Enzymatic hydrolysis of corn gluten meal

Corn gluten meal was hydrolyzed with Alcalase 2.4L, an alkaline protease. The effects of enzyme concentration and gluten size reduction on the hydrolysis were studied. Extent of reaction was expressed in terms of both the degree of hydrolysis (using the pH-stat technique) and the concentration of soluble protein. Linear and product inhibition kinetic models were compared to the experimental results after parameter estimation by minimizing the residual sum of squares. The models describe the time-dependent behavior of three protein/peptide pools-insoluble protein, TCA-insoluble proteins, and TCA-soluble peptides. A simplified product inhibition model gave the best fit to the experimental data

Mechanisms of Aqueous Extraction of Soybean Oil

Aqueous extraction processing (AEP) of soy is a promising green alternative to hexane extraction processing. To improve AEP oil yields, experiments were conducted to probe the mechanisms of oil release. Microscopy of extruded soy before and after extraction with and without protease indicated that unextracted oil is sequestered in an insoluble matrix of denatured protein and is released by proteolytic digestion of this matrix. In flour from flake, unextracted oil is contained as intact oil bodies in undisrupted cells, or as coalesced oil droplets too large to pass out of the disrupted cellular matrix. Our results suggest that emulsification is an important extraction mechanism that reduces the size of these droplets and increases yield. Protease and SDS were both successful in increasing extraction yields. We propose that this is because they disrupt a viscoelastic protein film at the droplet interface, facilitating droplet disruption. An extraction model based on oil droplet coalescence and the formation of a viscoelastic film was able to fit kinetic extraction data well

Bi2Te1.6S1.4 - a Topological Insulator in the Tetradymite Family

We describe the crystal growth, crystal structure, and basic electrical properties of Bi2Te1.6S1.4, which incorporates both S and Te in its Tetradymite quintuple layers in the motif -[Te0.8S0.2]-Bi-S-Bi-[Te0.8S0.2]-. This material differs from other Tetradymites studied as topological insulators due to the increased ionic character that arises from its significant S content. Bi2Te1.6S1.4 forms high quality crystals from the melt and is the S-rich limit of the ternary Bi-Te-S {\gamma}-Tetradymite phase at the melting point. The native material is n-type with a low resistivity; Sb substitution, with adjustment of the Te to S ratio, results in a crossover to p-type and resistive behavior at low temperatures. Angle resolved photoemission study shows that topological surface states are present, with the Dirac point more exposed than it is in Bi2Te3 and similar to that seen in Bi2Te2Se. Single crystal structure determination indicates that the S in the outer chalcogen layers is closer to the Bi than the Te, and therefore that the layers supporting the surface states are corrugated on the atomic scale.Comment: To be published in Physical Review B Rapid Communications 16 douuble spaced pages. 4 figures 1 tabl