Purification, identification and molecular docking studies of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory peptides from Edible Bird's Nest.

This study investigated antioxidant and anti-inflammatory peptides from Edible Bird's Nest (EBN). The prepared EBN peptides were sequentially separated, purified, and successively identified by ultrafiltration, gel filtration and mass spectrometry techniques. Four potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory peptides were identified as Peptide 1 (LFWSPSVYLK), Peptide 2 (GWPHLEDNYLDW), Peptide 3 (NPPADLHK) and Peptide 4 (GDLAYLDQGHR). Molecular docking analysis revealed that Peptide 1 and Peptide 2 can competitively interrupt the formation of Keap1-Nrf2 due to the presence of hydrophobic and antioxidant amino acids in their peptide sequences. Peptide 3 and Peptide 4 have a strong effect on interacting with the binding site of IKK-ß due to the interaction of anti-inflammatory amino acids and C-terminal arginine/lysine. The four peptides were synthesised and validated for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The results suggest that the four peptides may serve as promising bioactive peptides for preventing oxidative stress and inflammation-related diseases.

Airborne microplastic/nanoplastic research: a comprehensive Web of Science (WoS) data-driven bibliometric analysis.

This paper presents the landscape of research on airborne microplastics and nanoplastics (MPs/NPs) according to the bibliometric analysis of 147 documents issued between 2015 and 2021, extracted from the Web of Science database. The publications on airborne MPs/NPs have increased rapidly from 2015 onwards, which is largely due to the existence of funding support. Science of the Total Environment is one of the prominent journals in publishing related papers. China, England, the USA, and European Countries have produced a significant output of airborne MP/NP research works, which is associated with the availability of funding agencies regionally or nationally. The research hotspot on the topic ranges from the transport of airborne MPs/NPs to their deposition in the terrestrial or aquatic environments, along with the contamination of samples by indoor MPs/NPs. Most of the publications are either research or review papers related to MPs/NPs. It is crucial to share the understanding of global plastic pollution and its unfavorable effects on humankind by promoting awareness of the existence and impact of MPs/NPs. Funding agencies are vital in boosting the research development of airborne MPs/NPs. Some countries that are lacking funding support were able to publish research findings related to the field of interest, however, with lesser research output. Without sufficient fundings, some impactful publications may not be able to carry a substantial impact in sharing the findings and discoveries with the mass public.

Prevention of Enzymatic Browning by Natural Extracts and Genome-Editing: A Review on Recent Progress.

Fresh fruits and vegetable products are easily perishable during postharvest handling due to enzymatic browning reactions. This phenomenon has contributed to a significant loss of food quality and appearance. Thus, a safe and effective alternative method from natural sources is needed to tackle enzymatic browning prevention. The capabilities of natural anti-browning agents derived from plant- and animal-based resources in inhibiting enzymatic activity have been demonstrated in the literature. Some also possess strong antioxidants properties. This review aims to summarize a recent investigation regarding the use of natural anti-browning extracts from different sources for controlling the browning. The potential applications of genome-editing in preventing browning activity and improving postharvest quality is also discussed. Moreover, the patents on the anti-browning extract from natural sources is also presented in this review. The information reviewed here could provide new insights, contributing to the development of natural anti-browning extracts and genome-editing techniques for the prevention of food browning.

Valorisation of biomass and diaper waste into a sustainable production of the medical mushroom Lingzhi Ganoderma lucidum.

Global solid waste is expected to increase by at least 70% annually until year 2050. The mixture of solid waste including food waste from food industry and domestic diaper waste in landfills is causing environmental and human health issues. Nevertheless, food and diaper waste containing high lignocellulose can easily degrade using lignocellulolytic enzymes thereby converted into energy for the development and growth of mushroom. Therefore, this study explores the potential of recycling biomass waste from coffee ground, banana, eggshell, tea waste, sugarcane bagasse and sawdust and diaper waste as raw material for Lingzhi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) cultivation. Using 2% of diaper core with sawdust biowaste leading to the fastest 100% mushroom mycelium spreading completed in one month. The highest production yield is 71.45 g mushroom; this represents about 36% production biological efficiency compared to only 21% as in commercial substrate. The high mushroom substrate reduction of 73% reflect the valorisation of landfill waste. The metabolomics profiling showed that the Lingzhi mushroom produced is of high quality with a high content of triterpene being the bioactive compounds that are medically important for treating assorted disease and used as health supplement. In conclusion, our study proposed a potential resource management towards zero-waste and circular bioeconomy for high profitable mushroom cultivation.

Edible Bird's Nest: The Functional Values of the Prized Animal-Based Bioproduct From Southeast Asia-A Review.

Edible Bird's Nest (EBN) is the most prized health delicacy among the Chinese population in the world. Although some scientific characterization and its bioactivities have been studied and researched, no lights have been shed on its actual composition or mechanism. The aim of this review paper is to address the advances of EBN as a therapeutic animal bioproduct, challenges and future perspectives of research involving EBN. The methodology of this review primarily involved a thorough search from the literature undertaken on Web of Science (WoS) using the keyword "edible bird nest". Other information were obtained from the field/market in Malaysia, one of the largest EBN-producing countries. This article collects and describes the publications related to EBN and its therapeutic with diverse functional values. EBN extracts display anti-aging effects, inhibition of influenza virus infection, alternative traditional medicine in athletes and cancer patients, corneal wound healing effects, stimulation of proliferation of human adipose-derived stem cells, potentiate of mitogenic response, epidermal growth factor-like activities, enhancement of bone strength and dermal thickness, eye care, neuroprotective and antioxidant effects. In-depth literature study based on scientific findings were carried out on EBN and its properties. More importantly, the future direction of EBN in research and development as health-promoting ingredients in food and the potential treatment of certain diseases have been outlined.

Microplastics and nanoplastics in global food webs: A bibliometric analysis (2009-2019).

This paper presents the research landscape on microplastics and nanoplastics (M/NPs) in global food webs based on a bibliometric analysis of 330 publications published in 2009-2019 extracted from Web of Science. The publications increased tremendously since 2013. Marine Pollution Bulletin is one of the top productive journals for this topic. The publication landscape related to M/NPs in global food webs, as interdisciplinary research, is highly dependent on the funding availability. The high productivities of England, China, USA and European countries are attributed to the funding from the agencies at regional or national levels. Keyword analysis reveals the shift of research hotspots from investigations on M/NPs absorbed by various organisms in the ecosystems to studies on the trophic transfer of M/NPs and sorbed contaminants in the food webs and their associated adverse impacts. Funding agencies play important roles in leading the future development of this topic.

Technologies for Assessment of Motor Disorders in Parkinson's Disease: A Review.

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized as the commonest neurodegenerative illness that gradually degenerates the central nervous system. The goal of this review is to come out with a summary of the recent progress of numerous forms of sensors and systems that are related to diagnosis of PD in the past decades. The paper reviews the substantial researches on the application of technological tools (objective techniques) in the PD field applying different types of sensors proposed by previous researchers. In addition, this also includes the use of clinical tools (subjective techniques) for PD assessments, for instance, patient self-reports, patient diaries and the international gold standard reference scale, Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Comparative studies and critical descriptions of these approaches have been highlighted in this paper, giving an insight on the current state of the art. It is followed by explaining the merits of the multiple sensor fusion platform compared to single sensor platform for better monitoring progression of PD, and ends with thoughts about the future direction towards the need of multimodal sensor integration platform for the assessment of PD.