Dispersion and holdup in a three-phase fluidized-bed bioreactor

Axial dispersion and phase holdup measurements were made using electroconductivity in a fermenting fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBR) and in a model nonfermenting three-phase FBR. Multiple axial conductivity probes were used to nonintrusively monitor the bed conductivity. The gas phase holdup was estimated from a ratio of the average bed conductivity and bulk conductivity. The solid fraction in the three-phase FBR can be estimated from the two-phase liquid-solid FBR. The response to a salt pulse was used to estimate the liquid axial dispersion coefficient. Particle Peclet numbers on the order of 10^-2 were estimated as a function of flowrates and compared to literature correlations.     

新型双功能谷胱甘肽合成酶的真核和原核表达

通过裂解无乳链球菌(Streptococcus agalactiae)菌体细胞得到基因组DNA。根据GenBank上已发表的无乳链球菌(菌种编号ATCC13813)新型双功能谷胱甘肽合成酶基因(gshF)的核酸序列与2种不同表达载体多克隆位点序列,分别设计引物F₁、R₁和F₂、R₂,再以总DNA为模板,经过特异性PCR扩增出长度约为2 200 bp的目的基因。随后分别对目的基因gshF和2种表达载体进行双酶切、连接等操作,得到表达载体pPIC9K-gshF与pET-gshF。用Sal I线性化表达载体pPIC9K-gshF后电转至毕赤酵母GS115中。经MD平板筛选重组子、菌落PCR鉴定阳性菌株、G418抗性梯度平板筛选多拷贝菌株,最终在4.0 mg·mL^-1 G418抗性平板上筛选出阳性菌株。用甲醇终浓度为2%的BMMY培养基诱导该阳性菌株表达,每隔12 h取样并添加甲醇,96 h后离心收集发酵上清,经SDS-PAGE蛋白电泳显示：在85 kDa处出现1条明显蛋白带,大小与预期GshF蛋白一致。重组菌BL21-pET-gshF用IPTG诱导表达,先在37 ℃下培养90 min,再加入IPTG至1 mmol·L^-1后诱导7 h,离心收集表达产物并对重组菌进行超声破碎处理后,进行SDS-PAGE蛋白电泳,同样在85 kDa处有1条蛋白带。采用Bradford法测定2种表达产物上清的蛋白量,其中重组酵母表达上清中蛋白量为0.46 mg·mL^-1,重组大肠杆菌表达产物破壁后的蛋白量为1.46 mg·mL^-1。测定并比较2种不同表达方式所得酶活,发现GshF在毕赤酵母表达中的比酶活仅为14.15 U·mL^-1,经原核表达后比酶活可达62.15 U·mL^-1。     

Applications of Infrared Spectroscopy to Biochemical,Food, and Agricultural Processes

Abstract

Integrated investigations on infrared spectroscopic characteristics of metabolites and on applications of infrared spectroscopy to foodstuff production, food processing, and tasting are described. As the important metabolites, saccharides, which play very important roles in various functions, located in the central position of the metabolic pathways, were selected, and the spectral features of the saccharides and related materials are discussed. Additionally, the applications of spectral analysis to the monitoring of the enzyme reaction and the sugar metabolic processes, which are the main materials in food processing, are described. Furthermore, the studies on the spectroscopic measurements during the cultivation of agricultural products as foodstuffs and in the tasting as the final quality evaluation of foods are represented. These results suggest that infrared spectroscopy could be very effective for evaluating foodstuff production and the tasting of the processed foods and that the applied topics should provide fundamental information about the spectral behavior of the metabolites and bioproducts.     

Effect of Inoculated Lactic Acid Fermentation on the Fermentable Saccharides and Polyols,Polyphenols and Antioxidant Activity Changes in Wheat Sourdough

Inoculation of sourdough allows the fermentation medium to be dominated by desired microorganisms, which enables determining the kinetics of the conversion of chemical compounds by individual microorganisms. This knowledge may allow the design of functional food products with health features dedicated to consumers with special needs. The aim of the study was to assess the dynamics of transformations of fermentable oligosaccharide, disaccharide, monosaccharide and polyol (FODMAP) compounds from wheat flour as well as their antioxidant activity during inoculated and spontaneous sourdough fermentation. The FODMAP content in grain products was determined by the fructan content with negligible amounts of sugars and polyols. To produce a low-FODMAP cereal product, the fermentation time is essential. The 72 h fermentation time of L. plantarum-inoculated sourdough reduced the FODMAP content by 91%. The sourdough fermentation time of at least 72 h also positively influenced the content of polyphenols and antioxidant activity, regardless of the type of fermentation. The inoculation of both L. plantarum and L. casei contributed to a similar degree to the reduction in FODMAP in sourdough compared to spontaneous fermentation.     

Large-Scale Reassessment of In-Vineyard Smoke-Taint Grapevine Protection Strategies and the Development of Predictive Off-Vine Models

Smoke taint in wine is thought to be caused by smoke-derived volatile phenols (VPs) that are absorbed into grape tissues, trapped as conjugates that are imperceptible by smell, and subsequently released into wines as their free odor-active forms via metabolism by yeasts during fermentation. Blocking VP uptake into grapes would, therefore, be an effective way for vineyards to protect ripening grape crops exposed to smoke. Here, we re-evaluated a biofilm that had previously shown promise in pilot studies in reducing levels of smoke-derived VPs. A suite of nine free and acid-labile VPs were quantitated in Pinot Noir grapes that had been exposed to smoke after being coated with the biofilm one, seven or 14 days earlier. In contrast with earlier studies, our results demonstrated that in all cases, the biofilm treatments led to increased concentrations of both free and total VPs in smoke-exposed grapes, with earlier applications elevating concentrations of some VPs more than the later time points. Tracking VP concentrations through the grape ripening process demonstrated that some (phenol, p/m-cresol, and guaiacol) were not entirely sequestered in grapes as acid-labile conjugates, suggesting the presence of VP storage forms beyond simple glycosides. Free VPs in grapes, though a minor portion of the total, most clearly correlated with concentrations present in the resulting wines. Finally, red table grapes, available year round, were observed to replicate the effects of the biofilm treatments and were capable of transforming most VPs into acid-labile conjugates in under 24 h, indicating that they might be an effective model for rapidly assessing smoke-taint prophylactic products in the laboratory.     

产腈水解酶重组菌的发酵工艺及催化性质研究

为了提升腈水解酶转化3-氰基吡啶制备烟酸的工艺经济性并为其工业应用奠定基础,对重组大肠杆菌E.coli BL21（DE3）-NIT进行了pH-stat高密度发酵以及催化性质研究.结果显示,高密度发酵实验中获得最高菌体OD₆₀₀为136.8,细胞干重61.97 g/L,最高酶活为558.6 U/mL;进一步考察了重组菌在不同温度、pH、金属离子以及有机溶剂等条件下的催化特性.最后,将高密度发酵获得的菌体制备成静息细胞,在30℃、pH 7.2条件下,280 min内共转化200 mmol/L底物总计24批次,烟酸累积浓度590 g/L,是目前文献所报道生物法合成烟酸最高水平.     

超高效液相色谱-四极杆-飞行时间质谱法定性分析奥利司他氢化液中的杂质

建立了定性分析奥利司他氢化液中杂质的超高效液相色谱-四极杆-飞行时间质谱法(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS)。采用Thermo Hypersil gold aq C_(18)色谱柱(2.1 mm×150 mm,1.9μm),以0.1%乙酸水-0.1%乙酸乙腈(25∶75)为流动相进行等度分析。质谱使用电喷雾离子源(ESI),正离子模式检测,扫描范围为m/z 50～600,雾化气温度为300℃,干燥气流速为10 L/min。样品经UPLC分离后,用Q-TOF-MS测定了16个杂质的精确分子量与质谱碎片离子,推测了杂质结构,并分析了杂质来源。结果表明,奥利司他氢化液中的杂质主要由发酵过程引入,且含量均大于0.1%,需进行纯化以除去杂质。该研究为奥利司他的工艺纯化与质量控制提供了参考。     

Analysis of Chuanxiong Rhizoma substrate on production of ligustrazine in endophytic Bacillus subtilis by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Ligustrazine was the active ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine Chuanxiong Rhizoma. However, the content of ligustrazine is very low. We proposed a hypothesis that ligustrazine was produced by the mutual effects between endophytic Bacillus subtilis and the Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. This study aimed to explore whether the endophytic B. subtilis LB5 could make use of Chuanxiong Rhizoma fermentation matrix to produce ligustrazine and clarify the mechanisms of action preliminarily. Ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry analysis showed the content of ligustrazine in Chuanxiong Rhizoma was below the detection limit (0.1 ng/mL), while B. subtilis LB5 produced ligustrazine at the yield of 1.0268 mg/mL in the Chuanxiong Rhizoma‐ammonium sulfate fermentation medium. In the fermented matrix, the reducing sugar had a significant reduction from 12.034 to 2.424 mg/mL, and rough protein content increased from 2.239 to 4.361 mg/mL. Acetoin, the biosynthetic precursor of ligustrazine, was generated in the Chuanxiong Rhizoma‐Ammonium sulfate (151.2 mg/mL) fermentation medium. This result showed that the endophytic bacteria B. subtilis LB5 metabolized Chuanxiong Rhizoma via secreted protein to consume the sugar in Chuanxiong Rhizoma to produce a considerable amount of ligustrazine. Collectively, our preliminary research suggested that ligustrazine was the interaction product of endophyte, but not the secondary metabolite of Chuanxiong Rhizoma itself.     

Application of multifractal wavelet analysis to spontaneous fermentation processes

An algorithm is presented here to get more detailed information, of mixed-culture type, based exclusively on the biomass concentration data for fermentation processes. The analysis is performed with only the on-line measurements of the redox potential being available. It is a two-step procedure which includes an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) that relates the redox potential to the biomass concentrations in the first step. Next, a multifractal wavelet analysis is performed using the biomass estimates of the process. In this context, our results show that the redox potential is a valuable indicator of microorganism metabolic activity during the spontaneous fermentation. In this paper, the detailed design of the multifractal wavelet analysis is presented, as well as its direct experimental application at the laboratory level.     

Microrobots in Brewery: Dual Magnetic/Light-Powered Hybrid Microrobots for Preventing Microbial Contamination in Beer

Yeasts play a key role in the production of alcoholic beverages by fermentation processes. However, because of their continuous growth, they commonly cause spoilage of the final product. Herein, we introduce dual magnetic/light-responsive self-propelled microrobots that can actively move in a beer sample and capture yeast cells. The presence of magnetic nanoparticles on the surface of the microrobots enables their magnetic actuation under fuel-free conditions. In addition, their photoactivity under visible-light irradiation leads to an overall enhancement of their swimming and yeast removal capabilities. It was found that after the application of the microrobots into a real unfiltered beer sample, these micromachines were able to remove almost 100 % of residual yeasts. In addition, these microrobots could also be added at the initial step of the fermentation process without altering the final beer properties, such as alcohol level, color, and pH. This work demonstrates the potential of using externally actuated microrobots as an innovative and low-cost solution for avoiding yeast spoilage in complex liquid environments, such as alcoholic beverages. Therefore, these autonomous self-propelled microrobots open new avenues for future applications in the food industry.