The aim of the present study was to explore the correlations between physico-chemical characteristics and sensory measures of fresh apple juice from 9 varieties. The results showed that: 1) there were significant correlations among partial physico-chemical characteristics of apple juice; 2) significant correlations were found between physicochemical characteristics and sensory measures of apple juice. The fruity aroma of apple juice was significantly correlated with its pH and titratable acidity. A positive correlation was observed between the faint scent and color value or total sugar content. The astringent taste had a positive correlation with the titratable acidity total phenol content or buffer capacity, but revealed a negative correlation with the pH, sugar/acid ratio or solid/acid ratio. The acidic taste was correlated with the pH, total sugar content, titratable acidity, buffer capacity, sugar/acid ratio or solid/acid ratio. Moreover, the sweet taste presented a correlation with soluble solid content (SSC), titratable acidity, buffer capacity or solid/acid ratio; 3)the developed regression model for taste evaluation of apple juice was significant, indicating that there are good correlations between physico-chemical characteristics and sensory measures of fresh apple juice. Thus physicochemical characteristics can be measures for predictive analysis of the sensory quality of fresh apple juice.

Glycerol was used as a plasticizer to prepare zein-PPC films from zein and polypropylene carbonate (PPC) by extrusion. The mechanical characteristics, morphology and structure of zein-PPC films were studied. The tensile strength of zein-PPC films was enhanced by adding PPC and reached maximum level (30.11 MPa) at a PPC content of 30%. A Halsey model reflecting the relationship the tensile strength of zein-PPC films and relative humidity was established. The composite films had stable thermal properties as demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. FT-IR and X-ray analyses indicated the formation of ester bonds from carboxyl groups in zein and hydroxyl groups in PPC, maintaining the stability of zein-PPC films.

The efficacies of high pressure carbon dioxide (HPCD) treatment for inactivating dried culture powder and suspension of E. coli were comparatively evaluated by measuring the activity of H+-ATPase in E. coli, determining the amino acid composition of HECD extracts using an amino acid analyzer, and observing the morphology of E. coli cells under a scanning electron microscope (SEM) before and after HPCD treatment. The results obtained demonstrated that the inactivation of E. coli by HPCD was achieved jointly by mechanical rupture, extraction and acidification rather than a single action.

The effects of p-coumaric acid and chlorogenic acid on the formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) was investigated in the Maillard reaction models of glucose with glutamate, lysine, glycine, and cysteine respectively. The results showed that the production of 5-HMF in different amino acid-glucose reaction systems decreased in the order: glutamate, lysine, glycine and cysteine. Both phenolic acids played a dual role of inhibition and promotion in the formation of 5-HMF in Maillard reaction systems. Various concentrations of phenolic acids had different effects on the formation of 5-HMF and constant concentrations in different Maillard reaction systems also revealed different effects on the formation of 5-HMF.

The rheological and gel properties of egg white and yolk were determined using a rheometer and a texture analyzer at different stages during the processing of preserved eggs. Rheological analysis showed that preserved egg white was characteristic of a non-Newtonian and pseudoplastic fluid during processing, and its viscosity reduced with increasing shear rate, suggesting that it was a shear-thinning fluid. Egg yolk was transformed gradually from a non-Newtonian expanded plastic fluid into a pseudoplastic plastic fluid, and its viscosity distinctly reduced with increasing shear rate. Texture analysis showed that the hardness of egg white gel revealed an initial increase, and a sequential decrease, and then a final increase again during the processing of preserved eggs. The springiness of egg white revealed an initial increase followed by a decrease, and then remained stable. The hardness of egg yolk gel revealed an initial increase and then an unchanged level. The springiness of egg yolk exhibited an initial decrease and a final increase.

The inhibitory effect of T. viride fermentation broth on S. aureus growth was investigated in this study. The results showed that the inhibition ring diameter of T. viride fermentation broth was (29.77 ± 0.03) mm. The MIC and MBC were 2.0 μg/mL and 4.0 μg/mL, respectively compared with 8.0 μg/mL and 10.0 μg/mL for sodium benzoate, respectively. After 12 h of treatment with T. viride fermentation broth, the total quantity of S. aureus declined by 42% compared with control samples. The consumption of phosphorous by S. aureus gradually came to an end during 2 h of treatment with T. viride fermentation broth. After 1 h treatment at 100 ℃, the inhibitory rate of T. viride fermentation broth remained 82.64%. A medium pH ranging between 7 and 8 provided maximum inhibitory rate of over 90%. In conclusion, T. viride fermentation broth has effective inhibitory effects on the growth and phosphorous consumption of S. aureus which are affected little by heat treatment.

In order to investigate the effect of heat treatment on white shrimp quality, the changes in aerobic plate count, color, hardness and pH of shrimp meat were studied. Moreover, electrophoresis technology was also used to assess protein from heat-treated shrimp meat. Shrimp meat were heated in a water bath in a range of 40—90 ℃ for 10 min. Heat treatment induced a reduction of aerobic plate count (P＜0.05) compared to untreated samples. Temperatures higher than 40 ℃ provided a brighter and less transparent appearance of shrimp meat. The whiteness (WI) and total colour difference (ΔE) of shrimp meat showed an overall trend of increase with increasing temperature. While the pH and hardness presented an inverted S-type change. Electrophoresis analysis demonstrated that intermolecular cross-links by non-covalent bond were enhanced with increasing temperature. Protein bands in low molecular weight area were more abundant in sample heated at 60 ℃. Aggregation of unfolded proteins could be induced by intermolecular disulfide bond at a higher temperature. These results indicated that shrimp quality is related to protein modifications which are not a single change process during heat treatment.

The effect of pH 2.0—9.0 on the maximum absorption wavelength of pitaya pigment extract was analyzed. Meanwhile, we studied the degradation kinetics of the pigment extract. It was found that pitaya pigment extract showed maximum absorption at 532, 534, 536, 534, 535, 536, 538 nm and 543 nm, respectively under the conditions of 28 ℃ and pH 2.0—9.0. The degradation of the extract obeyed first-order reaction at specific pH levels. A parabolic relationship between rate constant (k) and pH was found. At pH levels between 4.0 and 6.0, smaller k values were obtained and the extract was stable.

Free phenolic extracts and bound phenolic extracts from three different cultivars of adlay, Heigu, Lianning No.5 and Longyi No.1 were prepared and analyzed for total phenolic content by a modified Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method using a microplate reader. At the same time, antioxidant activity evaluation of these extracts was carried out using peroxyl hydroxyl scavenging capacity (PSC) assay. Longyi No.1 was significantly richer in both free and bound phenolics than Heigu and Lianning No.5. The ratio of bound to total phenolics in Longyi No.1 was 45.28%. Moreover, free, bound and total phenolics from Longyi No.1 showed a higher hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging capacity than those from other two cultivars. For these adlay cultivars, the average contribution rate of bound phenolics to total hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging capacity was 43.64%. They revealed a significant correlation between total phenolic content and hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging capacity (R2 = 0.935). A significant correlation was also observed between the hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging capacity of bound phenolics from adlay and its total hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging capacity (P＜0.05). Furthermore, free phenolics had significantly higher relative content and larger contribution to total hydrogen peroxide radical scavenging capacity than bound phenolics (P＜0.05).

High-gluten, middle-gluten and low-gluten wheat flours were determined by static equilibrium gravimetric method for adsorption and desorption equilibrium moisture contents under different conditions of temperature (10, 20, 30 ℃ and 40 ℃) and humidity (11%—87%). Based on the obtained data, moisture adsorption isotherms were plotted and a logistic model was fitted to establish an empirical formula. Substantially the same moisture adsorption isotherms of high-gluten, middle-gluten and low-gluten wheat flours were observed as an ‘S’-shaped pattern under specific conditions. The adsorption isotherms of middle-gluten wheat four at 10, 20 ℃and 30 ℃ displayed a shift towards the bottom right of the coordinate. Middle-gluten wheat four revealed basically the same adsorption isotherm at 40 ℃ and 30 ℃. Adsorption hysteresis was observed at 10, 20 ℃ and 30 ℃ and the lower the temperature, the larger the hysteretic loop area. In contrast, hysteretic loop disappeared at 40 ℃. Therefore, a valid empirical formula of moisture adsorption isotherm for wheat flour has been developed in this study.

This study was designed to compare the hydrolysis efficiencies of trypsin, protamex, flavourzyme, papain, bromelin, and two kinds of endogenous proteases derived from the stomach and intestine of tilapia, respectively for tilapia meat. Meanwhile, we compared antioxidant properties of the resulting hydrolysates. All these seven hydrolysates had antioxidant effects. The highest degree of hydrolysis (20.85%) for tilapia meat was obtained using papain. Moreover, the final hydrolysate presented optimum DPPH and superoxide anion radical scavenging rates, which were 75.74%, 34.35%, respectively. Pepsin provided a degree of hydrolysis of 17.03% and maximum hydroxyl radical scavenging rate and reducing power (60.51% and 0.653, respectively). Taken together, these results suggest that hydrolysates with better antioxidant activity can be produced by hydrolyzing tilapia meat with either papain or pepsin in comparison with other five proteases.

Under controlled conditions, a bio-adsorbent was prepared by reacting naval orange peel with formaldehyde. The effects of initial Pb(Ⅱ) concentration, adsorption time and solution pH on the adsorption efficiency of the bio-adsorbent for Pb(Ⅱ) were investigated. The results indicated that adding 25 mg of formaldehyde treated naval orange peel to 15 mL of 150 mg/L Pb(Ⅱ) solution at pH 5.0 and then shaking the mixture for 2 h at constant ambient temperature resulted in a Pb(Ⅱ) removal rate of 99.85%. The adsorption of Pb(Ⅱ) by the bio-adsorbent reached equilibrium at approximately 2 h and obeyed second-order kinetics. The biosorption process followed Langmuir isotherm equation. The maximum adsorption capacity of the modified naval orange peel was 185.19 mg/g, and the optimum adsorption pH was 4.0—5.5.

Sensory, physical and chemical characteristics of 36 green grape varieties grown in Xinjiang were evaluated. Comprehensive analysis of major properties between these 36 varieties and the ideal variety was carried out using gray correlation grade analysis method for cluster analysis of the tested green grape varieties based on their weighted correlation degree with the aim of evaluating their suitability for preparing green raisins. The optimal varieties for preparing green raisins included Thompson Seedless, Delight, Jingzaojing, Perlette and Centennial Seedless, while Muscat Susanna, Xiekelange and Gloria Hungariae were unsuitable for preparing green raisins. These results were in good agreement with the actual performances of the various varieties, suggesting that this method can provide an evaluation system for screening optimal varieties in the raisin industry.

A modified fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm based on HSI color space was proposed and introduced for the separation of fascia region in color beef ribeye image. In this method, the H component and I component were used as feature vectors according to the distribution characteristics of beef ribeye image pixels to modify initial cluster center selection and distance-weight formula for FCM clustering algorithm. The results obtained showed that the proposed HSI algorithm could ensure fast convergence features of FCM clustering and increase the precision and accuracy of image segmentation, and had strong noise-suppressing capability.

Functional properties including solubility, water-absorbing capacity, oil-absorbing capacity, emulsifying activity, emulsifying stability, foam capacity and foam stability of adzuki bean protein isolate (API) were investigated by comparison with those of soybean protein isolate (SPI). API exhibited higher solubility at acidic pH, oil-absorbing capacity, emulsifying activity and foam capacity when compared with SPI. Meanwhile, API had much better emulsion stability and foam stability than soybean protein isolate.

Artificial diets with different protein levels were used to feed bees to explore the effect on adenosine content of royal jelly. Six trial groups were established by feeding diets containing different protein concentrations (15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35% and 40%) and the control group was fed on rape pollen. Royal jelly was collected once every three days for determining adenosine content of royal jelly. The results showed that the highest adensine content was observed in royal jelly harvested at the 12th and 18th day from bees fed 35% protein (P ＜ 0.01 vs. the control), while royal jelly from the rape pollen group showed nearly the lowest adenosine content.

In this paper, the dissolution and elimination characteristics of ozone in water and its bactericidal effect at various concentrations on Penicillium expansum in apples are described. We found that ozone-blowing time could affect the solubility of ozone. At 12—14 ℃, optimal ozone concentration was achieved after blowing for 15 min. The half-life time of ozone water was 23 min at 12—14 ℃ and 16 min at 29—30 ℃. In addition, ozone water had an obvious bactericidal effect on Penicillium expansum. Treatment of Penicillium expansum for 5 min with 1.2 mg/L ozone water provided a bactericidal rate of 93.00%.

In this study, fucoidan from Cucumaria frondosa body wall was purified and structurally characterized. A fraction named as CF-FUC was obtained by anion exchange chromatography and gel filtration chromatography. The fraction was analyzed for molecular weight by high-performance gel filtration chromatography, sulfate content by ion chromatography, monosaccharide composition by pre-column derivitization high-performance liquid chromatography, and fine structural characteristics by nuclear magnetic resonance. The molecular weight of CF-FUC was 360 kD with a sulfate content of (29.8 ± 3.2)%, and its monosaccharide composition included fucose, galactose, glucosamine and galactosamine at a ratio of 1:0.22:0.07:0.07. Moreover, NMR analysis revealed that the fucoidan was mainly composed of α-L-pFuc-2(OSO3) and α-L-pFuc. In conclusion, the structure of Cucumaria frondosa fucoidan is novel and different from that reported previously for sea cucumber fucoidan.

In this study, antioxidant compounds from Ledum palustre L. leaves were screened and identified by using an online high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ABTS+· screening system. Two antioxidant compounds from the ethyl acetate fraction in methanol extract were obtained. By mass spectroscopy (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, both compounds were identified as genistin and quercetin, respectively.

Broccoli was dried by three different methods, hot air drying, vacuum drying, vacuum freeze drying before superfine comminution to investigate the effects of these three drying methods on physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of superfine broccoli powder. The results showed that hot air drying provided superfine broccoli powder with the smallest angle of repose and the highest mobility. Vacuum dried powder had the highest specific weight. Vacuum freeze dried powder the highest water-absorbing capacity, oil-holding capacity and dissolvability but the lowest mobility. The nutritional quality of vacuum freeze dried power was much better than that of hot air dried powder and vacuum dried powder. The IC50 values of vacuum freeze dried, vacuum dried and hot air dried powder samples were 0.130, 0.210 g/100 mL and 0.245 g/100 mL for DPPH radicals, and 0.650, 0.710 g/100 mL and 0.720 g/100 mL for superoxide anion radicals, respectively. These data demonstrate that vacuum freeze dried broccoli powder has the strongest antioxidant activity.

A ε-polylysine-dextran (ε-PL-DE) complex with enhanced emulsifying capacity was prepared by modifying amino groups with carbonyl groups through Maillard reaction. Its antibacterial activity was evaluated by minimum inhibitory concentration and Oxford cup methods. The results showed that the ε-PL-DE complex at 60 ℃ could keep the antibacterial activity of ε-PL well. However, the higher the temperature, the faster its antibacterial activity declined. The complex was stable to neutral or slightly alkaline conditions rather than pH 4 or 9. SDS-PAGE analysis and determination of furfural content and color difference demonstrated that the Maillard reaction between ε-PL and DE gradually produced macromolecules and entered the final reaction stage, aggravating browning. Meanwhile, the Maillard reaction proceeded faster at high temperatures

The scavenging effect of adding different concentrations of oligochitosans (OCS) on the generation of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radicals in Red Fuji apple juice was measured. Meanwhile, the effect on the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) as well as the contents of antioxidant materials was determined. The results showed that OCS had strong scavenging effect on free radicals. OCS had a strong inhibitory effect on the production of superoxide anion free radicals, especially at concentrations of 2 mg/mL and 4 mg/mL. Moreover, OCS could delay the decrease of antioxidant enzyme activities and inhibit PPO activity. Therefore, OCS can enhance antioxidant enzymes activities, reduce the generation of free radicals, inhibit PPO activity, and consequently prevent the browning of apple juice.

Crude exopolysaccharides (EPS) isolated from the fermentation supernatant of Streptococcus thermophilus CH9 were fractionated by DEAE-52 column chromatography into EPS1, EPS2 and EPS3. Sephadex G-100 column chromatography was used to further fractionate the three factions to harvest their respective major components named as EPS1a, EPS2a and EPS3a, respectively. EPS1a was a neutral polysaccharide with a molecular weight of 1.8 × 106 u, and EPS2a and EPS3a were acidic polysaccharides with a molecular weight of 1.06 × 106 u and 1.05 × 106 u, respectively. Agarose gel electrophoresis analysis indicated that all these three polysaccharides consisted of a single component. UV and IR spectroscopic analyses showed that all of them had characteristic adsorption peaks of polysaccharide. EPS2a and EPS3a might be polysaccharide-protein complexes. Congo red test revealed that EPS1a rather than EPS2a and EPS3a had a three-stranded helix structure. Beta elimination test demonstrated that EPS1a and EPS3a were -O-linked, but EPS2a was a -N-linked polysaccharide.

The composition of anthocyanins extracted from black rice bran and purple cabbage were analyzed by HPLC-MS combined with MS-MS. The results showed that cyanidine-3-glucoside was the major component in black rice bran, accounting for more than 95% of total anthocyanins. Twenty-four anthocyanins were identified from purple cabbage and acylated cyanidine was predominant among them. Anthocyanins extracted from black rice bran had higher ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and DPPH radical scavenging capacity that those extracted from purple cabbage. The results obtained for the FRAP and DPPH radical scavenging capacity of both extracts supported the structure-effect relationship. On the contrary, the oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) of the extract from black rice bran was lower than that of the extract from purple cabbage. The black rice bran extract was less stable to pH 2.0, 3.0 and 7.4 than the purple cabbage extract. The higher the pH, the greater the stability difference between both extracts. Presumably because of this, the ORAC difference between them broke the structure-effect relationship of anthocyanins.

Resveratrol and chlorogenic acid, as phytochemicals were used to treat CHO cells. Cell viability was measured by using MTS, WST-1, CCK-8, XTT and MTT methods and the optimal method from MTS, WST-1, CCK-8 and XTT was screened by comparing with the conventional MTT methods. The cytotoxicity of resveratrol and cholorogenic was compared by IC50 value. Results: Compared with MTT assay, CCK-8 assay was timesaving, repeatable and easily operated. IC50 of resveratrol and chlorogenic acid detected by CCK-8 were closed to one by MTT assay. Thus, CCK-8 assay was optimal. On the contrary, WST-1 assay was less repeatable and cell viability rate tended to smaller. XTT assay was the worst because of its instability in wavelength, experimental time and repetition. IC50 of resveratrol on CHO cells were 116.86、124.68、64.90、329.83、86.30 μmol/L in CCK-8、MTS、WST-1、XTT and MTT assay. While IC50 of chlorogenic acid on cells were 2808.60、1119.96、1029.72、1325.43、2852.63 μmol/L respectively. The results showed higher IC50 value for chlorogenic acid. Conclusions: CCK-8 assay was a optimal method for cell viability ; Resveratrol showed higher cytotoxicity to CHO cells compared with chlorogenic acid.

The petroleum ether-soluble fraction of pooled ethanol extracts from the aboveground parts of Cirsium setosum (Willd.) MB was further fractionated by silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and preparative HPLC. The resulting sub-fractions were structurally identified by one-dimensional, two-dimensional NMR and MS spectroscopies. Four steroids were obtained, including ergosta-4, 24 (28)-diene-3-one (1), stigmast-4-en-3-one (2), stigmasterol (3) and β-sitosterol (4). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report showing the presence of Compounds 1 and 2 in the genus Cirsium and the presence of Compounds 1, 2 and 3 in Cirsium setosum (Willd.) MB. None of these identified compounds showed cytotoxic activity at a concentration of 1 × 10-5 mol/L as determined by in vitro MTT assay.

Zeta potential is an important measure of the stability of liposomes. The purpose of this study was to extend our previous research to investigate the effects of ecithin type, lipid concentration, Tween-80 concentration, pH, metal ion type, and metal ion concentration on Zeta potential of medium-chain fatty acid liposomes. The highest absolute value of Zeta potential (51.08 mV) was observed for the medium-chain fatty acid liposomes obtained from soybean lecithin at a concentration of 8 g/100 mL and Tween-80 at a mass ratio to soybean lecithin of 3:10. Increasing environmental cationic valence or ion concentration led to a gradual increase in the absolute value of Zeta potential of medium-chain fatty acid liposomes. Medium-chain fatty acid liposomes were the most stable in a slightly neutral environment (pH 7, 8) and its absolute value of Zeta potential was approximately 50 mV. Conversely, the worst stability was obtained in acidic (pH 1, 2) and alkaline (pH 13) environments and as a result, the Zeta potential was closed to 0 mV.

Oxidized caffeic acid (OCA) was employed to induce cross-linking in whey protein-based films. The thermal properties, light transmittance, water barrier properties, and in vitro digestibility of the resultant whey protein films were analyzed. OCA at 2% and 4% (based on protein content) application levels was incorporated into 6 g/100 mL heat-denatured (90 ℃) whey protein isolate (WPI) solutions before casting to form films. The protein cross-linking behavior and film functionality were characterized by electrophoresis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetry. The results showed that OCA promoted whey protein cross-linking primarily via disulfide bonds and partial non-reducible covalent bonds, leading to an improved thermal stability of the resultant films. OCA treatment significantly lowered the light transmittance and transparency, but slightly reduced the water vapor permeability (WVP) of the films. The in vitro digestion experiments carried out using pepsin and pancreatin showed that hydrolysis of the films was inhibited when higher concentrations of OCA were incorporated.

This study was carried out to investigate adsorption properties of grape seed proanthocyanidins on HZ818 macroporous resin. Through static adsorption experiments, we found that the adsorption process was endothermic. The static adsorption capacity of HZ818 macroporous resin for proanthocyanidins was 73.55 mg/g at an initial concentration of 1.07 mg/mL. Adsorption isotherms were plotted each of which could be well fitted to Langmiur equation. Fifty percent ethanol revealed the best desorption effect. The dynamic adsorption capacity was 109.13 mg/g at a loading concentration of 1.36 mg/mL and a flow rate of 2 BV/h. The desorption rate of proanthocyanidins was 93.81% after desorption with a 4-fold BV excess of 50% ethanol at a flow rate of 1 BV/h.

The purpose of this study was to explore the amino acid composition and digestion characteristics in a simulated gastric solution and a simulated intestinal solution of laver and kelp paper foods. The results indicated that both laver paper and kelp paper contained 8 essential amino acids, 2 semi-essential amino acids and 8 other amino acids. The content of amino acids in laver paper was 19.62 g/100 g. Flavor amino acids accounted for more than 20% of total amino acids in both paper foods. The digestibility of laver paper was 57% after 5 h of simulated gastric digestion compared with 36% for regular laver. The digestibility after 5 h of simulated gastric digestion was 18% for kelp paper and 13% for regular kelp. Laver paper and kelp paper showed a digestibility of respectively 78% and 28% after 5 h of simulate intestinal digestion, which were both much higher that that of their respective raw materials. In conclusion, laver paper and kelp paper can meet the FAO/WHO amino acid reference pattern and have excellent gastrointestinal digestion characteristics.

The nutritional characteristics and cooking quality of Xinong Heidasui black wheat, a big ear-type black wheat cultivar bred by Northwest A & F University, were studied by comparison with those of Xinong Heiyou cultivar (bred also by the university). It was found that the 1000-grain weight of Xinong Heidasui was 50.81 g, which was higher than that of Xinong Heiyou. Xinong Heidasui was also higher in the contents of ash, protein and total amino acids than Xinong Heiyou, which were 2.38%, 16.49% and 13.12%, respectively. Noodles and steamed breads processed from Xinong Heidasui scored 84.63 and 78.07 in sensory evaluation, respectively. This study suggests that Xinong Heidasui has excellent suitability for producing noodle and can be seen as a promising new resource for black foods.

As an approach to improving protein solubility, phosphorylation was introduced into the aqueous enzymatic extraction of soybean oil to increase total oil yield. The relationship between the secondary structure of soybean proteins modified for different time periods and total oil yield was explored by FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed a negative correlation between total oil yield and β-sheet content (r = －0.949, P = 0.004) or random coil content (r = －0.873, P = 0.023), as well as a positive correlation between total oil yield and α-helix content (r = 0.962, P = 0.002) or β-turn content (r = 0.912, P = 0.011).

A method for determining the emulsifying capacity of porcine muscle protein was developed by determining optimal experimental conditions for the emulsification of soybean oil by means of one-factor-at-a-time experiments and validation experiments. The results showed that when its homogenate at pH 6.25 was sheared at 8000 r/min and ambient temperature for 10 s and then left to stand for 10 min, the emulsifying capacity of porcine muscle protein was 55 mL of soybean oil per gram of sample, which was in basic agreement with 53 mL of soybean oil per gram of sample obtained by shearing at 8000 r/min for 10 s and then standing for 30 min. In conclusion, reliable and applicable experimental conditions for determining the emulsifying capacity of porcine muscle protein have been established.

In order to explore their polyphenolic content and antioxidant activity, polyphenolics were extracted from pruned branches of seven varieties of wild spine grape trees in winter collected from a resource garden in Jiangxi province by ultrasonic-assisted organic solvent extraction technique. The contents of total phenols, total flavonoids and proanthocyanidins in crude extracts obtained from these materials were determined. Meanwhile, the crude extracts were analyzed for in vitro DPPH radical scavenging capacity, hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity, cupric reducing power and total reducing power and correlation analysis of these antioxidant properties was carried out. The results revealed that the contents of total phenols, total flavonoids and proanthocyanidins in wild spine grape branches were in the range of 24.68—32.76, 51.03—72.63, and 36.69—44.41 mg per gram of dried sample, respectively. Dried wild spine grape branches from seven varieties ranged from 23.62 to 28.02 mg/g in DPPH radical-scavenging capacity, from 31.51% to 36.11% in hydroxyl radical-scavenging capacity, from 47.19 to 73.28 mg/g in cupric reducing power, and from 39.76 to 53.80 mg/g in total reducing power. Thus, wild spine grape branches are rich in phenolics and have a strong antioxidant effect. Furthermore, a high correlation of reducing power with the contents of total phenols, total flavonoids and proanthocyanidins was observed (R2 ＞ 0.9). In conclusion, wild spine grape branches can provide a promising base material for natural antioxidants and biopharmaceuticals.

Dietary fiber-rich powder from piyata peel (DFRPP) with three different particle sizes (DFRPP80, DFRPP140 and DFRPP250) was prepared. The contents of total dietary fiber (TDF), soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) were determined. The physicochemical characteristics of DFRPP were also investigated. The results showed that the contents of TDF and SDF in DFRPP140 with particle size of 58—104 μm revealed the highest level, which were 79.37% and 33.07%, respectively. DFRPP140 showed a good SDF/IDF ratio and the strongest water-holding capacity (WHC, 54.20 g/g), oil-holding capacity (OHC, 2.65 g/g) and swelling capacity (SC, 50.63 mL/g). Moreover, DFRPP140 had the best glucose dialysis retardation index (GDRI), which was 60.24%, 59.24% and 62.83% at 20, 40 min and 60 min, respectively. These findings suggest that DFRPP140 can be seen as an excellent source of dietary fiber for foods.

Physicochemical changes of soybean oil, sunflower oil, and palm oil when used to fry potato chips for consecutively 4 h/d a day in 5 consecutive days were evaluated in this study. The color of the three kinds of edible oil became dark and an increase in their viscosity was observed with increasing frying time. Moreover, the acid value (AV) showed an obvious increase but did not exceed the national standard, whereas increasing frying time resulted in gradually reduced iodine value (IV). All these edible oils revealed an initial increase followed by a decrease in peroxide value (POV), and soybean oil and sunflower oil showed fluctuant variations. Soybean oil and sunflower oil revealed a carbonyl value (CV) exceeding or very close to 50 meq O2/kg of the national standard as a result of repeated use for 3 days. On the fourth day, the content of total polar materials (TPM) in both oils exceeded the national standard. In contrast, CV and TPM of palm oil remained lower than those of soybean oil and sunflower oil during the whole frying process.

Lotus proanthocyanidin extract (LSPE) from lotus seedpods was prepared through extraction with aqueous methanol and purification by macroporous resin adsorption. Average degree of polymerization of LSPE was measured by means of acid degradation. Moreover, it was fractionated using TSK HW-40s resin and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The results showed that the extraction yield of proanthocyanidins was 7.65% after 1 h extraction at 60 ℃ with 60% aqueous methanol solution acidified to pH 2.0 at a solid-to-solvent ratio of 1:20 (m/V). AB-8 resin was the most suitable for LSPE purification among three types marcroporous resin investigated. The average degree of polymerization of LSPE was 3.2 in the ethyl acetate phase and 15.4 in the water phase. The ethyl acetate-soluble fraction of LSPE mainly comprised catechin, gallocatechin, and their dimers, trimers and tetramers in small quantities. This fraction was further fractionated by TSK HW-40s resin chromatography into 11 sub-fractions (F1—F11). F1, F2, F3 and F4 might be flavonoids or flavonoid glycosides, F5 was mainly composed of catechin and a small amount of epicatechin, F6 was made up of gallocatechin, catechin, procyanidins dimmer B3 and proanthocyanidins containing gallocatechin units, F7 consisted of catechin, procyanidins dimmers B1, B2 and B3, F8 comprised proanthocyanidins, and F9, F10 and F11 was likely to be polymers with higher degree of polymerization consisting of catechin and gallocatechin.

The effect of separate additions of transglutaminase (TGase) and phosphates on gel hardness and springiness of squid surimi was studied. The results indicated that both materials had a vital role in squid surimi gelation. The hardness and springiness of squid surimi gels could be enhanced by adding different concentrations of TGase or phosphates. Through one-factor-at-a-time experiments, the optimal amounts (based on the weight of squid surimi) of TGase (100 U/g), sodium pyrophosphate, sodium polyphosphates, and sodium tripolyphosphate added to squid surimi were determined to be 0.50%, 0.30%, 0.30%, and 0.30%, respectively. Maximum hardness and springiness were obtained by using two-stage heating (kept at 60 ℃ for 1 h).

In this study, raw mustard and pickled mustards at different pickling stages as well as pickle juice were analyzed by RP-HPLC for their variations in organic acid contents. In the RP-HPLC analysis, the chromatographic column used was an Agilent TC type C18 column. The separation of organic acids was performed by using a mobile phase made up of 3% methanol and 0.5% KH2PO4 which adjusted to pH 2.8 with H3PO4 at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set as 215 nm, and the column temperature was controlled at 17 ℃. Eight organic acids were separated effectively under these conditions. The organic acids exhibited a recovery rate varying between 95.73% and 100.55% and a relative standard deviation ranging from 2.04% to 3.12%. The RP-HPLC method had a good linear correlation and was accurate. Sonication was found to be better for extraction of organic acids than water bath heating and ethanol extraction. The contents of organic acids in pickled mustards and pickle juice increased as the pickling number increased from 1 to 3. The most predominant acid was lactic acid, which accounted for 29.94% and 38.55% of total organic acids in once pickled and twice pickled samples, respectively. The relative content of lactic acid was 73.50% during the late part of the third pickling cycle. Among all processing stages of mustard, rinsing had the largest impact on organic acids followed by manual acidity adjustment.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) mimotope was displayed on phage surface. Two complementary oligonucleotides which contained OTA mimotope DNA sequences were cloned into vector pC89S4. Helper phage MOI (multiplicity of infection) and IPTG addition were optimized to gain phages with high density expression of OTA mimotope through phage display technology. The expression efficiency was measured by ELISA analysis. The result showed that high density OTA mimotope phages were obtained successfully. Helper phage MOI and IPTG concentration showed little influence the expression of OTA mimotope. However, IPTG addition at different time points had great effects on the expression of OTA mimotope. The expression efficiency was greatly improved after optimization.

This paper deals with the optimization of fermentation conditions for cellulase production from corn stover treated by alkaline hydrogen peroxide by both Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus niger. Four fermentation conditions including delay time of Aspergillus niger inoculation, inoculum ratio between Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus niger, fermentation time and solid-to-liquid ratio were investigated by one-factor-at-a-time experiments and their respective appropriate levels were determined for the optimization of these fermentation conditions using a Box-Behnken design coupled with response surface analysis. The optimal fermentation conditions for cellulase production were as follows: Aspergillus niger was inoculated 36 h later than Trichoderma reesei at a ratio of 1:5 between them; the fermentation medium was at a solid-to-liquid ratio of 2:50 (m/V) and pH was 5.0 and contained 0.4%Tween-80 and its filled quantity was 50 mL in a 250 mL flask; the fermentation period was 7 d. The final products obtained under these conditions showed a filter paper activity of 1.224 IU/mL and a β-glucosidase activity of 0.315 IU /mL. HPLC analysis indicated that more complete cellulase system with enhanced hydrolysis efficiency on lignocellulose for production of fermentable sugars was produced by jointly Trichoderma reesei and Aspergillus niger than either of them.

In order to obtain an effective method for reducing the allergy of freshwater fish, the effect of enzymatic hydrolysis on antigen activity of mandarin fish protein was investigated. Neutral formaldehyde titration and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were correspondingly used to detect the degree of hydrolysis (DH) and antigen activity of allergic protein from mandarin fish. Single factor analysis and response surface methodology were employed to analyze the effects of hydrolysis time, enzyme/substrate ratio, reaction temperature and pH as well as their interactions on DH and antigen activity. A mathematical regression model was established, and the optimal hydrolysis conditions were determined as hydrolysis pH of 8.00, enzyme/substrate ratio of 2940 U/g, reaction temperature of 40 ℃ and reaction time of 4 h. Under these conditions, the theoretical DH and reduction rate of antigen activity were 35.93% and 56.78%, respectively, very close to 36.67% and 58.33% of the actual results.

The effects of different types of added nitrogen source, carbon source and metal ion on the growth of L. casei LC2W in skim milk were evaluated to identify glucose, soybean polypeptide and MnSO4 as the best nutritional factors for L. casei LC2W. In addition, the logarithmic count of L. casei LC2W was investigated with respect to the concentrations of the selected nutritional factors. Response surface analysis based on a three-variable, three-level Box-Behnken design was employed to optimize these nutritional factors. MnSO4 concentration had the most important influence on the logarithmic count of L. casei LC2W followed by soybean polypeptide concentration; the effect of glucose concentration was the weakest. Moreover, a significant interaction between MnSO4 concentration and soybean polypeptide concentration was observed. The optimal concentrations of glucose, soybean polypeptide and MnSO4 were determined to be 65.90, 7.68 mg/L and 13.88 mg/L, respectively, yielding a L. casei LC2W count of 2.6 × 109 CFU/mL in 24 h of fermentation, which was 11.38 fold higher than before the optimization (2.1 × 108 CFU/mL).

Whole genome shuffling technique was used to enhance protease production by Bacillus subtilis B4. A candidate mutant library was constructed by UV irradiation of Bacillus subtilis B4. Based on the optimum conditions for protoplast preparation and regeneration, multi-parental whole genome shuffling was carried out with 4 mutant strains (BRS1, BRS2, BRS5 and BRS6) by PEG mediated protoplasts fusion. Then BRS1, BRS5 and BRS6 were identified by biparental inactivation method as 3 excellent strains with greatly improved protease activity and good genetic stability. The maximum activity was as high as 2175.81 U/mL, which was increased 3.01 fold compared with the initial strain B4.

The major fermentation medium components for isomaltooligosaccharide production by Aspergillus niger CU-1 were optimized by full factorial, steepest ascent and Box-Behnken designs. The optimal medium components were determined to be 4% wheat bran extract, 19.67 g/L corn steep liquor, 2.24 g/L NaNO3, and 250 g/L saccharified cassava starch. Fermentation of the optimized medium by Aspergillus niger CU-1 was carried out in a 3.6 L fermenter to obtain isomaltose, panose and isomaltotriose yield as high as 37.4%, an isomaltooligosaccharide yield as high as 83.1%. The good agreement between the predictive and actual values indicated that the mathematical model established based on Box-Behnken design was valid.

In this study, a hapten was synthesized from methyl 2-[(sulfamoyl)methyl] benzoate and succinic anhydride. The synthetic hapten was identified by thin layer chromatography and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. An immune antigen (hapten-BSA) and a coating antigen (hapten-OVA) were prepared through separate conjugation of the hapten with BSA and OVA by mixed anhydride method. The conjugation ratios of the immune antigen and coating antigen were calculated to be 8:1 and 13:1 based on UV spectroscopic analysis, respectively, suggesting their good immunogenicity. Positive sera with a titer of 1:32000 were obtained by animal immunization trials. The IC50 and IC10 of antibody were determined by indirect ELISA assay to be 0.5032 mg/L and 0.0024 mg/L, respectively. Therefore, the synthesis of artificial antigen is successful.

PCR and GC-MS were used to detect arcABC gene cluster in fifty O. oeni strains conserved in the College of Enology of Northwest A&F University to determine their abilities for ethyl carbamate production. All the O. oeni strains were found to possess the genes arcA, arcB and arcC, i.e. arcABC gene cluster. A trace amount of ethyl carbamate was found after 30 d of cultivation in a simulated wine culture medium fortified with arginine, indicating that all these strains have the potential to produce ethyl carbamate.

The liquid fermentation medium and culture conditions to produce antibacterial substances capable of inhibiting Fusarium graminearum as a plant pathogenic fungus were studied. The anti-Fusarium graminearum activity of fermentation broth was measured by agarose diffusion method. The optimal fermentation medium was determined to consist of 1 g/100 mL soybean meal, 1.5 g/100 mL corn flour, 1g/100mL wheat bran, 0.5 g/100 mL rice flour, 0.07 g/100 mL KH2PO4, 0.03 g/100 mL MgSO4, 0.1% CaCO3, and sea water (natural pH). The optimal fermentation conditions were as follows: the medium pH was adjusted to pH 9.0 and the filled volume was 110 mL in a 500 mL shake flask at a shake speed of 180 r/min; the inoculum was inoculated at a level of 7% for a fermentation duration of 33 h at 28 ℃. The resulting fermentation broth had strong antibacterial effects on 16 selected plant pathogenic fungi with an inhibitory bandwidth exceeding 7 mm, and also showed inhibitory effects on 5 tested bacteria.

Purposes: To identify the classification position of a blue pigment producing strain named as B9-8 isolated from low temperature sewage and to characterize pigment produced by it. Methods: Based on morphological observation and 16 S rRNA sequence alignment, the strain was identified as a possible new member of the genus Janthinbacterium. Results: The blue pigment from this strain showed a maximum absorption peak at 579 nm and had good solubility in water and organic solvents. In addition, it was stable to heat and pH but unstable to light. After 3 d of exposure to natural sunlight a loss of 61.3% was found. Low concentrations of metal ions had little effects on its stability, whereas some metal ions at high concentrations, especially Al3+, had a great impact on its stability, resulting in a loss as high as 73.1%. Conclusion: Therefore, we speculated that the blue pigment might be violacein.

A total of 22 strains of marine actinomycetes were isolated from seawater, sea mud, offshore soils, marine animals and marine plant samples collected from the sea area near Lianyungang by gradient dilution method. The antimicrobial activity of these strain isolates was tested by plate confrontation method. It was found that 9 of them had antimicrobial activity. Strain ZW-1 had the strongest antimicrobial activity, and it and its fermentation broth possessed strong inhibitory effects on 8 plant pathogenic fungi including Fusarium nivale, Fusarium graminearum, Alternaria alternate, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Alternaria solani, Helminthosporium carbonum, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.niveum, and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.vasinfectum. In addition to causing cell wall expansion and protoplast contraction in pathogenic fungal mycelia, this strain and its fermentation broth could inhibit the germination of A. solani conidiophores and the elongation of germ tubes. Based on its culture characteristics, morphology, physiological and biochemical properties, and 16S rDNA sequence, ZW-1 strain was identified as Streptomyces mediolani.

Fuzhuan brick tea samples collected from a production line of Yiyang Tea Factory Co. Ltd. at different stages of production was tracked for variations in microbial populations by plate dilution method. Meanwhile the dominant fungus “Jinhua” was purified from them, and its sexual and asexual spores were cultivated inductively for morphological observations under light and electron microscopes and 18S rDNA analysis. Moreover, taxonomic identification of this strain was carried out. During the pile-fermentation process, the dominant microbes were yeast, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Rhizopus rather than “Jinhua” fungus. However, “Jinhua” fungus progressively became dominant during its growth stage after tea was compressed into bricks. Based on its morphological characteristics and 18S rDNA sequence, the fungus was identified as Eurotiμm cristatμm.

3T3-L1 preadipocytes were differentiated into 3T3-L1 adipocytes with combined 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, dexamethasone and insulin for establishing an insulin-resistant adipocyte cell model. Treatment with 10-7 mmol/L insulin for 48 h was the best condition for induction of insulin resistance as determined by glucose consumption experiments. Insulin resistance could be kept in the developed model for 48 h. High concentration of insulin could successfully induce insulin resistance in 3T3-L1 adipocytes with the advantages of time saving, good repeatability and ease operation. This model will be also available for screening of natural products that improve insulin sensitivity.

After amonanium sulfate precipitation followed by ion-exchange chromatography on CM-Sepharose column and Superdex-200 gel-filtration, ribonuclease from Bacillus megaterium was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. Some of its enzymological properties were then explored. The results showed that the enzyme was 606.67-fold purified with specific activity of 54272.27 U/mg and recovery rate of 11.37%. The molecular weight was 33.3 kD. Optimum activity of the enzyme was achieved at 52.5 ℃ and pH 8.5. The enzyme displayed good stability at 20—40 ℃ and pH 6.0—7.0. The activity of this enzyme was inhibited by Fe2+, Cu2+, SDS, ascorbic acid and oxalic acid.

Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the biosynthesis of cytidine triphosphate (CTP) from cytidine monophosphate (CMP) by immobilized yeast cells. CTP was analyzed by HPLC. Critical phosphate ion and Mg2+ concentrations for CTP synthesis were found and CTP yield was restricted when phosphate ion and Mg2+ were lower than their respective critical concentrations. The optimal CTP synthesis conditions were determined as follows: 20 g of immobilized yeast cells were cultured in 20 mL of 100 mmol/L CMP containing 100 mmol/L glucose, 250 mmol/L phosphate and 15 mmol/L Mg2+ at pH 6.1 for 2 h. Under these conditions, the yield of CTP was up to 67.89%.

Two dominant strains for the primary fermentation of Yangjiang lobster sauce were isolated from its koji which were identified as Aspergillus oryzae and Rhizopus oryzae respectively based on their 18S rRNA sequences and morphological features. One vigorous strain with high protease activity was picked from colonies of each of the identified strains and cultured in wheat bran medium. The effects of koji-making temperature and time as well as fermentation starters (the picked strains used jointly or separately) on strain growth, the contents of amino nitrogen, reducing sugar and total acids and sensory quality of lobster sauce were investigated. The results showed that the lobster sauce produced by 56 h fermentation at 36 ℃ with both picked strains exhibited the best quality.

In order to analyze the relationship between molecular structure and antilisterial activity of enterocin A, MBP-enterocin A mutants (C14S, K46E or K46Q, and C47W) with serine, glutamic acid or glutamine, and tryptophane as a substitute for cysteine (at position 14), lysine (at position 46) and cysteine (at position 47) respectively were created and expressed in Escherichia coli fusion expression systems. The mutants K46E and K46Q showed similar anti-Listeria ivanovii LIV2 activity to MBP-enterocin A, while the mutants C14S and C47W had no inhibitory effect on Listeria ivanovii LIV2. Therefore, the residues C14 and C47 rather than K46 were essential for the antibacterial function of enterocin A.

Goldfishes (Carassius auratus) were exposed to rhodamine B at concentrations of 5 mg/L and 15 mg/L in water to explore the accumulation of rhodamine B in the liver, kidney, cheek, muscle and spine. Meanwhile, additional goldfishes were intraperitoneally injected with rhodamine B and placed back into dechlorinated tap water to investigate the elimination of rhodamine B. Rhodamine B reached an equilibrium state in goldfishes after 15 days and 12 days of absorption at 5 mg/L and 15 mg/L. The maximum and minimum accumulation coefficients of rhodamine B for equilibrium absorption at the high and low concentrations were observed in the liver and muscle, respectively, which were 16.14 and 7.37 for maximum accumulation, and were 0.97 and 0.77 for minimum accumulation, respectively. The concentrations of rhodamine B in goldfish organs were gradually eliminated and reached equilibrium on the 9th day after intraperitoneal injection. Different goldfish tissues could be ranked as follows: kidney ＞ muscle ＞ bone ＞ gill ＞ liver in decreasing order of the elimination rate of rhodamine B, and liver ＞ gill ＞ bone ＞ kidney ＞ muscle in decreasing order of the half-life of rhodamine B.

Objective: To evaluate the anti-fatigue effect of milk powder with added casein hydrolysate prepared with pepsin in mice. Methods: Healthy BALB/C mice were intragastrically administered with casein hydrolysate or milk powder with its addition for 28 consecutive days. At 30 min after the last administration, weight-loaded swimming tests were carried out and blood urea nitrogen, blood lactic acid and liver glycogen in mice were assayed. Results: Both test materials could prolong the weight-loaded swimming time of mice, reduce the contents of blood lactic acid and blood urea nitrogen, and increase liver glycogen content. Conclusion: Both casein hydrolysate and milk powder with its addition have anti-fatigue effects in mice and can relieve fatigue.

Purpose: To investigate the anti-fatigue effects of polysaccharides derived from Dendrobium nobile Lindl (DNP) in mice. Methods: The anti-fatigue effect of polysaccharides was evaluated based on the forced swimming performance and the changes of biochemical parameters in ICR mice. Mice were orally administrated with DNP at a dose of 500 mg/(kg·d) day for 4 successive weeks to create a treatment group and those given distilled water every day were assigned to a control group. After the end of the 4-week administration period, all mice were subjected to weight-loaded forced swim test and then measured for swimming time and biochemical indicators such as blood triglyceride, blood sugar, blood ammonia and glycogen. Results: Compared with distilled water, DNP especially alkaline-soluble DNP could significantly lengthen the swimming time of mice, increase blood triglyceride and glucose levels, and reduce blood lactic acid and ammonia levels, and post-swimming hepatic and muscle glycogen consumption in mice. Conclusion: DNP can exert anti-fatigue effects in mice by increasing fat utilization and delaying the accumulation of plasma lactic acid and ammonia.

Rats were fed different types of resistant starch (RS) to study the effect of RS on intestinal metabolites and serum lipids. The results showed that RS2, RS3 and RS4 had physiological functions to reduce body weight, lower intestinal pH, increase cecum tissue weight, the weight, moisture content, short-chain fatty acid content and ammonia content of the cecal contents, and regulate blood lipid level. RS4 could result in the smallest body weight gain and showed the greatest serum cholesterol-reducing effect. RS3 had the best regulatory effect on intestinal metabolites and was the most effective in lowering serum triacylglycerol (by approximately 30% at average).

Objective: To investigate the effect of deer antler base proteins on estrogen level and immune function in mice with mammary gland hyperplasia. Methods: Mouse models of mammary gland hyperplasia were established by combined injection of estradiol benzoate and progesterone. After administration with deer antler base proteins for 25 consecutive days, the mouse models were tested for serum estradiol level, uterus coefficient and immune organ coefficients. Results: In comparison with the model group, the treatment group showed a significant reduction in serum estradiol level and uterus coefficient of mice with mammary gland hyperplasia (P＜0.05) and a significant increase in thymus coefficient and spleen coefficient (P＜0.05). Conclusion: Deer antler base proteins regulate the secretion of estrogens and enhance immune function in mice.

This study was designed to analyze the nutritional composition of Taxus chinensis var. mairei seeds and the acute toxicity of its aril. The seed aril of Taxus chinensis var. mairei was found to contain 8.3% soluble solid, 10.28% soluble sugar, 1.39% crude protein, 2.17% crude fiber, 2.76% crude fat and 16.31 mg of vitamin C per100 g of sample. The oil content of its seed kernel was 28.55% and 6 fatty acids were identified from the seed oil of Taxus chinensis var. mairei, including 4 unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, two linoleic acid isomers and 11-eicosenoic acid) with a relative content 94.59%. The seed aril of Taxus chinensis var. mairei contained 15 amino acids and 8 essential amino acids accounted for 43.71% of total amino acids. Ca as a relatively abundant major element and Fe as a relatively abundant trace element were detected. No obvious poisoning symptoms and no deaths were observed in mice during 14 days after oral administration of the seed aril of Taxus chinensis var. mairei., suggesting that this material had no acute toxicity.

Objective: To study the effects of Imperata cylindrica polysaccharides on blood glucose and lipid in diabetic mice. Method: Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin in mice. The changes of body mass, glucose tolerance, blood lipid parameters, GSP and liver glycogen of mice were examined. Results: Blood glucose and blood lipid levels of diabetic mice were significantly ameliorated by administration of Imperata cylindrica polysaccharides. Compared with diabetic control mice, Imperata cylindrica polysaccharides significantly decreased GSP, TG, TC, and LDL-C levels of mice, and remarkably increased liver glycogen and HDL-C levels. Comparable results were obtained using metformin hydrochloride. Conclusion: Imperata cylindrica polysaccharides are effective in ameliorating the metabolism of blood glucose and lipids in diabetic mice.

Objective: To investigate the inhibition of β-1,3-1,6 glucan derived from black yeast on the growth of transplanted ascites tumors and immune functions in mice. Methods: BALB/c mouse models with transplantation of S180 ascites tumors were established. The BALB/c mice bearing S180 ascites tumors were intervened by oral administration of black yeast β-1,3-1,6 glucan once daily. The volume of S180 ascites tumors was measured regularly during the 21-day administration period. Moreover, the levels of ten cytokines including IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IFN-γ, TNF-α, TNF-β and G-CSF in mouse serum were assayed and the contents of CD4, CD8, C3, IgG and IgM were also measured. Results: Compared with the blank control group, the intervention group showed a significant increase in the levels of the ten cytokines (P＜0.01, P＜0.05). In addition, the levels of CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio, C3, IgG and IgM were also increased significantly (P＜0.01, P＜0.05). Conclusion: β-1,3-1,6 glucan derived from black yeast can considerably inhibit the transplanted tumor growth of S180 and the mechanism underlying this great inhibitory effect may be related to improved cellular and humoral immune functions.

Objective: To explore the effect of Ganoderma lucidum polysacchrides (GLP) combined with fluorouracil treatment on the proliferation and apoptosis of human colon carcinoma HCT-116 cells in vitro. Methods: The inhibitory effects of both drugs on the proliferation of HCT-116 cells were measured by using MTT assay. The combinatorial index method was used to analyze their synergistic inhibitory effect. Observations of morphological changes were carried out with Hoechst33258 fluorescence staining. The impact of GLP on cell cycle and apoptosis rate of HCT-116 cells was evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM). Results: GLP and 5-FU treatment alone suppressed the proliferation of HCT-116 cells. GLP treatment (＞659 μg/mL) in combination with 5-FU (＞1.6 μg/mL) revealed an obvious synergistic effect on the proliferation of HCT-116 cells (CI＜1) which exhibited a significant difference when compared with 5-FU treatment alone (P＜0.01) in a time-dependent manner. After treatments for 48 h, the cells showed typical apoptosis characteristics. The apoptotic HCT-116 cells were 36.14% after GLP (5 mg/mL) combined with 5-FU (50μg/mL) treatment for 24 h, which was higher than that obtained from 5-FU treatment alone (26.07%). The apoptotic HCT-116 cells induced by 1.25 mg/mL GLP combined with 12.5μg/mL 5-FU, 2.5 mg/mL GLP combined with 25μg/mL 5-FU, and 5 mg/mL GLP combined with 50μg/mL 5-FU for 48 h were 20.95%, 32.87% and 30.01%, respectively, showing an increase compared with 5-FU (50 μg/mL) treatment alone (14.51%). The arrested cell cycle in combinatorial treatment group was observed at S phase. Conclusion: GLP at higher concentration combined with 5-FU can synergistically suppress the proliferation of human colon cancer HCT-116 cells, and enhanced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HCT-116 cells.

During the period of pregnancy which is very special in life, the diet is very important for maternal and fetal health. As an essential composition for daily diet, fatty acids have an effect on health, which has become increasingly prominent. Unscientific intake of fatty acids by pregnant women will not only damage their own health, but also have adverse influence on fetal development or even epigenetics. A growing number of studies have showed that the over-does free fatty acids and ω-6 fatty acids can induce the inflammatory response in vivo, while anti-inflammatory activity of ω-3 fatty acids can balance the response in vivo. The effect of fatty acids metabolism, immune activity on maternal and fetal immune status and epigenetics are discussed in this review. Advices about scientific intake of fatty acids for pregnant women are also provided at the end of this article.

Electrical properties and influencing factors are important to the understanding of heating behaviors, heating efficiency, heating and testing equipment design and influencing factor elimination for fruits and vegetables. In this paper, the principle and testing techniques of electrical properties for fruits and vegetables are described. Meanwhile, the influencing factors including compositions, structures, temperature and water content of fruits and vegetables as well as testing frequency are summarized.

The metabolism of carbon sources and the generation of products and by-products during malolactic fermentation (MLF) in wine by Oenococcus oeni have a great impact on sensory quality of wine. O. oeni participates in the metabolism of glucose, malic acid, and citric acid and the formation of products during MLF, which finally affects the overall sensory quality of wine. Environmental conditions are also important factors influencing the growth of O. oeni in MLF. Malic acid, citric acid and pH influence on the growth of O. oeni. SO2 can inhibit the activity of ATPase and high content of ethanol may increase the fluidity of cell membrane, thus impeding the growth of O. oeni during MLF. Moreover, dissolved oxygen is unfavorable to bacterial growth, but favorable to the multiplication of other harmful microorganisms such as acetic acid bacteria and the increase in concentration of by-products such as diacetyl and acetic acids, thus leading to low quality of wine. In this paper, the metabolisms of malic acid, citric acid and glucose as well as the generation mechanisms and affecting factors of lactic acid, acetic acid, diacetyl and acetoin are reviewed.

The most important purpose of functional foods is to improve people’s health. In recent years, problems in the functional food market appear frequently in China. The major problem is imperfect standard system and unscientific and unreasonable functional evaluation. A growing number of studies have demonstrated that functional foods exert the healthcare roles through cytokine network in human body. Based on these research results, the best way to resolve the credit crisis of functional foods is to create a functional evaluation system using cytokines. This functional evaluation system can not only ensure the inspection authority, but also can provide a reliable guidance for consumers according to their demands.

The traditional purification and culture method is used to study microorganisms present in meat and meat products all the time. However, this method is a tedious process and cannot accurately describe the complete microflora structure. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) has been applied widely in microbial ecology research due to its high convenience and accuracy. In this paper, the principle of PCR-DGGE is introduced briefly, and its recent applications to study the spoilage of non-fermented meat products and the maturation of fermented meat products are reviewed. Moreover, some disadvantages of this technique and its further prospects are discussed.

Consumption of cruciferous vegetables can cut the risk of developing a variety of cancers. Erucin is an isothiocyanate present in Eruca sativa. The structure and chemical properties, metabolism and bioavailability of erucin and the mechanism underlying its cancer-preventing function are discussed in this paper. Therefore, erucin will be a potential anti-cancer substance in the future.

In the food industry, air-impingement jet technology is mainly used for food drying and baking. Compared to the traditional hot-air drying method, this novel drying technology has multiple advantages such as higher heat-transferring coefficient and drying rate, lower power consumption, and improved product quality. In this paper, the current applications of air-impingement jet technology in food thermal processing are systematically reviewed. Its major technical characteristics are summarized and future development trends are discussed.

Ergot alkaloids are a large, complex family of mycotoxins, and have a long history associated with agricultural problems and human diseases. As a result, developing an effective detection procedure is of substantial importance. In this paper, we review recent research advances in the structure characteristics of ergot alkaloids and their sample pretreatment methods as well as detection methods including clorimetry, thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and some modern detection methods such as GC-MS, LC/ESI-MS/MS, high performance capillary zone electrophoresis and near infrared spectroscopy.

Okara is a byproduct of soybean processing with abundant nutrients including dietary fiber, protein, flavonoids and other compositions. In this paper, physiological functions of okara and its application in foods are reviewed.

Selenium can exert its physiological functions in the form of selenoproteins in immune system. Macrophages play a pivotal role in immune regulation and bacterial defense. Recently, it has been found by using mice fed on selenium-rich diets, gene knockout mice and monoclonal antibody technology that selenoproteins have significant impact on redox status, migration and inflammatory responses of macrophages. In this article, we review recent research advances in the effects of selenoproteins on redox level, walk characteristics and inflammation in macrophages at the molecular level. This review suggests that selenoproteins may have complicated molecular modulation mechanisms and prospect medicinal benefits.