Freeze-Drying Methods for the Scanning Electron-Microscopical Study of the Protozoon Spirostomum Ambiguum and the Statocyst of the Cephalopod Mollusc Loligo Vulgaris

1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-239
Author(s):  
A. BOYDE ◽  
V. C. BARBER

The present study concerns methods of preparing ciliated surfaces for direct examination in the scanning electron microscope. Air-drying methods provide good results with some ciliated structures but do not always preserve the cilia of ciliated protozoons, although the pellicle is well preserved. Air-drying is not suitable for certain epitheia because considerable shrinkage and tearing occur. Freeze-drying methods, with or without pre-fixing, are described. These preserve the cilia in the protozoon Spirostomum in a fairly life-like position. There are some differences in the appearance of unfixed and fixed freeze-dried material--for example, the peristomial membranelles are not seen in the unfixed material. Freeze-drying again proved to be a better method of preparing the sensory epithelium lining the statocyst of the cephalopod mollusc Loligo, because it was successful in preventing the distortion due to shrinkage. The number of hair cells, their orientation, and the area covered by the cells was determined for the macula. The crista was found to be asymmetrical.

Author(s):  
Esteban I Mejia-Meza ◽  
Jaime A. Yanez ◽  
Neal M. Davies ◽  
Barbara Rasco ◽  
Frank Younce ◽  
...  

Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) were dried combining microwave-vacuum, hot-air drying and freeze drying technologies to retain their nutritional value. Polyphenol retention, total polyphenols, anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity were evaluated in dried blueberries. Glycoside compounds for ellagic acid, quercetin, and kaempferol exhibited a higher retention than phloridzin, and R- and S-naringin in dried blueberries following dehydration. Freeze and HA-MIVAC® dried blueberries had a higher retention of total polyphenols and anthocyanins. Freeze dried blueberries had higher antioxidant activity, followed by the combination of HA-MIVAC®, MIVAC® and HA drying methods. FD, HA-MIVAC® and MIVAC® treated blueberries had a higher retention of individual polyphenols than HA treated blueberries, indicating that the nutritional properties of berries may be retained to a greater extent when these processes are employed.


Author(s):  
Bronwen G Smith ◽  
Bryony J James ◽  
Christine A.L. Ho

The effects of different drying methods on the cellular structure of carrots were examined. Carrots were dried by vacuum drying, freeze drying and oven drying in combination with microwave pre-drying. Dried and fresh untreated samples were analysed by light microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The cellular structure of vacuum dried as well as microwave pre-dried samples was found to be very different from that of fresh samples. Most, if not all, of the original microstructure was lost during drying with these techniques, though traces of original structure were preserved on external surfaces. Most of the original microstructure was preserved in the freeze dried carrot. ESEM was also used to observe the behaviour of the dried samples in an atmosphere of increasing humidity and showed that dried tissues did not regain their original cellular structure though some turgidity was regained by the freeze dried samples.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiao Zhang ◽  
Yuhui Zhai ◽  
Junhui Yuan ◽  
Yonghong Hu

AbstractPaeoniaceae is an abundant germplasm resource with significant medicinal values in China, the principal medicinal components of which include paeoniflorin and paeonol. These compounds are typically obtained from air-dried root samples, which the use of freeze-drying as an alternative method has not been tested. Additionally, the presence of these two compounds in various wild Paeoniaceae species has not been previously explored, nor have the differences between various plant organs been fully evaluated. Here, freeze-drying and air-drying methods were compared to assess the changes in paeoniflorin and paeonol in root samples using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer. The contents of these compounds in the roots, leaves, stems, and petals were then tested in freeze-dried materials. We also quantitatively detected the paeoniflorin and paeonol contents in the roots of 14 species collected from 20 natural habitats. Results indicated that the paeoniflorin content decreased under air-drying in comparison to freeze-drying, while the opposite trend was observed for paeonol. Our findings also demonstrated that the root xylem of species in Section Moutan, particularly Paeonia ostii, contains considerable paeonol and paeoniflorin and should thus be fully utilized as a medicinal resource. Furthermore, paeonol was mainly detected in the roots, while paeoniflorin was widely distributed in different organs; the highest content was in the leaf at the budding stage, suggesting that the leaves should be developed as a new paeoniflorin resource. Paeoniflorin contents were also found to be higher at earlier development stages. Based on the standards of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, five species of Section Moutan and six species of Section Paeonia could be used as potential traditional Chinese medicinal resources. These findings of this study enhance our understanding of these two medicinal compounds and provide a foundation for the further development and utilization of Paeoniaceae as medicinal plant resources.


Author(s):  
T. G. Naymik

Three techniques were incorporated for drying clay-rich specimens: air-drying, freeze-drying and critical point drying. In air-drying, the specimens were set out for several days to dry or were placed in an oven (80°F) for several hours. The freeze-dried specimens were frozen by immersion in liquid nitrogen or in isopentane at near liquid nitrogen temperature and then were immediately placed in the freeze-dry vacuum chamber. The critical point specimens were molded in agar immediately after sampling. When the agar had set up the dehydration series, water-alcohol-amyl acetate-CO2 was carried out. The objectives were to compare the fabric plasmas (clays and precipitates), fabricskeletons (quartz grains) and the relationship between them for each drying technique. The three drying methods are not only applicable to the study of treated soils, but can be incorporated into all SEM clay soil studies.


Author(s):  
Linda M. Sicko ◽  
Thomas E. Jensen

The use of critical point drying is rapidly becoming a popular method of preparing biological samples for scanning electron microscopy. The procedure is rapid, and produces consistent results with a variety of samples. The preservation of surface details is much greater than that of air drying, and the procedure is less complicated than that of freeze drying. This paper will present results comparing conventional air-drying of plant specimens to critical point drying, both of fixed and unfixed material. The preservation of delicate structures which are easily damaged in processing and the use of filter paper as a vehicle for drying will be discussed.


Author(s):  
P. A. Madden ◽  
W. R. Anderson

The intestinal roundworm of swine is pinkish in color and about the diameter of a lead pencil. Adult worms, taken from parasitized swine, frequently were observed with macroscopic lesions on their cuticule. Those possessing such lesions were rinsed in distilled water, and cylindrical segments of the affected areas were removed. Some of the segments were fixed in buffered formalin before freeze-drying; others were freeze-dried immediately. Initially, specimens were quenched in liquid freon followed by immersion in liquid nitrogen. They were then placed in ampuoles in a freezer at −45C and sublimated by vacuum until dry. After the specimens appeared dry, the freezer was allowed to come to room temperature slowly while the vacuum was maintained. The dried specimens were attached to metal pegs with conductive silver paint and placed in a vacuum evaporator on a rotating tilting stage. They were then coated by evaporating an alloy of 20% palladium and 80% gold to a thickness of approximately 300 A°. The specimens were examined by secondary electron emmission in a scanning electron microscope.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Halil İbrahim Odabaş ◽  
Ilkay Koca

AbstractRosa pimpinellifolia L. fruits (RPF) are promising source of anthocyanin pigments. The objectives of this study were to optimization of the aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE) process of anthocyanin from RPF and microencapsulation of anthocyanin-rich RPF extract. The optimal ATPE conditions were as follows: 0% HCl, 30% ethanol, 19% ammonium sulfate, and liquid to solid ratio 51.71, 97.71 min, and 30°C extraction temperature. Predicted anthocyanin yield at the optimum conditions was 1578.90 mg cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalent/100 g dry fruit. ATPE resulting in 1.80-fold increase in the purity of anthocyanins when compared to conventional solvent extraction (CSE). The composition of the anthocyanins were determined with HPLC-QTOF-MS. Freeze-drying and spray-drying methods were employed for the production of microencapsulated anthocyanin pigments. The half times of microencapsulated anthocyanins at 4, 25 and 37°C were determined as 12.16, 6.60 and 3.12 months for freeze-dried microcapsules, and 16.50, 9.24 and 4.29 months for spray-dried microcapsules, respectively.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 598
Author(s):  
Graziana Difonzo ◽  
Antonella Aresta ◽  
Pietro Cotugno ◽  
Roberta Ragni ◽  
Giacomo Squeo ◽  
...  

Olive pomace is a semisolid by-product of olive oil production and represents a valuable source of functional phytocompounds. The valorization of agro-food chain by-products represents a key factor in reducing production costs, providing benefits related to their reuse. On this ground, we herein investigate extraction methods with supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) of functional phytocompounds from olive pomace samples subjected to two different drying methods, i.e., freeze drying and hot-air drying. Olive pomace was produced using the two most common industrial olive oil production processes, one based on the two-phase (2P) decanter and one based on the three-phase (3P) decanter. Our results show that freeze drying more efficiently preserves phytocompounds such as α-tocopherol, carotenoids, chlorophylls, and polyphenols, whereas hot-air drying does not compromise the β-sitosterol content and the extraction of squalene is not dependent on the drying method used. Moreover, higher amounts of α-tocopherol and polyphenols were extracted from 2P olive pomace, while β-sitosterol, chlorophylls, and carotenoids were more concentrated in 3P olive pomace. Finally, tocopherol and pigment/polyphenol fractions exerted antioxidant activity in vitro and in accelerated oxidative conditions. These results highlight the potential of olive pomace to be upcycled by extracting from it, with green methods, functional phytocompounds for reuse in food and pharmaceutical industries.


2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Tarq Binalshikh-Abubkr ◽  
Marlia Mohd Hanafiah

Supplementation of dried bioflocs for red hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis sp.) was examined during 57 days of feeding trials. Five experimental treatments; T1 (the control; without bioflocs), T2 (4% freeze-dried bioflocs), T3 (16% freeze-dried bioflocs), T4 (4% oven-dried bioflocs), and T5 (16% oven-dried bioflocs) were prepared to examine the water quality, growth performance and body composition of red hybrid tilapia. T2 and T4 treatments resulted in a higher growth rate and survival similar to the control, while T3 and T5 treatments showed the lowest values of growth performance among all treatments. T1 treatment showed the best quality of culture water followed by T2 and T4 treatments, while T3 treatment resulted in poor water quality followed by T5 treatment. Based on these results, the ratios of bioflocs (4% and 16%) had more effect on fish growth and water quality than the drying methods (freeze-drying and oven-drying). The ratio of 4% freeze-dried or oven-dried bioflocs provided higher growth rates and better water quality parameters similar to the control, while the ratio of 16% showed the worst growth performance and water quality in the present study. In addition, body compositions of tilapia fed 4% dried bioflocs showed better nutritional value than tilapia fed 16% dried bioflocs. Protein and energy levels showed an increasing trend with decreasing supplement levels of bioflocs. Moisture content was significantly higher when supplementation of 16% bioflocs was used. Overall, supplementation of 4% freeze-dried or oven-dried bioflocs can be successively included in red hybrid tilapia diets without any effects on growth or body composition and can result in a good quality of culture water for red hybrid tilapia.


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