High-intensity ultrasonication impact on the chlorothalonil fungicide and its reduction pathway in spinach juice

Among different novel technologies, sonochemistry is a sustainable emerging technology for food processing, preservation, and pesticide removal. The study aimed to probe the impact of high-intensity ultrasonication on chlorothalonil fungicide degradation, reduction pathway, and bioactive availability of spinach juice. The chlorothalonil fungicide-immersed spinach juice was treated with sonication at 360 W, 480 W, and 600 W, 40 kHz, for 30 and 40 min at 30 ± 1 °C. The highest reduction of chlorothalonil fungicide residues was observed at 40 min sonication at 600 W. HPLC-MS (high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy) analysis revealed the degradation pathway of chlorothalonil and the formation of m-phthalonitrile, 3-cyno-2,4,5,6-tetrachlorobenamide, 4-dichloroisophthalonitrile, trichloroisophtalonitrile, 4-hydoxychlorothalonil, and 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorochlorobenzonitrile as degradation products. High-intensity sonication treatments also significantly increased the bioavailability of phenolic, chlorophyll, and anthocyanins and the antioxidant activity of spinach juice. Our results proposed that sonication technology has excellent potential in degrading pesticides through free radical reactions formation and pyrolysis. Considering future perspectives, ultrasonication could be employed industrially to reduce pesticide residues from agricultural products and enhance the quality of spinach juice.     

Turbidity of pulpy fruit juice: A key factor for predicting cross-flow microfiltration performance

To determine the technical and economic feasibility of cross-flow microfiltration on an industrial scale, the expected decline of permeation flux must be predicted taking into account the variability of juice's fouling potential. However, the main difficulty is finding representative parameters. Two semi-empirical models – gel polarisation and mechanistic – were used to fit experimental permeation flows using initial juice turbidity as surrogate for the volumetric concentration of particles in the feed juice. The experimental data of different banana, pineapple, and blackberry juices fitted well in both models. Although the mechanistic model more accurately estimated the permeation flux density, for practical application, the simpler polarisation model was preferred. Because this method uses a factor (i.e. turbidity) that reflects juice's fouling potential, it allows the optimisation of processing parameters and the prediction of permeation flux range in real industrial conditions.     

Simultaneous Determination of Gallic Acid and Folic Acid in Fruit Juice Samples Using Square Wave Voltammetry at Electrochemically Pretreated Carbon Paste Electrode

An efficient sensor was developed for the simultaneous determination of gallic and folic acid in juice samples using an electrochemically pretreated carbon paste electrode. The electrode was characterized by CV and EIS. The electrochemical behavior of GA and FA was evaluated by CV and SWV. The electrode exhibited high electrocatalytic activity towards GA and FA due to high surface area. Under the optimized condition, linear plots in the ranges of 0.08–13 μM and 0.1 to 15 μM were obtained for GA and FA, respectively. The proposed method was successful for the simultaneous determination of GA and FA in juice samples with satisfactory recovery.     

Riboflavin as a green sorbent in dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction of several pesticides from fruit juices combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

A vortex-assisted dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction procedure using a new and green sorbent was developed as a simple, fast, and efficient sample preparation method for the extracting five pesticides in several fruit juice samples. In this study, for the first time, riboflavin was used as an efficient sorbent. A few milligrams of riboflavin was directly added into the aqueous solution containing the analytes to adsorb them. After adsorption the analytes, they were desorbed and more concentrated by a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction procedure. The influence of several effective parameters such as amount of riboflavin, pH, vortex time, eluent nature and volume, and extraction solvent type and volume on the extraction efficiency was investigated. In optimal conditions, linear ranges of the calibration curves were broad. The limits of detection and quantification were attained in the ranges of 0.56–1.5  and 1.9–0.52 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The proposed method demonstrated to be suitable for concurrent extraction of the studied pesticides in various fruit juice samples with high enrichment factors (320–360) and precision (relative standard deviation ≤7.8% for intra- [n = 6] and interday [n = 4] precisions at a concentration of 25 ng mL⁻¹ of each pesticide).     

Grapefruit Debittering by Simultaneous Naringin Hydrolysis and Limonin Adsorption Using Naringinase Immobilized in Agarose Supports

Naringin and limonin are the two main bitter compounds of citrus products such as grapefruit juice. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the reduction in both bitter components simultaneously using a combined biochemical and physical approach. The proposed strategy was based on the use of heterofunctional supports with glyoxyl groups that allow for the covalent immobilization of naringinase, which hydrolyses naringin and alkyl groups that allow for the adsorption of limonin. The supports were butyl-glyoxyl agarose (BGA) and octyl-glyoxyl agarose (OGA), which were characterized in terms of aldehyde group quantification and FTIR analysis. The optimal pH and temperature of free and immobilized enzymes were assessed. The maximum enzyme loading capacity of supports was analyzed. Debittering of grapefruit juice was evaluated using soluble enzyme, enzyme-free supports, and immobilized catalysts. Enzyme immobilized in BGA reduced naringin and limonin concentrations by 54 and 100%, respectively, while the use of catalyst immobilized in OGA allowed a reduction of 74 and 76%, respectively, obtaining a final concentration of both bitter components under their detection threshold. The use of OGA biocatalyst presented better results than when soluble enzyme or enzyme-free support was utilized. Biocatalyst was successfully applied in juice debittering in five repeated batches.     

Photoautotrophic and Mixotrophic Cultivation of Polyhydroxyalkanoate-Accumulating Microalgae Consortia Selected under Nitrogen and Phosphate Limitation

Microalgae consortia were photoautotrophically cultivated in sequencing batch photobioreactors (SBPRs) with an alteration of the normal growth and starvation (nutrient limitation) phases to select consortia capable of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) accumulation. At the steady state of SBPR operation, the obtained microalgae consortia, selected under nitrogen and phosphate limitation, accumulated up to 11.38% and 10.24% of PHA in their biomass, which was identified as poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (P3HB). Photoautotrophic and mixotrophic batch cultivation of the selected microalgae consortia was conducted to investigate the potential of biomass and PHA production. Sugar source supplementation enhanced the biomass and PHA production, with the highest PHA contents of 10.94 and 6.2%, and cumulative PHA productions of 100 and 130 mg/L, with this being achieved with sugarcane juice under nitrogen and phosphate limitation, respectively. The analysis of other macromolecules during batch cultivation indicated a high content of carbohydrates and lipids under nitrogen limitation, while higher protein contents were detected under phosphate limitation. These results recommended the selected microalgae consortia as potential tools for PHA and bioresource production. The mixed-culture non-sterile cultivation system developed in this study provides valuable information for large-scale microalgal PHA production process development following the biorefinery concept.     

A rapid and sensitive reversed phase‐HPLC method for simultaneous determination of ibuprofen and paracetamol in drug samples and their behaviors in simulated gastric conditions

Paracetamol is a widely used drug for fever and pain relief. Ibuprofen is a common nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug. In this study, a sensitive and accurate reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography method was developed for the simultaneous determination of ibuprofen and paracetamol. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Phenomenex C18 (250 mm, 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column. Fifty milli molar phosphate buffer (pH 7.5) and methanol were used as mobile phase in a gradient elution mode. The retention times of paracetamol and ibuprofen were 5.7 and 10.4 min, respectively. The linearity of the developed method was established in the range of 0.25 – 250 mg/L with a correlation coefficient of 0.9998 for both analytes. The limit of detection/quantification values were found to be 0.06/0.19 and 0.08/0.26 mg/L for ibuprofen and paracetamol, respectively. The method was successfully applied in drug samples in the form of tablets and suspensions. The calculated concentrations matched with the claimed values on their prospectuses. The drug samples were studied under simulated gastric conditions to determine the behaviors of the analytes in the human body. The obtained results showed no change in the retention time of the analyte peak shapes throughout the 210 minutes.     

生物样品中速可眠及代谢产物的分析

应用气相色谱／质谱（ＧＣ／ＭＳ）法对一例速可眠中毒病人生物样品进行分析鉴定。样品经酸化、乙醚提取,然后于ＧＣ／ＭＳ分析,在患者胃内容物和血中检出速可眠,在眼药３３ｈ尿内可检出速可眠原型药物以及四个代谢产物。并用外标法对生物样品中速可眠进行定量测定,对临床救治起到了积极作用。     

Effect of Filtrated Osmotic Solution Based on Concentrated Chokeberry Juice and Mint Extract on the Drying Kinetics,Energy Consumption and Physicochemical Properties of Dried Apples

Background: Filtration of osmotic solution affects selective penetration during osmotic dehydration (OD), and after drying is finished, this can influence the chemical composition of the material, which is also modified by OD. Methods: Osmotic dehydration was carried out in filtrated and non-filtrated concentrated chokeberry juice with the addition of mint infusion. Then, this underwent convective drying, vacuum-microwave drying and combined convective pre-drying, followed by vacuum-microwave finishing drying. Drying kinetics were presented and mathematical models were selected. The specific energy consumption for each drying method was calculated and the energy efficiency was determined. Results and Discussion: The study revealed that filtration of osmotic solution did not have significant effect on drying kinetics; however, it affected selective penetration during OD. The highest specific energy consumption was obtained for the samples treated by convective drying (CD) (around 170 kJ·g⁻¹ fresh weight (fw)) and the lowest for the samples treated by vacuum-microwave drying (VMD) (around 30 kJ·g⁻¹ fw), which is due to the differences in the time of drying and when these methods are applied. Conclusions: Filtration of the osmotic solution can be used to obtain the desired material after drying and the VMD method is the most appropriate considering both phenolic acid content and the energy aspect of drying.     

Development and application of SBA‐15 assisted electromembrane extraction followed by corona discharge ion mobility spectrometry for the determination of Thiabendazole in fruit juice samples

A new sample preparation method based on SBA‐15 assisted electromembrane extraction coupled with corona discharge ion mobility spectrometer was developed for the determination of Thiabendazole as a model basic pesticide in fruit juice samples. The addition of SBA‐15 in the supported liquid membrane in electromembrane extraction system not only can lead to enhancement of the effective surface area, but also introducing the negatively charged silanol groups into supported liquid membrane might improve migration of positively charged analytes toward the supported liquid membrane and finally into the acceptor solution. To investigate the effect of the presence of SBA‐15 in the supported liquid membrane on the extraction efficiency, a comparative study was carried out between the conventional electromembrane extraction and SBA‐15/electromembrane extraction methods. Under the optimized conditions, SBA‐15/electromembrane extraction method showed higher extraction efficiencies in comparison with conventional electromembrane extraction method. SBA‐15/electromembrane extraction method exhibited a low limit of detection (0.9 ng/mL), high preconcentration factor (167) and high recovery (83%). Finally, the applicability of SBA‐15/electromembrane extraction method was studied by the extraction and determination of Thiabendazole as a model basic pesticide in fruit juice samples.