Fusheng Chen

Milk processing as a tool to reduce cow’s milk allergenicity: a mini-review

Milk processing technologies for the control of cow’s milk protein allergens are reviewed in this paper. Cow’s milk is a high nutritious food; however, it is also one of the most common food allergens. The major allergens from cow’s milk have been found to be β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin and caseins. Strategies for destroying or modifying these allergens to eliminate milk allergy are being sought by scientists all over the world. In this paper, the main processing technologies used to prevent and eliminate cow’s milk allergy are presented and discussed, including heat treatment, glycation reaction, high pressure, enzymatic hydrolysis and lactic acid fermentation. Additionally, how regulating and optimizing the processing conditions can help reduce cow’s milk protein allergenicity is being investigated. These strategies should provide valuable support for the development of hypoallergenic milk products in the future.

Effects of calcium treatment and low temperature storage on cell wall polysaccharide nanostructures and quality of postharvest apricot (Prunus armeniaca)

Cell wall polysaccharides play an important role in postharvest fruit texture softening. Effects of calcium treatment combined with cold storage on the physical properties, polysaccharide content and nanostructure of apricots were investigated. Apricots were immersed in distilled water, 1% or 3% w/v calcium chloride, then stored at 5°C or 10°C. Storage at 5°C significantly improved apricot quality and shelf life. Significant changes in the concentration and nanostructure of cell wall pectins and hemicelluloses revealed their disassembly and degradation during apricot storage. These modifications could be retarded by 1% w/v calcium chloride treatment. Meanwhile, the basic width units of apricot cell wall polysaccharide chains were 11.7, 31.2 and 39.1nm for water-soluble pectin, 11.7, 17.6 and 19.5nm for chelate-soluble pectin, and 15.6 and 23.4nm for hemicellulose. The results suggest that texture of apricots can be effectively maintained by 1% calcium chloride treatment and storage at 5°C.

Purification and identification of Se-containing antioxidative peptides from enzymatic hydrolysates of Se-enriched brown rice protein

As a further study of Se-containing proteins (Se-Pro) derived from Se-enriched brown rice (Se-BR), this paper aimed to purify and identify Se-containing antioxidative peptides (Se-antioxi-Peps) from Se-Pro hydrolysates. The total Se content in Se-BR was 6.26μg/g DW, and selenocystine, Se-methylselenocysteine, and selenomethionine were identified as the main organic Se species by high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Se-Pro was extracted and hydrolyzed by four types of proteases, and Alcalase was chosen as the optimum enzyme according to the degree of hydrolysis (DH). The hydrolysate with 17.08% DH possessing the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity was separated into five fractions (F1 to F5). Fractions F3 to F5, which had high antioxidative activities, were further separated. Sub-fractions F3-3, F4-2, and F5-1 were chosen to evaluate antioxidative activities and analyze Se species. The Se-antioxi-Pep with the sequence SeMet-Pro-Ser was identified by electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

Effect of Different Processing Methods and Salt Content on the Physicochemical and Rheological Properties of Meat Batters

The physicochemical and rheological properties of raw and cooked batters produced by a chopping or beating process with various amounts of salt content were studied. Various meat batters were made up for this purpose: the batter processed by chopping with 2% salt, by beating with 1% salt and 2% salt, respectively. Compared with the chopping, the beating cooked batters had higher L* value, hardness, G’ value at 80°C, and lower cooking loss. Using the beating process, the batter with 1% salt had lower L* values, hardness, springiness, and higher cooking loss than the 2% salt. From the micrographs, the batters produced by beating process exhibited more uniform and compact microstructure than the chopping. The result of low-field nuclear magnetic resonance exhibited that the batters of beating had higher water holding capacity than the chopping. Overall, the beating process enabled lowering of the salt content, cooking loss, and making the cooked batter more hard and elastic.

Nanostructural difference of water-soluble pectin and chelate-soluble pectin among ripening stages and cultivars of Chinese cherry

Nanostructure of water-soluble pectin (WSP) and chelate-soluble pectin (CSP) of two Chinese cherry (Prunus pseudocerasus L.) cultivars (soft cultivar ‘Caode’ and crisp cultivar ‘Bende’) with two different ripening stages were characterised using atomic force microscopy. Both cultivars shared some common values of chain widths for WSP or CSP, and both pectins shared several values of chain widths including 37, 55 and 61 nm. The results indicate that different cultivars shared similar components of pectin, and cultivar textural difference might be related to the interaction between pectin and other cherry components or the dissociation of pectin. During ripening, the wide WSP and CSP gradually dissociate in width. The results demonstrated that the changes of WSP and CSP of Chinese cherry in widths were a dissociation process. †The manuscript is a contribution for the special issue on the 70th birthday of Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman.

Effects of different factors on the forward extraction of soy protein in reverse micelle systems

Reverse micelle extraction is a new technology for the extraction of protein. In this research, three kinds of reverse micelle systems, anionic surfactant sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelle system, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) reverse micelle system, and cationic surfactant cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) reverse micelle system, were used to extract soy protein respectively. Effects of soy flour concentration, Wo ([H 2 O]/[AOT]), temperature, time, pH, ionic strength and ultrasonic power on forward extraction efficiency of soy protein were investigated. The effect of AOT reverse micelle diameter was studied as well. AOT reverse micelle system had higher extraction efficiency than SDS and CTAB systems. The main factors that affected the forward extraction were soy flour concentration, temperature and pH. The optimal conditions in AOT system were soy flour concentration being 0.007 g/ml, Wo 16, pH 6.5, temperature 34°C, time 20 min, KCl concentration of 0.1 mol/L and ultrasound power of 240 W. Under these conditions, the extraction efficiency of soy protein was 85.5%. The forward extraction efficiency of soy protein in AOT reverse micelle system increased with the increase of the reverse micelle diameter. Reverse micelle extraction is an effective way to extract soy protein. Key words: Soy protein, reverse micelle, forward extraction, sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB).

A novel aspartic protease from Rhizomucor miehei expressed in Pichia pastoris and its application on meat tenderization and preparation of turtle peptides

A novel aspartic protease gene (RmproA) was cloned from the thermophilic fungus Rhizomucor miehei CAU432 and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The RmproA was successfully expressed in P. pastoris as an active extracellular protease. High protease activity of 3480.4 U/mL was obtained by high cell-density fermentation. The protease was purified by the two step protocols to homogeneity. The molecular mass of the RmproA was estimated to be 52.4 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 50.6 kDa by gel filtration. The purified enzyme was optimally active at pH 5.5 and 55 °C, respectively. The enzyme exhibited a broad range of substrate specificity. RmproA-treated pork muscle showed lower shear force than papain-treated sample at a relative low concentration, suggesting its effectiveness on meat tenderization. Moreover, turtle hydrolysis by RmproA resulted in a large amount of small peptides, which exhibited high ACE-inhibitory activity. Thus, RmproA may be a potential candidate for several industrial applications.

Kinetics of Protein Extraction in Reverse Micelle

Sodium bis (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT)-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)/isooctane-octanol reverse micelle extraction was tested an efficient and effective approach to separate peanut protein from full-fat peanut powder. Here, important kinetic factors including pH, ion strength, and temperature were studied during reverse micelle backward extraction. The extraction conditions were obtained by response surface experiments as follows: pH 7.5, ion concentration 1.1 mol/L at temperature 35°C. Under these optimum extraction conditions, the extraction rate of protein reached 79.03%. A model on the kinetic partitioning of peanut protein was also developed. The backward extraction in this reverse micelle system was controlled by interfacial resistance instead of diffusion resistance in reverse micelle and aqueous phase with the total mass transfer rate of 0.8×10−5 m3·s−1. A two-film theory may be the mechanism for flat interface. Results of mass transfer process are helpful for creating an reverse micelle extraction process, and used for purification of peanut proteins, promoting the development of food industry.

The influence of glycosylation on the antigenicity, allergenicity, and structural properties of 11S-lactose conjugates

Soybean is nutritious and is an excellent source of high-quality protein for human food and animal feed. However, glycinin (11S) is considered as the major allergenic protein that causes soybean allergies. Glycosylation is widely used to remove food protein allergens. In this study, soybean 11S was isolated and used in a glycation reaction with lactose at a weight ratio of 4:1 at 55°C and 79% relative humidity for different periods of time. The effects of glycosylation on the antigenicity and residual allergenicity of 11S were investigated, using the specific IgG polyclonal antibodies for glycinin and soy-allergic patient sera by indirect competitive, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (indirect competitive ELISA). Meanwhile, the degree of glycation was determined by the trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) method. The structural properties of 11S-lactose conjugates were characterized by SDS-PAGE, Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR), and ultraviolet spectroscopy. Glycosylation effectively decreased the antigenicity and allergenicity of 11S if we increased the reaction time. The antigenicity of 11S after glycosylation was reduced by approximately 30% compared with raw 11S, while allergenicity of 11S was reduced by 9%. The changes in secondary structures of glycated 11S may have influenced the allergic epitopes of protein. Therefore, we suggest that introducing lactose in 11S is an effective method to remove the antigenicity and allergenicity of glycinin.

Antimicrobial activity of AOT-isooctane reverse micelle as a bioseparation and biocatalysis tool

Abstract The antimicrobial activity of different reverse micelles on microorganisms is been compared using the disc diffusion method. The bis (2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelle showed a more significant inhibitory effect than do other reverse. micelles, and it had an antimicrobial activity against a broad range of microorganisms. Results from an antimicrobial activity test of isooctane and a forward extraction containing soybean protein suggest that the surfactant was chiefly responsible for inhibiting microbes in AOT/isooctane reverse micelle, while isooctane hardly inhibited the microbial growth. The properties of S. aureus, cultured in the TSB with AOT reverse micellar solution, were identified by the SEM and SDS-PAGE fingerprinting of cell-wall proteins. It is concluded that the cell-wall of the S. aureus decreased in the TSB with AOT reverse micellar solution, and some cell protein subunits of the S. aureus did not occurr, especially between 14.4 and 42.7 kDa, while one new protein subunit at near 97.4 kDa occurred