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.

Evaluation of water loss and solute uptake during osmotic treatment of white radishes (Raphanus sativus L.) in salt-sucrose solution

White radish, scientifically known as Raphanus sativus L., is a yearly vegetable. Currently, it was being grown and widely used in the world, including Vietnam. These plants have been used as food or food processing. The osmotic treatment of vegetables involves the removal of water from plants in which the solids from the osmotic solution are transported to the plant material by osmosis. By this procedure, sucrose and saline solution are usually performed. White radishes were dehydrated in different hypertonic solutions by combined sucrose and NaCl at three different concentrations, including 9 runs. Mass transfer behaviour was applied according to three common models such as Fick’s second law, Weibull and Peleg’s equations based on the change of moisture and solid content of white radish during osmotic dehydration. The obtained results showed that the mass transfer was fast at initial stage and became slowly at the later stage. The effective moisture (Dm) and solid diffusivities (Ds) were ranged from 1.0186 to 1.2826x10-8 and from 1.0692 to 2.3322x10-8 (m2/s) respectively. The Peleg’s equation was found to be the best fitting for water loss and solid uptake thanks to the high determination coefficient (>97.64%) and the low average relative error (<3.174%). Raised up solution concentration resulted in higher water loss and mass gain.

Root membrane ubiquitinome under short-term osmotic stress

Osmotic stress can be detrimental to plants, whose survival relies heavily on proteomic plasticity. Protein ubiquitination is a central post-translational modification in osmotic mediated stress. Plants use the ubiquitin (Ub) proteasome system to modulate protein content, and a role for Ub in mediating endocytosis and trafficking plant plasma membrane proteins has recently emerged. In this study, we used the K-ε-GG antibody enrichment method integrated with high-resolution mass spectrometry to compile a list of 719 ubiquitinated lysine (K-Ub) residues from 450 Arabidopsis root membrane proteins (58% of which are transmembrane proteins), thereby adding to the database of ubiquitinated substrates in plants. Although no Ub motifs could be identified, the presence of acidic residues close to K-Ub was revealed. Our ubiquitinome analysis pointed to a broad role of ubiquitination in the internalization and sorting of cargo proteins. Moreover, the simultaneous proteome and ubiquitinome quantification showed that ubiquitination is mostly not involved in membrane protein degradation in response to short osmotic treatment, but putatively in protein internalization as described for the aquaporin PIP2;1. Our in silico analysis of ubiquitinated proteins shows that two E2 Ub ligases, UBC32 and UBC34, putatively target membrane proteins under osmotic stress. Finally, we revealed a positive role for UBC32 and UBC34 in primary root growth under osmotic stress.

Osmoregulation and the Anthozoan-Dinoflagellate Symbiosis

<p>This study investigated the responses of the temperate anemone Anthopleura aureoradiata, and the tropical coral Acropora aspera to osmotic stress and the role that free amino acids (FAAs) may play in the osmoregulatory mechanism of these anthozoan-dinoflagellate symbioses. Specimens were exposed to a range of hypo- and hyper-saline conditions for durations of 1, 12, 48 and 96 hours, whereupon respiration and photosynthetic rates were measured as physiological indicators of osmotic stress. High performance liquid chromatography was used to quantify 15 FAAs within the anthozoan host tissues to establish the response of FAA pools to osmotic stress and whether FAAs are used in an osmoregulatory capacity. Aposymbiotic specimens of A. aureoradiata were similarly tested to establish if the presence of symbiotic dinoflagellates alters the host’s capacity to respond to osmotic stress given that the symbionts are known to release FAAs into the host cytoplasm. In A. aureoradiata, significant changes in respiration were only observed with exposure to the extreme hypo-osmotic salinity of 12‰, with respiration decreasing by 67% after 1 hour of exposure. No significant changes in respiration were seen at 25, 43 or 50‰, despite a 52% decrease in respiration seen at the hyper-saline treatment of 50‰. The response of the coral A. aspera was markedly different, showing an increase in respiration in response to hypo-salinity (22 and 28‰). Interestingly, the most pronounced respiratory increase of up to 460% occurred in the less extreme hypo-saline treatment of 28‰. The response of photosynthesis also showed differences between the two species. In the symbiotic A. aureoradiata, photosynthesis declined by 61% after the 1 hour exposure to 12‰ and further decreased to 72% below control rates after 96 hours. While in A. aspera, photosynthesis showed no significant deviation from control levels at any of the treatment salinities. FAA pools in both A. aureoradiata and A. aspera showed significant responses to osmotic stress. In symbiotic A. aureoradiata, exposure to 12‰ caused total FAA pools to decline by 50% after 1 hour, after which a seemingly stable state was reached. A hyper-osmotic treatment of 50‰ resulted in a similar trend with a more than 50% decrease after 1 hour of exposure. In A. aspera, the response of the FAA pool was markedly different, with the concentration increasing by up to 200% with exposure to 22‰ and by more than 260% at 28‰. Interestingly, one on the main constituents of FAA pools in A. aureoradiata, Taurine (15% of FAA pools at 35‰), was not present in measurable quantities within A. aspera host tissue. In aposymbiotic individuals of A. aureoradiata exposed to extreme hypo- and hyper-saline treatments of 12 and 50‰ a significant impact on respiration was only observed at 12‰, with a 77% decrease in respiration after 96 hours. Changes in FAA pools of aposymbiotic A. aureoradiata were only seen after 12 hours exposure to 50‰ with a significant 26% decrease. However, the direct comparison between symbiotic and aposymbiotic A. aureoradiata did serve to highlight the contribution of symbiont-derived FAAs to the host pool of FAAs, with FAA pools in aposymbiotic anemones up to 41% lower than those found in symbiotic anemones. The results seen here were not suggestive of FAAs being regulated for the explicit use as compatible organic osmolytes. Rather, changes in FAA pools showed changes consistent with other stress responses. Moreover, the response of anthozoan-dinoflagellate symbioses to osmotic stress appears to be species specific, or at least taxa specific, as the responses of respiration, photosynthesis and FAA pools were very different between the temperate anemone A. aureoradiata and the tropical coral A. aspera. Nevertheless, differences in the respiratory response between symbiotic and apo-symbiotic anemones did indicate some influence of the dinoflagellate symbionts on the ability of the anthozoan host to mediate osmotic stress. It may therefore be that other symbiont-derived compounds are utilised as compatible organic osmolytes (COOs), with a primary candidate being glycerol. This warrants further investigation.</p>

Osmoregulation and the Anthozoan-Dinoflagellate Symbiosis

<p>This study investigated the responses of the temperate anemone Anthopleura aureoradiata, and the tropical coral Acropora aspera to osmotic stress and the role that free amino acids (FAAs) may play in the osmoregulatory mechanism of these anthozoan-dinoflagellate symbioses. Specimens were exposed to a range of hypo- and hyper-saline conditions for durations of 1, 12, 48 and 96 hours, whereupon respiration and photosynthetic rates were measured as physiological indicators of osmotic stress. High performance liquid chromatography was used to quantify 15 FAAs within the anthozoan host tissues to establish the response of FAA pools to osmotic stress and whether FAAs are used in an osmoregulatory capacity. Aposymbiotic specimens of A. aureoradiata were similarly tested to establish if the presence of symbiotic dinoflagellates alters the host’s capacity to respond to osmotic stress given that the symbionts are known to release FAAs into the host cytoplasm. In A. aureoradiata, significant changes in respiration were only observed with exposure to the extreme hypo-osmotic salinity of 12‰, with respiration decreasing by 67% after 1 hour of exposure. No significant changes in respiration were seen at 25, 43 or 50‰, despite a 52% decrease in respiration seen at the hyper-saline treatment of 50‰. The response of the coral A. aspera was markedly different, showing an increase in respiration in response to hypo-salinity (22 and 28‰). Interestingly, the most pronounced respiratory increase of up to 460% occurred in the less extreme hypo-saline treatment of 28‰. The response of photosynthesis also showed differences between the two species. In the symbiotic A. aureoradiata, photosynthesis declined by 61% after the 1 hour exposure to 12‰ and further decreased to 72% below control rates after 96 hours. While in A. aspera, photosynthesis showed no significant deviation from control levels at any of the treatment salinities. FAA pools in both A. aureoradiata and A. aspera showed significant responses to osmotic stress. In symbiotic A. aureoradiata, exposure to 12‰ caused total FAA pools to decline by 50% after 1 hour, after which a seemingly stable state was reached. A hyper-osmotic treatment of 50‰ resulted in a similar trend with a more than 50% decrease after 1 hour of exposure. In A. aspera, the response of the FAA pool was markedly different, with the concentration increasing by up to 200% with exposure to 22‰ and by more than 260% at 28‰. Interestingly, one on the main constituents of FAA pools in A. aureoradiata, Taurine (15% of FAA pools at 35‰), was not present in measurable quantities within A. aspera host tissue. In aposymbiotic individuals of A. aureoradiata exposed to extreme hypo- and hyper-saline treatments of 12 and 50‰ a significant impact on respiration was only observed at 12‰, with a 77% decrease in respiration after 96 hours. Changes in FAA pools of aposymbiotic A. aureoradiata were only seen after 12 hours exposure to 50‰ with a significant 26% decrease. However, the direct comparison between symbiotic and aposymbiotic A. aureoradiata did serve to highlight the contribution of symbiont-derived FAAs to the host pool of FAAs, with FAA pools in aposymbiotic anemones up to 41% lower than those found in symbiotic anemones. The results seen here were not suggestive of FAAs being regulated for the explicit use as compatible organic osmolytes. Rather, changes in FAA pools showed changes consistent with other stress responses. Moreover, the response of anthozoan-dinoflagellate symbioses to osmotic stress appears to be species specific, or at least taxa specific, as the responses of respiration, photosynthesis and FAA pools were very different between the temperate anemone A. aureoradiata and the tropical coral A. aspera. Nevertheless, differences in the respiratory response between symbiotic and apo-symbiotic anemones did indicate some influence of the dinoflagellate symbionts on the ability of the anthozoan host to mediate osmotic stress. It may therefore be that other symbiont-derived compounds are utilised as compatible organic osmolytes (COOs), with a primary candidate being glycerol. This warrants further investigation.</p>

Overexpression of full-length and partial DREB2A enhances soybean drought tolerance

Soybean is an important commodity worldwide. Abiotic conditions can adversely disturb crop growth and final yield. The transcription factor Dehydration-Responsive Element-Binding Proteins 2 (DREB2) act as a regulator of drought-responses. This study aimed to characterize soybean plants genetically modified with GmDREB2A;2 FL and GmDREB2A;2 CA for molecular, physiological, and agronomic responses, at different developmental periods. Results showed that seedlings from GmDREB2A;2 FL event presented lower growth reduction under osmotic treatment during germination. The GmDREB2A;2 FL and GmDREB2A;2 CA events showed improved performance in experiments of water deficit imposed in the vegetative period and higher rates in physiological parameters. In the reproductive period, there was a trend of higher yield compounds in GM GmDREB2A;2 FL event when compared to other genotypes and treatments. It was suggested that GmDREB2A;2 FL event presented superior performance due to the higher expression levels of the cisgene and drought-induced genes.

The COM-Poisson Process for Stochastic Modeling of Osmotic Inactivation Dynamics of Listeria monocytogenes

Controlling harmful microorganisms, such as Listeria monocytogenes, can require reliable inactivation steps, including those providing conditions (e.g., using high salt content) in which the pathogen could be progressively inactivated. Exposure to osmotic stress could result, however, in variation in the number of survivors, which needs to be carefully considered through appropriate dispersion measures for its impact on intervention practices. Variation in the experimental observations is due to uncertainty and biological variability in the microbial response. The Poisson distribution is suitable for modeling the variation of equi-dispersed count data when the naturally occurring randomness in bacterial numbers it is assumed. However, violation of equi-dispersion is quite often evident, leading to over-dispersion, i.e., non-randomness. This article proposes a statistical modeling approach for describing variation in osmotic inactivation of L. monocytogenes Scott A at different initial cell levels. The change of survivors over inactivation time was described as an exponential function in both the Poisson and in the Conway-Maxwell Poisson (COM-Poisson) processes, with the latter dealing with over-dispersion through a dispersion parameter. This parameter was modeled to describe the occurrence of non-randomness in the population distribution, even the one emerging with the osmotic treatment. The results revealed that the contribution of randomness to the total variance was dominant only on the lower-count survivors, while at higher counts the non-randomness contribution to the variance was shown to increase the total variance above the Poisson distribution. When the inactivation model was compared with random numbers generated in computer simulation, a good concordance between the experimental and the modeled data was obtained in the COM-Poisson process.

Technological breakthrough of the agrarian-and-food innovations in dairy case for example of universal agricultural raw materials. Reverse osmosis

Aim. Consideration of the membrane technology process – reverse osmosis – by directed and controlled processing of whey and its filtrates through special semipermeable partitions (filter membranes) with a pore size from 0.1 to 1.0 nm, carried out at a pressure of 3.0 - 10.0 MPa with the release of particles (cutting off) with a molecular weight of 100 Daltons. Reverse osmosis allows you to concentrate all the compounds of whey and filtrates, separating almost distilled water (condensate). Discussion. In the molecular sieve separation system, reverse osmosis logically continues the membrane treatment of filtrates (permeates) of native, as well as separated whey and their microfiltrates, ultrafiltrates, nanofiltrates and diafiltrates. In principle, the reverse osmosis process should be implemented to pre-concentrate the whey, which will eliminate its loss (draining) and expand the range of use. OO is promising for processing salted whey with the removal of unwanted sodium chloride, as well as for cleaning the condensate of evaporation plants from the components of dairy raw materials that come with foam and secondary steam. Conclusion. In general, for the dairy industry of the food industry of the agro-industrial complex, reverse osmotic treatment is necessary for the implementation of a closed production cycle with a recycled water supply.