Qiangzhong Zhao

Effect of ultrasonic treatment on the graft reaction between soy protein isolate and gum acacia and on the physicochemical properties of conjugates.

Soy protein isolate (SPI) was grafted with gum acacia (GA) in this work. In comparison with classical heating at high water activity, ultrasound could accelerate the graft reaction between SPI and GA. A degree of graft (DG) of 34 was obtained by ultrasonic treatment for 60 min, whereas 48 h was required with classical heating. Ultrasonic treatment improved the concentration of available free amino groups of SPI. The grafted SPI showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher levels of emulsifying activity index, emulsifying stability index, and surface hydrophobicity than native SPI. The droplet size (D[3,2] and D[4,3]) of SPI emulsion decreased from 8.3 to 2.3 microm and from 25.7 to 7.1 microm through ultrasound-assisted grafting, respectively. Moreover, SPI-GA conjugates gave emulsions exhibiting more stability against creaming than those prepared with only SPI during ambient temperature storage (20 days). Decreases of lysine and arginine contents during the graft reaction indicated that these two amino acid residues attended the covalent linkage between SPI and GA. The results of secondary structure suggested that grafted SPI had decreased alpha-helix and beta-sheet levels and increased unordered coils level.

Effect of maillard reaction products derived from the hydrolysate of mechanically deboned chicken residue on the antioxidant, textural and sensory properties of Cantonese sausages.

Protein hydrolysates as precursors of Maillard reaction were obtained via enzymatic hydrolysis of mechanically deboned chicken residue (MDCR). The Maillard reaction products (MRPs) were prepared at 90 (M1), 100 (M2), 110 (M3) and 120 degrees C (M4), respectively. MRPs possessed a strong reducing power and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. According to the evolution of total free fatty acids and peroxide value of Cantonese sausage with MRPs during storage, M1 and M3 had a potent antioxidant activity (P<0.05) due to their antioxidant abilities and inhibitory action against lipolytic enzymes. Cantonese sausages treated with M1 and M2 showed good textural and sensory properties. However, M3 and M4 had a negative (P<0.05) effect on the flavour and texture of Cantonese sausages compared to control. The results suggested that M1 was very potential to be used to improve their antioxidant, textural and sensory quality.

Fast synthesis of 1,3‐DAG by Lecitase® Ultra‐catalyzed esterification in solvent‐free system

Lecitase® Ultra, a phospholipase, was explored as an effective biocatalyst for direct esterification of glycerol with oleic acid to produce 1,3-DAG. Experiments were carried out in batch mode, and optimal reaction conditions were evaluated. In comparison with several organic solvent mediums, the solvent-free system was found to be more beneficial for this esterification reaction, which was further studied to investigate the reaction conditions including oleic acid/glycerol mole ratio, temperature, initial water content, enzyme load, and operating time. The results showed that Lecitase® Ultra catalyzed a fast synthesis of 1,3-DAG by direct esterification in a solvent-free medium. Under the optimal reaction conditions, a short reaction time 1.5 h was found to achieve the fatty acid esterification efficiency of 80.3 ± 1.2% and 1,3-DAG content of 54.8 ± 1.6 wt% (lipid layer of reaction mixture mass). The reusability of Lecitase® Ultra was evaluated via recycling the excess glycerol layer in the reaction system. DAG in the upper lipid layer of reaction mixture was purified by molecular distillation and the 1,3-DAG-enriched oil with a purity of about 75 wt% was obtained. Practical applications: The new Lecitase® Ultra catalyzed process for production of 1,3-DAG from glycerol and oleic acid described in this study provides several advantages over conventional methods including short reaction time, the absence of a solvents and a high product yield.

Practical problems when using ABTS assay to assess the radical-scavenging activity of peptides: Importance of controlling reaction pH and time.

Effects of reaction pH and time on the antioxidant behaviors of Tyr, Trp, Cys, and their related peptides (Tyr-Gly, Tyr-Glu, Tyr-Lys, Trp-Gly, Trp-Glu, Trp-Lys, Cys-Gly and Cys-Gly) in ABTS assay were investigated. Results showed that all these amino acids and peptides displayed a biphasic kinetic pattern with a fast initial step and a slow secondary step. The initial reaction rates of Tyr, Trp and their related peptides were strongly dependent on pH, while those of Cys and Cys-containing peptides were unaffected by pH. They failed to reach equilibrium over the short incubation period of 6-10 min typically used in this assay. Longer incubation time was needed for most of the peptides to approach equilibrium at lower pH. The observed biphasic kinetic pattern as well as the high TEAC values for these amino acids and peptides, could be a result of combined antioxidant behaviors of themselves plus the generated reaction products.

Structural Evaluation of Myofibrillar Proteins during Processing of Cantonese Sausage by Raman Spectroscopy

Structural changes of myofibrillar proteins from raw pork muscle and Cantonese sausage at different processing periods were elucidated using Raman spectroscopy. Fourier deconvolution combined with iterative curve fitting were used to analyze the amide I Raman band. Results from amide I, amide III, and C-C stretching vibrations in 890-1060 cm(-1) showed that α-helix decreased accompanied by an increase in β-sheet structure during the first 18 h, and a rebuilding process of secondary structures was observed at the rest stage due to proteolysis. The hierarchical cluster analysis results of amide I and amide III confirmed this rebuilding process. Changes in a doublet near 850 and 830 cm(-1) suggested that some tyrosine residues became buried in a more hydrophobic environment due to intermolecular interactions. Raman spectra in the 2855-2940 cm(-1) region suggested that the environment of aliphatic side chains might have been changed during the final stage and further confirmed above rebuilding process.

Radical scavenging activities of Tyr-, Trp-, Cys- and Met-Gly and their protective effects against AAPH-induced oxidative damage in human erythrocytes

Radical scavenging activities of Tyr-, Trp-, Cys- and Met-Gly and their protective effects against AAPH-induced oxidative damage in erythrocytes were evaluated in this study. This damage includes hemolysis, oxidation of hemoglobin, formation of MDA and the depletion of glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT). Results showed that Tyr- and Trp-Gly could quench the radicals effectively in ABTS and ORAC assays with TE (Trolox equivalent) values of more than 1.0 μmol TE/μmol, followed by Cys- and Met-Gly. All these dipeptides could protect erythrocytes against AAPH-induced hemolysis in a dose-dependent manner. They could also significantly (p<0.05) retard the oxidation of hemoglobin and depletion of GSH in erythrocytes. The protective effects of these dipeptides decreased in the following order: Trp-Gly>Tyr-Gly>Met-Gly>Cys-Gly, which were consistent with their peroxyl radical scavenging activities. It suggested that these dipeptides might protect erythrocytes against AAPH-induced oxidative damage, mainly by acting as the direct radical scavengers.

Pitfalls of using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay to assess the radical scavenging activity of peptides: Its susceptibility to interference and low reactivity towards peptides

DPPH assay is widely used to evaluate the radical scavenging activities of peptides. Effects of pH and buffers on the stability of DPPH• and its reduced product (DPPHH) in the ethanol-buffer solution were investigated in this study and the reactivity of DPPH• towards several dipeptides was compared to that of 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS•+) and the peroxyl radicals in oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. Results showed that the deprotonation of DPPHH under basic condition could interfere with the spectrophotometric measurement at 515-525nm. It was suggested that the reaction mixture be maintained at a final pH range of 5.0-6.5 in 1:1 ethanol-acetate/citrate buffer medium when evaluating the activities of peptides. Additionally, among tested dipeptides, only Cys-containing dipeptides displayed DPPH• scavenging activity with 0.14-0.28μmol TE (Trolox equivalent)/μmol, while Tyr/Trp-containing dipeptides with high reactivity towards ABTS•+ and peroxyl radicals were inert to DPPH• with TE values less than 0.02.

Physicochemical properties of peanut oil-based diacylglycerol and their derived oil-in-water emulsions stabilized by sodium caseinate

High purity peanut oil-based diacylglycerol (PO-DAG) (94.95 wt%) was prepared via enzymatic glycerolysis from peanut oil (PO). The resulting dominance of DAGs was proven to greatly influence the properties of corresponding fresh or frozen-thawed emulsions. Stable fresh oil-in-water emulsions were produced using either PO-DAG or PO, with stability enhanced by increased concentrations of Na-CN. The lower equilibrium interfacial tension along with greater negative ζ-potential of PO revealed that Na-CN was preferentially adsorbed to the PO interface. Adding 0.05 mol/L NaCl to the PO emulsions minimized depletion flocculation caused by the unadsorbed Na-CN, but further NaCl addition increased oil droplet size and concomitant coalescence. For the PO-DAG emulsions, adding 0.2 mol/L NaCl did not significantly (p>0.05) affect their ζ-potential but adding 0.05 or 0.1 mol/L NaCl lowered ζ-potential, although NaCl at these concentrations increased oil droplet size and coalescence. Freezing-thawing process considerably weakened the stability of PO-DAG emulsions.

Effect of sorbitan monostearate on the physical characteristics and whipping properties of whipped cream.

In this work, the effects of sorbitan monostearate (Span 60) level on the particle size distribution, microstructure and apparent viscosity of the emulsion were investigated. Average particle size (d4,3), surface protein concentration, partial coalescence of fat and overrun of whipped cream during whipping were also determined. As Span 60 level increased (0-0.8%) in emulsion, the apparent viscosity was increased gradually, and the particle size range was narrowed, which was also detected by microstructure. A positive effect of whipping time was observed on the average particle size, partial coalescence of fat, surface protein concentration and overrun during whipping, respectively. An increase of Span 60 level resulted in a reduction of d4,3 values and partial coalescence of fat during 0-1 min whipping, then increasing after whipping for 2-5 min (0.6% Span 60 as the critical level). A negative behaviour was observed between surface protein concentration and Span 60. Moreover, Span 60 could improve the overrun and organoleptic properties of whipped cream efficiently.

Effect of sucrose ester concentration on the interfacial characteristics and physical properties of sodium caseinate-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions

The effect of sucrose ester (SE) concentration on interfacial tension and surface dilatational modulus of SE and sodium caseinate (NaCas)-SE solutions were investigated. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of SE was presumed to be 0.05% by measuring interfacial tension of SE solution. The interfacial tension of NaCas-SE solution decreased with increased SE concentration. A sharp increase in surface dilatational modulus of NaCas solution was observed when 0.01% SE was added and a decline was occurred at higher SE level. The influence of SE concentration on droplet size and confocal micrograph, surface protein concentration, ζ-potential and rheological properties of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions prepared with 1% NaCas was also examined. The results showed that addition of SE reduced droplet size and surface protein concentration of the O/W emulsions. The ζ-potential of the O/W emulsions increased initially and decreased afterward with increased SE concentration. All the O/W emulsions exhibited a shear-thinning behaviour and the data were well-fitted into the Herschel-Bulkley model.