Qing-Yan Gai

Microwave-assisted aqueous enzymatic extraction of oil from pumpkin seeds and evaluation of its physicochemical properties, fatty acid compositions and antioxidant activities

Microwave-assisted aqueous enzymatic extraction (MAAEE) of pumpkin seed oil was performed in this study. An enzyme cocktail comprised of cellulase, pectinase and proteinase (w/w/w) was found to be the most effective in releasing oils. The highest oil recovery of 64.17% was achieved under optimal conditions of enzyme concentration (1.4%, w/w), temperature (44°C), time (66 min) and irradiation power (419W). Moreover, there were no significant variations in physicochemical properties of MAAEE-extracted oil (MAAEEO) and Soxhlet-extracted oil (SEO), but MAAEEO exhibited better oxidation stability. Additionally, MAAEEO had a higher content of linoleic acid (57.33%) than SEO (53.72%), and it showed stronger antioxidant activities with the IC50 values 123.93 and 152.84, mg/mL, according to DPPH radical scavenging assay and β-carotene/linoleic acid bleaching test. SEM results illustrated the destruction of cell walls and membranes by MAAEE. MAAEE is, therefore, a promising and environmental-friendly technique for oil extraction in the food industry.

Establishment of hairy root cultures by Agrobacterium rhizogenes mediated transformation of Isatis tinctoria L. For the efficient production of flavonoids and evaluation of antioxidant activities.

In this work, Isatis tinctoria hairy root cultures (ITHRCs) were established as an alternative source for flavonoids (FL) production. I. tinctoria hairy root line V was found to be the most efficient line and was further confirmed by the PCR amplification of rolB, rolC and aux1 genes. Culture parameters of ITHRCs were optimized by Box-Behnken design (BBD), and eight bioactive FL constituents (rutin, neohesperidin, buddleoside, liquiritigenin, quercetin, isorhamnetin, kaempferol and isoliquiritigenin) were quali-quantitatively determined by LC-MS/MS. Under optimal conditions, the total FL accumulation of ITHRCs (24 day-old) achieved was 438.10 μg/g dry weight (DW), which exhibited significant superiority as against that of 2 year-old field grown roots (341.73 μg/g DW). Additionally, in vitro antioxidant assays demonstrated that ITHRCs extracts exhibited better antioxidant activities with lower IC50 values (0.41 and 0.39, mg/mL) as compared to those of field grown roots (0.56 and 0.48, mg/mL). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing FL production and antioxidant activities from ITHRCs.

Biodiesel from Forsythia suspense [(Thunb.) Vahl (Oleaceae)] seed oil.

In the present work, Forsythia suspense seed oil (FSSO) was investigated for the first time as an alternative non-conventional feedstock for the preparation of biodiesel. The FSSO yield is 30.08±2.35% (dry weight of F. suspense seed basis), and the oil has low acid value (1.07 mg KOH/g). The fatty acid composition of FSSO exhibits the predominance of linoleic acid (72.89%) along with oleic acid (18.68%) and palmitic acid (5.65%), which is quite similar to that of sunflower oil. Moreover, microwave-assisted transesterification process of FSSO with methanol in the presence of potassium hydroxide catalyst was optimized and an optimal biodiesel yield (90.74±2.02%) was obtained. Furthermore, the fuel properties of the biodiesel product were evaluated as against ASTM D-6751 biodiesel standards and an acceptable agreement was observed except the cetane number. Overall, this study revealed the possibility of FSSO as a potential resource of biodiesel feedstock.

Enhanced and green extraction polyphenols and furanocoumarins from Fig (Ficus carica L.) leaves using deep eutectic solvents

Graphical abstract Figure. No Caption available. HighlightsDES was tailor‐made for efficiently extraction target compounds from Fig leaves.The tailor‐made DES exhibit enhanced extraction yield for target compounds than traditional solvent.The tailor‐made DES based microwave assist extraction process was optimized.The developed determination method was efficient and green.The target compounds in the tailor‐made DES were efficiently recovered. Abstract Nowadays, green extraction of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants has gained increasing attention. As green solvent, deep eutectic solvent (DES) have been highly rated to replace toxic organic solvents in extraction process. In present study, to simultaneous extraction five main bioactive compounds from fig leaves, DES was tailor‐made. The tailor‐made DES composed of a 3:3:3 molar ratio of glycerol, xylitol and D‐(−)‐Fructose showed enhanced extraction yields for five target compounds simultaneously compared with traditional methanol and non‐tailor DESs. Then, the tailor‐made DES based extraction methods have compared and microwave‐assisted extraction was selected and optimized due to its high extraction yields with lower time consumption. The influencing parameters including extraction temperature, liquid‐solid ratio, and extraction time were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). Under optimal conditions the extraction yield of caffeoylmalic acid, psoralic acid‐glucoside, rutin, psoralen and bergapten was 6.482 mg/g, 16.34 mg/g, 5.207 mg/g, 15.22 mg/g and 2.475 mg/g, respectively. Macroporous resin D101 has been used to recovery target compounds with recovery yields of 79.2%, 83.4%, 85.5%, 81.2% and 75.3% for caffeoylmalic acid, psoralic acid‐glucoside, rutin, psoralen and bergapten, respectively. The present study suggests that DESs are truly designer and efficient solvents and the method we developed was efficient and sustainable for extraction main compounds from Fig leaves.mg/g

Ultraviolet Radiation-Elicited Enhancement of Isoflavonoid Accumulation, Biosynthetic Gene Expression, and Antioxidant Activity in Astragalus membranaceus Hairy Root Cultures

In this work, Astragalus membranaceus hairy root cultures (AMHRCs) were exposed to ultraviolet radiation (UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C) for promoting isoflavonoid accumulation. The optimum enhancement for isoflavonoid production was achieved in 34-day-old AMHRCs elicited by 86.4 kJ/m(2) of UV-B. The resulting isoflavonoid yield was 533.54 ± 13.61 μg/g dry weight (DW), which was 2.29-fold higher relative to control (232.93 ± 3.08 μg/g DW). UV-B up-regulated the transcriptional expressions of all investigated genes involved in isoflavonoid biosynthetic pathway. PAL and C4H were found to be two potential key genes that controlled isoflavonoid biosynthesis. Moreover, a significant increase was noted in antioxidant activity of extracts from UV-B-elicited AMHRCs (IC50 values = 0.85 and 1.08 mg/mL) in comparison with control (1.38 and 1.71 mg/mL). Overall, this study offered a feasible elicitation strategy to enhance isoflavonoid accumulation in AMHRCs and also provided a basis for metabolic engineering of isoflavonoid biosynthesis in the future.

Rapid analysis of Fructus forsythiae essential oil by ionic liquids-assisted microwave distillation coupled with headspace single-drop microextraction followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

A rapid, green and effective miniaturized sample preparation and analytical technique, i.e. ionic liquids-assisted microwave distillation coupled with headspace single-drop microextraction (ILAMD-HS-SDME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed for the analysis of essential oil (EO) in Fructus forsythiae. In this work, ionic liquids (ILs) were not only used as the absorption medium of microwave irradiation but also as the destruction agent of plant cell walls. 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim]OAc) was chosen as the optimal ILs. Moreover, n-heptadecane (2.0 μL) was selected as the appropriate suspended solvent for the extraction and concentration of EO. Extraction conditions of the proposed method were optimized using the relative peak area of EO constituents as the index, and the optimal operational parameters were obtained as follows: irradiation power (300 W), sample mass (0.7 g), mass ratio of ILs to sample (2.4), temperature (78°C) and time (3.4 min). In comparison to previous reports, the proposed method was faster and required smaller sample amount but could equally monitor all EO constituents with no significant differences.

Efficient Production of Isoflavonoids by Astragalus membranaceus Hairy Root Cultures and Evaluation of Antioxidant Activities of Extracts

In this study, Astragalus membranaceus hairy root cultures (AMHRCs) were established as an attractive alternative source for the efficient production of isoflavonoids (IF). A. membranaceus hairy root line II was screened as the most efficient line and was confirmed by PCR amplification of rolB, rolC and aux1 genes. Culture parameters of AMHRCs were systematically optimized, and five main IF constituents were quali-quantitatively determined by LC-MS/MS. Under optimal conditions, the total IF accumulation of 34 day old AMHRCs was 234.77 μg/g dry weight (DW). This yield was significantly higher compared to that of 3 year old field grown roots (187.38 μg/g DW). Additionally, in vitro antioxidant assays demonstrated that AMHRC extracts exhibited antioxidant activities with lower IC50 values (1.40 and 1.73 mg/mL) as compared to those of field grown roots (1.96 and 2.17 mg/mL). Overall, AMHRCs may offer a promising and continuous product platform for naturally derived, high quality and valuable nutraceuticals.

Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of phenolic compounds from Crataegus pinnatifida leaves and evaluation of antioxidant activities of extracts

In this study, an accurate method using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been established for the simultaneous determination of chlorogenic acid (CA), vitexin-4′′-o-glucoside (VG), vitexin-2′′-o-rhamnoside (VR), orientoside (ORT), rutin (RT), vitexin (VIT) and hyperoside (HYP) from Crataegus pinnatifida leaves. The Box–Behnken design (BBD) combined with response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method. Under optimized conditions (extraction temperature 41 °C, extraction time 31 min, ratio of liquid/solid 15 and ethanol concentration 39%), the yields of CA, VG, VR, ORT, RT, VIT and HYP were 0.46, 0.38, 4.37, 0.033, 0.036, 0.30 and 1.19, mg g−1, respectively. Additionally, antioxidant activities of UAE extracts in DPPH radical scavenging (DPPH), ABTS radical scavenging (ABTS) and reducing power tests were determined as 0.69 mg mL−1 (IC50 value), 0.86 mM Trolox and 0.24 mg mL−1 (IC50 value), respectively. Compared with conventional maceration extraction (ME) and heat-refluxing extraction (HRE) methods, the UAE method showed remarkable advantages in terms of higher extraction yields and better antioxidant activities. Overall, the present results showed that UAE was an efficient and alternative method for the extraction of phenolic compounds from C. pinnatifida leaves and its extracts were potential antioxidant ingredients or additives for the food industry with potential preservation properties.

A pilot-scale homogenization-assisted negative pressure cavitation extraction of Astragalus polysaccharides.

This paper reported a new, green and effective extraction technique for polysaccharides, namely homogenization-assisted negative pressure cavitation extraction (HNPCE), which succeeded in the extraction of Astragalus polysaccharides (APs). Central composite design and kinetic model were applied to optimize the extraction conditions, and the optimal parameters were obtained as follows: homogenization time 70s, negative pressure -0.068MPa, extraction temperature 64.8°C, ratio of water to material 13.4 and extraction time 53min. The proposed method exhibited considerable predominance in terms of higher APs yield (16.74%) with much lower temperature and shorter duration, as against the reported hot water extraction method (14.33% of APs yield with 100°C and 3h). Moreover, FT-IR results showed that HNPCE method did not alter the primary structure of polysaccharides. Furthermore, the pilot-scale application of HNPCE was successfully performed with 16.62% of APs yield. Thus, HNPCE is an excellent alternative method for the extraction of polysaccharides from Astragalus or other plant materials in industry.

Ionic‐liquid‐assisted microwave distillation coupled with headspace single‐drop microextraction followed by GC–MS for the rapid analysis of essential oil in Dryopteris fragrans

A rapid, green and effective miniaturized sample preparation technique, ionic-liquid-assisted microwave distillation coupled with headspace single-drop microextraction was developed for the extraction of essential oil from dried Dryopteris fragrans. 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate was the optimal ionic liquid as the destruction agent of plant cell walls and microwave absorption was medium. n-Heptadecane (2.0 μL) was adopted as the suspended microdrop solvent in the headspace for the extraction and concentration of essential oil. The optimal parameters of the proposed method were an irradiation power of 300 W, sample mass of 0.9 g, mass ratio of ionic liquids to sample of 2.8, extraction temperature of 79°C, and extraction time of 3.6 min. In comparison to the previous reports, the proposed technique could equally monitor all the essential oil components with no significant differences in a simple way, which was more rapid and required a much lower amount of sample.