Red palm olein is known to be high in carotenes and vitamin E (tocols) and possess various nutritional benefits. This study evaluates the effect of prolonged heating using three common cooking techniques i.e. deep-fat fryer, microwave oven and conventional oven, on the profiles of carotenes and tocols as well as the physico-chemical changes occurring in red palm olein when compared to conventional palm olein. Physico-chemical changes in all oils were gauged based on their peroxide, p-anisidine and total oxidation values, acidity, and fatty acid composition. Both red palm olein and palm olein were thermally stable based on their lower rate of hydrolytic and oxidative degradations as well as higher tocols retention, which allow the oils to undergo heating up to 3 hours using deep-fat fryer and conventional oven. Nevertheless, red palm olein seemed not suitable for prolonged heating processes considering lower retention of carotenes. Microwave heating also influenced the stability of phytonutrients.

In this study, the oil uptake and fatty acid composition of fried potato slices were determined. Some pre-treatments such as blanching, freezing, and blanching-freezing were applied to potato slices before frying while the untreated samples were used as a control. The frying process was carried out in sunflower and olive oils. The percentage oil uptake in slices varied from 4.26% to 10.35% when fried in sunflower oil. In the case of the control samples slices fried in olive oil contained high monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid) content (5.45%), and lesser oil uptake was observed than those processed in sunflower oil, which is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acid (linoleic acid is 5.99%) (p < 0.05). The oil uptake was also compared in the case of potato slices fried in two different oils after pre-treatments. The maximum oil uptake was observed in the case of blanched-frozen potatoes, whereas minimum oil uptake was observed in frozen only slices for both oils. The fatty acid contents in oils extracted from fried potato slices showed that the predominant fatty acids were palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic acids. The best results were observed in frozen potato slices fried in both sunflower and olive oils.

The storage stability of the commercial sesame pastes was evaluated for changes in colloidal stability and oxidative stability. The study was conducted for 180 days at storage temperature of 4°C, room temperature (average 20.5°C) and 40°C. The particle sizes of sesame pastes grew with the rising storage temperatures. The oil separations were highest at room temperature, which might be ascribed to the temperature fluctuation. With the elongation of storage time, the acid values of the sesame pastes rose most obviously at 40°C and slightly at 4°C, respectively. The peroxide value is a more sensitive index, and according to set limit for the 19.7 meq O₂/kg peroxide values, the sesame pastes are recommended to be stored no more than 30 days at 40°C, 60 days at room temperature, or 120 days at 4°C, respectively.

The wasted raw fat of chicken was extracted and recrystallized with slowly stir at various cooling temperature to get a clear out-looking and liquid chicken oil. The recovery percentage of liquid chicken oil is about 100, 87, 78, 49 and 0% at 25, 21, 17, 13 and 9°C. The chicken liquid oil has a new composition of fatty acids than the original oil (p < 0.05) and has a safety range in acid value and peroxide value. The fatty acid ratio of the liquid chicken oil obtained at 13°C to be 1:1.6:0.9 (SFA: MUFA: PUFA) is believed to be good dietary oil. The concept of ideal fatty acid ratio comes from Hayes’ report (1:1.5:1, SFA: MUFA: PUFA) which is also found to mimic to human lipid fatty acid ratio. Statistically evaluation on Hayes’ basis, it showed that the liquid chicken oil scored even better than the extra virgin olive oil. In conclusion, this study not only first open a new gate for the recycle of global raw chicken fat to a dietary oil but also give an evidence that the chicken oil seems more compatible to human lipid on the hypothetic basis of biocompatibility.

Analyses of fatty acids were carried out in oil samples derived from white mustard. Two cultivars of white mustard (Sinapis alba L.) were evaluated: ‘Borowska’, and ‘Bamberka’. The oil content in the seeds of the tested cultivars was 276 and 290 g/kg, respectively. The oils obtained differed significantly in the composition of fatty acids. The oil from ‘Borowska’ contained less saturated fatty acids (4.86%) in comparison to ‘Bamberka’ (10.36%). The content of erucic acid was 22.2% in the ‘Borowska’ oil, while the oil from ‘Bamberka’ contained only 3.8% of this component. The research shows that the oil pressed from ‘Borowska’ can be used for technical purposes, and the oil derived from the cultivar ‘Bamberka’ can be used for food purposes due to the low content of erucic acid in the fatty acid composition and the beneficial fatty acid composition. As a component of diet, the low-erucic acid oil from the cultivar ‘Bamberka’ can be a source of unsaturated fatty acids (total 67.25%). The lower levels of linoleic (9.46 %) and linolenic (8.35%) acid, compared with ‘Borowska’ (respectively: 12.5 and 10.5%), may contribute to increased oil oxidative stability during storage.

Microcapsules were constructed with starch sodium octenyl succinate (SSOS), β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), and pectin walls and peony seed oil cores. A rheological phenomenon occurred in which the emulsion initially behaved like a shear-thickening fluid and then a shear-thinning fluid within a shear range. The emulsion exhibited good stability under low amplitude stress; however, as amplitude increased the concentration of pectin played an important role in maintaining the stability of the emulsion system. The optimum embedding yield of peony seed oil (92.5%) was achieved with a ratio of 70% SSOS, 22.5% β-CD, and 7.5% pectin. This ratio produced 4.521 μm particles with the lowest surface-oil content (2.60%) and moisture content (1.76%). The peony seed oil microcapsules were spherical with smooth surfaces and a synchronous thermogravimetric analysis showed they possessed good thermal stability. Encapsulation increased the induction period to 5-7 times that of unencapsulated peony seed oil.

Functional oils have broad application prospects in functional foods and beverages because of their rich beneficial ingredients and healthier intake. The small droplets of the nanoemulsion enhance the effective delivery, solubility and bioavailability of the various hydrophobic food components. This study used a mixed oil phase of green tea seed oil and fractionated coconut oil, compared the emulsifying properties of natural surfactants: Whey protein isolate, soy lecithin, tea saponin and synthetic surfactant: Tween 80 in the preparation of nanoemulsions by ultrasonic method. In particular, the impact of emulsifier type and concentration, pH, ionic strength, and heat treatment on the mean particle size and ξ-potential were investigated. The long-term storage stability of the fabricated nanoemulsions was also monitored during storage at different temperatures. In addition, the effects of emulsifier type on the bioavailability of nanoemulsions were evaluated. For all nanoemulsions studied, the mean particle size decreasing with increasing emulsifier concentration. Tea saponin and soy lecithin can produce smaller droplets of nanoemulsion than Whey protein isolate. Tea saponin has the same emulsifying ability as Tween 80. Presumably tea saponin-stabilized droplets may be maintained by electrostatic repulsion and steric repulsion. All of the nanoemulsions significantly improved the bioavailability of the mixed oil phase compared to the unemulsified oil phase. This study highlights the potential of natural surfactants in the ultrasonic preparation of nanoemulsions containing functional oils, and provides a basis for the application of natural surfactants and new functional oils in food industry.

Aspergillus terreus was chosen for production of alkaline protease using solid-state fermentation (SSF). The maximum enzyme yield reached about 34.87 U/mg protein after optimization of fermentation parameters. The produced alkaline protease was purified by precipitation with iso-propanol and then purified through gel filtration and ion exchange column chromatography with a yield of 53.58% and 5.09- fold purification. The enzyme has shown to have a molecular weight of 35 kDa. Optimal pH and temperature for the enzyme activity were 9.5 and 50°C respectively. The highest activity was reported towards casein, with an apparent Km value of 6.66 mg/mL and V_max was 30 U/mL. The enzyme activity was greatly repressed by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) caused activation in enzyme activity. The enzyme retained about 83.8, 70.6, 74.5, 76.4 and 66.4% of its original activity after incubation with Aerial, Leader, Oxi, Persil and Tide, respectively for 8 h at 60°C. Adding of the enzyme in detergents improved the cleansing performance to the blood stains and suggested to be used as a detergent additive. Our outcomes showed that protease could be used as environment green-approach in dehairing process.

Lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPtdCho) is produced by the phospholipase A₂-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine and can stimulate proliferation and apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells. We examined the influence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) concentration in the culture medium on lysoPtdCho-mediated apoptosis and proliferation of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) as well as on the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1/2. In the presence of 1% FBS, HASMC viability increased after lysoPtdCho treatment at 1 and 10 μM but decreased at 25 and 50 μM. However, lysoPtdCho increased HASMC viability in a dose-dependent manner in the presence of 10% FBS. The activity of caspase 3/7 in HASMCs was increased by 25 μM lysoPtdCho in the presence of 1% FBS, but not 10% FBS. Furthermore, lysoPtdCho at 1 and 10 μM triggered ERK1/2 phosphorylation in the presence of 1% FBS, but not at 10% FBS. Thus, lysoPtdCho-mediated HASMC apoptosis, proliferation, and ERK1/2 activation are dependent on the concentration of FBS.

We report the enhanced degradation of a widely used brominated flame retardant, tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBPA), which is soluble only in organic solvents and strongly alkaline solutions, where most advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for such substrates tend to be rather inefficient. We further report an environmentally friendly method (microwave-induced plasma-in-liquid; MPL) that operates efficiently in alkaline aqueous media without the need for organic solvents to enhance the solubility of TBBPA in water. The enhanced debromination and almost complete mineralization of TBBPA under alkaline conditions occurs within 20 min of MPL irradiation. This method, which is a new member of the AOP family, provides a simple and green approach to detoxify aqueous media contaminated with TBBPA, which requires only electric power and neither catalysts nor oxidizing agents. Several intermediate species have been identified by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS), following events that involved reactive oxygen species (ROSs) such as·OH, whose first task was to approach the substrate at carbon atoms bearing the highest electron densities.

In this study, we investigated the direct detection of DNA, without pretreatment, using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor. This sensor is modified by a self-assembled monolayer of a thiol derivative that has an amino group as the terminal functional group. Contact angle values and the attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR/FT-IR) spectra of the QCM sensors after immersion into an ethanol solution of thiol derivatives clearly showed that self-assembled monolayers of the derivatives were formed on the QCM sensors. Although QCM measurements using unmodified and carboxylic group-modified sensors could not detect DNA-Na salt, the sensor modified with amino groups could detect the DNA. This system can be used for the analysis of the interaction between DNA and DNAbinding proteins.