Grapevine as a Rich Source of Polyphenolic Compounds

Grapes are rich in primary and secondary metabolites. Among the secondary metabolites, polyphenolic compounds are the most abundant in grape berries. Besides their important impacts on grape and wine quality, this class of compounds has beneficial effects on human health. Due to their antioxidant activity, polyphenols and phenolic acids can act as anti-inflammatory and anticancerogenic agents, and can modulate the immune system. In grape berries, polyphenols and phenolic acids can be located in the pericarp and seeds, but distribution differs considerably among these tissues. Although some classes of polyphenols and phenolic acids are under strict genetic control, the final content is highly influenced by environmental factors, such as climate, soil, vineyard, and management. This review aims to present the main classes of polyphenolic compounds and phenolic acids in different berry tissues and grape varieties and special emphasis on their beneficial effect on human health.     

Resolved fluorescence emission spectra of PRODAN in ethanol/buffer solvents

The fluorescence steady-state emission spectra of lipophilic fluorescence probe PRODAN in ethanol/buffer solvents of different concentrations (0.3, 0.9, 3 mol L(-1) ethanol) were extensively studied and analytically described. The complex experimental spectra, corrected for background effects, were fitted by two Gaussian curves. The energy separation of two maxima, (0.147+/-0.002) eV at 37 degrees C and (0.143+/-0.003) eV at 25 degrees C, was independent of ethanol concentration. The blue shifts observed for both maxima were linearly dependent on solvent polarity. The linear dependences of fluorescence's intensities on PRODAN concentration in all ethanol/buffer solvents indicate that no PRODAN self-quenching takes place even at the highest measured PRODAN concentrations.     

Simulation of the influence of ultrasonic in-plane oscillations on dry friction accounting for stick and creep

We consider a pair of bodies contacting on an elastic substrate; the distance between the bodies oscillates harmonically at a high frequency. If a horizontal force is applied to the bodies, macroscopic movement starts only after achieving some critical value, which we identify with the static friction force of the oscillating system. The dependence of the static friction force on the oscillation amplitude is simulated numerically using the method of reduction of dimensionality. Results of simulation are compared with experimental data.     

Conlometric determination of weak bases applying bismuth electrode pair for the end-point detection

The alkaline hydrolysis of these vinyl phosphates gives dimethylphosphoric acid and the corresponding N-methylated acetoacetamide which is titrated with sodium nitrite. The polarovoltry (constant current potentiometry) is well appropriate for end point detection. Free acetoacetamides are determined in the same way in non-hydrolized samples and taken into account.     

Gas chromatographic determination of fatty acids contained in different lipid classes after their separation by solid-phase extraction

Enthalpic phenomena were shown to contribute to the size exclusion separation mechanisms during chromatographic analysis of solutions of pullulan and cellulose in LiCl-N,N-dimethylacetamide (LiCl-DMAc) solvent and eluent. The effect of LiCl concentration in the sample solutions and the effect of temperature were of the same order of magnitude for both pullulan and cellulose samples. This led to systematic errors in the determination of mean molecular mass in the range of tens of percent, depending on the chromatographic conditions and on the molecular mass of the analyte. The systematic error is much higher than the random errors; the typical values of the latter being up to a few percent (RSD). Low column temperature and a higher content of LiCl in the sample solution led to lower determined mean molecular mass values. This can be explained by a decrease in the interactions between dissolved macromolecules, although polymer-stationary phase interactions should also be taken into account. Furthermore, the cellulose stability in solution was determined: the zero order random degradation constant being k = 6.9 x 10(-8) mol mol-1 monomer day-1.     

Precipitation of different calcite crystal morphologies in the presence of sodium stearate

The influence of sodium stearate (NaSt) on the precipitation of calcium carbonate during the semicontinuous process of slaked lime carbonation was studied in the systems in which process parameters, like concentration of total dissolved calcium, temperature, CO(2) flow rate and initial addition rate of slaked lime, were controlled. It was found that calcite was the only calcium carbonate polymorph that appeared under the investigated experimental conditions, while FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis of samples confirmed the presence of stearate on the surface of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC). Specific surface area of PCC increased with increasing stearate content: the highest value, s = 52.8 m(2) g(-1), was obtained at t = 20 degrees C, c(tot) = 17.0 mmol dm(-3) and the stearate content of m(NaSt)/m(CaO) = 0.03. It was also found that hydrophobic calcite crystals in the form of rhombohedral and scalenohedral morphology can be produced at m(NaSt)/m(CaO) > 0.01. The exception is the case of nanosized PCC production, when much higher concentration of NaSt is needed, m(NaSt)/m(CaO) = 0.22. Minimal amount of stearate necessary to build up the monolayer and corresponding cross sectional area of one stearate molecule were estimated for the obtained calcite morphologies.     

Effect of inorganic anions on the morphology and structure of magnesium calcite

Calcium carbonate was precipitated from calcium hydroxide and carbonic acid solutions at 25 degrees C, with and without addition of different magnesium (MgSO(4), Mg(NO(3))(2) and MgCl(2)) and sodium salts (Na(2)SO(4), NaNO(3) and NaCl) of identical anions, in order to study the mode of incorporation of magnesium and inorganic anions and their effect on the morphology of calcite crystals over a range of initial reactant concentrations and limited c(i)(Mg(2+))/c(i)(Ca(2+)) molar ratios. The morphology, crystal size distribution, composition, structure, and specific surface area of the precipitated crystals, as well as the mode of cation and anion incorporation into the calcite crystal lattice, were studied by a combination of optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electronic counting, a multiple BET method, thermogravimetry, FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. In the systems of high initial relative supersaturation, precipitation of an amorphous precursor phase preceded the formation of calcite, whereas in those of lower supersaturation calcite was the first and only polymorphic modification of calcium carbonate that appeared in the system. The magnesium content in calcite increased with the magnesium concentration in solution and was correlated with the type of magnesium salt used. Mg incorporation caused the formation of crystals elongated along the calcite c axis and, in some cases, the appearance of new [011] faces. Polycrystalline aggregates were formed when the c(i)(Mg(2+))/c(i)(Ca(2+)) molar ratios in solution were increased. Addition of sulfate ions, alone, caused formation of spherical calcite polycrystalline aggregates.     

Self-organization of the ternary didecyldimethylammonium bromide/octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside/water system

The spontaneous and thermodynamically stable mixed vesicles constituted by a double-chain cationic surfactant with 10 carbon atoms hydrophobic tail, didecyldimethylammonium bromide (di-C(10)DMAB), and a nonionic single-chain surfactant, octyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside (OBG), have been characterized in aqueous media by means of a series of experimental techniques, as well as a theoretical approach. Conductivity data allow for the determination of the concentrations at which the monomer-to-vesicle (CVC) and/or vesicle-to-micelle (CMC) transitions occur. Electrophoretic mobilities, obtained from laser-doppler-electrophoresis experiments, permit the determination of zeta-potentials and, from them, the surface charge density of the vesicle aggregates. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) provides pictures of the vesicles, their size and shape being, thus, determined. Finally, the sensitivity of the emission spectra of some fluorescent probes, such as the cationic TNS and the nonionic PRODAN, to the polarity of the environment, allow for a complete study of different pre- and post-vesicle microdomains, of variable rigidity and micropolarity. This, in turn, yield interesting information about the vesicle surface and bilayer, as well as, about the existence of clusters and/or nanoaggregates prior to the formation of vesicles, as was proposed by us in a previous paper.     

Coordination modes of 3-hydroxypicolinic acid: Synthesis and structural characterization of polymeric mercury(II) complexes

Novel mercury(II) compounds of 3-hydroxypicolinic acid (HpicOH; IUPAC name: 3-hydroxy-2-pyridinecarboxylic acid) were synthesized and characterized. HgCl(picOH) (1) and HgBr₂(HpicOH) (2) were obtained as reaction products from the reaction of the corresponding mercury(II) halide with HpicOH, irrespective of the molar ratio of the reactants. From the reaction of HpicOH and mercury(II) acetate, Hg(picOH)₂ (3) was obtained, while mercury(II) nitrate monohydrate gave the 1/1 solvate with water Hg(picOH)₂ · H₂O (3a). Infrared, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic data were analyzed for complexes 1, 2 and 3. X-ray crystal structure analysis of 1 and 2 revealed their polymeric nature and different coordination modes of HpicOH. In 1 the deprotonated picolinic acid is N,O-chelating and bridging, while in 2 HpicOH is a O-monodentate weakly bound ligand. Compound 1 consists of HgCl(picOH) moieties with two linear covalent bonds, Hg–N 2.143(4) and Hg–Cl 2.298(1) Å, and four additional Hg?O contacts (2.460(3)–2.904(3) Å) in which both oxygen atoms from the carboxylic group are bridging and involved in coordination to three neighboring mercury atoms, thus forming infinite layers. The coordination of mercury is 2 + 4. 2 consists of {HgBr₂(HpicOH)} moieties, which are linked into chains by means of mercury to bromine secondary long range interactions. The coordination sphere of mercury can be described as irregular 2 + 3 formed by two covalently bonded bromine atoms (Hg–Br 2.277(1) and 2.366(1) Å), two bridging bromine atoms (Hg?Br 3.309(1) and 3.247(1) Å) and by the HpicOH ligand attached to mercury in the zwitterionic form via the carboxylic oxygen atom (Hg?O 2.602(7) Å).