Rapid geographical indication of peppercorn seeds using corona discharge mass spectrometry.

With increasing demands for more rapid and practical analyses, various techniques of ambient ionization mass spectrometry have gained significant interest due to the speed of analysis and abundance of information provided. Herein, an ambient ionization technique that utilizes corona discharge was applied, for the first time, to analyze and categorize whole seeds of black and white peppers from different origins. This setup requires no solvent application nor gas flow, thus resulting in a very simple and rapid analysis that can be applied directly to the sample without any prior workup or preparation. Combined with robust data pre-processing and subsequent chemometric analyses, this analytical method was capable of indicating the geographical origin of each pepper source with up to 98% accuracies in all sub-studies. The simplicity and speed of this approach open up the exciting opportunity for onsite analysis without the need for a highly trained operator. Furthermore, this methodology can be applied to a variety of spices and herbs, whose geographical indication or similar intellectual properties are economically important, hence it is capable of creating tremendous impact in the food and agricultural industries.

Investigation of key chemical species from durian peduncles and their correlations with durian maturity.

The popularity and high price of durian make quality control in terms of ripeness very important, which in turn depends heavily on harvesting at an appropriate maturity stage. To date, reports on data-driven methods for maturity prediction are scarce, with many rather focusing on ripeness prediction. Herein, we report the first disclosure of key molecular markers in the liquid extract of durian peduncle that can be a predictive tool for maturity. Multiple chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques including TLC, HPLC, PS-MS, LC-MS/MS, and NMR, were used to characterize chemical profiles of the aqueous extracts from peduncles at different ages. Four compounds that show positive correlations with maturity were identified as sucrose, asparagine, arginine, and pipecolic acid, with asparagine as the most abundant species. This finding paves the way for more research of high impact such as the relationship between biochemical reactions in peduncle and pulp, and the development of accurate and non-destructive sensors for maturity prediction.

Cationic Moieties in Polystyrene Gels Swollen with d-Limonene Improved Transdermal Delivery System.

d-limonene, a terpene and natural compound, has been found to be an excellent penetration enhancer for transdermal drug delivery (TDD). It hence has been incorporated within various transdermal formulations. Herein, we report the application of polystyrene gel swollen with d-limonene and its derivatives for TDD. Poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) (PS gel), poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene-co-4-vinylpyridine) (PS-4VP) gel and poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene-co-(vinylbenzyl) trimethylammonium chloride) (PS-VBAC gel) were employed as chemical gels to improve the stability of the TDD substrates. The drug permeation properties from the PS gels swollen in limonene were examined, regarding the effect of its network density as well as their rheological properties. The lowest density of the network showed the highest steady flux of the permeation at 43.7 ± 0.3 µg/cm². FT-IR spectra were confirmed for PS-4VP and PS-VBAC, bearing cationic moieties and they could control the release of ibuprofen by the electrostatic interaction at the interface of organogel and skin. The steady state flux of skin permeation got low values from 55.2 ± 0.8 to 11.6 ± 2.0 µg/cm², when the cationic moieties were increased. Moreover, the chemical network of PS gel swollen in limonene showed high mechanical stability illustrated by elastic modulus (G') of about 98 kPa for 10% cross-linked PS gel. The developed PS gels swollen in limonene show highly promising results, suggesting their possible application in TDD.