Suitable coating material for microencapsulation of spray-dried fish oil

This study was conducted to screen the most suitable coating material for the production of microencapsulated fish oil powder using ternary blends of maltodextrin (15, 25 % w/w), Arabic gum (2.5, 7.5 % w/w), and methylcellulose (0.5, 1.5 % w/w). The physical properties of fish oil emulsion and encapsulated powders were evaluated. Arabic gum (5 % w/w) showed the most significant (p < 0.05) effect on the surface mean diameter of the droplets in the emulsion. Maltodextrin had the most significant (p < 0.05) effect on the centrifuge stability of the emulsion and the amount of surface oil of the powder at 15 and 20 % (w/w) respectively, whereas methylcellulose (0.5 % w/w) had the most significant (p < 0.05) effect on the width distribution of the droplets in the emulsion. The total optimal area leading to the formation of coating material with desirable physical properties was expected to be obtained by the combination of 16 % (w/w) maltodextrin, 6.5 % (w/w) Arabic gum, and 0.88 % (w/w) methylcellulose respectively

Lab-on-a-chip-based PCR-RFLP assay for the detection of Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis)in the food chain and traditional Chinese medicines

The Malayan box turtle (Cuora amboinensis) (MBT) is a vulnerable and protected turtle species, but it is a lucrative item in the illegal wildlife trade because of its great appeal as an exotic food item and in traditional medicine. Although several polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to identify MBT by various routes have been documented, their applicability for forensic authentication remains inconclusive due to the long length of the amplicon targets, which are easily broken down by natural decomposition, environmental stresses or physiochemical treatments during food processing. To address this research gap, we developed, for the first time, a species-specific PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay with a very short target length (120 bp) to detect MBT in the food chain; this authentication ensured better security and reliability through molecular fingerprints. The PCR-amplified product was digested with Bfa1 endonuclease, and distinctive restriction fingerprints (72, 43 and 5 bp) for MBT were found upon separation in a microfluidic chip-based automated electrophoresis system, which enhances the resolution of short oligos. The chances of any false negative identifications were eliminated through the use of a universal endogenous control for eukaryotes, and the limit of detection was 0.0001 ng DNA or 0.01% of the meat under admixed states. Finally, the optimized PCR-RFLP assay was validated for the screening of raw and processed commercial meatballs, burgers and frankfurters, which are very popular in most countries. The optimized PCR-RFLP assay was further used to screen MBT materials in 153 traditional Chinese medicines of 17 different brands and 62 of them were found MBT positive; wherein the ingredients were not declared in product labels. Overall, the novel assay demonstrated sufficient merit for use in any forensic and/or archaeological authentication of MBT, even under a state of decomposition

Effects of polar cosolvents on cocoa butter extraction using supercritical carbon dioxide

Cocoa butter was successfully extracted from cocoa liquor by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO 2 ) at 35 MPa, 60°C and 2 mL/min with 5%, 15% and 25% cosolvents. The extraction yield of triglycerides (TG) and fatty acid (FA) compositions were significantly influenced by the concentration of polar cosolvents. The SC-CO 2 extraction efficiency was increased with cosolvent significantly. Ethanol was found to be the best cosolvent for cocoa butter extraction using SC-CO 2 followed by isopropanol and acetone. The triglycerides of 1,3-dipalmitoyl-2-oleoylglycerol (POP), 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-stearoyl-glycerol (POS) and 1,3-distearoyl-2-oleoyl-glycerol (SOS) were contained in the extracted cocoa butter with POS being the major component. Where palmitic, stearic and oleic were the main fatty acids in the cocoa butter samples, with stearic being the highest component. The lower molecular weight (MW) of TGs and FAs showed the higher selectivity compared to the high MW of TGs and FAs. Thus, they were fractionated during the first stage of SC-CO 2 process. Industrial relevance: The cocoa butter was successfully extracted from cocoa liquor by SC-CO 2 at 35 MPa, 60°C and 2 mL/min using different concentrations of polar cosolvents (ethanol, isopropanol and acetone). The extraction yield was significantly (p b 0.05) influenced by the concentration of polar cosolvents. Similarly, polar cosolvent concentration had significant (p b 0.05) effects on the TG and FA compositions. Ethanol was found to be the most efficient polar cosolvent for cocoa butter extraction compared to isopropanol and acetone. POS (42.2-45.9%) being the major triglycerdies component, followed by . Palmitic, stearic and oleic acids were the main fatty acids in the extracted cocoa butter, with stearic being the highest (34.9-37.8%), followed by oleic (30.3-31.8%) and palmitic (28.3-30.0%) acids, respectively. The choice of modifiers becomes a great challenge and ethanol was shown to be the best polar cosolvent, and it enhanced the solubility during the cocoa butter extraction by SC-CO 2 . This method can be feasibly implemented in the cocoa industry for the production of high quality cocoa butter

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

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

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

Comparison of different extraction methods for the extraction of major bioactive flavonoid compounds from spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) leaves

Different bioactive flavonoid compounds including catechin, epicatechin, rutin, myricetin, luteolin, apigenin and naringenin were obtained from spearmint (MenthaspicataL.) leaves by using conventional soxhlet extraction (CSE) and supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction at different extraction schemes and parameters. The effect of different parameters such as temperature (40, 50 and 60 °C), pressure (100, 200 and 300 bar) and dynamic extraction time (30, 60 and 90 min) on the super critical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of spearmint flavonoids was investigated using full factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design (CRD). The extracts of spearmint leaves obtained by CSE and optimal SC-CO2 extraction conditions were further analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to identify and quantify major bioactive flavonoid compounds profile. Comparable results were obtained by optimum SC-CO2 extraction condition (60 °C, 200 bar, 60 min) and 70% ethanol soxhlet extraction. As revealed by the results, soxhlet extraction had a higher crude extract yield (257.67 mg/g) comparing to the SC-CO2extraction (60.57 mg/g). Supercritical carbon dioxide extract (optimum condition) was found to have more main flavonoid compounds (seven bioactiveflavonoids) with high concentration comparing to the 70% ethanol soxhlet extraction (five bioactiveflavonoids). Therefore, SC-CO2extraction is considered as an alternative process compared to the CSE for obtaining the bioactiveflavonoidcompounds with high concentration from spearmint leaves