Global Status and Novel Applications of Natural Gums: An Overview

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-354
Author(s):  
K. Jayaprakash ◽  
V. Balamurugan

Natural gums are extracted from different types of natural origins. It is found in the woody elements of plants or seed coatings in the terrestrial environment and also found in seaweeds in the marine environment. Natural gums are otherwise called polysaccharides. Nowadays, there has been a remarkable development in natural products, especially in natural gums that have been used for a variety of purposes such as binders, emulsifying agent suspending agents, etc. In recent years, researchers are focused to produce biodegradable, non-toxic, and low-cost natural materials as these products help in the improvement of human health and provide novel beneficial manner. Moreover, natural polymers were used as a functional food in ancient peoples. In this review, the recent investigations and developments of natural gums have been discussed.

2021 ◽  
pp. 088391152199784
Author(s):  
Nipun Jain ◽  
Shashi Singh

Development of an artificial tissue by tissue engineering is witnessed to be one of the long lasting clarified solutions for the damaged tissue function restoration. To accomplish this, a scaffold is designed as a cell carrier in which the extracellular matrix (ECM) performs a prominent task of controlling the inoculated cell’s destiny. ECM composition, topography and mechanical properties lead to different types of interactions between cells and ECM components that trigger an assortment of cellular reactions via diverse sensing mechanisms and downstream signaling pathways. The polysaccharides in the form of proteoglycans and glycoproteins yield better outcomes when included in the designed matrices. Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains present on proteoglycans show a wide range of operations such as sequestering of critical effector morphogens which encourage proficient nutrient contribution toward the growing stem cells for their development and endurance. In this review we discuss how the glycosylation aspects are of considerable importance in everyday housekeeping functions of a cell especially when placed in a controlled environment under ideal growth conditions. Hydrogels made from these GAG chains have been used extensively as a resorbable material that mimics the natural ECM functions for an efficient control over cell attachment, permeability, viability, proliferation, and differentiation processes. Also the incorporation of non-mammalian polysaccharides can elicit specific receptor responses which authorize the creation of numerous vigorous frameworks while prolonging the low cost and immunogenicity of the substance.


Antioxidants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Anna Virginia Adriana Pirozzi ◽  
Paola Imbimbo ◽  
Antonella D’Agostino ◽  
Virginia Tirino ◽  
Rosario Finamore ◽  
...  

Several plant extracts are acquiring increasing value because of their antioxidant activity and hypolipidemic properties. Among them, great interest has been recently paid to açai fruit as a functional food. The aim of this study was to test the ability of açai extract in reducing oxidative stress and modulating lipid metabolism in vitro using different cell models and different types of stress. In fact, lipid peroxidation as evaluated in a HepG2 model was reduced five-fold when using 0.25 µg/mL of extract, and it was further reduced (20-fold) with the concentration increase up to 2.5 µg/mL. With the non alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)in vitro model, all concentrations tested showed at least a two-fold reduced fat deposit. In addition, primary adipocytes challenged with TNF-α under hypoxic conditions to mimic the persistent subcutaneous fat, treated with açai extract showed an approximately 40% reduction of fat deposit. Overall, our results show that açai is able to counteract oxidative states in all the cell models analysed and to prevent the accumulation of lipid droplets. No toxic effects and high stability overtime were highlighted at the concentrations tested. Therefore, açai can be considered a suitable support in the prevention of different alterations of lipid and oxidative metabolism responsible for fat deposition and metabolic pathological conditions.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 3694
Author(s):  
Luminita Georgeta Confederat ◽  
Cristina Gabriela Tuchilus ◽  
Maria Dragan ◽  
Mousa Sha’at ◽  
Oana Maria Dragostin

Despite the advantages presented by synthetic polymers such as strength and durability, the lack of biodegradability associated with the persistence in the environment for a long time turned the attention of researchers to natural polymers. Being biodegradable, biopolymers proved to be extremely beneficial to the environment. At present, they represent an important class of materials with applications in all economic sectors, but also in medicine. They find applications as absorbers, cosmetics, controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering, etc. Chitosan is one of the natural polymers which raised a strong interest for researchers due to some exceptional properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, nontoxicity, non-antigenicity, low-cost and numerous pharmacological properties as antimicrobial, antitumor, antioxidant, antidiabetic, immunoenhancing. In addition to this, the free amino and hydroxyl groups make it susceptible to a series of structural modulations, obtaining some derivatives with different biomedical applications. This review approaches the physico-chemical and pharmacological properties of chitosan and its derivatives, focusing on the antimicrobial potential including mechanism of action, factors that influence the antimicrobial activity and the activity against resistant strains, topics of great interest in the context of the concern raised by the available therapeutic options for infections, especially with resistant strains.


Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonello Santini ◽  
Nicola Cicero

The Special Issue entitled: “Development of Food Chemistry, Natural Products, and Nutrition Research” is focused on the recent development of food chemistry research, including natural products’ sources and nutrition research, with the objectives of triggering interest towards new perspectives related to foods and opening a novel horizon for research in the food area. The published papers collected in this Special Issue are studies that refer to different aspects of food, ranging from food chemistry and analytical aspects, to composition, natural products, and nutrition, all examined from different perspectives and points of view. Overall, this Special Issue gives a current picture of the main topics of interest in the research and proposes studies and analyses that may prompt and address the efforts of research in the food area to find novel foods and novel applications and stimulate an environmentally-friendly approach for the re-use of the by-products of the agro-food area. This notwithstanding, the main challenge is currently addressed to achieve a full comprehension of the mechanisms of action of food components, the nutrients, outlining their high potential impact as preventive and/or therapeutic tools, not only as a source of macro- and/or micro-nutrients, which are necessary for all the metabolic and body functions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thabet Abdeljawad ◽  
Saima Rashid ◽  
Zakia Hammouch ◽  
İmdat İşcan ◽  
Yu-Ming Chu

Abstract The present article addresses the concept of p-convex functions on fractal sets. We are able to prove a novel auxiliary result. In the application aspect, the fidelity of the local fractional is used to establish the generalization of Simpson-type inequalities for the class of functions whose local fractional derivatives in absolute values at certain powers are p-convex. The method we present is an alternative in showing the classical variants associated with generalized p-convex functions. Some parts of our results cover the classical convex functions and classical harmonically convex functions. Some novel applications in random variables, cumulative distribution functions and generalized bivariate means are obtained to ensure the correctness of the present results. The present approach is efficient, reliable, and it can be used as an alternative to establishing new solutions for different types of fractals in computer graphics.


2013 ◽  
Vol 756-759 ◽  
pp. 489-492
Author(s):  
Fu Lu Jin ◽  
Yun Peng Li ◽  
Hong Rui Wang

To automatic test the function and performance of an airborne radar, changeable test adapter is adopted to implement the hardware and software design of the automatic test set of the antenna, transceiver and indicator of the radar based on AT89C52. Problems such as t the different types of interfaces, the various kinds of signals and the test of microwave signal are solved successfully and the objectives of resource sharing and automatic test are realized. The test software is designed by modular structure, and with the help of automatic test set hardware, the required test items of the radar system are experimented and the test process control succeeded. Experiment results show that the automatic test set performs steadily and the results meet the requirements of the airborne radar. The set has the advantages of intelligent, manageable and reducing artificial errors. It provides effective guarantees for radars maintenance, fault diagnosis and fault detection, and has a wide application prospect with low cost.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazimierz Drabczyk ◽  
Edyta Wróbel ◽  
Grazyna Kulesza-Matlak ◽  
Wojciech Filipowski ◽  
Krzysztof Waczynski ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this study is comparison of the diffusion processes performed using the commercial available dopant paste made by Filmtronics and the original prepared liquid dopant solution. To decrease prices of industrially produced silicon-based solar cells, the new low-cost production processes are necessary. The main components of most popular silicon solar cells are with diffused emitter layer, passivation, anti-reflective layers and metal electrodes. This type of cells is prepared usually using phosphorus oxychloride diffusion source and metal pastes for screen printing. The diffusion process in diffusion furnace with quartz tube is slow, complicated and requires expensive equipment. The alternative for this technology is very fast in-line processing using the belt furnaces as an equipment. This approach requires different dopant sources. Design/methodology/approach In this work, the diffusion processes were made for two different types of dopant sources. The first one was the commercial available dopant paste from Filmtronics and the second one was the original prepared liquid dopant solution. The investigation was focused on dopant sources fabrication and diffusion processes. The doping solution was made in two stages. In the first stage, a base solution (without dopants) was made: dropwise deionized (DI) water and ethyl alcohol were added to a solution consisting of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 99.8 per cent ethyl alcohol. Next, to the base solution, orthophosphoric acid dissolved in ethyl alcohol was added. Findings Diffused emitter layers with sheet resistance around 60 Ω/sq were produced on solar grade monocrystalline silicon wafers using two types of dopant sources. Originality/value In this work, the diffusion processes were made for two different types of dopant sources. The first one was the commercial available dopant paste from Filmtronics and the second one was the original prepared liquid dopant solution.


1994 ◽  
Vol 348 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Dafinei ◽  
E. Auffray ◽  
P. Lecoq ◽  
M. Schneegans

ABSTRACTIn the quest for low cost scintillators to equip the very large electromagnetic calorimeters for future High Energy Physics experiments, scintillating glasses can offer an attractive alternative to crystals. The expected production price is indeed supposed to be reduced as compared to crystals, especially for very large volumes. An intense R&D effort has been made by the Crystal Clear collaboration to develop heavy scintillating fluoride glasses in close collaboration with the industry. Results will be shown on the fluorescence and scintillation properties as well as on the radiation resistance of different types of fluoride glasses. Ideas about possible improvement of present performances will also be given.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavol Kajánek

Inertial navigation system (INS) is a self-contained navigation technique. Its main purpose is to determinate the position and the trajectory of the object´s movement in space. This technique is well represented not only as a supplementary method (GPS/INS integrated system) but as an autonomous system for navigation of vehicles and pedestrians, also. The aim of this paper is to design a test for low-cost inertial measurement units. The test results give us information about accuracy, which determine the possible use in indoor navigation or other applications. There are described some methods for processing the data obtained by inertial measurement units, which remove noise and improve accuracy of position and orientation.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (21) ◽  
pp. 6684
Author(s):  
Miltiadis Zamparas ◽  
Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos ◽  
Marios Drosos ◽  
Vasilis C. Kapsalis

The research objective of the study is the estimation of a novel low-cost composite material f-MB (Fe-modified bentonite) as a P and N adsorbent from wastewaters. Τhe present study aimed at examining the phosphate and ammonium removal efficiency from different types of wastewater using f-MB, by conducting bench-scale batch experiments to investigate its equilibrium characteristics and kinetics. The SEM analysis revealed that the platelets of bentonite in f-MB do not form normal bentonite sheets, but they have been restructured in a more compact formation with a great porosity. Regarding the sorption efficiencies (Qm), the maximum phosphate sorption efficiencies (Qm) calculated using the Langmuir model were 24.54, 25.09, 26.13, 24.28, and 23.21 mg/g, respectively, for a pH range of 5 to 9. In addition, the maximum NH4+-N adsorption capacities (Qm) calculated from the Langmuir model were 131.8, 145.7, 168.5, 156.7, and 159.6 mg/g, respectively, for a pH range from 5 to 9. Another important finding of this study is that f-MB can recover P from treated wastewater impacting on resource recovery and circular economy (CE). The modified clay f-MB performed the phosphate and ammonium recovery rates of 80% and 78.5%, respectively. Finally, f-MB can slowly release the largest proportion of phosphate and ammonium ions for a long time, thus extending the application of the f-MB material as a slow-release fertilizer and soil improver.


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