Glucosinolates, myrosinase hydrolysis products, and flavonols found in rocket (Eruca sativa and Diplotaxis tenuifolia)

Rocket species have been shown to have very high concentrations of glucosinolates and flavonols, which have numerous positive health benefits with regular consumption. In this review we highlight how breeders and processors of rocket species can utilize genomic and phytochemical research to improve varieties and enhance the nutritive benefits to consumers. Plant breeders are increasingly looking to new technologies such as HPLC, UPLC, LC-MS and GC-MS to screen populations for their phytochemical content to inform plant selections. Here we collate the research that has been conducted to-date in rocket, and summarise all glucosinolate and flavonol compounds identified in the species. We emphasize the importance of the broad screening of populations for phytochemicals and myrosinase degradation products, as well as unique traits that may be found in underutilized gene bank resources. We also stress that collaboration with industrial partners is becoming essential for long-term plant breeding goals through research

Dedicated STEM for 200 to 40 keV operation

A dedicated STEM developed for operation at primary energies from 200 keV to 40 keV and lower is described. It has a new cold field emission gun (CFEG) that gives a normalized brightness of 3 × 108 A/(m2 sr V), and excellent short-term and long-term stability. It includes two gun lenses (one electrostatic and one electromagnetic), a fast electrostatic beam blanker, three condenser lenses, a corrector of third- and fifth-order geometric aberrations, an objective lens with low aberration coefficients, a flexible set of projector lenses, an ultra-stable sample stage, and provision for storing up to five samples under high vacuum and loading them into the microscope’s objective lens under remote control. The microscope is enclosed in a magnetically and acoustically shielding enclosure, which allows it to operate at a high performance level even in non-optimal environments. It has reached 53 pm resolution at 200 keV and 123 pm at 40 keV, and an EELS energy resolution of 0.26 eV

Analytical approaches for MCPD esters and glycidyl esters in food and biological samples: A review and future perspectives

Esters of 2 - and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (MCPD) and glycidol esters are important contaminants of processed edible oils used as foods or food ingredients. This review describes the occurrence and analysis of MCPD esters and glycidol esters in vegetable oils and some other foods. The focus is on the analytical methods based on both direct and indirect methods. Methods of analysis applied to oils and lipid extracts of foods have been based on transesterification to free MCPD and determination by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (indirect methods) and by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (direct methods). The evolution and performance of the different methods is described and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The application of direct and indirect methods to the analysis of foods and to research studies is described. The metabolism and fate of MCPD esters and glycidol esters in biological systems and the methods used to study these in body tissues studies are described. A clear understanding of the chemistry of the methods is important when choosing those suitable for the desired application, and will contribute to the mitigation of these contaminants.JRC.D.5-Standards for Food Bioscienc