Pickering emulsion emulsified using novel cellulose nanofibers significantly lowers the lipid release rate and cellular absorption.

A Pickering emulsion is an emulsion system stabilized by solid particles and represents a promising candidate for emulsifying lipids. Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) have excellent ability to control the lipid release rate. This study aims to find the optimal formulation for a nanocellulose-stabilized Pickering emulsion that is the most effective in reducing the lipid release rate. The Pickering emulsion was prepared by homogenizing pretreated nanocellulose with medium-chain triglycerides using high-speed and ultrasonic homogenizers. The results show that the Pickering emulsion with 0.709% nanocellulose and 30.6% medium-chain fatty acid content yielded an average particle size of approximately 2.5 µm, which is the most stable and effective in reducing the amount of the lipids released. The nanocellulose Pickering emulsion formulation developed in this study forms a significant foundation for future research and applications regarding the use of nanotechnology and Pickering emulsions to maintain the balance between one's health and the desirable flavor of fat.

Atmospheric cold plasma reduces Ara h 1 antigenicity in roasted peanuts by altering the protein structure and amino acid profile.

Ara h 1 is the major allergen in peanuts. To enhance the unique flavor, peanuts are usually roasted at high temperatures. However, roasting can increase the allergenic potential, owing to glycation of allergens. Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is a non-thermal processing technology that generates reactive species, enabling protein structural changes. Herein, glucose was also added to the ACP-treated peanut protein before roasting. The content and antigenicity of the advanced glycation end products were measured. The antigenicity was evaluated by ELISA and in vitro digestion assays. The amino acid profile and secondary and tertiary protein structures were also assessed. The antigenicity of Ara h 1 decreased by 91 % and 76 % after 30 min of air and nitrogen plasma treatment, respectively. The glycation degree and thermal and digestive stabilities were also reduced. These results correlated with the structural changes, denaturation, and aggregation. Therefore, cold plasma may reduce the allergic effects of peanuts.

Current and Potential Applications of Atmospheric Cold Plasma in the Food Industry.

The cost-effectiveness and high efficiency of atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) incentivise researchers to explore its potentials within the food industry. Presently, the destructive nature of this nonthermal technology can be utilised to inactivate foodborne pathogens, enzymatic ripening, food allergens, and pesticides. However, by adjusting its parameters, ACP can also be employed in other novel applications including food modification, drying pre-treatment, nutrient extraction, active packaging, and food waste processing. Relevant studies were conducted to investigate the impacts of ACP and posit that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) play the principal roles in achieving the set objectives. In this review article, operations of ACP to achieve desired results are discussed. Moreover, the recent progress of ACP in food processing and safety within the past decade is summarised while current challenges as well as its future outlook are proposed.

Mitigating the allergenicity of peanut allergen Ara h 1 by cold atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet.

BACKGROUND: Peanut allergy is recognized as a major food allergy that triggers severe and even fatal symptoms. Avoidance of peanuts in the diet is the main option for current safety management. Processing techniques reducing peanut allergenicity are required to develop other options. Cold plasma is currently considered as a novel non-thermal approach to alter protein structure and has the potential to alleviate immunoreactivity of protein allergen. RESULTS: The application of a cold argon plasma jet to peanut protein extract could reduce the amount of a 64 kDa protein band corresponding to a major peanut allergen Ara h 1 using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but the overall protein size distribution did not change significantly. A decrease in peanut protein solubility was a possible cause that led to the loss of protein content in the soluble fraction. Immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay elucidated that the immunoreactivity of Ara h 1 was significantly decreased with the time treated with plasma. Ara h 1 antigenicity reduced by 38% after five scans (approximately 3 min) of cold argon plasma jet treatment, and the reduction was up to 66% after approximately 15 min of treatment. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that cold argon plasma jet treatment could be a suitable platform for alleviating the immunoreactivity of peanut protein. This work demonstrates an efficient, compact, and rapid platform for mitigating the allergenicity of peanuts, and shows great potential for the plasma platform as a non-thermal technique in the food industry. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Applications of atmospheric cold plasma in agricultural, medical, and bioprocessing industries.

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is a nonthermal technology that is extensively used in several industries. Within the scopes of engineering and biotechnology, some notable applications of ACP include waste management, material modification, medicine, and agriculture. Notwithstanding numerous applications, ACP still encounters a number of challenges such as diverse types of plasma generators and sizes, causing standardization challenges. This review focuses on the uses of ACP in engineering and biotechnology sectors in which the innovation can positively impact the operation process, enhance safety, and reduce cost. Additionally, its limitations are examined. Since ACP is still in its nascent stage, the review will also propose potential research opportunities that can help scientists gain more insights on the technology. KEY POINTS: • ACP technology has been used in agriculture, medical, and bioprocessing industries. • Chemical study on the reactive species is crucial to produce function-specific ACP. • Different ACP devices and conditions still pose standardization problems.

Evaluation of detoxified sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate by atmospheric cold plasma for bacterial cellulose production.

Cellulosic waste as a major type of agricultural waste can be acid deconstructed as a carbon source for fermentation application. However, various fermented inhibitors, such as formic acid, furfural, and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, are also produced during processing. In this study, sugarcane bagasse (SB) was hydrolyzed with sulfuric acid, and atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) was used to remove the toxic inhibitors. The detoxified SB hydrolysate was used as alternative nutrients for bacterial cellulose (BC) production. Results showed that degradation rates of formic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and furfural respectively reached 25.2%, 78.6%, and 100% with optimized ACP conditions (argon ACP at 200 W for 25 min). In BC production, the ACP-treated SB hydrolysate group (PT) exhibited high BC production (1.68 g/L) but was lower than that from the ACP-untreated SB hydrolysate group (PUT) (1.88 g/L), which suggests that ACP detoxification might also cause some crucial nutrients loss of the SB hydrolysate, leading to a decrease in BC production. The material properties of BC produced from detoxified based medium are also evaluated. These findings have important implications for the broader domain of ACP detoxification for cellulosic acid hydrolysates applied to BC production.

Producing high quality mung bean sprout using atmospheric cold plasma treatment: better physical appearance and higher γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content.

BACKGROUND: Germination of mung beans increases the content of dietary fiber, vitamin C, antioxidants, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Atmospheric cold plasma is a recently developed technology that can rapidly modify the surface properties of an object. In this work, atmospheric cold plasma was utilized to promote higher moisture absorption of mung bean seeds and, thus, enhance the germination ratio and GABA level. The selected healthy seeds that were exposed to plasma generated at different ionizing powers. RESULT: According to the experimental results, atmospheric cold plasma treatments on mung bean seeds could induce significantly more water absorption and lead to a higher rate of germination. The physical appearance of the sprout developed after plasma treatment was noticeably modified to a more desirable form, which has a short radicle and longer hypocotyls with a larger diameter. The content of the bioactive component GABA in plasma-treated beans was approximately three times higher than the untreated group due to the response of seed to the environmental stress created by the plasma treatment. CONCLUSION: The result from this work will serve as a good reference for future investigation that is searching for a solution to enhance bioactive compound production in natural products. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Atmospheric cold plasma-assisted pineapple peel waste hydrolysate detoxification for the production of bacterial cellulose.

Toxic compounds in pineapple peel waste hydrolysate (PPWH), namely formic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and furfural, are the major predicament in its utilization as a carbon source for bacterial cellulose (BC) fermentation. A rapid detoxification procedures using atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) technique were employed to reduce the toxic compounds. ACP treatment allows the breakdown of toxic compounds without causing excessive breakdown of sugars. Herein, the performance of two available laboratory ACP reactors for PPWH detoxification was being demonstrated. ACP-reactor-1 (R1) runs on plasma power of 80-200 W with argon (Ar) plasma source, while ACP-reactor-2 (R2) runs at 500-600 W with air plasma source. Treatment in R1, at 200 W for 15 min, results in 74.06%, 51.38%, and 21.81% reduction of furfural, HMF, and formic acid. Treatment in R2 at 600 W gives 45.05%, 32.59%, and 60.41% reductions of furfural, HMF, and formic acid. The BC yield from the fermentation of Komagateibacter xylinus in the R1-treated PPWH, R2-treated PPWH, and untreated-PPWH is 2.82, 3.82, and 2.97 g/L, respectively. The results show that ACP treatment provides a novel detoxified strategy in achieving agricultural waste hydrolysate reuse in fermentation. Furthermore, the results also imply that untreated PPWH can be an inexpensive and sustainable resource for fermentation media supplementation.

Enzymatic degradation of ginkgolic acids by laccase immobilized on core/shell Fe3O4/nylon composite nanoparticles using novel coaxial electrospraying process.

Enzyme immobilization can increase enzyme reusability to reduce cost of industrial production. Ginkgo biloba leaf extract is commonly used for medical purposes, but it contains ginkgolic acid, which has negative effects on human health. Here, we report a novel approach to solve the problem by degrading the ginkgolic acid with immobilized-laccase, where core/shell composite nanoparticles prepared by coaxial electrospraying might be first applied to enzyme immobilization. The core/shell Fe3O4/nylon 6,6 composite nanoparticles (FNCNs) were prepared using one-step coaxial electrospraying and can be simply recovered by magnetic force. The glutaraldehyde-treated FNCNs (FNGCNs) were used to immobilize laccase. As a result, thermal stability of the free laccase was significantly improved in the range of 60-90 °C after immobilization. The laccase-immobilized FNGCNs (L-FNGCNs) were applied to degrade the ginkgolic acids, and the rate constants (k) and times (τ50) were ~0.02 min-1 and lower than 39 min, respectively, showing good catalytic performance. Furthermore, the L-FNGCNs exhibited a relative activity higher than 0.5 after being stored for 21 days or reused for 5 cycles, showing good storage stability and reusability. Therefore, the FNGCNs carrier was a promising enzyme immobilization system and its further development and applications were of interest.

Enhanced bioethanol production using atmospheric cold plasma-assisted detoxification of sugarcane bagasse hydrolysate.

The current study used acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials to obtain fermentable sugar for bioethanol production. However, toxic compounds that inhibit fermentation are also produced during the process, which reduces the bioethanol productivity. In this study, atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) was adopted to degrade the toxic compounds within sulfuric acid-hydrolyzed sugarcane bagasse. After ACP treatment, significant decreases in toxic compounds (31% of the formic acid, 45% of the acetic acid, 80% of the hydroxymethylfurfural, and 100% of the furfural) were observed. The toxicity of the hydrolysate was low enough for bioethanol production using Kluyveromyces marxianus. After adopting optimal ACP conditions (200 W power for 25 min), the bioethanol productivity improved from 0.25 to 0.65 g/L/h, which means that ACP could effectively degrade toxic compounds within the hydrolysate, thereby enhancing bioethanol production. Various nitrogen substitute was coordinated with detoxified hydrolysate, and chicken meal group presented the highest bioethanol productivity (0.45 g/L/h).

Enzymatic degradation of ginkgolic acid by laccase immobilized on novel electrospun nanofiber mat.

BACKGROUND: Ginkgo biloba leaf extract contains many active ingredients that are beneficial for health. However, ginkgolic acid, one of the major components found in G. biloba extract, may cause serious allergic and toxic side effects. The purpose of this study is to immobilize the laccase system on the electrospun nylon fiber mat (NFM) to hydrolyze the ginkgolic acid in G. biloba leaf extract efficiently. RESULTS: Novel electrospinning technology successfully produced high-quality nanoscopic fiber mats made of a mixture of multi-walled carbon nanotube and nylon 6,6. Laccase that was immobilized onto the NFM exhibited much higher efficiency in the catalyzation of 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) than nylon 6,6 pellets. After being immobilized onto the NFM, the pH and temperature stability of laccase were significantly improved. The NFM-immobilized laccase could maintain more than 50% of its original activity even after 40 days of storage or 10 operational cycles. The kinetic parameters, including rate constant (K), the time (τ50) in which 50% of ginkgolic acid hydrolysis was reached, the time (τcomplete) required to achieve complete ginkgolic acid hydrolysis, Km and Vmax were determined, and were 0.07 ± 0.01 min-1 , 8.97 ± 0.55 min, 45.45 ± 2.79 min, 0.51 ± 0.09 mM and 0.49 ± 0.03 mM min-1 mg-1 , respectively. CONCLUSION: The result successfully demonstrated the strong potential of using novel electrospun nanofiber mats as enzyme immobilization platforms, which could significantly enhance enzyme activity and stability. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Nanoemulsified adlay bran oil reduces tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis in B16F10 cells and zebrafish.

The efficacy of oily components is often difficult to evaluate due to their incompatibility with most models. Here, we emulsified adlay bran oil (ABO), processed it to a nanoscale, and investigated its anti-hyperpigmentation efficacy, assessed for its inhibitory effects against tyrosinase activity and melanin production, in an in vitro system (mouse melanoma B16F10 cells) and an in vivo system (zebrafish embryos). ABO induced dose-dependent reductions in tyrosinase activity and melanin production in both the melanoma cells and zebrafish, without affecting viability. The efficacy of ABO was strongly influenced by emulsion particle size in the zebrafish but not in the cells. These results indicate that ABO has potential as a tyrosinase inhibitor and anti-hyperpigmentation agent and that the emulsion system is an effective method for delivering the bioactive components of ABO to living systems that could be utilized for other oily components.

Effect of novel atmospheric-pressure jet pretreatment on the drying kinetics and quality of white grapes.

BACKGROUND: Raisin is a popular snack and a common constituent of many foods owing to its good flavor and nutritional value. Conventional drying of grapes can be a slow and energy-consuming process as their waxy surface hinders efficient moisture migration. A drying pretreatment that disrupts the waxy cuticle is usually applied to increase the drying rate. RESULTS: The application of an atmospheric-pressure air plasma jet to the grape surface could effectively enhance the drying kinetics and decrease the drying time by more than 20%. Through etching of the waxy cuticle, the air plasma jet optimally improves the quality of the final product. Although the surface hydrophilicity was increased by 40%, the physical appearance, color, and texture of plasma-treated raisins were similar to the product from untreated control and chemical-treated groups. A more than twofold increase in the total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity was observed when compared to other experimental groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that atmospheric plasma could be a better option than using chemicals to pretreat grapes before drying since it leaves no toxic residue, while successfully preserving the product quality. This work shows the great potential for the application of atmospheric air plasma in the drying of food materials. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Synthesize of alginate/chitosan bilayer nanocarrier by CCD-RSM guided co-axial electrospray: A novel and versatile approach.

To improve oral bioavailability of bioactive compounds, nano-scopic carrier systems with multiple layers has become the recent popular trend. The preparation of the nano-sized bilayer system usually requires multiple operations and intense energy input. For better efficiency, co-axial electrospraying was developed as the novel method to manufacture dual-layered nanocarrier. To improve the versatility of the production, the co-axial electrospray process was further guided by CCD-RSM (Central Composite Design-Response Surface Methodology) when generating bilayer nanocarrier. Chitosan and alginate were arranged into the core and shell part of the carrier, respectively. Through the RSM analysis, the optimum processing parameters to prepare the chitosan/alginate bilayer carrier with 112.1 ±â€¯35.2 nm diameter were determined. The surface morphology and dual layer structure were characterized microscopically. In summary, this work has successfully developed a novel and versatile mean to efficiently produce bilayer nanocarrier using co-axial electrospray combine with CCD-RSM analysis. These results could serve as a firm foundation to promote electrospray technique for the preparation of oral carrier system containing bioactive components.

Oral delivery system enhanced the bioavailability of stilbenes: Resveratrol and pterostilbene.

Stilbenes are a large group of compounds with the C6 C2 C6 skeleton, in which two aromatic rings are connected by an ethylene bridge. Resveratrol and its structural analog, pterostilbene, are by far the two most widely researched stilbenes in terms of their beneficial bioactivities. However, the bioefficacy of these compounds is greatly reduced when consumed orally due to their poor aqueous solubility, which leads to poor bioavailability. To overcome the limitation, strategies improving their solubility, absorption, and systemic concentration were applied when designing a suitable edible delivery system. This review will summarize the findings from the studies evaluating the oral bioavailability of stilbenes with emphasize on the resveratrol and pterostilbene. It will also include the edible delivery systems currently available and their effect on the oral bioavailability. © 2018 BioFactors, 44(1):5-15, 2018.

Antiobesity Efficacy of Quercetin-Rich Supplement on Diet-Induced Obese Rats: Effects on Body Composition, Serum Lipid Profile, and Gene Expression.

The antiobesity effects of quercetin-rich supplement (QRS), which contain quercetin, lycopene, taurine, and litchi flower extract, on a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats were investigated. The rats that consume HFD with QRS (185 mg/kg rat) have significantly modulated the final body weights [490 ± 11 (HFD) → 441 ± 11 (HFD+QRS) g], total body fat [112.9 ± 4.5 (HFD) → 86.6 ± 5.7 (HFD+QRS) g], liver weights [14.8 ± 0.4 (HFD) → 12.6 ± 0.4 (HFD+QRS) g/rat], and the serum TG [102.5 ± 7.3 (HFD) → 90.7 ± 6.5 (HFD+QRS) mg/dL] to a level that resembled the regular diet-consumed rats (p < 0.05). The excretion of lipid in the faeces augmented in QRS groups as compared with the nonsupplemented HFD group [faecal total lipid: 62.43 ± 2.80 (HFD) → 73.15 ± 0.88 (HFD+QRS) mg/g dried faeces, p < 0.05]. In the histological analysis, quercetin-rich formulation supplemented groups presented a much less lipid accumulation and smaller size of adipocytes. Moreover, a decreased serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [1.55 ± 0.17 (HFD) → 0.78 ± 0.04 (HFD+QRS) nmol MDA eq/mL serum] increased levels of serum Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity [3.89 ± 0.08 (HFD) → 6.46 ± 0.20 (HFD+QRS) µmol/mL serum], and more active hepatic antioxidant enzymes were observed in the supplemented groups (p < 0.05). The result of this work is a good demonstration of how a combination of bioactive compounds could work synergistically and become very effective in disease prevention.

Techniques and methods to study functional characteristics of emulsion systems.

With the growing popularity of the functional food market, bioactive ingredients from natural sources are discovered one after another for their ability to promote better health and prevent chronic diseases. Emulsion, widely occurring in many food systems, has become a popular vehicle to facilitate the incorporation of bioactive components into the food system. Depending on the designated functionality, an emulsion can be developed with various physical and chemical properties. To ensure the successful development of a high-quality emulsion-based system to serve their purpose in food, knowledge of the analytical methods that could efficiently evaluate their quality parameters is important for investigators who work in this field. In this work, important emulsion properties are overviewed, and techniques that are commonly used to assess them are provided. Discussions and recommendations are also included to make suggestions on advantages and disadvantages when selecting suitable techniques and methods to characterize these quality parameters of emulsion systems.

Optimization of Lactobacillus acidophilus cultivation using taro waste and evaluation of its biological activity.

In this study, taro waste (TW) was utilized for Lactobacillus acidophilus BCRC 14079 cultivation and the anti-tumor and immune-modulatory properties of heat-killed cells (HKCs), cytoplasmic fraction (CF), and exopolysaccharide (EPS) were evaluated. The optimum liquefaction enzyme dosage, temperature, and time determined by Box-Behnken design response surface methodology (BBD-RSM) were 9 mL/L of α-amylase, 79.2 °C, and 5 h of reaction, respectively. The optimum temperature and reaction time for saccharification were determined as 60 °C and 3 h. The optimum medium, CGMY1 medium, constitutes of TW hydrolysate containing 37 g/L of glucose, 25 g/L of corn gluten meal (CGM), and 1 g/L of yeast extract (YE). Results of MTT assay showed that HKCs and EPS from CGM medium exhibited the highest anti-proliferative in HT-29 (IC50 of HKCs, 467.25 µg/mL; EPS, 716.10 µg/mL) and in Caco-2 cells (IC50 of EPS, 741.60 µg/mL). Luciferase-based NF-ΚB and COX-2 systems indicated HKCs from CGM medium stimulated the highest expression of luciferin in both systems. The luciferase activities by using 100 and 500 µg/mL of HKCs from CGM were 24.30- and 45.83-fold in NF-ΚB system and 11.54- and 4.93-fold in COX-2 system higher than the control. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential of TW medium for L. acidophilus cultivation and the production of non-viable probiotics with enhanced biological activities.

Viscoelastic Emulsion Improved the Bioaccessibility and Oral Bioavailability of Crystalline Compound: A Mechanistic Study Using in Vitro and in Vivo Models.

The oral bioavailability of hydrophobic compound is usually limited by the poor aqueous solubility in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Various oral formulations were developed to enhance the systemic concentration of such molecules. Moreover, compounds with high melting temperature that appear as insoluble crystals imposed a great challenge to the development of oral vehicle. Polymethoxyflavone, an emerging category of bioactive compounds with potent therapeutic efficacies, were characterized as having a hydrophobic and highly crystalline chemical structure. To enhance the oral dosing efficiency of polymethoxyflavone, a viscoelastic emulsion system with a high static viscosity was developed and optimized using tangeretin, one of the most abundant polymethoxyflavones found in natural sources, as a modeling compound. In the present study, different in vitro and in vivo models were used to mechanistically evaluate the effect of emulsification on oral bioavailability of tangeretin. In vitro lipolysis revealed that emulsified tangeretin was digested and became bioaccessible much faster than unprocessed tangeretin oil suspension. By simulating the entire human GI tract, TNO's gastrointestinal model (TIM-1) is a valuable tool to mechanistically study the effect of emulsification on the digestion events that lead to a better oral bioavailability of tangeretin. TIM-1 result indicated that tangeretin was absorbed in the upper GI tract. Thus, a higher oral bioavailability can be expected if the compound becomes bioaccessible in the intestinal lumen soon after dosing. In vivo pharmacokinetics analysis on mice again confirmed that the oral bioavailability of tangeretin increased 2.3 fold when incorporated in the viscoelastic emulsion than unformulated oil suspension. By using the combination of in vitro and in vivo models introduced in this work, the mechanism that underlie the effect of viscoelastic emulsion on the oral bioavailability of tangeretin was well-elucidated.

Using in vitro and in vivo models to evaluate the oral bioavailability of nutraceuticals.

Nutraceuticals are the bioactive compounds found in many dietary sources. Numerous publications have reported their ability to prevent the development of degenerative diseases through modulation of physiological and physiochemical processes in living systems. Having sufficient concentration at the target site of action is the most critical factor for nutraceuticals to deliver the health benefits. For consumers, it is commonly accepted to ingest these bioactive components through oral delivery route because it is convenient and cost-efficient and allows flexible dosing schedule. Thus, it is important to understand the oral bioavailability of nutraceuticals to evaluate their qualifications as disease preventive agents and to calculate the required ingestion dosages. To predict the oral bioavailability of nutraceuticals, many in vitro and in vivo models have been developed to reduce the need for frequent human pharmacokinetic studies, which are costly and time-consuming and involve ethical complications. These models evaluate one or more of the influential factors that contribute to the oral bioavailability and are efficient screening techniques with the potential of predicting the pharmacokinetic process in humans. To accurately predict human oral bioavailability, further research is required to develop not only a better correlation between the in vitro and in vivo models but also an accurate scaling factor that takes into account interspecies variations.