Wenjuan Qu

Continuous and pulsed ultrasound-assisted extractions of antioxidants from pomegranate peel

There is a great demand for developing efficient extraction methods in order to reduce extraction time and increase the yield and activity of functional antioxidants. The yields, activities, and extraction kinetics of antioxidants from the dry peel of pomegranate marc were studied using ultrasound-assisted extraction in continuous and pulsed modes and the results were compared with conventional extraction (CE) at a temperature of 25±2 °C and water/peel ratio of 50/1, w/w. The studied factors were intensity level and treatment time for continuous ultrasound-assisted extraction (CUAE), and intensity level, number of pulse repetition, and pulse duration and interval for pulsed ultrasound-assisted extraction (PUAE). The results showed that all factors significantly affected the antioxidant yield, but only treatment time had a significant effect on the antioxidant activity. Compared to CE, PUAE at an intensity level of 59.2 W/cm(2), and a pulse duration of 5s and a resting interval of 5s increased the antioxidant yield by 22% and reduced the extraction time by 87%. Similarly, CUAE at the same intensity level increased the antioxidant yield by 24% and reduced the extraction time by 90%. Since PUAE had 50% energy saving compared to CUAE, we recommend using PUAE for the extraction with antioxidant yield of 14.5% and DPPH scavenging activity of 5.8 g/g. A second-order kinetic model was successfully developed for describing the mechanism of ultrasound-assisted extractions under PUAE and CUAE. This research clearly demonstrated the superiority of PUAE for producing antioxidants from peel of pomegranate marc.

Quantitative determination of major polyphenol constituents in pomegranate products

The anti-oxidant content and potential health benefits associated with consuming pomegranate and pomegranate-containing products has lead to increased consumer demand for this crop resulting in it becoming a high value crop. The potential health benefits and high anti-oxidant content of this fruit is attributed to the polyphenolic compounds it contains, including the ubiquitous phenolic acids, gallic acid and ellagic acid, and punicalagin A and punicalagin B, two polyphenolics unique to this fruit. A rapid HPLC-UV method targeting these four metabolites requiring minimal sample cleanup and offering runtimes half as long as existing methods was established. Within day and inter-day run-to-run variability for the four metabolites ranged from 1.9% to 6.6% and 5.3% to 11.4%, respectively. Spike recovery percentages for gallic acid, punicalagin A, punicalagin B and ellagic acid were found to be 98.5%, 92.4%, 95.5%, and 96.5%, respectively. This method was applied to the evaluation of various pomegranate products, including commercial drinks, handmade juice, and marc extracts. This method may be readily used to verify the presence of pomegranate metabolites in juices, extracts, and other products.

Enzymolysis kinetics and activities of ACE inhibitory peptides from wheat germ protein prepared with SFP ultrasound-assisted processing

There is a great demand for developing efficient enzymolysis methods in order to increase the enzymolysis efficiencies and activities of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides from wheat germ protein. The enzymolysis kinetics, ACE inhibitory activity of peptide and conversion rate of protein were studied using sweep frequency and pulsed (SFP) ultrasound-assisted enzymolysis and the results were compared with traditional enzymolysis. The studied factors were enzymolysis time and substrate concentration. By considering the activity of ACE inhibitory peptide and operation cost, the recommended conditions of SFP ultrasound-assisted enzymolysis were enzymolysis time of 120 min and substrate concentration of 24.0 g/L, which gave high conversion rates of protein (60.7%) and ACE inhibitory activity of peptide (65.9%). Compared to traditional enzymolysis, SFP ultrasound-assisted enzymolysis significantly increased the initial reaction rate (V) by 60.0% at substrate concentration of 24.0 g/L, increased the apparent breakdown rate constant (k(A)) by 66.7%, decreased the apparent constant (K(M)) by 6.9%, and raised the conversion rate of protein by 35.5% and ACE inhibitory activity of peptides by 35.6% under the recommended conditions. It has been concluded that SFP ultrasound can remarkably raise the enzymolysis efficiency and activity of ACE inhibitory peptides from wheat germ protein.

Effects of multi-frequency power ultrasound on the enzymolysis and structural characteristics of corn gluten meal

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of multi-frequency power ultrasound (sweeping frequency and pulsed ultrasound (SFPU) and sequential dual frequency ultrasound (SDFU)) on the enzymolysis of corn gluten meal (CGM) and on the structures of the major protein fractions (zein, glutelin) of CGM. The results showed that multi-frequency power ultrasound pretreatments improved significantly (P<0.05) the degree of hydrolysis and conversion rate of CGM. The changes in UV-Vis spectra, fluorescence emission spectra, surface hydrophobicity (H0), and the content of SH and SS groups indicated unfolding of zein and glutelin by ultrasound. The circular dichroism analysis showed that both pretreatments decreased α-helix and increased β-sheet of glutelin. The SFPU pretreatment had little impact on the secondary structure of zein, while the SDFU increased the α-helix and decreased the β-sheet remarkably. Scanning electron microscope indicated that both pretreatments destroyed the microstructures of glutelin and CGM, reduced the particle size of zein despite that the SDFU induced aggregation was observed. In conclusion, multi-frequency power ultrasound pretreatment is an efficient method in protein proteolysis due to its sonochemistry effect on the molecular conformation as well as on the microstructure of protein.

Effects of ultrasound and ultrasound assisted alkaline pretreatments on the enzymolysis and structural characteristics of rice protein.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of multi-frequency energy-gathered ultrasound (MFEGU) and MFEGU assisted alkaline pretreatments on the enzymolysis and the mechanism of two pretreatments accelerating the rice protein (RP) proteolysis process. The results showed that MFEGU and MFEGU assisted alkaline pretreatments improved significantly (P<0.05) the degree of hydrolysis (DH) and the protein elution amount of RP. Furthermore under the same DH conditions, ultrasound and ultrasound assisted alkaline pretreatments were more save the enzymolysis time than the unpretreatment. The changes in UV-vis spectra, fluorescence emission spectra indicated unfolding and destruction of RP by MFEGU and MFEGU assisted alkaline pretreatments. The circular dichroism analysis showed that both pretreatments decreased α-helix but increased β-sheet and random coil of RP. Amino acid composition revealed that MFEGU and MFEGU assisted alkaline pretreatments could increase the protein elution amount and the ratio of hydrophobic amino acids. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicated that both pretreatments destroyed the microstructures and reduced the particle size of RP. Therefore, MFEGU and MFEGU assisted alkaline pretreatments are beneficial to improving the degree of hydrolysis due to its sonochemistry effect on the molecular conformation as well as on the microstructure of protein.

Enzymolysis reaction kinetics and thermodynamics of defatted wheat germ protein with ultrasonic pretreatment.

This research explores the mechanism of ultrasonic pretreatment on enzymolysis of defatted wheat germ protein (DWGP). The enzymolysis reaction kinetics and thermodynamics were studied after ultrasonic pretreatments using a probe-type sonicator and an ultrasonic cleaning bath, and the results were compared with traditional enzymolysis. The results showed that both the traditional and ultrasonic pretreated enzymolysis fit well to first-order kinetics. Both the temperature and ultrasound had a positive effect on the enzymolysis of DWGP, with temperature playing a dominant role. Under the optimized conditions of DWGP concentration of 1% (w/v), Alcalase concentration of 2000 U/g, time of 10 min and temperature of 50 °C, both the probe and cleaning bath ultrasonic pretreated enzymolysis showed high polypeptide concentrations (231.019 and 231.320 μg/mL) and low energy requirements. In comparison with traditional enzymolysis, these methods significantly increased the reaction rate constant (k) by 166.7% and 144.4%, 92.9% and 85.7%, 28.0% and 28.0%, 16.1% and 12.9% at 20, 30, 40 and 50 °C, and decreased the activation energy (Ea), enthalpy of activation (ΔH), Gibbs free energy of activation (ΔG) and entropy of activation (ΔS) by 68.6% and 62.4%, 74.1% and 67.5%, 34.3% and 31.2%, 1.4% and 1.3%. It can be concluded that ultrasonic pretreatment of DWGP can remarkably improve the enzymolysis efficiency and consequently leads to the production of higher polypeptide yield.

Effects of multi-frequency power ultrasound on the enzymolysis of corn gluten meal: Kinetics and thermodynamics study.

The effects of multi-frequency power ultrasound (MPU) pretreatment on the kinetics and thermodynamics of corn gluten meal (CGM) were investigated in this research. The apparent constant (KM), apparent break-down rate constant (kA), reaction rate constants (k), energy of activation (Ea), enthalpy of activation (ΔH), entropy of activation (ΔS) and Gibbs free energy of activation (ΔG) were determined by means of the Michaelis-Menten equation, first-order kinetics model, Arrhenius equation and transition state theory, respectively. The results showed that MPU pretreatment can accelerate the enzymolysis of CGM under different enzymolysis conditions, viz. substrate concentration, enzyme concentration, pH, and temperature. Kinetics analysis revealed that MPU pretreatment decreased the KM value by 26.1% and increased the kA value by 7.3%, indicating ultrasound pretreatment increased the affinity between enzyme and substrate. In addition, the values of k for ultrasound pretreatment were increased by 84.8%, 41.9%, 28.9%, and 18.8% at the temperature of 293, 303, 313 and 323 K, respectively. For the thermodynamic parameters, ultrasound decreased Ea, ΔH and ΔS by 23.0%, 24.3% and 25.3%, respectively, but ultrasound had little change in ΔG value in the temperature range of 293-323 K. In conclusion, MPU pretreatment could remarkably enhance the enzymolysis of CGM, and this method can be applied to protein proteolysis industry to produce peptides.

Optimization of process conditions for production of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides from vital wheat gluten using response surface methodology

The degree of hydrolysis (DH) and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory activity of vital wheat gluten (VWG) hydrolyzed using Alcalase were investigated using Box-Behnken response surface methodology (RSM). The mean responses were fitted to a second order polynomial to obtain regression equations. The enzyme-substrate ratio and the hydrolysis time increased the DH significantly (p<0.05). The substrate concentration was the only significant linear term leading to an increase in ACE-inhibitory activity. The optimized conditions of a substrate concentration of 5.04%, an enzyme-substrate ratio 5.94%, and a hydrolysis time 30.79 min gave a point prediction of a 12.74% DH and 82.28% ACE-inhibitory activity. Analytical results from confirmatory experiment were a 12.22%±0.5 DH and a 78.93%±1.07 ACE-inhibitory activity. The optimized conditions of the study provide useful information to the functional food and beverage industries to enhance the anti-hypertensive activities of peptides from VWG.

Effective Disinfection of Rough Rice Using Infrared Radiation Heating

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of infrared (IR) heating and tempering treatments on disinfection of Aspergillus flavus in freshly harvested rough rice and storage rice. Rice samples with initial moisture contents (IMCs) of 14.1 to 27.0% (wet basis) were infected with A. flavus spores before the tests. The infected samples were heated by IR radiation to 60°C in less than 1 min, and then samples were tempered at 60°C for 5, 10, 20, 30, 60, or 120 min. High heating rates and corresponding high levels of moisture removal were achieved using IR heating. The highest total moisture removal was 5.3% for the fresh rice with an IMC of 27.0% after IR heating and then 120 min of tempering. IR heating followed by tempering for 120 min resulted in 2.5- and 8.3-log reductions of A. flavus spores in rough rice with the lowest and highest IMCs, respectively. To study the effect on disinfection of rewetting dried storage rice, the surface of the dry rice was rewetted to achieve IMCs of 14.7 to 19.4% (wet basis). The rewetting process for the dry rice had a significant effect on disinfection. IR heating followed by tempering for 60 min resulted in 7.2-log reductions in A. flavus on rewetted rough rice. The log-linear plus tail model was applied to estimate the tempering time needed to achieve a 5-log reduction of A. flavus in rice of different IMCs. At least 30 and 20 min of tempering were needed for fresh rice and rewetted rice, respectively, with the highest IMCs. The recommended conditions of simultaneous disinfection and drying for fresh rice was IR heating to 60°C followed by tempering for 120 min and natural cooling, resulting in a final MC of 16.5 to 22.0%, depending on the IMC. For the rewetted dry rice with an IMC of 19.4%, the recommended condition for disinfection and drying involved only 20 min of tempering. The final MC of the sample was 13.8%, which is a safe MC for storage rice.

Effects and mechanism of ultrasound pretreatment on rapeseed protein enzymolysis

BACKGROUND The disadvantages which stem from the use of traditional enzymolysis of protein has necessitated the need to employ sweeping frequency and pulsed ultrasound (SFPU) in the pretreatment of rapeseed protein prior to proteolysis in order to bring about improvement in enzymolysis efficiency. Further, in order to determine the mechanism of ultrasound-accelerated enzymolysis of RP, the effects of SFPU on the kinetics, thermodynamics, molecular conformation and microstructure of RP were investigated. RESULTS Kinetic studies showed that SFPU pretreatment on RP improved enzymolysis by decreasing the apparent constant KM significantly (P < 0.05) by 32.8% and reducing the thermodynamic parameters Ea , ΔH and ΔS by 16.6%, 17.7% and 9.2% respectively. Fluorescence spectra revealed that SFPU pretreatment induced molecular unfolding, causing more hydrophobic groups and regions inside the molecules to be exposed to the outside. Circular dichroism analysis indicated that SFPU pretreatment decreased the α-helix content by 16.1% and increased the random coil content by 3.6%. In addition, scanning electron microscopy showed that SFPU pretreatment increased the specific surface area of RP. CONCLUSION Ultrasound pretreatment is an efficient method in RP proteolysis to produce peptides through its impact on the molecular conformation and microstructure of proteins.