Application of ultrasonication at different microbial growth stages during apple juice fermentation by Lactobacillus plantarum: Investigation on the metabolic response

In this work, low-intensity ultrasonication (58.3 and 93.6 W/L) was performed at lag, logarithmic and stationary growth phases of Lactobacillus plantarum in apple juice fermentation, separately. Microbial responses to sonication, including microbial growth, profiles of organic acids profile, amino acids, phenolics, and antioxidant capacity, were examined. The results revealed that obvious responses were made by Lactobacillus plantarum to ultrasonication at lag and logarithmic phases, whereas sonication at stationary phase had a negligible impact. Sonication at lag and logarithmic phases promoted microbial growth and intensified biotransformation of malic acid to lactic acid. For example, after sonication at lag phase for 0.5 h, microbial count and lactic acid content in the ultrasound-treated samples at 58.3 W/L reached 7.91 ± 0.01 Log CFU/mL and 133.70 ± 7.39 mg/L, which were significantly higher than that in the non-sonicated samples. However, the ultrasonic effect on microbial growth and metabolism of organic acids attenuated with fermentation. Moreover, ultrasonication at lag and logarithmic phases had complex influences on the metabolism of apple phenolics such as chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, procyanidin B2, catechin and gallic acid. Ultrasound could positively affect the hydrolysis of chlorogenic acid to caffeic acid, the transformation of procyanidin B2 and decarboxylation of gallic acid. The metabolism of organic acids and free amino acids in the sonicated samples was statistically correlated with phenolic metabolism, implying that ultrasound may benefit phenolic derivation by improving the microbial metabolism of organic acids and amino acids.     

Effects of ultrasound-assisted vacuum tumbling on the oxidation and physicochemical properties of pork myofibrillar proteins

The present research aimed to investigate the effects of high-intensity ultrasound (HIU, 20 kHz, 0 W, 100 W, 300 W and 500 W)-assisted vacuum tumbling (UVT) for 60 min and 120 min on the oxidation and physicochemical properties of the pork myofibrillar proteins (MPs). Compared with the vacuum tumbling (VT) groups without the HIU assistance, the carbonyl content increased, while the total sulfhydryl (SH) content was reduced with the increase of HIU power and treatment time (P < 0.05). The reactive SH content was increased significantly after treated by UVT with 300 W compared with the VT group (P < 0.05) regardless of the treatment time. Similarly, the surface hydrophobicity (S₀), the intrinsic tryptophan intensity, and the solubility in the UVT group (300 W) were remarkably higher than those of the VT group (P < 0.05). In contrast, the α-helix content and the particle size of MPs significantly decreased when the HIU power was at 100 W and 300 W (P < 0.05). The results suggest that UVT treatment could change the structure and physicochemical properties of MPs accompanied by protein oxidation.     

A bare-eye based one-step signal amplified semiquantitative immunochromatographic assay for the detection of imidacloprid in Chinese cabbage samples

A novel bare-eye based one-step signal amplified semi-quantitative immunochromatographic assay (SAS-ICA) was developed for detection of the pesticide imidacloprid. This method was based on competitive immunoreactions. Signal amplification was achieved by dual labeling of the test lines (TLs) on the strip using high affinity nanogold-biotinylated anti-imidacloprid mAb (BAb) and nanogold-streptavidin (Sa) probes. The relative color intensities of three TLs (TL-I, TL-II and TL-III) on a nitrocellulose (NC) membrane were used for direct visual analysis of the SAS-ICA strips, and could be used for semi-quantitation of analyte concentrations by observing what TLs disappeared in the amplification zone. Under optimized conditions, the following imidacloprid concentration ranges would be detected by visual examination of the SAS-ICA strip: 0–5 ng mL⁻¹ (negative samples), and 5–25 ng mL⁻¹, 25–250 ng mL⁻¹, 250–1000 ng mL⁻¹ and >1000 ng mL⁻¹ (positive samples). The sensitivity (the visual detection limit (VDL) of TL-III) and semi-quantitative analytical capacity (when TL-III disappeared completely) of the SAS-ICA strip were 10-fold and 160-fold higher than those of traditional ICA, respectively. The developed SAS-ICA strip was applied to the analysis of spiked and authentic contaminated Chinese cabbage samples in the laboratory and under field conditions, and the results were validated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This process could be adopted as a potential generous technique for all ICA-based detection methods.     

Synthesis and Antifungal Activity of Novel Furan‐2,4‐dione Derivatives Containing Substituted Phenylhydrazine Moiety

A series of novel 3‐(2‐(substituted phenyl)hydrazinylmethylidene)furan‐2,4(3H,5H)‐diones were designed and synthesized with ethyl 4‐chloroacetoacetate as the starting material. Their structures were confirmed by FT‐IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, EI‐MS and elemental analysis. Bioassay data demonstrated that these compounds exhibited remarkable antifungal activity against Fusarium graminearum, Botrytis cinerea, Rhizoctonia cerealis and Colletotrichum capsici. Compound 3‐(2‐(4‐bromophenyl)hydrazinylmethylidene)furan‐2,4(3H,5H)‐dione ( 5g ) had excellent bioactivity against Botrytis cinerea with an EC₅₀ value of 0.18 μg/mL ‐ markedly lower than the 0.24 μg/mL of the commercial fungicide procymidone. The result revealed that introducing the halogenated phenylhydrazine at the 3‐position of furan‐2,4(3H, 5H)‐dione was an effective way to design new tetronic acid derivatives as new fungicides.     

不同浓度猪、奶牛粪水中温厌氧发酵沼液中DOM的光谱特征

养殖粪水中物质的组成变化决定其潜在的环境效应,溶解性有机质（DOM）是养殖粪水的重要组成部分。研究对总固体浓度（TS）分别为4%和8%的猪、奶牛粪水进行批次中温厌氧发酵试验,分析了猪粪和奶牛粪沼液中DOM的含量变化,并结合三维荧光光谱（3DEEM）和平行因子分析法（PARAFAC）,解析沼液DOM的荧光光谱特性及组分变化特征。结果表明,中温厌氧发酵结束后,沼液中DOM含量均极显著（p＜0.001）降低。沼液DOM主要包含类酪氨酸、类富里酸、类色氨酸和类胡敏酸4种荧光组分,其中类胡敏酸的相对含量均显著（p＜0.05）增加,但类富里酸的相对含量仅在TS为8%的处理中增加,而在TS为4%的处理中降低。沼液DOM的腐殖化指数均极显著（p＜0.01）增加,但猪粪沼液DOM的腐殖化程度明显高于奶牛粪沼液。研究结果为畜禽粪便沼液农田利用的潜在环境效应评价提供理论支撑。     

Dual improvement in curcumin encapsulation efficiency and lyophilized complex dispersibility through ultrasound regulation of curcumin–protein assembly

Ultrasound has a recognized ability to modulate the structure and function of proteins. Discovering the influential mechanism of ultrasound on the intramolecular interactions of egg-white protein isolate–curcumin (EPI–Cur) nanoparticles and their intermolecular interaction during freeze drying and redispersion is meaningful. In this study, under the extension of pre-sonication time, the protein solubility, surface hydrophobicity, and curcumin encapsulation rate showed an increasing trend, reaching the highest value at 12 min of treatment. However, the values decreased under the followed extension of ultrasound time. After freeze drying and redispersion were applied, the EPI–Cur sample under 12 min of ultrasound treatment exhibited minimal aggregation degree and loss of curcumin. The retention and loading rates of curcumin in the lyophilized powder reached 96 % and 33.60 mg/g EPI, respectively. However, under excessive ultrasound of >12 min, scanning electron microscopy showed distinct blocky aggregates. Overexposure of the hydrophobic region of the protein triggered protein-mediated hydrophobic aggregation after freeze drying. X-ray diffraction patterns showed the highest crystallinity, indicating that the free curcumin-mediated hydrophobic aggregation during freeze drying was enhanced by the concentration effect and intensified the formation of larger aggregates. This work has practical significance for developing the delivery of hydrophobic active substances. It provides theoretical value for the dynamic dispersity change in protein-hydrophobic active substances during freeze drying and redissolving.     

金属/金属氧化物纳米粒子在不对称氢化和氢转移反应中的应用研究进展

近年来,金属/金属氧化物纳米粒子催化的不对称氢化和氢转移反应已经成为催化领域的前沿和研究热点之一. 金属/金属氧化物纳米粒子的催化模式类似于“纳米反应器”,底物可以通过有机包覆层扩散至催化中心,局部的高催化剂浓度通常可以极大地提高催化反应转换数（TON）和转化频率（TOF）. 在以纳米金属为催化活性中心方面,Orito纳米铂体系获得最多的关注,科学家们从手性修饰剂的结构改造、催化剂载体的选择、不同的反应介质、纳米催化剂的形貌和催化反应机理等方面开展了较为系统的研究,并取得重要进展. 此外,纳米钯、铑、钌、铱和铁等金属纳米催化剂也在烯烃、酮和亚胺等化合物的不对称氢化和氢转移反应中表现出良好的催化性能,特别是纳米铱和铁催化剂已获得95%以上的对映选择性. 在金属/金氧化物纳米粒子为催化剂载体方面,其催化不对称氢化及氢转移反应的效率及对映选择性可与均相催化剂相媲美,同时还解决了均相催化剂难于回收再循环的缺陷. 本文简要介绍了近年来手性金属纳米催化剂在不对称氢化和氢转移反应领域的研究进展,讨论了相关反应的催化机理,并对该领域仍存在的问题和未来的发展方向进行了展望.     

基于主成分分析和小波神经网络的近红外多组分建模研究

将小麦叶片原始光谱经过预处理后,采用主成分分析(PCA)对数据进行降维,取前3个主成分输入小波神经网络,建立了基于主成分分析和小波神经网络的近红外多组分预测模型(WNN);进一步研究了小波基函数个数的选取(WNN隐层节点数)对小波神经网络模型性能的影响,并将WNN模型与偏最小二乘法(PLS)和传统的反向传播神经网络(BPNN)模型进行了比较.结果表明,所建立的WNN模型能用于同时预测小麦叶片全氮和可溶性总糖两种组分含量,其预测均方根误差(RMSEP)分别为0.101%和0.089%,预测相关系数(R)分别为0.980和0.967.另外,在收敛速度和预测精度上,WNN模型明显优于BPNN和PLS模型,从而为将小波神经网络用于近红外光谱的多组分定量分析奠定了基础.     

Near critical measurements of HmE andVmE for (ethane + sulphur hexafluoride)

A flow mixing calorimeter and a vibrating-tube densimeter have been used to measure excess molar enthalpies H_m^E and excess molar volumes V_m^E of {xC₂H₆ +  (1  − x)SF₆ }. Measurements over a range of mole fractions x have been made at T =  305.65 K and T =  312.15 K and at the pressures (3.76, 4.32, 4.88 and 6.0) MPa. The pressure 3.76 MPa is close to the critical pressure of SF₆, the pressure 4.88 MPa is close to the critical pressure of C₂H₆, and the pressure 4.32 MPa is midway between these values. The measurements are compared with the Patel–Teja equation of state which reproduces the main features of the excess function curves as well as it does for similar measurements on {xCO₂ +  (1  − x)C₂H₆ }, {xCO₂ +  (1  − x)C₂H₄ } and {xCO₂ +  (1  − x)SF₆ }.     

Influence of high pressure processing on protein solutions and emulsions

Static high-pressure technology is likely to be used increasingly over the next few years in the preservation and processing of food. This ‘clean’ technology offers an effective and safe method of modifying protein structure, and self-assembly properties. Pressure processing can lead to globular protein denaturation, and different states of aggregation or gelation depending on the protein system, the treatment temperature, the solution conditions, and the magnitude and duration of the applied pressure.