Bambangan (Mangifera pajang) kernel fat: a potential new source of cocoa butter alternative

Bambangan (Mangifera pajang) is one of the underutilised tropical fruits found in the Borneo islands (Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei). The physicochemical and thermal properties of bambangan kernel fat (BKF) were investigated in an effort to identify an innovative fat that could be exploited in confectionery applications. The fatty acids and triglyceride (TG) contents, melting behaviour and solid fat content (SFC) of the BKF were determined by various chromatographic and thermal techniques. BKF had three main TGs, namely 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-stearoyl-glycerol (POS) (11.6%), 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol (SOS) (28.7%) and 1-stearoyl-2,3-dioleoyl-glycerol (SOO) (11.2%), with SOS being the major component. Stearic, oleic and palmitic acids were the dominant fatty acids with the area percentage of 36.4%, 44.5% and 8.4%, respectively. The melting behaviour indicated a single curve with only one maximum shoulder. With respect to the physicochemical and thermal properties, BKF is ideal for use in formulations (blending components) as an alternative to CB in food products, especially confectionary products

Nanostructured Materials: Bioengineering Platforms for Sensing Nucleic Acids

Detection of specific nucleic acid targets is of enormous and increasing interest in molecular biodiagnostics, food analysis, forensic investigation, and environmental monitoring. The advancement of nanotechnology with a myriad of novel and engineered nanomaterials and their hybrids with attractive physiochemical properties has raised hopes for the development of DNA sensors capable of identifying specific nucleic acid sequences with single molecule precision, avoiding the need of skilled personnel or sophisticated machineries. Compared to the traditional sensing platforms, DNA–nanomaterial hybrids provide better sensitivity and multiplexing facility, reducing analysis cost and increasing detection precision by several orders of magnitudes. The biofusion of DNA with nanostructured gold, nanostructured silica, nanogap semiconductors, carbon nanotubes, graphenes, and quantum dots has shown great possibilities to fabricate specialized nanostructured configurations capable of enhancing DNA detection several-fold. Miniaturized devices with embedded DNA of thousands of fingerprints in lab-on-a-chip are no longer a surprise. Here, we describe potential candidate nanomaterials and their molecular binding patterns with DNA to constitute a sensing platform for nucleic acid targets. The future perspectives and challenges of nanotechnology strategies are also outline

α-glucosidase inhibitors isolated from Mimosa pudica L.

The aim of the study was to isolate digestive enzymes inhibitors from Mimosa pudica through a bioassay-guided fractionation approach. Repeated silica gel and sephadex LH 20 column chromatographies of bioactive fractions afforded stigmasterol, quercetin and avicularin as digestive enzymes inhibitors whose IC50 values as compared to acarbose (351.02 ± 1.46 μg mL−1) were found to be as 91.08 ± 1.54, 75.16 ± 0.92 and 481.7 ± 0.703 μg mL−1, respectively. In conclusion, M. pudica could be a good and safe source of digestive enzymes inhibitors for the management of diabetes in future

Targeting double genes in multiplex PCR for discriminating bovine, buffalo and porcine materials in food chain

Beef, buffalo and pork are the major meat of economic, religious and health concern. Current methods to authenticate these materials in food chain are based on mainly single gene targets which are susceptible to break down by food processing treatments. We, for the first time, described here a double gene targeting short-amplicon length multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for discriminating bovine, buffalo and porcine materials in a single assay platform. The advantage of the assay is evidenced in terms of fidelity, cost and time since it is highly unlikely that two different targets would be missing even in a decomposed specimen. Detection of multiple targets in a single assay definitely saves analytical cost and time. Mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) and ND5 genes were targeted and six different targets (length: 90–146 bp), two for each of cow (120 and 106bp), buffalo (90 and 138bp) and pig (73 and 146bp), were amplified from raw, boiled, autoclaved and microwaved cooked meat under pure and mixed matrices. The detection limit was 0.02 ng DNA under pure states and 0.1% meat in binary mixtures and meatball products. Screening of Malaysian meatball products revealed all beef products were buffalo positive in which 35% were totally replaced. In contrast, all pork products were found uncontaminated from beef and buffalo

Identification of bioactive compounds with GC Q-TOF MS in the extracts from Clinacanthus nutans using subcritical carbon dioxide extraction

Subcritical carbon dioxide Soxhlet extraction of biologically active compounds from Clincanthus nutans was investigated by full factorial design to identify and optimize the factors (particle size and co-solvent) affecting extract yield, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. An average of 3.103% yield, 98.90% antioxidant activity, 49.40 mg/g (GAE) TPC, 43.76 mg/g (RE), and 88.58% AGI activity can be achieved using the optimum levels of independent variables. The GC-Q-TOF MS identification of optimized extract shown that different classes of phytoconstituents were successfully separated by CO2-Soxhlet to produce potential antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity

Effect of accelerated storage on chemical compositions of mango seed fat and palm oil mid-fraction blends as cocoa butter replacers

In this study, mango seed fat (MSF) and its recommended blends were stored under accelerated condition. During the accelerated storage, the changes of fatty acids, total phenolic, tocopherol, and phytosterol contents, iodine, free fatty acid (FFA), and peroxide values were examined every six days. Results upon storage, palmitic and stearic acids increased from 18.0 to 22.5% and from 33.3 to 36.7%, while oleic and linoleic acids decreased from 40.5 to 34.3% and from 5.4 to 2.1% in blend containing 85 g MSF/100 g fat. The iodine values of MSF and its recommended blends decreased (48.2 ± 1.2 to 32.0 ± 0.8 g iodine/100 g fat), while the peroxide (1.1e4.2 ± 0.0 milliequivalent O2/kg fat) and FFA (1.8-3.9 ± 0.0 g/100 g of fat) values increased after accelerated storage. The results obtained from this study provide an indication about the storage stability of MSF and its blends as cocoa butter replacers to food industry, in particular chocolate industry

Techniques for the extraction of phytosterols and their benefits in human health: a review

This review summarizes the information on the health-promoting effects of phytosterols and the techniques for their extraction. The extraction and analysis processes of phytosterols are complex and have not been fully established. Phytosterols have significant roles in the areas of foods, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Free phytosterols extracted from plant sources are widely used in fortified foods and dietary supplements. Most phytosterols are extracted from plant matrices using organic solvents which are health and environmental hazards. However, the application of supercritical fluid in the extraction of phytosterols has offered a promising green technology in overcoming the limitations of conventional extraction

Some formulas of L. Carlitz on Hermite polynomials

We have used the idea of ‘quasi inner product’ introduced by L. R. Bragg in 1986 to consider generating series ∑n=0∞Hn2(x)Hn2(y)tn22n(n!)2 studied by L. Carlitz in 1963. The pecularity of the series is that there is (n!)2 in the denominator, which has a striking deviation from the usuaI generating series containing n! in the denominator. Our generating function for the said generating series is quite different from that of Carlitz, but somewhat analogous to generating integrals derived by G. N. Watson (Higher Transcendental function Vol.III, P 271-272 for the case of Legendre, Gegenbauer and Jacobi polynomials

Common Wet Chemical Agents for Purifying Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Purification and functionalization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are challenging but vital for their effective applications in various fields including water purification technologies, optoelectronics, biosensors, fuel cells, and electrode arrays. The currently available purification techniques, often complicated and time consuming, yielded shortened and curled MWCNTs that are not suitable for applications in certain fields such as membrane technologies, hybrid catalysis, optoelectronics, and sensor developments. Here we described the H2O2 synergy on the actions of HCl and KOH in purifying and functionalizing pristine MWCNTs. The method (HCl/H2O2) showed 100% purification yield as compared to HCl and KOH/H2O2 with purification yields 93.46 and 3.92%, respectively. We probed the findings using transmission electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope, attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscope, Raman spectroscope, thermal gravimetric analysis, and X-ray powder diffraction. The study is a new avenue for simple, rapid, low cost, and scalable purification of pristine MWCNTs for application in versatile fields