Nucleation in food colloids.

Nucleation in food colloids has been studied in detail using ultrasound spectroscopy. Our data show that classical nucleation theory (CNT) remains a sound basis from which to understand nucleation in food colloids and analogous model systems using n-alkanes. Various interpretations and modifications of CNT are discussed with regard to their relevance to food colloids. Much of the evidence presented is based on the ultrasound velocity spectrometry measurements which has many advantages for the study of nucleating systems compared to light scattering and NMR due to its sensitivity at low solid contents and its ability to measure true solid contents in the nucleation and early crystal growth stages. Ultrasound attenuation spectroscopy also responds to critical fluctuations in the induction region. We show, however, that a periodic pressure fluctuation such as a quasi-continuous (as opposed to a pulse comprising only a few pressure cycles) ultrasound field can alter the nucleation process, even at very low acoustic intensity. Thus care must be taken when using ultrasound techniques that the measurements do not alter the studied processes. Quasi-continuous ultrasound fields may enhance or suppress nucleation and the criteria to determine such effects are derived. The conclusions of this paper are relevant to colloidal systems in foods, pharmaceuticals, agro-chemicals, cosmetics, and personal products.

Ultrasonic inactivation of Bacillus alpha-amylase. I. effect of gas content and emitting face of probe.

Sonoinactivation of alpha-amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefacience was studied at a constant frequency of 30 kHz. The effect of sonotrode emitting face and gas content of medium on the efficiency of enzyme inactivation were investigated at different time-temperature combinations and generation of OH free radicals was also monitored. The results showed that ultrasound effectively inactivated alpha-amylase with a minimum overall inactivation rate at 50 degrees C. The tip diameter of the sonotrode and the gas content of the medium both significantly affected the rate of enzyme inactivation. The increase of tip diameter increased the effect of ultrasound on the enzyme, while the removal of dissolved gas adversely influenced the cavitational events and reduced the rate of enzyme inactivation. Calculation of the kinetic and activation parameters revealed that ultrasound decreased the activation energy, E(a), activation enthalpy, DeltaH(#), and the activation Gibbs free energy, DeltaG(#), and strongly reduced the activation entropy, DeltaS(#), down to negative values. This huge reduction in activation entropy was attributed to the different mechanisms of inactivation induced by heat and ultrasound. It is proved in this study that ultrasonically generated OH free radicals and shear forces, which arise from pulsation- or collapse of bubbles, both can destabilize the enzyme, although their contribution to the overall inactivation varies depending on the temperature and the tip diameter of the sonotrode.

Determination of Asphaltene Critical Nanoaggregate Concentration Region Using Ultrasound Velocity Measurements.

Asphaltenes constitute the heaviest, most polar and aromatic fraction of petroleum crucial to the formation of highly-stable water-in-crude oil emulsions. The latter occur during crude oil production as well as spills and cause difficulties to efficient remediation practice. It is thought that in nanoaggregate form, asphaltenes create elastic layers around water droplets enhancing stability of the emulsion matrix. Ultrasonic characterisation is a high-resolution non-invasive tool in colloidal analysis shown to successfully identify asphaltene nanoaggregation in toluene. The high sensitivity of acoustic velocity to molecular rearrangements and ease in implementation renders it an attractive method to study asphaltene phase properties. Currently, aggregation is thought to correspond to an intersection of two concentration-ultrasonic velocity regressions. Our measurements indicate a variation in the proximity of nanoaggregation which is not accounted for by present models. We attribute this uncertainty to physico-chemical heterogeneity of the asphaltene fraction driven by variation in molecular size and propose a critical nanoaggregation region. We treated asphaltenes from North and South American crude oils with ruthenium ion catalysed oxidation to characterize their n-alkyl appendages attached to aromatic cores. Principal component analysis was performed to investigate the coupling between asphaltene structures and velocity measurements and their impact on aggregation.

Estimating organic chain length through sound velocity measurements.

The ability to measure the length of polymers while monitoring their production is evidently extremely valuable, but is also a useful tool for chemical identification purposes at other times, e.g. the analysis of waste water. A study of the relationship between velocity of sound and chain length has been carried out. Initial studies were performed on two model systems; a series of pure liquid n-alkanes (pentane to hexadecane) and 1-alcohols (methanol to 1-dodecanol). This study was extended to look at an industrially significant system of dimethylsiloxanes 200 fluid (L2, 0.65 cSt) to 200 fluid (5000 cSt). Corresponding density data have been taken from the literature and the adiabatic compressibility determined. The measured adiabatic compressibility has been compared with two molecular models of wound velocity, the Schaaffs model and a development of the Urick equation. The Urick equation approach is based on a determination of the compressibility of the methylene or siloxane repeat units which make up the chains in these linear molecules. We show that the Urick equation approach accurately predicts sound velocity and compressibility for the higher members of each series, whilst the Schaaffs approach fails for the 1-alcohols. We suggest that this is because of the influence of the hydroxyl end group through hydrogen bonding with methylene groups within the chain. This interaction modifies the derived compressibility of the methylene groups, so reducing their compressibility relative to that of the n-alkanes. The technique described provides valuable new insights into end-group, intermolecular and intra-molecular interactions in liquid linear-chain molecules. From this detailed analysis of the mechanisms involved, a model is derived. This model can give very precise estimations of the composition of a pure liquid. In the case of mixtures of polymers, it is necessary to use the modified Urick equation and then, in addition, the concentration dependence of both the velocity of sound and the density must be measured.

Pulse echo comparison method with FSUPER to measure velocity dispersion in n-tetradecane in water emulsions.

In this paper, a pulse-echo comparison method for measuring ultrasound velocity dispersion in n-tetradecane emulsions is presented. The method was based on an existing device but used a new measurement strategy. Ultrasound velocity in n-tetradecane in water emulsions was measured around the frequency range 1-14 MHz. The results were compared with theoretical prediction. The method is capable of development as an on-line real time method to characterize food emulsions.

Effects of pH on the ability of flavonoids to act as Pickering emulsion stabilizers.

The flavonoids tiliroside, rutin and naringin have been investigated as stabilizers of Pickering oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. The mean droplet size of tetradecane emulsions was considerably smaller at higher pH, especially for rutin. The solubility of flavonoids in the aqueous phase was 4-6 times higher at pH 8 compared to pH 2 for tiliroside and rutin, although all absolute solubilities remained low (<1 mM). This agreed with a slight increase in surface activity of tiliroside and rutin at the O-W interface at pH 8 compared to pH 2. However, improved emulsion stabilization at higher pH is better explained by the significant increase in ζ-potential of the flavonoid particles to more negative values at pH 8, which will improve particle dispersion and increase the charge on the droplets stabilized by them. A buckwheat tea extract, rich in rutin, was also shown to be an effective stabilizer of sunflower O/W emulsions.

Application of a maximum likelihood algorithm to ultrasound modulated optical tomography.

In pulsed ultrasound modulated optical tomography (USMOT), an ultrasound (US) pulse performs as a scanning probe within the sample as it propagates, modulating the scattered light spatially distributed along its propagation axis. Detecting and processing the modulated signal can provide a 1-dimensional image along the US axis. A simple model is developed wherein the detected signal is modelled as a convolution of the US pulse and the properties (ultrasonic/optical) of the medium along the US axis. Based upon this model, a maximum likelihood (ML) method for image reconstruction is established. For the first time to our knowledge, the ML technique for an USMOT signal is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The ML method inverts the data to retrieve the spatially varying properties of the sample along the US axis, and a signal proportional to the optical properties can be acquired. Simulated results show that the ML method can serve as a useful reconstruction tool for a pulsed USMOT signal even when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is close to unity. Experimental data using 5 cm thick tissue phantoms (scattering coefficient µ(s) = 6.5 cm(-1), anisotropy factor g=0.93) demonstrate that the axial resolution is 160 µm and the lateral resolution is 600 µm using a 10 MHz transducer.

Particle-stabilizing effects of flavonoids at the oil-water interface.

It has been shown that some common food flavonoids can act as excellent stabilizers of oil-in-water emulsions through their adsorption as water-insoluble particles to the surface of the oil droplets, i.e., Pickering emulsions are formed. Flavonoids covering a wide range of octanol-water partition coefficients (P) were screened for emulsification behavior by low shear mixing of flavonoid+n-tetradecane in a vortex mixer. Most flavonoids with very high or very low P values were not good emulsifiers, although there were exceptions, such as tiliroside, which is very insoluble in water. When a high shear jet homogenizer was used with 20 vol% oil in the presence of 1 mM tiliroside, rutin, or naringin, much finer emulsions were produced: the average droplet sizes (d32) were 16, 6, and 5 µm, respectively. These results may be highly significant with respect to the delivery of such insoluble compounds to the gut, as well as their digestion and absorption.

Variables selection methods in near-infrared spectroscopy.

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has increasingly been adopted as an analytical tool in various fields, such as the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, environmental, clinical, agricultural, food and biomedical sectors during the past 15 years. A NIR spectrum of a sample is typically measured by modern scanning instruments at hundreds of equally spaced wavelengths. The large number of spectral variables in most data sets encountered in NIR spectral chemometrics often renders the prediction of a dependent variable unreliable. Recently, considerable effort has been directed towards developing and evaluating different procedures that objectively identify variables which contribute useful information and/or eliminate variables containing mostly noise. This review focuses on the variable selection methods in NIR spectroscopy. Selection methods include some classical approaches, such as manual approach (knowledge based selection), "Univariate" and "Sequential" selection methods; sophisticated methods such as successive projections algorithm (SPA) and uninformative variable elimination (UVE), elaborate search-based strategies such as simulated annealing (SA), artificial neural networks (ANN) and genetic algorithms (GAs) and interval base algorithms such as interval partial least squares (iPLS), windows PLS and iterative PLS. Wavelength selection with B-spline, Kalman filtering, Fisher's weights and Bayesian are also mentioned. Finally, the websites of some variable selection software and toolboxes for non-commercial use are given.