Qingyi Wei

Intracellular Antioxidant Detoxifying Effects of Diosmetin on 2,2-Azobis(2-amidinopropane) Dihydrochloride (AAPH)-Induced Oxidative Stress through Inhibition of Reactive Oxygen Species Generation

The intracellular antioxidant activities of diosmetin were evaluated by cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) assay, 2,2-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)-induced erythrocyte hemolysis assay and cupric chloride (CuCl2)-induced plasma oxidation assay. The results showed that diosmetin exhibits strong cellular antioxidant activity (EC50 = 7.98 μmol, CAA value = 58 μmol QE/100 μmol). It was also found that diosmetin treatment could effectively attenuate AAPH-induced erythrocyte hemolysis (91.0% inhibition at 100 μg/mL) and CuCl2-induced plasma oxidation through inhibition of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Diosmetin could significantly restore AAPH-induced increase of intracelluar antioxidant enzyme (SOD, GPx, and CAT) activities to normal levels, as well as inhibit intracellular malondialdehyde (MDA) formation. Thus, the intracellular antioxidant detoxifying mechanism of diosmetin is associated with both nonenzymatic and enzymatic defense systems.

Tyrosinase inhibitory effects and antioxidative activities of novel cinnamoyl amides with amino acid ester moiety

Nine cinnamoyl amides with amino acid ester (CAAE) moiety were synthesized by the conjugation of the corresponding cinnamic acids (cinnamic acid, 4-hydroxy cinnamic acid, ferulic acid and caffeic acid) with amino acid esters, and their inhibitory effects on the activities of mushroom tyrosinase were investigated, using l-3,4-dihydroxyl-phenylalanine (l-DOPA) as the substrate. Among these CAAE amides, ethyl N-[3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-oxo-2-propen-1-yl]-l-phenylalaninate (b(4)) showed the strongest inhibitory activity; the IC(50) was 0.18 μM. The IC(50) values, inhibition types, inhibition mechanisms and kinetics of all these CAAE amides were evaluated. A structure-activity relationship (SAR) study found that the inhibitory effects were potentiated with the increasing length of hydrocarbon chains at the amino acid esters and also influenced by the substituents at the styrene groups. Furthermore, the hydroxyl radical scavenging and anti-lipid peroxidation activities of four CAAE derivatives were also investigated. Among these compounds, b(3) (ethyl N-[3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-1-oxo-2-propen-1-yl]-l-phenylalaninate) and b(4) exhibited potential antioxidant activities.

Characterization of myofibrils cold structural deformation degrees of frozen pork using hyperspectral imaging coupled with spectral angle mapping algorithm

The study investigated the possibility of using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) in the spectral range of 1000-2200nm to characterize myofibrils cold structural deformation degrees of frozen pork samples. The HSI images of pork samples frozen under different freezing rates were acquired in the frozen state without thawing. The myofibrils cold structural deformation degrees were evaluated by surface hydrophobicity (S0ANS) and Ca2+-ATPase activity. Spectral angle mapping (SAM) algorithm was used for the first time to extract the spectral information for regression. Compared with the optimized partial least square regression (PLSR) models based on selected wavebands by successive projections algorithm (SPA), the optimized PLSR models developed based on the spectral angles calculated by the SAM algorithm achieved comparable or even better performance with R2P of 0.896 for S0ANS and 0.879 for Ca2+-ATPase activity, respectively. The implications of the frozen meat spectrum were also analyzed in the current study.

Chemical spoilage extent traceability of two kinds of processed pork meats using one multispectral system developed by hyperspectral imaging combined with effective variable selection methods

The feasibility of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) (400-1000nm) for tracing the chemical spoilage extent of the raw meat used for two kinds of processed meats was investigated. Calibration models established separately for salted and cooked meats using full wavebands showed good results with the determination coefficient in prediction (R2P) of 0.887 and 0.832, respectively. For simplifying the calibration models, two variable selection methods were used and compared. The results showed that genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA-PLS) with as much continuous wavebands selected as possible always had better performance. The potential of HSI to develop one multispectral system for simultaneously tracing the chemical spoilage extent of the two kinds of processed meats was also studied. Good result with an R2P of 0.854 was obtained using GA-PLS as the dimension reduction method, which was thus used to visualize total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) contents corresponding to each pixel of the image.

Synthesis of N-hydroxycinnamoyl amino acid ester analogues and their free radical scavenging and antioxidative activities

Hydroxycinnamic acids have a variety of biological activities, including antioxidant activity. To find more active antioxidants with hydroxycinnamoyl moiety, we synthesized a series of N-hydroxycinnamoyl amino acid esters and evaluated their antioxidative activities by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and human red blood cells (RBCs) haemolysis methods. It was found that N-caffeoyl amides exhibited the highest DPPH-scavenging activities, whereas N-feruloyl amides demonstrated the highest antihaemolysis activities among the three different hydroxycinnamamides (caffeoyl, feruloyl, and p-coumaroyl), and that hydroxycinnamoyl amides were more effective than their corresponding free acid and ester compounds in both DPPH and RBC haemolysis tests.

Heterospectral two-dimensional correlation analysis with near-infrared hyperspectral imaging for monitoring oxidative damage of pork myofibrils during frozen storage

Near-infrared (NIR) spectra contain abundant data, heterospectral two-dimensional correlation (H2D-CS) analysis offers a good way to interpret these data. For the first time, H2D-CS was used to correlate the NIR hyperspectral imaging (HSI) data with mid-infrared spectra and to identify feature-related wavebands for developing models for monitoring the oxidative damage of pork myofibrils during frozen storage. The HSI images were acquired at frozen state without thawing and the oxidative damage of myofibrils was assessed by carbonyl content. Results showed that the simplified PLSR model based on H2D-CS identified feature wavebands obtained determination coefficient in prediction (R2P) of 0.896 and root mean square error in prediction (RMSEP) of 0.177 nmol/mg protein, which was better than the partial least square regression (PLSR) model based on full wavebands (R2P = 0.856, RMSEP = 0.209 nmol/mg protein). Therefore, H2D-CS was effective in selecting feature-related wavebands of NIR HSI.

Simple Approach for the Rapid Detection of Alternariol in Pear Fruit by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering with Pyridine-Modified Silver Nanoparticles

A simple method based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was developed for the rapid determination of alternariol (AOH) in pear fruits using an easily prepared silver-nanoparticle (AgNP) substrate. The AgNP substrate was modified by pyridine to circumvent the weak affinity of the AOH molecules to the silver surface and to improve the sensitivity of detection. Quantitative analysis was performed in AOH solutions at concentrations ranging from 3.16 to 316.0 μg/L, and the limit of detection was 1.30 μg/L. The novel method was also applied to the detection of AOH residues in pear fruits purchased from the market and in pear fruits that were artificially inoculated with Alternaria alternata. AOH was not found in any of the fresh fruit, whereas it resided in the rotten and inoculated fruits. Finally, the SERS method was cross validated against HPLC. It was revealed that the SERS method has great potential utility in the rapid detection of AOH in pear fruits and other agricultural products.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of core-shell Au@Ag nanoparticles aggregates for rapid detection of difenoconazole in grapes

The residual of pesticides in fruit and vegetables is one of the major food safety concerns for consumers. There is a demand for easy and rapid analytical methods to sense pesticide residues in foods. In this study, a core-shell Au@Ag nanoparticles aggregates (Au@AgNAs) based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) method was developed to detect trace amount of difenoconazole. Results suggested that by targeting the characteristic peaks at 700 and 808 cm-1, the logarithmic SERS signal intensities and logarithmic difenoconazole concentrations in the range from 5 × 10-7 to 2.5 × 10-5 M showed linear relationship with the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.990 and 0.985, and limit of detection (LOD) values of 5.01 × 10-8 and 2.8 × 10-8 M, respectively. The Quick Easy Cheap Effective Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) sample preparation method was used to extract difenoconazole in grapes for SERS measurements. The LOD of difenoconazole in grapes using this developed method was as low as 48 μg/kg, which was significantly lower than the maximum residue limit (MRL) values prescribed by European Union and China. This study demonstrated that the Au@AgNAs-based SERS method can be used as a simple, rapid and sensitive approach for sensing trace contaminants in food.

Double Strand DNA Functionalized Au@Ag Nps for Ultrasensitive Detection of 17β-estradiol Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

A detection method for 17β-estradiol (E2) using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based aptamer sensor was presented. Raman reporter molecule Cy3 labeled E2-aptamer and DNA functionalized gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag CS NPs) offered SERS with high sensitivity and selectivity. Based on the fabricated double strand DNA-immobilized gold-silver core-shell nanoparticles (Au@Ag NPs), SERS signal intensity of Raman reporter changed with the number of Cy3-labeled aptamer attached to the core-shell nanoparticles due to the strong binding affinity between the aptamers and E2 with different concentrations. A wide linear range from 1.0 × 10-13 to 1.0 × 10-9 was obtained for the detection of E2, with a low detection limit of 2.75 fM. This proposed method showed highly sensitive and selective for detecting E2, and could be used to determine E2 in actual samples.

A New Method for Accurate Determination of Polyphenol Oxidase Activity Based on Reduction in SERS Intensity of Catechol

Rapid and accurate measurement of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity is important in the food industry as PPOs play a vital role in catalyzing enzymatic reactions. The aim of this study was to develop surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) approach for accurate determination of PPO activity in fruit and vegetables using the reduction in SERS intensity of catechol in reaction medium. Within a certain catechol concentration, when a purified PPO solution was analyzed, the reduction in SERS intensity (Δ I) was linear to PPO activity ( Ec) in a wide range of 500-50 000 U/L, and a linear regression equation of log Δ I/Δ t = 0.6223 log Ec + 0.8072, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9689 and a limit of detection of 224.65 U/L, was obtained. The method was used for detecting PPO activity in apple and potato samples, and the results were compared with those obtained from colorimetric assay, which demonstrated that the proposed method could be successfully used for detecting PPO activity in food samples.