Analytical Characterization and Inhibitor Detection in Liquid Phases Obtained After Steam Refining of Corn Stover and Maize Silage

The utilization of agricultural products and residues for the production of value-added and biobased products is a highly relevant topic in present research. Due to the natural recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass against enzymatic degradation, pretreatments are important requirement for further processes. For the raw material in this study, corn stover (CS) as highly available agricultural residue and maize silage (MS) as model substrate for an ensiled agricultural product were pretreated by steam refining. However, after processing a liquid fraction and fibers are present. Subsequent to steaming the fiber fraction is well characterized. Nonetheless, in depth characterizations of the filtrates are also important for their subsequent utilization. Decreasing molar masses from 7,900 g/mol to 1,100 g/mol for CS filtrates and 100.000–12.900 g/mol for MS filtrates were determined with increasing severity. Due to their proven inhibitory effect on microorganisms weak acids, furans and phenolic compounds within the liquid phased were analyzed. Especially formic acid increases with increasing severity from 0.27 to 1.20% based on raw material for CS and from 0.07 to 0.23% based on raw material for MS. Further GC/MS measurements indicate, that up to 8.25% (CS filtrate) and 5.23% (MS filtrates) of the total peak area is related to inhibitory phenols. Considering the data, detoxification strategies are of non-negligible importance for filtrates after steam refining and should be considered for further research and process or parameter optimizations. An alternative may be the application of milder process conditions in order to prevent the formation of inhibitory degradation products or the dilution of the gained filtrates.

Impact of Drying Processes on the Nutritional Composition, Volatile Profile, Phytochemical Content and Bioactivity of Salicornia ramosissima J. Woods

Salicornia ramosissima J. Woods is a halophyte plant recognized as a promising natural ingredient and will eventually be recognized a salt substitute (NaCl). However, its shelf-life and applicability in several food matrices requires the use of drying processes, which may have an impact on its nutritional and functional value. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of oven and freeze-drying processes on the nutritional composition, volatile profile, phytochemical content, and bioactivity of S. ramosissima using several analytical tools (LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS and SPME-GC-MS) and bioactivity assays (ORAC, HOSC, and ACE inhibition and antiproliferative effect on HT29 cells). Overall, results show that the drying process changes the chemical composition of the plant. When compared to freeze-drying, the oven-drying process had a lower impact on the nutritional composition but the phytochemical content and antioxidant capacity were significantly reduced. Despite this, oven-dried and freeze-dried samples demonstrated similar antiproliferative (17.56 mg/mL and 17.24 mg/mL, respectively) and antihypertensive (24.56 mg/mL and 18.96 mg/mL, respectively) activities. The volatile composition was also affected when comparing fresh and dried plants and between both drying processes: while for the freeze-dried sample, terpenes corresponded to 57% of the total peak area, a decrease to 17% was observed for the oven-dried sample. The oven-dried S. ramosissima was selected to formulate a ketchup and the product formulated with 2.2% (w/w) of the oven-dried plant showed a good consumer acceptance score. These findings support the use of dried S. ramosissima as a promising functional ingredient that can eventually replace the use of salt.

The Impact of Drying and Rehydration on the Structural Properties and Quality Attributes of Pre-Cooked Dried Beans

Fresh common beans can be made ‘instant’ to produce fast-cooking beans by first soaking and cooking the beans before drying to create a shelf-stable product that can be rehydrated at the time of use. This study investigated the interplay between the drying process (air, vacuum and freeze drying), the microstructure and functional attributes of rehydrated pre-cooked beans. The microscopic study revealed that the three different drying techniques resulted in distinctly different microstructures, with the freeze drying process resulting in highly porous materials, while the air- and vacuum-dried samples underwent shrinkage. Additionally, the rehydration behavior (modeled using empirical and diffusion models) demonstrates that the high rehydration rate of freeze-dried beans is due to capillarity, while rehydration, in the case of air- and vacuum-dried beans, is primarily diffusion-controlled. Irrespective of the drying technique, the high rehydration capacity supports little to no structural collapse or damage to the cell walls. The color and texture of the rehydrated beans did not differ greatly from those of freshly cooked beans. The total peak area of the volatiles of rehydrated beans was significantly reduced by the drying process, but volatiles characteristic of the cooked bean aroma were retained. This new understanding is beneficial in tailoring the functional properties of pre-cooked dry convenient beans requiring short preparation times.

Quality changes of Pleurotus eryngii during vacuum frying

Quick and accurate determination of oil content is extremely important to control the oil content of vacuum fried fruit and vegetable chips. This article uses fresh Pleurotus eryngii as raw materials to explore the influence of different vacuum frying times (0–14 min) on the moisture distribution, oil changes and quality of Pleurotus eryngii strips. The results show that as the frying time increases, the lateral relaxation time required for the taro strips to drop from the highest point of the signal amplitude to smooth becomes shorter and shorter, and the decay rate becomes faster and faster, that is, when the frying time is 14 minutes, The attenuation curvature and velocity are the largest. The oil content and brittleness of Pleurotus eryngii strips are significantly increased (P < 0.05); the water content is significantly reduced (P < 0.05); the hardness first decreases and then increases (P < 0.05); the brightness L* value does not change much, and the color is not Significant change (P > 0.05). At the same time, low-field NMR shows that the high-degree-of-freedom water in the pleurotus eryngii strips migrates to the low-degree-of-freedom water during the vacuum frying process. Among them, the free water in the pleurotus eryngii strips has a large degree of freedom. It has been removed, resulting in poor mobility and increased inability to flow. Part of the free water migrates to the semi-bound water, and most of the semi-bound water migrates outward as free water and then is removed. From this, all peaks are gradually removed. Moving to the left, the total peak area decreases. During the frying process, the T2 relaxation time of Pleurotus eryngii strips all shifted to the left, the total peak area is continuously reduced, the water content is getting less and less, the fat content is getting higher and higher, and the fat content distributed in the edge shell is always higher than Other locations. Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance technology can provide a fast, accurate, and non-destructive method for detecting moisture and grease for the vacuum-fried fruit and vegetable chips. As the frying time increases, the inner contour of the MRI image of Pleurotus eryngii strips gradually becomes blurred, the brightness gradually decreases, the volume shrinks, the less water, and the image interior is close to the background color (blue), indicating that the sample has reached the end of drying; and The grease content is distributed in the edge shell layer higher than other positions. Therefore, the water is continuously removed, the oil signal becomes stronger and stronger, and the oil content of the sample becomes higher and higher.

In Vitro Polyploidization of Thymus vulgaris L. and Its Effect on Composition of Essential Oils

The aim of this work was to find an effective protocol for in vitro propagation and to perform the in vitro polyploidization of diploid Thymus vulgaris (2n = 30) using two experimental methods based on the use of oryzalin, an antimitotic agent. The ploidy level of the obtained shoots was checked by flow cytometric analysis. The most efficient conditions for inducing polyploidy were oryzalin concentrations of 0.346 and 1.73 mg L−1 present in the medium for two weeks. The vital polyploid shoots were multiplied for further evaluation, rooting and final transfer to nonsterile glasshouse and field conditions. The chemical compositions of the essential oils (EOs)—which were obtained from dried field grown plants by steam distillation—were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The identified substances contributed approximately 95% to the total peak area. Statistical analysis revealed that the tetraploid subclone and the diploid reference plant do not differ in total terpene content, but they do differ in the relative proportions of all the individual terpenes with the exception of α-pinene and UN5, indicating that both clones produce EOs of different quality. The obtained results showed the possibility of developing more efficient botanical insecticides based on EOs obtained from the tetraploid plants.

Alternative Extraction Methods of Essential Oil From the Flowers of Citrus aurantium L. Var Daidai Tanaka: Evaluation of Oil Quality and Sedative-Hypnotic Activity

The aim of this study was to analyze the content of hypnotic components in the essential oil from Citrus aurantium flowers (EDD), extracted by different methods, and to characterize its sedative-hypnotic effects. The sedative-hypnotic capacity of EDD was evaluated using pentobarbital-induced sleeping assays, locomotor activity tests and GABAA receptor antagonists. The results showed that EDD extracted by steam and water distillation (SWD), hydrodistillation (HD), and ultrasound-assisted hydrodistillation (UHD) had as their main components linalool, linalyl acetate, and limonene, comprising more than 55% of the total peak area. Compared with EDD extracted by HD and UHD, the total content of linalool and linalyl acetate in EDD obtained by SWD was highest, whereas the content of limonene in EDD extracted by the 3 different methods was not different. Oral and intraperitoneal administration of EDD resulted in reduced sleep latency and increased sleep duration of mice, as well as reduced locomotor activity, which was proven by decreases in the total distance travelled, average velocity, number of activities, and central distance. Interestingly, intraperitoneal injection of EDD had better sedative and hypnotic effects than oral ingestion. In vitro assays using SH-SY5Y cells showed that EDD dose-dependently increased Cl− influx, which could be blocked by the GABAA receptor antagonists, picrotoxin, bicuculline, and flumazenil, suggesting that EDD promoted sedative-hypnotic activity by potentiating GABAA receptor-mediated Cl− current responses. Altogether, these results suggest that the important hypnotic-sedative activity of EDD appears to be due to the effects of limonene, and particularly the high contents of linalool and linalyl acetate, which were effectively extracted by SWD.

Solvent-Free Microwave Extraction of Essential Oil and Hydrosol From Piper Longum Lour. Fruit and Evaluation of Antioxidant Activities

In this study, essential oil (EO) of Piper longum L. (PL) fruit was extracted by solvent-free microwave assisted extraction (SFME) and hydroditillation (HD) with hydrosol obtained as a by-product. Operational conditions for SFME were maximized by response surface methodology (RSM) combined with a Box-Behnken design (BBD). Results indicated that the maximum extraction rate of EO by SFME with the optimal parameters was 0.747%, which was significantly higher than 0.496% of HD method. The EOs analyzed by GC-MS, presented 50 and 36 compounds constituting 95.99% and 98.52% of the total peak area obtained by SFME and HD, respectively. The principal components of the both oils were sesquiterpenes and aliphatics while SFME EO contained more bioactive compounds of terpenoids. The predominant components of SFME and HD hydrosols were eugenol (25.44% SFME; 22.82% HD) and linalool (14.10% SFME; 22.37% HD). Trans-isoeugenol, observed for the first time in PL fruit, was presented in SFME hydrosol and took up 14.33% of all the detected compounds. Both the EO and hydrosol extracted by SFME possessed better antioxidant properties than those from HD method, which indicated that SFME was a superior approach to simultaneously obtain the two products.

Organic waste removal from pharmaceutical and textile effluents using composite adsorbent

Pharmaceutical and textile industries widely use inorganic and organic components which undergo different chemical and biochemical reactions with the ground water systems. The removal of organic wastes from effluents was carried out using a composite adsorbent. Four different samples were collected from the Gonoshasthaya Antibiotic Limted, Gonoshasthaya Pharmaceuticals Limited, Pakiza Dyeing and Printing Industries Limited and Bangladesh Dyeing and Finishing Industries Limited. Synthetic effluents of four types were prepared maintaining a similar chemical average of the collected samples. All the samples contained a high concentration of TDS, TSS, TS, COD and BOD5. The composite adsorbent performed excellently for all the samples. The concentrations of the components contained in the waste water were analyzed by UV-Visible spectrophotometer and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). After the treatment, the decreasing trend of the absorbance and total peak area indicated that the significant amount of effluent materials were removed. Bangladesh J. Sci. Ind. Res.55(3), 197-206, 2020

Towards Standardization of Data Normalization Strategies to Improve Urinary Metabolomics Studies by GC×GC-TOFMS

Urine is a popular biofluid for metabolomics studies due to its simple, non-invasive collection and its availability in large quantities, permitting frequent sampling, replicate analyses, and sample banking. The biggest disadvantage with using urine is that it exhibits significant variability in concentration and composition within an individual over relatively short periods of time (arising from various external factors and internal processes regulating the body’s water and solute content). In treating the data from urinary metabolomics studies, one must account for the natural variability of urine concentrations to avoid erroneous data interpretation. Amongst various proposed approaches to account for broadly varying urine sample concentrations, normalization to creatinine has been widely accepted and is most commonly used. MS total useful signal (MSTUS) is another normalization method that has been recently reported for mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics studies. Herein, we explored total useful peak area (TUPA), a modification of MSTUS that is applicable to GC×GC-TOFMS (and data from other separations platforms), for sample normalization in urinary metabolomics studies. Performance of TUPA was compared to the two most common normalization approaches, creatinine adjustment and Total Peak Area (TPA) normalization. Each normalized dataset was evaluated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The results showed that TUPA outperformed alternative normalization methods to overcome urine concentration variability. Results also conclusively demonstrate the risks in normalizing data to creatinine.