Health Benefits of High Voltage Electrostatic Field Processing of Fruits and Vegetables.

High voltage electrostatic field processing (HVEF) is a food preservation procedure frequently used to produce healthy minimally processed fruits and vegetables (F&V) as it reduces the growth of microorganisms and activates or inhibits various enzymes, thus retarding their natural ripening while preserving and even enhancing native nutritional quality and sensory characteristics. HVEF is one of the various nonthermal processing technology (NTPT) regarded as abiotic stress that can activate the antioxidant system of F&V and can also inhibith spoilage enzymes as, polyphenol oxidase (PPO), lipoxygenase (LOX), pectin methylesterase (PME), polygalacturonase (PG), cellulase (Cel), ß-xylosidase, xyloglucan and endotransglycosylase/hydrolase, bringing positive effect on hardness, firmness, colour attributes, electric conductivity, antioxidant compounds, microstructure and decreasing electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA) contents and browning degree. This technique can also increase the contents of fructose, glucose, and sucrose and decrease the production of CO2 and H2O2. Additionally, it has been reported that HVEF could be used with other treatments, such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) and acidic electrolyzed water (AEW) treatment, to enhance its effects. Future works should deepen on elucidating the activation of the antioxidant systems by applying HVEF of critical enzymes related to the synthesis pathways of phenolic compounds (PC) and carotenoids (Car). Holistic approaches to the effects of HVEF on metabolism based on systems biology also need to be studied by considering the overall biochemical, physical, and process engineering related aspects of this technique.

Designed Functional Dispersion for Insulin Protection from Pepsin Degradation and Skeletal Muscle Cell Proliferation: In Silico and In Vitro Study.

Functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes with polyethylene glycol (PEGylated SWCNTs) are a promising nanomaterial that recently has emerged as the most attractive "cargo" to deliver chemicals, peptides, DNA and RNAs into cells. Insulin therapy is a recommended therapy to treat diabetes mellitus despite its side effects. Recently, functional dispersion made up of bioactive peptides, bioactive compounds and functionalized carbon nanomaterials such as PEGylated SWCNTs have proved to possess promising applications in nanomedicine. In the present study, molecular modeling simulations are utilized to assist in designing insulin hormone-PEGylated SWCNT composites, also called functional dispersion; to achieve this experimentally, an ultrasonication tool was utilized. Enzymatic degradation assay revealed that the designed functional dispersion protects about 70% of free insulin from pepsin. In addition, sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay, the quantification of insulin and glucose levels in differentiated skeletal muscle cell supernatants, reveals that functional dispersion regulates glucose and insulin levels to promote skeletal muscle cell proliferation. These findings offer new perspectives for designed functional dispersion, as potential pharmaceutical preparations to improve insulin therapy and promote skeletal muscle cell health.