penaeid shrimp FA profiles encompassing all continents and 28 species. It reveals that the ratio of FA 18:2ω6 + FA 18:3ω3 / FA 16:1ω7 can differentiate wild vs. farmed Penaeid shrimps with 100% accuracy within the 207 FA profiles of the dataset considered. Assuming a normal distribution of the dataset, 94.4% of the farmed shrimps population is expected to exhibit a ratio above 2.92, and 99.7% of the wild shrimps population is expected to fall below 2.92.

Effects of stearic acid and irradiation alone and in combination on properties of amylose-lipid nanomaterial from high amylose maize starch.

This study determines the effects of stearic acid and gamma irradiation, alone and in combination, on properties of amylose-lipid nanomaterials from pasted high amylose maize starch (HAMS) with and without alpha amylase hydrolysis. HAMS was incorporated with stearic acid (0, 1.5% and 5%, w/w), irradiated at 0, 30 and 60 kGy and pasted under pressure in a rheometer. Isolated materials after thermostable alpha amylase or hot water washing were freeze-dried and characterised using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The isolated materials contain amylose-lipid complexes (ALCs) as determined by DSC and XRD. Pasting of gamma irradiated HAMS produced type I ALCs, whereas that for un-irradiated HAMS produced type II ALCs. The ALCs occurred at nanoscale with sizes ranging from 10 to 110 nm as observed with AFM and TEM. Tailor-made ALCs nanomaterials can be produced from HAMS (with and without added stearic acid).

Formulation of Pickering sunflower oil-in-water emulsion stabilized by chitosan-stearic acid nanogel and studying its oxidative stability.

The aim of this study was to obtain a stable sunflower oil-in-water (O/W) Pickering emulsion stabilized by chitosan (CS)-stearic acid (SA) nanogels and to compare the oxidative stability of the sunflower Pickering emulsion stabilized by CS-SA nanogels with sunflower oil emulsion stabilized by Tween 80. The results of the scanning electron microscopy revealed that by increasing the SA to CS ratio, the uniformity of particles was increased. Also, the results showed that the emulsions with pH of 8, SA to CS ratio of 0.5:1, and oil-to-nanogel ratio of 20:1 had the highest stability and minimum droplet size. In the following, the oxidative stability of the most favorable Pickering emulsion and the Tween 80-stabilized emulsion was evaluated and compared using the peroxide and thiobarbituric acid tests. The findings implied that the O/W emulsion stabilized by CS-SA nanogels had a higher oxidative stability than the O/W emulsion stabilized by Tween 80.

Optimization of lipase-catalyzed synthesis of ß-sitostanol esters by response surface methodology.

The esters of ß-sitostanol and fatty acids are known for their effect as cholesterol-lowering agents. In this work, the efficiency of three lipases as biocatalysts of the esterification of ß-sitostanol and C16 and C18 fatty acids was compared. The sterol esterase of Ophiostoma piceae (OPEr) yielded the highest esterification rates and was selected for further optimization of the reaction. The effects of four parameters (temperature, enzymatic dosage, acyl donor concentration, and reaction time) on ester synthesis were investigated and the process conditions were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The best conditions for esterification for each fatty acid were predicted using a second-order model, and experimentally validated. Very high esterification efficiencies (86-97%) were observed using the predicted values for the four variables. This approach was shown to be suitable for optimizing the enzymatic production of ß-sitostanol esters, which represents a green alternative to the chemical synthesis of these dietary complements.

Selected-ion flow-tube mass-spectrometry (SIFT-MS) fingerprinting versus chemical profiling for geographic traceability of Moroccan Argan oils.

This study investigated the effectiveness of SIFT-MS versus chemical profiling, both coupled to multivariate data analysis, to classify 95 Extra Virgin Argan Oils (EVAO), originating from five Moroccan Argan forest locations. The full scan option of SIFT-MS, is suitable to indicate the geographic origin of EVAO based on the fingerprints obtained using the three chemical ionization precursors (H3O+, NO+ and O2+). The chemical profiling (including acidity, peroxide value, spectrophotometric indices, fatty acids, tocopherols- and sterols composition) was also used for classification. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and support vector machines (SVM), were compared. The SIFT-MS data were therefore fed to variable-selection methods to find potential biomarkers for classification. The classification models based either on chemical profiling or SIFT-MS data were able to classify the samples with high accuracy. SIFT-MS was found to be advantageous for rapid geographic classification.

Model studies on the formation of volatile compounds generated by a thermal treatment of steryl esters with different fatty acid moieties.

The consumption of plant sterols is reported to have a beneficial effects on human health, i.e. phytosterols are known for their cholesterol-lowering properties. Whereas, they are prone to oxidation and currently there is ongoing worldwide research aimed at the biological effect of phytosterol oxides. In this study volatile compounds formed during thermal degradation of stigmasteryl esters were identified. The research was conducted using standards of stigmasterol, fatty acids and stigmasteryl esters as well as fat enriched with stigmasteryl esters which were thermally treated at 60°C and 180°C for 12h. Volatile compounds were characterised by SPME-GC-MS. Among the volatiles formed during heating of stigmasteryl esters aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and hydrocarbons were found. The mechanism of the formation of volatile compounds from sterol esters was related to oxidation of steryl and fatty acid moieties. In particular, 2-methyl-3-pentanone and 5-ethyl-6-methyl-3-hepten-2-one were identified as unique degradation products formed from degradation of the steryl moiety specifically, and a mechanism of their formation was suggested. Both volatiles could be a good indicator of thermo-oxidative degradation of functional food products enriched in phytosterols and their esters.

Current state of knowledge on the traditional uses, phytochemistry, and pharmacology of the genus Hymenaea.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Plants of the genus Hymenaea (Fabaceae) are used in South American and Asian traditional medicines to treat a multitude of disorders, like cough, diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal colic, pulmonary weakness, asthma, anemia, sore throat, and for the treatment of kidney problems, viral related disorders, chronic cystitis, bronchitis, and bladder infections. Some Hymenaea species are also used as vermifuge, and for the treatment of arthritis, and inflammation conditions. This review deals with updated information on the traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of ethnomedicinally important Hymenaea species in order to provide an input for the future research prospects. METHODS: Literature available in various recognized databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, SciFinder, Scopus, Springer, Wiley, ACS, Scielo and Web of Science, as well as from theses, dissertations, books, reports, and other relevant websites (www.theplantlist.org), are surveyed, analysed, and included in this review. Herein, the literature related to chemical constituents and pharmacological activities were searched in November 2016. RESULTS: The literature provided information on ethnopharmacological uses of the South American and African species of the genus Hymenaea (e.g., H. courbaril, H. stigonocarpa, H. onblogifolia, H. martiana, H. parvifolia (South America) and H. verrucosa (African species)) for the treatment of multi-factorial diseases. From these plant species, more than 130 compounds, including fatty acids, flavonoids, terpenoids and steroids, phthalides, phenolic acids, procyanidins and coumarins were identified. Experimental evidences confirmed that the Hymenaea spp. could be used in treating inflammatory disorders, asthma, diarrhea, and some microbial infections. However, reports on the toxicity of Hymenaea species remain scarce. CONCLUSION: Plants of this genus have offered bioactive samples, both from crude extracts and pure compounds, thus substantiating their effectiveness in traditional medicine. However, intensive investigations of all the species of Hymenaea spp. relating to phytochemical and pharmacological properties, especially their mechanism of action, safety and efficacy could be the future introspection.

Double-coated enrofloxacin microparticles with chitosan and alginate: Preparation, characterization and taste-masking effect study.

Enrofloxacin (ENRO) is widely used as an antimicrobial drug for treatment of uncomplicated and complicated infections in veterinary medicine. Its bitter taste limits its clinical applications in veterinary. To mask the bitter taste of this drug, double-coated taste-masking microparticles of ENRO (DTME) were prepared through stearic acid solid dispersion and chitosan-alginate microparticle coating technologies. The taste-masking effect was evaluated by pig feeding experiment. Results showed that DTME exhibited a spherical-like shape (170490µm). DTME yielded a drug loading rate of DTME 20.3% and an entrapment efficiency of 89.8%. The bitter detection threshold value of ENRO for pigs is 2µg/mL. The drug release amounts of DTME within 30s were less than 2µg/mL in artificial saliva. Compared with normal food intake, the food intake of pigs decreased 28.65% when fed with fodder containing free ENRO and slightly increased (0.18%) when fed with fodder containing DTME. Therefore, DTME masked the bitterness of ENRO and improved its palatability. In conclusion, DTME showed satisfactory bitter taste-masking property; this novel formulation was likely to provide more selectable dosage forms for ENRO.