Xinqi Liu

Formation of Glycidyl Fatty Acid Esters Both in Real Edible Oils during Laboratory-Scale Refining and in Chemical Model during High Temperature Exposure

In the present study, the formation mechanisms of glycidyl fatty acid esters (GEs) were investigated both in real edible oils (soybean oil, camellia oil, and palm oil) during laboratory-scale preparation and refining and in chemical model (1,2-dipalmitin (DPG) and 1-monopalmitin (MPG)) during high temperature exposure (160-260 °C under nitrogen). The formation process of GEs in the chemical model was monitored using attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the roasting and pressing process could produce certain amounts of GEs that were much lower than that produced in the deodorization process. GE contents in edible oils increased continuously and significantly with increasing deodorization time below 200 °C. However, when the temperature exceeded 200 °C, GE contents sharply increased in 1-2 h followed by a gradual decrease, which could verify a simultaneous formation and degradation of GEs at high temperature. In addition, it was also found that the presence of acylglycerol (DAGs and MAGs) could significantly increase the formation yield of GEs both in real edible oils and in chemical model. Compared with DAGs, moreover, MAGs displayed a higher formation capacity but substantially lower contribution to GE formation due to their low contents in edible oils. In situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopic evidence showed that cyclic acyloxonium ion intermediate was formed during GE formation derived from DPG and MPG in chemical model heated at 200 °C.

Effect of Na+ and K+ Ions on the Initial Crystallization Process of Lysozyme in the Presence of D2O and H2O

In the initial stage of the crystallization of egg-white lysozyme, monomeric lysozyme aggregated rapidly to form a nucleus in the presence of high salt concentrations. In the present studies, we examined the initial aggregation process of lysozyme (initial crystallization process of lysozyme) in D2O/H2O with sodium ions or potassium ions, and investigated the relationship between the surface hydrophobicity and the aggregation rate of lysozyme. The effect of sodium ions or potassium ions on the initial aggregation process of lysozyme in D2O was clearly different from H2O. The initial aggregation rate of lysozyme in H2O was slower than in D2O. In the case of H2O, the initial aggregation rate was about the same in both ions. But in the case of D2O, the initial aggregation rate was affected by the ion species and the value was lower in potassium ions than in sodium ions. These results suggest that the interaction between lysozyme molecules is stronger in D2O than in H2O. Furthermore, sodium ions have a stronger effect on the interaction than potassium ions in the case of D2O. There was a good correlation among the initial aggregation rate, surface hydrophobicity, and ζ-potential of lysozyme. The hydrophobic interaction may be an important active force in the initial aggregation process of lysozyme.

Small angle X-ray scattering studies on local structure of tobacco mosaic virus RNA in solution.

Effects of temperature and ionic strength (S) on the local structure of tobacco mosaic virus RNA in phosphate buffer solution are studied by analyzing the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) curves. The root-mean-square radius of a cross-section of RNA chain was kept at 0.845+/-0.005 nm over a wide range of S from 0.2 to 0.003 at 20 degrees C, whereas it gradually diminished from 0.85 to 0.61 nm when the temperature is raised from 20 to 50 degrees C at S = 0.2. Nevertheless, all of SAXS curves reflecting the backbone structures were equally mimicked by theoretical ones of freely hinged rod (FHR) models, i.e. several straight rods joined with freely hinged joints in the form of a combination of the letter Y, if the constituent rod lengths in the models are adjusted. From these facts, it is suggested that the local structure of the RNA chain in aqueous solution is characterized by an essential feature that unpaired bases in the partially double-stranded helix are constantly far isolated from each other along the helix and the rod-like structure of the helix is preserved over a range of helical contents. Such a characteristic local structure of the chain is entirely collapsed in the formamide solution at 50 degrees C.

KINETIC STUDIES ON THE INITIAL CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS OF LYSOZYME IN THE PRESENCE OF D2O AND H2O

In the initial stages of the crystallization of egg-white lysozyme, monomeric lysozyme aggregates rapidly and forms a nucleus in the presence of high salt concentrations. The formation process of the aggregates was examined to make clear the difference between the situations in heavy water and in water at the same sodium ion concentration. The aggregation in both cases was observed at unsaturated and/or saturated lysozyme concentrations. The turbidity at 350 nm of lysozyme increased remarkably within 60 min under each experimental condition and showed no appreciable changes over 60 min. The increase of turbidity in H2O was much slower than in D2O at the same salt concentration (3%). Lysozyme showed a critical concentration for nucleus formation whose value in H2O was lower than in D2O at 3% salt concentration. There are two different aggregation models, depending on the concentration of lysozyme. However, similar results were not obtained at 3% sodium ions in H2O. The initial aggregation rate was also dependent on the concentrations of both lysozyme and NaCI. Therefore, the effect of lysozyme concentration on the aggregation process in H2O may be smaller than in D2O.

Effect of High Pressure Microfluidization on the Crystallization Behavior of Palm Stearin — Palm Olein Blends

Moderate and high microfluidization pressures (60 and 120 MPa) and different treatment times (once and twice) were used to investigate the effect of high-pressure microfluidization (HPM) treatment on the crystallization behavior and physical properties of binary mixtures of palm stearin (PS) and palm olein (PO). The polarized light microscopy (PLM), texture analyzer, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were applied to analyze the changes in crystal network structure, hardness, polymorphism and thermal property of the control and treated blends. PLM results showed that HPM caused significant reductions in maximum crystal diameter in all treated blends, and thus led to changes in the crystal network structure, and finally caused higher hardness in than the control blends. The XRD study demonstrated that HPM altered crystalline polymorphism. The HPM-treated blends showed a predominance of the more stable β form, which is of more interest for food applications, while the control blend had more α- and β-form. This result was further confirmed by DSC observations. These changes in crystallization behavior indicated that HPM treatment was more likely to modify the crystallization processes and nucleation mechanisms.

Emulsifying and Foaming Properties of Wheat Gluten Influenced by High Pressure Microfluidization

The changes in emulsifying and foaming properties of wheat gluten treated by dynamic high pressure microfluidization (DHPM) were identified. Solutions of wheat gluten (4%, w/w) in water or in pH=2 aqueous solution were treated by various pressure (0, 40, 60, 80, 100 MPa) microfluidization. It was found that DHPM treatment could effectively improve the emulsifying property and foam stability of wheat gluten in water, but decrease the foaming capacity of wheat gluten in water and emulsifying and foaming properties of wheat gluten in pH=2 aqueous solution. These results may be useful to the food processing industry.

Synthesis of Epoxidized soybean Oil via phase transfer catalysis

In the system of heteropoly acid [π-C5H5NC16H33]3[PO4(WO3)4], H2O2 (30 %, w/w), polyethylene glycol, 1,2-dichloroethane, soybean oil under went epoxidation reaction smoothly via reaction-controlled phase transfer catalysis. Effects of the amount of interfacial active agent, H2O2, catalyst and reaction time were investigated and the optimized reaction conditions were as follows: 10 g of soybean oil, 0.3 g of [π-C5H5NC16H33]3[PO4 (WO3)4],8 ml of H2O2 (30 %, w/w), 5.0 ml of PEG, 30 g of 1,2-dichloroethane, and the reaction temperature was 65 °C and reaction time was 3.5-4.0 h. Under these optimized conditions, an epoxy value of 6.30 % and a yield of 90 % were obtained. Hence, it is an environmental-friendly and effective way to synthesize epoxidized soybean oil.

Effects of Fe3+ and Antioxidants on Glycidyl Ester Formation in Plant Oil at High Temperature and Their Influencing Mechanisms

This research investigated the effects of Fe3+ and antioxidants on the formation of glycidyl esters (GEs) and the free radical mediated mechanisms involving the recognition of cyclic acyloxonium free radical intermediate (CAFRI) for GE formation in both the plant oil model (palm oil, camellia oil, soybean oil, and linseed oil) system and the chemical model (dipalmitin and methyl linoleate) system heated at 200 °C. Results show that Fe3+ can promote the formation of GEs, which can be inhibited by antioxidants in plant oil during high-temperature exposure. Based on the monitoring of cyclic acyloxonium and ester carbonyl group by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the promotion of Fe3+ and the inhibition of antioxidants (tert-butylhydroquinone and α-tocopherol) for GE formation occurred not only through lipid oxidation but also through directly affecting the formation of cyclic acyloxonium intermediate. Additionally, a quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry measurement was conducted to identify the presence of radical adduct captured by 5,5-dimethylpyrroline N-oxide, which provided strong evidence for the formation of CAFRI. Thus, one possible influencing mechanism can be that free radical generated in lipid oxidation may be transferred to dipalmitin and promote CAFRI formation. Fe3+ can catalyze free radical generation while antioxidants can scavenge free radical, and therefore they also can directly affect CAFRI formation.

Antioxidative Activity and Functional Properties of Hydrolysates of Camellia Seed Meal Treated with Trypsin

Antioxidative activity and functional properties of hydrolysates prepared from defatted camellia seed meal(DCSM), using trypsin, with a degree of hydrolysis(DH) of 21.69% were determined. At this DH, the hydrolysates show the highest hydroxyl and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity (over 69.15 % and 78.22%, respectively). The functionalities of hydrolysates such as solubility, water-holding capacity,emulsifying activity, foaming capacity and foaming stability are remarkably improved at all test pH range. These results indicate that the DCSM hydrolysised by trypsin to produce hydrolysates with desirable antioxidative activity and functional properties.

Characterization of Globin Hydrolyzates by Light Scattering

Publisher Summary Globin hydrolyzates have successfully been prepared with citric acid, in order to improve a better solubility and more excellent ability on gel formation induced by heating than intact globin, and to control the texture of gel. This chapter describes the detailed gel network formation of globin hydrolyzate by light scattering methods. The globin hydrolyzates, containing mainly 8 kinds of peptides, are obtained by hydrolyzing the globin with 8 M citric acid. In the process of gel formation, a non-covalent bond between the globin β-chain and the peptide β-1 forms a rod-shaped aggregate with a length of 130–140 nm and a molecular weight of about 870,000 Da. The peptide α-1 originating from globin α-chain has a high hydrophilicity, and shows the properties of association and dissociation depending on concentration and temperature. The hypothetical gel formation mechanism of the globin hydrolyzates is presented as follows: Initially the randomly coiled polymers are produced by about 8 molecules of peptide α-1, next the cross linked structures are constructed between the length of 130–140 nm rod-shaped aggregates, and then the network is gradually formed and the gel is finally formed.