Difatty acyl thiourea (DFAT), which has biological activities as antibiotics and antifungal, has been synthesized from palm oil and thiourea using sodium ethoxide as catalyst. Ethyl fatty ester (EFE) and glycerol were produced as by-products. The synthesis was carried out by reflux palm oil with thiourea in ethanol. In this process, palm oil converted to about 81% pure DFAT after 11 hour and molar ratio of thiourea to palm oil was 6.0: 1 at 78°C. Elemental analysis, Fourier transform iInfrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique were used to characterize both DFAT and EFE.

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Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite rotatable design (CCRD) was used to optimize the three important reaction variables-methanol/oil molar ratio (M), NaOH catalyst concentration (C) and reaction time (T) for transesterification of crude cottonseed oil under ultrasonic irradiation. A quadratic polynomial model was obtained to predict the methyl ester yield. 98 wt% of the methyl ester yield could be reached at the deduced optimal conditions: methanol/oil molar raito of 6.2:1, NaOH catalyst concentration of 1 wt% (by the weight of crude cottonseed oil) and reaction time of 8 min. Validation experiments confirmed the validity of the predicted model. Moreover, ultrasonic irradiation was proved to be an efficient, energy saving and economically feasible way to produce biodiesel.

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The biotransformation of terpenoids using the plant pathogenic fungus as a biocatalyst to produce useful novel organic compounds was investigated. The biotransformation of sesquiterpen alcohol, (-)-isolongifolol (1) was investigated using plant pathogenic fungus Glomerella cingulata as a biocatalyst. Compound 1 was converted to (-)-(3R)-3-hydroxy-isolongifolol (2) and (-)-(9R)-9-hydroxy-isolongifolol (3) by G. cingulata.

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Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and phosphatidylserine (PS) are major components of the brain and play important roles functionally and structurally. Aging is associated with impairments in biological functions. According to the results of animal tests it has been shown that the loss in brain PC, PS and DHA due to aging leads to a variety of nervous deficits. In the present study, young mice and aged mice were fed a test or control diet for four weeks, and the authors examined the effects of DHA and/or PS administration (control diet group, Soy-PL diet group, Soy-PS diet group, DHA-PL diet group and DHA-PS diet group). At the end of the feeding period, the final ages were 12 (young mice) and 73 (aged mice) weeks. Hippocampal PS ratios and DHA concentrations in aged control mice were found to be lower than those in young control mice. Hippocampal PS ratios and DHA concentration in aged mice were increased with administration of PS and DHA, respectively. Authors found DHA-PS diet could increase both DHA and PS in hippocampus of aged mice.

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Eighty-one yeast isolates from raw milk were surveyed for the production of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). Only one species, identified as Cryptococcus curvatus, produced FAME at a detectable level. Cr. curvatus TYC-19 produced more FAME from beet molasses and cheese whey medium than other strains of the same species. In both media, the major FAME produced were linoleic and oleic acid methyl esters. Sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA indicated that TYC-19 diverged from the same species.

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The regioselective oxidation of (+)-α-longipinene (1) with sesquiterpen hydrocarbon was investigated using Aspergillus niger (NBRC 4414) as a biocatalyst. Compound 1 was converted to three new terpenoids, (+)-(5S)-5,12-dihydroxy-α-longipinene (2), (-)-(5R)-5,12-dihydroxy-α-longipinene (3), and (+)-12-hydroxy-α-longipinen-5-one (4). These structures were determined by NMR, IR, specific rotation and mass spectral studies.

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Mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs), are produced from feedstock by the genus Pseudozyma, and are the most promising biosurfactants known due to its versatile interfacial and biochemical actions. In order to broaden the application in cosmetics, the hair care properties of MELs were investigated using damaged hair. On electron microscopic observation, the damaged hair was dramatically recovered with applying MEL-A and MEL-B. The tensile strength of the damaged hair increased by treatment with MEL-A (122.0 ± 13.5 gf/p), MEL-B (119.4 ± 7.6 gf/p) and ceramide (100.7 ± 15.9 gf/p) compared with only lauryl glucoside (96.7 ± 12.7 gf/p), indicating the advantage of MELs on hair care treatment. In addition, the average friction coefficient of the damaged hair was maintained after treatment with MEL-A (0.108 ± 0.002), MEL-B (0.107 ± 0.003) and the ceramide (0.111 ± 0.003), although lauryl glucoside treatment increased the average friction coefficient (0.126 ± 0.003). The increase of bending rigidity by treatment with lauryl glucoside (0.204 ± 0.002) was prevented by treatment with MEL-A (0.129 ± 0.002), MEL-B (0.176 ± 0.003) and the ceramide (0.164 ± 0.002). Consequently, MELs are proposed to be the new hair care ingredient, which are the highly useful agent for not only for the recovery of damaged hair but also for providing the smooth and flexible hair.

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