Antibacterial activity of ozonized sunflower oil (Oleozon)

AIMS: To evaluate the antimicrobial effect of the ozonized sunflower oil (Oleozon) on different bacterial species isolated from different sites. METHODS AND RESULTS: The effect of Oleozon on Mycobacteria, staphylococci, streptococci, enterococci, Pseudomonas and Escherichia coli was tested. The sunflower oil was ozonized at the Centro de Investigaciones del Ozone (CENIC, Havana, Cuba) by an ozone generator. MICs were determined by the agar dilution method. For Mycobacteria, the MIC of Oleozon was determined on solid medium by a microdrop agar proportion test. Oleozon showed antimicrobial activity against all strains analysed, with an MIC ranging from 1.18 to 9.5 mg ml-1. CONCLUSION: Oleozon showed a valuable antimicrobial activity against all micro-organisms tested. Results suggest that Mycobacteria are more susceptible to Oleozon than the other bacteria tested. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The wide availability of sunflower oil makes Oleozon a competitive antimicrobial agent. These results should prompt the setting up of some clinical trials to compare Oleozon with other antimicrobial agents.     

Consumption of tomato products with olive oil but not sunflower oil increases the antioxidant activity of plasma

Health benefits of lycopene from tomato products have been suggested to be related to its antioxidant activity. Dietary fat may influence the absorption and hence the plasma levels and antioxidant activity of lycopene. In the present study, we have compared the effect of consumption of tomato products with extra-virgin olive oil vs. tomato products plus sunflower oil on plasma lycopene and antioxidant levels. Results show that the oil composition does not affect the absorption of lycopene from tomato products because similar levels of plasma lycopene (mean +/- SD) were obtained on feeding tomatoes (providing approximately 46 mg lycopene/d) for 7 d with either olive oil (0.66 +/- 0.26 vs 1.20 +/- 0.20 micromol/l, p <.002) or sunflower oil (0.67 +/- 0.27 vs. 1.14 micromol/l, p <.001). However, consumption of tomato products with olive oil significantly raised the plasma antioxidant activity (FRAP) from 930 +/- 150 to 1118 +/- 184 micromol/l, p <.01) but no effect was observed when the sunflower oil was used. The change (supplementation minus start values) in FRAP following the consumption of tomato products with oil was significantly higher for olive oil (190 +/- 101) than for sunflower oil (-9.6 +/- 99, p <. 005). In conclusion, the results of the study show that consumption of tomato products with olive oil but not with sunflower oil improves the antioxidant activity of the plasma.     

Production of thermostable lipolytic activity by thermus species

A quantitative screening for intra- and extracellular lipolytic activity was performed in submerged cultures of four Thermus strains using two different media (named T or D medium). Major differences in the extracellular lipolytic activity were observed in T medium, the highest values being for Thermus thermophilus HB27 and Thermus aquaticus YT1 strains (18 and 33 U/L, respectively). Two enzymes with lipase/esterase activity were identified in the four Thermus strains by zymogram analysis, with molecular weights of 34 and 62 kDa. No kinetic typification of the enzymes as primary metabolites was possible for any of the Thermus strains, because of the lack of a good fitting of the experimental lipolytic activity production rates to the Luedecking and Piret model. However, a linear relationship was found between the absolute values of biomass and total lipase/esterase activity (sum of intracellular and extracellular). For T. thermophilus HB27, an increase in the aeration rate caused the increase in the production of biomass and, particularly, intracellular lipolytic activity but the extracellular lipolytic activity was not affected except for the series with the strongest oxygen limitation. Transmission electronic microscopy revealed that T. thermophilus HB27 formed rotund bodies surrounded by a common membrane in cultures in the early stationary phase. The results suggest the occurrence of a specific mechanism of lipase/esterase secretion that might be due to the different composition and permeability of the cell membranes and those surrounding the rotund bodies.     

脂解麻疯树油脂肪酶产生菌的筛选鉴定及其催化特性

[目的]分离筛选具有脂解麻疯树油能力的脂肪酶产生菌株,为以麻疯树油为原料酶法生产生物柴油奠定基础.[方法]以麻疯树油为唯一碳源,从麻疯树种子粉末处理过的土壤中分离筛选出1株具有脂解疯树油能力的脂肪酶产生菌,考察该菌株及其脂肪酶对有机溶剂耐受性以及脂肪酶催化酯化和转酯反应的能力,并通过生理生化特征和16S rDNA序列分...     

Optimisation of biodiesel production by sunflower oil transesterification

In this work the transformation process of sunflower oil in order to obtain biodiesel by means of transesterification was studied. Taguchi's methodology was chosen for the optimisation of the most important variables (temperature conditions, reactants proportion and methods of purification), with the purpose of obtaining a high quality biodiesel that fulfils the European pre-legislation with the maximum process yield. Finally, sunflower methyl esters were characterised to test their properties as fuels in diesel engines, such as viscosity, flash point, cold filter plugging point and acid value. Results showed that biodiesel obtained under the optimum conditions is an excellent substitute for fossil fuels.     

Membrane solubilization by a hydrophobic polyelectrolyte: surface activity and membrane binding.

We have previously observed that the hydrophobic polyelectrolyte poly(2-ethylacrylic acid) solubilizes lipid membranes in a pH-dependent manner, and we have exploited this phenomenon to prepare lipid vesicles that release their contents in response to pH, light, or glucose (Thomas, J. L., and D. A. Tirrell. Acc. Chem. Res. 25:336-342, 1992). The physical basis for the interaction between poly(2-ethylacrylic acid) and lipid membranes has been explored using surface tensiometry and fluorimetry. Varying the polymer concentration results in changes in surface activity and membrane binding that correlate with shifts in the critical pH for membrane solubilization. Furthermore, the binding affinity is reduced as the amount of bound polymer increases. These results are consistent with a hydrophobically driven micellization process, similar to those observed with apolipoproteins, melittin, and other amphiphilic alpha-helix-based polypeptides. The absence of specific secondary structure in the synthetic polymer suggests that amphiphilicity, rather than structure, is the most important factor in membrane micellization by macromolecules.     

On-line monitoring of lipolytic activity by sequential injection analysis

An automated sequential injection analysis using stop-flow technique for the on-line determination of lipolytic activity has been developed. It is based on a colorimetric method using a chromogenic substrate, 1,2-O-dilauryl-rac-glycero-3-glutaric acid-(6-methylresorufin)-ester. The system permits a linear range analysis between 5–100 lipolytic activity units ml^–1, without external dilution of the sample, a sampling frequency of 5 samples per hour and a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 5%. The analyser has been used for the on-line monitoring of Candida rugosa fed-batch fermentation with excellent performance, regarding its reliability and reproducibility.     

Detection of bacteriocin activity in bacteria using hydrophobic grid membrane filters

Seven known bacteriocin-producing bacterial strains were examined using three newly developed bacteriocin detection methods employing hydrophobic gridmembrane niters (HGMF): (i) filtration, (ii) multiple square inoculation, and (iii) one square inoculation, and the three reference methods: (i) simultaneous direct cross-streak, (ii) deferred direct cross-streak, and (iii) agar disc. The HGMF membrane multiple square inoculation method detected bacteriocin activity in all seven strains. This method also yielded similar or slightly better results than those obtained using the deferred direct cross-streak or agar disc methods. Bacteriocin activity was observed in six of seven and four of seven strains using the one square inoculation and filtration methods, respectively, with corresponding inhibiting zones measuring 2–24 and 6–20 mm in diameter.     

Hydrolysis of triglyceride by solid phase lipolytic enzymes of Rhizopus arrhizus in continuous reactor systems

Continuous hydrolysis of triglyceride in organic solvent systems using Rhizopus arrhizus mycelia as a source of insolubilized lipase has been studied in packed-bed and stirred-tank reactors. Typically a packed bed reactor containing 1 g of mycelia fed at 1 mL/min with a solution of 2.5% (w/v) olive oil in di-isopropyl ether gave a fatty acid yield of 45% at 30°C. The optimum water concentration was found to be 0.17% (w/v) except under conditions of high oil feed concentration and high yield where no optimum was established. No temperature optimum was observed over the range 20–55°C. Calculated activation energies of 13–20 kJ/mol, depending on temperature, were lower, while K_m(app) values of 0.1–0.3M were higher than those for hydrolysis in conventional aqueous emulsion systems. No evidence of any significant diffusional limitation, which could account for these values, was obtained. The mycelia showed a loss of activity of 0.6–1.0%h at 30°C. The packed bed proved markedly superior to the stirred tank for this system.     

Solvent-free glycerolysis of sunflower oil and anchovy oil catalyzed by a 1,3-specific lipase

Solvent-free glycerolysis of sunflower oil catalyzed with lipase D Amano 100 gave the highest partial acylglycerols content at 40°C using an oil:glycerol molar ratio of 1:2 and 500 Units lipase/ g oil. After 6 h, the partial acylglycerols content of the reaction mixture was 53% (w/w). Glycerolysis of anchovy oil catalyzed under the same conditions gave a partial acylglycerols content of 47% (w/w) after 24 h.     

Hydrolysis of plant oils by means of lipase from Rhizopus nigricans

The crude enzyme powder from Rhizopus nigricans was immobilized by sorption and subsequent cross-linking with glutaraldehyde on collagen and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes. Lipolytic membranes were applied to plant oils hydrolysis. The comparison of the two types of membranes by calculating the time required to obtain 1 mole of free fatty acids (FFA) from 1 m² of membrane area, indicates that hydrophobic PTFE membrane is a better one in spite of the fact that the amount of protein sorbed on PTFE membrane is about three times smaller than that for collagen membrane. The hydrolysis of sunflower oil was the most efficient at the temperature of 37 °C and a pH of 7. At these conditions the specific activity after immobilization was about four times higher than that of the soluble enzyme.     

Hydrolysis of soybean oil by lipase with a bioreactor having two different membranes

A membrane bioreactor with 25 sets of two different membranes, one hydrophilic and the other hydrophobic microporous, was used for the hydrolysis of soybean oil by lipase from Candida cylindracea. In the bioreactor, oil, water and enzyme liquid were separately fed into each of 3 clearances between the two membranes. Oil diffused through the hydrophobic membrane and water diffused through the hydrophilic membrane came into contact with the lipase, and hydrolysis subsequently took place. Fatty acid and glycerine produced by the enzymatic reaction diffused through each membrane into the oil and water sides respectively, so that these products were separated from each other. The enzyme was also separated from the products. In this membrane bioreactor, both reaction and separation occurred. Semi-continuous reaction of soybean oil with one cycle of 48 h was carried out for 18 d, at 45°C. Satisfactory performance of the bioreactor, such as a high hydrolysis percentage (92-88%) and enzyme stability over a long-term period was shown. Enzyme stability was found to depend on produced glycerine, as observed by Yamane et al., and the rate of the hydrolysis reaction was controlled by that of the diffusion of fatty acid through the hydrophobic membrane.