The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical, physicochemical, and functional properties of agrowastes derived from okara ( Glycine max), corn cob ( Zea mays sp.), wheat straw ( Triticum sp.), and rice husk ( Oryza sativa) for potential applications in foods. The fibrous materials (FM) were treated with alkali to yield fibrous residues (FR). Rice husk contained the highest ash content (FM, 8.56%; FR, 9.04%) and lowest lightness in color (FM, 67.63; FR, 63.46), possibly due to the abundance of mineral constituents. Corn cob contained the highest amount of soluble dietary fiber (SDF), whereas okara had the highest total dietary fiber (TDF). The high dietary fiber fractions of corn cob and okara also contributed to the highest water- and oil-holding capacities, emulsifying activities, and emulsion stabilities for both FM and FR samples. These results indicate that these agrowastes could be utilized as functional ingredients in foods.
Here a mass spectrometry-based platform for the analysis of glycoproteins is presented. Glycopeptides and released glycans are analyzed, the former by quadrupole orthogonal time-of-flight liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (QoTOF LC/MS) and the latter by permethylation analysis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-TOF MS. QoTOF LC/MS analysis reveals the stochastic distribution of glycoforms at occupied sequons, and the latter provides a semiquantitative assessment of overall protein glycosylation. Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) was used for unbiased enrichment of glycopeptides and was validated using five model N-glycoproteins bearing a wide array of glycans, including high-mannose, complex, and hybrid subtypes such as sulfo and sialyl forms. Sialyl and especially sulfated glycans are difficult to analyze because these substitutions are labile. The conditions used here allow detection of these compounds quantitatively, intact, and in the context of overall glycosylation. As a test case, we analyzed influenza B/Malaysia/2506/2004 hemagglutinin, a component of the 2006-2007 influenza vaccine. It bears 11 glycosylation sites. Approximately 90% of its glycans are high mannose, and 10% are present as complex and hybrid types, including those with sulfate. The stochastic distribution of glycoforms at glycosylation sites is revealed. This platform should have wide applications to glycoproteins in basic sciences and industry because no apparent bias for any glycoforms is observed.
The oral route is considered the most patient-convenient means of drug administration. In recent years there has been a tendency to employ smart carrier systems that enable controlled or timed release of a bioactive material, thereby providing a better dosing pattern and minimizing side effects. Nano-encapsulation systems (nanocarriers) offer important advantages over conventional drug delivery techniques. Nanocarriers can protect the drug from chemical/enzymatic degradation and enhance bioavailability. Prebiotics are ideal ingredients for the nano-encapsulation and oral drug delivery due to their natural ability to protect the encapsulated compound in the upper gasterointestinal (GI) tract. Here the potential of prebiotics for oral delivery of drugs and other bioactives is reviewed.
In this paper, superheated steam (SHS) was used as cost effective and green processing technique to modify oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) for biocomposite applications. The purpose of this modification was to promote the adhesion between fiber and thermoplastic. The modification was carried out in a SHS oven at various temperature (200-230 °C) and time (30-120 min) under normal atmospheric pressure. The biocomposites from SHS-treated OPMFs and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) at a weight ratio of 70:30 were prepared by melt blending technique. The mechanical properties and dimensional stability of the biocomposites were evaluated. This study showed that the SHS treatment increased the roughness of the fiber surface due to the removal of surface impurities and hemicellulose. The tensile, flexural and impact properties, as well as dimensional stability of the biocomposites were markedly enhanced by the presence of SHS-treated OPMF. Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed improvement of interfacial adhesion between PBS and SHS-treated OPMF. This work demonstrated that SHS could be used as an eco-friendly and sustainable processing method for modification of OPMF in biocomposite fabrication.
The gastroretentive dosage form of famotidine was modified using tamarind seed powders to prolong the gastric retention time. Tamarind seeds were used in two different forms having different swelling and gelling properties: with husk (TSP) or without husk (TKP). TKP (TKP1 to TKP 6) and TSP (TSP1 to TSP 6) series were prepared using tamarind powder:xanthan in the ratios of 5:0, 4:1, 3:2, 2:3, 1:4, 0:5, respectively. The matrix tablets were prepared by the wet granulation method and evaluated for pharmacopoeial requirements. TKP2 was the optimum formulation as it had a short floating lag time (FLT<30 s) and more than 98.5% drug release in 12 h. The dissolution data were fitted to popular mathematical models to assess the mechanism of drug release, and the optimum formulation showed a predominant first order release and diffusion mechanism. It was concluded that the TKP2 prepared using tamarind kernel powder:xanthan (4:1) was the optimum formulation with shortest floating lag time and more than 90% release in the determined period of time.
For centuries, macrofungi have been used as food and medicine in different parts of the world. This is mainly attributed to their nutritional value as a potential source of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, and minerals. In addition, they also include many bioactive metabolites which make mushrooms and truffles common components in folk medicine, especially in Africa, the Middle East, China, and Japan. The reported medicinal effects of mushrooms include anti-inflammatory effects, with anti-inflammatory compounds of mushrooms comprising a highly diversified group in terms of their chemical structure. They include polysaccharides, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, and many other low molecular weight molecules. The aims of this review are to report the different types of bioactive metabolites and their relevant producers, as well as the different mechanisms of action of mushroom compounds as potent anti-inflammatory agents.
Steam explosion of oil palm frond has been carried out under different temperatures between 180 and 210°C for 4 min (severity of 2.96-3.84) after impregnation of the frond chips with water or KOH solution. The effects of impregnation and steam explosion conditions of oil palm fronds on the water soluble fraction and insoluble fraction were investigated. The maximum yield of hemicelluloses in water soluble fractions recovered was 23.49% and 25.33% for water and KOH impregnation, treated with steam explosion at temperature of 210°C (severity of 3.84) with a fractionation efficiency of 77.30% and 83.32%, respectively. Under this condition, the water insoluble fractions contained celluloses at 60.83% and 64.80% for water and KOH impregnation, respectively. The steam explosion temperature of 210°C for 4 min (logR(o) 3.84) was found to be the best condition in the extraction of hemicelluloses from OPF for both types of impregnation.
Okara, soybean waste from tofu and soymilk production, was utilised as a natural antioxidant in soap formulation for stratum corneum application. D-optimal mixture design was employed to investigate the influence of the main compositions of okara soap containing different fatty acid and oils (virgin coconut oil A (24-28% w/w), olive oil B (15-20% w/w), palm oil C (6-10% w/w), castor oil D (15-20% w/w), cocoa butter E (6-10% w/w), and okara F (2-7% w/w)) by saponification process on the response hardness of the soap. The experimental data were utilized to carry out analysis of variance (ANOVA) and to develop a polynomial regression model for okara soap hardness in terms of the six design factors considered in this study. Results revealed that the best mixture was the formulation that included 26.537% A, 19.999% B, 9.998% C, 16.241% D, 7.633% E, and 7.000% F. The results proved that the difference in the level of fatty acid and oils in the formulation significantly affects the hardness of soap. Depending on the desirable level of those six variables, creation of okara based soap with desirable properties better than those of commercial ones is possible.
Volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) is an important parameter in bioreactors handling viscous fermentations such as xanthan gum production, as it affects the reactor performance and productivity. Published literatures showed that adding an organic phase such as hydrocarbons or vegetable oil could increase the kLa. The present study opted for palm oil as the organic phase as it is plentiful in Malaysia. Experiments were carried out to study the effect of viscosity, gas holdup, and kLa on the xanthan solution with different palm oil fractions by varying the agitation rate and aeration rate in a 5 L bench-top bioreactor fitted with twin Rushton turbines. Results showed that 10% (v/v) of palm oil raised the kLa of xanthan solution by 1.5 to 3 folds with the highest kLa value of 84.44 h(-1). It was also found that palm oil increased the gas holdup and viscosity of the xanthan solution. The kLa values obtained as a function of power input, superficial gas velocity, and palm oil fraction were validated by two different empirical equations. Similarly, the gas holdup obtained as a function of power input and superficial gas velocity was validated by another empirical equation. All correlations were found to fit well with higher determination coefficients.
The enhancement of lignocellulose hydrolysis using enzyme complexes requires an efficient pretreatment process to obtain susceptible conditions for the enzyme attack. This study focuses on removing a major part of the lignin layer from kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) while simultaneously maintaining most of the hemicellulose. A two-stage pretreatment process is adopted using calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂, and peracetic acid, PPA, to break the recalcitrant lignin layer from other structural polysaccharides. An experimental screening of several pretreatment chemicals, concentrations, temperatures and solid-liquid ratios enabled the production of an optimally designed pretreatment process for kenaf. Our results showed that the pretreatment process has provide 59.25% lignin removal while maintaining 87.72% and 96.17% hemicellulose and cellulose, respectively, using 1g of Ca(OH)₂/L and a 8:1 (mL:g) ratio of liquid-Ca(OH)₂ at 50 °C for 1.5 h followed by 20% peracetic acid pretreatment at 75 °C for 2 h. These results validate this mild approach for aiding future enzymatic hydrolysis.
Experimental and numerical investigation was conducted to study the micromechanics of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibres containing silica bodies. The finite viscoelastic-plastic material model called Parallel Rheological Network model was proposed, that fitted well with cyclic and stress relaxation tensile tests of the fibres. Representative volume element and microstructure models were developed using finite element method, where the models information was obtained from microscopy and X-ray micro-tomography analyses. Simulation results showed that difference of the fibres model with silica bodies and those without ones is larger under shear than compression and tension. However, in comparison to geometrical effect (i.e. silica bodies), it is suggested that ultrastructure components of the fibres (modelled using finite viscoelastic-plastic model) is responsible for the complex mechanical behaviour of oil palm fibres. This can be due to cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin components and the interface behaviour, as reported on other lignocellulosic materials.
Fucoidan is a sulphated polysaccharide that consists mainly of fucose, normally found in brown seaweeds. In this study, fucoidan was extracted from Sargassum binderi (Fsar) from Malaysia and subsequently characterised. The chemical characteristics of Fsar were found to be different than those of commercial food grade fucoidan (Fysk) and those of previously studied fucoidans. NMR analysis proposed that the main structure of Fsar is →3)fuc-2-OSO3(-)(1→3)fuc(1→. The molecular weight (47.87kDa) and degree of sulphation (0.20) of Fsar were higher than those of Fysk, at 27.98kDa and 0.15, respectively. However, Fsar's polydispersity index (1.12) and fucose content (34.50%) were lower than those of Fysk, at 1.88 and 43.30%, respectively. Both Fsar and Fysk showed similar thermo-gravimetric properties with four mass losses, amorphous in nature and negative optical rotations. Results show that Fsar has fundamental characteristics of fucoidan with different structural conformation i.e. variation in glycosidic linkages and sulphate group orientation.
Presence of sulfated polysaccharides like heparan sulphate has often been implicated in the regulation of chondrogenesis. However, recently there has been a plethora of interest in the use of non-animal extracted analogs of heparan sulphate. Here we remodeled alginate (1.5%) by incorporating fucoidan (0.5%), a natural sulphated polysaccharide extracted from seaweeds to form a composite hydrogel (Al-Fu), capable of enhancing chondrogenesis of human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs). We confirmed the efficiency of fucoidan incorporation by FTIR and EDX analysis. Further, its ability to support hMSC attachment and chondrogenic differentiation was confirmed by SEM, biochemical glycosaminoglycan quantification, real-time quantitative PCR and immunocytochemical analyses of chondrogenic markers Sox-9, Collagen II, Aggrecan and COMP. Effect of Al-Fu hydrogel on hMSC hypertrophy was also confirmed by the downregulation of hypertrophic genes Collagen X and Runx2. This composite scaffold can hence be used as a cartilage biomimetic biomaterial to drive hMSC chondrogenesis and for other cartilage repair based therapies.
To date, the genus Mangrovimonas consists of only one species, Mangrovimonas yunxiaonensis strain LY01 that is known to have algicidal effects against harmful algal blooms (HABs) of Alexandrium tamarense. In this study, the whole genome sequence of three Mangrovimonas-like strains, TPBH4(T)(=LMG 28913(T),=JCM 30882(T)), ST2L12(T)(=LMG 28914(T),=JCM 30880(T)) and ST2L15(T)(=LMG 28915(T),=JCM 30881(T)) isolated from estuarine mangrove sediments in Perak, Malaysia were described. The sequenced genomes had a range of assembly size ranging from 3.56 Mb to 4.15 Mb which are significantly larger than that of M. yunxiaonensis LY01 (2.67 Mb). Xylan, xylose, L-arabinan and L-arabinose utilization genes were found in the genome sequences of the three Mangrovimonas-like strains described in this study. In contrast, these carbohydrate metabolism genes were not found in the genome sequence of LY01. In addition, TPBH4(T) and ST2L12(T) show capability to degrade xylan using qualitative plate assay method.
Ixotrophy is a process that enables certain microbes to prey on other cells. The ability of cells to aggregate or adhere is thought to be a significant initial step in ixotrophy. The gliding, multicellular filamentous bacterium Aureispira sp. CCB-QB1 belongs to the family Saprospiraceae and preys on bacteria such as Vibrio sp. in seawater. Adhesion and cell aggregation were coincident with preying and were hypothesized to play an important role in the ixotrophy in this bacterium. To test this hypothesis, experiments to elucidate the mechanisms of aggregation or adhesion in this bacterium were performed. The ability of Aureispira QB1 to adhere and aggregate to prey bacterium, Vibrio sp., required divalent cations, especially calcium ions. In the presence of calcium, Aureispira QB1 cells captured 99 % of Vibrio sp. cells after 60 min of incubation. Toluidine blue O, which binds acidic polysaccharides, bound to Aureispira QB1 and inhibited adhesion of Aureispira QB1. These results suggest that acidic polysaccharides are needed for aggregation or adhesion of Aureispira and that calcium ions play a significant role in these phenomena.
In this present study, isolation, characterization and protective effect of sulfated polysaccharide (SP) isolated from the brown algae Padina gymnospora was investigated. SP was isolated and characterized through FT-IR, 1H NMR, TGA, GC-MS and CHN analysis. The molecular weight of SP was found to be 16 kDa. The isolated SP contains 29.4 ± 0.35% of sulfate, 27 ± 0.11% of fucose, 0.05 ± 0.12% of protein, respectively. Furthermore, SP exhibits its excellent radical scavenging effects were evaluated by DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging and reducing power assays. Moreover, pretreatment with SP significantly mitigates H2O2 induced cytotoxicity in L-929 cells in a dose dependent manner. Furthermore, SP pretreatment ameliorates oxidative stress induced apoptosis and DNA damage, alleviates the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and restores mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in L-929 cells through its antioxidant potential. Together, these results suggest that SP can be exploited as a natural antioxidant in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
In this study, gum of Araucaria heterophylla was collected. The collected gum was subjected for extraction of polysaccharide using solvent extraction system. Thus, extracted polysaccharide was further purified using solvent method and was characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, Phenol sulfuric acid assay, FTIR, TGA, TLC and GC-MS. The gum derived polysaccharide was found to have the following sugars Rhamnose, Allose, Glucosinolate, Threose, Idosan, Galactose and Arabinose. The extracted polysaccharide was tested for various in-vitro bioactive studies such as antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity and anticancer activity. The polysaccharide was found to have antioxidant and anticancer activity. Further, the polysaccharide was subjected for carboxymethylation to favor the nanocarrier synthesis, where it was chelated using Sodium Tri Meta Phosphate (STMP) to form nanocarriers. The nanocarriers so formed were loaded with curcumin and were characterized using FTIR, SEM, EDX and AFM. Both the loaded and unloaded nanocarriers were studied for its in-vitro cytotoxic effect against the MCF7 human breast cancer cell lines. The nanocarriers were found to deliver the drug efficiently against the cancer cell line used in this study.
Gellan gum based floating beads containing clarithromycin (FBC) were prepared by iontotropic gelation method for stomach-specific drug delivery against Helicobacter pylori. The scanning electron microscope photograph indicated that prepared beads were spherical in shape with rough outer surface. Formulation variables such as concentrations of gellan, calcium carbonate and drug loading influenced the in vitro drug release characteristics of prepared beads. In vitro release rate of clarithromycin was corrected using first order degradation rate constant which is degraded significantly during the release study in simulated gastric fluid pH 2.0. Further, the absence of interactions between drug and polymer was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry analysis. Kinetic treatment of the in vitro drug release data with different kinetic equations revealed matrix diffusion mechanism. Prepared beads showed good anti-microbial activity against isolated H. pylori strain. The prepared beads have shown good in vivo floating efficiency in rabbit stomach. The stability studies of beads did not show any significant changes after storage of beads at 40 degrees C/75% relative humidity for 6 months. The preliminary results from this study suggest that floating beads of gellan can be used to incorporate antibiotics like clarithromycin and may be effective when administered locally in the stomach against H. pylori.
Increasing levels of antibiotic resistance by Staphylococcus aureus have posed a need to search for non-antibiotic alternatives. This study aimed to assess the inhibitory effects of crude and fractionated cell-free supernatants (CFS) of locally isolated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) against a clinical strain of S. aureus. A total of 42 LAB strains were isolated and identified from fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and fermented products prior to evaluation of inhibitory activities. CFS of LAB strains exhibiting a stronger inhibitive effect against S. aureus were fractionated into crude protein, polysaccharide and lipid fractions. Crude protein fractions showed greater inhibition against S. aureus compared to polysaccharide and lipid fractions, with a more prevalent effect from Lactobacillus plantarum 8513 and L. plantarum BT8513. Crude protein, polysaccharide and lipid fractions were also characterised with glycine, mannose and oleic acid being detected as the major component of each fraction, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy revealed roughed and wrinkled membrane morphology of S. aureus upon treatment with crude protein fractions of LAB, suggesting an inhibitory effect via the destruction of cellular membrane. This research illustrated the potential application of fractionated extracts from LAB to inhibit S. aureus for use in the food and health industry.
The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of types of protein-based microcapsules and storage at various ambient temperatures on the survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus during exposure to simulated gastrointestinal tract and on the change in thermo-tolerance during heating treatment. The encapsulating materials were prepared using emulsions of protein (sodium caseinate, soy protein isolate, or pea protein), vegetable oil, and glucose, with maltodextrin was used as a wall material. The formulations were heated at 90 °C for 30 min to develop Maillard substances prior to being incorporated with L. acidophilus. The mixtures were then spray dried. The microspheres were stored at 25, 30, and 35 °C for 8 wk and examined every 4 wk. The addition of proteins as encapsulating materials demonstrated a significant protective effect (P < 0.05) as compared to the control sample. Sodium caseinate and soy protein isolate appeared more effective than pea protein in protecting the bacteria after spray drying and during the storage at different room temperatures. Storage at 35 °C resulted in a significant decrease in survival at end of storage period regardless the type of encapsulating materials. The addition of protein-based materials also enhanced the survival of L. acidophilus during exposure to simulated gastrointestinal condition as compared to the control. After spray drying and after 0th wk storage, casein, soy protein isolate, and pea protein-based formulations protected the bacteria during heat treatment. In fact, a significant decrease in thermal tolerance was inevitable after 2 wk of storage at 25 °C.