Citrus Flavanones Enhance β-Carotene Uptake in Vitro Experiment Using Caco-2 Cell: Structure-Activity Relationship and Molecular Mechanisms.

Flavonoids can interfere with the absorption of carotenoids. In this study, the inherent mechanisms of 12 citrus flavanones for β-carotene (Bc) cellular uptake and the structure-activity relationship were investigated. The results showed that multiple hydroxyl groups had the lowest promoting effect.

Hesperetin and Hesperidin Improved β-Carotene Incorporation Efficiency, Intestinal Cell Uptake, and Retinoid Concentrations in Tissues.

Dietary constituents can influence the bioavailability of carotenoids. This study investigated the effect of citrus flavanones on β-carotene (Bc) bioavailability using four experimental models: in vitro digestion procedure, synthetic mixed micelles, Caco-2 cell monolayers, and gavage experiments in mice. The addition of hesperetin (Hes, 25 μM) and hesperidin (Hes-G, 25 μM) standards significantly increased the incorporation efficiency of the Bc standard to 68.

Increased Phenolic Content and Enhanced Antioxidant Activity in Fermented Glutinous Rice Supplemented with Fu Brick Tea.

Glutinous rice-based foods have a long history are consumed worldwide. They are also in great demand for the pursuit of novel sensory and natural health benefits. In this study, we developed a novel fermented glutinous rice product with the supplementation of Fu brick tea.

Copigmentation effects of phenolics on color enhancement and stability of blackberry wine residue anthocyanins: Chromaticity, kinetics and structural simulation.

To expound the copigmentation effects of phenolics on blackberry wine residue anthocyanins (BWRA), the color and stability of BWRA with storage, thermal, light and oxidation treatments were evaluated by chromaticity, kinetics and structural simulation analysis. Results indicated that phenolic acids showed preferable copigmetation on BWRA solutions with the enhanced color, thermostability at 50-70 °C and light stability, whereas the degradation was accelerated at 90 °C. Meanwhile, flavonoids promoted the oxidation stability of BWRA.

Effect of UV-B radiation and a supplement of CaCl on carotenoid biosynthesis in germinated corn kernels.

This study investigated effects of UV-B radiation and CaCl on the enhancement of carotenoid content in germinated corn kernels. UV-B radiation and CaCl treatments were effective for promoting both carotenoid content and antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the carotenoid content was greater when under the combined treatments of UV-B radiation and CaCl.

Development of Nanocomplexes for Curcumin Vehiculization Using Ovalbumin and Sodium Alginate as Building Blocks: Improved Stability, Bioaccessibility, and Antioxidant Activity.

Type I (Complex I) and type II nanocomplexes (Complex II) were created in this work for curcumin (Cur) delivery using ovalbumin (OVA, 1.0% w/w) and sodium alginate (ALG, 0.5% w/w) as building blocks.

Improving medium chain fatty acid production in Escherichia coli by multiple transporter engineering.

Medium-chain fatty acids (C-C, MCFAs) represent valuable molecules for food and pharmaceutical industries. However, MCFAs in Escherichia coli induce stresses and toxicity, reducing final yields. These phenotypes could be alleviated if MCFA export from cells was accelerated, yet information on proteins responsible for exporting MCFAs remains limited.

Antimicrobial Activity of Phenyllactic Acid Against Enterococcus faecalis and Its Effect on Cell Membrane.

3-Phenyllactic acid (PLA) was reported to have an effective antimicrobial activity. This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of PLA against foodborne Enterococcus faecalis and its effect on cell membrane. The minimum concentration of PLA to inactivate E.

Effects of Stigmasterol and β-Sitosterol on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Mouse Model: A Lipidomic Analysis.

To study the effects of stigmasterol and β-sitosterol on high-fat Western diet (HFWD)-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), lipidomic analyses were conducted in liver samples collected after 33 weeks of the treatment. Principal component analysis showed these phytosterols were effective in protecting against HFWD-induced NAFLD. Orthogonal projections to latent structures-discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) and S-plots showed that triacylglycerols (TGs), phosphatidylcholines, cholesteryl esters, diacylglycerols, and free fatty acids (FFAs) were the major lipid species contributing to these discriminations.

Biosurfactant-Protein Interaction: Influences of Mannosylerythritol Lipids-A on β-Glucosidase.

In this work, the influences of a biosurfactant, mannosylerythritol lipids-A (MEL-A) toward β-glucosidase activity and their molecular interactions were studied by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), and docking simulation. The enzyme inhibition kinetics data showed that MEL-A at a low concentration (< critical micelle concentration (CMC), 20.0 ± 5.

Improving metabolic efficiency of the reverse beta-oxidation cycle by balancing redox cofactor requirement.

Previous studies have made many exciting achievements on pushing the functional reversal of beta-oxidation cycle (r-BOX) to more widespread adoption for synthesis of a wide variety of fuels and chemicals. However, the redox cofactor requirement for the efficient operation of r-BOX remains unclear. In this work, the metabolic efficiency of r-BOX for medium-chain fatty acid (C-C, MCFA) production was optimized by redox cofactor engineering.

Overexpression of the nitrate transporter, OsNRT2.3b, improves rice phosphorus uptake and translocation.

Overexpression of OsNRT2.3b in rice can increase Pi uptake and accumulation through advanced root system, enhanced OsPT and OsPHR genes expression, and the phloem pH homeostasis. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two essential macronutrients for plants.

Rational modular design of metabolic network for efficient production of plant polyphenol pinosylvin.

Efficient biosynthesis of the plant polyphenol pinosylvin, which has numerous applications in nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals, is necessary to make biological production economically viable. To this end, an efficient Escherichia coli platform for pinosylvin production was developed via a rational modular design approach. Initially, different candidate pathway enzymes were screened to construct de novo pinosylvin pathway directly from D-glucose.

A systematic optimization of medium chain fatty acid biosynthesis via the reverse beta-oxidation cycle in Escherichia coli.

Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs, 6-10 carbons) are valuable precursors to many industrial biofuels and chemicals, recently engineered reversal of the β-oxidation (r-BOX) cycle has been proposed as a potential platform for efficient synthesis of MCFAs. Previous studies have made many exciting achievements on functionally characterizing four core enzymes of this r-BOX cycle. However, the information about bottleneck nodes in this cycle is elusive.

Efficient de novo synthesis of resveratrol by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli.

Resveratrol has been the subject of numerous scientific investigations due to its health-promoting activities against a variety of diseases. However, developing feasible and efficient microbial processes remains challenging owing to the requirement of supplementing expensive phenylpropanoic precursors. Here, various metabolic engineering strategies were developed for efficient de novo biosynthesis of resveratrol.

Neuro-fuzzy modeling to predict physicochemical and microbiological parameters of partially dried cherry tomato during storage: effects on water activity, temperature and storage time.

In the study, osmotically dehydrated cherry tomatoes were partially dried to water activity between 0.746 and 0.868, vacuum-packed and stored at 4-30 °C for 60 days.

Soymilk residue (okara) as a natural immobilization carrier for cells enhances soymilk fermentation, glucosidic isoflavone bioconversion, and cell survival under simulated gastric and intestinal conditions.

Cell immobilization is an alternative to microencapsulation for the maintenance of cells in a liquid medium. However, artificial immobilization carriers are expensive and pose a high safety risk. Okara, a food-grade byproduct from soymilk production, is rich in prebiotics.

Development of a simple, low-cost and eurytopic medium based on Pleurotus eryngii for lactic acid bacteria.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a group of important beneficial microorganisms for human, but their growth is restricted to the habitats with rich nutrients. In order to develop a simple, low-cost and efficient medium based on the mushroom Pleurotus eryngii, this study evaluated the effects of different treatment methods for the mushroom, concentration of the mushroom, buffers, tween 80, MgSO4·7H2O, MnSO4·4H2O, CuSO4·5H2O, riboflavin and ascorbic acid on the growth of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis SLPE1-3.

Efficient biosynthesis of (2S)-pinocembrin from d-glucose by integrating engineering central metabolic pathways with a pH-shift control strategy.

Microbial fermentations promise to revolutionize the conventional extraction of (2S)-pinocembrin from natural plant sources. Previously an Escherichia coli fermentation system was developed for one-step (2S)-pinocembrin production. However, this fermentation platform need supplementation of expensive malonyl-CoA precursor malonate and requires morpholinopropane sulfonate to provide buffering capacity.

Stepwise modular pathway engineering of Escherichia coli for efficient one-step production of (2S)-pinocembrin.

Developing efficient microbial processes to produce flavonoids has been a metabolic engineering goal over the past decade due to their important functions. Previously, the de novo production of the main flavonoid precursor (2S)-pinocembrin was achieved. However, low productivity and two separate fermentation steps made it inappropriate for industrial scale low-cost production.

Identification and Localization of β-D-Glucosidase from Two Typical Oenococcus oeni Strains.

β-D-glucosidase (βG) gene from Oenococcus oeni SD-2a and 31MBR was cloned, sequenced and analyzed, also intracellular βG of the two strains was further localized. The results showed that βG gene of the two strains was in high homology (> 99%) to reported βG gene, con-firming both strains possess βG activity at the molecular level. Intracellular βG of SD-2a is a mainly soluble protein, existing mostly in the cytoplasm and to some extent in the periplasm.

Analysis of N-nitrosodiethylamine by ion chromatography coupled with UV photolysis pretreatment.

Nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) are commonly detected by spectrophotometry after photolysis and Griess reaction (PG) in food industries for lower cost. Results of this research indicate that NDEA decays rapidly under UV irradiation, and concentrations of the generated NO and NO ions vary with photolysis conditions. Thus, the measurement of the PG method may be inconsistent because it is based on the amount of photoproduced NO.

Power ultrasound as a pretreatment to convective drying of mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaves: Impact on drying kinetics and selected quality properties.

The effect of ultrasound pretreatment prior to convective drying on drying kinetics and selected quality properties of mulberry leaves was investigated in this study. Ultrasound pretreatment was carried out at 25.2-117.

Complete genome sequence of Lactobacillus helveticus MB2-1, a probiotic bacterium producing exopolysaccharides.

Lactobacillus helveticus MB2-1 is a probiotic bacterium producing exopolysaccharides (EPS), which was isolated from traditional Sayram ropy fermented milk in southern Xinjiang, China. The genome consists of a circular 2,084,058bp chromosome with no plasmid. The genome sequence indicated that this strain includes a 15.

Characterization of a novel polysaccharide with anti-colon cancer activity from Lactobacillus helveticus MB2-1.

The present study aimed at investigating the potential anti-colon cancer activity of three purified exopolysaccharides fractions (LHEPS-1, LHEPS-2 and LHEPS-3) from the Lactobacillus helveticus MB2-1. The experimental evidence showed that LHEPS-1 significantly inhibited cell proliferation of human colon cancer Caco-2 cells in both time- and concentration-dependent manners. In contrast, no significant improvements of the inhibitory effects of LHEPS-2 and LHEPS-3 on Caco-2 cells were observed with increasing sample concentrations or prolonged incubation time.