Influence of pecan nut pretreatment on the physical quality of oil bodies

A supply of pure, intact oil bodies is essential for carrying out morphological and biochemical studies of these plant organelles, and exploring their application. Preparation requires a carefully controlled breakage of plant cells, followed by separation of the oil bodies from cytoplasm and cell debris. This paper focuses on the recovery and characterisation of oil bodies from pecan nuts where no work has been published to date. The results showed that soaking softens the nut tissue, and appears to reduce the damage to oil bodies during grinding and centrifugal force must be carefully selected to minimise oil bodies damage on recovery. A 24h soaking time coupled with a 5500 RCF recovery force allows for the recovery of intact pecan nut oil bodies

Chloroplast-rich material from the physical fractionation of pea vine ( Pisum sativum ) postharvest field residue (Haulm)

An innovative procedure for plant chloroplasts isolation has been proposed, which consists of juice extraction by physical fractionation from plant material and recovery of its chloroplast-rich fraction (CRF) by centrifugation. This simple method has been applied to pea vine haulm subjected to different post-harvest treatments: blanching, storage at different relative humidity values and fermentation. Additionally, freeze storage of the extracted juice was carried out. The macronutrient (total lipids, proteins, ash and carbohydrates) and micronutrient (fatty acids, chlorophylls, β-carotene, α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid) content and composition of the CRF have been determined. The CRF isolated from fresh pea vine haulm is a potential source of essential micronutrients (α-linolenic acid, β-carotene, α-tocopherol) and carbohydrates, whereas the post-harvest treatments trialled have a detrimental effect on the nutritional content. Industrial applications for the recovered nutritionally rich fraction, such as food supplement ingredient or animal feeding, are likely envisaged, while optimising the use of green haulm