Change in oligosaccharides during processing of soybean sheet.

Oligosaccharides have been credited with many health-promoting functions, which had been identified in many clinical studies, such as promoting the growth of Bifidobacterium in human intestine and balance of intestinal bacteria, modulating the immune response, inhibition of cancer and tumor, stimulation of mineral absorption. In this study the effect of processing unit operations on the levels of soybean oligosaccharides during production of soybean sheet were investigated. The concentrations of oligosaccharide in initial raw soybean were: sucrose 43.05 g/kg, raffinose 7.52 g/kg and stachyose 41.32 g/kg (in dry matter). Oligosaccharide losses in the soaking water, in the first filtrating stage, in the second filtrating stage and finally in the sheet formation stage were 0.68, 10.3, 8.15 and 47.22 g/kg (initial dry soybean) respectively, representing 0.74, 11.21, 8.87 and 51.39% of the total oligosaccharides present in the initial soybeans. The recovery of oligosaccharides in the final soybean sheet from the initial soybean was 27.92%. The loss of soybean oligosaccharides in different processing stages, especially in the by-product, the sweet slurry, was considerable. The loss of oligosaccharides was mainly associated with water/matter removal in production process. The analysis of loss profile implied possible ways to improve the technology for production of oligosaccharides-enriched soy-sheets.

Fruit quality of transgenic tomatoes with suppressed expression of LeETR1 and LeETR2 genes.

Tomato fruit is renowned for its high concentration of phyto-nutrients such as lycopene and carotenoids, overall contribution to nutrition and human health. The effect of antisense suppression of ethylene receptor genes LeETR1 and LeETR2 over the quality of tomato fruit was investigated in this paper. During the different stages of ripening, the fruit of antisense transgenic tomatoes of ale1 and ale2, compared to their wild type B1, showed higher total soluble solids, acidity and electrolytes accumulations and color development; lower fruit firmness, fruit viscosity and fruit elasticity. However, no significant difference of Vc content, total sugar, fruit pH value and fruit pigments between transgenic lines and B1 were noticed. ale1 and ale2 showed shortened shelf life. The data suggest that fruit with suppressed LeETR1 and LeETR2 genes expression have stronger ethylene response, which accelerate fruit ripening and greatly altered tomato variety characteristics.

Metabolism of flavone C-glucosides and p-coumaric acid from antioxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB) in rats.

The metabolism of flavone C-glucosides and p-coumaric acid from antioxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB) in rats is discussed systematically in the present study. Following single oral administration of AOB, p-coumaric acid was detected in plasma but not in gastrointestinal tract extracts and faeces, and the corresponding absorption pharmacokinetic curve at different time points showed a prolonged elimination phase with p-coumaric acid being detected in the kidneys and excreted as its original form (1 x 80 (sd 0 x 24) % and 1 x 90 (sd 0 x 26) % at 12 and 24 h, respectively). However, the four flavone C-glucosides orientin, homoorientin, vitexin and isovitexin were poorly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. More than 50 % recovery of flavone C-glucosides was determined at 12 h and faeces containing these four analytes (21 x 23 (sd 1 x 92) %) were excreted at 24 h. These data suggested that the effective time these compounds were in the colon was long enough so that they could exert their antioxidant activity and scavenge free radicals. Besides the excretion of the original forms, moieties of the flavone C-glucosides were hydrolysed by deglycosylation and the opening of the heterocyclic C ring. Some small molecules such as phloroglucinol (PG), hydrocaffeic acid (HCA) and phloretic acid (PA) were detected and identified as metabolites of the flavone C-glucosides. In the present work, we compared the metabolic fate of flavone C-glucosides to that of flavone O-glucosides in rats, and evaluated the absorption, tissue distribution and excretion of flavone C-glucosides in AOB on their metabolism for the first time.

Anti-fatigue activity of a triterpenoid-rich extract from Chinese bamboo shavings (Caulis bamfusae in taeniam).

The anti-fatigue activity of a pentacyclic triterpenoid extract from bamboo shavings (EBS) from the bark of bamboo (Bambusa tuldoides Munro), was evaluated in BALB/c mice. EBS, isolated by the supercritical CO(2) fluid extraction (SFE) technique, was given to mice at concentrations of 0.04 (low-dose group), 0.08 (middle-dose group) and 0.25 g/kg body weight (high-dose group). The anti-fatigue activity of EBS was estimated by the change in body weight, weight-loaded swimming test and climbing test, and corresponding parameters including serum urea nitrogen, hepatic glycogen and blood lactic acid were measured. The results showed that an appropriate level of EBS could prolong the weight-loaded swimming and climbing time, and had an active effect on the serum urea nitrogen, hepatic glycogen and blood lactic acid level in BALB/c mice, which significantly embodied the anti-fatigue activity of EBS. Overall, it is predicted that EBS, being a composition mainly containing a group of pentacyclic triterpenoids, and its main triterpenoid components have great potential for application in relevant fields for its anti-fatigue activity.

Characteristics of transgenic tomatoes antisensed for the ethylene receptor genes LeETR1 [corrected] and LeETR2 [corrected].

Two stable transformed lines containing antisense LeETR1 [corrected] or LeETR2 [corrected] sequences and their hybridized line were investigated to determine the effect of LeETR1 [corrected] and LeETR2 [corrected] specificity in the ethylene receptor family in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) on ethylene signaling. The transgenic line ale1 containing antisense LeETR1 [corrected] displayed shorter length of seedling grown in the dark and adult plant in the light, severe epinastic petiole, and accelerated abscission of petiole explant and senescence of flower explant, compared with its wild type B1. The transgenic line ale2 containing antisense LeETR2 [corrected] also exhibited shorter hypocotyls and slightly accelerated abscission. The phenotypes of cross line dale of LeETR1 [corrected] and LeETR2 [corrected] were close to ale1 in many aspects. These results suggested that LeETR1 [corrected] probably plays a relatively important role in ethylene signaling of tomato growth and development.

Characteristics of fruit ripening in tomato mutant epi.

The characteristics of fruit ripening and expression of ripening-related genes were investigated in epi, an ethylene overproduction mutant of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.). The epi produces apparently more ethylene than its wild type VFN8 at every stage of vegetative and fruit growth and ripening; compared to VFN8, the epi fruit showed higher CO2 evolution, faster descending of chlorophyll, slightly quicker increase of carotenoid and lycopene, and faster reduction in pericarp firmness during maturation and ripening; and the mRNAs of three ripening-related genes including E8, pTOM5 and pTOM6 were at higher levels in epi. The ripening-related characteristics changing of the fruit are consistent with the increase of ethylene production and ripening-related genes expression. These results suggest that epi mutation possibly did not affect the ethylene perception and signaling during fruit ripening, and that the modified characteristics of fruit ripening possibly resulted from the ethylene overproduction and increased expression of ripening-related genes.

Determination of flavone C-glucosides in antioxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB) fortified foods by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet diode array detection.

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with ultraviolet diode array detection (UV-DAD) was used for the simultaneous determination of four flavone C-glucosides, i.e. orientin, homoorientin, vitexin and isovitexin in several food systems fortified by the antioxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB), such as high temperature sterilized milk, sunflower seed oil and extruded rice cake for the first time. The method included extraction of flavone C-glucosides from AOB-fortified foods by methanol aqueous solution, deproteinating with saturated lead acetate solution and potassium oxalate, defatting with n-hexane and clean-up by solid-phase extraction (SPE) with Phenomenex C18 cartridges. Analytes were separated with Luna C18 5 microm 250mm x 4.6mm column using acetonitrile and 1% (v/v) acetic acid (pH 3.0) as mobile phase. Good results were obtained with respect to repeatability (relative standard deviation (RSD)< 2.2%) and recovery (81.4-91.8%) which fulfilled the requirements defined by European Union (EU) legislation. The total amounts of four flavone C-glucosides were 12.56 microg/100 mL, 881.08 microg/100 mL and 1420.83 microg/100 g dry weight in AOB-fortified sterilized milk, sunflower seed oil and extruded rice cake, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of flavone C-glucosides in AOB-fortified samples. The optimized procedure could also be referenced for the separation of flavone C-glucosides in other fortified foodstuffs.