Physicochemical, rheological, antioxidant and immunological properties of four novel non-inulin (poly)saccharides from Asparagus cochinchinensis.

The impacts of four extraction techniques, including hot water, ultrasonic-assisted, complex enzyme-assisted and acid-assisted methods, on the morphological, physicochemical properties and bioactivities of Asparagus cochinchinensis (poly)saccharides (EACP, WACP, UACP, and AACP) were investigated and compared. The four samples were mainly composed of glucose, fructose, and galactose with molar ratios of 50.8:22.7:4.4 for WACP, 53.9:26.0:5.3 for UACP, 35.6:14.1:21.4 for AACP and 45.0:15.6:9.0 for EACP, respectively. The rheological result showed that ACPs were non-Newtonian fluids. EACP with high purity (97.65 %) had good DPPH, O2- and ABTS+ radical scavenging activities, and significantly promoted the proliferation of the RAW264.7 cells at low concentration. UACP had good Fe2+ chelating ability, radical (DPPH, O2- and OH) scavenging activities, which might be attributed to the existence of triple-helix structure. AACP had high yield, molecular weight (17,477.2 Da), high crystallinity (23.33 %), and good radical (OH and ABTS+) scavenging activities. All four significantly stimulated the transcript expression levels of TNF-α, IL-1ß and IL-6, as determined by RT-PCR. These results suggest that the exploitation and utilization of non-inulin (poly)saccharides extracted by ultrasonic-assisted, complex enzyme-assisted and acid-assisted extraction methods are potentially valuable as effective and natural immune adjuvants and antioxidants.

New Strategies for Biocontrol of Bacterial Toxins and Virulence: Focusing on Quorum-Sensing Interference and Biofilm Inhibition.

The overuse of antibiotics and the emergence of multiple-antibiotic-resistant pathogens are becoming a serious threat to health security and the economy. Reducing antimicrobial resistance requires replacing antibiotic consumption with more biocontrol strategies to improve the immunity of animals and humans. Probiotics and medicinal plants have been used as alternative treatments or preventative therapies for a variety of diseases caused by bacterial infections. Therefore, we reviewed some of the anti-virulence and bacterial toxin-inhibiting strategies that are currently being developed; this review covers strategies focused on quenching pathogen quorum sensing (QS) systems, the disruption of biofilm formation and bacterial toxin neutralization. It highlights the probable mechanism of action for probiotics and medicinal plants. Although further research is needed before a definitive statement can be made on the efficacy of any of these interventions, the current literature offers new hope and a new tool in the arsenal in the fight against bacterial virulence factors and bacterial toxins.

Investigation on Fermentation Characteristics and Microbial Communities of Wheat Straw Silage with Different Proportion Artemisia argyi.

Mycotoxins, secondary metabolites of fungi, are a major obstacle to the utilization of animal feed for various reasons. Wheat straw (WS) is hollow, and miscellaneous bacteria can easy attach to its surface; the secondary fermentation frequency after silage is high, and there is a risk of mycotoxin poisoning. In this study, a storage fermentation process was used to preserve and enhance fermentation quality in WS through the addition of Artemisia argyi (AA), which is an effective method to use WS resources and enhance aerobic stability. The storage fermentation of WS treated with AA had lower pH and mycotoxin (AFB1 and DON) values than the control due to rapid changes in microbial counts, especially in the 60% AA groups. Meanwhile, the addition of 60% AA improved anaerobic fermentation profiles, showing higher lactic acid contents, leading to increased efficiency of lactic acid fermentation. A background microbial dynamic study indicated that the addition of 60% AA improved the fermentation and aerobic exposure processes, decreased microbial richness, enriched Lactobacillus abundance, and reduced Enterobacter and Aspergillus abundances. In conclusion, 60% AA treatment could improve the quality by increase fermentation quality and improve the aerobic stability of WS silage by enhancing the dominance of desirable Lactobacillus, inhibiting the growth of undesirable microorganisms, especially fungi, and reducing the content of mycotoxins.

Deep-Learning-Enhanced Diffusion Imaging Assay for Resolving Local-Density Effects on Membrane Receptors.

G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) density at the cell surface is thought to regulate receptor function. Spatially resolved measurements of local-density effects on GPCRs are needed but technically limited by density heterogeneity and mobility of membrane receptors. We now develop a deep-learning (DL)-enhanced diffusion imaging assay that can measure local-density effects on ligand-receptor interactions in the plasma membrane of live cells. In this method, the DL algorithm allows the transformation of 100 ms exposure images to density maps that report receptor numbers over any specified region with ∼95% accuracy by 1 s exposure images as ground truth. With the density maps, a diffusion assay is further established for spatially resolved measurements of receptor diffusion coefficient as well as to express relationships between receptor diffusivity and local density. By this assay, we scrutinize local-density effects on chemokine receptor CXCR4 interactions with various ligands, which reveals that an agonist prefers to act with CXCR4 at low density while an inverse agonist dominates at high density. This work suggests a new insight into density-dependent receptor regulation as well as provides an unprecedented assay that can be applicable to a wide variety of receptors in live cells.

Near-Infrared Blinking Carbon Dots Designed for Quantitative Nanoscopy.

Blinking carbon dots (CDs) have attracted attention as a probe for single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), yet quantitative analysis is limited because of inept blinking and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Here we report the design and synthesis of near-infrared (NIR) blinking CDs with a maximum emission of around 750 nm by weaving a nitrogen-doped aromatic backbone with surplus carboxyl groups on the surface. The NIR-CDs allow conjugation to monovalent antibody fragments for labeling and imaging of cellular receptors as well as afford increases of 52% in SNR and 33% in localization precision over visible CDs. Analysis of fluorescent bursts allows for accurate counting of cellular receptors at the nanoscale resolution. Using NIR-CDs-based SMLM, we demonstrate oligomerization and internalization of programmed cell death-ligand 1 by a small molecule inhibitor for checkpoint blockade. Our NIR-CDs can become a generally applicable probe for quantitative nanoscopy in chemistry and biology.

Microbial community and fermentation characteristic of whole-crop wheat silage treated by lactic acid bacteria and Artemisia argyi during ensiling and aerobic exposure.

Whole-crop wheat silage (WCWS) is an excellent feed material for ruminants. However, microbial fermentation during silage production consumes valuable nutrients, decreasing the quality of silage. The main objective of this study was to assess how the addition of increasing amounts of Artemisia argyi (AA) affected fermentation quality, microbial composition, and mycotoxin production in whole-crop wheat at dough stage (WCWD) silage during ensiling to aerobic exposure compared with Lactiplantibacillus buchneri (LB). The addition of 20% AA, resulted in a lower pH and higher lactic acid content, was found in silage treated with 20% AA, and an obvious increase in the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was detected in silages treated with LB and 20% AA, respectively. Meanwhile, inoculation with 20% AA decreased the abundance of harmful microorganisms, including Acinetobacter, Enterobacter, and Aspergillus. It also reduced the contents of mycotoxins, Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), and deoxynivalenol (DON) during ensiling and aerobic exposure. These results confirmed that WCWD treated with 20% AA could improve the fermentation quality and enhance the aerobic stability of silage.

Variation of Microbial Community and Fermentation Quality in Corn Silage Treated with Lactic Acid Bacteria and Artemisia argyi during Aerobic Exposure.

Silage, especially whole crop corn silage (WCCS), is an important part of ruminant diets, with its high moisture content and rich nutrient content, which can easily cause contamination by mold and their toxins, posing a great threat to ruminant production, food safety and human health. The objective of this study was to examine effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactiplantibacillus (L.) plantarum subsp. plantarum ZA3 and Artemisia argyi (AA) on the fermentation characteristics, microbial community and mycotoxin of WCCS during 60 days (d) ensiling and subsequent 7 d aerobic exposure. The results showed that WCCS treated with LAB and AA both had lower pH value and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) contents, and higher lactic and acetic acids concentration compared with other groups after 60 d ensiling. In addition, for microbial communities, Acetobacter and Enterobacter were inhibited in all AA group, while higher abundance of Lactobacilli was maintained; besides, Candida, Pichia and Kazachstania abundances were decreased in both 6% and 12% AA groups. The content of five kinds of mycotoxins were all significantly lower after 7 d of aerobic exposure. As for the total flavonoid (TF), which is significantly higher in all AA treated groups, it was positively correlated with Paenibacillus, Weissella and Lactobacilli, and negatively with Acetobacter, Enterobacteria, Kazachstania and Pichia.

Bacteriocin-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria Strains with Antimicrobial Activity Screened from Bamei Pig Feces.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which are characterized by producing various functional metabolites, including antioxidants, organic acids, and antimicrobial compounds, are widely used in the food industry to improve gut health and prevent the growth of spoilage microorganisms. With the continual incidence of foodborne disease and advocacy of consumers for gut health, LAB have been designated as vital biopreservative agents in recent years. Therefore, LAB with excellent antimicrobial properties and environmental tolerance should be explored further. In this study, we focus on screening the LAB strains from a specialty pig (Bamei pig) feces of the Tibetan plateau region and determine their antimicrobial properties and environmental tolerance to evaluate their potential probiotic values. A total of 116 LAB strains were isolated, from which the LAB strain Qinghai (QP)28-1 was identified as Lactiplantibacillus (L.) plantarum subsp. plantarum using 16S rDNA sequencing and recA amplification, showing the best growth capacity, acid production capacities, environmental tolerance, hydrophobicity, antibiotic susceptibility, and bacteriocin production capacity. Furthermore, this strain inhibited the growth of multiple pathogens by producing organic acids and bacteriocin. These bacteriocin-encoding genes were identified using PCR amplification, including plnS, plnN, and plnW. In conclusion, bacteriocin-producing L. plantarum subsp. plantarum QP28-1 stands out among these 116 LAB strains, and was considered to be a promising strain used for LAB-related food fermentation. Moreover, this study provides a convenient, comprehensive, and shareable profile for screening of superior functional and bacteriocin-producing LAB strains, which can be used in the food industry.

Microbial Population Succession and Community Diversity and Its Correlation with Fermentation Quality in Soybean Meal Treated with Enterococcus faecalis during Fermentation and Aerobic Exposure.

This study assessed the effects of Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) in combination with protease on fermentation characteristics and microbial communities during ensiling and aerobic exposure phases of soybean meal (SBM). In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the optimal growth conditions of E. faecalis ZZUPF95, which produced protease, and fermented SBM under the optimal fermentation conditions. The fermentation test was divided into four groups as follows: CK (Control check), ZZUPF95, Protease and ZZUPF95+Protease groups. Results showed that the best medium ratio of ZZUPF95 was glucose 1%, peptone 2%, inorganic salt 1.47%; fermentation time 36 h, inoculation amount 10%, ratio of material to water 1:1 is the optimal fermentation scheme; after fermentation and aerobic exposure treatment, ZZUPF95 and ZZUPF95 + Protease group can reduce the pH of feed, improve the content of lactic acid in the fermentation system, and have the effect of inhibiting the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria, increasing the content of crude protein and ether extract, and degrading crude fiber; the microbial community of SBM were changed after fermentation and aerobic exposure. This study explored the changes of fermentation quality of SBM, which has certain theoretical value to improve the fermentation mode and storage of SBM.

Dynamics Changes of Microorganisms Community and Fermentation Quality in Soybean Meal Prepared with Lactic Acid Bacteria and Artemisia argyi through Fermentation and Aerobic Exposure Processes.

This study evaluated the effects of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum subsp. plantarum ZA3, Artemisia argyi and their combination, on the fermentation characteristics, microbial community, mycotoxins and crude flavonoids content of fermented soybean meal during fermentation (under anaerobic conditions) and aerobic exposure (under aerobic conditions). The results showed that ZA3, Artemisia argyi and ZA3+ Artemisia argyi groups had lower pH values and higher lactic acid concentrations compared with controls, and additives increased the abundance of Lactiplantibacillus and decreased those of Acetobacter and Enterobacter; in particular, Artemisia argyi and ZA3+ Artemisia argyi reduced the abundance of fungi, such as Aspergillus, Pichia, Fusarium, Cladosporium and Xeromyces. Meanwhile, the contents of mycotoxins were lower in treated groups, and even mycotoxins in the control were significantly reduced after 30 d (p < 0.05). Crude flavonoids that were correlated positively with Lactococcus and negatively with Bacillus, Aspergillus, Enterobacter and Kazachstania were significantly higher in the Artemisia argyi and ZA3+ Artemisia argyi groups (p < 0.05).

Carbon Dot Blinking Fingerprint Uncovers Native Membrane Receptor Organizations via Deep Learning.

Oligomeric organization of G protein-coupled receptors is proposed to regulate receptor signaling and function, yet rapid and precise identification of the oligomeric status especially for native receptors on a cell membrane remains an outstanding challenge. By using blinking carbon dots (CDs), we now develop a deep learning (DL)-based blinking fingerprint recognition method, named deep-blinking fingerprint recognition (BFR), which allows automatic classification of CD-labeled receptor organizations on a cell membrane. This DL model integrates convolutional layers, long-short-term memory, and fully connected layers to extract time-dependent blinking features of CDs and is trained to a high accuracy (∼95%) for identifying receptor organizations. Using deep blinking fingerprint recognition, we found that CXCR4 mainly exists as 87.3% monomers, 12.4% dimers, and <1% higher-order oligomers on a HeLa cell membrane. We further demonstrate that the heterogeneous organizations can be regulated by various stimuli at different degrees. The receptor-binding ligands, agonist SDF-1α and antagonist AMD3100, can induce the dimerization of CXCR4 to 33.1 and 20.3%, respectively. In addition, cytochalasin D, which inhibits actin polymerization, similarly prompts significant dimerization of CXCR4 to 30.9%. The multi-pathway organization regulation will provide an insight for understanding the oligomerization mechanism of CXCR4 as well as for elucidating their physiological functions.

Screening of Lactic Acid Bacteria with Inhibitory Activity against ETEC K88 as Feed Additive and the Effects on Sows and Piglets.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), which expresses K88 is the principal microorganism responsible for bacterial diarrhea in pig husbandry, and the indiscriminate use of antibiotics has caused many problems; therefore, antibiotics need to be replaced in order to prevent diarrhea caused by ETEC K88. The objective of this study was to screen excellent lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains that inhibit ETEC K88 and explore their effects as probiotic supplementation on reproduction, growth performance, diarrheal incidence, and antioxidant capacity of serum in sows and weaned piglets. Three LAB strains, P7, P8, and P15, screened from 295 LAB strains and assigned to Lactobacillus (L.) reuteri, L. amylovorus, and L. johnsonii with high inhibitory activity against ETEC K88 were selected for a study on feeding of sows and weaned piglets. These strains were chosen for their good physiological and biochemical characteristics, excellent exopolysaccharide (EPS) production capacity, hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation ability, survival in gastrointestinal (GI) fluids, lack of hemolytic activity, and broad-spectrum activity against a wide range of microorganisms. The results indicate that LAB strains P7, P8, and P15 had significant effects on improving the reproductive performance of sows and the growth performance of weaned piglets, increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes and immune indexes in both.

Genome wide analysis of IQD gene family in diploid and tetraploid species of cotton (Gossypium spp.).

Calmodulin (CaM) is considered as the most significant Ca2+ signaling messenger that mediate various biochemical and physiological reactions. IQ domain (IQD) proteins are plant specific CML/CaM calcium binding which are characterized by domains of 67 amino acids. 50, 50, 94, and 99 IQD genes were detected from G. arboreum (A2), G. raimondii (D5), G. barbadense (AD2) and G. hirsutum (AD1) respectively. Existence of more orthologous genes in cotton species than Arabidopsis, advocated that polyploidization produced new cotton specific orthologous gene clusters. Duplication of gene events depicts that IQD gene family of cotton evolution was under strong purifying selection. G. hirsutum exhibited high level synteny. GarIQD25 exhibited high expression in stem, root, flower, ovule and fiber in G. arboreum. In G. raimondii, GraIQD03 demonstrated upregulation across stem, ovule, fiber and seed. GbaIQD11 and GbaIQD62 exhibited upregulation in fiber development in G. barbadense. GhiIQD69 recognized as main candidate genes for plant parts, floral tissues, fiber and ovule development. Promotor analysis identified cis-regulatory elements were involved in plant growth and development. Overwhelmingly, present study paves the way to better understand the evolution of cotton IQD genes and lays a foundation for future investigation of IQD in cotton.

Antibacterial Activity of Lactic Acid Producing Leuconostoc mesenteroides QZ1178 Against Pathogenic Gallibacterium anatis.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) convert carbohydrates into organic acids [mainly lactic acid (LA)], which reportedly have bactericidal activities. Gallibacterium anatis is a Gram-negative bacteria which infects birds, and causes significant economic losses. In this study, we investigated the antibacterial activity of the LA producing, Leuconostoc mesenteroides QZ1178 from Qula (fermented food), against G. anatis, using the Oxford cup method. Our data showed that L. mesenteroides QZ1178 inhibited G. anatis isolates from different origins; however, L. mesenteroides QZ1178 antibacterial activity dropped dramatically at pH 5.5-pH 6. The LA concentration and pH of the liquid broth containing L. mesenteroides QZ1178 after 24 h culture was 29 mg/mL and 3.6, respectively. This concentration (29 mg/mL at pH 3.6) and the antibiotic, cefotaxime (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 2.5 µg/mL) effectively inhibited G. anatis (GAC026) growth as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Gallibacterium anatis treated with LA exhibited extensive cell surface collapse, increased cell damage, cell membrane disruption, and cytoplasmic leakage, indicative of cell lysis. We suggest L. mesenteroides QZ1178 exerts potential antibacterial effects against the poultry pathogen, G. anatis via LA.

Genome wide identification, classification and functional characterization of heat shock transcription factors in cultivated and ancestral cottons (Gossypium spp.).

Heat shock transcription factors (HSF) have been demonstrated to play a significant transcriptional regulatory role in plants and considered as an integral part of signal transduction pathways against environmental stresses especially heat stress. Despite of their importance, HSFs have not yet been identified and characterized in all cotton species. In this study, we report the identification of 42, 39, 67, and 79 non-redundant HSF genes from diploid cottons G. arboreum (A2) and G. raimondii (D5), and tetraploid cottons G. barbadense (AD2) and G. hirsutum (AD1) respectively. The chromosome localization of identified HSFs revealed their random distribution on all the 13 chromosomes of A and D genomes of cotton with few regions containing HSFs in clusters. The genes structure and conserved domain analysis revealed the family-specific conservation of intron/exon organization and conserved domains in HSFs. Various abiotic stress-related cis-regulatory elements were identified from the putative promoter regions of cotton HSFs suggesting their possible role in mediating abiotic stress tolerance. The combined phylogenetic analysis of all the cotton HSFs grouped them into three subfamilies; with 145 HSFs belong to class A, 85 to class B, and 17 to class C subfamily. Moreover, a detailed analysis of HSF gene family in four species of cotton elucidated the role of allopolyploid and hybridization during evolutionary cascade of allotetraploid cotton. Comparatively, existence of more orthologous genes in cotton species than Arabidopsis, advocated that polyploidization produced new cotton specific orthologous gene clusters. Phylogenetic, collinearity and multiple synteny analyses exhibited dispersed, segmental, proximal, and tandem gene duplication events in HSF gene family. Duplication of gene events suggests that HSF gene family of cotton evolution was under strong purifying selection. Expression analysis revealed that GarHSF04 were found to be actively involved in PEG and salinity tolerance in G. arboreum. GhiHSF14 upregulated in heat and downregulated in salinity whilst almost illustrated similar behavior under cold and PEG treatments and GhiHSF21 exhibited down regulation almost across all the stresses in G. hirsutum. Overwhelmingly, present study paves the way to better understand the evolution of cotton HSF TFs and lays a foundation for future investigation of HSFs in improving abiotic stress tolerance in cotton.

Multilocus Sequence Typing of Leuconostoc mesenteroides Strains From the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Leuconostoc mesenteroides strains were a type of epiphytic bacterium widely used in fermented foods and products in the biochemical and pharmaceutical industries but data on its presence in foods from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China was scarce. In this study, molecular analysis based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST) with eight housekeeping genes (pyrG, groeL, rpoB, recA, uvrC, murC, carB, and pheS) was carried out on 45 L. mesenteroides strains isolated from different plants and dairy products from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. The objective of this study was to perform genetic diversity analysis and explore the relationship between strains and isolate samples or separate regions. A total of 25 sequence types (STs) were identified with a diversity of up to 55.6%, which were grouped into one clonal complexes (CCs), 3 doublets and 17 singletons by eBURST. The results of minimum spanning tree and clustering analysis indicated these L. mesenteroides strains from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were relatively weakly related to the isolated region. However, there was a close relationship between the genotypes of L. mesenteroides strains and the type of the isolated sample, which was consistent with the results of API 50CH. The MLST scheme presented in this study provides a shareable and comparable sequence database and enhances our knowledge of the population diversity of L. mesenteroides strains which will be further used for the selection of industrial strains.

Structural Changes in Milled Wood Lignin (MWL) of Chinese Quince (Chaenomeles sinensis) Fruit Subjected to Subcritical Water Treatment.

Subcritical water treatment has received considerable attention due to its cost effectiveness and environmentally friendly properties. In this investigation, Chinese quince fruits were submitted to subcritical water treatment (130, 150, and 170 °C), and the influence of treatments on the structure of milled wood lignin (MWL) was evaluated. Structural properties of these lignin samples (UL, L130, L150, and L170) were investigated by high-performance anion exchange chromatography (HPAEC), FT-IR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), TGA, pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS), 2D-Heteronculear Single Quantum Coherence (HSQC) -NMR, and 31P-NMR. The carbohydrate analysis showed that xylose in the samples increased significantly with higher temperature, and according to molecular weight and thermal analysis, the MWLs of the pretreated residues have higher thermal stability with increased molecular weight. The spectra of 2D-NMR and 31P-NMR demonstrated that the chemical linkages in the MWLs were mainly ß-O-4' ether bonds, ß-5' and ß-ß', and the units were principally G- S- H- type with small amounts of ferulic acids; these results are consistent with the results of Py-GC/MS analysis. It is believed that understanding the structural changes in MWL caused by subcritical water treatment will contribute to understanding the mechanism of subcritical water extraction, which in turn will provide a theoretical basis for developing the technology of subcritical water extraction.

Screening of Lactobacillus plantarum Subsp. plantarum with Potential Probiotic Activities for Inhibiting ETEC K88 in Weaned Piglets.

For screening excellent lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains to inhibit enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88, inhibitory activities of more than 1100 LAB strains isolated from different materials, and kept in the lab, were evaluated in this study. Nine strains with inhibition zones, at least 22.00 mm (including that of a hole puncher, 10.00 mm), and good physiological and biochemical characteristics identified by 16S DNA gene sequencing and recA gene multiple detection, were assigned to Lactobacillus (L.) plantarum subsp. plantarum (5), L. fermentum (1), L. reuteri (1), Weissella cibaria (1) and Enterococcus faecalis (1), respectively. As investigated for their tolerance abilities and safety, only strain ZA3 possessed high hydrophobicity and auto-aggregation abilities, had high survival rate in low pH, bile salt environment, and gastrointestinal (GI) fluids, was sensitive to ampicillin, and resistant to norfloxacin and amikacin, without hemolytic activity, and did not carry antibiotic resistance genes, but exhibited broad spectrum activity against a wide range of microorganisms. Antibacterial substance may attribute to organic acids, especially lactic acid and acetic acid. The results indicated that the selected strain L. plantarum subsp. plantarum ZA3 could be considered a potential probiotic to inhibit ETEC K88 in weaned piglets for further research.

Effect of various drying pretreatments on the structural and functional properties of starch isolated from Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposita Thumb.).

The objective of the present investigation was to compared the structural and functional properties of starch isolated from fresh raw Chinese yam (FYS) and the Chinese yam after freeze-drying pretreatment (FDS), after hot-air drying pretreatment (HADS), after subcritical dimethyl ether dewaterization pretreatment (SDDS). Freeze-drying (FD) process reduced the short-and long-range molecular order of Chinese yam starch. Hot-air drying (HAD) process promoted the formation of ordered structure of starch granules. SEM images displayed the presence of protein-starch complexes in the HADS and SDDS samples. The FDS had the smallest Mw of amylopectin with 4.09 × 106 g/mol, but the Mw values of amylose molecules for FYS was highest. The branch chain length of amylopectin in HADS had a smaller proportion of short chains and less long chains and higher proportion of long chains compared with other starches. These molecular structure changes caused by the various drying pretreatment processes, resulting in the difference in functional properties including solubility and swelling power, gelatinization parameters, pasting characteristics and rheological properties. This study provided important information for the suitable application of starches isolated from various dried Chinese yam.

Structural elucidation of lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs) from Chinese quince (Chaenomeles sinensis) fruit.

The lignin-carbohydrate complexes (LCCs) of the mesocarp (MS) and near the endocarp (NE) of Chinese quince (Chaenomeles sinensis) fruits were analyzed using three different methods of fractioning: milled wood lignin (MWL), LCC extracted from crude MWL with acetic acid (LCC-AcOH), and Bjorkman LCC. The MWL and LCC fractions were characterized by carbohydrate composition analysis, SEC, FT-IR, Py-GC/MS, thermal analysis and 2D HSQC NMR. Notably, large amounts of arabinose and galactose remained in the Björkman LCC fractions suggesting a chemical bond between the lignin and pectin. MWL and LCC-AcOH fractions showed better thermal stability than the Björkman LCC fractions. The structure of MS lignin was similar to that of NE lignin; however, fractions from the different fractionation methods revealed differences. The MWL fractions were rich in benzyl ether and γ-ester linkages, while the Björkman LCC fractions contained phenyl glycoside and γ-ester linkages, and the LCC-AcOH fractions contained phenyl glycoside and benzyl ether linkages. These findings are helpful in understanding the nature of lignin and LCC in Chinese quince fruits and provide a theoretical support for their potential application.