Liuping Fan

Antitumor and immunomodulatory activity of water-soluble polysaccharide from Inonotus obliquus

The medicinal mushroom Inonotus obliquus has been used as a folk remedy for a long time in Russia and East-European countries to treat gastrointestinal cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In our study, a water-soluble polysaccharide (ISP2a) was successfully purified from I. obliquus by DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B and Sepharose CL-6B column chromatography. In vivo ISP2a had not only shown antitumor activity, but also could significantly enhance the immune response of tumor-bearing mice. In addition, ISP2a significantly enhanced the lymphocyte proliferation and increased the production of TNF-α. Results of these studies demonstrated that ISP2a had a potential application as natural antitumor agent with immunomodulatory activity.

Antioxidant activities of five polysaccharides from Inonotus obliquus.

Five polysaccharides (IOP1b, IOP2a, IOP2c, IOP3a and IOP4) were isolated and purified from Inonotus obliquus by DEAE-Sepharose fast flow and SepharoseCL-6B column chromatography. Their chemical and physical characteristics were determined and antioxidant activities were investigated on the basis of hydroxyl radical assay, superoxide radical assay and ferric-reducing antioxidant power assay. The results showed that five polysaccharides exhibited antioxidant activities, and the higher content of uronic acid and proteinous substances, the stronger antioxidant activities of polysaccharides. Besides, molecular weights of polysaccharides also influence their antioxidant activities. IOP3a and IOP4 showed higher antioxidant properties than IOP1b, IOP2a and IOP2c.

Screening of a functional polysaccharide from Zizyphus Jujuba cv. Jinsixiaozao and its property

Chinese jujube has been used as a kind of Chinese medicinal herb for a long time. In this paper, the polysaccharides from Zizyphus Jujuba cv. Jinsixiaozao (ZSP), one of the major Chinese jujube varieties, were extracted and purified sequentially so that its water-soluble immunobiological fractions were screened. The crude ZSP was found to dramatically increase thymus and spleen indices in mice, enhance the proliferation of splenocytes and peritoneal macrophages, and have potential anti-complementary activity. Immunobiological tests indicated that two fractions of ZSP, coded ZSP3c and ZSP4b, were the main active components. ZSP3c was rich in pectin with a degree of esterification (DE) of 49%, which may be related to its stronger immunological activity.

Dehydration of crude protein from Ginkgo biloba L. by microwave freeze drying

The paper optimized the parameters of microwave freeze drying (MFD) of crude Ginkgo biloba protein (CPG) using response surface methodology (RSM) based on the analysis of its proximate composition. The results showed that coefficients of determination, R(2) values for drying time and protein solubility were greater than 0.9500. The drying time and protein solubility of CPG varied curvilinearly with increase of microwave power and pre-freeze temperature, and drying time varied linearly with material thickness. The optimum MFD condition was microwave power of 408-421 W, material thickness of 15 mm and pre-freeze temperature of -20°C to -21°C, respectively.

Effect of Guar Gum with Sorbitol Coating on the Properties and Oil Absorption of French Fries

This paper investigated the effects of guar gum with sorbitol coating on the oil absorption of French fries by combined dye oil methods, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that pretreatment of blanching with calcium ions and coating with guar gum and sorbitol could significantly reduce the structural oil (STO) and penetrated surface oil (PSO) of French fries and have no negative effects on its texture and also effectively control the final moisture content (p < 0.05). Compared with control or samples coated with guar gum (blanching with or without calcium ions), the total oil (TO) of French fries with guar gum and sorbitol reduced by 50.8%, 33.1% and 30.6%, respectively. CLSM photographs confirmed that STO significantly reduced after coating with guar gum and sorbitol, followed by PSO. In the process of frying, the coatings of guar gum or guar gum with sorbitol could effectively prevent oil from infiltrating the potato tissue, which can be seen in the SEM photographs. The barrier properties of French fries were enhanced by coating guar gum, and sorbitol was added to avoid pores and cracks. Blanching with calcium ion can significantly reduce the final moisture content of coating French fries.

Effects of Initial Pore Diameter on the Oil Absorption Behavior of Potato Chips during Frying Process.

How initial pore diameter in materials affects oil absorption has been rarely studied up to now. Herein, we provided direct data evidence suggesting that the pore diameter prior to frying closely related to the oil absorption behavior. The pore had no significant effect on oil absorption of potato chips (p>0.05) when its diameter was 0.1 and 0.2 mm compared with the control. However, the oil absorption increased with the increasing of pore diameter when it was 0.3-1.2 mm. The oil absorption tended to be saturated at 0.9 mm pore diameter. In addition, we analyzed the moisture content, total oil (TO), surface oil (SO), penetrated surface oil (PSO) and structural oil (STO) contents of potato chips. The results when using palm oil showed that there was no significant difference in moisture, TO and STO contents of samples with pore diameter of 0.1 and 0.2 mm during the whole frying processing respectively compared with the control (p>0.05). When pore diameter was 0.3-1.2 mm, STO and TO contents significantly increased with the rising of the diameter (p<0.05). The SO content and PSO content dropped as increasing in frying time for the samples with different pore diameters. The equilibrium TO content of samples with 0.3-0.9 mm pore significantly increased with the rising of pore diameter, which was about 6.2-22.5% higher than that of the control. And there was no significant difference in the equilibrium TO contents of both samples of 1.2 mm and 0.9 mm pore (p>0.05). STO fraction gave the greatest contribution to the increment of oil absorption.