Development of fermented Hericium erinaceus juice with high content of L‐glutamine and L‐glutamic acid

Fermented plant beverages (FPB) with a high content of desirable principle components are served as functional foods from several years. Hericium erinaceus is famous for its antimicrobial, antioxidant, antihypertensive and antidiabetic nature. Accordingly, the current study was aimed to produce fermented H. erinaceus juice with a high content of L‐glutamine (Gln) and L‐glutamic acid (GA) through lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from fermented Thai foods. LAB isolates were screened and identified the potent protease‐producing bacteria Enterococcus faecalis (G414/1) that facilitate the production of Gln and GA through protein hydrolysis. Box–Behnken design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were adapted for the optimisation of conditions for the increased production of Gln and GA during fermentation of H. erinaceus. We succeeded with an optimum concentration of cofactor (CaCl₂), pH and temperature for improved protease activity and subsequent Gln and GA production. The ability of isolated E. faecalis strain to produce Gln and GA was demonstrated in this study. Further, upstream processes like strain improvement and media optimisation will direct the way to produce enriched H. erinaceus based FPB.     

Comparison of molecular adsorption ability of the molecularly imprinted polymers prepared by ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate as cross linkers

The target of this study was to synthesize the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) of L ‐phenylalanine as the solid phases for characterization of molecular adsorption by molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE). These MIPs, in microscale, were synthesized using thermal (40°C)‐compared with thermal (65°C)‐initiated polymerization process. Itaconic acid was chosen as the functional monomers, and either ethylene glycol dimethacrylate or trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) was used as the cross linker and was compared together. The influences of several parameters on the properties of the MIPs were investigated, especially physical robustness from the percentage yields and molecular adsorption from the percentage recovery by MISPE. The best yields were obtained from polymers made using TRIM and thermal (65°C)‐initiated polymerization. However, there were no significant differences in molecular adsorption. It was concluded that these parameters can be considered to synthesize MIPs for chiral separation in advance steps such as other related chromatographic techniques. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2325–2330, 2007