Abu ElGasim A. Yagoub

Pretreatment of defatted wheat germ proteins (by-products of flour mill industry) using ultrasonic horn and bath reactors: Effect on structure and preparation of ACE-inhibitory peptides

The ultrasonic horn and bath reactors were compared based on production of angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides from defatted wheat germ proteins (DWGP). The DWGP was sonicated before hydrolysis by Alcalase. Degree of hydrolysis, ACE-inhibitory activity, surface hydrophobicity, fluorescence intensity, free sulfhydryl (SH), and disulfide bond (SS) were determined. The highest ACE-inhibitory activity of DWGP hydrolysate was obtained at power intensity of 191.1 W/cm(2) for 10 min in the ultrasonic horn reactor. The fixed frequency of 33 kHz and the sweep frequency of 40±2 kHz resulted in the maximum ACE-inhibitory activity. The combined irradiation of dual fixed frequency (24/68 kHz) produced significant increase in ACE-inhibitory activity compared with single frequency (33 kHz). The ultrasonic probe resulted in significant higher ACE-inhibitory activity compared with ultrasonic bath operating at single or dual fixed and sweep frequencies. The changes in conformation of the DWGP due to sonication were confirmed by the changes in fluorescence intensity, surface hydrophobicity, SHf and SS contents and they were found in conformity with the ACE-inhibitory activity in case of the ultrasonic horn reactor but not in bath reactor.

Effects of multi-frequency power ultrasound on the enzymolysis and structural characteristics of corn gluten meal

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of multi-frequency power ultrasound (sweeping frequency and pulsed ultrasound (SFPU) and sequential dual frequency ultrasound (SDFU)) on the enzymolysis of corn gluten meal (CGM) and on the structures of the major protein fractions (zein, glutelin) of CGM. The results showed that multi-frequency power ultrasound pretreatments improved significantly (P<0.05) the degree of hydrolysis and conversion rate of CGM. The changes in UV-Vis spectra, fluorescence emission spectra, surface hydrophobicity (H0), and the content of SH and SS groups indicated unfolding of zein and glutelin by ultrasound. The circular dichroism analysis showed that both pretreatments decreased α-helix and increased β-sheet of glutelin. The SFPU pretreatment had little impact on the secondary structure of zein, while the SDFU increased the α-helix and decreased the β-sheet remarkably. Scanning electron microscope indicated that both pretreatments destroyed the microstructures of glutelin and CGM, reduced the particle size of zein despite that the SDFU induced aggregation was observed. In conclusion, multi-frequency power ultrasound pretreatment is an efficient method in protein proteolysis due to its sonochemistry effect on the molecular conformation as well as on the microstructure of protein.

Effects and mechanism of dual-frequency power ultrasound on the molecular weight distribution of corn gluten meal hydrolysates.

The impact of dual-frequency power ultrasound (DPU) on the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of corn gluten meal (CGM) hydrolysates and its mechanism were investigated in the present study. The mechanism was studied from aspects of structural and nano-mechanical characteristics of the major protein fractions of CGM, viz. zein and glutelin. The results of molecular weight distribution indicated that DPU pretreatment of CGM was beneficial to the preparation of peptides with molecular weights of 200-1000Da. Moreover, FTIR spectral analysis and atomic force microscopy characterization showed that the DPU pretreatment changed the contents of secondary structure of proteins, decreased the particle height and surface roughness of glutelin, reduced the Youngs modulus and stiffness of zein while increased its adhesion force. In conclusion, DPU pretreatment of proteins before proteolysis is an efficient alternative method to produce short-chain peptides because of its positive effects originating from acoustic cavitation on the molecular conformation, nano-structures and nano-mechanical properties of proteins as well.

Antioxidant peptides from corn gluten meal: Orthogonal design evaluation

Protamex catalyzed corn gluten meal (CGM) hydrolysis peptides (CHP) were prepared. Orthogonal design L16 (4(5)) was used to optimize processing variables of CGM concentration, CGM heat pretreatment (121 °C) time, and enzymolysis pH, temperature, and time. Degree of hydrolysis (DH), undigested residue ratio, molecular weight (MW) distribution and DPPH radical inhibition were selected as analysis indicators. Optimum variables were CGM concentration of 18%, heat pretreatment time of 40 min, and enzymolysis pH, temperature and time of 7.5, 55 °C and 24h, respectively. Verification test showed that CHP IC50 for scavenging hydroxyl radical was the best and then followed by reducing power. Oligopeptides improved after hydrolysis at the expense of di- and tripeptides, suggesting formation of soluble aggregates from low MW peptides. The increase in the DH, oligopeptides, Alanyl-Tyrosine, and antioxidant free amino acids coincided with the improvement in the antioxidant activity of CHP.

Study of ultrasonic cavitation during extraction of the peanut oil at varying frequencies

The ultrasonic extraction of oils is a typical physical processing technology. The extraction process was monitored from the standpoint of the oil quality and efficiency of oil extraction. In this study, the ultrasonic cavitation fields were measured by polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensor. Waveform of ultrasonic cavitation fields was gained and analyzed. The extraction yield and oxidation properties were compared. The relationship between the fields and cavitation oxidation was established. Numerical calculation of oscillation cycle was done for the cavitation bubbles. Results showed that the resonance frequency, fr, of the oil extraction was 40kHz. At fr, the voltage amplitude was the highest; the time was the shortest as reaching the amplitude of the waveform. Accordingly, the cavitation effect worked most rapidly, resulting in the strongest cavitation intensity. The extraction yield and oxidation properties were closely related to the cavitation effect. It controlled the cavitation oxidation effectively from the viewpoint of chemical and physical aspects.

Effect of degree of hydrolysis on the bioavailability of corn gluten meal hydrolysates

BACKGROUND Under the situation that the shortage of proteins and large quantity of corn gluten meal (CGM), which is a superior protein resource, is under-exploited, the enzymatic hydrolysis of CGM was employed to improve its bioavailability because of its special amino acid composition. RESULTS The apparent faecal digestibility and true faecal digestibility of all corn gluten meal hydrolysates (CGMHs) decreased in varied amounts compared with those of CGM. However, the protein efficiency ratio, the net protein ratio, the biological value, and the net protein utilization of the CGMHs with degree of hydrolysis (DH) of 4.94% and with DH of 10.06% increased significantly (P < 0.05). The results of in vitro gastro-intestinal digestion showed that the molecular weight distribution and amino acid composition among different DHs resulted in variances in bioavailability. CONCLUSION Partial hydrolysis of CGM can improve its bioavailability, providing a future protein supplement for protein resources.

Examining of athermal effects in microwave-induced glucose/glycine reaction and degradation of polysaccharide from Porphyra yezoensis.

Many reports claim the existence of athermal effects in microwave-induced reactions, and this challenge the assumption that the thermal effect (heating) is the sole factor in microwave heating. Therefore, microwave-induced Maillard reaction of d-glucose/glycine and degradation of polysaccharide from Porphyra yezoensis (PSPY) were investigated. Browning reactions were monitored by measuring heating rate, UV-absorbance and brown color, UV-vis and synchronous fluorescence spectra, GC/MS analysis and intrinsic viscosity of degradation. Heating of d-glucose/glycine solution produced brown compounds which were detected at A420, and the intermediate products, 2-acetylfuran and 5-methylfurfural, whose fluorescence intensity evidenced their formation. Maximum emission of synchronous fluorescence spectra of samples were at 430-440 nm and 370-390 nm. Both microwave and water bath heating did not cause any compositional changes in the Maillard reaction products. All data failed to show any significant athermal effects of compositional changes in the Maillard reaction products. It can be inferred that some of the reports suggesting the existence of athermal effects, which could ascribe to the different set-up obtained in not well temperature controlled microwave heating systems.

Ultrasound-ionic liquid enhanced enzymatic and acid hydrolysis of biomass cellulose

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effect of ultrasound-ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment on the enzymatic and acid hydrolysis of the sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw. The lignocellulosic biomass was dissociated in ILs ([Bmim]Cl and [Bmim]AOC) aided by ultrasound waves. Sonication was performed at different frequencies (20, 28, 35, 40, and 50kHz), a power of 100W, a time of 30min and a temperature of 80°C. The changes in the structure and crystallinity of the cellulose were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The amounts of the total reducing sugars, glucose, cellobiose, xylose and arabinose in the hydrolysates were determined. The results of FT-IR, XRD and TGA revealed that the structure of cellulose of both biomass samples remained intact after the pretreatment, but the crystallinity decreased. The enzymatic and acid hydrolysis of the biomass samples pretreated with the ultrasound-IL result in higher yields of the reducing sugars compared with the IL-pretreated sample. Enzymatic hydrolysis of bagasse and wheat straw pretreated with [Bmim]Cl-ultrasound resulted in maximal yields of glucose at 20kHz (40.32% and 53.17%) and acid hydrolysis resulted in maximal yields of glucose at 40kHz (33.32% and 48.07%). Enzymatic hydrolysis of bagasse and wheat straw pretreated with [Bmim]OAc-ultrasound show maximal yields of glucose at 28kHz and acid hydrolysis at 50kHz. Combination of ultrasound with [Bmim]OAc is more effective than [Bmim]Cl in terms of the yields of reducing sugar.

Thermal and single frequency counter-current ultrasound pretreatments of sodium caseinate: enzymolysis kinetics and thermodynamics, amino acids composition, molecular weight distribution and antioxidant peptides

BACKGROUND Due to the disadvantages of traditional enzymolysis, pretreatments are crucial to enhance protein enzymolysis. Enzymolysis kinetics and thermodynamics, amino acids composition, molecular weight distribution, fluorescence spectroscopy and antioxidant activity of thermal (HT) and single frequency counter-current ultrasound (SCFU) pretreated sodium caseinate (NaCas) were studied. RESULTS Enzymolysis of untreated NaCas (control) improved significantly (P < 0.05) by SFCU and followed by HT. Values of the Michaelis-Menten constant (KM ) of SFCU and HT were 0.0212 and 0.0250, respectively. HT and SFCU increased (P < 0.05) the reaction rate constant (k) by 38.64 and 90.91%, respectively at 298 K. k values decreased with increasing temperature. The initial activation energy (46.39 kJ mol-1 ) reduced (P < 0.05) by HT (39.66 kJ mol-1 ) and further by SFCU (33.42 kJ mol-1 ). SFCU-pretreated NaCas hydrolysates had the highest contents of hydrophobic, aromatic, positively and negatively charged amino acids. Medium-sized peptides (5000-1000 Da) are higher in SFCU (78.11%) than HT and the control. SFCU induced molecular unfolding of NaCas proteins. Accordingly, SFCU-pretreated NaCas hydrolysate exhibited the highest scavenging activity on DPPH and hydroxyl radicals, reducing power, and iron chelating ability. CONCLUSION SFCU pretreatment would be a useful tool for production of bioactive peptides from NaCas hydrolysate.

Solid-Liquid Extraction Kinetics of Flavonoids from Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus l. Moench) Pods with Applicability Analysis

Liquid-solid extraction kinetics performance of flavonoids from okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) pods was studied. The effects of temperature and solid to liquid ratio on the extraction kinetics of flavonoids were examined. The experimental extraction kinetics was established and analyzed with a mathematical model derived from Ficks second law following the first-order equation. Results explained that the mean relative error (MRE) values for temperature and liquid-solid ratio were low (3.84% and 4.70%, respectively). The model quality was determined by statistical comparison of the predicted and observed values. A good prediction (MRE < 5%) and concordance (the coefficient of determination, R2 > 0.995) of the extraction model on experimental data and calculated values was observed. Hence, the initial rate, degree of extraction, rate constant and activation energy for the extraction model of flavonoids were estimated.