New Opportunities in Glycan Engineering for Therapeutic Proteins

Glycans as sugar polymers are important metabolic, structural, and physiological regulators for cellular and biological functions. They are often classified as critical quality attributes to antibodies and recombinant fusion proteins, given their impacts on the efficacy and safety of biologics drugs. Recent reports on the conjugates of N-acetyl-galactosamine and mannose-6-phosphate for lysosomal degradation, Fab glycans for antibody diversification, as well as sialylation therapeutic modulations and O-linked applications, have been fueling the continued interest in glycoengineering. The current advancements of the human glycome and the development of a comprehensive network in glycosylation pathways have presented new opportunities in designing next-generation therapeutic proteins.

Effect of Osmo Dehydration on Quality Attributes of Bilimbi (Averroha bilimbi) Fruits

Background: Bilimbi is a profusely bearing tree and majority of fruits produced are wasted due to lack of proper preservation methods. Osmo-dehydration studies on quality attributes of bilimbi (Averroha bilimbi) was conducted with the objective to standardize the process variables for osmodehydrated bilimbi and to assess the retention of bioactive compounds. Methods: Harvested mature bilimbi fruits of uniform size were washed, surface dried, pricked and blanched in hot water for one minute. Blanched fruits were subjected to osmotic treatment, with sucrose solution of 40, 60 and 80°B for 60, 120 and 180 minutes. The osmodehydrated bilimbi fruits were analyzed for mass transfer, biochemical and sensory qualities. Best treatments were stored for four months in the room temperature. Result: Mass transfer characters viz., solid gain, water loss, percentage weight reduction, yield and biochemical parameters such as reducing sugar and total sugar increased with increase in osmotic concentration and immersion time whereas free acids, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity were decreased. The osmotic treatment of 80°B for 180 minutes recorded the highest value for solid gain (5.10%), water loss (16.72%), weight reduction (22.57%), ratio of water loss to solid gain (3.25%) and yield (21.13%) which exhibited superior sensory scores for taste (8.43), flavor (8.27), texture (8.46) and overall acceptability (8.43). The best three treatments selected based on sensory analysis were subjected to storage stability studies under room temperature. Osmodehydrated bilimbi obtained highest sensory score at the end of storage.

Application of concave induction cooking to improve the texture and flavor of braised pork

Long-term cooking may reduce the eating and nutritional quality attributes of meat products due to excessive oxidation. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of concave induction to improve the quality of braised pork belly. Pork belly cubes were subjected to concave induction cooking (2000 W) or plane induction cooking (2000 W, traditional) for 60 min, 90 min, 120 min or 150 min. Then texture, fatty acid profile, lipid and protein oxidation, volatile flavor and sensory test in braised meat were evaluated. Compared with traditional method, concave induction cooking showed higher heating performance with shorter time to achieve a setting temperature. Compared with traditional cooking for 150 min, concave induction cooking for 60 min did not only produce a comparable volatile flavor and sensory scores, but also give better quality attributes, including lower hardness, chewiness, thrombogenicity values, PUFA/SFA value, lipid and protein oxidation. E‑nose results showed that samples cooked by concave induction for 60 min and 90 min showed a great similarity to those cooked by plane induction for 150 min. Concave induction cooking for 60 min also showed advantages to retain higher abundances of other volatile compounds including 2-pentylfuran, (E, E)-3,5-octadien‑2- one, 2, 3-octanedione, 2-decahydro‑1,6- dimethylnaphthalene when compared with plane induction cooking for 150 min.