Identification of Proximate Composition of Fermented Chicken Eggs by Using Lactobacillus plantarum with Different Incubation Times

Eggs that have a balanced amino acid content can fullfill protein that needs in humans, However, eggs have a low shelf life so they were easily damaged. Fermentation technology on foodstuffs by using microbes has been widely carried out, among others using Lactobacillus bacteria. The type of Lactobacillus bacteria commonly used in egg fermentation is Lactobacillus plantarum. This study was conducted experimentally by using a completely randomized design (CRD) with 3 treatments and 3 replications each. The treatment was carried out by fermentation with an incubation temperature of 37 oC with different incubation times of 0, 48, and 96 hours with research parameters water content, crude fat, crude fiber, BETN and ash content. The results showed that different incubation time treatments on fermented chicken eggs had a significant effect (P<0.05) on water content, crude fat, crude fiber, BETN and ash content. The nutritional composition of fermented eggs by using L. plantarum could be seen from the decrease in water content, crude fiber and BETN and an increase in crude fat and ash content with increasing incubation time. The value of water content, crude fat, crude fiber, BETN and optimum ash content at an incubation temperature of 37 oC for 96 hours of incubation time.

Spontaneous inversion of the submicron ceramic layer deposited on steel and the copper droplet positioned on their top (case of ceramic poorly wetted by liquid Cu)

In this paper, 50 … 680 nm thick AlN-Al2O3 coatings are deposited by magnetron sputtering on the surface of a steel substrate and a piece of copper is melted on top of the ceramic. Upon heating the ceramic layer is cracked, and the phase inversion of the two top phases from steel/ceramic/copper configuration to the steel/copper/ceramic configuration takes place within 30 s of liquid time of copper. This phase inversion process is accompanied by a Gibbs energy change of about − 1.78 J/m2, due to good wettability of solid deoxidized steel by liquid copper in contrary to poor wettability of the ceramic by the copper. When copper is melted on AlN-Al2O3 coating with its thicknesses smaller than a critical value of about 170 ± 60 nm, liquid copper droplets hanging down into the cracks within the ceramic reach the solid steel surface at the bottom of the cracks, thus the flow of Cu down along the cracks is enabled. However, when copper is melted on AlN-Al2O3 with its thickness larger than the critical value of 170 ± 60 nm, Cu first forms a non-wetting droplet on top of the ceramics, and only after a certain incubation time it starts flowing down the cracks. This incubation time was found to depend linearly on the thickness of the ceramic, as cracks are filled from the bottom upwards by liquid copper via the evaporation–condensation mechanism. By the end of the process, the steel/copper/ceramic configuration is further stabilized by gravity. Graphical abstract

Optimization of Prickly Pear Juice Clarification for Better Retention of Betalain and Color Properties

Background: Prickly pear juices are considered as valuable ingredient for sports and energy drinks due to its higher amino acids contents, minerals and attractive red color. Hence, prickly pear fruit has received renewed interest for the production of juice. Up to date, relatively little work has been reported regarding the manufacturing of prickly pear products. Enzyme has proved to be the key element for producing clear and stable fruit juice. The present study aimed to optimize the processing parameters for enzymatic clarification of prickly pear juice. The results of this investigation are expected to provide the suitable process technology for the production of prickly pear juice with better retention of betalain content and color value. Methods: Prickly pear pulp was treated with pectinase enzyme at different concentrations (0.01-0.09%), incubation temperatures (40-60°C) and incubation time (60-180 min). The effect of enzymatic treatments on clarity, color index, betalain content and ascorbic acid content of juice were studied through response surface methodology by employing second order central composite rotatable design. Result: Response surface analysis determined the optimum condition for clarifying prickly pear juice as 0.036% enzyme concentration, 46°C incubation temperature and 112 min incubation time. At this condition, it was predicted to produce the prickly pear juice with clarity of 48.59% T, color index of 0.603 abs, betalain content of 542.93 mg/L of juice and ascorbic acid content of 9.35 mg/100 g with the desirability of 0.780.

Cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic Effects of Spirulina Platensis Extract on PC-3 Prostate Adenocarcinoma Cell Line

Introduction: Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men, with an increasing incidence and mortality rate. In the present study, cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects of spirulina platensis extract on PC-3 prostate adenocarcinoma cell line were investigated. Methods: In the present experimental study, the PC-3 prostatic cancer cells were treated in four experimental with 400, 200, 100 and 50 μg / ml extract of spirulina and incubated at 24 and 48 hours. Cytotoxicity was analyzed by MTS kit (3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-Carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-Sulfophenyl)-2H-Tetrazolium, Inner Salt) and apoptosis was analyzed by flow- cytometry using an Annexin V-FITC/PI kit according to the manufacturer protocol in both times. Statistical analysis was accomplished by ANOVA and Duncan tests using FlowJo and SPSS 16 software. Results: In the experimental groups treated with extract of spirulina, the viability of the cells showed a decrease compared to control group, while this decrease was more noticeable in the experimental group of 100 μg / ml at both incubation times (<0.0071).Increased incidence of apoptosis was significantly higher in the experimental groups than the control group. However, this increase was significantly higher than the control group at concentrations of 200 μg / ml in 24h incubation time (Ƥ < 0.0331) and 100 μg / ml of 48h incubation time (Ƥ < 0.0502). Conclusion: Extract of Spirulina at specific concentrations reduced cell growth and induced apoptosis in PC-3 prostatic cancer cells. Evidence suggests that spirulina can be used as an anticancer drug for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Decolorization of the benzidine-based azo dye Congo red by the new strain Shewanella xiamenensis G5-03

Shewanella xiamenensis G5-03 was observed to decolorize the azo dye Congo red in synthetic wastewater. The influence of some factors on the dye decolorization efficiency was evaluated. The optimal decolorization conditions were temperature 30-35 °C, pH 10.0, incubation time 10 h, and static condition. The kinetic of Congo red decolorization fitted to the Michaelis–Menten model (Vmax = 111.11 mg L-1 h-1 and Km = 448.3 mg L-1). The bacterium was also able to degrade benzidine, a product of azo bond breakage of the Congo red, which contributed to reduce the phytotoxicity. The ability of S. xiamenensis G5-03 for simultaneous decolorization and degradation of Congo red shows its potential application for the biological treatment of wastewaters containing azo dyes.

Structure Elucidation and Toxicity Analysis of the Byproducts Formed after Biodegradation of Aflatoxins B1 and B2 Using Extracts of Mentha arvensis

The aqueous extracts of leaves and shoots of Mentha arvensis were checked for their potential to biodegrade aflatoxin B1 and B2 (AFB1; 100 µg/L and AFB2; 50 µg/L) through in vitro assays. Overall, the results showed that leaf extract degrades aflatoxins more efficiently than the shoot extract. First, the pH, temperature and incubation time were optimized for maximum degradation by observing this activity at different temperatures between 25 and 60 °C, pH between 2 and 10 and incubation time from 3 to 72 h. In general, an increase in all these parameters significantly increased the percentage of biodegradation. In vitro trials on mature maize stock were performed under optimized conditions, i.e., pH 8, temperature 30 °C and an incubation period of 72 h. The leaf extract resulted in 75% and 80% biodegradation of AFB1 and AFB2, respectively. Whereas the shoot extract degraded both toxins up to 40–48%. The structural elucidation of degraded toxin products by LCMS/MS analysis showed seven degraded products of AFB1 and three of AFB2. MS/MS spectra showed that most of the products were formed by the loss of the methoxy group from the side chain of the benzene ring, the removal of the double bond in the terminal furan ring and the modification of the lactone group, indicating less toxicity compared to the parent compounds. The degraded products showed low toxicity against brine shrimps, confirming that M. arvensis leaf extract has significant potential to biodegrade aflatoxins.

Evaluation of nutritive values and digestibility’s cacao( Theobroma cacao L.) pod husk fermented with lingzhi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) at different concentration and incubation time

Cacao pod husk has been widely utilized as animal feed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate nutritive values and digestibility of fermented cacao pod husk with different concentration and incubation time. A completely randomized factorial design consisting two factors; lingzhi mushroom concentration (K1 = 7,5%; K2 = 15%) and incubation time (L1 = 15 d; L2 =30 d; L3 = 45 d) was employed in this study (n=3 replicates). Proximate analysis was performed to determine nutritive values of fermented cacao pod husk. Fermented samples were then subjected to an in vitro digestibility with rumen fluid and McDougall’s buffer mixture. The results of study reveal that cacao pod husk fermented with the concentration of 15% at 15d and 30 d significantly increased (P<0.05) crude protein content but not for other parameters. Dry and organic matter digestibility of cacao pod husk fermented with 7.5% of lingzhi mushroom at 45 d significantly improved (P<0.05) in vitro dry and organic matter of treatment. In conclusion, cacao pod husk fermented with different concentration and incubation time was able to improve the nutritive values and in vitro digestibility of cacao pod husk.

Isolation and Characterization of Biosurfactant-producing Alcaligenes sp. YLA11 and its Diesel Degradation Potentials

This study aimed to isolate and identify biosurfactant producing and diesel alkanes degrading bacteria. For this reason, bacteria isolated from the diesel contaminated site were screened for their potential to produce biosurfactants and degrade diesel alkanes. Primary selection of diesel degraders was carried out by using conventional enrichment culture technique where 12 bacterial strains were isolated based on their ability to grow on minimal media supplemented with diesel as sole carbon source, which was followed by qualitative screening methods for potential biosurfactant production. Isolate B11 was the only candidate that shows positive signs for drop collapse, foaming, haemolytic test, oil displacement of more than 22 ± 0.05 mm, and emulsification (E24) of 14 ± 0.30%. The effect of various culture parameters (incubation time, diesel concentration, nitrogen source, pH and temperature) on biodegradation of diesel was evaluated. The optimum incubation time was confirmed to be 120 days for isolates B11, the optimum PH was confirmed as 8.0 for the isolate, Similarly, the optimum temperature was confirmed as 35oC. In addition, diesel oil was used as the sole carbon source for the isolates. The favourable diesel concentration was 12.5 % (v/v) for the isolate. The isolate has shown degradative ability towards Tridecane (C13), dodecane, 2, 6, 10-trimethyl- (C15), Tetradecane (C14), 2,6,10-Trimethyltridecane (C16), Pentadecane (C15). It degraded between 0.27% - 9.65% individual diesel oil alkanes. The strain has exhibited the potential of degrading diesel oil n-alkanes and was identified as Alcaligenes species strain B11 (MZ027604) using the 16S rRNA sequencing.

Effect of pH variation on cross-linking of water-soluble and acid-soluble chitosan with sodium tripolyphosphate and gallium-67

Background: Chitosan is a cationic biopolymer obtained from deacetylating chitin, a naturally compoundpresent in crustacean shell, fungi and exoskeleton of insects. Chitosan has various applications including drug and gene delivery systems, wound dressing and as scaffolds for tissue engineering, agriculture, textile, food and feed nanotechnology, waste water treatments. chitosan-TPP particle figure out as the most important and stable nanoparticle for chitosan application in various fields. Objective: At this study chitosan was chemically modified by sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). Afterward, TPP-chitosan was radiolabeled with gallium-67 radionuclide. The effect of several factors on labeling yield such as chitosan solubility, acidity and concentration of TPP-chitosansolution, incubation time with gallium-67 were investigated. Methods: To prepare [67Ga] gallium-chitosan complex, chitosan (0.5 ml) was dissolved in 2.2 mCi of [67Ga] gallium chloride solution. The obtained solution was stirred for 5 min and then was kept for 30 min at room temperature. Radiochemical purity and radiolabeling yield was measured via radiochromatography that it was performed by using a radio thin-layer chromatography (TLC) scanner instrument. To investigate the effect of chitosan kind and concentration on the labeling yield, two kinds of chitosan (acid-soluble chitosan and water-soluble chitosan) with two different concentrations (1% and 0.5%) at different pH were used. In addition, labeling efficiency and stability of the 67Ga-TPP-chitosan complex (acidic/water soluble chitosan) at both concentrations (0.5 and 1%) at room temperature was assessed for 30, 45 and 60 min. Results: The incubation time has not significant effect on labeling yield. The acidic soluble chitosan, which has highest radiolabeling yield at pH=9.3-10.4, water soluble chitosan showed the highest radiolabeling yields at pH > 5. Also, the prepared complex was stable in the final solution at room temperature and can even be used 24 hours after preparation for further application. Conclusion: Taken together, the TPP modified water soluble chitosan at concentration 0.5 % depicted the highest radiochemical yield (>95 %) at the optimized condition (pH= 6.2–7.6). Therefore, TPP modified water soluble chitosan can be an effective carrier for therapeutic radionuclides for tumor treatment.