Springer Science and Business Media LLC

The effects of blood plasma (BP, 0–2.5%), agar (0–1.0%), and microbial transglutaminase (MTG, 0–0.5%) on water-binding capacity, color (L*, a*, and b* values) and textural properties of pork muscle gels (PMG) were investigated with response surface methodology. The potential interaction among these ingredients was evaluated by DSC, SEM, and FT-IR. The results shown that the addition of BP into PMG could result in decreased cooking loss (CL) and L* (p<0.01), as well as increased a*, springiness, and chewiness of the gels (p<0.05), while the treatment with MTG led to increased CL (p<0.01). Agar could obviously improve CL of PMG, but lead to inferior springiness and cohesiveness (p<0.05). Moreover, the synergism among muscle proteins, BP, MTG, and agar implied that there were some kinds of interactions among these ingredients, thus influencing the properties of PMG.

Myofibril proteins degradation constitutes an important factor in quality deterioration, procedural activation or inhibition of endogenous protease potential regulates autolytic proteolysis-induced softening of post mortem fish muscle. Based on the brief introduction of myofibril proteins degradation in fish skeletal muscle, a detailed description of the main myofibril degradation properties and the distinct role played by endogenous proteases were proposed, which reflects the limitations and challenges of the current research on myofibril hydrolysis mechanisms based on the varied surrounding conditions. In addition, the latest researches on the evaluation method of myofibril proteins degradation were comprehensively reviewed. The potential use of label-free proteomics combined with bioinformatics was also emphasized and has become an important means to in-depth understand protein degradation mechanism.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of low molecular weight β-glucan (LMG) against doxorubicin (DOX)-induced immune suppression of tumor-bearing mice. The tumor size and spleen cell functions such as spleen cell proliferation, cytokine production (interferon-γ and interleukin-2), and the population of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were estimated. In the tumorbearing mice, the tumor size was significantly (p<0.05) decreased by DOX treatment. However, there was no significant difference between mice treated with high molecular weight β-glucan (HMG) and mice treated with LMG. Spleen cell proliferation and cytokine production were significantly (p<0.05) decreased in only DOX treated group, but increased in all β-glucan treated groups with DOX. Moreover, the populations of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were also increased in the LMG-treated group. It appears that LMG effectively reduces the DOX-induced immune toxicity through activation of immune cells such as splenocytes.

Ultrasound is a novel technology that can be applied as a pretreatment for the convective drying in order to reduce its undeniable shortcomings. The objectives of the present study are to ascertain the influence of sonication time (10, 20, and 30 min) and sonication power (100 and 300 W) on the performance of drying potato slices with regard to the drying kinetics and energy efficiency as well as the final product quality. The results showed that the application of ultrasound pretreatments significantly increased the drying rate of potato slices during the initial period of the drying process. Furthermore, ANOVA showed that the decrease in the sonication time and power gave rise to a significant reduction in drying time, specific energy consumption (SEC), and shear strength. In addition, compared to the control (pure convective drying), ultrasound pretreatments reduced the drying time, SEC, and the shear strength of dried potato slices.

The objective of this study was to determine the anti-atherosclerotic effects of pine nut oil in rats fed a high-cholesterol and high-fat diet (HCHF). Using a randomized block design, Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups and fed experimental diets for 6 weeks (normal diet, HCHF, HCHF+7 or 15% pine nut oil, HCHF+simvastatin). This study shows that markers of atherosclerosis, such as increased liver thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels, aortic fatty streak area, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, were lower in the HCHF plus pine nut oil groups than in the HCHF group. Conversely, positive cardiovascular indicators, such as increased paraoxonase activity and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, were higher in HCHF plus pine nut oil groups than in the HCHF group. This study suggests that pine nut oil improves atherosclerotic markers and could be used as a functional ingredient in the food industry to promote cardiovascular health.

In this study, xylitol, a common sweetener and sucrose substitute in low-calorie foods, was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). During the establishment of the analytical method, three representative detection approaches, ultraviolet detector (UVD), evaporative light scattering detector, and refractive index detector, were compared and applied to determine the xylitol content in various foods distributed in Korea. The results were compared for method validation, measurement uncertainty, and applicability. As a result, HPLC-UVD showed the lowest limit of detection (0.01 mg/L) and limit of quantification (0.04 mg/L) among the three methods. It showed a low range of relative expanded uncertainty (1.12–3.98%) and could quantify xylitol in the wide range of the samples, even trace amounts of xylitol. Therefore, a total of 160 food items, including chewing gum, candy, beverage, tea, other processed products, and beverage base, were applied with three replicates by the proposed HPLC-UVD method.