5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Content in Selected Food Products

5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) is a common component of heat treated, drying or stored for a long time food products. It is an intermediate product formed in the Maillard reaction as a result of thermal dehydration of reducing sugars (1-2). HMF is also formed during caramelisation while degradation of carbohydrates at high temperature (3). HMF is responsible for the sensory properties of food, especially for the pleasant flavor. Although it is relatively safe food component, there are reports regarding toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic properties of HMF, and of 5-sulphoxymethylfurfural especially, an allylic sulfuric acid ester metabolite from HMF (4-6). The content of HMF in the various products vary within a wide range and depends on the food group type as well as the type of processing. In present work, the HMF content in different types of breakfast cereals, cookies and muesli as well as in several types of bakery products commercially available in Poland was determined. In addition, the influence of flavor and taste additives (honey, cocoa, dry fruits) as well as the type of cereals (gluten or gluten-free) on the HMF content in the tested products was examined

The investigations on process type influence on methyl violet adsorption on chitin and chitin deacetylation products

The aim of this work was to a study various adsorption processes of methyl violet (model compound of aniline dye) on chitin and chitin deacetylation products. Two types of adsorption processes - batch and continuous - were tested. Results illustrated that raw chitin is an effective adsorbent for methyl violet and the adsorption activity of chitin deacetylation products strongly decrease with increasing degree of deacetylation (DDA). The continuous process is more effective then batch process

5-hydroxymethylfurfural content in selected gluten- and gluten-free cereal food products

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was determined with HPLC method in forty one food samples, including gluten-free, breakfast cereals and bakery products. The highest concentration of HMF was found in wheat bread with cranberries (210 mg kg-1) and in breakfast cereals – honey wheat loops (85.099 mg kg-1). In contrast, wholegrain oatmeal and gluten-free sponge cakes had the lowest HMF level of all tested samples, below the detection limit and 0.485 mg kg-1, respectively. In most cases, lack of gluten coincided with the lowest HMF content readings (average 8.488 mg kg-1). The impact of the type of sugar, especially glucose, on the HMF concentration in food is apparent. Sweetened breakfast cereals, with the average content of HMF at 25.55 mg kg-1, took lead over dietary products (8.488 mg kg-1) and bakery products (18.395 mg kg-1), with the exception for wheat bread with cranberries. These cereals contained glucose or glucose-fructose syrup

Thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria

Introduction : Chronic urticaria (CU) is a skin disease caused by autoantibodies against high affinity immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptor and against IgE. It is characterized by hives, erythematous wheals and redness present minimum twice a week for at least 6 weeks. It is observed that there is a strong association between CU and autoimmune diseases, such as autoimmune thyroiditis (AT). Aim : To verify the frequency of AT in patients suffering from chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and to confirm the coexistence of CU and AT in the Polish population. Material and methods : One hundred and forty-eight patients with CSU were included to the study. The presence of anti-thyroperoxydase antibodies (anti-TPO) and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (anti-Tg) was checked and thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4) and free triiodothyronine (fT3) concentration was measured. Results were compared with outcomes in a group of 35 patients with no history of skin disease. Results : Thirty-three patients were diagnosed with AT. Frequency of elevated anti-TPO (p = 0.0045) and anti-Tg (p = 0.013) levels was much higher in patients with CU. A comparison of the current study and previous ones was conducted. In a group with CU, there was a higher risk of elevated anti-TPO (OR = 6.69) and anti-Tg (OR = 6.01) levels. Conclusions : There is a statistically significant difference in the presence of AT between the patients with CU and the whole population. Doctors should consider examining patients with CU for AT. Adequate therapy and guidance for patients could be implemented at an early stage of thyroid disease and help induce remission of skin disorders

Vapour permeation study of water and ethanol through crosslinked chitosan and alginate membranes

A vapour permeation of water and ethanol through homogenous chitosan and alginate membranes was investigated. The influence of the polymer matrix and crosslinking agents, and measurement protocol on the transport properties were discussed. The conducted experiments showed the greater separation factor, better stability and resistant to solvents for chemically crosslinked membranes. On the other hand, stronger association of the matrix, than the physical, caused decrease of vapour fluxes

Pervaporative investigation of ethyl alcohol dehydration

Pervaporative separation properties of crosslinked chitosan and alginate membrane on ethanol-water mixture at room temperature was studied. The influence of crosslinking agents on the separation properties were discussed. Selected crosslinking agents were affected differently on used polymer matrices. The better separation properties were obtained for membranes crosslinked by phosphoric (V) acid. The highest pervaporation separation index (309.6 kg/m2·h) and separation factor (52.6) were obtained for phosphoric (V) acid crosslinked alginate membranes, however, the greatest total flux (12.4 kg/m2·h) obtained for phosphoric acid crosslinked chitosan membrane

Rekomendacje Polskich Towarzystw Naukowych „Diagnostyka i leczenie raka tarczycy”. Aktualizacja na rok 2018

Significant advances have been made in thyroid can­cer research in recent years, therefore relevant clinical guidelines need to be updated. The current Polish guidelines “Diagnostics and Treatment of Thyroid Carcinoma” have been formulated at the “Thyroid Cancer and Other Malignancies of Endocrine Glands” conference held in Wisła in November 2015 [1].Gwałtowny postęp, dokonujący się w ostatnich latach w badaniach nad rakiem tarczycy spowodował, że konieczne jest aktualizowanie bieżących rekomendacji klinicznych. Obowiązujące dotychczas Rekomendacje „Diagnostyka i leczenie raka tarczycy” zostały ustalone na Konferencji „Rak Tarczycy” w Wiśle w listopadzie 2015 roku [1]