Enzyme-Catalyzed Production and Chemical Composition of Diacylglycerols from Corn Oil Deodorizer Distillate

Diacylglycerols (DAG) were enzymatically synthesized by lipase-catalyzed esterification of glycerol with fatty acids from corn oil deodorizer distillate (CrODD). Effects of reaction parameters such as reaction time, temperature, enzyme type, enzyme load, substrate mole ratio, and water content, as well as the effect of molecular sieves as a water adsorbent were investigated. Rhizomucor miehei lipase (Lipozyme RM IM) was found to be most effective among the lipases screened. The following conditions yielded 70.0% (w/w) DAG: 5 h reaction time, 65°C reaction temperature, 10% (w/w) Lipozyme RM IM, 2.5:1 fatty acid to glycerol molar ratio, and 30% (w/w) molecular sieves. DAG synthesis of 12.4% (w/w) was still observed at 10% (w/w) water content. 84.2% (w/w) of DAG was obtained after purification. The DAG oil comprised predominantly of 1-oleoyl-3-linoleoyl-glycerol (28.5%), 1,3-diolein (22.7%), 1-oleoyl-2-linoleoyl-glycerol (17.9%), and 1,2-diolein (10.9%). Fatty acid profile was similar to that of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) corn oil. The ratio of 1,3- to 1,2-positional isomers of DAG was at 1.82:1

Lipase-catalysed production and chemical composition of diacylglycerols from soybean oil deodoriser distillate

Diacylglycerols (DAG) were enzymatically produced by lipase-catalysed esterification of glycerol with fatty acids from soybean oil deodoriser distillate (SODD). Effects of reaction parameters such as reaction time, temperature, enzyme type, enzyme load, substrate molar ratio and water content, as well as the effect of molecular sieves as water adsorbent were studied. Lipozyme RM IM was determined to be the most effective among the lipases screened. The following conditions yielded 69.9% DAG (all percentages are wt/wt): 4 h reaction time, 65 °C reaction temperature, 10% Lipozyme RM IM, 2.5:1 fatty acid to glycerol molar ratio, and 30% molecular sieves. DAG synthesis of 11.9% was still observed at 10% water content. After purification, the product oil contained 86.3% DAG. This oil consisted predominantly of 1,3-diolein (19.1%), 1-oleoyl-3-linoleoyl-glycerol (18.2%) and 1-oleoyl-2-linoleoyl-glycerol (16.6%). The fatty acid profile of the oil was similar to that of refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) soybean oil. The % ratio of 1,3- to 1,2-positional isomers of DAG was at 56:44

Production of a diacylglycerol-enriched palm olein using lipase-catalyzed partial hydrolysis : optimization using response surface methodology

Partial hydrolysis using Lipozyme RMIM lipase in a solvent-free system was used to produce a diacylglycerol (DAG)-enriched palm olein. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to model and optimize the reaction conditions namely water content (30– 70 wt% of enzyme mass), enzyme load (5–15 wt% of oil mass), reaction temperature (45–85 C) and reaction time (6–16 h). Well fitting models were successfully established for both DAG yield (R2 = 0.8788) and unhydrolysed triacylglycerol (TAG) (R2 = 0.8653) through multiple linear regressions with backward elimination. Chi-square test indicated that there were no significant (P > 0.05) differences between the observed and predicted values for both models. All reaction conditions had positive effects on DAG yield and negative effects on unhydrolysed TAG. Optimal reaction conditions were: 50 wt% water content, 10 wt% enzyme load, 65C of reaction temperature and 12 h of reaction time. The process was further up-scaled to a 9 kg production in a continuous packed bed bioreactor. Results indicated that upscaling was possible with a similar DAG yield (32 wt%) as in lab scale. Purification of the DAG oil using short path distillation yielded a DAG-enriched palm olein with 60 wt% DAG and 40 wt% TAG which is suitable for margarine, spread or shortening applications

Study of behavior of plastic modified bitumen by incorporating carbon black

In recent years, the performance of polymer modified bitumen has been widely studied. This study reports a research carried out to investigate the properties of polymer modified bitumen (PMB) by using polypropylene as modifier, carbon black as additives, to examine the optimum ratio of polypropylene to carbon black. With this objective, sample preparation using wet mixing method combining high shear mix was firstly performed. Subsequently, 18 samples were developed for the study, of which the polypropylene (PP) contents 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18% and 20% with 2%, 3%, 4% of carbon black content. Afterwards, samples were characterized by standard tests (Dynamic Shear Rheometer and Viscosity), and all the test results showed improved performance. Finally, the results concluded that the optimum binder-PP ratio PMB for applying is 14% PP with 3% carbon black

Metabolic classification of microbial genomes using functional probes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microorganisms able to grow under artificial culture conditions comprise only a small proportion of the biosphere's total microbial community. Until recently, scientists have been unable to perform thorough analyses of difficult-to-culture microorganisms due to limitations in sequencing technology. As modern techniques have dramatically increased sequencing rates and rapidly expanded the number of sequenced genomes, in addition to traditional taxonomic classifications which focus on the evolutionary relationships of organisms, classifications of the genomes based on alternative points of view may help advance our understanding of the delicate relationships of organisms.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed a proteome-based method for classifying microbial species. This classification method uses a set of probes comprising short, highly conserved amino acid sequences. For each genome, <it>in silico </it>translation is performed to obtained its proteome, based on which a probe-set frequency pattern is generated. Then, the probe-set frequency patterns are used to cluster the proteomes/genomes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Features of the proposed method include a high running speed in challenge of a large number of genomes, and high applicability for classifying organisms with incomplete genome sequences. Moreover, the probe-set clustering method is sensitive to the metabolic phenotypic similarities/differences among species and is thus supposed potential for the classification or differentiation of closely-related organisms.</p

Diacylglycerol and Triacylglycerol as Responses in a Dual Response Surface-Optimized Process for Diacylglycerol Production by Lipase-Catalyzed Esterification in a Pilot Packed-Bed Enzyme Reactor

Diacylglycerol (DAG) and triacylglycerol (TAG) as responses on optimization of DAG production using a dual response approach of response surface methodology were investigated. This approach takes the molecular equilibrium of DAG into account and allows for the optimization of reaction conditions to achieve maximum DAG and minimum TAG yields. The esterification reaction was optimized with four factors using a central composite rotatable design. The following optimized conditions yielded 48 wt % DAG and 14 wt % TAG: reaction temperature of 66.29 °C, enzyme dosage of 4 wt %, fatty acid/glycerol molar ratio of 2.14, and reaction time of 4.14 h. Similar results were achieved when the process was scaled up to a 10 kg production in a pilot packed-bed enzyme reactor. Lipozyme RM IM did not show any significant activity losses or changes in fatty acid selectivity on DAG synthesis during the 10 pilot productions. However, lipozyme RM IM displayed higher selectivity toward the production of oleic acid-enriched DAG. The purity of DAG oil after purification was 92 wt %

Deltex1 Is a Target of the Transcription Factor NFAT that Promotes T Cell Anergy

SummaryThe molecular process underlying T cell anergy is incompletely understood. Deltex1 (DTX1) is a Notch target with unknown physiological function. Here we show that Dtx1 was a transcription target of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) and participated in T cell anergy. DTX1 protein was upregulated during T cell anergy, and transgenic expression of Dtx1 attenuated T cell activation. DTX1 inhibited T cell activation by both E3-dependent and E3-independent mechanisms. In addition, DTX1 suppressed T cell activation in the absence of its Notch-binding domain. Importantly, DTX1 regulated the expression of two anergy-associated molecules, growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible 45 β (Gadd45β) and Cbl-b. DTX1 interacted with early growth response 2 (Egr-2) for optimum expression of Cbl-b. Furthermore, deficiency of DTX1 augmented T cell activation, conferred resistance to anergy induction, enhanced autoantibody generation, and increased inflammation. DTX1 therefore represents a component downstream of calcium-NFAT signaling that regulates T cell anergy

Induction of significant intraocular pressure diurnal fluctuation in rats using a modified technique of microbead occlusion

AIM: To investigate the effect of microbead iridocorneal angle occlusion on intraocular pressure (IOP) diurnal fluctuation in rat eyes. METHODS: Male Dark Agouti (DA) rats, 8-10 week old, were each given a single intracameral injection of microbeads, followed by injection of dispersive viscoelastic solution. The right eye served as the experimental eye, while the left eye served as the control. IOP was measured twice daily postoperatively for 3wk and compared between groups. At the end of 3wk, the rats were sacrificed and the eyes were harvested for histological analysis and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) counting. RESULTS: After microbead injection, experimental eyes had significantly higher dark time IOP than controls from the second week to the third week [2nd week: 22.92±1.631 mm Hg (n=5) vs 17.35±0.751 mm Hg (n=5); 3rd week: 23.59±1.494 mm Hg vs 17.73±0.592 mm Hg (n=5)], while light time IOP was comparable between groups. The fluctuation levels of IOP in the experimental eyes were 7.21±0.398 mm Hg (n=5), 9.50±1.017 mm Hg (n=5) and 10.66±0.894 mm Hg (n=5) from the first week to the third week after injection. Comparatively, they were significantly lower in the control eyes, which were 4.69±0.323 mm Hg (n=5), 2.84±1.122 mm Hg (n=5) and 4.98±0.603 mm Hg (n=5) respectively. However, at the end of 3wk, the larger fluctuations in IOP in the experimental eyes was not associated with a significant loss of RGCs. CONCLUSION: Microbead occlusion exacerbates diurnal IOP fluctuation in rats. This reported model may serve as a method of investigating the pathological effects of IOP fluctuation. A longer observation period, or repeated injections, may be needed to observe a significant change in RGC density

Physicochemical properties and sensory attributes of medium- and long-chain triacylglycerols (MLCT)-enriched bakery shortening.

Six binary formulations of medium- and longchain triacylglycerols (MLCT) fat and palm stearin and four ternary formulations of MLCT fat, palm stearin, and palm olein were produced. MLCT fat and palm stearin were mixed in ranges of 40–90% with 10% increments (w/w), while for the ternary formulations, 10% and 20% palm olein were substituted to palm stearin in MS 46 and MS 55 formulations. The solid fat content (SFC) by pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance and heating profiles using differential scanning calorimeter of these formulations were determined. Results obtained from SFC and heating profiles found that all the formulations melted completely at 55 °C. The high complete melting temperature is due to the stearic acid content in MLCT fat. Generally, increasing % MLCT fat (40–90%) in the formulations lowers the SFC curves at the measured temperatures (0–60 °C). The binary samples of MS 73, MS 82, and MS 91 showed SFC between 15% and 25% at room temperature (25 °C), which indicated that these formulations were suitable for shortening production. As the production cost of MLCT fat is high (approximately USD 3/kg), an attempt to reduce the proportion of MLCT fat in the shortening formulations was done by developing the ternary formulations. Shortenings formulated with 40:40:20 (MSO 442), 50:40:10 (MSO 541), and 50:30:20 (MSO 532) of MLCT fat/palm stearin/palm olein formulations had similar SFC% at 25 °C, and they were subsequently chosen to produce shortening. Using multivariate analysis, taste attribute showed positively and highly correlated to the melting temperature and SFC at 25 °C of the LCT-enriched shortenings. In acceptance test, high correlation (R2=0.98) was only found on cakes made from MSO 442 and MSO 541 shortenings. Both untrained and trained panelists rated the Madeira cakes made from MSO 532 shortening the highest for overall acceptability