Yahong Yuan

Free radical scavenging and immunomodulatory activities of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides derivatives

Polysaccharides extracted from the fruit body of Ganoderma lucidum were sulfated and carboxymethylated as reported. Free radical scavenging and immunomodulatory effects of sulfated and carboxymethylated polysaccharides were studied. Generally, sulfated polysaccharides showed better bioactivities than that of carboxymethylated polysaccharides. The two derivatives were injected intraperitoneally with or without 5-fluorouracil over a period of 7 days in BALB/c female mice. The polysaccharide derivatives increased mouse thymus and spleen index, an indication of improved immunity in mice. At the same time, they improved superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase contents in the mice body.

Alicyclobacillus contamination in the production line of kiwi products in China.

Alicyclobacillus are spoilage microbes of many juice products, but contamination of kiwi products by Alicyclobacillus is seldom reported. This study aims to investigate the whole production line of kiwi products in China to assess the potential risk of their contamination. A total of 401 samples from 18 commercial products, 1 processing plant and 16 raw material orchards were tested, and 76 samples were positive, from which 76 strains of microbes were isolated and identified as 4 species of Alicyclobacillus, including Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris, Alicyclobacillus contaminans, Alicyclobacillus herbarius and Alicyclobacillus cycloheptanicus, and another 9 strains as 3 species of Bacillus by sequencing of their 16S rDNA. Through phylogenetic tree construction and RAPD-PCR amplification, it was found that there exist genotypic diversities to some extent among these isolates. Four test strains (each from one species of the 4 Alicyclobacillus species isolated in this study) could spoil pH adjusted kiwi fruit juice and some commercial kiwi fruit products with producing guaiacol (11–34 ppb).

Effects of sequential mixed cultures of Wickerhamomyces anomalus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on apple cider fermentation

The fermentation of cider by mixed cultures of Wickerhamomyces anomalus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was carried out to study their effect on the cider quality. The results showed that growth of W.xa0anomalus and S.xa0cerevisiae was affected by each other during co-fermentation process. All the mixed cultures produced statistically the same level of ethanol as S.xa0cerevisiae monoculture. The mixed fermentation could produce more variety and higher amounts of acetate esters, ethyl esters, higher alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones. Sensory evaluation demonstrated that ciders obtained from co-fermentation with W.xa0anomalus gained higher scores than ciders fermented by pure S.xa0cerevisiae, especially the co-fermentation cultures WS3, WS4, WS6, and WS8. Only 3xa0days of fermentation with W.xa0anomalus in sequential mixtures were enough to improve the quality of cider. Wickerhamomyces anomalus could be used in association with S.xa0cerevisiae to improve the quality of cider. The modulation of inoculation time may provide an effective means of manipulating cider aroma for different characteristics.

Kinetics of adsorption of bovine serum albumin on magnetic carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles

The magnetic carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles (MNPs-CMC) were developed as effective magnetic affinity adsorbent for Bovine serum albumin and the adsorption reactions were investigated. The obtained experimental data were compared with the adsorption kinetics models and equilibrium isotherms. The experimental kinetic data were modeled using Pseudo-first order, Pseudo-second order, Banghams equation, Intra-particle diffusion model and Elovich equations. It was found that the adsorption reactions followed the Pseudo-second order kinetics equation. The experimental isotherm data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich and Temkin equations. By comparing the correlation coefficients determined for each linear transformation of isotherm analysis, it was found that the Langmuir equation was the best fit equilibrium model for the adsorption of BSA. Error functions have been used to determine the alternative single component parameters by nonlinear regression due to the inherent bias in using the correlation coefficient resulting from linearization. It showed that the Langmuir equation resulted in the lowest values for the error function and thus fitted the data better than the other isotherm. Various thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy (ΔH°), entropy (ΔS°) and Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) were evaluated. MNPs-CMC nanoaprticles were shown to be a promising material for adsorption of BSA from aqueous solutions.

Immunostimulatory activities of β-d-glucan from Ganoderma Lucidum.

A water-insoluble β-(1 → 3)-D-glucan (GLPs) with few branches at C-6 and C-2 positions was extracted from the fruit body of Ganoderma Lucidum by 1M NaOH at 40 °C. By the striking inhibition of NO and TNF-α production, GLPs showed significant anti-inflammation activity against LPS induced Raw 264.7 cells. Results of RT-PCR revealed the down regulation of iNOS and TNF-α mRNA gene expression. GLPs severely inhibited the phosphorylation of IκBα and JNK1/2, while the ERK1/2 and p38 were not apparently affected by GLPs. The neutralizing antibodies against dectin-1 and TLR-4, respectively, did not affect GLPs-mediated inhibition of NO production. But neutralizing of TLR2 affected the inhibition of NO. All of these results revealed that GLPs can inhibit the inflammation of Raw 264.7 cell induced by LPS at least partially attributed to the blocking of NF-κB and JNK MAPK, and TLR2 plays a major role in GLPs anti-inflammation activity.

Development and evaluation of an immunomagnetic separation-ELISA for the detection of Alicyclobacillus spp. in apple juice.

The immunomagnetic separation (IMS) technique was used in combination with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedure to shorten the total analysis time and improve the sensitivity for the detection of Alicyclobacillus spp. in apple juice samples. The specificity of IMS-ELISA for twenty strains of Alicyclobacillus spp. and eighteen strains of non-Alicyclobacillus spp. was determined and there was little cross-reaction with non-Alicyclobacillus strains. Artificially contaminated apple juice with different concentrations of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris was detected by IMS-ELISA, and the detection limit of the assay in apple juice was 10(3)CFU/mL. Furthermore, the sample inoculated with 1CFU/mL of A. acidoterrestris could be detected as positive after incubation for 24h. The IMS-ELISA described, allows for the identification of suspect positive samples within 3h of testing versus 3-5days required by standard culture methods while significantly reducing the materials and labor required for the detection of Alicyclobacillus spp. in apple juice samples. As compared with the standard culture method performed concurrently on the same set of samples, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of IMS-ELISA for 102 naturally contaminated apple juice samples were 91.3%, 96.02% and 95.09%, respectively. These results demonstrated that the newly proposed IMS-ELISA procedure can be a potentially useful analytical method for the detection of Alicyclobacillus spp. in apple juice.

Evolution of polyphenols and organic acids during the fermentation of apple cider

BACKGROUNDnPolyphenols and organic acids are important constitutes in the cider because they greatly contribute to organoleptic quality. The determination of their changes is important for monitoring the fermentation process for purposes of quality control. In this study, the evolution of polyphenols and organic acids was monitored throughout the cider fermentation process. The samples were taken periodically and the polyphenols and organic acids contents were determined using HPLC methods.nnnRESULTSnThe contents of polyphenols and organic acids were in constant change. After fermentation, the content of (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, gallic acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, rutin and phloridzin decreased by different degrees, while protocatechuic acid increased after fermentation. The content of organic acids was also affected by fermentation. Malic acid, lactic acid, quinic acid, pyruvic acid and citric acid showed different levels of increase, but succinic acid content decreased.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe contents of polyphenols and organic acids were affected by fermentation. Their changing profiles during fermentation process were dependent on the type of phenolic compounds and organic acids studied.

Immunomodulatory of selenium nano-particles decorated by sulfated Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides

In this study, we employed a one-step method to prepare selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) decorated by the water-soluble derivative of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (SPS). The SeNPs-SPS complexes were stable, and the diameter of the SeNPs was homogeneous at around 25 nm. We investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of SeNPs-SPS against murine Raw 264.7 macrophage cells induced by LPS. SeNPs-SPS were found to significantly inhibit LPS-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production against Raw 264.7 macrophages. RT-PCR results reveal the down-regulation of mRNA gene expressions for pro-inflammatory cytokines, including inducible NO synthase (iNOS), interleukin (IL)-1 and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. However, the anti-inflammation cytokine IL-10 was markedly increased. In the NF-κB signal pathway, SeNPs-SPS significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of Iκ-Bα. Similar results were observed for inhibition of the phosphorylation of JNK1/2 and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPKs), whereas ERK1/2 MAPK was not apparently affected by SeNPs-SPS. All of these results suggest that SeNPs-SPS complexes have anti-inflammatory potential modulating pro-/anti-inflammation cytokine secretion profiles, and that the mechanism is partially due to inhibition of activations of NF-κB, JNK1/2 and p38 MAPKs.

Application of FT-NIR Spectroscopy to Apple Wine for Rapid Simultaneous Determination of Soluble Solids Content, pH, Total Acidity, and Total Ester Content

The feasibility of rapid simultaneous analysis of soluble solid content (SSC), PH, total acidity, and total ester content in apple wine by Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy together with partial least squares (PLS) models was studied in this work. A set of 380 apple wine samples were scanned in a quartz cuvette with a 1-mm path length in the NIR region (4,000–12,000xa0cm−1) in transmission mode. Calibration models were established by PLS with full cross-validation. The NIR spectra were pretreated with different methods, and the effective wave number range together with the number of PLS factors used in the model calibration was optimized. The optimal models yielded the determination coefficients of 0.91, 0.93, 0.98, and 0.92 and the root mean standard error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.601, 0.077, 0.021, and 0.096 for SSC, pH, total acidity, and total ester content, respectively. This work demonstrated that NIR spectroscopy was a rapid and convenient technique for analyzing and predicting SSC, pH, total acidity, and total ester content simultaneously during apple wine fermentation process.

Changes in the profile of volatile compounds and amino acids during cider fermentation using dessert variety of apples

In China, the production of apples is very large even surplus. Developing cider is becoming an important and promising segment of the fruit industry. Fuji apples, a most popular dessert variety in China, were employed to produce cider. Timely monitoring during the fermentation process was conducted by recording the changes in yeast biomass, total sugar content, reducing sugar content, total acidity, yeast assimilable nitrogen, total phenols content, amino acids and volatile compounds. The sugar and nitrogen compounds were consumed smoothly during fermentation. A variety of volatile compounds were detected in the fermentation liquor, mainly including eight higher alcohols, fourteen esters, six fatty acids, three aldehydes, one ketone, one volatile phenol and three terpenes. Their content was changing dynamically throughout the fermentation process. The sensory evaluation revealed a good acceptance of the cider. The results showed that Fuji apples are good raw material for cider and have the potential to be widely used in the China cider industry.