Optimization of Microwave Pre-Cooked Conditions for Gelatinization of Adzuki Bean

Pre-cooked adzuki beans (Vigna angularis), which looks like dried adzuki bean, is easily cooked and preserved. This study aimed to optimize the microwave pre-cooked conditions on adzuki beans by applying the response surface methodology. The results showed that soaking time has a significant effect on the gelatinization degree of adzuki beans according to microwave time. The most suitable gelatinization and the sensory scores were obtained with a soaking time of 7.8 h, a microwave power of 830 W, and microwave time of 92 s. The pre-cooked treatment had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on the protein, free amino acid, fat and starch content of adzuki bean products. The results of SEM and polarized light microscopy showed that the surface and center of starch were damaged after microwave treatment. XRD showed that microwave pre-cooking did not change the crystal structure of starch and maintained the original order of type A structure while reducing the relative starch crystallinity. FT-IR showed that the pre-cooked treatment did not produce new structure in adzuki bean starch, but the ratio of 1047/1022 cm−1 was slightly decreased, indicating that the starch crystallization area decreased relative to the amorphous area and the relative crystallinity decreased. The results of FTIR were consistent with X-ray diffraction results. Therefore, microwaves improved the gelatinization of adzuki beans and made the pre-cooked adzuki beans more suitable.

Enzymolysis–Microwave-Assisted Hydrodistillation for Extraction of Volatile Oil from Atractylodes Chinensis and Its Hypoglycemic Activity in vitro

Background Atractylodes chinensis (family Asteraceae) is a perennial herb with many pharmacological effects. Objective Extraction of volatile oil from Atractylodes chinensis was optimized and its hypoglycemic activities were studied. Methods Enzymolysis–microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (EMAHD) was adopted to extract the volatile oil, and the technology was optimized using a single-factor experiment that incorporated response surface methodology (RSM). The extraction rates of volatile oil by EMAHD, microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD), and hydrodistillation (HD) methods were compared at different times. The ingredients of Atractylodes chinensis volatile oil were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to analyze the microstructural changes in Atractylodes chinensis residue before and after extraction. The inhibition of α-amylase activity was determined. Results The obtained optimal extraction conditions for EMAHD were as follows: enzyme concentration 1.6%, pH 7, enzymolysis time 20 min, enzymolysis temperature 50°C, liquid–solid ratio 30:1, microwave power 455 W, and microwave time 40 min. The levels of the main ingredients and the in vitro inhibition of α-amylase activities were higher for Atractylodes chinensis volatile oil extracted by EMAHD than by HD or MAHD. The powder residue of Atractylodes chinensis remaining after EMAHD showed a ruptured and collapsed cell structure, indicating accelerated dissolution of the volatile oil. Conclusions and Highlights EMAHD is deemed a method with many advantages for extraction of volatile oil from Atractylodes chinensis. The volatile oil of Atractylodes chinensis is a promising component for treating hyperglycemia.

Microwave and steam blanching as pre-treatments before air drying of Moringa oleifera leaves

The objective of this work was to identify the optimal drying conditions to produce better quality dried Moringa oleifera leaves with the best drying kinetics using microwave and steam blanching pre-treatments prior to hot air drying. For this purpose, the effect of microwave power, microwave time, steaming time, and air temperature on drying kinetics and quality of Moringa leaves was evaluated using the response surface methodology. In order to achieve a moisture content of 8.0% kg H2O/kg dry matter, the optimal conditions identified were a steaming time of 2.58 min (2 min 35 sec) prior to air drying at 70°C and a microwave power of 270 W for 3 min, followed by air drying at 70°C. At this optimal condition, a confirmation test for steam-assisted air drying gave a drying time (DT) of 53 min, ascorbic acid (AA) of 2.49 mg/g, and the antioxidant activity (AOA) of 67.244% inhibition. For microwave-assisted air drying, the confirmation experiment gave a DT of 43 min, AA of 2.699 mg/g, and AOA of 74.46% inhibition. Both pre-treatments before air drying followed a falling rate drying period at the initial stages and later a constant rate drying period. Our results showed that microwave blanching should be considered as a pre-treatment in industrial production of Moringa leaves to produce better quality dried products in a relatively short time.

Gum colocasia-g-polyacrylamide: Microwave-assisted synthesis and characterization

In the present investigation, an attempt has been made for grafting of acrylamide on the backbone of Colocasia esculenta by using microwave-assisted grafting method, which is a convenient and versatile route for the development of polysaccharide-based materials. The dried mucilage of colocasia was prepared from fresh rhizomes. The optimization was performed by using Box Behnken matrix design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM) using design expert software. A series of graft polymers, varying in the amount of acrylamide, ammonium persulphate and microwave irradiation was prepared. The effect of Microwave time, gum concentration and power on percentage yield, percentage grafting and percentage grafting efficiency has been optimized and evaluated by 3D surface response graphs. It has been observed that power and irradiation time has a significant synergistic effect on % yield, % grafting and % grafting efficiency however gum concentration produce slight increment up to a limit after that the effect becomes almost constant. The selected optimized formulation is F8 with a percentage yield of 99.57%, percentage grafting of 634.33% and percentage grafting efficiency of 87.49%. Optimized formulation was subjected to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy for characterization which committed the grafting of acrylamide on Colocasia esculenta.

Microwave Synthesis of MCM-41 and Its Application in CO2 Absorption by Nanofluids

Microwave synthesis method is a green chemical process with mild reaction conditions, fast reaction, and low energy consumption. In this work, an order mesoporous silica material MCM-41 was synthesized by microwave technology. Functionalized MCM-41 was prepared by wet impregnation with polyethyleneimine (PEI). XRD, SEM, TEM, DLS, N2 adsorption-desorption, FTIR, and TG were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of samples. Furthermore, CO2 absorption performance in water in the presence of uncalcined MCM-41 and PEI-MCM-41 nanoparticles was evaluated. In addition, the mechanisms of enhanced absorption were also elaborated. The experimental results indicated that the optimum conditions for preparation of MCM-41 were the microwave time of 15 min, microwave temperature of 100°C, and microwave power of 200 W. Under this condition, MCM-41 with narrow particle size distribution, average diameter of 50 nm, and SBET of 1210.3 m2g-1 was obtained. The enhancement effect of PEI-MCM-41 nanoparticles was more obvious than that of uncalcined MCM-41. PEI-MCM-41 as a promoter not only increased the CO2 diffusion rate but also enhanced the adsorption capacity due to the fact that it owns more active sites that may react with CO2. The CO2 absorption improvement of PEI-MCM-41 (0.1 wt%)/H2O was 25.35% higher than that of water.