Abstract: Effect of pre-germination on antioxidant activity and quantity of some antioxidative compounds of a set of different types of brown rice was investigated. Quantification of these antioxidative compounds by GC-MS and LC-ESI-MS revealed that the contents of tocopherols, tocotrienols, and γ-oryzanols, as well as some simple phenolic and heterocyclic compounds increased in all rice samples in the same range after the pre-germination process. Differences in variety, growing location, and amylose content of the rice samples had little effect on these chemical alterations. The findings in this work indicate that the pre-germination process is an effective economical procedure to improve nutritional benefits of rice grain as being a functional food product.

Abstract: Hawk tea is one of the most popular beverage in southwest of China. In the present study, the effects of alkaline protease on the formation and characteristics of protein hydrolysates from different mature degree Hawk teas were investigated. For antioxidant activity in vitro, Hawk mature leaf tea protein hydrolysates (MPH) had the strongest 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and reducing power. And MPH also showed the highest iron chelating activity among the three samples. With regard to functional property, MPH and Hawk primary leaf tea protein hydrolysates (PPH) had higher solubility than that of Hawk bud tea protein hydrolysates (BPH). And the same trend was found in emulsifying property. The amino acid composition of MPH, PPH and BPH was very dissimilar. MPH and PPH mainly contained low molecular weight peptides, while BPH majorly included high molecular weight peptides. MPH may have potential applications in food industries as natural antioxidants.

Abstract: Sardinella longiceps were studied for the spatial (south west (SW) and southeast (SE) coast of India), annual (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and seasonal (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon) variations of protein, amino acids, minerals and vitamins. The chlorophyll-a concentration and sea surface temperature of its habitats were taken into account to understand their effect on the nutrient signatures of oil sardine throughout the study period and locations. Mean protein content attained its maximum during pre-monsoon along both SW and SE coasts, with high proportions of essential amino acids. Essential to non-essential amino acid ratio, total aromatic (TArAA) and total sulfated amino acids (TSAA) recorded monsoon maxima along the study locations. Amino acid scores observed monsoon and post-monsoon maxima along the SW and SE coast, respectively. Minerals were significantly higher during monsoon along the SE coast (P<0.05). Significant seasonal variations in vitamin content were observed along the study locations with high vitamin A, D₃ and C on SW coast and higher vitamin E and K in SE coast. The present study demonstrated Sardinella longiceps as a valuable source of the protein, amino acids, minerals and vitamins. A reasonably good ratio of essential to nonessential amino acids for oil sardines was recorded throughout different study period and locations, and therefore it can be concluded that this low-value species is an excellent source of good balanced proteins with high-biological value to be qualified as a preferred health food for human diet.

Abstract: Starch, which escapes the digestion of the small intestine in humans and animals, may serve as a carbon source for bacterial fermentation in the hindgut. This study aimed to compare the fermentation characteristics of amylopectin and resistant starch by the colonic microbiota of pigs, and also to reveal the shifts in bacterial community compositions during the fermentation. Two types of resistant starch (RS2 and RS4) and amylopectin were used as substances in an in vitro fermentation test. As compared with resistant starch, amylopectin was more fermentable by colonic microbiota, while RS4 used in this study showed very poor fermentation characteristics. Fermentation of amylopectin produced more short-chain fatty acids with a higher propionate proportion and a lower butyrate proportion. Lactate was produced in the early period of amylopectin and RS2 fermentation but consumed entirely at the end of fermentation. Pyrosequencing analysis showed that the abundance of Firmicutes decreased significantly along with the increase of Bacteroidetes during the fermentation of amylopectin and RS2. In particular, Bacteroides spp. (such as Bacteroides vulgatus and B. uniformis) became predominant in the bacterial community. These results suggest that Bacteroides spp. may play important roles in the degradation of starch in the pig hindgut.

Abstract: Strong umami taste was perceived in a specialized old oolong tea reproducibly converted from a fresh oolong tea by fierce baking biannually for five years. Phenolic compounds in this umami tea and those in an initial fresh oolong tea were analyzed and compared. The results implied that the abundant catechin derivatives and flavonol glycosides were significantly reduced while three compounds were evidently accumulated after the tea conversion. These three compounds were chemically identified as gallic acid and two correlated flavonols, myricetin and quercetin. Molecular modeling suggested that myricetin and gallic acid might serve as ligand and enhancer to activate the umami receptor synergistically. Binary docking of myricetin and gallic acid induced the gate closure of the binding cavity in the umami receptor, in a manner similar to that of glutamate and its enhancer, inosine 5′-monophosphate. Regardless the induced fitness, the detailed molecular interactions between these two sets of binary components and the receptor were drastically different. In this binary docking modeling for umami taste, myricetin could not be equivalently replaced with any of the major tea phenolic compounds.