Biodegradable Binary and Ternary Complexes from Renewable Raw Materials.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the interactions between polysaccharides with different electrical charges (anionic and neutral starches) and proteins and fats in food ingredients. Another objective is to understand the mechanisms of these systems and the interdependence between their properties and intermolecular interactions. At present, there are not many studies on ternary blends composed of natural food polymers: polysaccharides of different electrical charge (anionic and neutral starches), proteins and lipids. Additionally, there are no reports concerning what type of interactions between polysaccharide, proteins and lipids exist simultaneously when the components are mixed in different orders. This paper intends to fill this gap. It also presents the application of natural biopolymers in the food and non-food industries.

Synthesis of New Amino-ß-Cyclodextrin Polymer, Cross-Linked with Pyromellitic Dianhydride and Their Use for the Synthesis of Polymeric Cyclodextrin Based Nanoparticles.

New water soluble amino ß-cyclodextrin-based polymer was synthesized by reaction between amino cyclodextrin derivatives and pyromellitic anhydride. This experiment presents amino derivatives, which were synthesized by attaching amino groups to ß-cyclodextrins (ß-CDs) used mono-6-azido-6-deoxy-ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD-N3) and triphenylphosphine (Ph3P) in anhydrous N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). An amino blocking reaction was conducted. The obtained polymer was purified by ultrafiltration. In addition, an attempt was made to create nanospheres by encapsulating the polymer with chitosan (CT) in an acidic condition. For the first time, nanospheres were obtained in the reaction between an amino ß-cyclodextrin polymer and chitosan. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). 1H NMR and ESI-MS methods for confirmation of reaction product and for structural characterization were employed. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies of polymers were also carried out.

Critical study of crop-derived biochars for soil amendment and pharmaceutical ecotoxicity reduction.

In this study, biochars (BCs) produced from crops (straw and seeds) were tested for the applicability as additive to soils. The effect on pH, water capacity and cation exchange capacity of soil were tested. The ability for the sorption of pharmaceuticals (beta-blockers, anti-inflammatory drugs, sulfonamides, 17α-ethinylestradiol, carbamazepine, caffeine) using the batch sorption test was performed, and the effect of water pH was investigated. In addition, the metals removed from the biochar was analyzed as a potential toxicity factor. The mechanism of adsorption (Langmuir, Freundlich) was tested for sulfadimetoxine. The effect of the rye-derived biochar on water cress germination and the reduction of the sulfonamides toxicity to this plant was tested. The advantages of crop-derived biochar application to different soils (sand soil, clay soil and reference soil) was presented. It was found that tested BCs effectively increase the water capacity of soils, especially sand type soil, but in the same time it had increase the pH of pure-buffering soils. The driving force of pharmaceutical sorption was its ionization form - the highest sorption occurs for cations, medium for neutral forms, while the lowest sorption for anions. The opposite situation have been noted for desorption from biochar. The washing of biochars increases sorption for the neutral and anionic species, but not for the cations. The application of biochars into the soils can from one site protect the plants from toxic impact of sulfonamides, but from the other hamper the root prolongation by the pH increase.