Production of distilled spirits using grain sorghum through liquid fermentation

The objectives of this research were to investigate the fermentation performance of US sorghum varieties for the production of distilled spirits as well as their associated coproducts and to study the formation of volatile compounds that are related to the flavor quality of the spirits. Three US sorghum varieties (red, white, and waxy sorghums) and four yeast strains (DADY, Ethanol Red, GR-2, and 71B) were used for distilled spirit production. Both sorghum variety and type of yeast strains had effects on alcohol concentration and alcohol yield. The alcohol concentration varied from 10.26 to 11.34% (v/v) while alcohol yield varied from 80.93 to 90.33%. Using Ethanol Red yeast achieved consistently the highest average alcohol concentration (11.10%, v/v) and yield (87.33%) regardless of variation in sorghum variety. Waxy sorghum demonstrated significantly higher average alcohol concentration (11.20%, v/v) and yield (89.65%) than white sorghum (10.74% for concentration and 84.7% for yield) and red sorghum (10.28% for concentration and 82.27% for yield). Alcohol fermentation also produces other metabolites as byproducts. Glycerol and lactic acid are the two major byproducts found from sorghum spirit fermentation. DADY produced the highest level of glycerol (∼1.4–1.5%, v/v) during fermentation, while GR-2 produced the lowest level of glycerol (0.9–1.1%, v/v). For all conditions, the lactic acid level was less than 1.2% (v/v). Eight volatile compounds were identified in sorghum spirits which mainly relate to fruity, sour, sweet, floral, buttery, and creamy flavors of the spirits

Effect of genotype on the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of hempseed

Hempseed products has been used as nutraceutical supplements and pharmaceutical products. However, hempseed has been underutilized as a food crop for human consumption. To fill the gap of limited knowledge of the variation of hempseed for food consumption, thirteen hemp varieties were selected to evaluate the effect of genotype on the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of hempseed. The tested hempseed contains 26.48–32.03% crude protein with average of 28.48%, 28.03–33.23% crude oil with average of 29.54%, 28.78–36.55% crude fiber with average of 33.49%, and 5.43%–6.32% ash with average of 5.89. Average test weight of 36.85 lbs/bu was relatively low compared to the standard test weight of 44 lbs/bu. Hempseed oil contained high portions of about 80% unsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic and α-linolenic acid. The DPPH scavenging activities varied greatly (0.37–28.78%) for the hydrolysates from different hempseed varieties. This study provides comprehensive understanding of the nutritional value of hempseed for human food and potential of a new crop in agricultural food system

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Capecitabine Plus Oxaliplatin Versus Gemcitabine Plus Oxaliplatin as First-Line Therapy for Advanced Biliary Tract Cancers

Background: In the first-line treatment of biliary tract cancers (BTCs), XELOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) showed comparable clinical efficacy and safety to gemcitabine and oxaliplatin (GEMOX), with fewer visits and better treatment management. Our study aims to investigate the cost-effectiveness of XELOX and GEMOX as the first-line therapy for BTCs from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare systems and to provide valuable suggestions for clinical decision-making.Methods: A Markov model was developed using the phase 3 randomized clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01470443) to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of XELOX and GEMOX. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were used as the primary outcomes of the model. Uncertainty was assessed using univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analysis.Results: The QALYs for the XELOX and GEMOX groups were 0.66 and 0.54, respectively. In China, the total cost of XELOX treatment is US $12,275.51, which is lower than that of the GEMOX regimen. In addition, XELOX is more effective than GEMOX, making it the preferred regimen. A sensitivity analysis determined that XELOX therapy has a stable economic advantage in China.Conclusion: Compared to GEMOX, XELOX is a more cost-effective treatment as a first-line treatment for advanced BTC from the perspective of the Chinese health service system

Developing and characterizing antioxidants and proteins from corn and its co-coproducts

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Grain Science and IndustryMajor Professor Not ListedCorn is one of the most cultivated crops worldwide and is an important source of food, feed, and biofuel in the U.S. It is considered an important source of protein and calories for millions of people in the world, especially people in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Protein content in corn kernels varies among varieties and can be around 8-15%. Among the major cereals, corn is plentiful, cheap, and easily available, and has high phenolic content. It contains up to three times more phenolics compared to wheat, rice, and oats, and exerts the highest antioxidant activity. With the increase in ethanol production in the United States, more corn products are generated each year. Corn dried distillers’ grains (e.g., DDGS) are one of the major protein-rich co-products from corn dry milling processing, which are potential sources to produce high-value phenolic compounds and bioactive protein hydrolysates. However, limited information is available on the production and antioxidant performance of corn and corn DDGS antioxidants. The objectives of this dissertation were to produce both phenolic and protein hydrolysates from different varieties of corn and corn DDGS via different treatments and characterize their antioxidant performances with chemical assays and in different model systems. In the first study, seventeen different varieties of corn were screened and evaluated for their antioxidant compositions and properties. Those corn kernels had different colors and belonged to three different types including field corn (also called dent corn), popcorn, and sweetcorn. Both free and bound phenolics were extracted. Various assays were used to assess their antioxidant potentials. UPLC-DAD-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used for the characterization and quantification of the phenolic compounds. This section provides detailed understanding on the phenolic content and composition of different varieties of corn, as well as antioxidant activity using advanced instruments and comprehensive analysis. Based on the first study, four varieties of corn (Hickory king white, Reids yellow dent, Jimmy red, and Ohio blue) were further selected for distilled spirit production with four yeast strains from the species of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, including Safspirit GR-2 (GR-2), Red Star Distillers’ active dry yeast (DADY), SafSpirit HG-1 (HG-1), and SafSpirit USW-6 (USW-6). Phenolic compounds were extracted from both the original corn kernels and DDGS and thoroughly characterized. Results showed that both corn variety and yeast strains significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the total phenolic content (TPC), and DDGS possessed three to four times higher TPC than the unfermented corn. The GR-2 and HG-1 showed better improvement on TPC than other yeasts, and DDGS from blue corn indicated the highest free phenolic content up to 2078.82 mg/g GAE. Moreover, the phenolic profile was changed after fermentation. The DPPH+ and ABTS•+ scavenging activities of phenolic compounds were also improved after fermentation. In the third study, a sequential preparation procedure of phenolic antioxidants and protein hydrolysate antioxidants was developed. The antioxidant potential of the antioxidants was determined using different chemical assays, and the antioxidant performance of selected antioxidants in o/w emulsions was also evaluated. First, five GRAS organic solvents at 50% (v/v) were used to extract phenolic compounds from DDGS including acetone, ethanol, methanol, 1-proponal, and 2-propnal. The extracted phenolics were named Phenolic-A, Phenolic-E, Phenolic-M, Phenolic-1P, and Phenolic-2P, respectively. The residues were then hydrolyzed using 0.1 AU/g of Alcalase, and the prepared protein hydrolysates were named Hydrolysate-A, Hydrolysate-E, Hydrolysate-M, Hydrolysate-1P, and Hydrolysate-2P, respectively. The phenolic antioxidants showed significantly higher TPC than hydrolysate antioxidants, and the highest was observed on Phenolic-A (67.54 mg GAE/g). According to the results of composition and phenolic profile determined using the UPLC-DAD-ESI-Q-TOF-MS/MS, extraction solvent was critical to the phenolic acid yield and composition. The hydrolysate antioxidants showed a degree of hydrolysis in the range of 6.39-7.60%, and no significant difference was observed in the peptide content (501.58 -532.69 mg/g) as well as molecular weight distribution. Both phenolic and hydrolysate antioxidants had high antioxidant capacity against DPPH free radical scavenging and ferrous ion chelating. Considering the yield and antioxidant activities, 50% (v/v) of acetone and 50% (v/v) ethanol were the most efficient in producing antioxidants with promising antioxidant capacity. Phenolic-A, Phenolic-E, Hydrolysate-A, and Hydrolysate-E were added into oil in water (o/w) emulsions at both 1.0 and 2.5 mg/mL to evaluate their antioxidant performance. The selected phenolic and hydrolysate showed high efficiency in the prevention of lipid oxidation, and higher dosage showed relatively better prevention which was even better than 1 mg/mL rosemary extract. The results provide evidence that corn DDGS is a potential source of natural antioxidants, and sequential extraction would be a potential way to produce both corn phenolic and peptide antioxidants. The last study was focused on the preparation and characterization of corn protein concentrate from corn flour and DDGS. This study was conducted with a sequential extraction procedure combined with wet milling followed by physical treatments (sonication and homogenization), and then enzyme hydrolysis (α-amylase and cellulase) to produce concentrated proteins from corn flour and corn DDGS. The extracted proteins possessed a much higher protein content compared to the starting material with high protein recovery. Due to higher protein content in proteins produced from wet-milled corn flour with centrifuge or starch tabling and then followed by other treatments (protein-MC and protein-MT), more rupture of proteins was caused during future extractions inducing unfolding of protein structures and the consequent exposure of hydrophobic groups and regions buried inside. Therefore, protein-MC and protein-MT showed a relatively higher content of random coil (40.84% and 37.53%, respectively), higher SDS binding capacity (41.45 and 39.58 µg/mg, respectively), and higher free SH groups (3.04 and 3.14 µmol/g, respectively) and bond SS (14.71 and 15.41 µmol/g, respectively) among all prepared proetins. Protein extracted from corn flour (Protein-flour) showed the highest water holding capacity (WHC) with a value of 4.70 g/g, Protein-MC had the second lowest WHC which was 3.17 g/g, and protein-MT had the lowest WHC of 2.91 g/g. The highest oil holding capacity (OHC) was observed on protein-MC, protein-MT, and protein-CD which were 3.52, 3.36, and 3.55 g/g, respectively. However, no significant difference was observed in the in vitro protein digestibility (83.13-85.03%). Overall, this study generates useful knowledge for producing antioxidative phenolics and protein hydrolysate/protein concentrate from corn and corn DDGS. It revealed that phenolic compounds and bioactive hydrolysates from corn could inhibit lipid oxidation through scavenging free radicals as well as chelating metal ions. Those novel applications could add value to the co-products from corn processing industries and provide alternative naturally derived antioxidant options for food, pet food, and animal feed uses

Deriving and evaluating alternative antioxidants from corn coproduct proteins

Master of ScienceDepartment of Grain Science and IndustryYonghui LiCorn is one of the most cultivated crops worldwide and is an important source for food, feed and biofuel in the U.S. Corn gluten meal (CGM) and distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are two major protein-rich co-products from corn processing, which are potential sources to produce high-value bioactive peptides. However, limited information is available on the production and antioxidant performance of CGM and DDGS protein hydrolysates. The objectives of this study were to produce hydrolysates from those corn co-products via enzymatic hydrolysis, fractionate and identify antioxidant peptides, and evaluate their antioxidant performances with chemical assays and in different model systems. In the first part of our experiment, we screened and evaluated nine different microbial-, plant-, and animal-derived proteases for corn antioxidant production and found that CGM protein hydrolyzed with Neutrase at enzyme-to-substrate ratio of 0.4 Au/g and reaction time of 4 h had the most promising antioxidant properties and yield. The 1-3 kDa ultra-filtrated fraction of the hydrolysate exhibited the highest antioxidant capacities with respect to DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activity and metal ion (Fe²⁺) chelating activity. The fraction was further purified through RP-HPLC, and peptide composition and sequences were identified using MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. Addition of this fraction in an oil-in-water emulsion system significantly reduced the amount of primary and secondary oxidation products. It also led to 49.2% reduction of lipid peroxidation compared with the control (i.e., no antioxidant) when incorporated at 1 g/kg in ground pork. In addition, the hydrolysate significantly inhibited cancer cell growth when tested with a human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cell model, with cell growth reduction of 64.2% and 71.6% compared with the control (i.e., no antioxidant treatment) when added at 50 and 200 μg/mL, respectively. The second part was focused on enzymatic hydrolysis of CGM using three plant proteases (i.e., papain, ficin, and bromelain) for antioxidant production and process optimization. Optimum enzyme-to-substrate ratios for papain, ficin, and bromelain were found to be 60 U/g, 90 kGDU/g, and 180 kGDU/g, respectively. Optimum hydrolysis time for papain was 3 h, and that for ficin and bromelain was 4 h. The 5-10 kDa peptide fraction produced by papain, <1 kDa fraction produced by ficin, and 3-5 kDa fraction produced by bromelain showed the strongest antioxidant activity and yield in respective hydrolysates. These peptide fractions greatly inhibited lipid oxidation by reducing the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) when added into ground pork. In the last part, hydrolysates were prepared from CGM and DDGS proteins with Neutrase and Alcalase, respectively, and the antioxidant performances of those hydrolysates in bulk oils, ground pork, canine pet food, and pig feed were evaluated by measuring peroxide value (PV) and TBARS. Alcalase-hydrolyzed CGM (CPH-A) and Neutrase-hydrolyzed CGM (CPH-N) had stronger DPPH radical scavenging activity than Alcalase-hydrolyzed DDGS (DPH-A) and Neutrase-hydrolyzed DDGS (DPH-N). CPH-N showed better prevention of lipid oxidation in both corn oil and fish oil compared with other corn antioxidants. The best oxidation prevention in ground meat was observed with 2 g/kg of CPH-N. Lipid oxidation in pet food containing 2% DPH-A was efficiently retarded by 37.8% reduction at the end of incubation, and TBARS value of pig feed containing 2% CPH-N was reduced the most compared with other treatments. This study generates useful knowledge to produce antioxidative hydrolysates from CGM and DDGS, which adds value to the co-products from corn processing industries and provides alternative naturally-derived antioxidant options for food, pet food, and animal feed uses. It revealed that bioactive peptides from corn could inhibit lipid oxidation through scavenging free radicals as well as chelating metal ions. The antioxidants also demonstrated potential anticancer properties based on HepG2 cell study

Production and Characterization of Antioxidative Hydrolysates and Peptides from Corn Gluten Meal Using Papain, Ficin, and Bromelain

There has been a growing interest in developing natural antioxidants with high efficiency and low cost. Bioactive protein hydrolysates could be a potential source of natural and safer antioxidants. The objectives of this study were to hydrolyze corn gluten meal using three plant-derived proteases, namely papain, ficin, and bromelain, to produce antioxidative hydrolysates and peptides and to characterize the antioxidant performances using both chemical assays and a ground meat model. The optimum hydrolysis time for papain was 3 h, and for ficin and bromelain was 4 h. The hydrolysates were further separated by sequential ultrafiltration to 5 hydrolysate fractions named F1 to F5 from low molecular weight (MW) (&lt;1 kDa) to high MW range (&gt;10 kDa), which were further characterized for TPC, free radical scavenging capacity against DPPH and ABTS, and metal chelating activity. The fraction F4 produced by papain (CH-P4), F1 produced by ficin (CH-F1), and F3 produced by bromelain (CH-B3) showed the strongest antioxidant activity and yield, respectively. These three fractions were incorporated into ground pork to determine their inhibition effects on lipid oxidation during a 16-day storage period. The inhibition effect was enhanced with the addition of higher amount of hydrolysate (e.g., 1000 vs. 500 mg/kg). The CH-P4 reduced lipid oxidation in ground meat by as much as 30.45%, and CH-B3 reduced oxidation by 27.2% at the same level, but the inhibition was only 13.83% with 1000 mg/kg of CH-F1. The study demonstrated that CGM protein hydrolysates and peptides could be used as naturally derived antioxidant in retarding lipid oxidation and improving product storage stability

Numerical Modeling of Solitary Wave-Induced Flow and Scour around a Square Onshore Structure

Waves or tsunamis in the onshore area could induce severe scour at the structure foundations, threatening the stability of the structure. This paper presents a numerical study of the solitary wave-induced flow and scour around a square onshore structure. A CFD model coupled with hydrodynamic and sediment transport models is first validated through a large-scale laboratory experiment, which shows that the model can well reproduce the flow and scour characteristics. Subsequently, based on the reliable numerical results, the flow field and scour development during wave inundation of the structure are explored. It is found that the development of the simulated scour depth is faster at the early stage compared to that in the experimental result. The results also show that the scour starts at the front corner of the structure, which is also the position of the maximum scour depth. The scour develops rapidly at the early stage and is almost completed in the first half of the wave period. In addition, the results demonstrate that bed scouring increases the wave force on the structure due to the increase in the flow velocity near the bed, which needs to be considered, especially in the shallow-water scour scenario. Finally, a simplified prediction equation is proposed for the temporal development of the scour depth

Effect of Pulse Type and Substitution Level on Dough Rheology and Bread Quality of Whole Wheat-Based Composite Flours

Pulse flours are commonly added to food products to improve the functional properties, nutritional profiles, product quality and health benefits. This study aimed at assessing the effects of the partial replacement (0–25%) of whole wheat flour with diversified whole pulse flours (yellow pea, green pea, red lentil, and chickpea) on dough properties and bread quality. The pulse flours had higher protein contents and ash, but lower moisture content and larger average particle size, compared to whole wheat flour. Increasing the substitution level of pulse flours decreased dough viscosity, stability, development time and bread volume, and accelerated bread retrogradation. The incorporation of 5% yellow pea flour led to a similar bread quality as that with only whole wheat flour. Among all the tested pulse flours, the composite flour containing yellow pea flour or chickpea flour had overall better potential for bread making by providing good dough handling properties and product quality. This study will benefit the development of more nutritious food products by combining cereal and pulse ingredients

Self-encapsulated wearable perovskite photovoltaics via lamination process and its biomedical application

Summary: Flexible perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are highly promising photovoltaic technologies due to the prospect of integration with wearable devices. However, conventional encapsulation strategies for flexible devices often cause secondary damage to the perovskite crystals, which affects device performance. Here, we present self-encapsulated flexible PSCs realized by lamination technology. The conversion of perovskite crystals is achieved by the diffusion of lead iodide and ammonium halide under the effect of temperature and pressure. In addition, the hydrogen bonding of the introduced polyacrylamide enhances the connections of the integral device while improving the crystal quality. The self-encapsulated flexible PSCs achieve an outstanding photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 22.33%, and comprehensive stability tests are conducted based on wearable device application scenarios to verify the feasibility. Finally, 25 cm2 wearable perovskite modules are successfully applied into the neuro-assisted wearable devices

The Synthesis of Biphasic Metabolites of Carfentanil

Carfentanil is an ultra-potent synthetic opioid. The Russian police force used both carfentanil and remifentanil to resolve a hostage incident in Moscow. This reported use sparked an interest in the pharmacology and toxicology of carfentanil in the human body, and data on its metabolites were later published. However, there have been few studies on the synthesis of carfentanil metabolites, and biological extraction has also put forward large uncertainty in subsequent studies. The aim of the present study is to investigate the synthesis of biphasic metabolites that are unique to carfentanil. The purpose was to produce corresponding metabolites conveniently, quickly, and at low cost that can be used for comparison with published structures and to confirm the administration of carfentanil