Bovidae-based gelatin: Extractions method,physicochemical and functional properties,applications, and future trends

Gelatin is one of the most important multifunctional biopolymers and is widely used as an essential ingredient in food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics. Porcine gelatin is regarded as the leading source of gelatin globally then followed by bovine gelatin. Porcine sources are favored over other sources since they are less expensive. However, porcine gelatin is religiously prohibited to be consumed by Muslims and the Jewish community. It is predicted that the global demand for gelatin will increase significantly in the future. Therefore, a sustainable source of gelatin with efficient production and free of disease transmission must be developed. The highest quality of Bovidae-based gelatin (BG) was acquired through alkaline pretreatment, which displayed excellent physicochemical and rheological properties. The utilization of mammalian- and plant-based enzyme significantly increased the gelatin yield. The emulsifying and foaming properties of BG also showed good stability when incorporated into food and pharmaceutical products. Manipulation of extraction conditions has enabled the development of custom-made gelatin with desired properties. This review highlighted the various modifications of extraction and processing methods to improve the physicochemical and functional properties of Bovidae-based gelatin. An in-depth analysis of the crucial stage of collagen breakdown is also discussed, which involved acid, alkaline, and enzyme pretreatment, respectively. In addition, the unique characteristics and primary qualities of BG including protein content, amphoteric property, gel strength, emulsifying and viscosity properties, and foaming ability were presented. Finally, the applications and prospects of BG as the preferred gelatin source globally were outlined.     

Evolution and stability of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole inhibitor film upon Al alloy 6061

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry - Organic corrosion inhibitors have become competent alternatives to hazardous chrome conversion coatings due to their rapid adsorption over metal surfaces in...     

Hepatitis B Virus-Like Particle: Targeted Delivery of Plasmid Expressing Short Hairpin RNA for Silencing the Bcl-2 Gene in Cervical Cancer Cells

Gene therapy research has advanced to clinical trials, but it is hampered by unstable nucleic acids packaged inside carriers and there is a lack of specificity towards targeted sites in the body. This study aims to address gene therapy limitations by encapsidating a plasmid synthesizing a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) that targets the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 gene using truncated hepatitis B core antigen (tHBcAg) virus-like particle (VLP). A shRNA sequence targeting anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 was synthesized and cloned into the pSilencer 2.0-U6 vector. The recombinant plasmid, namely PshRNA, was encapsidated inside tHBcAg VLP and conjugated with folic acid (FA) to produce FA-tHBcAg-PshRNA VLP. Electron microscopy revealed that the FA-tHBcAg-PshRNA VLP has an icosahedral structure that is similar to the unmodified tHBcAg VLP. Delivery of FA-tHBcAg-PshRNA VLP into HeLa cells overexpressing the folate receptor significantly downregulated the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 at 48 and 72 h post-transfection. The 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay demonstrated that the cells’ viability was significantly reduced from 89.46% at 24 h to 64.52% and 60.63%, respectively, at 48 and 72 h post-transfection. As a conclusion, tHBcAg VLP can be used as a carrier for a receptor-mediated targeted delivery of a therapeutic plasmid encoding shRNA for gene silencing in cancer cells.     

Characterization of Waste and Reclaimed Green Sand Used in Foundry Processing

Silicon - The aim of this study is to discuss the importance of characterization of green, waste green and reclaimed sand. The transformations and changes which take place in the green sand, are...     

Characteristics of fat,and saponin and tannin contents of 11 varieties of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum L.) seed

Rambutan seed is discarded during fruit processing. However, the seed contains a considerable amount of crude fat. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine two anti-nutritional constituents, namely saponin and tannin, and to characterize the fat of the seeds of 11 varieties of rambutan fruit. Results showed that the range of crude fat content is fairly narrow (36.13–39.13 g/100 g dried seeds). The iodine value and free fatty acid content of the fat were 38.50–50.61 g I₂/100 g fat and 0.99–2.18% as oleic acid, respectively. Oleic (33.35–46.64%) and arachidic (26.03–33.27%) acids were the main fatty acids in the fat. HPLC analysis showed that the fat comprised mainly five unknown triacylglycerols (83.94–95.33%). The melting and crystallization curves showed that the fat exhibited four to nine non-distinct peaks. The complete melting and crystallization onset temperatures of the fat were 24.8–50.6°C and 24.1–39.4°C, respectively, while the melting and crystallization enthalpies of the fat ranged from 71.2 to 141.7 J/g and from 60.4 to 88.9 J/g, respectively. At 0°C, the solid fat index of the fat ranged between 87.4% and 91.6% and the fats of some varieties melted completely at human body temperature. The saponin and tannin contents of the seed were 14.27–18.96 mg soya saponin/100 g and 4.40–26.68 mg catechin equivalent/100 g, respectively. Findings showed that rambutan seed fat has potential to be used in various sectors of food industry.     

An optimized skin texture model using gray-level co-occurrence matrix

Neural Computing and Applications - Texture analysis is devised to address the weakness of color-based image segmentation models by considering the statistical and spatial relations among the group...     

Effect of Cryogenic Cooling on the Heat Transfer during Turning of AZ31C Magnesium Alloy

ABSTRACT

A combined analytical and experimental study was carried out to analyze the effects of cryogenic cooling on temperature during turning of AZ31C magnesium alloy. Finite element method was employed to model and simulating the cryogenic and dry turning. Results obtained from the model were found to be in good agreement with the experimental observations. For the maximum temperature at the turned surface, the difference in the experimental and predicted value observed during dry and cryogenic turning was only 4 and 8% respectively. A significant reduction in the maximum temperature on the chip surface (around 35%) and tool surface (around 29%) was observed during the cryogenic turning compared to dry turning. This reduction in temperature was an attribute of liquid nitrogen, which produces intense cooling effect around the vicinity cutting zone where heat generation takes place hence enhancing the heat transfer. The isothermal region belonging to the highest temperature on the tool surface was also reduced by about 42%. The reduction in temperature during cryogenic conditions were found to be beneficial for the machining of magnesium alloys under safe conditions, reducing the risk of ignition and explosions, and also increases the sustainability of the process.     

Prebiotic properties of xylooligosaccharide extracted from sugarcane wastes (pith and rind): a comparative study

Wastes from agricultural industry are often disposed. Nevertheless, these wastes contain nutraceuticals and functional compounds. Xylooligosaccharide (XOS) was extracted from two sugarcane wastes (SW); rind (SR) and pith (SP), and the prebiotic properties of both XOS were examined. SR and SP had different mixture of XOS and were resistant towards α-amylase and gastric juice digestion in vitro. Although the growth of Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS) and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. Lactis ATCC® 700541™ increased significantly in both XOS after 48 h of incubation, XOS from SR showed better enrichment of probiotics growth. Both XOS were found to be more fermentable by LcS and acetic acid was the predominant end product of the fermentation. Since XOS composition was different between SR and SP and such difference can affect their prebiotic properties, it is important to choose the appropriate parts of SW to extract XOS with high fermentable properties and obtain the best synbiotics combination.