The lipid class and fatty acid composition in eggs of Indian fresh water common featherback fish Pholui (Notopterus notopterus Pallas) has been studied in comparison with body tissue lipid. The mean wet weight of matured eggs are 16.3% of total weight of fish, of which 11.5% (on dry basis) is lipid. The eggs contain 6.8 times higher lipid content than that of body tissue. The major portion of the egg lipid is composed of triacylglycerol (TAG) of about 53.8% followed by the amount of phospholipid (PL, 37.0%). Among the PLs, phosphatidylcholine (PC) is predominant (about 57.1%), followed by phosphatidylethanolamine (PE, 25.7%) and phosphatidylinositol (PI, 17.4%). In body tissue lipid, the major fraction is phospholipid (72.5%) which is significantly higher than in the egg lipid (37.0%). The predominant PL fraction in body tissue is PC (51.6%) followed by PE (28.1%) and PI (20.2%). In body tissue, TAG is about 18.0% which is lower than egg TAG (53.8%). Cholesterol (CHL) contents in egg and body tissue are about 4.4% and 0.7% respectively. Total Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are 37.9% and 36.0% in egg and body tissue PL fractions respectively. The arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6, AA) and the eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3, EPA) in body PL are about 16.5% and 10.6% where as in egg PL fraction, AA and EPA are about 10.7% and 10.6% respectively. The findings and results of the study indicate that Notopterus notopterus body tissue and eggs both are rich in PUFAs along with high PL content in body tissue which are very much essential for human health and membrane development.

View full abstract

Acid value (AV) determination for identical samples of oil extracts from non-pungent pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. longum cv. CH-19 sweet) by titrimetry using indicator dye and a potentiometer was found to vary considerably from one laboratory to another. Free fatty acid generation by alkali hydrolysis of capsinoids during titration, with consequent false endpoints was found the major reasons for this. The structure of capsinoid, the principle constituent in non-pungent pepper, is similar to that of capsaicinoid, the difference being that capsinoid is the ester of vanillyl alcohol and fatty acid, whereas capsaicinoid, an acid amide consisting of vanillyl amine and fatty acid. The major members of the capsinoid family are capsiate (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl-8-methyl-6-nonenoate) and dihydrocapsiate (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl-8-methylnonanoate). In consideration of the hydrolysis of alkali-labile esters such as capsinoids in oils during AV determination, the authors established an alternative method by which AV can be found with no involvement of artifacts. AV is an index of oil deterioration directly reflecting free fatty acid content. AV was thus determined by quantifying free carboxyl residues subsequent to specific and quantitative modification with the fluorescent labeling reagent 9-anthryldiazomethane (ADAM). Fluorescence-labeled carboxyls were quantified by HPLC, with carboxyls determined by calibrating fluorescence intensity of chromatographic peaks with stearic acid as the control. Relative fluorescent intensity of labeled fatty acids differing in carbon-chain length from 8 to 20 was essentially the same with respect to molar concentration. The present method thus serves as an accurate means for AV determination of oils containing alkali-labile esters.

View full abstract

The components of glycerolipids and cerebrosides were analyzed in the shoots of the halophytic plant Salicornia europaea, which is a member of the Chenopodiaceae and a potential animal feed in saline areas. Total chloroplast lipids, which include monogalactosyl diacylglycerol (MGDG), digalactosyl diacylglycerol (DGDG), sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), accounted for 69% of total glycerolipids, suggesting that the chloroplast membranes are well-developed even in leafless shoots. Estimated average numbers of double bonds per acyl chain (i.e., unsaturation indices) were in the order MGDG > DGDG > phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine > SQDG, phosphatidylinositol > PG. This result is similar to those for glycophytes. In the cerebrosides, the level of 4-hydroxy-trans-8-sphingenine was lower than that of the cis-8 isomer, whereas the proportion of trans-4, trans-8-sphingadienine was higher than that of the cis-8 isomer. These properties are consistent with the sphingoid base composition of cerebrosides in the leaves of the Chenopodiaceae glycophytes spinach and sugar beet. The results of this study indicate that glycerolipids and cerebrosides from the shoots of S. europaea present no insurmountable nutritional problems if used in livestock diets.

View full abstract

In the course of studies on the constituents of the woody material of Bursera graveolens, the aroma components that provide its characteristic spicy, sweet and balsamic odor were investigated using gas chromatography/olfactometry (GC/O) and GC/MS. Four compounds 1-4 were isolated from the volatile oil obtained by diethyl ether extraction of B. graveolens wood chips, and their structures were elucidated by means of NMR studies. Their structures were determined as (-)-juneol (1), dihydrojuneol (2), 6β-hydroxy-4(15)-eudesmen-1-one (3) and 6β-hydroxynoreudesman-4-one (4). The presence of these compounds in B. graveolens is reported for the first time.

View full abstract

New troponoid liquid crystals with a tropone terminal group were prepared. Tropon-4-yl 4-n-alkoxybenzoates (1T) had a monotropic smectic A phase. However the corresponding benzenoid derivatives (1B), tropolon-5-yl 4-n-alkoxybenzoates (2T), 2-methoxytropon-5-yl 4-n-alkoxybenzoates (3T), and tropon-2-yl 4-n-alkoxybenzoates (4T) were not mesomorphic. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that 1T formed the interdigitated bilayers in the smectic A phase.

View full abstract

Polystyrene latex particles in 5 μm diameter were arranged one-, two- and three-dimensionally by electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis using the following electrodes, plate-plate electrode, plate-needle electrode and hyperbolic quadruple electrode. Application of an AC field brought about a one dimensional latex particle arrangement, resulting a pearl chain, by dielectrophoretic force on using the plate-plate electrode. Particle arrangement could be tuned by changing AC bias frequecy when using the plate-needle electrode. With the hyperbolic quadruple electrode, particles could be closely packed in a two-dimensional arrangement with application of the AC field. Simultaneous application of high frequency AC and DC fields resulted in arrangement in the region surrounded by the electrodes with consequent particle multilayer formation. Reversible control of particle arrangement (dispersion, monolayer, and multilayer) can thus be carried out through appropriate choice of electrode and mode of electric field application.

View full abstract