Antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity from Annona cherimola phytochemicals by ultrasound-assisted extraction and its comparison to conventional methods

In recent years, the food, pharmacy, and cosmetic industries have focused on the search of natural compounds with antimicrobial and antioxidant properties; commonly, these compounds are obtained from Kingdom plantae. The aim of the present work is comparing antibacterial and antioxidant capacity of Annona cherimola Mill leaves, using different extraction methods. The ultrasound assisted extraction technique (UAE) was compared with conventional techniques: Soxhlet and maceration. Water and ethanol were used as solvents for leaves extractions performed with these three methods. The main acetogenins reported in Annona cherimola Mill and Annona muricata L. species were simulated using the functional hybrid B3LYP and to confirm its presence, analysis of the compound composition was performed using FT-IR, UV–Vis and HPLC. Total phenolics (TP) and flavonoids (TF) were determined by spectroscopy techniques and novel Differential Pulse Voltammetry (DPV) electrochemical technique. Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) of the extracts was measured, using the DPPH, FRAP and CUPRAC techniques. The highest antioxidant content was found in the Soxhlet water extracts; even so, the UAE technique presented an attractive alternative due to considerable reduction in extraction time, which was greater than 99%, and possible selectivity in compounds extraction. Finally, antibacterial activity of the extracts was evaluated, obtaining the best results against gram-positive bacteria using UAE water extract. In this way, the UAE technique presents an excellent extraction option due to the considerable reduction in time and energy, as well as the increase in antibacterial activity.     

The Effects of Food on Cannabidiol Bioaccessibility

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a hydrophobic non-psychoactive compound with therapeutic characteristics. Animal and human studies have shown its poor oral bioavailability in vivo, and the impact of consuming lipid-soluble CBD with and without food on gut bioaccessibility has not been explored. The purpose of this research was to study the bioaccessibility of CBD after a three-phase upper digestion experiment with and without food, and to test lipase activity with different substrate concentrations. Our results showed that lipase enzyme activity and fatty acid absorption increased in the presence of bile salts, which may also contribute to an increase in CBD bioaccessibility. The food matrix used was a mixture of olive oil and baby food. Overall, the fed-state digestion revealed significantly higher micellarization efficiency for CBD (14.15 ± 0.6% for 10 mg and 22.67 ± 2.1% for 100 mg CBD ingested) than the fasted state digestion of CBD (0.65 ± 0.7% for 10 mg and 0.14 ± 0.1% for 100 mg CBD ingested). The increase in bioaccessibility of CBD with food could be explained by the fact that micelle formation from hydrolyzed lipids aid in bioaccessibility of hydrophobic molecules. In conclusion, the bioaccessibility of CBD depends on the food matrix and the presence of lipase and bile salts.     

微波消解-ICP-MS测定电镀污泥中的重金属

采用微波消解系统对某电镀污泥进行消解,利用ICP-MS对污泥中的重金属进行测定。称取制备后样品,置于消解罐中充分反应后,赶酸、定容后利用电感耦合等离子体质谱法进行测定。电镀污泥中的铬为18845.2mg/kg、镉为10.3mg/kg、镍为5200.0mg/kg、铅为189.7mg/kg、铜为3271.7mg/kg、锌为49632.6mg/kg。测定结果表明所检测项目工作曲线线性关系好,相关系数r均大于0.999。铬加标回收率在91.6～97.7%之间、镉加标回收率在92.0～97.0%之间、镍加标回收率在95.1～98.0%之间、铅加标回收率在94.3～95.2%之间、铜加标回收率在97.1～102%之间、锌加标回收率在96.3～98.7%之间,均满足相关测定要求。计算的潜在生态危害系数、潜在生态危害指数结果表明,电镀污泥中的铬、镉、铅、铜、锌为轻微生态危害,镍为强生态危害;潜在生态危害指数RI计算值为216.69,属于中等生态危害。     

Relevance of gaseous flows in electrochemically assisted soil thermal remediation

Treatment of polluted soil is one of the priorities in the search of a more sustainable planet. Electrochemically assisted soil remediation has been considered a good option for removing organic contaminants contained in soil, including the removal of volatile organic compounds, associated with gaseous streams produced during the treatment. Also, recently, electrochemical gas treatment technologies have been appointed as promising for the treatment of volatile organic compounds. In this work, we review the current opinion about the most recent studies in both areas. The first section focuses on the production of gaseous compounds during soil remediation by conventional and electrochemical systems. The second section describes the recent progress in the integration of adsorption and absorption with electrochemical processes. Finally, we discuss the holistic application of assisted electrochemical technologies in soil remediation, considering also emerging processes recently published in the literature.     

Interactions of DNA with graphene and sensing applications of graphene field-effect transistor devices: A review

Graphene field-effect transistors (GFET) have emerged as powerful detection platforms enabled by the advent of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) production of the unique atomically thin 2D material on a large scale. DNA aptamers, short target-specific oligonucleotides, are excellent sensor moieties for GFETs due to their strong affinity to graphene, relatively short chain-length, selectivity, and a high degree of analyte variability. However, the interaction between DNA and graphene is not fully understood, leading to questions about the structure of surface-bound DNA, including the morphology of DNA nanostructures and the nature of the electronic response seen from analyte binding. This review critically evaluates recent insights into the nature of the DNA graphene interaction and its affect on sensor viability for DNA, small molecules, and proteins with respect to previously established sensing methods. We first discuss the sorption of DNA to graphene to introduce the interactions and forces acting in DNA based GFET devices and how these forces can potentially affect the performance of increasingly popular DNA aptamers and even future DNA nanostructures as sensor substrates. Next, we discuss the novel use of GFETs to detect DNA and the underlying electronic phenomena that are typically used as benchmarks for characterizing the analyte response of these devices. Finally, we address the use of DNA aptamers to increase the selectivity of GFET sensors for small molecules and proteins and compare them with other, state of the art, detection methods.     

Comprehensive characterization of natural organic matter by MALDI- and ESI-Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Natural organic matter (NOM) is a complex and non-uniform mixture of organic compounds which plays an important role in environmental processes. Due to the complexity, it is challenging to obtain fully detailed structural information about NOM. Although Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool for providing molecular information about NOM, multiple ionization methods are needed for comprehensive characterization of NOM at the molecular level considering the ionizing selectivity of different ionization methods. This paper reports the first use of matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) method coupled with FT-ICR-MS for molecular characterization of NOM within a mass range of 200–800 Da. The mass spectral data obtained by MALDI were systematically compared with data generated by electrospray ionization (ESI). It showed that complementary molecular information about NOM which could not be detected by ESI, were provided by MALDI. More unsaturated and aromatic constituents of NOM with lower O/C ratio (O/C ratio < 0.5) were preferentially ionized in MALDI negative mode, whereas more polar constituents of NOM with higher O/C ratio were preferentially ionized in ESI negative mode. Molecular anions of NOM appearing at even m/z in MALDI negative ion mode were detected. The results show that NOM molecules with aromatic structures, moderate O/C ratio (0.7 > O/C ratio > 0.25) and lower H/C ratio were liable to form molecular anions at even m/z, whereas those with higher H/C ratio are more likely to form deprotonated ions at odd m/z. It is speculated that almost half of the NOM molecules identified by MALDI may be aromatic or condensed aromatic compounds with special groups which are liable to absorb electron from other molecules to generate free radical anions during MALDI ionization.     

Stabilization of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles at the Surface of Carbon Nanomaterials Promoted by Microwave Heating

TiO₂ is frequently combined with carbon materials, such as reduced graphene oxide (RGO), to produce composites with improved properties, for example for photocatalytic applications. It is shown that heating conditions significantly affect the interface and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂@C, and that microwave irradiation can be advantageous for the synthesis of carbon‐based materials. Composites of TiO₂ with RGO or amorphous carbon were prepared from reaction of titanium isopropoxide with benzyl alcohol. During the synthesis of the TiO₂ nanoparticles, the carbon is involved in reactions that lead to the covalent attachment of the oxide, the extent of which depends on the carbon characteristics, heating rate, and mechanism. TiO₂ is more efficiently stabilized at the surface of RGO than amorphous carbon. Rapid heating of the reaction mixture results in a stronger coupling between the nanoparticles and carbon, more uniform coatings, and smaller particles with narrower size distributions. The more efficient attachment of the oxide leads to better photocatalytic performance.     

聚焦微波辅助提取-酸性染料分光光度法测定农吉利中总生物碱

采用聚焦微波辅助提取(FMAE)结合溴麝香草酚蓝分光光度法测定农吉利中总生物碱。粒径为0.180 mm的样品,以甲醇为溶剂,料液比为1比25,在微波功率中火条件下提取50min。在pH 7.2的磷酸二氢钾-氢氧化钠缓冲溶液中,提取得到的生物碱与溴麝香草酚蓝酸性染料形成缔合物,用三氯甲烷萃取后,在最大吸收波长417nm处测量其吸光度。总生物碱的质量浓度在0.25~250mg·L-1范围内呈线性,方法的检出限(3S/N)为1.5mg·L-1。应用该方法测定农吉利药材中总生物碱,加标回收率为105%,测定值的相对标准偏差(n=6)小于3.0%。     

超声波促进手性双酰基氧化膦的合成

以L-薄荷醇为原料,经3步反应制备得到中间体薄荷基二氯化膦.该中间体首先通过与超声波辐射制备的微米级钠粒反应形成薄荷基膦二钠盐,然后依次经过偶联及氧化反应合成了目标产物(-)-双(薄荷基甲酰基)薄荷基氧化膦(BMMPO),并经过1 H NMR、13 C NMR、31P NMR和元素分析进行了表征.     

微波消解电感耦合等离子体质谱法测定桃中稀土元素及其分布

以市场销售的桃为实验材料,利用微波消解电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)同时测定桃中稀土元素的含量。样品经过硝酸-氢氟酸-双氧水微波消解,实现了桃中16种稀土元素的测定。各元素的检出限在0.004~0.020μg·g-1之间,方法精密度在0.78%~2.96%,回收率在95.0%~106.0%之间。比较了稀土元素在果皮和果肉中的分布。结果表明,稀土元素在果皮中的含量明显高于果肉。本法快速、准确,可用于桃等水果中稀土元素的测定。