Suitability of borago officinalis for minimal processing as fresh-cut produce

Borage (Borago offcinalis L.) is a wild vegetable appreciated as a folk medicine and for culinary preparations. The introduction of borage as a specialized cultivation would allow for the diversification of vegetable crops and would widen the offerings of raw and minimally processed leafy vegetables. Thus, the aim of the research was to evaluate the quality and shelf-life of fresh-cut borage stored at different temperatures. Borage plants were grown during the autumn-winter season and immediately minimally processed after harvest. Fresh-cut borage leaves packed in sealed bags were stored at 2 or 6 °C for 21 d. Weight loss, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid, nitrates, leaf color characteristics and overall quality were determined through the storage period. Borage plants were deemed suitable for minimal processing. Storage temperature significantly influenced the rate of quality loss. Borage leaves had an initial nitrate content of 329.3 mg kg-1 FW that was not affected by temperature or storage. TSS and TA were higher in leaves stored at 6 °C. TSS, TA and ascorbic acid content increased during storage. Minimally processed borage leaves stored at 2 °C had lower weight loss and leaf color modifications during storage and a longer shelf life than those stored at 6 °C, so were still marketable after 21 d of storage

Evaluation of the quality and antioxidant capacity of woodland strawberry biotypes in Sicily

In Sicily, the woodland strawberry grows wild in forest glades in the Madonie and Nebrodi mountains and on Mount Etna. In this region, the main cultivated clone is Fragolina di Ribera, named after the towns where the crop originally developed. The cultivated woodland strawberry is different from its wild counterparts not only in vegetative vigour and size, but also in organoleptic quality. Fragolina di Ribera has always been described with sensory analysis as one of the best Sicilian berry. This study was carried out in Sicily and compared two June-bearing Fragaria vesca: Fragolina di Ribera and Fragolina di Maletto, and an everbearing variety Regina delle Valli, in order to determine the production, quality and nutraceutical characteristics of the fruit. Research results provided useful, more detailed information on those fruit compounds with nutritional and health benefits and the June-bearing Fragolina di Ribera was found not only to produce highly sweet, bright red fruits, but also fruits with high antioxidant capacity and high ascorbic acid, polyphenol and anthocyanin levels

The Role Played by Ionic Liquids in Carbohydrates Conversion into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural: A Recent Overview

Obtaining industrially relevant products from abundant, cheap, renewable, and low-impacting sources such as lignocellulosic biomass, is a key step in reducing consumption of raw fossil materials and, consequently, the environmental footprint of such processes. In this regard, a molecule that is similar to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) plays a pivotal role, since it can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass and gives synthetic access to a broad range of industrially important products and polymers. Recently, ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as suitable solvents for the conversion of biomass and carbohydrates into 5-HMF. Herein, we provide a bird’s-eye view on recent achievements about the use of ILs for the obtainment of 5-HMF, covering works that were published over the last five years. In particular, we first examine reactions involving homogeneous catalysis as well as task-specific ionic liquids. Then, an overview of the literature addressing the use of heterogeneous catalysts, including enzymes, is presented. Whenever possible, the role of ILs and catalysts driving the formation of 5-HMF is discussed, also comparing with the same reactions that are performed in conventional solvents

A discrimination technique for extensive air showers based on multiscale, lacunarity and neural network analysis

We present a new method for the identification of extensive air showers initiated by different primaries. The method uses the multiscale concept and is based on the analysis of multifractal behaviour and lacunarity of secondary particle distributions together with a properly designed and trained artificial neural network. In the present work the method is discussed and applied to a set of fully simulated vertical showers, in the experimental framework of ARGO-YBJ, to obtain hadron to gamma primary separation. We show that the presented approach gives very good results, leading, in the 1–10 TeV energy range, to a clear improvement of the discrimination power with respect to the existing figures for extended shower detectors

A multiscale method for gamma/h discrimination in extensive air showers

We present a new method for the identification of extensive air showers initiated by different primaries. The method uses the multiscale concept and is based on the analysis of multifractal behaviour and lacunarity of secondary particle distributions together with a properly designed and trained artificial neural network. The separation technique is particularly suited for being applied when the topology of the particle distribution in the shower front is as largely detailed as possible. Here, our method is discussed and applied to a set of fully simulated vertical showers in the experimental framework of ARGO-YBJ, taking advantage of both the space and time distribution of the detected secondary particles in the shower front, to obtain hadron to gamma primary separation in EAS analysis. We show that the presented approach gives very good results, leading, in the 1-10 Tev energy range, to an improvement of the discrimination power with respect to the existing figures for extended shower detectors. The technique shows up to be very promising and its application may have important astrophysical prospects in different experimental environment of extended air shower study

Catalysis in Supramolecular Systems: the Case of Gel Phases

Supramolecular gels are a fascinating class of materials, originated by the self-assembly of low molecular weight molecules. Underpinned by non-covalent interactions, they find application in a diverse range of fields. Among these, supramolecular gels can be considered as organized, non-conventional reaction media, able to influence reactivity in a radically different way, compared with what happens in solution. This short review will focus on this aspect, covering literature from 2010 onwards, addressing the application of supramolecular gels as reaction media. In particular, in the first section we explore organocatalytic reactions in gel phase, with wide synthetic relevance, such as aldol and Mannich reactions as well as Friedel Crafts or ester hydrolysis processes. Subsequently, focus is laid on metal-catalysed reactions, among which relevance is given to widely used reactions like cross-coupling and click reactions. Then, the final sections describe the use of supramolecular gels as reaction media for photo- and biocatalysed processes

DBS-Based Eutectogels: Organized Vessels to Perform the Michael Addition Reaction**

Supramolecular eutectogels were obtained from the gelation of 1,3 : 2,4-dibenzylidene-D-sorbitol (DBS) in cholinium chloride-based deep eutectic solvents (DES), differing for the nature of the hydrogen bond donor. Ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, glycerol and urea were tested. Soft materials were fully characterized, determining critical gelation concentration, gel-sol transition temperatures and mechanical properties. Furthermore, to have information about the organization of the gelator in the tridimensional network, resonance light scattering, circular dichroism and microscopy investigations were performed. Eutectogels were used as organized “vessels” to perform the L-proline catalyzed Michael addition reaction. The probe reaction was carried out in gel phase and in DES solution. Data collected shed light on the effect that gel microenvironment exerts on the outcome of the reaction. In general, gel phases allowed having comparable or even better results than the ones collected in DES solution, with better results obtained in soft materials with the highest organization, as accounted for by the presence of larger aggregates and the occurrence of stronger intermolecular interactions. In turn, this accounts also for the effect of substrates structure that indicates that better yields could be obtained in the presence of more flexible nucleophile and dienones, having more extended π-surface

Influence of preharvest gibberellic acid treatments on postharvest quality of minimally processed leaf lettuce and rocket

Plant growth regulators are used in high-value vegetable crops during cultivation and after harvest to increase yield, enhance crop management, and improve or retain the produce quality. The aim of this work was to evaluate the quality characteristics during cold storage of minimally processed leaf lettuce and rocket, obtained from plants grown in a hydroponic floating system with mineral nutrient solutions (MNS) containing different levels of gibberellic acid (GA(3)). Plants were grown in greenhouse conditions on nutrient solutions containing 0,10(-8), and 10(-6) M GA(3). At harvest, lettuce and rocket were immediately processed as fresh-cut vegetables and stored for 21 d at 4 degrees C. After processing, weight loss, total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and nitrate content, leaf color characteristics, and overall quality were evaluated. Adding 10(-6) M GA(3) to the MNS of a floating system significantly increased the yield of leaf lettuce and rocket plants and of minimally-processed leaves. In addition, preharvest GA(3) treatments had positive effects on delaying senescence and enhancing shelf-life of minimally processed lettuce and rocket. The slowed senescence of GA(3)-treated samples maintained an overall quality over the threshold of marketability in both lettuce and rocket for up to 21 d of cold storage

Wo3 and ionic liquids: A synergic pair for pollutant gas sensing and desulfurization

This review deals with the notable results obtained by the synergy between ionic liquids (ILs) and WO3 in the field of pollutant gas sensing and sulfur removal pretreatment of fuels. Starting from the known characteristics of tungsten trioxide as catalytic material, many authors have proposed the use of ionic liquids in order to both direct WO3 production towards controllable nanostructures (nanorods, nanospheres, etc.) and to modify the metal oxide structure (incorporating ILs) in order to increase the gas adsorption ability and, thus, the catalytic efficiency. Moreover, ionic liquids are able to highly disperse WO3 in composites, thus enhancing the contact surface and the catalytic ability of WO3 in both hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of liquid fuels. In particular, the use of ILs in composite synthesis can direct the hydrogenation process (HDS) towards sulfur compounds rather than towards olefins, thus preserving the octane number of the fuel while highly reducing the sulfur content and, thus, the possibility of air pollution with sulfur oxides. A similar performance enhancement was obtained in ODS, where the high dispersion of WO3 (due to the use of ILs during the synthesis) allows for noteworthy results at very low temperatures (50◦ C)