Abstract: Silken tofu which retains soluble solids present in the soymilk was investigated for differences in the microstructure, sugars and isoflavones content from regular silken. Soy slurry treated with Viscozyme L (2.5 mL/L) was incubated for 30 minutes at 55°C. Stachyose was the predominant oligosaccharide in treated tofu, 4.58 g/100 g and 3.30 g/100 g in control tofu, raffinose content was 1.21 and 0.75 g/100 g in treated and control tofu, respectively. Glucose was approximately duplicated in treated tofu (1.66 g/100 g) compared to control (0.74 g/100 g) while fructose content was three times higher (1.09 g/100 g). Comparing isoflavones content, malonyl conjugates were double the amount of the control tofu, with the exception of malonylgenistin, but the total amount of isoflavones was not different. The tofu of the treated slurry showed a fibrous three-dimensional network structure, but with larger protein aggregates and was more tightly connected than the control.

Abstract: Elements of three different apples in an apple tree were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). K contents of apples ranged from 8510 mg/kg (green apple) to 11942 mg/kg (yellow-red apple). While Mg contents of three different apples change between 505 mg/kg (wild apple) and 734 mg/kg (wild apple), P contents ranged from 683 mg/kg (green apple) to 1145 mg/kg (yellow-red apple). In addition, S contents of apple samples were found between 413 mg/kg (green apple) to 556 mg/kg (yellow-red apple). B contents of apples were found between 18.8 mg/kg (wild apple) to 21.0 mg/kg (green apple). As a result, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Zn, Ca, K and Mg contents of wild apple were found higher than those of results of other samples.

Abstract: Agaricus bisporus is one of the most consumed culinary mushrooms in the world. The white type of Agaricus bisporus has been demonstrated with various bioactivities beneficial to human health. However, little was known about its brown type. In this study, the anti-cancer and immunoregulatory potential of Agaricus bisporus (brown) polysaccharide were investigated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, the polysaccharide had a significant antiproliferative effect on Hela cells (cervical cancer cells), especially at the high concentration of 200 μg/ml. The spleen index, thymus index and carbon clearance ability of mice were remarkably increased by the polysaccharide treatment, indicating the polysaccharide had a promising benefit for immunodulation in vivo. Furthermore, the polysaccharide increased the proliferation of RAW264.7 cells with 19.1% at 50µg /ml and 34.5% at 100µg /ml, which demonstrated the immunodulation mechanism was in close conjunction with macrophages. In conclusion, these results indicated that Agaricus bisporus (brown) polysaccharide possessed strong immunostimulatory and anti-tumor bioactivity in vivo and in vitro. Therefore, it could be explored as a novel natural antitumor agent with immunomodulatory activity.

Abstract: TT51, with a synthetic Cry1Ab/CryAc gene from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner, was the first genetically modified (GM) plant officially certificated in China. This study was undertaken to investigate potential embryotoxicity of TT51 on rats. Whole embryo culture (WEC) is an effective method for safety evaluation when culture medium, containing substances derived from GM food, is available. Rat embryos explanted from uterus were randomly distributed into 6 groups: Transgenic Rice (TR) group with transgenic rice dietary administration, Parental Rice (PR) group with parental rice dietary administration, Blank Control (BC), Positive control A (PCA) group with Bisphenol A being directly added into the culture medium, Positive control B (PCB) group with Bisphenol A oral administration and Bt protein (BP) group with Bt protein directly added into culture medium. After culturing for 48 h, embryos were scored for growth and differentiation at the endpoint. Embryos in TR group had no significantly lower morphological scores or smaller yolk sac diameter, crown-rump length (CRL) and cranial diameter comparing with those in BC and PR group. Embryos in PCA and PCB group both performed significantly lower developmental parameters and morphological scores than the other three groups. Embryos directly exposed to Bt protein (52 mg/L) exhibited severe morphological anomalies but no significant difference in yolk sac diameter compared with PR, TR and BC groups. In this WEC model, TT51 showed no embryotoxicity to rats although Bt toxin had side effect on embryos when the concentration is equal to the daily intake of Bt protein in TT51 diet. And it also indicated that WEC method can make an option for toxicological assessment of GM food.

Abstract: The effects of temperature, light, oxidant, soluble sugar, food additive (i.e. citric acid, benzoic acid, and ascorbic acid) and metal ions of K⁺, Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Al³⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe³⁺, Sn²⁺, Mg²⁺ on the stability of anthocyanin extracted from the kernels of novel inbred line super dark maize (SDM) with the strategy of HCl-carbinol were systematically analyzed. The results showed that the extracted anthocyanin was steady in acid conditions (pH≤ 3) and stable to heat and light; it had good anti-oxidation and maintained sensitive to reducing agents and insensitive to soluble sugar. Citric acid had positive effect on the stability of anthocyanin while benzoic acid and ascorbic acid negative; metal ions (1 mMol·L^-1) of K⁺、Ca²⁺、Cu²⁺、Al³⁺、Mn²⁺ exhibited no obvious effect on the anthocyanin while ions of Fe³⁺、Sn²⁺、Mg²⁺ obvious.

Abstract: Many studies have proved that ozone can decompose aflatoxins in peanuts, while polyphenols in peanut skins can also be destroyed due to its strong oxidative capacity. The polyphenols and their oxidative products in the peanut skin extracts at different ozonated times were separated and identified by HPLC-Q-TOF/MS. Based on the accurate molecular weight from mass spectrogram, and consulted the reported literatures, nine polyphenols and nine main oxidative products were identified in the peanut skins. According to the oxidative mechanism of phenols and the Criegee mechanism of ozonolysis, the ozonolysis pathways of nine polyphenols were proposed. The structures of oxidative products showed that ozone can destroy the polyphenols, so the effects of ozone treatment on the peanut skins should be considered by processors in the detoxification of aflatoxin-contaminated peanuts.

Abstract: Objective: Left-behind children are rural children below 18 years of age who are left at home by their migrating parents. Although developmental, emotional and social problems have been reported on these left-behind children, No studies to date have been performed to examine the susceptibility of these left-behind children to cardiovascular disease. Methods: 2457 rural children, among whom 1212 are left-behind children by their migrant peasant worker parents and 1245 are not left-behind children as a control group, were recruited to examine the characteristics of left-behind children for their differences in heart rate and blood pressure from not left-behind children. Results: The heart rate and blood pressure of the left-behind children were significantly higher than those in the control not left-behind children. Conclusions: Childhood loneliness, dissatisfaction and anxiety may augment the burden or load on the cardiovascular system of the left-behind children, which may increase their susceptibility to development of cardiovascular disease in later life.