Long-term calcium addition increases growth release, wound closure, and health of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) trees at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Brett A. Huggett; Paul G. Schaberg; Gary J. Hawley; Christopher Eager

2007-01-01

We surveyed and wounded forest-grown sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) trees in a long-term, replicated Ca manipulation study at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, USA. Plots received applications of Ca (to boost Ca availability above depleted ambient levels) or A1 (to compete with Ca uptake and further reduce Ca availability...

Efficient Biomass Fuel Cell Powered by Sugar with Photo- and Thermal-Catalysis by Solar Irradiation.

PubMed

Liu, Wei; Gong, Yutao; Wu, Weibing; Yang, Weisheng; Liu, Congmin; Deng, Yulin; Chao, Zi-Sheng

2018-06-19

The utilization of biomass sugars has received great interesting recently. Herein, we present a highly efficient hybrid solar biomass fuel cell that utilizes thermal- and photocatalysis of solar irradiation and converts biomass sugars into electricity with high power output. The fuel cell uses polyoxometalates (POMs) as photocatalyst to decompose sugars and capture their electrons. The reduced POMs have strong visible and near-infrared light adsorption, which can significantly increase the temperature of the reaction system and largely promotes the thermal oxidation of sugars by the POM. In addition, the reduced POM functions as charge carrier that can release electrons at the anode in the fuel cell to generate electricity. The electron-transfer rates from glucose to POM under thermal and light-irradiation conditions were investigated in detail. The power outputs of this solar biomass fuel cell are investigated by using different types of sugars as fuels, with the highest power density reaching 45 mW cm -2 . © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sugar administration to newly emerged Aedes albopictus males increases their survival probability and mating performance.

PubMed

Bellini, Romeo; Puggioli, Arianna; Balestrino, Fabrizio; Brunelli, Paolo; Medici, Anna; Urbanelli, Sandra; Carrieri, Marco

2014-04-01

Aedes albopictus male survival in laboratory cages is no more than 4-5 days when kept without any access to sugar indicating their need to feed on a sugar source soon after emergence. We therefore developed a device to administer energetic substances to newly emerged males when released as pupae as part of a sterile insect technique (SIT) programme, made with a polyurethane sponge 4 cm thick and perforated with holes 2 cm in diameter. The sponge was imbibed with the required sugar solution and due to its high retention capacity the sugar solution was available for males to feed for at least 48 h. When evaluated in lab cages, comparing adults emerged from the device with sugar solution vs the device with water only (as negative control), about half of the males tested positive for fructose using the Van Handel anthrone test, compared to none of males in the control cage. We then tested the tool in semi-field and in field conditions with different sugar concentrations (10%, 15%, and 20%) and compared results to the controls fed with water only. Males were recaptured by a battery operated manual aspirator at 24 and 48 h after pupae release. Rather high share 10-25% of captured males tested positive for fructose in recollections in the vicinity of the control stations, while in the vicinity of the sugar stations around 40-55% of males were positive, though variability between replicates was large. The sugar positive males in the control test may have been released males that had access to natural sugar sources found close to the release station and/or wild males present in the environment. Only a slight increase in the proportion of positive males was obtained by increasing the sugar concentration in the feeding device from 10% to 20%. Surprisingly, modification of the device to add a black plastic inverted funnel above the container reduced rather than increased the proportion of fructose positive males collected around the station. No evidence of difference in the capacity of sterile (irradiated with 30 Gy) males to take a sugar meal relative to fertile males was observed in field comparison. A clear effect of temperature and relative humidity (RH) on the rate of sugar positive males was observed, with an increase of temperature and a decrease in RH strongly increasing the % of sugar positive males. In large enclosures we tested the effect of our sugar supplying tool on the mating competitiveness of sterile vs fertile males, which produced an evident favorable effect both on sterile and fertile males. Copyright © 2013 International Atomic Energy Agency 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Expanding Fungal Diets Through Synthetic Algal-Fungal Mutualism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sharma, Alaisha; Galazka, Jonathan (Editor)

2015-01-01

Fungi can synthesize numerous molecules with important properties, and could be valuable production platforms for space exploration and colonization. However, as heterotrophs, fungi require reduced carbon. This limits their efficiency in locations such as Mars, where reduced carbon is scarce. We propose a system to induce mutualistic symbiosis between the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the filamentous fungi Neurospora crassa. This arrangement would mimic natural algal-fungal relationships found in lichens, but have added advantages including increased growth rate and genetic tractability. N. crassa would metabolize citrate (C6H5O7 (sup -3)) and release carbon dioxide (CO2) that C. reinhardtii would assimilate into organic sugars during photosynthesis. C. reinhardtii would metabolize nitrate (NO3-) and release ammonia (NH3) as a nitrogen source for N. crassa. A N. crassa mutant incapable of reducing nitrate will be used to force this interaction. This system eliminates the need to directly supply its participants with carbon dioxide and ammonia. Furthermore, the release of oxygen by C. reinhardtii via photosynthesis would enable N. crassa to respire. We hope to eventually create a system closer to lichen, in which the algae transfers not only nitrogen but reduced carbon, as organic sugars, to the fungus for growth and production of valuable compounds.

Heterogeneous Expression and Functional Characterization of Cellulose-Degrading Enzymes from Aspergillus niger for Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Alkali Pretreated Bamboo Biomass.

PubMed

Ali, Nasir; Ting, Zhang; Li, Hailong; Xue, Yong; Gan, Lihui; Liu, Jian; Long, Minnan

2015-09-01

Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulosic biomass has caught much attention because of modest reaction conditions and environment friendly conditions. To reduce the cost and to achieve good quantity of cellulases, a heterologous expression system is highly favored. In this study, cellulose-degrading enzymes, GH3 family β-glucosidase (BGL), GH7 family-related cellobiohydrolases (CBHs), and endoglucanase (EG) from a newly isolated Aspergillus niger BE-2 are highly expressed in Pichia pastoris GS115. The strain produced EG, CBHs, and BGL enzymatic concentration of 0.56, 0.11, and 22 IU/mL, respectively. Mode of actions of the recombinant enzymes for substrate specificity and end product analysis are verified and found specific for cellulose degradation. Bamboo biomass saccharification with A. niger cellulase released a high level of fermentable sugars. Hydrolysis parameters are optimized to obtain reducing sugars level of 3.18 g/L. To obtain reducing sugars from a cellulosic biomass, A. niger could be a good candidate for enzymes resource of cellulase to produce reducing sugars from a cellulosic biomass. This study also facilitates the development of highly efficient enzyme cocktails for the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass into monosaccharides and oligosaccharides.

Mathematical model-based optimization of physico-enzymatic hydrolysis of Pinus roxburghii needles for the production of reducing sugars.

PubMed

Vats, Siddharth; Maurya, Devendra Prasad; Jain, Ayushi; Mall, Varija; Negi, Sangeeta

2013-11-01

The objective of this study was to optimize the physico-enzymatic pretreatment of P. roxburghii fallen foliage (needles) to produce reducing sugars through response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite face centered design (CCD). Under this, five parameters, i.e., concentration of laccase, cellulose and xylanase, steam explosion pressure and incubation period, at three levels with twenty six runs were taken into account. Cellulase, xylanase and laccase enzymes with activity 4.563, 38.32 and 0.05 IU/mL, respectively, were produced from locally isolated microbial strains. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied for the validation of the predicted model at 95% of confidence level. This model predicted 334 mg/g release of reducing sugars on treating P. roxburghii fallen foliage with 1.18 mL of cellulose, 0.31 mL of xylanase and 0.01 mL of laccase, 14.39 psi steam explosion pressure and 24 h of incubation time. The experimental results obtained were in good agreement to predicted values, making it a reliable optimized model for five factors in combination to predict reducing sugar yield for ethanol production for bio-fuel industry.

Co-operative actions and degradation analysis of purified xylan-degrading enzymes from Thermomonospora fusca BD25 on oat-spelt xylan.

PubMed

Tuncer, M; Ball, A S

2003-01-01

To determine and quantify the products from the degradation of xylan by a range of purified xylan-degrading enzymes, endoxylanase, beta-xylosidase and alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase produced extracellularly by Thermomonospora fusca BD25. The amounts of reducing sugars released from oat-spelt xylan by the actions of endoxylanase, beta-xylosidase and alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase were equal to 28.1, 4.6 and 7% hydrolysis (as xylose equivalents) of the substrate used, respectively. However, addition of beta-xylosidase and alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase preparation to endoxylanase significantly enhanced (70 and 20% respectively) the action of endoxylanase on the substrate. The combination of purified endoxylanase, beta-xylosidase and alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase preparations produced a greater sugar yield (58.6% hydrolysis) and enhanced the total reducing sugar yield by around 50%. The main xylooligosaccharide products released using the action of endoxylanase alone on oat-spelt xylan were identified as xylobiose and xylopentose. alpha-l-Arabinofuranosidase was able to release arabinose and xylobiose from oat-spelt xylan. In the presence of all three purified enzymes the hydrolysis products of oat-spelt xylan were mainly xylose, arabinose and substituted xylotetrose with lesser amount of substituted xylotriose. The addition of the beta-xylosidase and alpha-l-arabinofuranosidase enzymes to purified xylanases more than doubled the degradation of xylan from 28 to 58% of the total substrate with xylose and arabinose being the major sugars produced. The results highlight the role of xylan de-branching enzymes in the degradation of xylan and suggest that the use of enzyme cocktails may significantly improve the hydrolysis of xylan in industrial processes.

Controlled release of B-carotene in B-lactoglobulin-dextran conjugates nanoparticles in vitro digestion and the transport with Caco-2 monolayers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Undesirable aggregation of nanoparticles stabilized by proteins may may occur at the protein’s isoelectric point when the particle has zero net charge. Aggregation may be reduced bychanging the isoelectric point by conjugation of free amino groups with reducing sugars (Maillard reaction). Alternativ...

Techno-economic potential of bioethanol from bamboo in China

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Bamboo is potentially an interesting feedstock for advanced bioethanol production in China due to its natural abundance, rapid growth, perennial nature and low management requirements. Liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment was selected as a promising technology to enhance sugar release from bamboo lignocellulose whilst keeping economic and environmental costs to a minimum. The present research was conducted to assess: 1) by how much LHW pretreatment can enhance sugar yields in bamboo, and 2) whether this process has the potential to be economically feasible for biofuel use at the commercial scale. Pretreatments were performed at temperatures of 170-190°C for 10–30 minutes, followed by enzymatic saccharification with a commercial enzyme cocktail at various loadings. These data were then used as inputs to a techno-economic model using AspenPlus™ to determine the production cost of bioethanol from bamboo in China. Results At the selected LHW pretreatment of 190°C for 10 minutes, 69% of the initial sugars were released under a standardised enzyme loading; this varied between 59-76% when 10–140 FPU/g glucan of commercial enzyme Cellic CTec2 was applied. Although the lowest enzyme loading yielded the least amount of bioethanol, the techno-economic evaluation revealed it to be the most economically viable scenario with a production cost of $0.484 per litre (with tax exemption and a $0.16/litre subsidy). The supply-chain analysis demonstrated that bioethanol could be economically competitive with petrol at the pump at enzyme loadings up to 60 FPU/g glucan. However, in a prospective scenario with reduced government support, this enzyme loading threshold would be reduced to 30 FPU/g glucan. Conclusions Bioethanol from bamboo is shown to be both technically and economically feasible, as well as competitive with petrol in China. Alternative approaches to reduce bioethanol production costs are still needed however, to ensure its competitiveness in a possible future scenario where neither tax exemptions nor subsidies are granted to producers. These measures may include improving sugar release with more effective pretreatments and reduced enzyme usage, accessing low cost bamboo feedstock or selecting feedstocks with higher/more accessible cellulose. PMID:24286490

Pretreatment and hydrolysis methods for recovery of fermentable sugars from de-oiled Jatropha waste.

PubMed

Kumar, Gopalakrishnan; Sen, Biswarup; Lin, Chiu-Yue

2013-10-01

The release of reducing sugars (RS) upon various pretreatments and hydrolysis methods from de-oiled Jatropha waste (DJW) was studied. The highest RS concentration of 12.9 g/L was observed at 10% enzyme hydrolysis. The next highest RS of 8.0 g/L and 7.8 g/L were obtained with 10% HCl and 2.5% H2SO4, respectively. The NaOH (2.5%), ultrasonication and heat (90°C for 60 min) treatments showed the RS concentration of 2.5 g/L, 1.1 g/L and 2.0 g/L, respectively. Autoclave treatment slightly enhanced the sugar release (0.9 g/L) compared to no treatment (0.7 g/L). Glucose release (11.4 g/L) peaked in enzyme hydrolysis. Enzyme treated acid unhydrolysed biomass showed 11.1 g/L RS. HCl and H2SO4 pretreatment gave maximal xylose (6.89 g/L and 6.16 g/L, respectively). Combined (acid and enzyme) hydrolysis employed was efficient and its subsequent batch hydrogen fermentation showed a production 3.1 L H2/L reactor. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multivalency at Interfaces: Supramolecular Carbohydrate-Functionalized Graphene Derivatives for Bacterial Capture, Release, and Disinfection.

PubMed

Qi, Zhenhui; Bharate, Priya; Lai, Chian-Hui; Ziem, Benjamin; Böttcher, Christoph; Schulz, Andrea; Beckert, Fabian; Hatting, Benjamin; Mülhaupt, Rolf; Seeberger, Peter H; Haag, Rainer

2015-09-09

A supramolecular carbohydrate-functionalized two-dimensional (2D) surface was designed and synthesized by decorating thermally reduced graphene sheets with multivalent sugar ligands. The formation of host-guest inclusions on the carbon surface provides a versatile strategy, not only to increase the intrinsic water solubility of graphene-based materials, but more importantly to let the desired biofunctional binding groups bind to the surface. Combining the vital recognition role of carbohydrates and the unique 2D large flexible surface area of the graphene sheets, the addition of multivalent sugar ligands makes the resulting carbon material an excellent platform for selectively wrapping and agglutinating Escherichia coli (E. coli). By taking advantage of the responsive property of supramolecular interactions, the captured bacteria can then be partially released by adding a competitive guest. Compared to previously reported scaffolds, the unique thermal IR-absorption properties of graphene derivatives provide a facile method to kill the captured bacteria by IR-laser irradiation of the captured graphene-sugar-E. coli complex.

Biscuits with No Added Sugar Containing Stevia, Coffee Fibre and Fructooligosaccharides Modifies α-Glucosidase Activity and the Release of GLP-1 from HuTu-80 Cells and Serotonin from Caco-2 Cells after In Vitro Digestion

PubMed Central

Martinez-Saez, Nuria; Hochkogler, Christina Maria; Somoza, Veronika; del Castillo, Maria Dolores

2017-01-01

This study assessed the in vitro effects of the bioaccessible food components released during the simulated human digestion of a coffee fibre-containing biscuit (CFB) on α-glucosidase activity, antioxidant capacity and satiety hormones. Digest of CFB presented a significantly (p < 0.05) lower amount of sugar (68.6 mg/g) and a higher antioxidant capacity (15.1 mg chlorogenic acid eq./g) than that of a sucrose-containing biscuit (SCB). The CFB significantly reduced (p < 0.05) α-glucosidase activity (IC50 = 3.3 mg/mL) compared to the SCB (IC50 = 6.2 mg/mL). Serotonin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) release by differentiated Caco-2 and HuTu-80 cells, respectively, was stimulated by the CFB (355% at a concentration of 0.5 mg/mL and 278% at a concentration of 0.05 mg/mL) to the same order of magnitude as those of the SCB. To summarize, the CFB was demonstrated to reduce monosaccharide bioaccessibility, to inhibit a diabetes-related digestive enzyme, and to improve the release of satiety hormones. PMID:28677657

Biscuits with No Added Sugar Containing Stevia, Coffee Fibre and Fructooligosaccharides Modifies α-Glucosidase Activity and the Release of GLP-1 from HuTu-80 Cells and Serotonin from Caco-2 Cells after In Vitro Digestion.

PubMed

Martinez-Saez, Nuria; Hochkogler, Christina Maria; Somoza, Veronika; Del Castillo, Maria Dolores

2017-07-04

This study assessed the in vitro effects of the bioaccessible food components released during the simulated human digestion of a coffee fibre-containing biscuit (CFB) on α-glucosidase activity, antioxidant capacity and satiety hormones. Digest of CFB presented a significantly ( p < 0.05) lower amount of sugar (68.6 mg/g) and a higher antioxidant capacity (15.1 mg chlorogenic acid eq./g) than that of a sucrose-containing biscuit (SCB). The CFB significantly reduced ( p < 0.05) α-glucosidase activity (IC50 = 3.3 mg/mL) compared to the SCB (IC50 = 6.2 mg/mL). Serotonin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) release by differentiated Caco-2 and HuTu-80 cells, respectively, was stimulated by the CFB (355% at a concentration of 0.5 mg/mL and 278% at a concentration of 0.05 mg/mL) to the same order of magnitude as those of the SCB. To summarize, the CFB was demonstrated to reduce monosaccharide bioaccessibility, to inhibit a diabetes-related digestive enzyme, and to improve the release of satiety hormones.

Saccharification of ozonated sugarcane bagasse using enzymes from Myceliophthora thermophila JCP 1-4 for sugars release and ethanol production.

PubMed

de Cassia Pereira, Josiani; Travaini, Rodolfo; Paganini Marques, Natalia; Bolado-Rodríguez, Silvia; Bocchini Martins, Daniela Alonso

2016-03-01

The saccharification of ozonated sugarcane bagasse (SCB) by enzymes from Myceliophthora thermophila JCP 1-4 was studied. Fungal enzymes provided slightly higher sugar release than commercial enzymes, working at 50°C. Sugar release increased with temperature increase. Kinetic studies showed remarkable glucose release (4.99 g/L, 3%w/w dry matter) at 60°C, 8 h of hydrolysis, using an enzyme load of 10 FPU (filter paper unit). FPase and β-glucosidase activities increased during saccharification (284% and 270%, respectively). No further significant improvement on glucose release was observed increasing the enzyme load above 7.5 FPU per g of cellulose. Higher dry matter contents increased sugars release, but not yields. The fermentation of hydrolysates by Saccharomyces cerevisiae provided glucose-to-ethanol conversions around to 63%. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recent patents on genetic modification of plants and microbes for biomass conversion to biofuels.

PubMed

Lubieniechi, Simona; Peranantham, Thinesh; Levin, David B

2013-04-01

Development of sustainable energy systems based on renewable biomass feedstocks is now a global effort. Lignocellulosic biomass contains polymers of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, bound together in a complex structure. Liquid biofuels, such as ethanol, can be made from biomass via fermentation of sugars derived from the cellulose and hemicellulose within lignocellulosic materials, but pre-treatment of the biomass to release sugars for microbial conversion is a significant barrier to commercial success of lignocellulosic biofuel production. Strategies to reduce the energy and cost inputs required for biomass pre-treatment include genetic modification of plant materials to reduce lignin content. Significant efforts are also underway to create recombinant microorganisms capable of converting sugars derived from lignocellulosic biomass to a variety of biofuels. An alternative strategy to reduce the costs of cellulosic biofuel production is the use of cellulolytic microorganisms capable of direct microbial conversion of ligno-cellulosic biomass to fuels. This paper reviews recent patents on genetic modification of plants and microbes for biomass conversion to biofuels.

The Effect of Alkaline Concentration on Coconut Husk Crystallinity and the Yield of Sugars Released

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sangian, H. F.; Widjaja, A.

2018-02-01

This work was to analyze the effect of alkaline concentration on coconut coir husk crystallinity and sugar liberated enzymatically. The data showed that the employing of alkaline on lignocellulose transformed the crystallinity. The XRD peaks increased highly which indicated that cellulose was more opened and exposed. After pretreatment, the chemical compositions (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) were changed significantly. The employing 1% alkaline, the cellulosic content inclined if compared to that of non-pretreatment. When the alkaline concentration was added to 4%, the cellulose was decreased slightly which indicated that a part of cellulose and hemicellulose was dissolved into solution. It was found the alkaline pretreatment influenced by the biochemical reaction of treated substrates in producing the reducing sugars. The amounts of sugar liberated enzymatically of coconut husk treated by 1% and 4% alkaline increased to 0.26, and 0.24 g sugar/g (cellulose+hemicellulose), respectively, compared to that of native solid recorded at 0.18 g sugar/g (cellulose+hemicellulose).

Sugar and pH dual-responsive mesoporous silica nanocontainers based on competitive binding mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yilmaz, M. Deniz; Xue, Min; Ambrogio, Michael W.; Buyukcakir, Onur; Wu, Yilei; Frasconi, Marco; Chen, Xinqi; Nassar, Majed S.; Stoddart, J. Fraser; Zink, Jeffrey I.

2014-12-01

A sugar and pH dual-responsive controlled release system, which is highly specific towards molecular stimuli, has been developed based on the binding between catechol and boronic acid on a platform of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). By grafting phenylboronic acid stalks onto the silica surface, catechol-containing β-cyclodextrins can be attached to the orifices of the MSNs' nanopores through formation of boronate esters which block access to the nanopores. These esters are stable enough to prevent cargo molecules from escaping. The boronate esters disassociate in the presence of sugars, enabling the molecule-specific controlled-release feature of this hybrid system. The rate of release has been found to be tunable by varying both the structures and the concentrations of sugars, as a result of the competitive binding nature associated with the mechanism of its operation. Acidification also induces the release of cargo molecules. Further investigations show that the presence of both a low pH and sugar molecules provides cooperative effects which together control the rate of release.A sugar and pH dual-responsive controlled release system, which is highly specific towards molecular stimuli, has been developed based on the binding between catechol and boronic acid on a platform of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). By grafting phenylboronic acid stalks onto the silica surface, catechol-containing β-cyclodextrins can be attached to the orifices of the MSNs' nanopores through formation of boronate esters which block access to the nanopores. These esters are stable enough to prevent cargo molecules from escaping. The boronate esters disassociate in the presence of sugars, enabling the molecule-specific controlled-release feature of this hybrid system. The rate of release has been found to be tunable by varying both the structures and the concentrations of sugars, as a result of the competitive binding nature associated with the mechanism of its operation. Acidification also induces the release of cargo molecules. Further investigations show that the presence of both a low pH and sugar molecules provides cooperative effects which together control the rate of release. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthetic schemes, electron microscopy images and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms of the nanoparticles, FT-IR spectra, isothermal titration calorimetry, X-ray photoelectron spectra and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectra. DLS results for nanoparticle stability. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr04796f

Xylanase and feruloyl esterase from actinomycetes cultures could enhance sugarcane bagasse hydrolysis in the production of fermentable sugars.

PubMed

Rahmani, Nanik; Kahar, Prihardi; Lisdiyanti, Puspita; Hermiati, Euis; Lee, Jaemin; Yopi; Prasetya, Bambang; Ogino, Chiaki; Kondo, Akihiko

2018-02-23

The addition of enzymes that are capable of degrading hemicellulose has a potential to reduce the need for commercial enzymes during biomass hydrolysis in the production of fermentable sugars. In this study, a high xylanase producing actinomycete strain (Kitasatospora sp. ID06-480) and the first ethyl ferulate producing actinomycete strain (Nonomuraea sp. ID06-094) were selected from 797 rare actinomycetes, respectively, which were isolated in Indonesia. The addition (30%, v/v) of a crude enzyme supernatant from the selected strains in sugarcane bagasse hydrolysis with low-level loading (1 FPU/g-biomass) of Cellic® CTec2 enhanced both the released amount of glucose and reducing sugars. When the reaction with Ctec2 was combined with crude enzymes containing either xylanase or feruloyl esterase, high conversion yield of glucose from cellulose at 60.5% could be achieved after 72 h-saccharification.

The composition of accessory enzymes of Penicillium chrysogenum P33 revealed by secretome and synergistic effects with commercial cellulase on lignocellulose hydrolysis.

PubMed

Yang, Yi; Yang, Jinshui; Liu, Jiawen; Wang, Ruonan; Liu, Liang; Wang, Fengqin; Yuan, Hongli

2018-06-01

Herein, we report the secretome of Penicillium chrysogenum P33 under induction of lignocellulose for the first time. A total of 356 proteins were identified, including complete cellulases and numerous hemicellulases. Supplementing a commercial cellulase with increasing dosage of P33 enzyme cocktail from 1 to 5 mg/g substrate increased the release of reducing sugars from delignified corn stover by 21.4% to 106.8%. When 50% cellulase was replaced by P33 enzyme cocktail, release of reducing sugars was 78.6% higher than with cellulase alone. Meanwhile, glucan and xylan conversion was increased by 37% and 106%, respectively. P33 enzyme cocktail also enhanced commercial cellulase hydrolysis against four different delignified lignocellulosic biomass. These findings demonstrate that mixing appropriate amount of P33 cocktail with cellulase improves polysaccharide hydrolysis, suggesting P33 enzymes have great potential for industrial applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stabilization by multipoint covalent attachment of a biocatalyst with polygalacturonase activity used for juice clarification.

PubMed

Ramírez Tapias, Yuly A; Rivero, Cintia W; Gallego, Fernando López; Guisán, José M; Trelles, Jorge A

2016-10-01

Derivatized-agarose supports are suitable for enzyme immobilization by different methods, taking advantage of different physical, chemical and biological conditions of the protein and the support. In this study, agarose particles were modified with MANAE, PEI and glyoxyl groups and evaluated to stabilize polygalacturonase from Streptomyces halstedii ATCC 10897. A new immobilized biocatalyst was developed using glyoxyl-agarose as support; it exhibited high performance in degrading polygalacturonic acid and releasing oligogalacturonides. Maximal enzyme activity was detected at 5h of reaction using 0.05g/mL of immobilized biocatalyst, which released 3mg/mL of reducing sugars and allowed the highest product yield conversion and increased stability. These results are very favorable for pectin degradation with reusability up to 18 successive reactions (90h) and application in juice clarification. Plum (4.7°Bx) and grape (10.6°Bx) juices were successfully clarified, increasing reducing sugars content and markedly decreasing turbidity and viscosity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal of glucuronic acid from xylan is a strategy to improve the conversion of plant biomass to sugars for bioenergy.

PubMed

Lyczakowski, Jan J; Wicher, Krzysztof B; Terrett, Oliver M; Faria-Blanc, Nuno; Yu, Xiaolan; Brown, David; Krogh, Kristian B R M; Dupree, Paul; Busse-Wicher, Marta

2017-01-01

Plant lignocellulosic biomass can be a source of fermentable sugars for the production of second generation biofuels and biochemicals. The recalcitrance of this plant material is one of the major obstacles in its conversion into sugars. Biomass is primarily composed of secondary cell walls, which is made of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Xylan, a hemicellulose, binds to the cellulose microfibril and is hypothesised to form an interface between lignin and cellulose. Both softwood and hardwood xylan carry glucuronic acid side branches. As xylan branching may be important for biomass recalcitrance and softwood is an abundant, non-food competing, source of biomass it is important to investigate how conifer xylan is synthesised. Here, we show using Arabidopsis gux mutant biomass that removal of glucuronosyl substitutions of xylan can allow 30% more glucose and over 700% more xylose to be released during saccharification. Ethanol yields obtained through enzymatic saccharification and fermentation of gux biomass were double those obtained for non-mutant material. Our analysis of additional xylan branching mutants demonstrates that absence of GlcA is unique in conferring the reduced recalcitrance phenotype. As in hardwoods, conifer xylan is branched with GlcA. We use transcriptomic analysis to identify conifer enzymes that might be responsible for addition of GlcA branches onto xylan in industrially important softwood. Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo activity assays, we demonstrate that a white spruce ( Picea glauca ) gene, PgGUX , encodes an active glucuronosyl transferase. Glucuronic acid introduced by PgGUX reduces the sugar release of Arabidopsis gux mutant biomass to wild-type levels indicating that it can fulfil the same biological function as native glucuronosylation. Removal of glucuronic acid from xylan results in the largest increase in release of fermentable sugars from Arabidopsis plants that grow to the wild-type size. Additionally, plant material used in this work did not undergo any chemical pretreatment, and thus increased monosaccharide release from gux biomass can be achieved without the use of environmentally hazardous chemical pretreatment procedures. Therefore, the identification of a gymnosperm enzyme, likely to be responsible for softwood xylan glucuronosylation, provides a mutagenesis target for genetically improved forestry trees.

A multifaceted approach to maximize erectile function and vascular health.

PubMed

Meldrum, David R; Gambone, Joseph C; Morris, Marge A; Ignarro, Louis J

2010-12-01

To review the role of various factors influencing vascular nitric oxide (NO) and cyclic GMP, and consequently, erectile function and vascular health. Pertinent publications are reviewed. Daily moderate exercise stimulates vascular NO production. Maintenance of normal body weight and waist/hip ratio allows NO stimulation by insulin. Decreased intake of fat, sugar, and simple carbohydrates rapidly converted to sugar reduces the adverse effects of fatty acids and sugar on endothelial NO production. Omega-3 fatty acids stimulate endothelial NO release. Antioxidants boost NO production and prevent NO breakdown. Folic acid, calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin E support the biochemical pathways leading to NO release. Cessation of smoking and avoidance of excessive alcohol preserve normal endothelial function. Moderate use of alcohol and certain proprietary supplements may favorably influence erectile and vascular function. Treatment of any remaining testosterone deficit will both increase erectile function and reduce any associated metabolic syndrome. After production of NO and cyclic GMP are improved, use of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors should result in greater success in treating remaining erectile dysfunction. Recent studies have also suggested positive effects of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors on vascular function. A multifaceted approach will maximize both erectile function and vascular health. Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genome sequences of Chlorella sorokiniana UTEX 1602 and Micractinium conductrix SAG 241.80: implications to maltose excretion by a green alga.

PubMed

Arriola, Matthew B; Velmurugan, Natarajan; Zhang, Ying; Plunkett, Mary H; Hondzo, Hanna; Barney, Brett M

2018-02-01

Green algae represent a key segment of the global species capable of photoautotrophic-driven biological carbon fixation. Algae partition fixed-carbon into chemical compounds required for biomass, while diverting excess carbon into internal storage compounds such as starch and lipids or, in certain cases, into targeted extracellular compounds. Two green algae were selected to probe for critical components associated with sugar production and release in a model alga. Chlorella sorokiniana UTEX 1602 - which does not release significant quantities of sugars to the extracellular space - was selected as a control to compare with the maltose-releasing Micractinium conductrix SAG 241.80 - which was originally isolated from an endosymbiotic association with the ciliate Paramecium bursaria. Both strains were subjected to three sequencing approaches to assemble their genomes and annotate their genes. This analysis was further complemented with transcriptional studies during maltose release by M. conductrix SAG 241.80 versus conditions where sugar release is minimal. The annotation revealed that both strains contain homologs for the key components of a putative pathway leading to cytosolic maltose accumulation, while transcriptional studies found few changes in mRNA levels for the genes associated with these established intracellular sugar pathways. A further analysis of potential sugar transporters found multiple homologs for SWEETs and tonoplast sugar transporters. The analysis of transcriptional differences revealed a lesser and more measured global response for M. conductrix SAG 241.80 versus C. sorokiniana UTEX 1602 during conditions resulting in sugar release, providing a catalog of genes that might play a role in extracellular sugar transport. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Short versus long term effects of cyanide on sugar metabolism and transport in dormant walnut kernels.

PubMed

Gerivani, Zahra; Vashaee, Elham; Sadeghipour, Hamid Reza; Aghdasi, Mahnaz; Shobbar, Zahra-Sadat; Azimmohseni, Majid

2016-11-01

Tree seed dormancy release by cold stratification accompanies with the embryo increased gluconeogenesis competence. Cyanide also breaks seed dormancy however, integrated information about its effects on carbon metabolism is lacking. Accordingly, the impacts of HCN on germination, lipid gluconeogenesis and sugar transport capacity of walnut (Juglans regia L.) kernels were investigated during 10-days period prior to radicle protrusion. HCN increased walnut kernel germination and within four days of kernel incubation, hastened the decline of starch, reducing and non-reducing sugars and led to greater activities of alkaline invertase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. From four days of kernel incubation onwards, starch and non-reducing sugars accumulated only in the HCN treated axes. Cyanide also increased the activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and glyoxysomal succinate oxidase and led to greater acid invertase activity during the aforementioned period. The expressions of both sucrose transporter (JrSUT1) and H + -ATPase (JrAHA1) genes especially in cotyledons and H + -ATPase activity in kernels were significantly enhanced by exposure to cyanide. Thus in short-term HCN led to prevalence of carbohydrate catabolic events such as oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and possibly glycolysis in dormant walnut kernels. Long-term effects however, are increased gluconeogenesis and enhanced sugar transport capacity of kernels as a prerequisite for germination. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conversion of woody biomass into fermentable sugars by cellulase from Agaricus arvensis.

PubMed

Jeya, Marimuthu; Nguyen, Ngoc-Phuong-Thao; Moon, Hee-Jung; Kim, Sang-Hwan; Lee, Jung-Kul

2010-11-01

Agaricus arvensis, a newly isolated basidiomycetous fungus, was found to secrete efficient cellulases. The strain produced the highest endoglucanase (EG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH) and beta-glucosidase (BGL) activities of 0.3, 3.2 and 8U/mg-protein, respectively, with rice straw as the carbon source. Saccharification of the woody biomass with A. arvensis cellulase as the enzyme source released a high level of fermentable sugars. Enzymatic hydrolysis of the poplar biomass was optimized using the response surface methodology in order to study the influence of the variables (pH, temperature, cellulases concentration and substrate concentration). The enzyme and substrate concentrations were identified as the limiting factors for the saccharification of poplar wood biomass. A total reducing sugar level of 29g/L (293mg/g-substrate) was obtained at an enzyme concentration of 65FPU/g-substrate after optimization of the hydrolysis parameters. The model validation showed a good agreement between the experimental results and the predicted responses. A. arvensis could be a good candidate for the production of reducing sugars from a cellulosic biomass.

Effect of ozonolysis pretreatment parameters on the sugar release, ozone consumption and ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse.

PubMed

Travaini, Rodolfo; Barrado, Enrique; Bolado-Rodríguez, Silvia

2016-08-01

A L9(3)(4) orthogonal array (OA) experimental design was applied to study the four parameters considered most important in the ozonolysis pretreatment (moisture content, ozone concentration, ozone/oxygen flow and particle size) on ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse (SCB). Statistical analysis highlighted ozone concentration as the highest influence parameter on reaction time and sugars release after enzymatic hydrolysis. The increase on reaction time when decreasing the ozone/oxygen flow resulted in small differences of ozone consumptions. Design optimization for sugars release provided a parameters combination close to the best experimental run, where 77.55% and 56.95% of glucose and xylose yields were obtained, respectively. When optimizing the grams of sugar released by gram of ozone, the highest influence parameter was moisture content, with a maximum yield of 2.98gSUGARS/gO3. In experiments on hydrolysates fermentation, Saccharomyces cerevisiae provided ethanol yields around 80%, while Pichia stipitis was completely inhibited. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nutrient Sensor in the Brain Directs the Action of the Brain-Gut Axis in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Dus, Monica; Sih-Yu Lai, Jason; Gunapala, Keith M.; Min, Soohong; Tayler, Timothy D.; Hergarden, Anne C.; Geraud, Eliot; Joseph, Christina M.; Suh, Greg S. B.

2015-01-01

Summary Animals can detect and consume nutritive sugars without the influence of taste. However, the identity of the taste-independent nutrient sensor and the mechanism by which animals respond to the nutritional value of sugar are unclear. Here, we report that six neurosecretory cells in the Drosophila brain that produce Diuretic hormone 44 (Dh44), a homologue of the mammalian corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), were specifically activated by nutritive sugars. Flies in which the activity of these neurons or the expression of Dh44 was disrupted failed to select nutritive sugars. Manipulation of the function of Dh44 receptors had a similar effect. Notably, artificial activation of Dh44 receptor-1 neurons resulted in proboscis extensions, and frequent episodes of excretion. Conversely, reduced Dh44 activity led to decreased excretion. Together, these actions facilitate ingestion and digestion of nutritive foods. We propose that the Dh44 system directs the detection and consumption of nutritive sugars through a positive feedback loop. PMID:26074004

Sugar-rich sweet sorghum is distinctively affected by wall polymer features for biomass digestibility and ethanol fermentation in bagasse.

PubMed

Li, Meng; Feng, Shengqiu; Wu, Leiming; Li, Ying; Fan, Chunfen; Zhang, Rui; Zou, Weihua; Tu, Yuanyuan; Jing, Hai-Chun; Li, Shizhong; Peng, Liangcai

2014-09-01

Sweet sorghum has been regarded as a typical species for rich soluble-sugar and high lignocellulose residues, but their effects on biomass digestibility remain unclear. In this study, we examined total 63 representative sweet sorghum accessions that displayed a varied sugar level at stalk and diverse cell wall composition at bagasse. Correlative analysis showed that both soluble-sugar and dry-bagasse could not significantly affect lignocellulose saccharification under chemical pretreatments. Comparative analyses of five typical pairs of samples indicated that DP of crystalline cellulose and arabinose substitution degree of non-KOH-extractable hemicelluloses distinctively affected lignocellulose crystallinity for high biomass digestibility. By comparison, lignin could not alter lignocellulose crystallinity, but the KOH-extractable G-monomer predominately determined lignin negative impacts on biomass digestions, and the G-levels released from pretreatments significantly inhibited yeast fermentation. The results also suggested potential genetic approaches for enhancing soluble-sugar level and lignocellulose digestibility and reducing ethanol conversion inhibition in sweet sorghum. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Hypothalamic melanin concentrating hormone neurons communicate the nutrient value of sugar

PubMed Central

Domingos, Ana I; Sordillo, Aylesse; Dietrich, Marcelo O; Liu, Zhong-Wu; Tellez, Luis A; Vaynshteyn, Jake; Ferreira, Jozelia G; Ekstrand, Mats I; Horvath, Tamas L; de Araujo, Ivan E; Friedman, Jeffrey M

2013-01-01

Sugars that contain glucose, such as sucrose, are generally preferred to artificial sweeteners owing to their post-ingestive rewarding effect, which elevates striatal dopamine (DA) release. While the post-ingestive rewarding effect, which artificial sweeteners do not have, signals the nutrient value of sugar and influences food preference, the neural circuitry that mediates the rewarding effect of glucose is unknown. In this study, we show that optogenetic activation of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons during intake of the artificial sweetener sucralose increases striatal dopamine levels and inverts the normal preference for sucrose vs sucralose. Conversely, animals with ablation of MCH neurons no longer prefer sucrose to sucralose and show reduced striatal DA release upon sucrose ingestion. We further show that MCH neurons project to reward areas and are required for the post-ingestive rewarding effect of sucrose in sweet-blind Trpm5−/− mice. These studies identify an essential component of the neural pathways linking nutrient sensing and food reward. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01462.001 PMID:24381247

Acid pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification of brown seaweed for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production using Cupriavidus necator.

PubMed

Azizi, Nahid; Najafpour, Ghasem; Younesi, Habibollah

2017-08-01

The brown seaweed Sargassum sp. was used as a feedstock to produce polyhydroxybutyarte (PHB) using Cupriavidus necator PTCC 1615. In order to release monomeric sugars, dilute acid hydrolysis of Sargassum sp. biomass was followed by enzymatic saccharification. In addition, the effect of different nitrogen sources was evaluated for PHB production. The fermentation of hydrolysate with the ammonium sulfate as selected nitrogen source resulted PHB yield of 0.54±0.01g/g reducing sugar. Then, NaCl was used as external stress factor which was added to the media. Addition of 8g/L NaCl had a positive impact on high PHB yield of 0.74±0.01g/g reducing sugar. Increasing trend of NaCl concentration to 16g/L was found to inhibit the production of PHB. Based on obtained results using 20g/L of reducing sugar, at desired condition the highest cell dry weight and PHB concentrations were 5.36±0.22 and 3.93±0.24g/L, respectively. The findings of this study reveal that Sargassum sp. is a promising feedstock for biopolymer production. The characteristics of produced PHB were analyzed by FTIR, differential scanning calorimetry and 1 H NMR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimization of High Solids Dilute Acid Hydrolysis of Spent Coffee Ground at Mild Temperature for Enzymatic Saccharification and Microbial Oil Fermentation.

PubMed

Wang, Hui-Min David; Cheng, Yu-Shen; Huang, Chi-Hao; Huang, Chia-Wei

2016-10-01

Soluble coffee, being one of the world's most popular consuming drinks, produces a considerable amount of spent coffee ground (SCG) along with its production. The SCG could function as a potential lignocellulosic feedstock for production of bioproducts. The objective of this study is to investigate the possible optimal condition of dilute acid hydrolysis (DAH) at high solids and mild temperature condition to release the reducing sugars from SCG. The optimal condition was found to be 5.3 % (w/w) sulfuric acid concentration and 118 min reaction time. Under the optimal condition, the mean yield of reducing sugars from enzymatic saccharification of defatted SCG acid hydrolysate was 563 mg/g. The SCG hydrolysate was then successfully applied to culture Lipomyces starkeyi for microbial oil fermentation without showing any inhibition. The results suggested that dilute acid hydrolysis followed by enzymatic saccharification has the great potential to convert SCG carbohydrates to reducing sugars. This study is useful for the further developing of biorefinery using SCG as feedstock at a large scale.

Solubility of guaifenesin in the presence of common pharmaceutical additives.

PubMed

Mani, Narasimhan; Jun, H W; Beach, J Warren; Nerurkar, Jayanti

2003-01-01

The aqueous solubility of guaifenesin, a highly water-soluble drug, in the presence of salts, sugars, and cosolvents was determined at 25 degrees C and 40 degrees C. The solubility of drug at both temperatures was reduced with increasing concentrations of salts and sugars. The extent of reduction in drug solubility was dependent on the type of salts and sugars used. The salting-out coefficient of additives was calculated by plotting log-linear solubility profiles of the drug against the concentrations of the additives. The solubility of guaifenesin, a neutral compound, was found to be higher at lower pH values, which could be due to hydrogen-bonding effects. At 25 degrees C, glycerin, PEG 300, and propylene glycol increased the solubility of drug at low solvent concentrations while the solubility was reduced at high concentrations. At 40 degrees C, the solubility of drug was reduced at all concentrations of cosolvents. The thermodynamic events accompanying the solubility process were discussed to explain the solubility phenomena observed in the presence of additives. The reduced aqueous solubility of guaifenesin in the presence of additives greatly improved the entrapment of drug into controlled-release wax microspheres.

Fluorescent cellulose microfibrils as substrate for the detection of cellulase activity.

PubMed

Helbert, William; Chanzy, Henri; Husum, Tommy Lykke; Schülein, Martin; Ernst, Steffen

2003-01-01

To devise a sensitive cellulase assay based on substrates having most of the physical characteristics of native cellulose, 5-(4,6-dichlorotriazinyl)aminofluorescein (DTAF) was used as a grafting agent to prepare suspensions of fluorescent microfibrils from bacterial cellulose. These suspensions were digested by a series of commercially relevant cellulases from Humicola insolens origin: cloned Cel6B and Cel 45A as well as crude H. insolens complex. The digestion induced the release of fluorescent cellodextrins as well as reducing sugars. After adequate centrifugation, these soluble products were analyzed as a function of grafting content, digestion time, and cellulase characteristics. The resulting data allowed the grafting conditions to be optimized in order to maximize the quantity of soluble products and therefore to increase the sensitivity of the detection. A comparison between the amount of released fluorescence and that of released reducing sugar allowed the differentiation between processive exo and endo cellulase activities. The casting of films of DTAF-grafted microfibrils at the bottom of the microwell titer plates also led to sensitive cellulase detection. As these films kept their integrity and remained firmly glued to the well bottom during the digestion time, they are tailored made for a full automation of the cellulases testing.

Heterologous Expression and Characterization of a Novel Chitinase (ChiEn1) from Coprinopsis cinerea and its Synergism in the Degradation of Chitin.

PubMed

Niu, Xin; Zhou, Jiang-Sheng; Wang, Yan-Xin; Liu, Cui-Cui; Liu, Zhong-Hua; Yuan, Sheng

2017-08-16

Chitinase ChiEn1 did not hydrolyze insoluble chitin but showed hydrolysis and transglycosylation activities toward chitin-oligosaccharides. Interestingly, the addition of ChiEn1 increased the amount of reducing sugars released from chitin powder by endochitinase ChiIII by 105.0%, and among the released reducing sugars the amount of (GlcNAc) 2 was increased by 149.5%, whereas the amount of GlcNAc was decreased by 10.3%. The percentage of GlcNAc in the products of chitin powder with the combined ChiIII and ChiEn1 was close to that in the products of chitin-oligosaccharides with ChiEn1, rather than that with ChiIII. These results indicate that chitin polymers are first degraded into chitin oligosaccharides by ChiIII and the latter are further degraded to monomers and dimers by ChiEn1, and the synergistic action of ChiEn1 and ChiIII is involved in the efficient degradation of chitin in cell walls during pileus autolysis. The structure modeling explores the molecular base of ChiEn1 action.

Comparison of response surface methodology and artificial neural network to enhance the release of reducing sugars from non-edible seed cake by autoclave assisted HCl hydrolysis.

PubMed

Shet, Vinayaka B; Palan, Anusha M; Rao, Shama U; Varun, C; Aishwarya, Uday; Raja, Selvaraj; Goveas, Louella Concepta; Vaman Rao, C; Ujwal, P

2018-02-01

In the current investigation, statistical approaches were adopted to hydrolyse non-edible seed cake (NESC) of Pongamia and optimize the hydrolysis process by response surface methodology (RSM). Through the RSM approach, the optimized conditions were found to be 1.17%v/v of HCl concentration at 54.12 min for hydrolysis. Under optimized conditions, the release of reducing sugars was found to be 53.03 g/L. The RSM data were used to train the artificial neural network (ANN) and the predictive ability of both models was compared by calculating various statistical parameters. A three-layered ANN model consisting of 2:12:1 topology was developed; the response of the ANN model indicates that it is precise when compared with the RSM model. The fit of the models was expressed with the regression coefficient R 2 , which was found to be 0.975 and 0.888, respectively, for the ANN and RSM models. This further demonstrated that the performance of ANN was better than that of RSM.

Establishing the relative importance of damaged starch and fructan as sources of fermentable sugars in wheat flour and whole meal bread dough fermentations.

PubMed

Struyf, Nore; Laurent, Jitka; Lefevere, Bianca; Verspreet, Joran; Verstrepen, Kevin J; Courtin, Christophe M

2017-03-01

It is generally believed that maltose drives yeast-mediated bread dough fermentation. The relative importance of fructose and glucose, released from wheat fructan and sucrose by invertase, compared to maltose is, however, not documented. This is surprising given the preference of yeast for glucose and fructose over maltose. This study revealed that, after 2h fermentation of wheat flour dough, about 44% of the sugars consumed were generated by invertase-mediated degradation of fructan, raffinose and sucrose. The other 56% were generated by amylases. In whole meal dough, 70% of the sugars consumed were released by invertase activity. Invertase-mediated sugar release seems to be crucial during the first hour of fermentation, while amylase-mediated sugar release was predominant in the later stages of fermentation, which explains why higher amylolytic activity prolonged the productive fermentation time only. These results illustrate the importance of wheat fructan and sucrose content and their degradation for dough fermentations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conversion of rice straw to bio-based chemicals: an integrated process using Lactobacillus brevis.

PubMed

Kim, Jae-Han; Block, David E; Shoemaker, Sharon P; Mills, David A

2010-05-01

Commercialization of lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock for bio-based chemical production is problematic due to the high processing costs of pretreatment and saccharifying enzymes combined with low product yields. Such low product yield can be attributed, in large part, to the incomplete utilization of the various carbohydrate sugars found in the lignocellulosic biomass. In this study, we demonstrate that Lactobacillus brevis is able to simultaneously metabolize all fermentable carbohydrates in acid pre-processed rice straw hydrolysate, thereby allowing complete utilization of all released sugars. Inhibitors present in rice straw hydrolysate did not affect lactic acid production. Moreover, the activity of exogenously added cellulases was not reduced in the presence of growing cultures of L. brevis. These factors enabled the use of L. brevis in a process termed simultaneous saccharification and mixed sugar fermentation (SSMSF). In SSMSF with L. brevis, sugars present in rice straw hydrolysate were completely utilized while the cellulase maintained its maximum activity due to the lack of feedback inhibition from glucose and/or cellobiose. By comparison to a sequential hydrolysis and fermentation process, SSMSF reduced operation time and the amount of cellulase enzyme necessary to produce the same amount of lactic acid.

Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded | News | NREL

Science.gov Websites

4 » Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded News Release: Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded July security and reduce our reliance on foreign sources of oil." The Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Biomass Cellulose to Sugars technology is expected to allow a wide range of biomass resources to be used to produce

Response to Crop-Tree Release: Sugar Maple, Red Oak, Black Cherry, and Yellow-Poplar Saplings in a 9-Year-Old Stand

Treesearch

Neil I. Lamson; H. Clay Smith

1978-01-01

Crop trees were released in an Appalachian hardwood stand (site index 70 for northern red oak) that had been clearcut 9 years earlier. We released 134 yellow-poplar, red oak, black cherry, and sugar maple stems of seedling origin to a 5-foot radius around the bole of each study tree; 140 comparable stems were not released. These trees were dominant, codominant, or...

Rapid estimation of sugar release from winter wheat straw during bioethanol production using FTIR-photoacoustic spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Bekiaris, Georgios; Lindedam, Jane; Peltre, Clément; ...

2015-06-18

Complexity and high cost are the main limitations for high-throughput screening methods for the estimation of the sugar release from plant materials during bioethanol production. In addition, it is important that we improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which different chemical components are affecting the degradability of plant material. In this study, Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) was combined with advanced chemometrics to develop calibration models predicting the amount of sugars released after pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw during bioethanol production, and the spectra were analysed to identify components associated with recalcitrance. A total of 1122more » wheat straw samples from nine different locations in Denmark and one location in the United Kingdom, spanning a large variation in genetic material and environmental conditions during growth, were analysed. The FTIR-PAS spectra of non-pretreated wheat straw were correlated with the measured sugar release, determined by a high-throughput pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis (HTPH) assay. A partial least square regression (PLSR) calibration model predicting the glucose and xylose release was developed. The interpretation of the regression coefficients revealed a positive correlation between the released glucose and xylose with easily hydrolysable compounds, such as amorphous cellulose and hemicellulose. Additionally, we observed a negative correlation with crystalline cellulose and lignin, which inhibits cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis. FTIR-PAS was used as a reliable method for the rapid estimation of sugar release during bioethanol production. The spectra revealed that lignin inhibited the hydrolysis of polysaccharides into monomers, while the crystallinity of cellulose retarded its hydrolysis into glucose. Amorphous cellulose and xylans were found to contribute significantly to the released amounts of glucose and xylose, respectively.« less

Rapid estimation of sugar release from winter wheat straw during bioethanol production using FTIR-photoacoustic spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bekiaris, Georgios; Lindedam, Jane; Peltre, Clément

Complexity and high cost are the main limitations for high-throughput screening methods for the estimation of the sugar release from plant materials during bioethanol production. In addition, it is important that we improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which different chemical components are affecting the degradability of plant material. In this study, Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) was combined with advanced chemometrics to develop calibration models predicting the amount of sugars released after pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw during bioethanol production, and the spectra were analysed to identify components associated with recalcitrance. A total of 1122more » wheat straw samples from nine different locations in Denmark and one location in the United Kingdom, spanning a large variation in genetic material and environmental conditions during growth, were analysed. The FTIR-PAS spectra of non-pretreated wheat straw were correlated with the measured sugar release, determined by a high-throughput pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis (HTPH) assay. A partial least square regression (PLSR) calibration model predicting the glucose and xylose release was developed. The interpretation of the regression coefficients revealed a positive correlation between the released glucose and xylose with easily hydrolysable compounds, such as amorphous cellulose and hemicellulose. Additionally, we observed a negative correlation with crystalline cellulose and lignin, which inhibits cellulose and hemicellulose hydrolysis. FTIR-PAS was used as a reliable method for the rapid estimation of sugar release during bioethanol production. The spectra revealed that lignin inhibited the hydrolysis of polysaccharides into monomers, while the crystallinity of cellulose retarded its hydrolysis into glucose. Amorphous cellulose and xylans were found to contribute significantly to the released amounts of glucose and xylose, respectively.« less

Separate circuitries encode the hedonic and nutritional values of sugar.

PubMed

Tellez, Luis A; Han, Wenfei; Zhang, Xiaobing; Ferreira, Tatiana L; Perez, Isaac O; Shammah-Lagnado, Sara J; van den Pol, Anthony N; de Araujo, Ivan E

2016-03-01

Sugar exerts its potent reinforcing effects via both gustatory and post-ingestive pathways. It is, however, unknown whether sweetness and nutritional signals engage segregated brain networks to motivate ingestion. We found in mice that separate basal ganglia circuitries mediated the hedonic and nutritional actions of sugar. During sugar intake, suppressing hedonic value inhibited dopamine release in ventral, but not dorsal, striatum, whereas suppressing nutritional value inhibited dopamine release in dorsal, but not ventral, striatum. Consistently, cell-specific ablation of dopamine-excitable cells in dorsal, but not ventral, striatum inhibited sugar's ability to drive the ingestion of unpalatable solutions. Conversely, optogenetic stimulation of dopamine-excitable cells in dorsal, but not ventral, striatum substituted for sugar in its ability to drive the ingestion of unpalatable solutions. Our data indicate that sugar recruits a distributed dopamine-excitable striatal circuitry that acts to prioritize energy-seeking over taste quality.

Are fluoride releasing dental materials clinically effective on caries control?

PubMed

Cury, Jaime Aparecido; de Oliveira, Branca Heloisa; dos Santos, Ana Paula Pires; Tenuta, Livia Maria Andaló

2016-03-01

(1) To describe caries lesions development and the role of fluoride in controlling disease progression; (2) to evaluate whether the use of fluoride-releasing pit and fissure sealants, bonding orthodontic agents and restorative materials, in comparison to a non-fluoride releasing material, reduces caries incidence in children or adults, and (3) to discuss how the anti-caries properties of these materials have been evaluated in vitro and in situ. The search was performed on the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and on Medline via Pubmed. Caries is a biofilm-sugar dependent disease and as such it provokes progressive destruction of mineral structure of any dental surface - intact, sealed or restored - where biofilm remains accumulated and is regularly exposed to sugar. The mechanism of action of fluoride released from dental materials on caries is similar to that of fluoride found in dentifrices or other vehicles of fluoride delivery. Fluoride-releasing materials are unable to interfere with the formation of biofilm on dental surfaces adjacent to them or to inhibit acid production by dental biofilms. However, the fluoride released slows down the progression of caries lesions in tooth surfaces adjacent to dental materials. This effect has been clearly shown by in vitro and in situ studies but not in randomized clinical trials. The anti-caries effect of fluoride releasing materials is still not based on clinical evidence, and, in addition, it can be overwhelmed by fluoride delivered from dentifrices. Copyright © 2015 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In vitro hydrolytic digestion, glycemic response in dogs, and true metabolizable energy content of soluble corn fibers.

PubMed

de Godoy, M R C; Knapp, B K; Parsons, C M; Swanson, K S; Fahey, George C

2014-06-01

The objective of this research was to measure in vitro hydrolytic digestion, glycemic and insulinemic responses in dogs, and true ME (TMEn) content of select soluble corn fibers (SCF) in roosters. The first generation (G1) SCF included hydrochloric acid-treated corn syrup (G1-CS-HCl), an SCF with an increased total dietary fiber (TDF) content (G1-SCF-HCl), an SCF that was spray-dried (G1-SCF-SD), and a hydrogenated SCF (G1-SCF-hydrog). The second generation (G2) SCF included those prepared using phosphoric acid catalyzation in both a liquid [G2-SCF-phos (Lq)] and powder [G2-SCF-phos (Pw)] form, and SCF that were prepared using hydrochloric acid catalyzation in both a liquid [G2-SCF-HCl (Lq)] and powder [G2-SCF-HCl (Pw)] form. Also, in the G2 set of samples were SCF prepared using the same method, but in 3 separate batches, all of which contained 70% TDF and 15% sugars. Two were in liquid form [G2-SCF-phos+HCl (Lq1)] and [G2-SCF-phos+HCl (Lq2)], and one in powder form ([G2-SCF-phos+HCl (Pw)]. A lower sugar form (80% TDF and 5% sugar) of SCF was also evaluated (G2-SCF-low sugar). Glucose was the major free sugar and bound monosaccharide in all SCF except for G1-SCF-hydrog that had greater concentrations of sorbitol. All SCF had intermediate to low amounts of monosaccharides released as a result of in vitro hydrolytic digestion, with glucose being the primary sugar component released. The G1-SCF were more digestible in vitro (approximately 50%) compared to G2-SCF (approximately 32%). All SCF had attenuated glycemic responses in adult dogs compared to a maltodextrin control (P < 0.05). The G2-SCF, on average, had lower glycemic responses and TMEn values in roosters than G1-SCF. All SCF had low free sugar concentrations with varying degrees of resistance to digestion, reduced caloric content, and attenuated glycemic and insulinemic responses in adult dogs. These ingredients are potential candidates for inclusion in reduced calorie and low glycemic canine diets.

Plant cell wall sugars: sweeteners for a bio-based economy.

PubMed

Van de Wouwer, Dorien; Boerjan, Wout; Vanholme, Bartel

2018-02-12

Global warming and the consequent climate change is one of the major environmental challenges we are facing today. The driving force behind the rise in temperature is our fossil-based economy, which releases massive amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emission, we need to scale down our dependency on fossil resources, implying that we need other sources for energy and chemicals to feed our economy. Here, plants have an important role to play; by means of photosynthesis, plants capture solar energy to split water and fix carbon derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide. A significant fraction of the fixed carbon ends up as polysaccharides in the plant cell wall. Fermentable sugars derived from cell wall polysaccharides form an ideal carbon source for the production of bio-platform molecules. However, a major limiting factor in the use of plant biomass as feedstock for the bio-based economy is the complexity of the plant cell wall and its recalcitrance towards deconstruction. To facilitate the release of fermentable sugars during downstream biomass processing, the composition and structure of the cell wall can be engineered. Different strategies to reduce cell wall recalcitrance will be described in this review. The ultimate goal is to obtain a tailor-made biomass, derived from plants with a cell wall optimized for particular industrial or agricultural applications, without affecting plant growth and development. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Impact of harvest time and switchgrass cultivar on sugar release through enzymatic hydrolysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a native North American prairie grass being developed for bioenergy production in the central and eastern USA. The objective of this study was to identify the impacts harvest time and switchgrass cultivar had on sugar release variables determined through enzymat...

Optimisation of enzymatic hydrolysis of apple pomace for production of biofuel and biorefinery chemicals using commercial enzymes.

PubMed

Gama, Repson; Van Dyk, J Susan; Pletschke, Brett I

2015-12-01

Apple pomace, a waste product from the apple juice industry is a potential feedstock for biofuel and biorefinery chemical production. Optimisation of hydrolysis conditions for apple pomace hydrolysis using Viscozyme L and Celluclast 1.5L was investigated using 1 L reaction volumes. The effects of temperature, pH, β-glucosidase supplementation and substrate feeding regimes were determined. Hydrolysis at room temperature using an unbuffered system gave optimal performance. Reactors in batch mode resulted in a better performance (4.2 g/L glucose and 16.8 g/L reducing sugar, 75 % yield for both) than fed-batch (3.2 g/L glucose and 14.6 g/L reducing sugar, 65.5 and 73.1 % yield respectively) in 72 h. The addition of Novozyme 188 to the core mixture of Viscozyme L and Celluclast 1.5L resulted in the doubling of glucose released. The main products (yield %) released from apple pomace hydrolysis were galacturonic acid (78 %), glucose (75 %), arabinose (90 %) and galactose (87 %). These products are potential raw materials for biofuel and biorefinery chemical production.

Development of modified-release dosage forms containing loratadine and pseudoephedrine sulfate.

PubMed

Sznitowska, Małgorzata; Cal, Krzysztof; Kupiec, Katarzyna

2004-12-01

Pseudoephedrine sulfate (PES) is a short-acting sympathomimetic amine and decongestant. Loratadine (L) is a long-acting antihistamine, H1 blocker. These drugs administered together provide relief from a whole range of rhinitis (hay fever) symptoms. Combination of both drugs is available in the form of sugar-coated modified-release tablets Clarinase (Schering-Plough). In this product, 5 mg of L and 60 mg of PES is present in the sugar-coating layer ready for an immediate release, and the rest of PES (60 mg) is incorporated in the extended-release core of the tablet. This enables fast as well as prolonged release of PES over 6-8 h. Because the sugar coating technologies are troublesome and rarely used nowadays, the aim of this study was to develop alternative oral dosage forms containing L (5 mg) and PES (120 mg). It was assumed that, similarly to the original product, the total dose of L and the half dose of PES should be released during 1 h and the remaining dose of PES ought to be gradually released for up to 8 h.

Separate Circuitries Encode the Hedonic and Nutritional Values of Sugar

PubMed Central

Tellez, Luis A.; Han, Wenfei; Zhang, Xiaobing; Ferreira, Tatiana L.; Perez, Isaac O.; Shammah-Lagnado, Sara J.; van den Pol, Anthony N.; de Araujo, Ivan E.

2016-01-01

Sugar exerts its potent reinforcing effects via both gustatory and post-ingestive pathways. It is however unknown if sweetness and nutritional signals engage segregated brain networks to motivate ingestion. We show in mice that separate basal ganglia circuitries mediate the hedonic and nutritional actions of sugar. We found that, during sugar intake, suppressing hedonic value inhibited dopamine release in ventral but not dorsal striatum, whereas suppressing nutritional value inhibited dopamine release in dorsal but not ventral striatum. Consistently, cell-specific ablation of dopamine-excitable cells in dorsal, but not ventral, striatum inhibited sugar’s ability to drive the ingestion of unpalatable solutions. Conversely, optogenetic stimulation of dopamine-excitable cells in dorsal, but not ventral, striatum substituted for sugar in its ability to drive the ingestion of unpalatable solutions. Our data demonstrate that sugar recruits a distributed dopamine-excitable striatal circuitry that acts to prioritize energy seeking over taste quality. PMID:26807950

Effects of high salinity from desalination brine on growth, photosynthesis, water relations and osmolyte concentrations of seagrass Posidonia australis.

PubMed

Cambridge, M L; Zavala-Perez, A; Cawthray, G R; Mondon, J; Kendrick, G A

2017-02-15

Highly saline brines from desalination plants expose seagrass communities to salt stress. We examined effects of raised salinity (46 and 54psu) compared with seawater controls (37psu) over 6weeks on the seagrass, Posidonia australis, growing in tanks with the aim of separating effects of salinity from other potentially deleterious components of brine and determining appropriate bioindicators. Plants survived exposures of 2-4weeks at 54psu, the maximum salinity of brine released from a nearby desalination plant. Salinity significantly reduced maximum quantum yield of PSII (chlorophyll a fluorescence emissions). Leaf water potential (Ψ w ) and osmotic potential (Ψ π ) were more negative at increased salinity, while turgor pressure (Ψ p ) was unaffected. Leaf concentrations of K + and Ca 2+ decreased, whereas concentrations of sugars (mainly sucrose) and amino acids increased. We recommend leaf osmolarity, ion, sugar and amino acid concentrations as bioindicators for salinity effects, associated with brine released in desalination plant outfalls. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adapt or Drown - Can the United States Chart a Safe Course Through the Troubled Waters of Energy Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

contained in gas permeable bags which intake CO2 and release oxygen) near heavy CO2 pollution sources could increase the yield of algae crops while...contains plentiful natural sugars or starch that can be readily converted to sugar. Popular feedstocks include sugar cane (Brazil), sugar beets (Europe

Cell wall composition and digestibility alterations in Brachypodium distachyon achieved through reduced expression of the UDP-arabinopyranose mutase

PubMed Central

Rancour, David M.; Hatfield, Ronald D.; Marita, Jane M.; Rohr, Nicholas A.; Schmitz, Robert J.

2015-01-01

Nucleotide-activated sugars are essential substrates for plant cell-wall carbohydrate-polymer biosynthesis. The most prevalent grass cell wall (CW) sugars are glucose (Glc), xylose (Xyl), and arabinose (Ara). These sugars are biosynthetically related via the UDP–sugar interconversion pathway. We sought to target and generate UDP–sugar interconversion pathway transgenic Brachypodium distachyon lines resulting in CW carbohydrate composition changes with improved digestibility and normal plant stature. Both RNAi-mediated gene-suppression and constitutive gene-expression approaches were performed. CWs from 336 T0 transgenic plants with normal appearance were screened for complete carbohydrate composition. RNAi mutants of BdRGP1, a UDP-arabinopyranose mutase, resulted in large alterations in CW carbohydrate composition with significant decreases in CW Ara content but with minimal change in plant stature. Five independent RNAi-RGP1 T1 plant lines were used for in-depth analysis of plant CWs. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that gene expression levels for BdRGP1, BdRGP2, and BdRGP3 were reduced in RNAi-RGP1 plants to 15–20% of controls. CW Ara content was reduced by 23–51% of control levels. No alterations in CW Xyl and Glc content were observed. Corresponding decreases in CW ferulic acid (FA) and ferulic acid-dimers (FA-dimers) were observed. Additionally, CW p-coumarates (pCA) were decreased. We demonstrate the CW pCA decrease corresponds to Ara-coupled pCA. Xylanase-mediated digestibility of RNAi-RGP1 Brachypodium CWs resulted in a near twofold increase of released total carbohydrate. However, cellulolytic hydrolysis of CW material was inhibited in leaves of RNAi-RGP1 mutants. Our results indicate that targeted manipulation of UDP–sugar biosynthesis can result in biomass with substantially altered compositions and highlights the complex effect CW composition has on digestibility. PMID:26136761

Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake

PubMed Central

Avena, Nicole M.; Rada, Pedro; Hoebel, Bartley G.

2008-01-01

The experimental question is whether or not sugar can be a substance of abuse and lead to a natural form of addiction. “Food addiction” seems plausible because brain pathways that evolved to respond to natural rewards are also activated by addictive drugs. Sugar is noteworthy as a substance that releases opioids and dopamine and thus might be expected to have addictive potential. This review summarizes evidence of sugar dependence in an animal model. Four components of addiction are analyzed. “Bingeing”, “withdrawal”, “craving” and cross-sensitization are each given operational definitions and demonstrated behaviorally with sugar bingeing as the reinforcer. These behaviors are then related to neurochemical changes in the brain that also occur with addictive drugs. Neural adaptations include changes in dopamine and opioid receptor binding, enkephalin mRNA expression and dopamine and acetylcholine release in the nucleus accumbens. The evidence supports the hypothesis that under certain circumstances rats can become sugar dependent. This may translate to some human conditions as suggested by the literature on eating disorders and obesity. PMID:17617461

Producing high sugar concentrations from loblolly pine using wet explosion pretreatment.

PubMed

Rana, Diwakar; Rana, Vandana; Ahring, Birgitte K

2012-10-01

We present quantitative analysis of pretreatment for obtaining high conversion and release of sugars from loblolly pine. We use wet explosion (WEx): wet oxidation followed by steam explosion and enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) at high dry matter to solubilize sugars. WEx was conducted at 25% (w/w) solids in presence of oxygen at pressures 6.5-7.2 bar, temperatures 170-175°C and residence time from 20 to 22.5 min. EH of pretreated samples was performed by Cellic® Ctec2 (60 mg protein/g cellulose) and Cellic® Htec2 enzymes (10% of Ctec2) at 50°C for 72 h. At the optimal WEx condition 96% cellulose and nearly 100% hemicellulose yield were obtained. The final concentrations of monomeric sugars were 152 g/L of glucose, 67 g/L of xylose, and 67 g/L of minor sugars (galactose, arabinose and mannose). Compared to previous work WEx seems to be superior for releasing high concentrations of monomeric sugars. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Reduction of Methane Emission during Slurry Storage by the Addition of Effective Microorganisms and Excessive Carbon Source from Brewing Sugar.

PubMed

Bastami, Mohd Saufi B; Jones, Davey L; Chadwick, David R

2016-11-01

Storing livestock manure is the primary stage of manure management where microbial processes and chemical reactions result in the release of methane (CH), nitrous oxide (NO), ammonia (NH), and carbon dioxide (CO). This study examined the reduction of CH emissions from slurry storage under two temperatures (cool [10°C] and warm [30°C]) when a glucose-rich substrate (brewing sugar) and activated effective microorganisms were applied at 10% (w/w) and 5% (v/w), respectively. Brewing sugar addition influenced microbial anaerobic respiration, resulting in a reduction of slurry pH to <5.0, through "self-acidification" caused by lactic acid production. Subsequently, CH emissions were significantly reduced by 87 and 99% in the cool and warm environments, respectively. The effective microorganism treatment did not change the chemical characteristics of the slurry but reduced CH emissions by 17 and 27% ( < 0.05) in the cool and warm environments, respectively. These results suggest that self-acidification after addition of a carbon source may be a promising alternative to slurry acidification using concentrated acids. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Sugar-induced cephalic-phase insulin release is mediated by a T1r2+T1r3-independent taste transduction pathway in mice

PubMed Central

Stano, Sarah; Holter, Marlena; Azenkot, Tali; Goldman, Olivia; Margolskee, Robert F.; Vasselli, Joseph R.; Sclafani, Anthony

2015-01-01

Sensory stimulation from foods elicits cephalic phase responses, which facilitate digestion and nutrient assimilation. One such response, cephalic-phase insulin release (CPIR), enhances glucose tolerance. Little is known about the chemosensory mechanisms that activate CPIR. We studied the contribution of the sweet taste receptor (T1r2+T1r3) to sugar-induced CPIR in C57BL/6 (B6) and T1r3 knockout (KO) mice. First, we measured insulin release and glucose tolerance following oral (i.e., normal ingestion) or intragastric (IG) administration of 2.8 M glucose. Both groups of mice exhibited a CPIR following oral but not IG administration, and this CPIR improved glucose tolerance. Second, we examined the specificity of CPIR. Both mouse groups exhibited a CPIR following oral administration of 1 M glucose and 1 M sucrose but not 1 M fructose or water alone. Third, we studied behavioral attraction to the same three sugar solutions in short-term acceptability tests. B6 mice licked more avidly for the sugar solutions than for water, whereas T1r3 KO mice licked no more for the sugar solutions than for water. Finally, we examined chorda tympani (CT) nerve responses to each of the sugars. Both mouse groups exhibited CT nerve responses to the sugars, although those of B6 mice were stronger. We propose that mice possess two taste transduction pathways for sugars. One mediates behavioral attraction to sugars and requires an intact T1r2+T1r3. The other mediates CPIR but does not require an intact T1r2+T1r3. If the latter taste transduction pathway exists in humans, it should provide opportunities for the development of new treatments for controlling blood sugar. PMID:26157055

Sugar-induced cephalic-phase insulin release is mediated by a T1r2+T1r3-independent taste transduction pathway in mice.

PubMed

Glendinning, John I; Stano, Sarah; Holter, Marlena; Azenkot, Tali; Goldman, Olivia; Margolskee, Robert F; Vasselli, Joseph R; Sclafani, Anthony

2015-09-01

Sensory stimulation from foods elicits cephalic phase responses, which facilitate digestion and nutrient assimilation. One such response, cephalic-phase insulin release (CPIR), enhances glucose tolerance. Little is known about the chemosensory mechanisms that activate CPIR. We studied the contribution of the sweet taste receptor (T1r2+T1r3) to sugar-induced CPIR in C57BL/6 (B6) and T1r3 knockout (KO) mice. First, we measured insulin release and glucose tolerance following oral (i.e., normal ingestion) or intragastric (IG) administration of 2.8 M glucose. Both groups of mice exhibited a CPIR following oral but not IG administration, and this CPIR improved glucose tolerance. Second, we examined the specificity of CPIR. Both mouse groups exhibited a CPIR following oral administration of 1 M glucose and 1 M sucrose but not 1 M fructose or water alone. Third, we studied behavioral attraction to the same three sugar solutions in short-term acceptability tests. B6 mice licked more avidly for the sugar solutions than for water, whereas T1r3 KO mice licked no more for the sugar solutions than for water. Finally, we examined chorda tympani (CT) nerve responses to each of the sugars. Both mouse groups exhibited CT nerve responses to the sugars, although those of B6 mice were stronger. We propose that mice possess two taste transduction pathways for sugars. One mediates behavioral attraction to sugars and requires an intact T1r2+T1r3. The other mediates CPIR but does not require an intact T1r2+T1r3. If the latter taste transduction pathway exists in humans, it should provide opportunities for the development of new treatments for controlling blood sugar. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

A laboratory-scale pretreatment and hydrolysis assay for determination of reactivity in cellulosic biomass feedstocks.

PubMed

Wolfrum, Edward J; Ness, Ryan M; Nagle, Nicholas J; Peterson, Darren J; Scarlata, Christopher J

2013-11-14

The rapid determination of the release of structural sugars from biomass feedstocks is an important enabling technology for the development of cellulosic biofuels. An assay that is used to determine sugar release for large numbers of samples must be robust, rapid, and easy to perform, and must use modest amounts of the samples to be tested.In this work we present a laboratory-scale combined pretreatment and saccharification assay that can be used as a biomass feedstock screening tool. The assay uses a commercially available automated solvent extraction system for pretreatment followed by a small-scale enzymatic hydrolysis step. The assay allows multiple samples to be screened simultaneously, and uses only ~3 g of biomass per sample. If the composition of the biomass sample is known, the results of the assay can be expressed as reactivity (fraction of structural carbohydrate present in the biomass sample released as monomeric sugars). We first present pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis experiments on a set of representative biomass feedstock samples (corn stover, poplar, sorghum, switchgrass) in order to put the assay in context, and then show the results of the assay applied to approximately 150 different feedstock samples covering 5 different materials. From the compositional analysis data we identify a positive correlation between lignin and structural carbohydrates, and from the reactivity data we identify a negative correlation between both carbohydrate and lignin content and total reactivity. The negative correlation between lignin content and total reactivity suggests that lignin may interfere with sugar release, or that more mature samples (with higher structural sugars) may have more recalcitrant lignin. The assay presented in this work provides a robust and straightforward method to measure the sugar release after pretreatment and saccharification that can be used as a biomass feedstock screening tool. We demonstrated the utility of the assay by identifying correlations between feedstock composition and reactivity in a population of 150 samples.

Influence of flavor solvent on flavor release and perception in sugar-free chewing gum.

PubMed

Potineni, Rajesh V; Peterson, Devin G

2008-05-14

The influence of flavor solvent [triacetin (TA), propylene glycol (PG), medium chained triglycerides (MCT), or no flavor solvent (NFS)] on the flavor release profile, the textural properties, and the sensory perception of a sugar-free chewing gum was investigated. Time course analysis of the exhaled breath and saliva during chewing gum mastication indicated that flavor solvent addition or type did not influence the aroma release profile; however, the sorbitol release rate was statistically lower for the TA formulated sample in comparison to those with PG, MCT, or NFS. Sensory time-intensity analysis also indicated that the TA formulated sample was statistically lower in perceived sweetness intensity, in comparison with the other chewing gum samples, and also had lower cinnamon-like aroma intensity, presumably due to an interaction between sweetness intensity on aroma perception. Measurement of the chewing gum macroscopic texture by compression analysis during consumption was not correlated to the unique flavor release properties of the TA-chewing gum. However, a relationship between gum base plasticity and retention of sugar alcohol during mastication was proposed to explain the different flavor properties of the TA sample.

Blending of soluble corn fiber with pullulan, sorbitol, or fructose attenuates glycemic and insulinemic responses in the dog and affects hydrolytic digestion in vitro.

PubMed

de Godoy, M R C; Knapp, B K; Bauer, L L; Swanson, K S; Fahey, G C

2013-08-01

The objective of these experiments was to measure in vitro hydrolytic digestion and glycemic and insulinemic responses of select carbohydrate blends, all containing the novel carbohydrate soluble corn fiber (SCF). Two SCF that varied in their method of production were used to formulate the carbohydrate blends. One set of blends contained a SCF that was spray dried (SCFsd) and then blended with different amounts of either pullulan, sorbitol, or fructose. The other set of blends contained a SCF produced using longer evaporation time (SCF) and then blended with different ratios of pullulan, sorbitol, and fructose. Free sugar concentrations found in the individual SCFsd and SCF substrates were low but varied. Spray-dried soluble corn fiber had a reduced free sugar concentration compared with SCF (2.8 vs. 14.2%). Glucose was the main free sugar found in both SCFsd and SCF but at different concentrations (2.7 vs. 12.7%, respectively). The majority of the SCFsd blends were completely hydrolyzed to their monosaccharide components. Glucose accounted for most of the hydrolyzed monosaccharides for SCFsd and all the SCFsd blends. Hydrolyzed monosaccharide concentrations for the SCF:pullulan:sorbitol:fructose blends followed similar trends to the SCFsd blends where greater percentages of fructose and sorbitol resulted in decreased (P < 0.05) hydrolyzed monosaccharide concentrations. The SCFsd blends had intermediate to high amounts of monosaccharides released as a result of in vitro hydrolytic digestion. The SCFsd:pullulan blends were more digestible in vitro (approximately 91%; P < 0.05) than SCFsd:fructose or SCFsd:sorbitol. Total released monosaccharides were high in SCFsd blends containing either 50% fructose or sorbitol, but the combination resulted in reduced concentrations of glucose released (P < 0.05). The SCF:pullulan:sorbitol:fructose blends also had intermediate to high released monosaccharides as a result of in vitro hydrolytic digestion. All SCF blends resulted in decreased glycemic and insulinemic responses compared with the maltodextrin control (P < 0.05) using a canine model. The addition of pullulan reduced the glycemic response compared with maltodextrin at all concentrations, but only 50:50 SCFsd:pullulan resulted in a reduction of the glycemic response compared with SCFsd alone (P < 0.05). The addition of fructose and sorbitol in the blends had the greatest impact on glycemic and insulinemic responses, even at concentrations as low as 5% of the blends. Overall, SCF and their blends may prove beneficial as components of low glycemic foodstuffs.

Production of bioethanol using agricultural waste: Banana pseudo stem

PubMed Central

Ingale, Snehal; Joshi, Sanket J.; Gupte, Akshaya

2014-01-01

India is amongst the largest banana (Musa acuminata) producing countries and thus banana pseudo stem is commonly available agricultural waste to be used as lignocellulosic substrate. Present study focuses on exploitation of banana pseudo stem as a source for bioethanol production from the sugars released due to different chemical and biological pretreatments. Two fungal strains Aspergillus ellipticus and Aspergillus fumigatus reported to be producing cellulolytic enzymes on sugarcane bagasse were used under co-culture fermentation on banana pseudo stem to degrade holocellulose and facilitate maximum release of reducing sugars. The hydrolysate obtained after alkali and microbial treatments was fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae NCIM 3570 to produce ethanol. Fermentation of cellulosic hydrolysate (4.1 g%) gave maximum ethanol (17.1 g/L) with yield (84%) and productivity (0.024 g%/h) after 72 h. Some critical aspects of fungal pretreatment for saccharification of cellulosic substrate using A. ellipticus and A. fumigatus for ethanol production by S. cerevisiae NCIM 3570 have been explored in this study. It was observed that pretreated banana pseudo stem can be economically utilized as a cheaper substrate for ethanol production. PMID:25477922

Association Mapping in Scandinavian Winter Wheat for Yield, Plant Height, and Traits Important for Second-Generation Bioethanol Production

PubMed Central

Bellucci, Andrea; Torp, Anna Maria; Bruun, Sander; Magid, Jakob; Andersen, Sven B.; Rasmussen, Søren K.

2015-01-01

A collection of 100 wheat varieties representing more than 100 years of wheat-breeding history in Scandinavia was established in order to identify marker-trait associations for plant height (PH), grain yield (GY), and biomass potential for bioethanol production. The field-grown material showed variations in PH from 54 to 122 cm and in GY from 2 to 6.61 t ha-1. The release of monomeric sugars was determined by high-throughput enzymatic treatment of ligno-cellulosic material and varied between 0.169 and 0.312 g/g dm for glucose (GLU) and 0.146 and 0.283 g/g dm for xylose (XYL). As expected, PH and GY showed to be highly influenced by genetic factors with repeatability (R) equal to 0.75 and 0.53, respectively, while this was reduced for GLU and XYL (R = 0.09 for both). The study of trait correlations showed how old, low-yielding, tall varieties released higher amounts of monomeric sugars after straw enzymatic hydrolysis, showing reduced recalcitrance to bioconversion compared to modern varieties. Ninety-three lines from the collection were genotyped with the DArTseq® genotypic platform and 5525 markers were used for genome-wide association mapping. Six quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for GY, PH, and GLU released from straw were mapped. One QTL for PH was previously reported, while the remaining QTLs constituted new genomic regions linked to trait variation. This paper is one of the first studies in wheat to identify QTLs that are important for bioethanol production based on a genome-wide association approach. PMID:26635859

Optimization of renewable pinene production from the conversion of macroalgae Saccharina latissima.

PubMed

Scullin, Chessa; Stavila, Vitalie; Skarstad, Anita; Keasling, Jay D; Simmons, Blake A; Singh, Seema

2015-05-01

Enzymatic hydrolysis of Saccharina latissima with laminarinase was compared to hydrolysis with different combinations of cellulase and hemicellulase enzyme mixtures. The hemicellulase mixture resulted in similar release of glucose, while the cellulase mixture released 40% more glucose than laminarinase alone. The combination of a laminarinase augmented with a cellulase mixture resulted in a 53% increase of glucose release from S. latissima than laminarinase. Increasing biomass loading above 4% (w/v) reduced the sugar yield. Resulting macroalgae hydrolysates were used as a carbon source for the production of pinene, making use of a novel two plasmid Escherichia coli system. The macroalgal hydrolysates were suitable for the novel microbial production of pinene with no further treatment and/or purification. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Litter dynamics in two Sierran mixed conifer forests. II. Nutrient release in decomposing leaf litter

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stohlgren, Thomas J.

1988-01-01

The factors influencing leaf litter decomposition and nutrient release patterns were investigated for 3.6 years in two mixed conifer forests in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. The giant sequoia–fir forest was dominated by giant sequoia (Sequoiadendrongiganteum (Lindl.) Buchh.), white fir (Abiesconcolor Lindl. & Gord.), and sugar pine (Pinuslambertiana Dougl.). The fir–pine forest was dominated by white fir, sugar pine, and incense cedar (Calocedrusdecurrens (Torr.) Florin). Initial concentrations of nutrients and percent lignin, cellulose, and acid detergent fiber vary considerably in freshly abscised leaf litter of the studied species. Giant sequoia had the highest concentration of lignin (20.3%) and the lowest concentration of nitrogen (0.52%), while incense cedar had the lowest concentration of lignin (9.6%) and second lowest concentration of nitrogen (0.63%). Long-term (3.6 years) foliage decomposition rates were best correlated with initial lignin/N (r2 = 0.94, p r2 = 0.92, p r2 = 0.80, p < 0.05). Patterns of nutrient release were highly variable. Giant sequoia immobilized N and P, incense cedar immobilized N and to a lesser extent P, while sugar pine immobilized Ca. Strong linear or negative exponential relationships existed between initial concentrations of N, P, K, and Ca and percent original mass remaining of those nutrients after 3.6 years. This suggests efficient retention of these nutrients in the litter layer of these ecosystems. Nitrogen concentrations steadily increase in decomposing leaf litter, effectively reducing the C/N ratios from an initial range of 68–96 to 27–45 after 3.6 years.

Enzymatic saccharification of brown seaweed for production of fermentable sugars.

PubMed

Sharma, Sandeep; Horn, Svein Jarle

2016-08-01

This study shows that high drying temperatures negatively affect the enzymatic saccharification yield of the brown seaweed Saccharina latissima. The optimal drying temperature of the seaweed in terms of enzymatic sugar release was found to be 30°C. The enzymatic saccharification process was optimized by investigating factors such as kinetics of sugar release, enzyme dose, solid loading and different blend ratios of cellulases and an alginate lyase. It was found that the seaweed biomass could be efficiently hydrolysed to fermentable sugars using a commercial cellulase cocktail. The inclusion of a mono-component alginate lyase was shown to improve the performance of the enzyme blend, in particular at high solid loadings. At 25% dry matter loading a combined glucose and mannitol concentration of 74g/L was achieved. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

SLACK, JEFFREY, M.

Wood is a potential source for biofuels such as ethanol if it can be digested into sugars and fermented by yeast. Biomass derived from wood is a challenging substrate for ethanol production since it is made of lignin and cellulose which cannot be broken down easily into fermentable sugars. Some insects, and termites in particular, are specialized at using enzymes in their guts to digest wood into sugars. If termite gut enzymes could be made abundantly by a recombinant protein expression vector system, they could be applied to an industrial process to make biofuels from wood. In this study, amore » large cDNA library of relevant termite genes was made using termites fed a normal diet, or a diet with added lignin. A subtracted library yielded genes that were overexpressed in the presence of lignin. Termite gut enzyme genes were identified and cloned into recombinant insect viruses called baculoviruses. Using our PERLXpress system for protein expression, these termite gene recombinant baculoviruses were prepared and used to infect insect larvae, which then expressed abundant recombinant termite enzymes. Many of these expressed enzymes were prepared to very high purity, and the activities were studied in conjunction with collaborators at Purdue University. Recombinant termite enzymes expressed in caterpillars were shown to be able to release sugars from wood. Mixing different combinations of these enzymes increased the amount of sugars released from a model woody biomass substrate. The most economical, fastest and energy conserving way to prepare termite enzymes expressed by recombinant baculoviruses in caterpillars was by making crude liquid homogenates. Making enzymes stable in homogenates therefore was a priority. During the course of these studies, improvements were made to the recombinant baculovirus expression platform so that caterpillar-derived homogenates containing expressed termite enzymes would be more stable. These improvements in the baculoviruses included significantly reducing proteases and preventing blackening immune reactions that occur when caterpillars are homogenized. Proteases may degrade enzymes and immune reaction blackening may inactivate enzymes thus compromising the ability of these crude recombinant expressed termite enzyme preparations to release sugars. Commercial preparations of fungal enzymes currently are used to digest wood for ethanol production. We demonstrated in this study that termite enzymes could improve the efficiency of fungal enzyme cocktails. Although the economic feasibility of using caterpillar expressed termite enzymes alone to treat wood was not proven, this work points to the potential to combine C-PERLXpressed insect enzymes with industrial enzyme cocktails to boost their efficiency at treating wood for biofuels.« less

Recalcitrant carbohydrates after enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Alcántara, María Ángeles Bermúdez; Dobruchowska, Justyna; Azadi, Parastoo; García, Bruno Díez; Molina-Heredia, Fernando P; Reyes-Sosa, Francisco Manuel

2016-01-01

To reduce the cost of the enzymes for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, two main strategies have been followed: one, the reduction of enzyme dosing by the use of more efficient and stable enzymatic cocktails; another, to include accessory enzymes in the cocktails to increase yields by reducing the recalcitrant carbohydrate fraction remaining at the end of the process. To guide this second strategy, we have explored the chemical bond composition of different fractions of recalcitrant carbohydrates after enzymatic hydrolysis. Two lignocellulosic feedstocks of relevance for the biofuels industry have been analyzed, corn stover and sugarcane straw. On comparing the composition of chemical bonds of the starting pretreated material with samples after standard and forced hydrolysis (with enzyme overdosing), we obtained similar sugar and chemical bond composition. This suggests that the current enzymatic cocktails bear the set of enzymes needed to hydrolyze these feedstocks. From our point of view, the results show the need for a parallel fine-tuning of the enzymatic cocktails with the pretreatment process to maximize sugar release yield.

Reducing Sugar in Children's Diets: Why? How?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Cosby S.; Morris, Sandra S.

1986-01-01

Maintains that sugar intake should be reduced in young children's diets because of its link to dental cavities, poor nutrition, and obesity. Reducing the focus on sweetness, limiting sugar consumption, and using natural sources of sweetness and other treats are ways to help reduce sugar intake. (BB)

Dry Mouth? Don't Delay Treatment

MedlinePlus

... and use (metabolize) the sugar to grow. “A by-product of the metabolized sugar is acid, which starts ... Releases Consumer Updates About FDA Contact FDA Browse by Product Area Product Areas back Food Drugs Medical Devices ...

Downregulation of GAUT12 in Populus deltoides by RNA silencing results in reduced recalcitrance, increased growth and reduced xylan and pectin in a woody biofuel feedstock

DOE PAGES

Biswal, Ajaya K.; Hao, Zhangying; Pattathil, Sivakumar; ...

2015-03-12

The inherent recalcitrance of woody bioenergy feedstocks is a major challenge for their use as a source of second-generation biofuel. Secondary cell walls that constitute the majority of hardwood biomass are rich in cellulose, xylan, and lignin. The interactions among these polymers prevent facile accessibility and deconstruction by enzymes and chemicals. Plant biomass that can with minimal pretreatment be degraded into sugars is required to produce renewable biofuels in a cost-effective manner. The following are the results: GAUT12/IRX8 is a putative glycosyltransferase proposed to be involved in secondary cell wall glucuronoxylan and/or pectin biosynthesis based on concomitant reductions of bothmore » xylan and the pectin homogalacturonan (HG) in Arabidopsis irx8 mutants. Two GAUT12 homologs exist in Populus trichocarpa, PtGAUT12.1 and PtGAUT12.2. Knockdown expression of both genes simultaneously has been shown to reduce xylan content in Populus wood. We tested the proposition that RNA interference (RNAi) downregulation of GAUT12.1 alone would lead to increased sugar release in Populus wood, that is, reduced recalcitrance, based on the hypothesis that GAUT12 synthesizes a wall structure required for deposition of xylan and that cell walls with less xylan and/or modified cell wall architecture would have reduced recalcitrance. Using an RNAi approach, we generated 11 Populus deltoides transgenic lines with 50 to 67% reduced PdGAUT12.1 transcript expression compared to wild type (WT) and vector controls. Ten of the eleven RNAi lines yielded 4 to 8% greater glucose release upon enzymatic saccharification than the controls. The PdGAUT12.1 knockdown (PdGAUT12.1-KD) lines also displayed 12 to 52% and 12 to 44% increased plant height and radial stem diameter, respectively, compared to the controls. Knockdown of PdGAUT12.1 resulted in a 25 to 47% reduction in galacturonic acid and 17 to 30% reduction in xylose without affecting total lignin content, revealing that in Populus wood as in Arabidopsis, GAUT12 affects both pectin and xylan formation. Finally, analyses of the sugars present in sequential cell wall extracts revealed a reduction of glucuronoxylan and pectic HG and rhamnogalacturonan in extracts from PdGAUT12.1-KD lines.« less

Effect of pulp preconditioning on acidification, proteolysis, sugars and free fatty acids concentration during fermentation of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) beans.

PubMed

Afoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene; Quao, Jennifer; Budu, Agnes Simpson; Takrama, Jemmy; Saalia, Firibu Kwesi

2011-11-01

Changes in acidification, proteolysis, sugars and free fatty acids (FFAs) concentrations of Ghanaian cocoa beans as affected by pulp preconditioning (pod storage or PS) and fermentation were investigated. Non-volatile acidity, pH, proteolysis, sugars (total, reducing and non-reducing) and FFAs concentrations were analysed using standard methods. Increasing PS consistently decreased the non-volatile acidity with concomitant increase in pH during fermentation of the beans. Fermentation decreased the pH of the unstored beans from 6.7 to 4.9 within the first 4 days and then increased slightly again to 5.3 by the sixth day. Protein, total sugars and non-reducing sugars decreased significantly (p < 0.05) during fermentation, whereas reducing sugars and FFA increased. PS increased the FFA levels, reduced the protein content but did not have any effect on the sugars. The rate of total and non-reducing sugars degeneration with concomitant generation of reducing sugars in the cocoa beans was largely affected by fermentation than by PS.

Ozonation and alkaline-peroxide pretreatment of wheat straw for Cryptococcus curvatus fermentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenwalt, C. J.; Hunter, J. B.; Lin, S.; McKenzie, S.; Denvir, A.

2000-01-01

Crop residues in an Advanced Life Support System (ALS) contain many valuable components that could be recovered and used. Wheat is 60% inedible, with approximately 90% of the total sugars in the residue cellulose and hemicellulose. To release these sugars requires pretreatment followed by enzymatic hydrolysis. Cryptococcus curvatus, an oleaginous yeast, uses the sugars in cellulose and hemicellulose for growth and production of storage triglycerides. In this investigation, alkaline-peroxide and ozonation pretreatment methods were compared for their efficiency to release glucose and xylose to be used in the cultivation of C. curvatus. Leaching the biomass with water at 65 degrees C for 4 h prior to pretreatment facilitated saccharification. Alkaline-peroxide and ozone pretreatment were almost 100% and 80% saccharification efficient, respectively. The sugars derived from the hydrolysis of alkaline-peroxide-treated wheat straw supported the growth of C. curvatus and the production of edible single-cell oil.

Green and Chamomile Teas, but not Acarbose, Attenuate Glucose and Fructose Transport via Inhibition of GLUT2 and GLUT5.

PubMed

Villa-Rodriguez, Jose A; Aydin, Ebru; Gauer, Julia S; Pyner, Alison; Williamson, Gary; Kerimi, Asimina

2017-12-01

High glycaemic sugars result in blood-glucose spikes, while large doses of post-prandial fructose inundate the liver, causing an imbalance in energy metabolism, both leading to increased risk of metabolic malfunction and type 2 diabetes. Acarbose, used for diabetes management, reduces post-prandial hyperglycaemia by delaying carbohydrate digestion. Chamomile and green teas both inhibited digestive enzymes (α-amylase and maltase) related to intestinal sugar release, as already established for acarbose. However, acarbose had no effect on uptake of sugars using both differentiated human Caco-2 cell monolayers and Xenopus oocytes expressing human glucose transporter-2 (GLUT2) and GLUT5. Both teas effectively inhibited transport of fructose and glucose through GLUT2 inhibition, while chamomile tea also inhibited GLUT5. Long term incubation of Caco-2/TC7 cells with chamomile tea for 16 h or 4 days did not enhance the observed effects, indicating that inhibition is acute. Sucrase activity was directly inhibited by green tea and acarbose, but not chamomile. These findings show that chamomile and green teas are potential tools to manage absorption and metabolism of sugars with efficacy against high sugar bolus stress inflicted, for example, by high fructose syrups, where the drug acarbose would be ineffective. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Carbohydrate Diet and Reproductive Performance of a Fruit Fly Parasitoid, Diachasmimorpha tryoni

PubMed Central

Zamek, Ashley Louisa; Reynolds, Olivia Louise; Mansfield, Sarah; Micallef, Jessica Louise; Gurr, Geoff Michael

2013-01-01

Augmentative releases of parasitoid wasps are often used successfully for biological control of fruit flies in programs worldwide. The development of cheaper and more effective augmentative releases of the parasitoid wasp Diachasmimorpha tryoni (Cameron) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) may allow its use to be expanded to cover Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae), a serious pest of many vegetables and most fruit production in Australia. This demands a fuller understanding of the parasitoid's reproductive biology. In this study, mating status, fecundity, and size of female D. tryoni were determined under laboratory conditions. A range of pre-release diets, 10% concentrations of honey, white sugar, and golden syrup, were also assessed in the laboratory. Mature egg loads and progeny yields of mated and unmated parasitoid females were statistically similar, demonstrating that mating status was not a determinant of parasitoid performance. Female lifespan was not negatively impacted by the act of oviposition, though larger females carried more eggs than smaller individuals, indicating a need to produce large females in mass-rearing facilities to maintain this trait. White sugar gave the highest adult female lifespan, while honey and golden syrup shared similar survivorship curves, all significantly greater compared with water control females. Pre-release feeding of D. tryoni, particularly with white sugar, may enhance the impact of released parasitoids on B. tryoni. These findings are important because honey is currently the standard diet for mass-reared braconids, but white sugar is less than one-third the cost of other foods; however further work is required to assess postrelease performance of the parasitoid. PMID:24224552

PROPOSED MEASURES OF CONTROL MANAGEMENT OF THE GRAPE MOTH, LOBESIA BOTRANA DEN AND SCHIFF (LEPIDOPTERA: TORTRICIDAE), IN REFERENCE TO INFESTATION PERCENTAGES, YIELD LOSS AND ECONOMICS OF CONTROL IN EGYPT.

PubMed

Kordy, A M; Zaghloul, O A; Mourad, A K

2014-01-01

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of five measures; including the release of two strains of Trichogramma, Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.). Sweetened B.t. and the environmentally friend insecticide (Tracer®), to manage the grape moth, Lobesia botrana that infested the grape vines c.v. "Thompson seedless " in Egypt severely during the two successive years of 2011 and 2012. In concern to the release of the worldwide, Trichogramma evanescens Westwood., the mean total grape yield ranged from 8.00 to 14.00 ton/fed and from 6.90 to 11.9, in respect to the two seasons and the mean infestation percentages fluctuated between 50.00 and 16.14; 43.48 and 21.01 in sequence for the same years. The corresponding grape bunches loss percentages averaged from 21.43 to 6.91; 18.63 to 9.00,respectively for the same periods of this study. Whereas, it was noticed that in releasing the indigenous T. bourarchae was more effective than T. evanescens in reducing all the above mentioned grape yield particularly. Applying Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) and/or adding sugar as a stimulant to improve yields reduced the infestation and the crop loss percentage. However, Bacillus thuringiensis mixed with sugar which overweighed the use of Bacillus thuringiensis alone. Although Tracer® provided good harvest in both years, but unfortunately it affected the grape berries components rather than the other treatments. Control plots indicated 48 and 50% infestation, with very low yield compared with the other five trials to manage the assigned insect pest. For the first time worldwide economics and profits were computed taking into account the whole market sale, the total control costs and the gross income to decide the most profitable treatment for the table grape growers under the Egyptian conditions. It was found that the mean (L.E.) profits/fed were arranged in a descending order as follows: 470.95, 513.28, 504.78, 500.82, 397.25 and 0.00 for Bacillus thuringiensis + sugar, Trichogramma bourarchae, Trichogramma evanescens Westwood, Dipel-2x®, Tracer® and control in respect in 2011. The corresponding values in the year 2012 were 453.85, 445.58, 427.18, 377.00, 349.18 and 0.00 for Trichogramma bourarchae, Bacillus thuringiensis + sugar, Dipel-2x®, Trichogramma evanescens Westwood, Tracer® and control in respect. The obtained results were analysed and discussed in the text.

Treatment of biomass to obtain fermentable sugars

DOEpatents

Dunson, Jr., James B.; Tucker, Melvin [Lakewood, CO; Elander, Richard [Evergreen, CO; Hennessey, Susan M [Avondale, PA

2011-04-26

Biomass is pretreated using a low concentration of aqueous ammonia at high biomass concentration. Pretreated biomass is further hydrolyzed with a saccharification enzyme consortium. Fermentable sugars released by saccharification may be utilized for the production of target chemicals by fermentation.

The Origin and Composition of Cucurbit “Phloem” Exudate1[OA

PubMed Central

Zhang, Cankui; Yu, Xiyan; Ayre, Brian G.; Turgeon, Robert

2012-01-01

Cucurbits exude profusely when stems or petioles are cut. We conducted studies on pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) to determine the origin and composition of the exudate. Morphometric analysis indicated that the exudate is too voluminous to derive exclusively from the phloem. Cold, which inhibits phloem transport, did not interfere with exudation. However, ice water applied to the roots, which reduces root pressure, rapidly diminished exudation rate. Sap was seen by microscopic examination to flow primarily from the fascicular phloem in cucumber, and several other cucurbit species, but primarily from the extrafascicular phloem in pumpkin. Following exposure of leaves to 14CO2, radiolabeled stachyose and other sugars were detected in the exudate in proportions expected of authentic phloem sap. Most of this radiolabel was released during the first 20 s. Sugars in exudate were dilute. The sugar composition of exudate from extrafascicular phloem near the edge of the stem differed from that of other sources in that it was high in hexose and low in stachyose. We conclude that sap is released from cucurbit phloem upon wounding but contributes negligibly to total exudate volume. The sap is diluted by water from cut cells, the apoplast, and the xylem. Small amounts of dilute, mobile sap from sieve elements can be obtained, although there is evidence that it is contaminated by the contents of other cell types. The function of P-proteins may be to prevent water loss from the xylem as well as nutrient loss from the phloem. PMID:22331409

Biochemical characterization of ethanol-dependent reduction of furfural by alcohol dehydrogenases.

PubMed

Li, Qunrui; Metthew Lam, L K; Xun, Luying

2011-11-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is usually converted to hydrolysates, which consist of sugars and sugar derivatives, such as furfural. Before yeast ferments sugars to ethanol, it reduces toxic furfural to non-inhibitory furfuryl alcohol in a prolonged lag phase. Bioreduction of furfural may shorten the lag phase. Cupriavidus necator JMP134 rapidly reduces furfural with a Zn-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (FurX) at the expense of ethanol (Li et al. 2011). The mechanism of the ethanol-dependent reduction of furfural by FurX and three homologous alcohol dehydrogenases was investigated. The reduction consisted of two individual reactions: ethanol-dependent reduction of NAD(+) to NADH and then NADH-dependent reduction of furfural to furfuryl alcohol. The kinetic parameters of the coupled reaction and the individual reactions were determined for the four enzymes. The data indicated that limited NADH was released in the coupled reaction. The enzymes had high affinities for NADH (e.g., K ( d ) of 0.043 μM for the FurX-NADH complex) and relatively low affinities for NAD(+) (e.g., K ( d ) of 87 μM for FurX-NAD(+)). The kinetic data suggest that the four enzymes are efficient "furfural reductases" with either ethanol or NADH as the reducing power. The standard free energy change (ΔG°') for ethanol-dependent reduction of furfural was determined to be -1.1 kJ mol(-1). The physiological benefit for ethanol-dependent reduction of furfural is likely to replace toxic and recalcitrant furfural with less toxic and more biodegradable acetaldehyde.

Rapid screening for anthocyanins in cane sugars using ESR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Thamaphat, Kheamrutai; Goodman, Bernard A; Limsuwan, Pichet; Smith, Siwaporn Meejoo

2015-03-15

Anthocyanin, which is soluble in water and released into sugar steam during extraction, was investigated in this study. The anthocyanin content in refined sugar, plantation white sugar, soft brown sugar and raw sugar was determined using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, which was operated at room temperature, and compared with spectra from standard anthocyanin. The ESR spectra of red and violet anthocyanins was predominantly g ≈ 2.0055, which corresponded to an unpaired electron located in the pyrylium ring. Signals for Fe(III) and Mn(II), which naturally occur in plants, were found in raw sugar, soft brown sugar and standard anthocyanin but were absent from refined sugar and plantation white sugar due to the refining process. In addition, the ESR results were correlated with the apparent colour of the sugar, which was determined using the method of the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

RNAi downregulation of three key lignin genes in sugarcane improves glucose release without reduction in sugar production

DOE PAGES

Bewg, William P.; Poovaiah, Charleson; Lan, Wu; ...

2016-12-20

Sugarcane is a subtropical crop that produces large amounts of biomass annually. It is a key agricultural crop in many countries for the production of sugar and other products. Residual bagasse following sucrose extraction is currently underutilized and it has potential as a carbohydrate source for the production of biofuels. As with all lignocellulosic crops, lignin acts as a barrier to accessing the polysaccharides, and as such, is the focus of transgenic efforts. In this study, we used RNAi to individually reduce the expression of three key genes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway in sugarcane. Furthermore, these genes, caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferasemore » ( CCoAOMT), ferulate 5-hydroxylase ( F5H) and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase ( COMT), impact lignin content and/or composition.« less

RNAi downregulation of three key lignin genes in sugarcane improves glucose release without reduction in sugar production

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bewg, William P.; Poovaiah, Charleson; Lan, Wu

Sugarcane is a subtropical crop that produces large amounts of biomass annually. It is a key agricultural crop in many countries for the production of sugar and other products. Residual bagasse following sucrose extraction is currently underutilized and it has potential as a carbohydrate source for the production of biofuels. As with all lignocellulosic crops, lignin acts as a barrier to accessing the polysaccharides, and as such, is the focus of transgenic efforts. In this study, we used RNAi to individually reduce the expression of three key genes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway in sugarcane. Furthermore, these genes, caffeoyl-CoA O-methyltransferasemore » ( CCoAOMT), ferulate 5-hydroxylase ( F5H) and caffeic acid O-methyltransferase ( COMT), impact lignin content and/or composition.« less

Quantitative monitoring of sucrose, reducing sugar and total sugar dynamics for phenotyping of water-deficit stress tolerance in rice through spectroscopy and chemometrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Bappa; Sahoo, Rabi N.; Pargal, Sourabh; Krishna, Gopal; Verma, Rakesh; Chinnusamy, Viswanathan; Sehgal, Vinay K.; Gupta, Vinod K.; Dash, Sushanta K.; Swain, Padmini

2018-03-01

In the present investigation, the changes in sucrose, reducing and total sugar content due to water-deficit stress in rice leaves were modeled using visible, near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectroscopy. The objectives of the study were to identify the best vegetation indices and suitable multivariate technique based on precise analysis of hyperspectral data (350 to 2500 nm) and sucrose, reducing sugar and total sugar content measured at different stress levels from 16 different rice genotypes. Spectral data analysis was done to identify suitable spectral indices and models for sucrose estimation. Novel spectral indices in near infrared (NIR) range viz. ratio spectral index (RSI) and normalised difference spectral indices (NDSI) sensitive to sucrose, reducing sugar and total sugar content were identified which were subsequently calibrated and validated. The RSI and NDSI models had R2 values of 0.65, 0.71 and 0.67; RPD values of 1.68, 1.95 and 1.66 for sucrose, reducing sugar and total sugar, respectively for validation dataset. Different multivariate spectral models such as artificial neural network (ANN), multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), multiple linear regression (MLR), partial least square regression (PLSR), random forest regression (RFR) and support vector machine regression (SVMR) were also evaluated. The best performing multivariate models for sucrose, reducing sugars and total sugars were found to be, MARS, ANN and MARS, respectively with respect to RPD values of 2.08, 2.44, and 1.93. Results indicated that VNIR and SWIR spectroscopy combined with multivariate calibration can be used as a reliable alternative to conventional methods for measurement of sucrose, reducing sugars and total sugars of rice under water-deficit stress as this technique is fast, economic, and noninvasive.

Alkali-based pretreatments distinctively extract lignin and pectin for enhancing biomass saccharification by altering cellulose features in sugar-rich Jerusalem artichoke stem.

PubMed

Li, Meng; Wang, Jun; Yang, Yuezhou; Xie, Guanghui

2016-05-01

Jerusalem artichoke (JA) has been known as a potential nonfood feedstock for biofuels. Based on systems analysis of total 59 accessions, both soluble sugar and ash could positively affect biomass digestibility after dilute sodium hydroxide pretreatment (A). In this study, one representative accession (HEN-3) was used to illustrate its enzymatic digestibility with pretreatments of ultrasonic-assisted dilute sodium hydroxide (B), alkaline peroxide (C), and ultrasonic-assisted alkaline peroxide (D). Pretreatment D exhibited the highest hexose release rate (79.4%) and total sugar yield (10.4 g/L), which were 2.4 and 2.6 times higher, respectively, than those of the control. The analysis of cellulose crystalline index (CrI), cellulose degree of polymerization (DP), thermal behavior and SEM suggested that alkali-based pretreatments could distinctively extract lignin and pectin polymers, leading to significant alterations of cellulose CrI and DP for high biomass saccharification. Additionally, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) could significant reduce the generation of fermentation inhibitors during alkali-based pretreatments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The in vitro effects of artificial and natural sweeteners on the immune system using whole blood culture assays.

PubMed

Rahiman, F; Pool, E J

2014-01-01

This article investigates the effects of commercially available artificial (aspartame, saccharin, sucralose) and natural sweeteners (brown sugar, white sugar, molasses) on the immune system. Human whole blood cultures were incubated with various sweeteners and stimulated in vitro with either phytohemagglutinin or endotoxin. Harvested supernatants were screened for cytotoxicity and cytokine release. Results showed that none of the artificial or natural sweeteners proved to be cytotoxic, indicating that no cell death was induced in vitro. The natural sweetener, sugar cane molasses (10 ug/mL), enhanced levels of the inflammatory biomarker IL-6 while all artificial sweeteners (10 ug/mL) revealed a suppressive effect on IL-6 secretion (P < 0.001). Exposure of blood cells to sucralose-containing sweeteners under stimulatory conditions reduced levels of the biomarker of humoral immunity, Interleukin-10 (P < 0.001). The cumulative suppression of Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-10 levels induced by sucralose may contribute to the inability in mounting an effective humoral response when posed with an exogenous threat.

A Genomics Approach to Deciphering Lignin Biosynthesis in Switchgrass[W

PubMed Central

Shen, Hui; Mazarei, Mitra; Hisano, Hiroshi; Escamilla-Trevino, Luis; Fu, Chunxiang; Pu, Yunqiao; Rudis, Mary R.; Tang, Yuhong; Xiao, Xirong; Jackson, Lisa; Li, Guifen; Hernandez, Tim; Chen, Fang; Ragauskas, Arthur J.; Stewart, C. Neal; Wang, Zeng-Yu; Dixon, Richard A.

2013-01-01

It is necessary to overcome recalcitrance of the biomass to saccharification (sugar release) to make switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) economically viable as a feedstock for liquid biofuels. Lignin content correlates negatively with sugar release efficiency in switchgrass, but selecting the right gene candidates for engineering lignin biosynthesis in this tetraploid outcrossing species is not straightforward. To assist this endeavor, we have used an inducible switchgrass cell suspension system for studying lignin biosynthesis in response to exogenous brassinolide. By applying a combination of protein sequence phylogeny with whole-genome microarray analyses of induced cell cultures and developing stem internode sections, we have generated a list of candidate monolignol biosynthetic genes for switchgrass. Several genes that were strongly supported through our bioinformatics analysis as involved in lignin biosynthesis were confirmed by gene silencing studies, in which lignin levels were reduced as a result of targeting a single gene. However, candidate genes encoding enzymes involved in the early steps of the currently accepted monolignol biosynthesis pathway in dicots may have functionally redundant paralogues in switchgrass and therefore require further evaluation. This work provides a blueprint and resources for the systematic genome-wide study of the monolignol pathway in switchgrass, as well as other C4 monocot species. PMID:24285795

Selection of the best chemical pretreatment for lignocellulosic substrate Prosopis juliflora.

PubMed

Naseeruddin, Shaik; Srilekha Yadav, K; Sateesh, L; Manikyam, Ananth; Desai, Suseelendra; Venkateswar Rao, L

2013-05-01

Pretreatment is a pre-requisite step in bioethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass required to remove lignin and increase the porosity of the substrate for saccharification. In the present study, chemical pretreatment of Prosopis juliflora was performed using alkali (NaOH, KOH, and NH3), reducing agents (Na2S2O4, Na2SO3) and NaClO2 in different concentration ranges at room temperature (30±2 °C) to remove maximum lignin with minimum sugar loss. Further, biphasic acid hydrolysis of the various pretreated substrates was performed at mild temperatures. Considering the amount of holocellulose hydrolyzed and inhibitors released during hydrolysis, best chemical pretreatment was selected. Among all the chemicals investigated, pretreatment with sodium dithionite at concentration of 2% (w/v) removed maximum lignin (80.46±1.35%) with a minimum sugar loss (2.56±0.021%). Subsequent biphasic acid hydrolysis of the sodium dithionite pretreated substrate hydrolyzed 40.09±1.22% of holocellulose and released minimum amount of phenolics (1.04±0.022 g/L) and furans (0.41±0.012 g/L) in the hydrolysate. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-throughput Screening of Recalcitrance Variations in Lignocellulosic Biomass: Total Lignin, Lignin Monomers, and Enzymatic Sugar Release

PubMed Central

Decker, Stephen R.; Sykes, Robert W.; Turner, Geoffrey B.; Lupoi, Jason S.; Doepkke, Crissa; Tucker, Melvin P.; Schuster, Logan A.; Mazza, Kimberly; Himmel, Michael E.; Davis, Mark F.; Gjersing, Erica

2015-01-01

The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels, chemicals, and other commodities has been explored as one possible pathway toward reductions in the use of non-renewable energy sources. In order to identify which plants, out of a diverse pool, have the desired chemical traits for downstream applications, attributes, such as cellulose and lignin content, or monomeric sugar release following an enzymatic saccharification, must be compared. The experimental and data analysis protocols of the standard methods of analysis can be time-consuming, thereby limiting the number of samples that can be measured. High-throughput (HTP) methods alleviate the shortcomings of the standard methods, and permit the rapid screening of available samples to isolate those possessing the desired traits. This study illustrates the HTP sugar release and pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry pipelines employed at the National Renewable Energy Lab. These pipelines have enabled the efficient assessment of thousands of plants while decreasing experimental time and costs through reductions in labor and consumables. PMID:26437006

High-Throughput Screening of Recalcitrance Variations in Lignocellulosic Biomass: Total Lignin, Lignin Monomers, and Enzymatic Sugar Release

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Decker, Stephen R.; Sykes, Robert W.; Turner, Geoffrey B.

The conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels, chemicals, and other commodities has been explored as one possible pathway toward reductions in the use of non-renewable energy sources. In order to identify which plants, out of a diverse pool, have the desired chemical traits for downstream applications, attributes, such as cellulose and lignin content, or monomeric sugar release following an enzymatic saccharification, must be compared. The experimental and data analysis protocols of the standard methods of analysis can be time-consuming, thereby limiting the number of samples that can be measured. High-throughput (HTP) methods alleviate the shortcomings of the standard methods, andmore » permit the rapid screening of available samples to isolate those possessing the desired traits. This study illustrates the HTP sugar release and pyrolysis-molecular beam mass spectrometry pipelines employed at the National Renewable Energy Lab. These pipelines have enabled the efficient assessment of thousands of plants while decreasing experimental time and costs through reductions in labor and consumables.« less

Effect of single alien chromosome from shallot (Allium cepa L. Aggregatum group) on carbohydrate production in leaf blade of bunching onion (A. fistulosum L.).

PubMed

Hang, Tran Thi Minh; Shigyo, Masayoshi; Yaguchi, Shigenori; Yamauchi, Naoki; Tashiro, Yosuke

2004-12-01

We used a complete set of Allium fistulosum - shallot (A. cepa Aggregatum group) monosomic addition lines (FF+1A - FF+8A) to identify shallot chromosomes affecting the production of sugars. In the alien addition lines grown over two years in an experimental field at Yamaguchi University (34 degrees N, 131 degrees E), shallot chromosomes 2A and 8A altered sugar contents in leaf-bunching onion (A. fistulosum). Except for FF+2A, every monosomic addition accumulated non-reducing sugars in winter leaf blades. FF+8A caused an increase in the amounts of non-reducing sugars in the winter. FF+2A hardly produced non-reducing sugar throughout the two-year study. These results indicated that genes related to non-reducing sugar metabolism are located on the 2A and 8A chromosomes. The results of regression analyses using 2002 data on A. fistulosum and the monosomic addition set revealed a correlation (r = 0.63 +/- 0.07; mean +/- SE., n = 9) between reducing sugar and monosaccharide (Glc+Fru) contents but no correlation between non-reducing sugar and sucrose contents. This result indicates the existence of other polysaccharides (e.g., scorodose) as non-reducing sugars in the leaf blade.

Tolerant yeast in situ detoxifies major class of toxic chemicals while producing ethanol

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Renewable lignocellulosic materials contain abundant sugar source and biofuels conversion including cellulosic ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass provides a sustainable alternative energy resource for a cleaner environment. In order to release the biomass sugars from the complex cellulo...

Cold sweetening diversity in Andean potato germplasm from Argentina.

PubMed

Colman, Silvana L; Massa, Gabriela A; Carboni, Martín F; Feingold, Sergio E

2017-11-01

Cold-induced sweetening (CIS) is the accumulation of sucrose and reducing sugars in potato tubers at low temperatures. This process is central for the potato processing industry. During potato chip and French fry production, reducing sugars participate in the Maillard reaction to produce dark pigmented products not acceptable to consumers. Andean potatoes (Solanum tuberosum Group Andigena) constitute an enormous wealth of potato germplasm that can contribute to increase genetic diversity in breeding programs of many traits, including CIS. We analyzed reducing sugar content and chip quality in freshly harvested and cold-stored tubers from 48 native accessions. Andean accessions showed high variation in reducing sugar content and were classified in three types of CIS responses: type I, reducing sugar content before and after 4°C storage was lower than the value required by industry; type II, reducing sugar content before storage was acceptable, but after 4°C storage incremented up to non-acceptable levels; and type III, reducing sugar content was unacceptable before and after storage. Five Andean accessions presented acceptable reducing sugar content and good chip quality before and after 4°C storage in a consistent manner throughout several experiments. These features make them a useful source for improving the potato industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Reducing added sugar intake increases the relative reinforcing value of high-sugar foods

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Objective: To determine whether reducing added sugar intake to <10% of calories for 1 week changes the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of foods high in sugar and to test whether changes in RRV of high-sugar foods differed between non-overweight and obese adults. Background: The 2015-2020 DGA focu...

Effect of four pretreatments on enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation of wheat straw. Influence of inhibitors and washing.

PubMed

Toquero, Cristina; Bolado, Silvia

2014-04-01

Pretreatment is essential in the production of alcohol from lignocellulosic material. In order to increase enzymatic sugar release and bioethanol production, thermal, dilute acid, dilute basic and alkaline peroxide pretreatments were applied to wheat straw. Compositional changes in pretreated solid fractions and sugars and possible inhibitory compounds released in liquid fractions were analysed. SEM analysis showed structural changes after pretreatments. Enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation by Pichia stipitis of unwashed and washed samples from each pretreatment were performed so as to compare sugar and ethanol yields. The effect of the main inhibitors found in hydrolysates (formic acid, acetic acid, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and furfural) was first studied through ethanol fermentations of model media and then compared to real hydrolysates. Hydrolysates of washed alkaline peroxide pretreated biomass provided the highest sugar concentrations, 31.82g/L glucose, and 13.75g/L xylose, their fermentation yielding promising results, with ethanol concentrations reaching 17.37g/L. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recalcitrant carbohydrates after enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alcantara, Maria Angeles Bermudez; Dobruchowska, Justyna; Azadi, Parastoo

To reduce the cost of the enzymes for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, two main strategies have been followed: one, the reduction of enzyme dosing by the use of more efficient and stable enzymatic cocktails; another, to include accessory enzymes in the cocktails to increase yields by reducing the recalcitrant carbohydrate fraction remaining at the end of the process. To guide this second strategy, we have explored the chemical bond composition of different fractions of recalcitrant carbohydrates after enzymatic hydrolysis. As a result, two lignocellulosic feedstocks of relevance for the biofuels industry have been analyzed, corn stover and sugarcane straw.more » On comparing the composition of chemical bonds of the starting pretreated material with samples after standard and forced hydrolysis (with enzyme overdosing), we obtained similar sugar and chemical bond composition. In conclusion, this suggests that the current enzymatic cocktails bear the set of enzymes needed to hydrolyze these feedstocks. From our point of view, the results show the need for a parallel fine-tuning of the enzymatic cocktails with the pretreatment process to maximize sugar release yield.« less

Recalcitrant carbohydrates after enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated lignocellulosic biomass

DOE PAGES

Alcantara, Maria Angeles Bermudez; Dobruchowska, Justyna; Azadi, Parastoo; ...

2016-10-06

To reduce the cost of the enzymes for the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, two main strategies have been followed: one, the reduction of enzyme dosing by the use of more efficient and stable enzymatic cocktails; another, to include accessory enzymes in the cocktails to increase yields by reducing the recalcitrant carbohydrate fraction remaining at the end of the process. To guide this second strategy, we have explored the chemical bond composition of different fractions of recalcitrant carbohydrates after enzymatic hydrolysis. As a result, two lignocellulosic feedstocks of relevance for the biofuels industry have been analyzed, corn stover and sugarcane straw.more » On comparing the composition of chemical bonds of the starting pretreated material with samples after standard and forced hydrolysis (with enzyme overdosing), we obtained similar sugar and chemical bond composition. In conclusion, this suggests that the current enzymatic cocktails bear the set of enzymes needed to hydrolyze these feedstocks. From our point of view, the results show the need for a parallel fine-tuning of the enzymatic cocktails with the pretreatment process to maximize sugar release yield.« less

Steam explosion distinctively enhances biomass enzymatic saccharification of cotton stalks by largely reducing cellulose polymerization degree in G. barbadense and G. hirsutum.

PubMed

Huang, Yu; Wei, Xiaoyang; Zhou, Shiguang; Liu, Mingyong; Tu, Yuanyuan; Li, Ao; Chen, Peng; Wang, Yanting; Zhang, Xuewen; Tai, Hongzhong; Peng, Liangcai; Xia, Tao

2015-04-01

In this study, steam explosion pretreatment was performed in cotton stalks, leading to 5-6 folds enhancements on biomass enzymatic saccharification distinctive in Gossypium barbadense and Gossypium hirsutum species. Sequential 1% H2SO4 pretreatment could further increase biomass digestibility of the steam-exploded stalks, and also cause the highest sugar-ethanol conversion rates probably by releasing less inhibitor to yeast fermentation. By comparison, extremely high concentration alkali (16% NaOH) pretreatment with raw stalks resulted in the highest hexoses yields, but it had the lowest sugar-ethanol conversion rates. Characterization of wall polymer features indicated that biomass saccharification was enhanced with steam explosion by largely reducing cellulose DP and extracting hemicelluloses. It also showed that cellulose crystallinity and arabinose substitution degree of xylans were the major factors on biomass digestibility in cotton stalks. Hence, this study has provided the insights into cell wall modification and biomass process technology in cotton stalks and beyond. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Production, partial purification and characterization of xylanase using Nicotiana tabacum leaf dust as substrate.

PubMed

Acharya, Komal P; Shilpkar, Prateek

2016-03-01

Isolated Bacillus sp. was used in the present study for production of xylanase from Nicotiana tabacum leaf dust. The strain was able to give a maximum of 1.77 Uml⁻¹ xylanase activity under optimized fermentation conditions which was further increased upto 2.77 Uml⁻¹ after extraction and partial purification of enzyme. After partial purification, the enzyme was characterized and it gave the highest xylanase activity at pH 7.0, when 0.2 ml enzyme was incubated with 2.0% substrate (Nicotiana tabacum leaf dust) for 60 min at 60°C. Saccharification study of Nicotiana tabacum leaf dust with partially purified enzyme revealed that 18.4% reducing sugar was released in 20 hrs incubation, and TLC and HPTLC analysis showed that xylose and glucose sugars were obtained after hydrolysis of substrate. FTIR analysis confirmed decomposition of substrate.

[Induction and regulation of cellulase expression in filamentous fungi: a review].

PubMed

Zhang, Fei; Bai, Fengwu; Zhao, Xinqing

2016-11-25

Production of bioenergy and bio-based chemicals by using fermentable sugars released from low-cost renewable lignocellulosic biomass has received great attention. Efficient cellulolytic enzymes are crucial for lignocellulose bioconversion, but high cellulase production cost is limiting the bioconversion efficiency of cellulosic biomass and industrial applications of lignocellulose biorefinery. Studies on induction and regulation of cellulase in filamentous fungi will help to further develop superior fungal strains for efficient cellulase production and reduce cellulase production cost. With the advances in high-throughput sequencing and gene manipulation technology using fungal strains, an in-depth understanding of cellulase induction and regulation mechanisms of enzyme expression has been achieved. We reviewed recent progresses in the induction and regulation of cellulase expression in several model filamentous fungi, emphasizing sugar transporters, transcription factors and chromatin remodeling. Future prospects in application of artificial zinc finger proteins for cellulase induction and regulation in filamentous fungi were discussed.

Study of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Fructans from Agave salmiana Characterization and Kinetic Assessment

PubMed Central

Michel-Cuello, Christian; Ortiz-Cerda, Imelda; Moreno-Vilet, Lorena; Grajales-Lagunes, Alicia; Moscosa-Santillán, Mario; Bonnin, Johanne; González-Chávez, Marco Martín; Ruiz-Cabrera, Miguel

2012-01-01

Fructans were extracted from Agave salmiana juice, characterized and subjected to hydrolysis process using a commercial inulinase preparation acting freely. To compare the performance of the enzymatic preparation, a batch of experiments were also conducted with chicory inulin (reference). Hydrolysis was performed for 6 h at two temperatures (50, 60°C) and two substrate concentrations (40, 60 mg/ml). Hydrolysis process was monitored by measuring the sugars released and residual substrate by HPLC. A mathematical model which describes the kinetics of substrate degradation as well as fructose production was proposed to analyze the hydrolysis assessment. It was found that kinetics were significantly influenced by temperature, substrate concentration, and type of substrate (P < 0.01). The extent of substrate hydrolysis varied from 82 to 99%. Hydrolysis product was mainly constituted of fructose, obtaining from 77 to 96.4% of total reducing sugars. PMID:22629216

CO2-H2O based pretreatment and enzyme hydrolysis of soybean hulls.

PubMed

Islam, S M Mahfuzul; Li, Qian; Loman, Abdullah Al; Ju, Lu-Kwang

2017-11-01

The high carbohydrate content of soybean hull makes it an attractive biorefinery resource. But hydrolyzing its complex structure requires concerted enzyme activities, at least cellulase, xylanase, pectinase and α-galactosidase. Effective pretreatment that generates minimal inhibitory products is important to facilitate enzymatic hydrolysis. Combined CO 2 -H 2 O pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis by Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma reesei enzyme broths was studied here. The pretreatment was evaluated at 80°C-180°C temperature and 750psi-1800psi pressure, with fixed moisture content (66.7%) and pretreatment time (30min). Ground hulls without and with different pretreatments were hydrolyzed by enzyme at 50°C and pH 4.8 and compared for glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, mannose and total reducing sugar release. CO 2 -H 2 O pretreatment at 1250psi and 130°C was found to be optimal. Compared to the unpretreated hulls hydrolyzed with 2.5-fold more enzyme, this pretreatment improved glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose and mannose releases by 55%, 35%, 105%, 683% and 52%, respectively. Conversions of 97% for glucose, 98% for xylose, 41% for galactose, 59% for arabinose, 87% for mannose and 89% for total reducing sugar were achieved with Spezyme CP at 18FPU/g hull. Monomerization of all carbohydrate types was demonstrated. At the optimum pretreatment condition, generation of inhibitors acetic acid, furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was negligible, 1.5mg/g hull in total. The results confirmed the effective CO 2 -H 2 O pretreatment of soybean hulls at much lower pressure and temperature than those reported for biomass of higher lignin contents. The lower pressure requirement reduces the reactor cost and makes this new pretreatment method more practical and economical. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genetics and Genomics

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Good progress is being made on genetics and genomics of sugar beet, however it is in process and the tools are now being generated and some results are being analyzed. The GABI BeetSeq project released a first draft of the sugar beet genome of KWS2320, a dihaploid (see http://bvseq.molgen.mpg.de/Gen...

Overexpression of the WOX gene STENOFOLIA improves biomass yield and sugar release in transgenic grasses and display altered cytokinin homeostasis

PubMed Central

Meng, Yingying; Sang, Dajun; Yin, Pengcheng; Wu, Jinxia; Tang, Yuhong; Lu, Tiegang; Wang, Zeng-Yu; Tadege, Million

2017-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass can be a significant source of renewable clean energy with continued improvement in biomass yield and bioconversion strategies. In higher plants, the leaf blade is the central energy convertor where solar energy and CO2 are assimilated to make the building blocks for biomass production. Here we report that introducing the leaf blade development regulator STENOFOLIA (STF), a WOX family transcription factor, into the biofuel crop switchgrass, significantly improves both biomass yield and sugar release. We found that STF overexpressing switchgrass plants produced approximately 2-fold more dry biomass and release approximately 1.8-fold more solubilized sugars without pretreatment compared to controls. The biomass increase was attributed mainly to increased leaf width and stem thickness, which was also consistent in STF transgenic rice and Brachypodium, and appeared to be caused by enhanced cell proliferation. STF directly binds to multiple regions in the promoters of some cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX) genes and represses their expression in all three transgenic grasses. This repression was accompanied by a significant increase in active cytokinin content in transgenic rice leaves, suggesting that the increase in biomass productivity and sugar release could at least in part be associated with improved cytokinin levels caused by repression of cytokinin degrading enzymes. Our study provides a new tool for improving biomass feedstock yield in bioenergy crops, and uncovers a novel mechanistic insight in the function of STF, which may also apply to other repressive WOX genes that are master regulators of several key plant developmental programs. PMID:28264034

[Retrospection and reflection on international progress of sugar-sweetened beverages tax policies].

PubMed

Liu, D; Zhai, Y; Zhao, W H

2017-12-06

Since the invention of sugar, added sugars bring us enjoyment. As consumption continues to rise, especially the advent of sugary drinks makes it easier for people to consume added sugars, less sugars and reduced sugars have also become a of concern around the world. In recent years, in WHO and several countries, tax on sugary beverages has been designed to reduce the intake of sugar and prevent the economic costs of obesity and other diseases. This paper reviews the WHO's proposal on sugary drinks tax and the progress of sugary drinks tax in Hungary, Finland, France, Mexico, the United States, South Africa and other countries and regions. The effect of policy on sugary drinks tax was analyzed and considered. Suggestion and support for the progress of China's reduced sugars was provided in the last.

The Influence of Adding Spices to Reduced Sugar Foods on Overall Liking

PubMed Central

Marker, Ryan; Pan, Zhaoxing; Breen, Jeanne Anne; Hill, James O.

2018-01-01

Abstract Reducing sugar intake is a major public health goal but many consumers are reluctant to use low calorie sweeteners. Two studies were conducted in healthy adults aged 18 to 65 to investigate whether addition of culinary spices to foods reduced in sugar could preserve hedonic liking. Test foods, black tea, oatmeal, and apple crisp, were prepared in full sugar (FS), reduced sugar (RS), and reduced sugar with spice (RSS) versions. Sugar reductions were 100%, 35%, and 37% for tea, oatmeal, and apple crisp, respectively. In Study 1, 160 subjects rated absolute liking of FS, RS, and RSS versions of a breakfast of oatmeal and tea and an afternoon snack of apple crisp on consecutive weeks. In Study 2, 150 subjects rated relative liking of all 3 versions of one food at the same seating, with different foods tested 1 wk apart. Liking was assessed using a 9‐point Likert scale. Both studies yielded similar results. For all 3 test items, liking was significantly higher for FS than for RS (P < 0.03). For tea, addition of spices did not significantly improve liking in either study. For oatmeal, addition of spices did not consistently improve liking compared to RS. For apple crisp, relative liking of RSS was not different then FS. These results indicate that it is possible to preserve the hedonic pleasure of a reduced sugar version of a dessert food, apple crisp, by addition of culinary spices. This may be a promising strategy to reduce sugar in some foods without using low calorie sweeteners. Practical Application Reducing sugar consumption is an important public health goal. Many consumers are reluctant to use low calorie sweeteners and alternative approaches are needed. Using culinary spices to enhance the flavor of foods may allow sugar reduction while still preserving acceptable overall liking. PMID:29476623

Simultaneous Detection of c-Fos Activation from Mesolimbic and Mesocortical Dopamine Reward Sites Following Naive Sugar and Fat Ingestion in Rats.

PubMed

Dela Cruz, Julie A D; Coke, Tricia; Bodnar, Richard J

2016-08-24

This study uses cellular c-fos activation to assess effects of novel ingestion of fat and sugar on brain dopamine (DA) pathways in rats. Intakes of sugars and fats are mediated by their innate attractions as well as learned preferences. Brain dopamine, especially meso-limbic and meso-cortical projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA), has been implicated in both of these unlearned and learned responses. The concept of distributed brain networks, wherein several sites and transmitter/peptide systems interact, has been proposed to mediate palatable food intake, but there is limited evidence empirically demonstrating such actions. Thus, sugar intake elicits DA release and increases c-fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI) from individual VTA DA projection zones including the nucleus accumbens (NAC), amygdala (AMY) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) as well as the dorsal striatum. Further, central administration of selective DA receptor antagonists into these sites differentially reduce acquisition and expression of conditioned flavor preferences elicited by sugars or fats. One approach by which to determine whether these sites interacted as a distributed brain network in response to sugar or fat intake would be to simultaneous evaluate whether the VTA and its major mesotelencephalic DA projection zones (prelimbic and infralimbic mPFC, core and shell of the NAc, basolateral and central-cortico-medial AMY) as well as the dorsal striatum would display coordinated and simultaneous FLI activation after oral, unconditioned intake of corn oil (3.5%), glucose (8%), fructose (8%) and saccharin (0.2%) solutions. This approach is a successful first step in identifying the feasibility of using cellular c-fos activation simultaneously across relevant brain sites to study reward-related learning in ingestion of palatable food in rodents.

Energy compensation following consumption of sugar-reduced products: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Markey, Oonagh; Le Jeune, Julia; Lovegrove, Julie A

2016-09-01

Consumption of sugar-reformulated products (commercially available foods and beverages that have been reduced in sugar content through reformulation) is a potential strategy for lowering sugar intake at a population level. The impact of sugar-reformulated products on body weight, energy balance (EB) dynamics and cardiovascular disease risk indicators has yet to be established. The REFORMulated foods (REFORM) study examined the impact of an 8-week sugar-reformulated product exchange on body weight, EB dynamics, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, glycemia and lipemia. A randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover dietary intervention study was performed with fifty healthy normal to overweight men and women (age 32.0 ± 9.8 year, BMI 23.5 ± 3.0 kg/m(2)) who were randomly assigned to consume either regular sugar or sugar-reduced foods and beverages for 8 weeks, separated by 4-week washout period. Body weight, energy intake (EI), energy expenditure and vascular markers were assessed at baseline and after both interventions. We found that carbohydrate (P < 0.001), total sugars (P < 0.001) and non-milk extrinsic sugars (P < 0.001) (% EI) were lower, whereas fat (P = 0.001) and protein (P = 0.038) intakes (% EI) were higher on the sugar-reduced than the regular diet. No effects on body weight, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, fasting glycemia or lipemia were observed. Consumption of sugar-reduced products, as part of a blinded dietary exchange for an 8-week period, resulted in a significant reduction in sugar intake. Body weight did not change significantly, which we propose was due to energy compensation.

Mechanism of Mg2+-Accompanied Product Release in Sugar Nucleotidyltransferases.

PubMed

Vithani, Neha; Ankush Jagtap, Pravin Kumar; Verma, Sunil Kumar; Tripathi, Ravi; Awasthi, Shalini; Nair, Nisanth N; Prakash, Balaji

2018-03-06

The nucleotidyl transfer reaction, catalyzed by sugar nucleotidyltransferases (SNTs), is assisted by two active site Mg 2+ ions. While studying this reaction using X-ray crystallography, we captured snapshots of the pyrophosphate (product) as it exits along a pocket. Surprisingly, one of the active site Mg 2+ ions remains coordinated to the exiting pyrophosphate. This hints at the participation of Mg 2+ in the process of product release, besides its role in catalyzing nucleotidyl transfer. These observations are further supported by enhanced sampling molecular dynamics simulations. Free energy computations suggest that the product release is likely to be rate limiting in SNTs, and the origin of the high free energy barrier for product release could be traced back to the "slow" conformational change of an Arg residue at the exit end of the pocket. These results establish a dual role for Mg 2+ , and propose a general mechanism of product release during the nucleotidyl transfer by SNTs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Difference thresholds for added sugar in chocolate-flavoured milk: Recommendations for gradual sugar reduction.

PubMed

Oliveira, Denize; Reis, Felipe; Deliza, Rosires; Rosenthal, Amauri; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2016-11-01

Reducing the concentration of added sugar in processed foods is one of the most realistic strategies to reduce the intake of this nutrient in the short-term. In order to be effective, gradual sugar reduction strategies need to determine the maximum sugar reduction that can be unnoticed by consumers. In this context, the present work aimed at providing recommendations for gradual sugar reduction in chocolate-flavoured milk by determining difference thresholds for added sugar and evaluating consumers' sensory and hedonic perception of reduced-sugar products. Five studies were conducted with 50 consumers to determine five sequential difference thresholds. In each study consumers completed six paired-comparison tests. Each pair was composed of a reference chocolate-flavoured milk and a sample that was reduced in added sugar from the reference. Difference thresholds, corresponding to the smallest reduction in sugar concentration that is noticed by consumers, were determined using survival analysis. Then, a study was carried to with 100 consumers to evaluate their sensory and hedonic perception of chocolate-flavoured milk samples with different added sugar concentrations. Results suggested that sequential sugar reductions can be set at 6.7% without affecting consumers' sensory and hedonic perception. Sugar reduction in chocolate-flavoured milk without affecting consumers' perception seems feasible and easy to implement. The approach of the present work could be extended to design recommendations for gradual reduction of the added sugar concentration of other industrialized products, contributing to the development of more healthful products that meet current nutritional recommendations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transport of sugars.

PubMed

Chen, Li-Qing; Cheung, Lily S; Feng, Liang; Tanner, Widmar; Frommer, Wolf B

2015-01-01

Soluble sugars serve five main purposes in multicellular organisms: as sources of carbon skeletons, osmolytes, signals, and transient energy storage and as transport molecules. Most sugars are derived from photosynthetic organisms, particularly plants. In multicellular organisms, some cells specialize in providing sugars to other cells (e.g., intestinal and liver cells in animals, photosynthetic cells in plants), whereas others depend completely on an external supply (e.g., brain cells, roots and seeds). This cellular exchange of sugars requires transport proteins to mediate uptake or release from cells or subcellular compartments. Thus, not surprisingly, sugar transport is critical for plants, animals, and humans. At present, three classes of eukaryotic sugar transporters have been characterized, namely the glucose transporters (GLUTs), sodium-glucose symporters (SGLTs), and SWEETs. This review presents the history and state of the art of sugar transporter research, covering genetics, biochemistry, and physiology-from their identification and characterization to their structure, function, and physiology. In humans, understanding sugar transport has therapeutic importance (e.g., addressing diabetes or limiting access of cancer cells to sugars), and in plants, these transporters are critical for crop yield and pathogen susceptibility.

Organic acid pretreatment of oil palm trunk: effect on enzymatic saccharification and ethanol production.

PubMed

Rattanaporn, Kittipong; Tantayotai, Prapakorn; Phusantisampan, Theerawut; Pornwongthong, Peerapong; Sriariyanun, Malinee

2018-04-01

Effective lignocellulosic biomass saccharification is one of the crucial requirements of biofuel production via fermentation process. Organic acid pretreatments have been gained much interests as one of the high potential methods for promoting enzymatic saccharification of lignocellulosic materials due to their lower hazardous properties and lower production of inhibitory by-products of fermentation than typical chemical pretreatment methods. In this study, three organic acids, including acetic acid, oxalic acid, and citric acid, were examined for improvement of enzymatic saccharification and bioethanol production from oil palm trunk biomass. Based on response surface methodology, oxalic acid pretreated biomass released the maximum reducing sugar of 144 mg/g-pretreated biomass at the optimum condition, which was higher than untreated samples for 2.30 times. The released sugar yield of oil palm trunk also corresponded to the results of FT-IR analysis, which revealed the physical modification of cellulose and hemicellulose surface structures of pretreated biomass. Nevertheless, citric acid pretreatment is the most efficient pretreatment method to improve bioethanol fermentation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae TISTR 5606 at 1.94 times higher than untreated biomass. These results highlighted the selection of organic acid pretreatment as a potential method for biofuel production from oil palm trunk feedstocks.

Registration of ‘CPCL 05-1102’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘CPCL 05-1102’ sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) is the product of research initiated by the United States Sugar Corporation (USSC), and completed cooperatively by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. CPCL 05-1102 was released to growers in Fl...

Registration of ‘CPCL 05-1201’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

CPCL 05-1201 is a sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) hybrid bred by US Sugar Corporation in 2002 and tested for seven years through the cooperative breeding program led by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, before its release to Florida growers in Oct. 2012. CPCL 05-...

Efficient acetone-butanol-ethanol production by Clostridium beijerinckii from sugar beet pulp.

PubMed

Bellido, Carolina; Infante, Celia; Coca, Mónica; González-Benito, Gerardo; Lucas, Susana; García-Cubero, María Teresa

2015-08-01

Sugar beet pulp (SBP) has been investigated as a promising feedstock for ABE fermentation by Clostridium beijerinckii. Although lignin content in SBP is low, a pretreatment is needed to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation yields. Autohydrolysis at pH 4 has been selected as the best pretreatment for SBP in terms of sugars release and acetone and butanol production. The best overall sugars release yields from raw SBP ranged from 66.2% to 70.6% for this pretreatment. The highest ABE yield achieved was 0.4g/g (5.1g/L of acetone and 6.6g/L butanol) and 143.2g ABE/kg SBP (62.3g acetone and 80.9g butanol) were obtained when pretreated SBP was enzymatically hydrolyzed at 7.5% (w/w) solid loading. Higher solid loadings (10%) offered higher acetone and butanol titers (5.8g/L of acetone and 7.8g/L butanol). All the experiments were carried out under not-controlling pH conditions reaching about 5.3 in the final samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Photoperiodic control of sugar release during the floral transition: What is the role of sugars in the florigenic signal?

PubMed

Ortiz-Marchena, M Isabel; Romero, José M; Valverde, Federico

2015-01-01

Florigen is a mobile signal released by the leaves that reaching the shoot apical meristem (SAM), changes its developmental program from vegetative to reproductive. The protein FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) constitutes an important element of the florigen, but other components such as sugars, have been also proposed to be part of this signal. (1-5) We have studied the accumulation and composition of starch during the floral transition in Arabidopsis thaliana in order to understand the role of carbon mobilization in this process. In A. thaliana and Antirrhinum majus the gene coding for the Granule-Bound Starch Synthase (GBSS) is regulated by the circadian clock (6,7) while in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii the homolog gene CrGBSS is controlled by photoperiod and circadian signals. (8,9) In a recent paper(10) we described the role of the central photoperiodic factor CONSTANS (CO) in the regulation of GBSS expression in Arabidopsis. This regulation is in the basis of the change in the balance between starch and free sugars observed during the floral transition. We propose that this regulation may contribute to the florigenic signal and to the increase in sugar transport required during the flowering process.

The Path of Carbon in Photosynthesis

DOE R&D Accomplishments Database

Bassham, J. A.; Calvin, Melvin

1960-10-01

Biosynthesis begins with photosynthesis. Green plants and other photosynthetic organisms use the energy of absorbed visible light to make organic compounds from inorganic compounds. These organic compounds are the starting point for all other biosynthetic pathways. The products of photosynthesis provide not only the substrate material but also chemical energy for all subsequent biosynthesis. For example, nonphotosynthetic organisms making fats from sugars would first break down the sugars to smaller organic molecules. Some of the smaller molecules might be oxidized with O{sub 2} to CO{sub 2} and water. These reactions are accompanied by a release of chemical energy because O{sub 2} and sugar have a high chemical potential energy towards conversion to CO{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O. In a biochemical system only part of this energy would be released as heat. The heat would be used to bring about the conversion of certain enzymic cofactors to their more energetic forms. These cofactors would then enter into specific enzymic reactions in such a way as to supply energy to drive reactions in the direction of fat synthesis. Fats would be formed from the small organic molecules resulting from the breakdown of sugars. Thus sugar, a photosynthetic product, can supply both the energy and the material for the biosynthesis of fats.

Increased seedling establishment via enemy release at the upper elevational range limit of sugar maple.

PubMed

Urli, Morgane; Brown, Carissa D; Narváez Perez, Rosela; Chagnon, Pierre-Luc; Vellend, Mark

2016-11-01

The enemy release hypothesis is frequently invoked to explain invasion by nonnative species, but studies focusing on the influence of enemies on natural plant range expansion due to climate change remain scarce. We combined multiple approaches to study the influence of plant-enemy interactions on the upper elevational range limit of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in southeastern Québec, Canada, where a previous study had demonstrated intense seed predation just beyond the range limit. Consistent with the hypothesis of release from natural enemies at the range limit, data from both natural patterns of regeneration and from seed and seedling transplant experiments showed higher seedling densities at the range edge than in the core of the species' distribution. A growth chamber experiment manipulating soil origin and temperature indicated that this so-called "happy edge" was not likely caused by temperature (i.e., the possibility that climate warming has made high elevation temperatures optimal for sugar maple) or by abiotic soil factors that vary along the elevational gradient. Finally, an insect-herbivore-exclusion experiment showed that insect herbivory was a major cause of seedling mortality in the core of sugar maple's distribution, whereas seedlings transplanted at or beyond the range edge experienced minimal herbivory (i.e., enemy release). Insect herbivory did not completely explain the high levels of seedling mortality in the core of the species' distribution, suggesting that seedlings at or beyond the range edge may also experience release from pathogens. In sum, while some effects of enemies are magnified beyond range edges (e.g., seed predation), others are dampened at and beyond the range edge (e.g., insect herbivory), such that understanding the net outcome of different biotic interactions within, at and beyond the edge of distribution is critical to predicting species' responses to global change. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

Effect of Sugar Maple Root Exudate on Seedlings of Northern Conifer Species

Treesearch

Carl H. Tubbs

1976-01-01

It has been shows that a root exudate of sugar maple reduces the growth of yellow birch. A laboratory test indicated that the growth of northern conifers is also reduced in sugar maple root exudate. Allelopathy may play an important role in survival of species on sites where sugar maple is abundant.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Demand and Tax Simulation for Federal Food Assistance Participants: A Case of Two New England States.

PubMed

Jithitikulchai, Theepakorn; Andreyeva, Tatiana

2018-06-19

Excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is a major concern in the efforts to improve diet and reduce obesity in USA, particularly among low-income populations. One of the most commonly proposed strategies to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is increasing beverage prices through taxation. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether and how price-based policies could reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among participants in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Using point-of-sale data from a regional supermarket chain (58 stores), we estimated the responsiveness of demand to sugar-sweetened beverage price changes among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-participating families with young children. Own-price and cross-price elasticities for non-alcoholic beverages were estimated using a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System model. The study found evidence that a tax-induced sugar-sweetened beverage price increase would reduce total sugar-sweetened beverage purchases among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants, who were driven by purchase shifts away from taxed sodas and sports drinks to non-taxed beverages (bottled water, juice, milk). The substitution of non-taxed caloric beverages decreases the marginal effects of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax, yet the direct tax effects are large enough to reduce the overall caloric intake, with the average net reduction in monthly calories from sugar-sweetened beverages estimated at around 8% for a half-cent per ounce tax and 16% for a one cent per ounce tax. A beverage price increase in the form of an excise tax would reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and increase healthier beverage purchases among low-income families.

The effect of health/hedonic claims on consumer hedonic and sensory perception of sugar reduction: Case study with orange/passionfruit nectars.

PubMed

Oliveira, Denize; Ares, Gastón; Deliza, Rosires

2018-06-01

Sugar reduction in beverages can contribute to reduce consumption of this nutrient and to improve the health status of the population. However, such reduction can negatively affect consumer perception. Label information can be an effective tool to increase consumer interest in sugar-reduced products. In this context, the aim of the present work was to study the influence of health/hedonic claims on consumer hedonic and sensory perception of sugar reduction in orange/passionfruit nectars under expected and informed conditions. Sugar-reduced orange/passionfruit nectars (20% and 40% reduced in added sugar) featuring different claims (none, health claim or hedonic claim) were evaluated, together with a control product without reduction. Following a between-subjects experimental design, 206 participants evaluated the nectars under two experimental conditions: (a) expected, looking at the packages, and (b) informed, looking at the packages and tasting the nectars. In each experimental condition, participants evaluated their overall liking using a 9-point hedonic scale and answered a check-all-that-apply questions related to the sensory characteristics of the nectars. Results showed that although consumers did not have negative expectations about sugar-reduced nectars, the sensory characteristics of the products were the main determinants of consumers' hedonic reaction towards the nectars. The influence of claims on consumers' perception was modulated by their hedonic sensitivity towards sugar-reduction. The hedonic claim increased overall liking of those consumers with low hedonic sensitivity towards sugar reduction, whereas it had the opposite effect on the most sensitive consumers. Results from the present work suggest that although hedonic claims hold potential for a consumer segment, care must be taken to avoid the generation of unrealistic expectations about the sensory characteristics of sugar-reduced products. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrasonic pretreatment for enhanced saccharification and fermentation of ethanol production from corn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montalbo-Lomboy, Melissa T.

The 21st Century human lifestyle has become heavily dependent on hydrocarbon inputs. Energy demand and the global warming effects due to the burning of fossil fuels have continued to increase. Rising awareness of the negative environmental and economic impacts of hydrocarbon dependence has led to a resurgence of interest in renewable energy sources such as ethanol. Fuel ethanol is known to be a cleaner and renewable source of energy relative to gasoline. Many studies have agreed that fuel ethanol has reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has larger overall energy benefits compared to gasoline. Currently, the majority of the fuel ethanol in the United States is produced from corn using dry-grind milling process. The typical dry-grind ethanol plant incorporates jet cooking using steam to cook the corn slurry as pretreatment for saccharification; an energy intensive step. In aiming to reduce energy usage, this study evaluated the use of ultrasonics as an alternative to jet cooking. Ultrasonic batch experiments were conducted using a Branson 2000 Series bench-scale ultrasonic unit operating at a frequency of 20 kHz and a maximum output of 2.2 kW. Corn slurry was sonicated at varying amplitudes from 192 to 320 mumpeak-to-peak(p-p) for 0-40 seconds. Enzyme stability was investigated by adding enzyme (STARGEN(TM)001) before and after sonication. Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) images and particle size distribution analysis showed a nearly 20-fold size reduction by disintegration of corn particles due to ultrasonication. The results also showed a 30% improvement in sugar release of sonicated samples relative to the control group (untreated). The efficiency exceeded 100% in terms of relative energy gain from the additional sugar released due to ultrasonication compared to the ultrasonic energy applied. Interestingly, enzymatic activity was enhanced when sonicated at low and medium power. This result suggested that ultrasonic energy did not denature the enzymes during pretreatment. Ultrasonication of sugary-2 corn was also investigated in the study. Results similar to those for commodity corn (dent corn) were found, in terms of glucose yield and starch conversion. SEM and polarized-light microscope pictures showed the partial gelatinization of corn slurry due to ultrasound. In the 96-h saccharification time, a model was formulated to fit the sugar release curve. The results have shown 17-21% increase in the extent of sugar production from sonicated samples relative to the control group. Additionally, the reaction rates of the sonicated samples were 2- to 10-fold higher than the reaction rates for the control group. In comparing sugary-2 corn with commodity corn, it was found that sonicated sugary-2 corn saccharified faster than sonicated commodity corn. It is important to note, without ultrasonic treatment, sugary-2 corn released more reducing sugar than commodity corn during saccharification. To further investigate the potential of ultrasonics for scale-up, a continuous flow system was studied. An ultrasonic continuous flow system was tested using Branson's flow-through "donut" horn. The donut horn, which vibrates radially, was placed inside a 5.5 L stainless steel reactor. The amplitude was maintained at 12 mumpp and the feed flow rate was varied from 8-27 L/min (2-7 gal/min) with reactor retention times varying from 12-40 seconds. Samples sonicated in continuous flow system showed lower reducing sugar yield than batch ultrasonication. However, considering the ultrasonic energy density of batch and continuous systems, the continuous systems proved to be more energy efficient in terms of glucose production compared with the batch system. It was also seen that particle size disintegration was proportional to energy density regardless of the type of ultrasonic system used. To compare ultrasonics with jet cooking, fermentation experiments were conducted. There were only marginal differences between jet cooked samples and the sonicated samples in terms of ethanol conversion based on theoretical yield. Furthermore, statistical analysis confirmed that there was no significant difference (p<0.05) in the ethanol yields of the two pretreatment methods. Economic analysis indicated that the capital cost of installing ultrasonics was higher compared to jet cooker equipment. However, due to the energy needs of jet cooking, a typical 189 million liters (50 million gallon) per year ethanol plant ethanol plant would save about 16% in pretreatment cost by using ultrasonics. Based on these results, ultrasonication is a promising pretreatment method in corn ethanol production, as an alternative to jet cooking.

Simple Potentiometric Determination of Reducing Sugars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moresco, Henry; Sanson, Pedro; Seoane, Gustavo

2008-01-01

In this article a potentiometric method for reducing sugar quantification is described. Copper(II) ion reacts with the reducing sugar (glucose, fructose, and others), and the excess is quantified using a copper wire indicator electrode. In order to accelerate the kinetics of the reaction, working conditions such as pH and temperature must be…

Pectinase activity determination: an early deceleration in the release of reducing sugars throws a spanner in the works!

PubMed

Biz, Alessandra; Farias, Fernanda Cardoso; Motter, Francine Aline; de Paula, Diogo Henrique; Richard, Peter; Krieger, Nadia; Mitchell, David Alexander

2014-01-01

Recently, it has been suggested that pectinases could be used to hydrolyze pectin in biorefineries based on pectin-rich agro-industrial wastes. However, for this to be viable, the cost of their production would need to be lowered significantly. In fact, over the last few decades, there have been many attempts to improve pectinase production by existing strains or to screen for new strains from environmental isolates. In these studies, it is necessary to measure pectinase activities. Many researchers use single-time-point assays that involve incubation of pectinolytic extracts with pectic substrates for a fixed time, followed by determination of the liberated reducing sugars. However, different researchers use quite different conditions for this assay. Furthermore, no attention has been given to the reaction profile during the assay. In the current work, we show, for the first time, that a significant deceleration of the rate of liberation of reducing sugars occurs over the first ten minutes of the reaction. As a consequence, the incubation time used in a single-time-point assay has a large effect on the value obtained for the activity. In fact, we demonstrate that, depending on the particular combination of incubation time, pectin concentration and reaction temperature, the same extract could be reported to have activities that differ by an order of magnitude. In addition, we show that the relative activities obtained with polygalacturonic acid do not correlate with those obtained with pectin. We conclude that it is currently impossible to make meaningful comparisons between pectinase activities reported in the literature by workers who have used different assay conditions. Therefore there is an urgent need for the development of a standardized assay for evaluating the saccharification potential of pectinase complexes.

Pectinase Activity Determination: An Early Deceleration in the Release of Reducing Sugars Throws a Spanner in the Works!

PubMed Central

Biz, Alessandra; Farias, Fernanda Cardoso; Motter, Francine Aline; de Paula, Diogo Henrique; Richard, Peter; Krieger, Nadia; Mitchell, David Alexander

2014-01-01

Recently, it has been suggested that pectinases could be used to hydrolyze pectin in biorefineries based on pectin-rich agro-industrial wastes. However, for this to be viable, the cost of their production would need to be lowered significantly. In fact, over the last few decades, there have been many attempts to improve pectinase production by existing strains or to screen for new strains from environmental isolates. In these studies, it is necessary to measure pectinase activities. Many researchers use single-time-point assays that involve incubation of pectinolytic extracts with pectic substrates for a fixed time, followed by determination of the liberated reducing sugars. However, different researchers use quite different conditions for this assay. Furthermore, no attention has been given to the reaction profile during the assay. In the current work, we show, for the first time, that a significant deceleration of the rate of liberation of reducing sugars occurs over the first ten minutes of the reaction. As a consequence, the incubation time used in a single-time-point assay has a large effect on the value obtained for the activity. In fact, we demonstrate that, depending on the particular combination of incubation time, pectin concentration and reaction temperature, the same extract could be reported to have activities that differ by an order of magnitude. In addition, we show that the relative activities obtained with polygalacturonic acid do not correlate with those obtained with pectin. We conclude that it is currently impossible to make meaningful comparisons between pectinase activities reported in the literature by workers who have used different assay conditions. Therefore there is an urgent need for the development of a standardized assay for evaluating the saccharification potential of pectinase complexes. PMID:25337712

Predicting sugar consumption: Application of an integrated dual-process, dual-phase model.

PubMed

Hagger, Martin S; Trost, Nadine; Keech, Jacob J; Chan, Derwin K C; Hamilton, Kyra

2017-09-01

Excess consumption of added dietary sugars is related to multiple metabolic problems and adverse health conditions. Identifying the modifiable social cognitive and motivational constructs that predict sugar consumption is important to inform behavioral interventions aimed at reducing sugar intake. We tested the efficacy of an integrated dual-process, dual-phase model derived from multiple theories to predict sugar consumption. Using a prospective design, university students (N = 90) completed initial measures of the reflective (autonomous and controlled motivation, intentions, attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control), impulsive (implicit attitudes), volitional (action and coping planning), and behavioral (past sugar consumption) components of the proposed model. Self-reported sugar consumption was measured two weeks later. A structural equation model revealed that intentions, implicit attitudes, and, indirectly, autonomous motivation to reduce sugar consumption had small, significant effects on sugar consumption. Attitudes, subjective norm, and, indirectly, autonomous motivation to reduce sugar consumption predicted intentions. There were no effects of the planning constructs. Model effects were independent of the effects of past sugar consumption. The model identified the relative contribution of reflective and impulsive components in predicting sugar consumption. Given the prominent role of the impulsive component, interventions that assist individuals in managing cues-to-action and behavioral monitoring are likely to be effective in regulating sugar consumption. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eliminating blister rust cankers from sugar pine by pruning.

Treesearch

G. L. Hayes; William I. Stein

1957-01-01

Well-stocked patches of vigorous advance reproduction are found in many deteriorating old-growth stands in southwestern Oregon. If carefully released from the over story, this reproduction can shorten the rotation length of the next crop by many years. Often sugar pine is the fastest-growing component of the reproduction, but it is frequently infected with blister rust...

HoCP 04-838 – A new sugarcane variety for Louisiana

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

HoCP 04-838 was released to the Louisiana sugar industry on May 3, 2011 by the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the American Sugar Cane League of the U.S.A., Inc. HoCP 04-838 re...

SNPs in genes functional in starch-sugar interconversion associate with natural variation of tuber starch and sugar content of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.).

PubMed

Schreiber, Lena; Nader-Nieto, Anna Camila; Schönhals, Elske Maria; Walkemeier, Birgit; Gebhardt, Christiane

2014-07-31

Starch accumulation and breakdown are vital processes in plant storage organs such as seeds, roots, and tubers. In tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) a small fraction of starch is converted into the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. Reducing sugars accumulate in response to cold temperatures. Even small quantities of reducing sugars affect negatively the quality of processed products such as chips and French fries. Tuber starch and sugar content are inversely correlated complex traits that are controlled by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Based on in silico annotation of the potato genome sequence, 123 loci are involved in starch-sugar interconversion, approximately half of which have been previously cloned and characterized. By means of candidate gene association mapping, we identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eight genes known to have key functions in starch-sugar interconversion, which were diagnostic for increased tuber starch and/or decreased sugar content and vice versa. Most positive or negative effects of SNPs on tuber-reducing sugar content were reproducible in two different collections of potato cultivars. The diagnostic SNP markers are useful for breeding applications. An allele of the plastidic starch phosphorylase PHO1a associated with increased tuber starch content was cloned as full-length cDNA and characterized. The PHO1a-HA allele has several amino acid changes, one of which is unique among all known starch/glycogen phosphorylases. This mutation might cause reduced enzyme activity due to impaired formation of the active dimers, thereby limiting starch breakdown. Copyright © 2014 Schreiber et al.

SNPs in Genes Functional in Starch-Sugar Interconversion Associate with Natural Variation of Tuber Starch and Sugar Content of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

PubMed Central

Schreiber, Lena; Nader-Nieto, Anna Camila; Schönhals, Elske Maria; Walkemeier, Birgit; Gebhardt, Christiane

2014-01-01

Starch accumulation and breakdown are vital processes in plant storage organs such as seeds, roots, and tubers. In tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) a small fraction of starch is converted into the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. Reducing sugars accumulate in response to cold temperatures. Even small quantities of reducing sugars affect negatively the quality of processed products such as chips and French fries. Tuber starch and sugar content are inversely correlated complex traits that are controlled by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Based on in silico annotation of the potato genome sequence, 123 loci are involved in starch-sugar interconversion, approximately half of which have been previously cloned and characterized. By means of candidate gene association mapping, we identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in eight genes known to have key functions in starch-sugar interconversion, which were diagnostic for increased tuber starch and/or decreased sugar content and vice versa. Most positive or negative effects of SNPs on tuber-reducing sugar content were reproducible in two different collections of potato cultivars. The diagnostic SNP markers are useful for breeding applications. An allele of the plastidic starch phosphorylase PHO1a associated with increased tuber starch content was cloned as full-length cDNA and characterized. The PHO1a-HA allele has several amino acid changes, one of which is unique among all known starch/glycogen phosphorylases. This mutation might cause reduced enzyme activity due to impaired formation of the active dimers, thereby limiting starch breakdown. PMID:25081979

Reducing Added Sugars in the Food Supply Through a Cap-and-Trade Approach

PubMed Central

Lewis, Kristina

2014-01-01

Objectives. We estimated the effect of a simulated cap-and-trade policy to reduce added sugar in the food supply. Methods. Using nationally representative data on added-sugar content and consumption, we constructed a mathematical model of a cap-and-trade policy and compared its health implications to those of proposals to tax sugar sweetened beverages or added sugars. Results. Capping added-sugar emissions into the food supply by food manufacturers at a rate of 1% per year would be expected to reduce the prevalence of obesity by 1.7 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.9, 2.4; a 4.6% decline) and the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 21.7 cases per 100 000 people (95% CI = 12.9, 30.6; a 4.2% decline) over 20 years, averting approximately $9.7 billion in health care spending. Racial and ethnic minorities would be expected to experience the largest declines. By comparison, equivalent price penalties through excise taxes would be expected to generate smaller health benefits. Conclusions. A cap-and-trade policy to reduce added-sugar intake may reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes to a greater extent than currently-proposed excise taxes. PMID:25365146

Reducing added sugars in the food supply through a cap-and-trade approach.

PubMed

Basu, Sanjay; Lewis, Kristina

2014-12-01

We estimated the effect of a simulated cap-and-trade policy to reduce added sugar in the food supply. Using nationally representative data on added-sugar content and consumption, we constructed a mathematical model of a cap-and-trade policy and compared its health implications to those of proposals to tax sugar sweetened beverages or added sugars. Capping added-sugar emissions into the food supply by food manufacturers at a rate of 1% per year would be expected to reduce the prevalence of obesity by 1.7 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.9, 2.4; a 4.6% decline) and the incidence of type 2 diabetes by 21.7 cases per 100 000 people (95% CI = 12.9, 30.6; a 4.2% decline) over 20 years, averting approximately $9.7 billion in health care spending. Racial and ethnic minorities would be expected to experience the largest declines. By comparison, equivalent price penalties through excise taxes would be expected to generate smaller health benefits. A cap-and-trade policy to reduce added-sugar intake may reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes to a greater extent than currently-proposed excise taxes.

Effects of herbicide release on the growth of 8- to 12-year-old hardwood trees

Treesearch

G.W. Wendel; Neil I. Lamson; Neil I. Lamson

1987-01-01

In 8- to 12-year-old Appalachian hardwood stands, crop trees were released by stem injecting competing trees with a 20 percent aqueous solution of glyphosate. Species released were black cherry, red oak, and sugar maple. Release treatments were (a) injection of all trees within a 5-foot radius of the crop tree bole and (b) injections of all trees whose crown touched...

Evaluation of the rate constants of sugar transport through maltoporin (LamB) of Escherichia coli from the sugar-induced current noise

PubMed Central

1995-01-01

LamB (maltoporin) of Escherichia coli outer membrane was reconstituted into artificial lipid bilayer membranes. The channel contains a binding site for sugars and is blocked for ions when the site is occupied by a sugar. The on and off reactions of sugar binding cause an increase of the noise of the current through the channel. The sugar-induced current noise of maltoporin was used for the evaluation of the sugar-binding kinetics for different sugars of the maltooligosaccharide series and for sucrose. The on rate constant for sugar binding was between 10(6) and 10(7) M-1.s-1 for the maltooligosaccharides and corresponds to the movement of the sugars from the aqueous phase to the central binding site. The off rate (corresponding to the release of the sugars from the channel) decreased with increasing number of glucose residues in the maltooligosaccharides from approximately 2,000 s-1 for maltotriose to 180 s-1 for maltoheptaose. The kinetics for sucrose movement was considerably slower. The activation energies of the stability constant and of the rate constants for sugar binding were evaluated from noise experiments at different temperatures. The role of LamB in the transport of maltooligosaccharides across the outer membrane is discussed. PMID:7539481

Cellulolytic enzyme expression and simultaneous conversion of lignocellulosic sugars into ethanol and xylitol by a new Candida tropicalis strain.

PubMed

Mattam, Anu Jose; Kuila, Arindam; Suralikerimath, Niranjan; Choudary, Nettem; Rao, Peddy V C; Velankar, Harshad Ravindra

2016-01-01

Lignocellulosic ethanol production involves major steps such as thermochemical pretreatment of biomass, enzymatic hydrolysis of pre-treated biomass and the fermentation of released sugars into ethanol. At least two different organisms are conventionally utilized for producing cellulolytic enzymes and for ethanol production through fermentation, whereas in the present study a single yeast isolate with the capacity to simultaneously produce cellulases and xylanases and ferment the released sugars into ethanol and xylitol has been described. A yeast strain isolated from soil samples and identified as Candida tropicalis MTCC 25057 expressed cellulases and xylanases over a wide range of temperatures (32 and 42 °C) and in the presence of different cellulosic substrates [carboxymethylcellulose and wheat straw (WS)]. The studies indicated that the cultivation of yeast at 42 °C in pre-treated hydrolysate containing 0.5 % WS resulted in proportional expression of cellulases (exoglucanases and endoglucanases) at concentrations of 114.1 and 97.8 U g(-1) ds, respectively. A high xylanase activity (689.3 U g(-1) ds) was also exhibited by the yeast under similar growth conditions. Maximum expression of cellulolytic enzymes by the yeast occurred within 24 h of incubation. Of the sugars released from biomass after pretreatment, 49 g L(-1) xylose was aerobically converted into 15.8 g L(-1) of xylitol. In addition, 25.4 g L(-1) glucose released after the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass was fermented by the same yeast to obtain an ethanol titer of 7.3 g L(-1). During the present study, a new strain of C. tropicalis was isolated and found to have potential for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) applications. The strain could grow in a wide range of process conditions (temperature, pH) and in the presence of lignocellulosic inhibitors such as furfural, HMF and acetic acid. The new yeast produced cellulolytic enzymes over a wide temperature range and in the presence of various cellulosic substrates. The cellulolytic enzymes produced by the yeast were effectively used for the hydrolysis of pretreated biomass. The released sugars, xylose and glucose were, respectively, converted into xylitol and ethanol. The potential shown by the new inhibitor tolerant cellulolytic C. tropicalis to produce ethanol or xylitol is of great industrial significance.

Vitamin C and reducing sugars in the world collection of Capsicum baccatum L. genotypes.

PubMed

Perla, Venu; Nimmakayala, Padma; Nadimi, Marjan; Alaparthi, Suresh; Hankins, Gerald R; Ebert, Andreas W; Reddy, Umesh K

2016-07-01

This study aimed to analyze 123 genotypes of Capsicum baccatum L. originating from 22 countries, at two stages of fruit development, for vitamin C content and its relationship with reducing sugars in fruit pericarp. Among the parametric population, vitamin C and reducing sugar concentrations ranged between 2.54 to 50.44 and 41-700mgg(-1) DW of pericarp, respectively. Overall, 14 genotypes accumulated 50-500% of the RDA of vitamin C in each 2g of fruit pericarp on a dry weight basis. Compared with ripened fruits, matured (unripened) fruits contained higher vitamin C and lower reducing sugars. About 44% variation in the vitamin C content could be ascribed to levels of reducing sugars. For the first time, this study provides comprehensive data on vitamin C in the world collection of C. baccatum genotypes that could serve as a key resource for food research in future. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Vitamin C and reducing sugars in the world collection of Capsicum baccatum L. genotypes

PubMed Central

Perla, Venu; Nadimi, Marjan; Alaparthi, Suresh; Hankins, Gerald R.; Ebert, Andreas W.; Reddy, Umesh K.

2016-01-01

This study aimed to analyze 123 genotypes of Capsicum baccatum L. originating from 22 countries, at two stages of fruit development, for vitamin C content and its relationship with reducing sugars in fruit pericarp. Among the parametric population, vitamin C and reducing sugar concentrations ranged between 2.54 to 50.44 and 41–700 mg g−1 DW of pericarp, respectively. Overall, 14 genotypes accumulated 50–500% of the RDA of vitamin C in each 2 g of fruit pericarp on a dry weight basis. Compared with ripened fruits, matured (unripened) fruits contained higher vitamin C and lower reducing sugars. About 44% variation in the vitamin C content could be ascribed to levels of reducing sugars. For the first time, this study provides comprehensive data on vitamin C in the world collection of C. baccatum genotypes that could serve as a key resource for food research in future. PMID:26920284

Physicochemical characterization of tretinoin tocoferil emulsion and povidone-iodine sugar ointment blend developed for improved regulation of wound moisture.

PubMed

Noda, Yasuhiro; Saito, Mika; Watanabe, Kazuya; Sanagawa, Akimasa; Sobajima, Yu; Fujii, Satoshi

2013-01-01

Maintenance of proper moisture and regulation of infection are simultaneously required to promote healing of pressure ulcers. Continuous use of water-rich ointment may often lead to excess moisture and induce edematous granulation tissue. Use of water soluble ointment may excessively absorb exudates and induce dry granulation tissue. Selection of appropriate topical ointment is desired to avoid worse clinical outcomes. For adjustment of wound moisture a novel blended ointment (tretinoin tocoferil-povidone-iodine (TR-PI)) was developed consisting of emulsion base, tretinoin tocoferil oil-in-water (o/w) emulsion (TR-cream), and sugar base, povidone-iodine and sugar (PI-sugar). For the characterization of TR-PI water absorption was tested using Franz diffusion cell with cellulose membrane. For rheological characteristics spreadability was tested using spread meter and yield value was calculated. Iodine permeation was tested using a permeation cell with silicon membrane. Water absorption rate constant of TR-PI with combination ratio of PI-sugar at 75% (TR-PI75, 18.5 mg cm(-2) min(-0.5)) was equivalent to that of TR-cream alone (16.4 mg cm(-2) min(-0.5)). The yield value of TR-PI75 (26.1 Pa) exhibited intermediate values as compared to those of TR-PI with combination ratio of PI-sugar at 50% (11.3 Pa) and TR-cream alone (46.8 Pa). The amount of released free-iodine from TR-PI75 was similar to that released from PI-sugar alone. TR-PI75 may have superior performance in keeping the moist environment in wounds and in preventing infection. TR-PI75 can be used to promote formation of favorable granulation tissue in pressure ulcers with moderate exudates.

The Protein Crystallization Facility STS-95

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The Protein Crystallization Facility will be used to grow crystals of human insulin. Insulin is the primary treatment for diabetes, the fourth leading cause of death by disease. Research on STS-95 is aimed at producing crystals of even higher quality, which when combined with new analysis techniques will permit a better understanding of the interaction between insulin and its receptor. This has the potential to aid in the development of a new commercially available insulin product with unique time release properties that could reduce fluctuations in a patient's blood sugar level. The Protein Crystallization Facility supports large-scale commercial investigations.

Gonadotropin Promotion of Adventitious Root Production on Cuttings of Begonia semperflorens and Vitis vinifera 1

PubMed Central

Leshem, Y.; Lunenfeld, B.

1968-01-01

Adventitious rooting of Begonia semperflorens cv. Indian Maid and Vitis vinifera cv. Semillon stem cuttings was significantly promoted by human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). Basal sections of HCG treated cuttings upon which promoted rooting took place had markedly less endogenous gibberellin (GA) activity than non-treated controls or apical sections of treated ones, while changes in auxin levels were not found. HCG also inhibited GA3-induced reducing sugar release from embryoless barley endosperm halves. These findings are discussed in the light of a possible analogy to gonadotropin action in animal systems. PMID:5641189

Restricting lignin and enhancing sugar deposition in secondary cell walls enhances monomeric sugar release after low temperature ionic liquid pretreatment

DOE PAGES

Scullin, Chessa; Cruz, Alejandro G.; Chuang, Yi -De; ...

2015-07-04

Lignocellulosic biomass has the potential to be a major source of renewable sugar for biofuel production. Before enzymatic hydrolysis, biomass must first undergo a pretreatment step in order to be more susceptible to saccharification and generate high yields of fermentable sugars. Lignin, a complex, interlinked, phenolic polymer, associates with secondary cell wall polysaccharides, rendering them less accessible to enzymatic hydrolysis. Herein, we describe the analysis of engineered Arabidopsis lines where lignin biosynthesis was repressed in fiber tissues but retained in the vessels, and polysaccharide deposition was enhanced in fiber cells with little to no apparent negative impact on growth phenotype.

Restricting lignin and enhancing sugar deposition in secondary cell walls enhances monomeric sugar release after low temperature ionic liquid pretreatment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Scullin, Chessa; Cruz, Alejandro G.; Chuang, Yi -De

Lignocellulosic biomass has the potential to be a major source of renewable sugar for biofuel production. Before enzymatic hydrolysis, biomass must first undergo a pretreatment step in order to be more susceptible to saccharification and generate high yields of fermentable sugars. Lignin, a complex, interlinked, phenolic polymer, associates with secondary cell wall polysaccharides, rendering them less accessible to enzymatic hydrolysis. Herein, we describe the analysis of engineered Arabidopsis lines where lignin biosynthesis was repressed in fiber tissues but retained in the vessels, and polysaccharide deposition was enhanced in fiber cells with little to no apparent negative impact on growth phenotype.

Metabolically speaking: Possible reasons behind the tolerance of 'Sugar Belle' mandarin hybrid to huanglongbing.

PubMed

Killiny, Nabil; Valim, Maria Filomena; Jones, Shelley E; Omar, Ahmad A; Hijaz, Faraj; Gmitter, Fred G; Grosser, Jude W

2017-07-01

Huanglongbing (HLB) is currently considered the most destructive disease of citrus. Since its spread to the Americas, HLB has killed millions of trees and caused a sharp decline in production in many citrus growing regions. With the continuous spread of HLB disease in Florida and worldwide, there is an urgent need for the development of commercial citrus cultivars with a strong tolerance to HLB. Interestingly, field observations showed that some of the recently released mandarin hybrids such as 'Sugar Belle' were tolerant to HLB. In this study, we investigated the volatile and non-volatile metabolites of greenhouse-grown 'Sugar Belle' mandarin and four of its ancestors in order to understand why 'Sugar Belle' mandarin is relatively tolerant to HLB. Leaf volatiles were directly extracted with hexane and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Leaf polar metabolites were extracted with a mixture of methanol:water (1:1, v/v), derivatized to their trimethylsilyl ethers, and analyzed using GC-MS. Forty-seven volatile compounds and forty-two polar metabolites were detected in 'Sugar Belle' mandarin leaves and its ancestors. 'Sugar Belle' was high in several volatiles such as α-thujene, para-cymene, γ-terpinene, thymol, β-elemene, and (E)-β-caryophyllene. Some of these volatiles, especially thymol, β-elemene, and (E)-β-caryophyllene are known for their anti-microbial activity. In addition, 'Sugar Belle' mandarin was the highest in synephrine, benzoic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, chiro-inositol, fructose, glucose, threonic acid, saccharic acid, and galactaric acid, and the second in threonine, malic acid, and myo-inositol compared to the ancestors. Phenolic compounds such as benzoic, ferulic, and caffeic acids may act as antibacterial agents, whereas others like sugar alcohols may protect 'Sugar Belle' mandarin from stress during pathogen attack. The tolerance of 'Sugar Belle' and other newly released mandarin hybrids should be further evaluated using greenhouse controlled studies. If tolerance of these hybrids is confirmed, they could be used to replace the traditionally susceptible cultivars. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Artificial sweeteners are not the answer to childhood obesity.

PubMed

Swithers, Susan E

2015-10-01

While no single factor is responsible for the recent, dramatic increases in overweight and obesity, a scientific consensus has emerged suggesting that consumption of sugar-sweetened products, especially beverages, is casually linked to increases in risk of chronic, debilitating diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke. One approach that might be beneficial would be to replace sugar-sweetened items with products manufactured with artificial sweeteners that provide sweet tastes but with fewer calories. Unfortunately, evidence now indicates that artificial sweeteners are also associated with increased risk of the same chronic diseases linked to sugar consumption. Several biologically plausible mechanisms may explain these counterintuitive negative associations. For example, artificial sweeteners can interfere with basic learning processes that serve to anticipate the normal consequences of consuming sugars, leading to overeating, diminished release of hormones such as GLP-1, and impaired blood glucose regulation. In addition, artificial sweeteners can alter gut microbiota in rodent models and humans, which can also contribute to impaired glucose regulation. Use of artificial sweeteners may also be particularly problematic in children since exposure to hyper-sweetened foods and beverages at young ages may have effects on sweet preferences that persist into adulthood. Taken as a whole, current evidence suggests that a focus on reducing sweetener intake, whether the sweeteners are caloric or non-caloric, remains a better strategy for combating overweight and obesity than use of artificial sweeteners. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Release of sugar pine seedlings and saplings by harvest cutting.

Treesearch

William E. Hallin

1959-01-01

Sugar pine, the preferred species to grow on many forest areas in southwestern Oregon, is often seeded or planted on clearcuts there. Advance growth in the form of seedlings, saplings, and poles is common in the mixed- conifer type, and costly planting can be eliminated if this advance growth can be saved during logging and slash disposal. However, if the necessary...

A comparison between lime and alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatments of sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production.

PubMed

Rabelo, Sarita C; Filho, Rubens Maciel; Costa, Aline C

2008-01-01

Pretreatment procedures of sugarcane bagasse with lime (calcium hydroxide) or alkaline hydrogen peroxide were evaluated and compared. Analyses were performed using 2(3) factorial designs, with pretreatment time, temperature, and lime loading and hydrogen peroxide concentration as factors. The responses evaluated were the yield of total reducing sugars (TRS) and glucose released from pretreated bagasse after enzymatic hydrolysis. Experiments were performed using the bagasse, as it comes from an alcohol/sugar factory and bagasse, in the size, range from 0.248 to 1.397 mm (12-60 mesh). The results show that, when hexoses and pentoses are of interest, lime should be the pretreatment agent chosen, as high TRS yields are obtained for non-screened bagasse using 0.40 g lime/g dry biomass at 70 degrees C for 36 h. When the product of interest is glucose, the best results were obtained with lime pretreatment of screened bagasse. However, the results for alkaline peroxide and lime pretreatments of non-screened bagasse are not very different.

A Comparison between Lime and Alkaline Hydrogen Peroxide Pretreatments of Sugarcane Bagasse for Ethanol Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabelo, Sarita C.; Filho, Rubens Maciel; Costa, Aline C.

Pretreatment procedures of sugarcane bagasse with lime (calcium hydroxide) or alkaline hydrogen peroxide were evaluated and compared. Analyses were performed using 2 × 2 × 2 factorial designs, with pretreatment time, temperature, and lime loading and hydrogen peroxide concentration as factors. The responses evaluated were the yield of total reducing sugars (TRS) and glucose released from pretreated bagasse after enzymatic hydrolysis. Experiments were performed using the bagasse as it comes from an alcohol/ sugar factory and bagasse in the size range of 0.248 to 1.397 mm (12-60 mesh). The results show that when hexoses and pentoses are of interest, lime should be the pretreatment agent chosen, as high TRS yields are obtained for nonscreened bagasse using 0.40 g lime/g dry biomass at 70 °C for 36 h. When the product of interest is glucose, the best results were obtained with lime pretreatment of screened bagasse. However, the results for alkaline peroxide and lime pretreatments of nonscreened bagasse are not very different.

A comparison between lime and alkaline hydrogen peroxide pretreatments of sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production.

PubMed

Rabelo, Sarita C; Maciel Filho, Rubens; Costa, Aline C

2008-03-01

Pretreatment procedures of sugarcane bagasse with lime (calcium hydroxide) or alkaline hydrogen peroxide were evaluated and compared. Analyses were performed using 2 x 2 x 2 factorial designs, with pretreatment time, temperature, and lime loading and hydrogen peroxide concentration as factors. The responses evaluated were the yield of total reducing sugars (TRS) and glucose released from pretreated bagasse after enzymatic hydrolysis. Experiments were performed using the bagasse as it comes from an alcohol/sugar factory and bagasse in the size range of 0.248 to 1.397 mm (12-60 mesh). The results show that when hexoses and pentoses are of interest, lime should be the pretreatment agent chosen, as high TRS yields are obtained for nonscreened bagasse using 0.40 g lime/g dry biomass at 70 degrees C for 36 h. When the product of interest is glucose, the best results were obtained with lime pretreatment of screened bagasse. However, the results for alkaline peroxide and lime pretreatments of nonscreened bagasse are not very different.

Glycation of polyclonal IgGs: Effect of sugar excipients during stability studies.

PubMed

Leblanc, Y; Bihoreau, N; Jube, M; Andre, M-H; Tellier, Z; Chevreux, G

2016-05-01

A number of intravenous immunoglobulin preparations are stabilized with sugar additives that may lead over time to undesirable glycation reactions especially in liquid formulation. This study aimed to evaluate the reactivity of sugar excipients on such preparations in condition of temperature, formulation and concentration commonly used for pharmaceutical products. Through an innovative LC-MS method reported to characterize post-translational modifications of IgGs Fc/2 fragments, a stability study of IVIg formulated with reducing and non-reducing sugars has been undertaken. The rate of polyclonal IgGs glycation was investigated during 6months at 5, 25, 30 and 40°C. High levels of glycation were observed with reducing sugars such as glucose and maltose in the first months of the stability study from 25°C. Non-reducing sugars presented a low reactivity even at the highest tested temperature (40°C). Furthermore, a site by site analysis was performed by MS/MS to determine the glycation sites which were mainly identified at Lys246, Lys248 and Lys324. This work points out the high probability of glycation reactions in some commercialized products and describes a useful method to characterize IVIg glycated products issued from reducing sugar excipients. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Deep Eutectic Solvents pretreatment of agro-industrial food waste.

PubMed

Procentese, Alessandra; Raganati, Francesca; Olivieri, Giuseppe; Russo, Maria Elena; Rehmann, Lars; Marzocchella, Antonio

2018-01-01

Waste biomass from agro-food industries are a reliable and readily exploitable resource. From the circular economy point of view, direct residues from these industries exploited for production of fuel/chemicals is a winning issue, because it reduces the environmental/cost impact and improves the eco-sustainability of productions. The present paper reports recent results of deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment on a selected group of the agro-industrial food wastes (AFWs) produced in Europe. In particular, apple residues, potato peels, coffee silverskin, and brewer's spent grains were pretreated with two DESs, (choline chloride-glycerol and choline chloride-ethylene glycol) for fermentable sugar production. Pretreated biomass was enzymatic digested by commercial enzymes to produce fermentable sugars. Operating conditions of the DES pretreatment were changed in wide intervals. The solid to solvent ratio ranged between 1:8 and 1:32, and the temperature between 60 and 150 °C. The DES reaction time was set at 3 h. Optimal operating conditions were: 3 h pretreatment with choline chloride-glycerol at 1:16 biomass to solvent ratio and 115 °C. Moreover, to assess the expected European amount of fermentable sugars from the investigated AFWs, a market analysis was carried out. The overall sugar production was about 217 kt yr -1 , whose main fraction was from the hydrolysis of BSGs pretreated with choline chloride-glycerol DES at the optimal conditions. The reported results boost deep investigation on lignocellulosic biomass using DES. This investigated new class of solvents is easy to prepare, biodegradable and cheaper than ionic liquid. Moreover, they reported good results in terms of sugars' release at mild operating conditions (time, temperature and pressure).

Strengths, challenges, and opportunities for hydrothermal pretreatment in lignocellulosic biorefineries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Bin; Tao, Ling; Wyman, Charles E.

Pretreatment prior to or during biological conversion is required to achieve high sugar yields essential to economic production of fuels and chemicals from low cost, abundant lignocellulosic biomass. Aqueous thermochemical pretreatments achieve this performance objective from pretreatment coupled with subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, but chemical pretreatment can also suffer from additional costs for exotic materials of construction, the need to recover or neutralize the chemicals, introduction of compounds that inhibit downstream operations, and waste disposal, as well as for the chemicals themselves. The simplicity of hydrothermal pretreatment with just hot water offers the potential to greatly improve the cost of themore » entire conversion process if sugar degradation during pretreatment, production of un-fermentable oligomers, and the amount of expensive enzymes needed to obtain satisfactory yields from hydrothermally pretreated solids can be reduced. Biorefinery economics would also benefit if value could be generated from lignin and other components that are currently fated to be burned for power. However, achieving these goals will no doubt require development of advanced hydrothermal pretreatment configurations. For example, passing water through a stationary bed of lignocellulosic biomass in a flowthrough configuration achieves very high yields of hemicellulose sugars, removes more than 75% of the lignin for potential valorization, and improves sugar release from the pretreated solids with lower enzyme loadings. Unfortunately, the large quantities of water needed to achieve this performance result in very dilute sugars, high energy costs for pretreatment and product recover, and large amounts of oligomers. Furthermore, improving our understanding of hydrothermal pretreatment fundamentals is needed to gain insights into R&D opportunities to improve performance, and help identify novel configurations that lower capital and operating costs and achieve higher yields.« less

Strengths, challenges, and opportunities for hydrothermal pretreatment in lignocellulosic biorefineries

DOE PAGES

Yang, Bin; Tao, Ling; Wyman, Charles E.

2017-10-11

Pretreatment prior to or during biological conversion is required to achieve high sugar yields essential to economic production of fuels and chemicals from low cost, abundant lignocellulosic biomass. Aqueous thermochemical pretreatments achieve this performance objective from pretreatment coupled with subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis, but chemical pretreatment can also suffer from additional costs for exotic materials of construction, the need to recover or neutralize the chemicals, introduction of compounds that inhibit downstream operations, and waste disposal, as well as for the chemicals themselves. The simplicity of hydrothermal pretreatment with just hot water offers the potential to greatly improve the cost of themore » entire conversion process if sugar degradation during pretreatment, production of un-fermentable oligomers, and the amount of expensive enzymes needed to obtain satisfactory yields from hydrothermally pretreated solids can be reduced. Biorefinery economics would also benefit if value could be generated from lignin and other components that are currently fated to be burned for power. However, achieving these goals will no doubt require development of advanced hydrothermal pretreatment configurations. For example, passing water through a stationary bed of lignocellulosic biomass in a flowthrough configuration achieves very high yields of hemicellulose sugars, removes more than 75% of the lignin for potential valorization, and improves sugar release from the pretreated solids with lower enzyme loadings. Unfortunately, the large quantities of water needed to achieve this performance result in very dilute sugars, high energy costs for pretreatment and product recover, and large amounts of oligomers. Furthermore, improving our understanding of hydrothermal pretreatment fundamentals is needed to gain insights into R&D opportunities to improve performance, and help identify novel configurations that lower capital and operating costs and achieve higher yields.« less

A novel cost-effective technology to convert sucrose and homocelluloses in sweet sorghum stalks into ethanol.

PubMed

Li, Jihong; Li, Shizhong; Han, Bing; Yu, Menghui; Li, Guangming; Jiang, Yan

2013-11-29

Sweet sorghum is regarded as a very promising energy crop for ethanol production because it not only supplies grain and sugar, but also offers lignocellulosic resource. Cost-competitive ethanol production requires bioconversion of all carbohydrates in stalks including of both sucrose and lignocellulose hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars. However, it is still a main challenge to reduce ethanol production cost and improve feasibility of industrial application. An integration of the different operations within the whole process is a potential solution. An integrated process combined advanced solid-state fermentation technology (ASSF) and alkaline pretreatment was presented in this work. Soluble sugars in sweet sorghum stalks were firstly converted into ethanol by ASSF using crushed stalks directly. Then, the operation combining ethanol distillation and alkaline pretreatment was performed in one distillation-reactor simultaneously. The corresponding investigation indicated that the addition of alkali did not affect the ethanol recovery. The effect of three alkalis, NaOH, KOH and Ca(OH)2 on pretreatment were investigated. The results indicated the delignification of lignocellulose by NaOH and KOH was more significant than that by Ca(OH)2, and the highest removal of xylan was caused by NaOH. Moreover, an optimized alkali loading of 10% (w/w DM) NaOH was determined. Under this favorable pretreatment condition, enzymatic hydrolysis of sweet sorghum bagasse following pretreatment was investigated. 92.0% of glucan and 53.3% of xylan conversion were obtained at enzyme loading of 10 FPU/g glucan. The fermentation of hydrolyzed slurry was performed using an engineered stain, Zymomonas mobilis TSH-01. A mass balance of the overall process was calculated, and 91.9 kg was achieved from one tonne of fresh sweet sorghum stalk. A low energy-consumption integrated technology for ethanol production from sweet sorghum stalks was presented in this work. Energy consumption for raw materials preparation and pretreatment were reduced or avoided in our process. Based on this technology, the recalcitrance of lignocellulose was destructed via a cost-efficient process and all sugars in sweet sorghum stalks lignocellulose were hydrolysed into fermentable sugars. Bioconversion of fermentable sugars released from sweet sorghum bagasse into different products except ethanol, such as butanol, biogas, and chemicals was feasible to operate under low energy-consumption conditions.

A novel cost-effective technology to convert sucrose and homocelluloses in sweet sorghum stalks into ethanol

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Sweet sorghum is regarded as a very promising energy crop for ethanol production because it not only supplies grain and sugar, but also offers lignocellulosic resource. Cost-competitive ethanol production requires bioconversion of all carbohydrates in stalks including of both sucrose and lignocellulose hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars. However, it is still a main challenge to reduce ethanol production cost and improve feasibility of industrial application. An integration of the different operations within the whole process is a potential solution. Results An integrated process combined advanced solid-state fermentation technology (ASSF) and alkaline pretreatment was presented in this work. Soluble sugars in sweet sorghum stalks were firstly converted into ethanol by ASSF using crushed stalks directly. Then, the operation combining ethanol distillation and alkaline pretreatment was performed in one distillation-reactor simultaneously. The corresponding investigation indicated that the addition of alkali did not affect the ethanol recovery. The effect of three alkalis, NaOH, KOH and Ca(OH)2 on pretreatment were investigated. The results indicated the delignification of lignocellulose by NaOH and KOH was more significant than that by Ca(OH)2, and the highest removal of xylan was caused by NaOH. Moreover, an optimized alkali loading of 10% (w/w DM) NaOH was determined. Under this favorable pretreatment condition, enzymatic hydrolysis of sweet sorghum bagasse following pretreatment was investigated. 92.0% of glucan and 53.3% of xylan conversion were obtained at enzyme loading of 10 FPU/g glucan. The fermentation of hydrolyzed slurry was performed using an engineered stain, Zymomonas mobilis TSH-01. A mass balance of the overall process was calculated, and 91.9 kg was achieved from one tonne of fresh sweet sorghum stalk. Conclusions A low energy-consumption integrated technology for ethanol production from sweet sorghum stalks was presented in this work. Energy consumption for raw materials preparation and pretreatment were reduced or avoided in our process. Based on this technology, the recalcitrance of lignocellulose was destructed via a cost-efficient process and all sugars in sweet sorghum stalks lignocellulose were hydrolysed into fermentable sugars. Bioconversion of fermentable sugars released from sweet sorghum bagasse into different products except ethanol, such as butanol, biogas, and chemicals was feasible to operate under low energy-consumption conditions. PMID:24286508

Biobutanol production from apple pomace: the importance of pretreatment methods on the fermentability of lignocellulosic agro-food wastes.

PubMed

Hijosa-Valsero, María; Paniagua-García, Ana I; Díez-Antolínez, Rebeca

2017-11-01

Apple pomace was studied as a possible raw material for biobutanol production. Five different soft physicochemical pretreatments (autohydrolysis, acids, alkalis, organic solvents and surfactants) were compared in a high-pressure reactor, whose working parameters (temperature, time and reagent concentration) were optimised to maximise the amount of simple sugars released and to minimise inhibitor generation. The pretreated biomass was subsequently subjected to a conventional enzymatic treatment to complete the hydrolysis. A thermal analysis (DSC) of the solid biomass indicated that lignin was mainly degraded during the enzymatic treatment. The hydrolysate obtained with the surfactant polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) (1.96% w/w) contained less inhibitors than any other pretreatment, yet providing 42 g/L sugars at relatively mild conditions (100 °C, 5 min), and was readily fermented by Clostridium beijerinckii CECT 508 in 96 h (3.55 g/L acetone, 9.11 g/L butanol, 0.26 g/L ethanol; 0.276 g B /g S yield; 91% sugar consumption). Therefore, it is possible to optimise pretreatment conditions of lignocellulosic apple pomace to reduce inhibitor concentrations in the final hydrolysate and perform successful ABE fermentations without the need of a detoxification stage.

7 CFR 1435.500 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUGAR PROGRAM Processor Sugar Payment-In-Kind (PIK) Program § 1435.500 General statement. This subpart shall be applicable to sugar beet and... sugarcane or sugar beets processed by the processors, reduce sugar production in return for a payment of...

7 CFR 1435.500 - General statement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUGAR PROGRAM Processor Sugar Payment-In-Kind (PIK) Program § 1435.500 General statement. This subpart shall be applicable to sugar beet and... sugarcane or sugar beets processed by the processors, reduce sugar production in return for a payment of...

Rate of cooling alters chip color, sugar contents, and gene expression profiles in stored potato tubers

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Potatoes accumulate sucrose and the reducing sugars glucose and fructose when stored at low temperatures. This process, cold-induced sweetening, has been studied extensively because potatoes with elevated reducing sugars produce undesirable, dark-colored products and acrylamide, a suspected carcinog...

Blocking hexose entry into glycolysis activates alternative metabolic conversion of these sugars and upregulates pentose metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

DOE PAGES

Khosravi, Claire; Battaglia, Evy; Kun, Roland S.; ...

2018-03-22

Background: Plant biomass is the most abundant carbon source for many fungal species. In the biobased industry fungi are used to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes to degrade agricultural waste biomass. Here we evaluated if it would be possible to create an Aspergillus nidulans strain that releases but does not metabolize hexoses from plant biomass. For this purpose, metabolic mutants were generated that were impaired in glycolysis, by using hexokinase (hxkA) and glucokinase (glkA) negative strains. To prevent repression of enzyme production due to the hexose accumulation, strains were generated that combined these mutations with a deletion in creA, the repressor involvedmore » in regulating preferential use of different carbon catabolic pathways. Results: Phenotypic analysis revealed reduced growth for the hxkA1 glkA4 mutant on wheat bran. However, hexoses did not accumulate during growth of the mutants on wheat bran, suggesting that glucose metabolism is re-routed towards alternative carbon catabolic pathways. The creAΔ4 mutation in combination with preventing initial phosphorylation in glycolysis resulted in better growth than the hxkA/glkA mutant and an increased expression of pentose catabolic and pentose phosphate pathway genes. This indicates that the reduced ability to use hexoses as carbon sources created a shift towards the pentose fraction of wheat bran as a major carbon source to support growth. Conclusion: Blocking the direct entry of hexoses to glycolysis activates alternative metabolic conversion of these sugars in A. nidulans during growth on plant biomass, but also upregulates conversion of other sugars, such as pentoses.« less

Blocking hexose entry into glycolysis activates alternative metabolic conversion of these sugars and upregulates pentose metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Khosravi, Claire; Battaglia, Evy; Kun, Roland S.

Background: Plant biomass is the most abundant carbon source for many fungal species. In the biobased industry fungi are used to produce lignocellulolytic enzymes to degrade agricultural waste biomass. Here we evaluated if it would be possible to create an Aspergillus nidulans strain that releases but does not metabolize hexoses from plant biomass. For this purpose, metabolic mutants were generated that were impaired in glycolysis, by using hexokinase (hxkA) and glucokinase (glkA) negative strains. To prevent repression of enzyme production due to the hexose accumulation, strains were generated that combined these mutations with a deletion in creA, the repressor involvedmore » in regulating preferential use of different carbon catabolic pathways. Results: Phenotypic analysis revealed reduced growth for the hxkA1 glkA4 mutant on wheat bran. However, hexoses did not accumulate during growth of the mutants on wheat bran, suggesting that glucose metabolism is re-routed towards alternative carbon catabolic pathways. The creAΔ4 mutation in combination with preventing initial phosphorylation in glycolysis resulted in better growth than the hxkA/glkA mutant and an increased expression of pentose catabolic and pentose phosphate pathway genes. This indicates that the reduced ability to use hexoses as carbon sources created a shift towards the pentose fraction of wheat bran as a major carbon source to support growth. Conclusion: Blocking the direct entry of hexoses to glycolysis activates alternative metabolic conversion of these sugars in A. nidulans during growth on plant biomass, but also upregulates conversion of other sugars, such as pentoses.« less

One-pot strategy for on-site enzyme production, biomass hydrolysis, and ethanol production using the whole solid-state fermentation medium of mixed filamentous fungi.

PubMed

Maehara, Larissa; Pereira, Sandra C; Silva, Adilson J; Farinas, Cristiane S

2018-02-01

The efficient use of renewable lignocellulosic feedstocks to obtain biofuels and other bioproducts is a key requirement for a sustainable biobased economy. This requires novel and effective strategies to reduce the cost contribution of the cellulolytic enzymatic cocktails needed to convert the carbohydrates into simple sugars, in order to make large-scale commercial processes economically competitive. Here, we propose the use of the whole solid-state fermentation (SSF) medium of mixed filamentous fungi as an integrated one-pot strategy for on-site enzyme production, biomass hydrolysis, and ethanol production. Ten different individual and mixed cultivations of commonly used industrial filamentous fungi (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus oryzae, Trichoderma harzianum, and Trichoderma reesei) were performed under SSF and the whole media (without the extraction step) were used in the hydrolysis of pretreated sugarcane bagasse. The cocultivation of T. reesei with A. oryzae increased the amount of glucose released by around 50%, compared with individual cultivations. The release of glucose and reducing sugars achieved using the whole SSF medium was around 3-fold higher than obtained with the enzyme extract. The addition of soybean protein (0.5% w/w) during the hydrolysis reaction further significantly improved the saccharification performance by blocking the lignin and avoiding unproductive adsorption of enzymes. The results of the alcoholic fermentation validated the overall integrated process, with a volumetric ethanol productivity of 4.77 g/L.h, representing 83.5% of the theoretical yield. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed one-pot integrated strategy using the whole SSF medium of mixed filamentous fungi for on-site enzymes production, biomass hydrolysis, and ethanol production. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2018. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Compatibility of High-Moisture Storage for Biochemical Conversion of Corn Stover: Storage Performance at Laboratory and Field Scales.

PubMed

Wendt, Lynn M; Murphy, J Austin; Smith, William A; Robb, Thomas; Reed, David W; Ray, Allison E; Liang, Ling; He, Qian; Sun, Ning; Hoover, Amber N; Nguyen, Quang A

2018-01-01

Wet anaerobic storage of corn stover can provide a year-round supply of feedstock to biorefineries meanwhile serving an active management approach to reduce the risks associated with fire loss and microbial degradation. Wet logistics systems employ particle size reduction early in the supply chain through field-chopping which removes the dependency on drying corn stover prior to baling, expands the harvest window, and diminishes the biorefinery size reduction requirements. Over two harvest years, in-field forage chopping was capable of reducing over 60% of the corn stover to a particle size of 6 mm or less. Aerobic and anaerobic storage methods were evaluated for wet corn stover in 100 L laboratory reactors. Of the methods evaluated, traditional ensiling resulted in <6% total solid dry matter loss (DML), about five times less than the aerobic storage process and slightly less than half that of the anaerobic modified-Ritter pile method. To further demonstrate the effectiveness of the anaerobic storage, a field demonstration was completed with 272 dry tonnes of corn stover; DML averaged <5% after 6 months. Assessment of sugar release as a result of dilute acid or dilute alkaline pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis suggested that when anaerobic conditions were maintained in storage, sugar release was either similar to or greater than as-harvested material depending on the pretreatment chemistry used. This study demonstrates that wet logistics systems offer practical benefits for commercial corn stover supply, including particle size reduction during harvest, stability in storage, and compatibility with biochemical conversion of carbohydrates for biofuel production. Evaluation of the operational efficiencies and costs is suggested to quantify the potential benefits of a fully-wet biomass supply system to a commercial biorefinery.

Compatibility of High-Moisture Storage for Biochemical Conversion of Corn Stover: Storage Performance at Laboratory and Field Scales

PubMed Central

Wendt, Lynn M.; Murphy, J. Austin; Smith, William A.; Robb, Thomas; Reed, David W.; Ray, Allison E.; Liang, Ling; He, Qian; Sun, Ning; Hoover, Amber N.; Nguyen, Quang A.

2018-01-01

Wet anaerobic storage of corn stover can provide a year-round supply of feedstock to biorefineries meanwhile serving an active management approach to reduce the risks associated with fire loss and microbial degradation. Wet logistics systems employ particle size reduction early in the supply chain through field-chopping which removes the dependency on drying corn stover prior to baling, expands the harvest window, and diminishes the biorefinery size reduction requirements. Over two harvest years, in-field forage chopping was capable of reducing over 60% of the corn stover to a particle size of 6 mm or less. Aerobic and anaerobic storage methods were evaluated for wet corn stover in 100 L laboratory reactors. Of the methods evaluated, traditional ensiling resulted in <6% total solid dry matter loss (DML), about five times less than the aerobic storage process and slightly less than half that of the anaerobic modified-Ritter pile method. To further demonstrate the effectiveness of the anaerobic storage, a field demonstration was completed with 272 dry tonnes of corn stover; DML averaged <5% after 6 months. Assessment of sugar release as a result of dilute acid or dilute alkaline pretreatment and subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis suggested that when anaerobic conditions were maintained in storage, sugar release was either similar to or greater than as-harvested material depending on the pretreatment chemistry used. This study demonstrates that wet logistics systems offer practical benefits for commercial corn stover supply, including particle size reduction during harvest, stability in storage, and compatibility with biochemical conversion of carbohydrates for biofuel production. Evaluation of the operational efficiencies and costs is suggested to quantify the potential benefits of a fully-wet biomass supply system to a commercial biorefinery. PMID:29632861

Feasibility and application of a retronasal aroma-trapping device to study in vivo aroma release during the consumption of model wine-derived beverages

PubMed Central

Muñoz-González, Carolina; Rodríguez-Bencomo, Juan José; Moreno-Arribas, Maria Victoria; Pozo-Bayón, Maria Ángeles

2014-01-01

New types of wine-derived beverages are now in the market. However, little is known about the impact of ingredient formulation on aroma release during consumption, which is directly linked to consumer preferences and liking. In this study, the optimization and validation of a retronasal aroma-trapping device (RATD) for the in vivo monitoring of aroma release was carried out. This device was applied to assess the impact of two main ingredients (sugar and ethanol) in these types of beverages on in vivo aroma release. Two aroma-trapping materials (Lichrolut and Tenax) were firstly assayed. Tenax provided higher recovery and lower intra- and inter-trap variability. In in vivo conditions, RATD provided an adequate linear range (R2 > 0.91) between 0 and 50 mg L−1 of aroma compounds. Differences in the total aroma release were observed in equally trained panelists. It was proven that the addition of sugar (up to 150 mg kg−1) did not have effect on aroma release, while ethanol (up to 40 mg L−1) enhanced the aroma release during drinking. The RATD is a useful tool to collect real in vivo data to extract reliable conclusions about the effect of beverage components on aroma release during consumption. The concentration of ethanol should be taken into consideration for the formulation of wine-derived beverages. PMID:25473493

Automated saccharification assay for determination of digestibility in plant materials.

PubMed

Gomez, Leonardo D; Whitehead, Caragh; Barakate, Abdellah; Halpin, Claire; McQueen-Mason, Simon J

2010-10-27

Cell wall resistance represents the main barrier for the production of second generation biofuels. The deconstruction of lignocellulose can provide sugars for the production of fuels or other industrial products through fermentation. Understanding the biochemical basis of the recalcitrance of cell walls to digestion will allow development of more effective and cost efficient ways to produce sugars from biomass. One approach is to identify plant genes that play a role in biomass recalcitrance, using association genetics. Such an approach requires a robust and reliable high throughput (HT) assay for biomass digestibility, which can be used to screen the large numbers of samples involved in such studies. We developed a HT saccharification assay based on a robotic platform that can carry out in a 96-well plate format the enzymatic digestion and quantification of the released sugars. The handling of the biomass powder for weighing and formatting into 96 wells is performed by a robotic station, where the plant material is ground, delivered to the desired well in the plates and weighed with a precision of 0.1 mg. Once the plates are loaded, an automated liquid handling platform delivers an optional mild pretreatment (< 100°C) followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of the biomass. Aliquots from the hydrolysis are then analyzed for the release of reducing sugar equivalents. The same platform can be used for the comparative evaluation of different enzymes and enzyme cocktails. The sensitivity and reliability of the platform was evaluated by measuring the saccharification of stems from lignin modified tobacco plants, and the results of automated and manual analyses compared. The automated assay systems are sensitive, robust and reliable. The system can reliably detect differences in the saccharification of plant tissues, and is able to process large number of samples with a minimum amount of human intervention. The automated system uncovered significant increases in the digestibility of certain lignin modified lines in a manner compatible with known effects of lignin modification on cell wall properties. We conclude that this automated assay platform is of sufficient sensitivity and reliability to undertake the screening of the large populations of plants necessary for mutant identification and genetic association studies.

Is lowering reducing sugars concentration in French fries an effective measure to reduce acrylamide concentration in food service establishments?

PubMed

Sanny, M; Jinap, S; Bakker, E J; van Boekel, M A J S; Luning, P A

2012-12-01

The objective of this study was to obtain insight into the actual effectiveness of lowering reducing sugars concentration in par-fried potato strips on the concentration and variation of acrylamide in French fries prepared in real-life situations in food service establishments. Acrylamide, frying time, frying temperature, and reducing sugars were measured and characteristics of fryers were recorded. Data showed that the use of par-fried potato strips with lower concentrations of reducing sugars than the commonly used potato strips was an effective measure to reduce acrylamide concentrations in French fries prepared under standardised frying conditions. However, there was still large variation in the acrylamide concentrations in French fries, although the variation in reducing sugars concentrations in low and normal types of par-fried potato strips was very small and the frying conditions were similar. Factors that could affect the temperature-time profile of frying oil were discussed, such as setting a lower frying temperature at the end than at the start of frying, product/oil ratio and thawing practice. These need to be controlled in daily practice to reduce variation in acrylamide. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Southeast Asia Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-04

this will increase corporate savings, thus accelerating capital formation for reinvestment. Reduction of direct taxes , the businssmen pointed out...users of cane sugar in the U.S. to a sweetener derived from corn drastically affected the U.S. sugar quota for the Philippines. Cherneguin called...removal of the export tax on coconut oil should compensate the mills for the increase in domestic copra prices." A position paper released by the

Form recovery by understory sugar maple under uneven-aged management

Treesearch

George R., Jr. Trimble

1968-01-01

A study of advanced sugar maple reproduction on a good site in West Virginia indicated that considerable improvement of stem form takes place after selection cutting in the overstory. The study stems were 1 to 6 inches in d.b.h. and many of them were over 50 years old. To an appreciable extent, flat bps and minor crooks were overcome after partial release.

Preparation of insulin-containing microcapsules by a layer-by-layer deposition of concanavalin A and glycogen.

PubMed

Sato, Katsuhiko; Kodama, Daisuke; Endo, Yoshihiro; Anzai, Jun-ichi

2009-01-01

The sugar sensitive microcapsules were prepared by a layer-by-layer deposition of concanavalin A (Con A) and glycogen on a calcium carbonate particle containing fluorescein-labeled insulin (F-insulin). The Con A/glycogen multilayer capsules were formed through sugar-lectin interactions by using inner and outer poly(ethyleneimine)/poly(vinyl sulfate) multilayers as supports, while without the supports the microcapsules could not be formed. Fluorescent microscope observations revealed that the capsules thus prepared are spherical in shape with 3-10 microm diameter. The microcapsules released encapsulated F-insulin upon addition of sugars. This is because the added sugars replace glycogen in the binding site of Con A, resulting in the enhanced permeability of the microcapsules to insulin.

Sugar metabolism, chip color, invertase activity, and gene expression during long-term cold storage of potato (Solanum tuberosum) tubers from wild-type and vacuolar invertase silencing lines of Katahdin.

PubMed

Wiberley-Bradford, Amy E; Busse, James S; Jiang, Jiming; Bethke, Paul C

2014-11-16

Storing potato tubers at low temperatures minimizes sprouting and disease but can cause an accumulation of reducing sugars in a process called cold-induced sweetening. Tubers with increased amounts of reducing sugars produce dark-colored, bitter-tasting fried products with elevated amounts of acrylamide, a possible carcinogen. Vacuolar invertase (VInv), which converts sucrose produced by starch breakdown to glucose and fructose, is the key determinant of reducing sugar accumulation during cold-induced sweetening. In this study, wild-type tubers and tubers in which VInv expression was reduced by RNA interference were used to investigate time- and temperature-dependent changes in sugar contents, chip color, and expression of VInv and other genes involved in starch metabolism in tubers during long-term cold storage. VInv activities and tuber reducing sugar contents were much lower, and tuber sucrose contents were much higher, in transgenic than in wild-type tubers stored at 3-9°C for up to eight months. Large differences in VInv mRNA accumulation were not observed at later times in storage, especially at temperatures below 9°C, so differences in invertase activity were likely established early in the storage period and maintained by stability of the invertase protein. Sugar contents, chip color, and expression of several of the studied genes, including AGPase and GBSS, were affected by storage temperature in both wild-type and transgenic tubers. Though transcript accumulation for other sugar-metabolism genes was affected by storage temperature and duration, it was essentially unaffected by invertase silencing and altered sugar contents. Differences in stem- and bud-end sugar contents in wild-type and transgenic tubers suggested different compartmentalization of sucrose at the two ends of stored tubers. VInv silencing significantly reduced cold-induced sweetening in stored potato tubers, likely by means of differential VInv expression early in storage. Transgenic tubers retained sensitivity to storage temperature, and accumulated greater amounts of sucrose, glucose and fructose at 3°C than at 7-9°C. At each storage temperature, suppression of VInv expression and large differences in tuber sugar contents had no effect on expression of AGPase and GBSS, genes involved in starch metabolism, suggesting that transcription of these genes is not regulated by tuber sugar content.

Differential effects of sugar-mimic alkaloids in mulberry latex on sugar metabolism and disaccharidases of Eri and domesticated silkworms: enzymatic adaptation of Bombyx mori to mulberry defense.

PubMed

Hirayama, Chikara; Konno, Kotaro; Wasano, Naoya; Nakamura, Masatoshi

2007-12-01

Mulberry leaves (Morus spp.) exude latex rich in sugar-mimic alkaloids, 1,4-dideoxy-1,4-imino-d-arabinitol (d-AB1) and 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), as a defense against herbivorous insects. Sugar-mimic alkaloids are inhibitors of sugar-metabolizing enzymes, and are toxic to the Eri silkworm, Samia ricini, a generalist herbivore, but not at all to the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, a mulberry specialist. To address the phenomena, we fed both larvae diets containing different sugar sources (sucrose, glucose or none) with or without sugar-mimic alkaloids from mulberry latex. In S. ricini, addition of sugar-mimic alkaloids to the sucrose (the major sugar in mulberry leaves) diet reduced both growth and the absorption ratio of sugar, but it reduced neither in B. mori. The midgut soluble sucrase activity of S. ricini was low and inhibited by very low concentrations of sugar-mimic alkaloids (IC(50)=0.9-8.2microM), but that of B. mori was high and not inhibited even by very high concentrations (IC(50)>1000microM) of sugar-mimic alkaloids. In S. ricini, the addition of sugar-mimic alkaloids to the glucose diet still had considerable negative effects on growth, although it did not reduce the absorption ratio of glucose. The hemolymph of S. ricini fed sugar-mimic alkaloids contained sugar-mimic alkaloids. The trehalose concentration in the hemolymph increased significantly in S. ricini fed sugar-mimic alkaloids, but not in B. mori. The trehalase activities of S. ricini were lower and inhibited by lower concentrations of sugar-mimic alkaloids than those of B. mori. These results suggest that sugar-mimic alkaloids in mulberry latex exert toxicity to S. ricini larvae first by inhibiting midgut sucrase and digestion of sucrose, and secondly, after being absorbed into hemolymph, by inhibiting trehalase and utilization of trehalose, the major blood sugar. Further, our results reveal that B. mori larvae evolved enzymatic adaptation to mulberry defense by developing sucrase and trehalase that are insensitive to sugar-mimic alkaloids.

Impact of replacing regular chocolate milk with the reduced-sugar option on milk consumption in elementary schools in Saskatoon, Canada.

PubMed

Henry, Carol; Whiting, Susan J; Finch, Sarah L; Zello, Gordon A; Vatanparast, Hassan

2016-05-01

Excess sugar consumption in children has led to the removal of chocolate milk from some schools. Lower-sugar formulations, if accepted, would provide the benefits of milk consumption. In a cross-over trial, milk consumption was measured in 8 schools over 6 weeks in 2 phases: phase 1 provided standard 1% chocolate milk and plain 2% milk choices for the first 3 weeks, and phase 2 provided reduced-sugar 1% chocolate milk and plain 2% milk for the next 3 weeks. Milk selection and milk wasted were measured by sex and grade (1-8). Children chose chocolate milk more often than white milk in both phases (phase 1, 8.93% ± 0.75% vs. 0.87% ± 0.11% (p < 0.001), and phase 2, 5.76% ± 0.29% vs. 0.78% ± 0.14% (p < 0.001), respectively). Fewer children chose reduced-sugar chocolate milk in phase 2 (p < 0.001). A greater percentage of younger students (grades 1-4) than older students (grades 5-8) purchased milk in both phases (phase 1, 11.10% ± 0.81% vs. 8.36% ± 0.74%, p = 0.020, and phase 2, 8.47% ± 0.43% vs. 4.62% ± 0.40%, p < 0.001, respectively); older children drank more milk at lunch. Schoolchildren preferred chocolate milk over plain milk even when a reduced-sugar formula was offered; however, switching to reduced-sugar chocolate milk led to a decrease in the number of students choosing milk. Longer-duration studies are required to determine if students would purchase reduced-sugar chocolate milk at the same rate as they would purchase regular chocolate milk.

Effect of germination temperatures on proteolysis of the gluten-free grains sorghum and millet during malting and mashing.

PubMed

Chiba, Y; Bryce, J H; Goodfellow, V; MacKinlay, J; Agu, R C; Brosnan, J M; Bringhurst, T A; Harrison, B

2012-04-11

Our study showed that sorghum and millet followed a similar pattern of changes when they were malted under similar conditions. When the malt from these cereals was mashed, both cereal types produced wide spectra of substrates (sugars and amino acids) that are required for yeast fermentation when malted at either lower or higher temperatures. At the germination temperatures of 20, 25, and 30 °C used in malting both cereal types, production of reducing sugars and that of free amino nitrogen (FAN) were similar. This is an important quality attribute for both cereals because it implies that variation in temperature during the malting of sorghum and millet, especially when malting temperature is difficult to control, and also reflecting temperature variations, experienced in different countries, will not have an adverse effect on the production and release of amino acids and sugars required by yeast during fermentation. Such consistency in the availability of yeast food (substrates) for metabolism during fermentation when sorghum and millet are malted at various temperatures is likely to reduce processing issues when their malts are used for brewing. Although sorghum has gained wide application in the brewing industry, and has been used extensively in brewing gluten-free beer on industrial scale, this is not the case with millet. The work described here provides novel information regarding the potential of millet for brewing. When both cereals were malted, the results obtained for millet in this study followed patterns similar to those of sorghum. This suggests that millet, in terms of sugars and amino acids, can play a role similar to that of sorghum in the brewing industry. This further suggests that millet, like sorghum, would be a good raw material for brewing gluten-free beer. Inclusion of millet as a brewing raw material will increase the availability of suitable materials (raw material sustainability) for use in the production of gluten-free beer, beverages, and other products. The availability of wider range of raw materials will not only help to reduce costs of beer production, but by extension, the benefit of reduced cost of production can be gained by consumers of gluten-free beer as the product would be cheaper and more widely available.

Hydrolysis of Agave fourcroydes Lemaire (henequen) leaf juice and fermentation with Kluyveromyces marxianus for ethanol production

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Carbon sources for biofuel production are wide-ranging and their availability depends on the climate and soil conditions of the land where the production chain is located. Henequen (Agave fourcroydes Lem.) is cultivated in Yucatán, Mexico to produce natural fibers from the leaves, and a juice containing fructans is produced during this process. Fructans can be hydrolyzed to fructose and glucose and metabolized into ethanol by appropriate yeasts. In Mexico, different Agave species provide the carbon source for (distilled and non-distilled) alcoholic beverage production using the stem of the plant, whilst the leaves are discarded. In this work, we investigated the effect of thermal acid and enzymatic hydrolysis of the juice on the amount of reducing sugars released. Growth curves were generated with the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Kluyveromyces marxianus and fermentations were then carried out with Kluyveromyces marxianus to determine alcohol yields. Results With thermal acid hydrolysis, the greatest increase in reducing sugars (82.6%) was obtained using 5% H2SO4 at 100°C with a 30 min reaction time. Statistically similar results can be obtained using the same acid concentration at a lower temperature and with a shorter reaction time (60°C, 15 min), or by using 1% H2SO4 at 100°C with a 30 min reaction time. In the case of enzymatic hydrolysis, the use of 5.75, 11.47 and 22.82 U of enzyme did not produce significant differences in the increase in reducing sugars. Although both hydrolysis processes obtained similar results, the difference was observed after fermentation. Ethanol yields were 50.3 ± 4 and 80.04 ± 5.29% of the theoretical yield respectively. Conclusions Final reducing sugars concentrations obtained with both thermal acid and enzymatic hydrolysis were similar. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a good ethanol producer, did not grow in the hydrolysates. Only Kluyveromyces marxianus was able to grow in them, giving a higher ethanol yield with the enzymatic hydrolysate. The leaves account for a non-negligible weight of the total agave plant biomass, so this work complements the knowledge already developed on agave fermentations by making it possible to produce ethanol from almost the entire plant (stem and leaves). PMID:24529165

Design features of a proposed insecticidal sugar trap for biting midges.

PubMed

Cohnstaedt, Lee William; Snyder, Darren

2016-09-30

Insecticidal sugar baits for mosquitoes and house ies have proven e cacy to reduce insect populations and consequently, disease transmission rates. The new insecticidal sugar trap (IST) is designed speci cally for controlling biting midge disease vector populations around livestock and near larval habitats. The trap operates by combining light-emitting diode (LED) technology with insecticidal sugar baits. The positive photo attraction of Culicoides elicited by the LEDs, draws the insects to the insecticidal sugar bait, which can be made from various commercial insecticide formulations (pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, etc.) or naturally derived formulations (boric acid, garlic oil, etc.) lethal to Culicoides. Insecticidal sugar trap advantages include: customizable LED lights, they can be used with several di erent oral insecticides that have di erent modes of action to help combat the evolution of pesticide resistance, screening on the trap reduces non-target insect feeding (for example bees and butter ies), targets males and females of the species because both must feed on sugar, and low energy LEDs and a solar panel reduce trap maintenance to re lling sugar baits, rather than replacing batteries. This article discusses key components of an IST, which increase the traps e ectiveness for biting midge control.

Sugars and health: a review of current evidence and future policy.

PubMed

Evans, Charlotte Elizabeth Louise

2017-08-01

The automation of the process of extracting sugars in the 1900s reduced cost and increased availability of sugars leading to a dramatic rise in consumption, which reached a peak in the 1970s. There are different definitions for sugars not naturally available in foods, and free sugars is the term used by WHO. The epidemiological evidence of the associations between sugars and obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus is fairly strong and consistent, particularly for sugar sweetened drinks in adults. The Department of Health in the UK and many other countries have recently updated their recommendations for free sugars as a result of this scientific evidence. In the UK the recommended amount of free sugars is currently 5 % of energy (reduced from 10 %), which is difficult to meet and very different from current British dietary patterns. Reducing intakes of free sugars is a challenge and will necessitate a range of different actions and policies. Public Health England has put forward eight suggestions but the four most likely to improve dietary behaviour based on available evidence are social marketing, reduction of marketing of high sugar foods and drinks to children, reformulation and reductions in portion size and a sugar excise tax. Any action taken needs to be evaluated to check inequalities are not widened. The new childhood obesity strategy has incorporated some but not all of these strategies and may not go far enough. It is likely that government policies alone will not be sufficient and a change in the food culture is necessary to see real progress.

Operant licking for intragastric sugar infusions: differential reinforcing actions of glucose, sucrose and fructose in mice

PubMed Central

Sclafani, Anthony; Ackroff, Karen

2015-01-01

Intragastric (IG) flavor conditioning studies in rodents indicate that isocaloric sugar infusions differ in their reinforcing actions, with glucose and sucrose more potent than fructose. Here we determined if the sugars also differ in their ability to maintain operant self-administration by licking an empty spout for IG infusions. Food-restricted C57BL/6J mice were trained 1 h/day to lick a food-baited spout, which triggered IG infusions of 16% sucrose. In testing, the mice licked an empty spout, which triggered IG infusions of different sugars. Mice shifted from sucrose to 16% glucose increased dry licking, whereas mice shifted to 16% fructose rapidly reduced licking to low levels. Other mice shifted from sucrose to IG water reduced licking more slowly but reached the same low levels. Thus IG fructose, like water, is not reinforcing to hungry mice. The more rapid decline in licking induced by fructose may be due to the sugar's satiating effects. Further tests revealed that the Glucose mice increased their dry licking when shifted from 16% to 8% glucose, and reduced their dry licking when shifted to 32% glucose. This may reflect caloric regulation and/or differences in satiation. The Glucose mice did not maintain caloric intake when tested with different sugars. They self-infused less sugar when shifted from 16% glucose to 16% sucrose, and even more so when shifted to 16% fructose. Reduced sucrose self-administration may occur because the fructose component of the disaccharide reduces its reinforcing potency. FVB mice also reduced operant licking when tested with 16% fructose, yet learned to prefer a flavor paired with IG fructose. These data indicate that sugars differ substantially in their ability to support IG self-administration and flavor preference learning. The same post-oral reinforcement process appears to mediate operant licking and flavor learning, although flavor learning provides a more sensitive measure of sugar reinforcement. PMID:26485294

Sugar reduction in probiotic chocolate-flavored milk: Impact on dynamic sensory profile and liking.

PubMed

Oliveira, Denize; Antúnez, Lucía; Giménez, Ana; Castura, John C; Deliza, Rosires; Ares, Gastón

2015-09-01

Reducing the sugar content of processed products has been claimed to be one of the most efficient strategies for decreasing sugar intake. The present work aimed at studying the influence of sugar reduction on the dynamic sensory profile and consumers' liking of probiotic chocolate-flavored milks using a novel temporal methodology, and to evaluate two alternatives (vanilla flavor and thaumatin) to attenuate the sensory changes caused by sugar reduction. Probiotic chocolate-flavored milks were formulated with different reductions in added sugar (0, 20, 40 and 60%). Vanilla flavor and thaumatin were added to the sugar-reduced samples at two concentrations. Samples were evaluated by trained assessors using Temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA). Additionally, consumers evaluated the dynamic sensory profile of a subset of the samples using TCATA and indicated their overall liking using a 9-point hedonic scale. Results from the present work showed that the main effect of sugar reduction on the dynamic sensory profile of the probiotic chocolate-flavored milks was related to changes in sweetness, bitterness and thickness. A reduction in added sugar of 20% led to changes in sweetness intensity, which were perceived by both trained assessors and consumers. However, consumers' liking was not significantly affected by sugar reduction up to 40%. The addition of vanilla flavor at suprathreshold concentrations was not efficient in increasing sweetness perception in chocolate-flavored milks with the lowest sugar reduction percentage, suggesting that it may not be a feasible alternative for reducing sugar in this product category. These results suggest that in many situations sugar content of food products could be decreased without a relevant impact on consumers' sensory and hedonic perception. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eco-physiological response of Populus euphratica Oliv. to water release of the lower reaches of the Tarim River, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Q.; Ruan, X.; Chen, Y. N.; Li, W. H.

2007-10-01

Eco-physiological and plant performance responses and acclimation of Populus euphratica Oliv. to water release of the lower reaches of Tarim River, China were investigated. Three representative areas and 15 transects were selected along the lower reaches of the Tarim River. The groundwater level and salt content as well as plant performance and the contents of proline, soluble sugar, and plant endogenous hormone (ABA, CTK) in leaves were monitored and analyzed before- and after-water release. The groundwater level was raised in different areas and transects by the water release program. The physiological stress to P. euphratica decreased after the water release. Our results suggested that the groundwater level in the studied region changed from -3.15 to -4.12 m, salt content of the groundwater from 67.15 to 72.65 mM, the proline content from 9.28 to 11.06 mM, the soluble sugar content from 224.71 to 252.16 mM, the ABA content from 3.59 to 5.01 ng/(g FW), and the CK content from 4.01 to 4.56 ng/(g FW)- for the optimum growth and recover of P. euphratica indicated by the plant performance parameters, and the efficiency of water release was the highest.

Effects of cooking methods on starch and sugar composition of sweetpotato storage roots

PubMed Central

Wei, Shuying; Lu, Guoquan; Cao, Heping

2017-01-01

Sweetpotato has rich nutrition, good ecological adaptability and high yield. There is a lack of knowledge about the effects of cooking methods on starch and sugar components in elite Chinese cultivars. In this study, sweetpotato storage roots from four cultivars “Xinxiang”, “Jinyu”, “Zimei” and “Yuzishu 263” were treated by baking, boiling and steaming and subsequently analyzed for starch content, amylase activity and sugar contents including glucose, fructose, sucrose and maltose. Results indicated that cooking reduced starch content and final amylase activity and increased reducing sugar content especially maltose content, but did not have significant influence on non-reducing sugar content. These effects were different among the four cultivars and three cooking methods. Baking led to the least starch reduction. Storage roots of “Jinyu” contained the highest amount of sugar content and thus sweetest. Sugar composition analysis suggested that cultivars “Xinxiang” and “Jinyu” belong to high-maltose cultivars. This study may provide useful information for evaluating the cooking quality of sweetpotato cultivars. PMID:28827808

Bioconversion of Sugarcane Biomass into Ethanol: An Overview about Composition, Pretreatment Methods, Detoxification of Hydrolysates, Enzymatic Saccharification, and Ethanol Fermentation

PubMed Central

Canilha, Larissa; Chandel, Anuj Kumar; Suzane dos Santos Milessi, Thais; Antunes, Felipe Antônio Fernandes; Luiz da Costa Freitas, Wagner; das Graças Almeida Felipe, Maria; da Silva, Silvio Silvério

2012-01-01

Depleted supplies of fossil fuel, regular price hikes of gasoline, and environmental damage have necessitated the search for economic and eco-benign alternative of gasoline. Ethanol is produced from food/feed-based substrates (grains, sugars, and molasses), and its application as an energy source does not seem fit for long term due to the increasing fuel, food, feed, and other needs. These concerns have enforced to explore the alternative means of cost competitive and sustainable supply of biofuel. Sugarcane residues, sugarcane bagasse (SB), and straw (SS) could be the ideal feedstock for the second-generation (2G) ethanol production. These raw materials are rich in carbohydrates and renewable and do not compete with food/feed demands. However, the efficient bioconversion of SB/SS (efficient pretreatment technology, depolymerization of cellulose, and fermentation of released sugars) remains challenging to commercialize the cellulosic ethanol. Among the technological challenges, robust pretreatment and development of efficient bioconversion process (implicating suitable ethanol producing strains converting pentose and hexose sugars) have a key role to play. This paper aims to review the compositional profile of SB and SS, pretreatment methods of cane biomass, detoxification methods for the purification of hydrolysates, enzymatic hydrolysis, and the fermentation of released sugars for ethanol production. PMID:23251086

Regulation of sugar metabolism in wild-type and low-invertase transgenic chipping potatoes during and after cooling for low-temperature storage

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Regulation of sugar metabolism in cold-stored potato tubers has significant ramifications for potato chip and French fry producers and consumers. Though low-temperature storage reduces losses due to sprouting and disease, it induces accumulation of the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. These rea...

Temperature-dependent regulation of sugar metabolism in wild-type and low-invertase transgenic chipping potatoes during and after cooling for low-temperature storage

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Regulation of sugar metabolism in cold-stored potato tubers has significant ramifications for potato chip and French fry producers and consumers. Though low-temperature storage reduces losses due to sprouting and disease, it induces accumulation of the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. These rea...

Raw Starch Degrading Amylase Production by Various Fungal Cultures Grown on Cassava Waste

PubMed Central

Balaji, P.; Eyini, M.

2006-01-01

The solid waste of sago industry using cassava was fermented by Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus and Rhizopus stolonifer in solid state fermentation. Cassava waste contained 52 per cent starch and 2.9 per cent protein by dry weight. The amylase activity was maintained at a high level and the highest amylase activity was observed on the 8th day in R. stolonifer mediated fermentation. R. stolonifer was more efficient than Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus in bioconverting cassava waste into fungal protein (90.24 mg/g) by saccharifying 70% starch and releasing 44.5% reducing sugars in eight days of solid state fermentation. PMID:24039485

Designing polymers with sugar-based advantages for bioactive delivery applications.

PubMed

Zhang, Yingyue; Chan, Jennifer W; Moretti, Alysha; Uhrich, Kathryn E

2015-12-10

Sugar-based polymers have been extensively explored as a means to increase drug delivery systems' biocompatibility and biodegradation. Here,we review he use of sugar-based polymers for drug delivery applications, with a particular focus on the utility of the sugar component(s) to provide benefits for drug targeting and stimuli responsive systems. Specifically, numerous synthetic methods have been developed to reliably modify naturally-occurring polysaccharides, conjugate sugar moieties to synthetic polymer scaffolds to generate glycopolymers, and utilize sugars as a multifunctional building block to develop sugar-linked polymers. The design of sugar-based polymer systems has tremendous implications on both the physiological and biological properties imparted by the saccharide units and are unique from synthetic polymers. These features include the ability of glycopolymers to preferentially target various cell types and tissues through receptor interactions, exhibit bioadhesion for prolonged residence time, and be rapidly recognized and internalized by cancer cells. Also discussed are the distinct stimuli-sensitive properties of saccharide-modified polymers to mediate drug release under desired conditions. Saccharide-based systems with inherent pH- and temperature-sensitive properties, as well as enzyme-cleavable polysaccharides for targeted bioactive delivery, are covered. Overall, this work emphasizes inherent benefits of sugar-containing polymer systems for bioactive delivery.

Notice of release of a high fiber sugarcane variety Ho 02-113

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, Sugarcane Research Unit (SRU); the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station of the LSU Agricultural Center; and the American Sugar Cane League of the U.S.A, Inc., announce the release of a new high-fiber variety, Ho 02-113...

Quantitative investigation of non-hydrolytic disruptive activity on crystalline cellulose and application to recombinant swollenin.

PubMed

Wang, Yuguo; Tang, Rentao; Tao, Jin; Gao, Gui; Wang, Xiaonan; Mu, Ying; Feng, Yan

2011-09-01

For the efficient degradation and bioconversion of cellulosic biomass, it is important to efficiently disrupt and convert crystalline regions of cellulose into easily hydrolyzable regions than to simply hydrolyze cellulose. Expansin-like proteins such as swollenins have disruptive functions on lignocellulose, including crystalline cellulose, via non-hydrolytic mechanisms. In this work, we produced the swollenin from Trichoderma asperellum in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was then refolded into the bioactive form with simultaneous purification via a novel cellulose-assisted process. We devised a novel, simple, and efficient method to quantitatively determine the non-hydrolytic disruptive activity of swollenin on crystalline cellulose. This method is based on the synergism of the swollenin and the endoglucanase FnCel5A from Fervidobacterium nodosum. The change from crystalline regions into easily hydrolyzable forms, due to non-hydrolytic disruption, might be slight and not easily be observed. However, disrupted regions of cellulose could be hydrolyzed by FnCel5A, and reducing sugars were formed by the synergism. The disruptive function of the swollenin was quantitatively characterized by measuring the release of reducing sugars. These methods and processes will be useful for further research on non-hydrolytic disruptive bioactivities and provide novel approaches for the efficient and economical bioconversion of cellulosic biomass.

Production of spent mushroom substrate hydrolysates useful for cultivation of Lactococcus lactis by dilute sulfuric acid, cellulase and xylanase treatment.

PubMed

Qiao, Jian-Jun; Zhang, Yan-Fei; Sun, Li-Fan; Liu, Wei-Wei; Zhu, Hong-Ji; Zhang, Zhijun

2011-09-01

Spent mushroom substrate (SMS) was treated with dilute sulfuric acid followed by cellulase and xylanase treatment to produce hydrolysates that could be used as the basis for media for the production of value added products. A L9 (3(4)) orthogonal experiment was performed to optimize the acid treatment process. Pretreatment with 6% (w/w) dilute sulfuric acid at 120°C for 120 min provided the highest reducing sugar yield of 267.57 g/kg SMS. No furfural was detected in the hydrolysates. Exposure to 20PFU of cellulase and 200 XU of xylanase per gram of pretreated SMS at 40°C resulted in the release of 79.85 g/kg or reducing sugars per kg acid pretreated SMS. The dilute sulfuric acid could be recycled to process fresh SMS four times. SMS hydrolysates neutralized with ammonium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, or calcium hydroxide could be used as the carbon source for cultivation of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis W28 and a cell density of 2.9×10(11)CFU/mL could be obtained. The results provide a foundation for the development of value-added products based on SMS. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citric Acid Production by Aspergillus niger Cultivated on Parkia biglobosa Fruit Pulp

PubMed Central

Abidoye, Khadijat Toyin; Tahir, Hauwa; Ibrahim, Aliyu Dabai; Aransiola, Sesan Abiodun

2014-01-01

The study was conducted to investigate the potential of Parkia biglobosa fruit pulp as substrate for citric acid production by Aspergillus niger. Reducing sugar was estimated by 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid and citric acid was estimated spectrophotometrically using pyridine-acetic anhydride methods. The studies revealed that production parameters (pH, inoculum size, substrate concentration, incubation temperature, and fermentation period) had profound effect on the amount of citric acid produced. The maximum yield was obtained at the pH of 2 with citric acid of 1.15 g/L and reducing sugar content of 0.541 mMol−1, 3% vegetative inoculum size with citric acid yield of 0.53 g/L and reducing sugar content of 8.87 mMol−1, 2% of the substrate concentration with citric acid yield of 0.83 g/L and reducing sugar content of 9.36 mMol−1, incubation temperature of 55°C with citric acid yield of 0.62 g/L and reducing sugar content of 8.37 mMol−1, and fermentation period of 5 days with citric acid yield of 0.61 g/L and reducing sugar content of 3.70 mMol−1. The results of this study are encouraging and suggest that Parkia biglobosa pulp can be harnessed at low concentration for large scale citric acid production. PMID:27433535

The Effect of Sugarcane Bagassès Size on the Properties of Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jun; Zhou, Guoqiang; Li, Jun

2017-06-01

The influence of milled bagasse particle size on their reducing sugar and lignin content during dilute acid hydrolysis followed by enzymolysis was investigated. The biomass crystal structures of hydrolyzed residues and enzymolyzed substrates were studied with X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The results showed that the conversion ratio of reducing sugar declined with decreasing milled bagasse particle size. The conversion ratio of reducing sugar after acid hydrolysis decreased from 31.3% to 28.9%. The smaller of the milled bagasse particle size was, the higher of the klason lignin content of hydrolyzed residuals was, which resulted in a decline in conversion ratio of reducing sugar during enzymolysis. In this study, the optimal size of milled bagasse particles was 10 to 20 meshes. The total reducing sugar conversion ratio was 61.5%, consisting of 31.3% in hydrolysis and 30.2% in enzymolysis. After hydrolysis, the specific surface area and pore size increased, and the fiber length was shortened. The inner microfiber bundles were exposed, which improved the accessibility of cellulase and the efficiency of enzymolysis.

Short communication: simultaneous analysis of reducing sugars and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde at a low concentration by high performance anion exchange chromatography with electrochemical detector, compared with HPLC with refractive index detector.

PubMed

Guan, Y-G; Yu, P; Yu, S-J; Xu, X-B; Wu, X-L

2012-11-01

A simultaneous analysis of reducing sugars and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde of the Maillard reaction products was detailed. It was based on a high performance anion exchange chromatography with electrochemical detector system and an HPLC with refractive index detector. Results showed that high performance anion exchange chromatography with electrochemical detector using a CarboPac PA-1 column (Dionex Corp., Sunnyvale, CA) was more suitable for reducing sugars and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde determination, especially for trace analysis. The lowest detectable limit of reducing sugars and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde was 0.00005 mol/L in this experiment. However, HPLC with a refractive index detector always produces a tailing peak for 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde, and mannose and fructose cannot be absolutely separated. The results of the present study could provide a more sensitive means for 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde and reducing sugar detection. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhancing the enzymatic hydrolysis of corn stover by an integrated wet-milling and alkali pretreatment.

PubMed

He, Xun; Miao, Yelian; Jiang, Xuejian; Xu, Zidong; Ouyang, Pingkai

2010-04-01

An integrated wet-milling and alkali pretreatment was applied to corn stover prior to enzymatic hydrolysis. The effects of NaOH concentration in the pretreatment on crystalline structure, chemical composition, and reducing-sugar yield of corn stover were investigated, and the mechanism of increasing reducing-sugar yield by the pretreatment was discussed. The experimental results showed that the crystalline structure of corn stover was disrupted, and lignin was removed, while cellulose and hemicellulose were retained in corn stover by the pretreatment with 1% NaOH in 1 h. The reducing-sugar yield from the pretreated corn stovers increased from 20.2% to 46.7% when the NaOH concentration increased from 0% to 1%. The 1% NaOH pretreated corn stover had a holocellulose conversion of 55.1%. The increase in reducing-sugar yield was related to the crystalline structure disruption and delignification of corn stover. It was clarified that the pretreatment significantly enhanced the conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose in the corn stover to sugars.

The effect of alpha amylase enzyme on quality of sweet sorghum juice for chrystal sugar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marwati, T.; Cahyaningrum, N.; Widodo, S.; Astiati, U. T.; Budiyanto, A.; Wahyudiono; Arif, A. B.; Richana, N.

2018-01-01

Sweet sorghum juice (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) has characteristics similar to sugar cane juice and potentially used for sugar substitutes that can support food security. Nevertheless the sweet sorghum juicecontain starch which impede sorghum sugar crystallization. Therefore, research on the enzymatic process is needed to convert starch into reducing sugar. The experimental design used was the Factorial Randomized Design with the first factor was alpha amylase enzyme concentration (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 μL/100 mL) and second factor was incubation time (0, 30, 60, 90 minute) at temperature 100°C. The experiment was conducted on fresh sweet sorghum. The results showed that the addition of the alpha amylase enzyme increased the content of reducing sugar and decreased levels of starch. Elevating concentration of alpha amylase enzyme will increase the reducing sugar content in sweet sorghum juice. The optimum alpha amylase enzyme concentration to produce the highest total sugar was 80 μL/100 mL of sweet sorghum juice with the optimum incubation time was 90 minutes. The results of this study are expected to create a new sweetener for sugar substitution. From the economic prospective aspect, sorghum is a potential crop and can be relied upon to support the success of the food diversification program which further leads to the world food security

Estimating the potential of taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages to reduce consumption and generate revenue.

PubMed

Andreyeva, Tatiana; Chaloupka, Frank J; Brownell, Kelly D

2011-06-01

Beverage taxes came into light with increasing concerns about obesity, particularly among youth. Sugar-sweetened beverages have become a target of anti-obesity initiatives with increasing evidence of their link to obesity. Our paper offers a method for estimating revenues from an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages that governments of various levels could direct towards obesity prevention. We construct a model projecting beverage consumption and tax revenues based on best available data on regional beverage consumption, historic trends and recent estimates of the price elasticity of sugar-sweetened beverage demand. The public health impact of beverage taxes could be substantial. An estimated 24% reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption from a penny-per-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage tax could reduce daily per capita caloric intake from sugar-sweetened beverages from the current 190-200 cal to 145-150 cal, if there is no substitution to other caloric beverages or food. A national penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could generate new tax revenue of $79 billion over 2010-2015. A modest tax on sugar-sweetened beverages could both raise significant revenues and improve public health by reducing obesity. To the extent that at least some of the tax revenues get invested in obesity prevention programs, the public health benefits could be even more pronounced. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential Anoxic Expression of Sugar-Regulated Genes Reveals Diverse Interactions between Sugar and Anaerobic Signaling Systems in Rice

PubMed Central

Lim, Mi-na; Lee, Sung-eun; Yim, Hui-kyeong; Kim, Jeong Hoe; Yoon, In Sun; Hwang, Yong-sic

2013-01-01

The interaction between the dual roles of sugar as a metabolic fuel and a regulatory molecule was unveiled by examining the changes in sugar signaling upon oxygen deprivation, which causes the drastic alteration in the cellular energy status. In our study, the expression of anaerobically induced genes is commonly responsive to sugar, either under the control of hexokinase or non-hexokinase mediated signaling cascades. Only sugar regulation via the hexokinase pathway was susceptible for O2 deficiency or energy deficit conditions evoked by uncoupler. Examination of sugar regulation of those genes under anaerobic conditions revealed the presence of multiple paths underlying anaerobic induction of gene expression in rice, subgrouped into three distinct types. The first of these, which was found in type-1 genes, involved neither sugar regulation nor additional anaerobic induction under anoxia, indicating that anoxic induction is a simple result from the release of sugar repression by O2-deficient conditions. In contrast, type-2 genes also showed no sugar regulation, albeit with enhanced expression under anoxia. Lastly, expression of type-3 genes is highly enhanced with sugar regulation sustained under anoxia. Intriguingly, the inhibition of the mitochondrial ATP synthesis can reproduce expression pattern of a specific set of anaerobically induced genes, implying that rice cells may sense O2 deprivation, partly via perception of the perturbed cellular energy status. Our study of interaction between sugar signaling and anaerobic conditions has revealed that sugar signaling and the cellular energy status are likely to communicate with each other and influence anaerobic induction of gene expression in rice. PMID:23852132

Recombinant expression of thermostable processive MtEG5 endoglucanase and its synergism with MtLPMO from Myceliophthora thermophila during the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates.

PubMed

Karnaouri, Anthi; Muraleedharan, Madhu Nair; Dimarogona, Maria; Topakas, Evangelos; Rova, Ulrika; Sandgren, Mats; Christakopoulos, Paul

2017-01-01

Filamentous fungi are among the most powerful cellulolytic organisms in terrestrial ecosystems. To perform the degradation of lignocellulosic substrates, these microorganisms employ both hydrolytic and oxidative mechanisms that involve the secretion and synergism of a wide variety of enzymes. Interactions between these enzymes occur on the level of saccharification, i.e., the release of neutral and oxidized products, but sometimes also reflected in the substrate liquefaction. Although the synergism regarding the yield of neutral sugars has been extensively studied, further studies should focus on the oxidized sugars, as well as the effect of enzyme combinations on the viscosity properties of the substrates. In the present study, the heterologous expression of an endoglucanase (EG) and its combined activity together with a lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO), both from the thermophilic fungus Myceliophthora thermophila , are described. The EG gene, belonging to the glycoside hydrolase family 5, was functionally expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris . The produced Mt EG5A (75 kDa) featured remarkable thermal stability and showed high specific activity on microcrystalline cellulose compared to CMC, which is indicative of its processivity properties. The enzyme was capable of releasing high amounts of cellobiose from wheat straw, birch, and spruce biomass. Addition of Mt LPMO9 together with Mt EG5A showed enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis yields against regenerated amorphous cellulose (PASC) by improving the release not only of the neutral but also of the oxidized sugars. Assessment of activity of Mt EG5A on the reduction of viscosity of PASC and pretreated wheat straw using dynamic viscosity measurements revealed that the enzyme is able to perform liquefaction of the model substrate and the natural lignocellulosic material, while when added together with Mt LPMO9, no further synergistic effect was observed. The endoglucanase Mt EG5A from the thermophilic fungus M. thermophila exhibited excellent properties that render it a suitable candidate for use in biotechnological applications. Its strong synergism with LPMO was reflected in sugars release, but not in substrate viscosity reduction. Based on the level of oxidative sugar formation, this is the first indication of synergy between LPMO and EG reported.

The Research and Application of Sustainable Long-release Carbon Material with Agricultural Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Z.

2017-12-01

(1) The element analysis shown that ten kinds of agricultural wastes containing a certain amount of C, N, H elements, the highest content of C element, and t value ranges from 36.02% 36.02%, and the variation of C, N, H elements content in difference materials was not significant. The TOC concentration of sugar cane was up to 38.66 mg·g-1, and quality ratio was 39‰, significantly lower than C elements content. The released TOC quality of the rest materials were 2.36 2.36 mg·g-1, and the order from high to low were the soybean straw, rice straw, corn straw, rice husk, poplar branches, wheat straw, reeds, corn cob and wood chips respectively. The long-term leaching experiment of selected Optimized agricultural waste showed that the TOC content in leaching solution rise rapidly to peak value and was stable afterwards, with the concentration of 4.59 19.46 mg·g-1. The TOC releasing amount order was same with the short-term leaching experiment. (2) The releasing of nitrate nitrogen in ten kinds of agricultural waste was low (< 0.08mg·g-1), among which corn straw was up to 0.12mg·g-1, and the rest were all below 0.04mg·g-1 without accumulation. Most of the ammonia nitrogen concentration in leachate was lower than 0.3mg·g-1. The kjeldahl nitrogen in the corn straw, soybean straw, rice straw, reed, rice husk, and sugar cane leachate (0.81 1.65mg·g-1) were higher than that of poplar branches, corn cob and wood chips (< 0.30mg·g-1). The organic composition analysis of above carbon source shown that organic acid in leachate was mainly formic acid, acetic acid, oxalic acid, fumaric acid and other small molecule organic acids, and sugars was mainly cellobiose, glucose, fructose and xylose. Substance concentration was higher in sugar cane leachate, and the small molecular organic acid concentration was higher in the corn straw, rice husk and wheat straw leachate. Above all, it can be concluded that the sugar cane, corn straw, rice husk, wheat straw, corn cob, wood were ideal carbon source material in ten kinds of agricultural.

Consumer understanding of sugars claims on food and drink products

PubMed Central

Patterson, N J; Sadler, M J; Cooper, J M

2012-01-01

Consumer understanding of nutrition and health claims is a key aspect of current regulations in the European Union (EU). In view of this, qualitative and quantitative research techniques were used to investigate consumer awareness and understanding of product claims in the UK, focusing particularly on nutrition claims relating to sugars. Both research methods identified a good awareness of product claims. No added sugars claims were generally preferred to reduced sugars claims, and there was a general assumption that sweeteners and other ingredients would be added in place of sugars. However, there was little awareness of the level of sugar reduction and the associated calorie reduction in products when reduced sugars claims were made on pack. In focus groups, participants felt deceived if sugar reduction claims were being made without a significant reduction in calories. This was reinforced in the quantitative research which showed that respondents expected a similar and meaningful level of calorie reduction to the level of sugar reduction. The research also identified consumer confusion around the calorie content of different nutrients, including over-estimation of the calorie content of sugars. This is crucial to consumers' expectations as they clearly link sugar to calories and therefore expect a reduction in sugar content to deliver a reduction in calorie content. PMID:22973161

Sugar and hexokinase suppress expression of PIP aquaporins and reduce leaf hydraulics that preserves leaf water potential.

PubMed

Kelly, Gilor; Sade, Nir; Doron-Faigenboim, Adi; Lerner, Stephen; Shatil-Cohen, Arava; Yeselson, Yelena; Egbaria, Aiman; Kottapalli, Jayaram; Schaffer, Arthur A; Moshelion, Menachem; Granot, David

2017-07-01

Sugars affect central aspects of plant physiology, including photosynthesis, stomatal behavior and the loss of water through the stomata. Yet, the potential effects of sugars on plant aquaporins (AQPs) and water conductance have not been examined. We used database and transcriptional analyses, as well as cellular and whole-plant functional techniques to examine the link between sugar-related genes and AQPs. Database analyses revealed a high level of correlation between the expression of AQPs and that of sugar-related genes, including the Arabidopsis hexokinases 1 (AtHXK1). Increased expression of AtHXK1, as well as the addition of its primary substrate, glucose (Glc), repressed the expression of 10 AQPs from the plasma membrane-intrinsic proteins (PIP) subfamily (PIP-AQPs) and induced the expression of two stress-related PIP-AQPs. The osmotic water permeability of mesophyll protoplasts of AtHXK1-expressing plants and the leaf hydraulic conductance of those plants were significantly reduced, in line with the decreased expression of PIP-AQPs. Conversely, hxk1 mutants demonstrated a higher level of hydraulic conductance, with increased water potential in their leaves. In addition, the presence of Glc reduced leaf water potential, as compared with an osmotic control, indicating that Glc reduces the movement of water from the xylem into the mesophyll. The production of sugars entails a significant loss of water and these results suggest that sugars and AtHXK1 affect the expression of AQP genes and reduce leaf water conductance, to coordinate sugar levels with the loss of water through transpiration. © 2017 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sensory and Physical Effects of Sugar Reduction in a Caramel Coating System.

PubMed

Mayhew, Emily J; Schmidt, Shelly J; Lee, Soo-Yeun

2017-08-01

Sugar reduction in processed foods is a pressing and complex problem, as sugars contribute important sensory and physical properties to foods. Composed of sugars and lipids, caramel coating systems, like the coating in caramel popcorns, exemplify this challenge. In order to probe the feasibility and consequences of sugar reduction, both sensory and physical properties were measured for 3 types of caramel coating systems. Four commonly used sugar alcohols, isomalt, maltitol, mannitol, and sorbitol, with different thermal properties and relative sweetness values were chosen to replace sugar in the caramel coating systems at 25% and 50% sugar reduction levels. Full sugar (control) and reduced sugar caramel coating samples were prepared in duplicate. Ten trained panelists participated in a 6-wk descriptive analysis panel to define and quantify the intensity of important sensory characteristics. All 24 sensory terms generated by the panel differed significantly across caramel type and sugar replacer. Thermal properties were measured through differential scanning calorimetry, and textural properties were measured through texture profile analysis. Replacement of sugar with sugar alcohols was found to decrease the glass transition temperature and systematically alter the hardness and resilience of caramel samples. Principal component analysis of sensory and physical data revealed that caramel coating type dictates caramel aroma, aroma by mouth, taste, and aftertaste, while sugar replacer and replacement level dictate texture. This research represents the first comprehensive study of the effects of sugar reduction in a caramel coating system and suggests successful strategies for sugar reduction and key parameters to control in reduced sugar systems. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Added versus accumulated sugars on color development and acrylamide formation in french-fried potato strips.

PubMed

Higley, Jeremy; Kim, Jong-Yea; Huber, Kerry C; Smith, Gordon

2012-09-05

Added (glucose addition) versus accumulated (in situ sugar development via cold-temperature storage) sugar treatments were investigated in relation to acrylamide formation within fried potato strips at standardized levels of finish-fried color (Agtron color scores ranged from 36 to 84). The added sugar treatment exhibited a relatively reduced rate of acrylamide formation and generally possessed a lower and less variable acrylamide content (61-1290 ng/g) than the accumulated sugar scheme (61-2191 ng/g). In a subsequent experiment, added fructose applied to strip surfaces via dipping prior to frying favored acrylamide formation over color development relative to added glucose, for which the reverse trend was observed. Thus, where acrylamide differences were noted between added and accumulated sugar treatments (given equivalent Agtron color scores), this result was likely aided by the relative higher fructose content in strips of the accumulated sugar scheme rather than simply a greater relative concentration of total reducing sugars.

Final Technical Report - Consolidating Biomass Pretreatment with Saccharification by Resolving the Spatial Control Mechanisms of Fungi

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schilling, Jonathan

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) of lignocellulose combines enzymatic sugar release (saccharification) with fermentation, but pretreatments remain separate and costly. In nature, lignocellulose-degrading brown rot fungi consolidate pretreatment and saccharification, likely using spatial gradients to partition these incompatible reactions. With the field of biocatalysis maturing, reaction partitioning is increasingly reproducible for commercial use. Therefore, my goal was to resolve the reaction partitioning mechanisms of brown rot fungi so that they can be applied to bioconversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks. Brown rot fungi consolidate oxidative pretreatments with saccharification and are a focus for biomass refining because 1) they attain >99% sugar yield without destroyingmore » lignin, 2) they use a simplified cellulase suite that lacks exoglucanase, and 3) their non-enzymatic pretreatment is facilitative and may be accelerated. Specifically, I hypothesized that during brown rot, oxidative pretreatments occur ahead of enzymatic saccharification, spatially, and the fungus partitions these reactions using gradients in pH, lignin reactivity, and plant cell wall porosity. In fact, we found three key results during these experiments for this work: 1) Brown rot fungi have an inducible cellulase system, unlike previous descriptions of a constitutive mechanism. 2) The induction of cellulases is delayed until there is repression of oxidatively-linked genes, allowing the brown rot fungi to coordinate two incompatible reactions (oxidative pretreatment with enzymatic saccharification, to release wood sugars) in the same pieces of wood. 3) This transition is mediated by the same wood sugar, cellobiose, released by the oxidative pretreatment step. Collectively, these findings have been published in excellent journal outlets and have been presented at conferences around the United States, and they offer clear targets for gene discovery en route to making biofuels and biochemicals affordable, commercially.« less

Methods of saccharification of polysaccharides in plants

DOEpatents

Howard, John; Fake, Gina

2014-04-29

Saccharification of polysaccharides of plants is provided, where release of fermentable sugars from cellulose is obtained by adding plant tissue composition. Production of glucose is obtained without the need to add additional .beta.-glucosidase. Adding plant tissue composition to a process using a cellulose degrading composition to degrade cellulose results in an increase in the production of fermentable sugars compared to a process in which plant tissue composition is not added. Using plant tissue composition in a process using a cellulose degrading enzyme composition to degrade cellulose results in decrease in the amount of cellulose degrading enzyme composition or exogenously applied cellulase required to produce fermentable sugars.

Corn fiber: structure, composition, and response to enzymes for fermentable sugars and coproducts.

PubMed

Akin, Danny E; Rigsby, Luanne L

2008-01-01

Corn (Zea mays L.) fiber, which is the seed coat and residual endosperm left after grain processing, is a low-value residue that contains carbohydrates and aromatic compounds that could provide value-added coproducts. Treatment of corn fiber with NaOH and assessment by gas chromatography indicated a prevalence of ferulic acid, with about 90% ester-linked in the cell walls. p-coumaric acid was much lower at about 10% of the amount of ferulic acid. Histochemical reactions employing acid phloroglucinol and diazotized sulfanilic acid indicated the presence of phenolic acids in cell walls of the pericarp and aleurone layer. Various protocols were tested using milled corn fiber and pretreatment with commercial ferulic acid esterases before cellulase treatment, and dry weight loss and sugars and phenolic acids released into the filtrate were evaluated. Ferulic acid esterases effectively degraded corn fiber and released substantial amounts of ferulic acid and sugars (e.g., glucose and xylose) in the incubation medium. Light microscopy showed that ferulic acid esterase substantially disrupted the aleurone layer but caused little visible damage to the lignified pericarp cell walls. Amounts of compounds released varied with protocols, and one study with various milling methods showed that esterase pretreatment followed by cellulase released about 2.8 to 4.4 and 1.5 to 2.9 times more ferulic acid and glucose, respectively, than cellulase alone. The highest levels for one lot of corn fiber with esterase pretreatment followed by cellulase were 3.9 and 218 mg/g of ferulic acid and glucose, respectively.

7 CFR 1435.501 - Bid submission procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... OF AGRICULTURE LOANS, PURCHASES, AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUGAR PROGRAM Processor Sugar Payment-In-Kind..., the amount of acreage to be reduced by producers who have contracts for delivery of sugar beets or sugar cane to the processor and contains the information CCC determines necessary to conduct the program...

Ho 07-613 – A potential new sugarcane variety for Louisiana

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The clone Ho 07-613 will be up for release to Louisiana sugarcane farmers in May of 2014. This potential new variety is a joint release of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, and the American Sugar Cane League of the U.S.A., Inc. Ho 07-613...

CO2 co-gasification of lower sulphur petroleum coke and sugar cane bagasse via TG-FTIR analysis technique.

PubMed

Edreis, Elbager M A; Luo, Guangqian; Li, Aijun; Chao, Chen; Hu, Hongyun; Zhang, Sen; Gui, Ben; Xiao, Li; Xu, Kai; Zhang, Pingan; Yao, Hong

2013-05-01

This study investigates the non-isothermal mechanism and kinetic behaviour of gasification of a lower sulphur petroleum coke, sugar cane bagasse and blends under carbon dioxide atmosphere conditions using the thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The gas products were measured online with coupled Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The achieved results explored that the sugar cane bagasse and blend gasification happened in two steps: at (<500 °C) the volatiles are released, and at (>700 °C) char gasification occurred, whereas the lower sulphur petroleum coke presented only one char gasification stage at (>800 °C). Significant interactions were observed in the whole process. Some solid-state mechanisms were studied by the Coats-Redfern method in order to observe the mechanisms responsible for the gasification of samples. The results show that the chemical first order reaction is the best responsible mechanism for whole process. The main released gases are CO2, CO, CH4, HCOOH, C6H5OH and CH3COOH. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regulation of tomato fruit ascorbate content is more highly dependent on fruit irradiance than leaf irradiance.

PubMed

Gautier, Hélène; Massot, Capucine; Stevens, Rebecca; Sérino, Sylvie; Génard, Michel

2009-02-01

The mechanisms involving light control of vitamin C content in fruits are not yet fully understood. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of fruit and leaf shading on ascorbate (AsA) accumulation in tomato fruit and to determine how fruit sugar content (as an AsA precursor) affected AsA content. Cherry tomato plants were grown in a glasshouse. The control treatment (normally irradiated fruits and irradiated leaves) was compared with the whole-plant shading treatment and with leaf or fruit shading treatments in fruits harvested at breaker stage. In a second experiment, the correlation between sugars and AsA was studied during ripening. Fruit shading was the most effective treatment in reducing fruit AsA content. Under normal conditions, AsA and sugar content were correlated and increased with the ripening stage. Reducing fruit irradiance strongly decreased the reduced AsA content (-74 %), without affecting sugars, so that sugar and reduced AsA were no longer correlated. Leaf shading delayed fruit ripening: it increased the accumulation of oxidized AsA in green fruits (+98 %), whereas it decreased the reduced AsA content in orange fruits (-19 %), suggesting that fruit AsA metabolism also depends on leaf irradiance. Under fruit shading only, the absence of a correlation between sugars and reduced AsA content indicated that fruit AsA content was not limited by leaf photosynthesis or sugar substrate, but strongly depended on fruit irradiance. Leaf shading most probably affected fruit AsA content by delaying fruit ripening, and suggested a complex regulation of AsA metabolism which depends on both fruit and leaf irradiance and fruit ripening stage.

Regulation of tomato fruit ascorbate content is more highly dependent on fruit irradiance than leaf irradiance

PubMed Central

Gautier, Hélène; Massot, Capucine; Stevens, Rebecca; Sérino, Sylvie; Génard, Michel

2009-01-01

Background and Aims The mechanisms involving light control of vitamin C content in fruits are not yet fully understood. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of fruit and leaf shading on ascorbate (AsA) accumulation in tomato fruit and to determine how fruit sugar content (as an AsA precursor) affected AsA content. Methods Cherry tomato plants were grown in a glasshouse. The control treatment (normally irradiated fruits and irradiated leaves) was compared with the whole-plant shading treatment and with leaf or fruit shading treatments in fruits harvested at breaker stage. In a second experiment, the correlation between sugars and AsA was studied during ripening. Key Results Fruit shading was the most effective treatment in reducing fruit AsA content. Under normal conditions, AsA and sugar content were correlated and increased with the ripening stage. Reducing fruit irradiance strongly decreased the reduced AsA content (−74 %), without affecting sugars, so that sugar and reduced AsA were no longer correlated. Leaf shading delayed fruit ripening: it increased the accumulation of oxidized AsA in green fruits (+98 %), whereas it decreased the reduced AsA content in orange fruits (−19 %), suggesting that fruit AsA metabolism also depends on leaf irradiance. Conclusions Under fruit shading only, the absence of a correlation between sugars and reduced AsA content indicated that fruit AsA content was not limited by leaf photosynthesis or sugar substrate, but strongly depended on fruit irradiance. Leaf shading most probably affected fruit AsA content by delaying fruit ripening, and suggested a complex regulation of AsA metabolism which depends on both fruit and leaf irradiance and fruit ripening stage. PMID:19033285

The Effect of Ionic Liquid Pretreatment on the Bioconversion of Tomato Processing Waste to Fermentable Sugars and Biogas.

PubMed

Allison, Brittany J; Cádiz, Juan Canales; Karuna, Nardrapee; Jeoh, Tina; Simmons, Christopher W

2016-08-01

Tomato pomace is an abundant lignocellulosic waste stream from industrial tomato processing and therefore a potential feedstock for production of renewable biofuels. However, little research has been conducted to determine if pretreatment can enhance release of fermentable sugars from tomato pomace. Ionic liquids (ILs) are an emerging pretreatment technology for lignocellulosic biomass to increase enzymatic digestibility and biofuel yield while utilizing recyclable chemicals with low toxicity. In this study, pretreatment of tomato pomace with the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]) was investigated. Changes in pomace enzymatic digestibility were affected by pretreatment time and temperature. Certain pretreatment conditions significantly improved reducing sugar yield and hydrolysis time compared to untreated pomace. Compositional analyses suggested that pretreatment primarily removed water-soluble compounds and enriched for lignocellulose in pomace, with only subtle changes to the composition of the lignocellulose. While tomato pomace was effectively pretreated with [C2mim][OAc] to improve enzymatic digestibility, as of yet, unknown factors in the pomace caused ionic liquid pretreatment to negatively affect anaerobic digestion of pretreated material. This result, which is unique compared to similar studies on IL pretreatment of grasses and woody biomass, highlights the need for additional research to determine how the unique chemical composition of tomato pomace and other lignocellulosic fruit residues may interact with ionic liquids to generate inhibitors for downstream fermentation to biofuels.

Sensory perception of and salivary protein response to astringency as a function of the 6-n-propylthioural (PROP) bitter-taste phenotype.

PubMed

Melis, Melania; Yousaf, Neeta Y; Mattes, Mitchell Z; Cabras, Tiziana; Messana, Irene; Crnjar, Roberto; Tomassini Barbarossa, Iole; Tepper, Beverly J

2017-05-01

Individual differences in astringency perception are poorly understood. Astringency from tannins stimulates the release of specific classes of salivary proteins. These proteins form complexes with tannins, altering their perceived astringency and reducing their bioavailability. We studied the bitter compound, 6-n-propylthioural (PROP), as a phenotypic marker for variation in astringency perception and salivary protein responses. Seventy-nine subjects classified by PROP taster status rated cranberry juice cocktail (CJC; with added sugar) supplemented with 0, 1.5 or 2.0g/L tannic acid (TA). Saliva for protein analyses was collected at rest, or after stimulation with TA or cranberry juice (CJ; without added sugar). CJC with 1.5g/L tannic acid was found to be less astringent, and was liked more by PROP non-taster males than PROP taster males, consistent with the expectation that non-tasters are less sensitive to astringency. Levels of acidic Proline Rich Proteins (aPRPs) and basic Proline Rich Proteins (bPRPs) decreased after TA, while levels of aPRPs, bPRPs and Cystatins unexpectedly rose after CJ. Increases in bPRPs and Cystatins were only observed in PROP tasters. The PROP phenotype plays a gender-specific, but somewhat limited role in the perceived astringency of tannic-acid supplemented, cranberry juice cocktail. The PROP phenotype (regardless of gender) may also be involved in the release of salivary proteins previously implicated in oral health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aggregation Behavior and a Putative Aggregation Pheromone in Sugar Beet Root Maggot Flies (Diptera: Ulidiidae)

PubMed Central

Emmert, Susan Y.; Tindall, Kelly; Ding, Hongjian; Boetel, Mark A.; Rajabaskar, D.; Eigenbrode, Sanford D.

2017-01-01

Male-biased aggregations of sugar beet root maggot, Tetanops myopaeformis (Röder) (Diptera: Ulidiidae), flies were observed on utility poles near sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. [Chenopodiaceae]) fields in southern Idaho; this contrasts with the approximately equal sex ratio typically observed within fields. Peak observation of mating pairs coincided with peak diurnal abundance of flies. Volatiles released by individual male and female flies were sampled from 08:00 to 24:00 hours in the laboratory using solid-phase microextraction and analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Eleven compounds were uniquely detected from males. Three of these compounds (2-undecanol, 2-decanol, and sec-nonyl acetate) were detected in greater quantities during 12:00–24:00 hours than during 08:00–12:00 hours. The remaining eight compounds uniquely detected from males did not exhibit temporal trends in release. Both sexes produced 2-nonanol, but males produced substantially higher (ca. 80-fold) concentrations of this compound than females, again peaking after 12:00 hours. The temporal synchrony among male aggregation behavior, peak mating rates, and release of certain volatile compounds by males suggest that T. myopaeformis flies exhibit lekking behavior and produce an associated pheromone. Field assays using synthetic blends of the putative aggregation pheromone showed evidence of attraction in both females and males. PMID:28423428

Electron crystallography reveals that substrate release from the PTS IIC glucose transporter is coupled to a subtle conformational change.

PubMed

Kalbermatter, David; Chiu, Po-Lin; Jeckelmann, Jean-Marc; Ucurum, Zöhre; Walz, Thomas; Fotiadis, Dimitrios

2017-07-01

The phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) is a structurally and functionally complex system that mediates sugar uptake in bacteria. Besides several soluble subunits, the glucose-specific PTS includes the integral membrane protein IICB that couples the transmembrane transport of glucose to its phosphorylation. Here, we used electron crystallography of sugar-embedded tubular crystals of the glucose-specific IIC transport domain from Escherichia coli (ecIIC glc ) to visualize the structure of the transporter in the presence and absence of its substrate. Using an in vivo transport assay and binding competition experiments, we first established that, while it transports d-glucose, ecIIC glc does not bind l-glucose. We then determined the projection structure of ecIIC glc from tubular crystals embedded in d- and l-glucose and found a subtle conformational change. From comparison of the ecIIC glc projection maps with crystal structures of other IIC transporters, we can deduce that the transporter adopts an inward-facing conformation, and that the maps in the presence and absence of the substrate reflect the transporter before and after release of the transported glucose into the cytoplasm. The transition associated with substrate release appears to require a subtle structural rearrangement in the region that includes hairpin 1. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determination of surface energies of hot-melt extruded sugar-starch pellets.

PubMed

Yeung, Chi-Wah; Rein, Hubert

2018-02-01

Hot-melt extruded sugar-starch pellets are an alternative for commercial sugar spheres, but their coating properties remain to be studied. Both the European Pharmcopoeia 8.6 and the United States Pharmacopoeia 40 specify the composition of sugar-starch pellets without giving requirements for the manufacturing process. Due to various fabrication techniques, the physicochemical properties of pellets may differ. Therefore, the adhesion energies of three coating dispersions (sustained, enteric and immediate release) on different types of pellets were investigated. In this context, the surface energies of various kinds of corn starch (normal, waxy, high-amylose) and sucrose pellets were analyzed using the sessile drop method, whereas the surface tensions of the coating dispersions were examined using the pendant drop method. The adhesion forces were calculated from the results of these studies. Furthermore, sugar spheres were characterized in terms of particle size distribution, porosity and specific surface area. An increase of the pellets' sucrose content leads to a more porous surface structure, which gives them an enhanced wetting behavior with coating dispersions. The adhesion energies of extruded sugar-starch pellets are similar to those of commercial sugar spheres, which comply with pharmacopeial requirements. Both types of pellets are equally suited for coating.

Low temperature fabrication of biodegradable sugar glass microneedles for transdermal drug delivery applications.

PubMed

Martin, C J; Allender, C J; Brain, K R; Morrissey, A; Birchall, J C

2012-02-28

Transdermal drug delivery is limited by the barrier properties of the outer skin layer. Microneedles (MNs) effectively circumvent the skin barrier to offer this route as a potential alternative to oral and parenteral delivery of therapeutics. Biodegradable microneedles offer particular advantages however processing commonly requires elevated temperatures that may adversely affect heat-labile molecules and macromolecules. In this study, solid amorphous sugar glasses containing low residual quantities of water were created by dehydration of trehalose and sucrose sugar combination solutions. Biodegradable sugar glass MNs were fabricated following optimisation of a simple and novel low temperature vacuum deposition micromoulding methodology. These had absolute morphological fidelity to silicon master structures and demonstrated sufficient structural rigidity to efficiently penetrate excised human breast skin. Sugar glass MNs incorporating a marker compound dissolved rapidly and completely in situ releasing dye into deeper skin layers. The biological activity of a model macromolecule was partially retained over extended storage following incorporation into sugar glass. This is the first demonstration that MNs created from amorphous sugar glasses can be used for incorporating and delivering molecules, and potentially biologically active macromolecules, via the transdermal route. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation of Sugar Beet Pulp for Efficient Bioethanol Production.

PubMed

Berłowska, Joanna; Pielech-Przybylska, Katarzyna; Balcerek, Maria; Dziekońska-Kubczak, Urszula; Patelski, Piotr; Dziugan, Piotr; Kręgiel, Dorota

2016-01-01

Sugar beet pulp, a byproduct of sugar beet processing, can be used as a feedstock in second-generation ethanol production. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of pretreatment, of the dosage of cellulase and hemicellulase enzyme preparations used, and of aeration on the release of fermentable sugars and ethanol yield during simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of sugar beet pulp-based worts. Pressure-thermal pretreatment was applied to sugar beet pulp suspended in 2% w/w sulphuric acid solution at a ratio providing 12% dry matter. Enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted using Viscozyme and Ultraflo Max (Novozymes) enzyme preparations (0.015-0.02 mL/g dry matter). Two yeast strains were used for fermentation: Ethanol Red ( S. cerevisiae ) (1 g/L) and Pichia stipitis (0.5 g/L), applied sequentially. The results show that efficient simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of sugar beet pulp was achieved. A 6 h interval for enzymatic activation between the application of enzyme preparations and inoculation with Ethanol Red further improved the fermentation performance, with the highest ethanol concentration reaching 26.9 ± 1.2 g/L and 86.5 ± 2.1% fermentation efficiency relative to the theoretical yield.

Effect of activators and inhibitors of K+ channels on insulin secretion in the amphibian pancreas.

PubMed

Francini, F; Pirotte, B; Gagliardino, J J

1997-02-01

The aim of this study was to obtain pharmacological evidence for the presence and participation of K+ channels in amphibian pancreatic islets. Pancreases from the toad Bufo arenarum were thus incubated with activators or blockers of K+ channels and the immunoreactive insulin released into the medium was measured by radioimmunoassay. Two K(+)-ATP channel openers (diazoxide and BPDZ44) inhibited; while a K(+)-ATP channel blocker (tolbutamide) and metabolizable sugars (glucose, glyceraldehyde) significantly stimulated the output of insulin. Although a nonmetabolizable sugar (galactose) failed to increase insulin release, dinitrophenol decreased the secretagogue effect of glucose. By contrast, although somatostatin and clonidine blocked the release of insulin, tetraethylammonium significantly stimulated secretion. For each compound tested, the effects on both insulin secretion and B-cell K+ channel activity were similar to those observed in the mammalian pancreas. These findings point to the existence of mammalian-like K+ channels in the B-cells of some amphibians.

Production and characterization of enzymatic cocktail produced by Aspergillus niger using green macroalgae as nitrogen source and its application in the pre-treatment for biogas production from Ulva rigida.

PubMed

Karray, Raida; Hamza, Manel; Sayadi, Sami

2016-09-01

Marine macroalgae are gaining more and more importance as a renewable feedstock for durable bioenergy production, but polysaccharides of this macroalgae are structurally complex in its chemical composition. The use of enzymatic hydrolysis may provide new pathways in the conversion of complex polysaccharides to fermentable sugars. In this study, an enzymatic cocktail with high specificity was first isolated from Aspergillus niger using the green macroalgae Ulva rigida as nitrogen source. The cocktail is rich on β-glucosidase, pectinase and carboxy-methyl-cellulase (CMCase). The highest activity was obtained with β-glucosidase (109IUmL(-1)) and pectinase (76IUmL(-1)), while CMCase present the lowest activity 4.6IUmL(-1). The U. rigida pre-treatment with this enzymatic cocktail showed high rate of reduced sugar release, and could bring promising prospects for enzymatic pre-treatment of the biogas production from U. rigida biomass which reached 1175mLgCODint(-1). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment to maximize combined sugar yield from sugarcane bagasse for ethanol production.

PubMed

Benjamin, Y; Cheng, H; Görgens, J F

2014-01-01

Increasing fermentable sugar yields per gram of biomass depends strongly on optimal selection of varieties and optimization of pretreatment conditions. In this study, dilute acid pretreatment of bagasse from six varieties of sugarcane was investigated in connection with enzymatic hydrolysis for maximum combined sugar yield (CSY). The CSY from the varieties were also compared with the results from industrial bagasse. The results revealed considerable differences in CSY between the varieties. Up to 22.7 % differences in CSY at the optimal conditions was observed. The combined sugar yield difference between the best performing variety and the industrial bagasse was 34.1 %. High ratio of carbohydrates to lignin and low ash content favored the release of sugar from the substrates. At mild pretreatment conditions, the differences in bioconversion efficiency between varieties were greater than at severe condition. This observation suggests that under less severe conditions the glucose recovery was largely determined by chemical composition of biomass. The results from this study support the possibility of increasing sugar yields or improving the conversion efficiency when pretreatment optimization is performed on varieties with improved properties.

Cell wall composition and digestibility alterations in Brachypodium distachyon acheived through reduced expression of the UDP-arabinopyranose mutase

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant cell-wall polysaccharide biosynthesis requires nucleotide-activated sugars. The prominent grass cell wall sugars, glucose (Glc), xylose (Xyl), and arabinose (Ara), are biosynthetically related via the UDP-sugar interconversion pathway. RNA-seq analysis of Brachypodium distachyon UDP-sugar inte...

Reducing the use of sugar in public schools: a randomized cluster trial.

PubMed

Souza, Rita Adriana Gomes de; Mediano, Mauro Felippe Felix; Souza, Amanda de Moura; Sichieri, Rosely

2013-08-01

To test the efficacy of nutritional guidelines for school lunch cooks aiming to reduce added sugar in school meals and their own sugar intake. A controlled randomized cluster trial was carried out in twenty public schools in the municipality of Niteroi in Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil, from March to December 2007. A nutrition educational program was implemented in the schools in question through messages, activities and printed educational materials encouraging reduced levels of added sugar in school meals and in the school lunch cooks' own intake. The reduced availability of added sugar in schools was evaluated using spreadsheets including data on the monthly use of food item supplies. The cooks' individual food intake was evaluated by a Food Frequency Questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were taken according to standardized techniques and variation in weight was measured throughout the duration of the study. There was a more marked reduction in the intervention schools compared to the control schools (-6.0 kg versus 0.34 kg), but no statistically significant difference (p = 0.21), although the study power was low. Both groups of school lunch cooks showed a reduction in the consumption of sweets and sweetened beverages, but the difference in sugar intake was not statistically significant. Weight loss and a reduction in total energy consumption occurred in both groups, but the difference between them was not statistically significant, and there was no alteration in the percentages of adequacy of macronutrients in relation to energy consumption. The strategy of reducing the use and consumption of sugar by school lunch cooks from public schools could not be proved to be effective.

Development of sugar chain-binding single-chain variable fragment antibody to adult T-cell leukemia cells using glyco-nanotechnology and phage display method.

PubMed

Muchima, Kaname; Todaka, Taro; Shinchi, Hiroyuki; Sato, Ayaka; Tazoe, Arisa; Aramaki, Rikiya; Kakitsubata, Yuhei; Yokoyama, Risa; Arima, Naomichi; Baba, Masanori; Wakao, Masahiro; Ito, Yuji; Suda, Yasuo

2018-04-01

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is an intractable blood cancer caused by the infection of human T-cell leukemia virus type-1, and effective medical treatment is required. It is known that the structure and expression levels of cell surface sugar chains vary depending on cell states such as inflammation and cancer. Thus, it is expected that the antibody specific for ATL cell surface sugar chain would be an effective diagnostic tool and a strong candidate for the development of an anti-ATL drug. Here, we developed a stable sugar chain-binding single-chain variable fragment antibody (scFv) that can bind to ATL cells using a fibre-type Sugar Chip and phage display method. The fiber-type Sugar Chips were prepared using O-glycans released from ATL cell lines. The scFv-displaying phages derived from human B cells (diversity: 1.04 × 108) were then screened using the fiber-type Sugar Chips, and an O-glycan-binding scFv was obtained. The flow cytometry analysis revealed that the scFv predominantly bound to ATL cell lines. The sugar chain-binding properties of the scFv was evaluated by array-type Sugar Chip immobilized with a library of synthetic glycosaminoglycan disaccharide structures. Highly sulphated disaccharide structures were found to have high affinity to scFv.

The taste of KCl - What a difference a sugar makes.

PubMed

Ben Abu, Natalie; Harries, Daniel; Voet, Hillary; Niv, Masha Y

2018-07-30

Dramatic increase in NaCl consumption lead to sodium intake beyond health guidelines. KCl substitution helps reduce sodium intake but results in a bitter-metallic off-taste. Two disaccharides, trehalose and sucrose, were tested in order to untangle the chemical (increase in effective concentration of KCl due to sugar addition) from the sensory effects. The bitter-metallic taste of KCl was reduced by these sugars, while saltiness was enhanced or unaltered. The perceived sweetness of sugar, regardless of its type and concentration, was an important factor in KCl taste modulation. Though KCl was previously shown to increase the chemical activity of trehalose but not of sucrose, we found that it suppressed the perceived sweetness of both sugars. Therefore, sensory integration was the dominant factor in the tested KCl-sugar combinations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hypopituitarism

MedlinePlus

... hormone (ACTH) -- stimulates the adrenal gland to release cortisol; cortisol helps to maintain blood pressure and blood sugar ... may include: Brain CT scan Pituitary MRI ACTH Cortisol Estradiol (estrogen) Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) Insulin-like ...

Evaluation of nutraceutical properties of selected small millets.

PubMed

Rao, B Raghavendra; Nagasampige, Manojkumar H; Ravikiran, M

2011-04-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutraceutical properties and nutritional value of grains of four selected small millets viz. finger millet, foxtail millet, prosomillet and khodomillet. The qualitative analysis of phytochemicals viz. phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids and saponins present in the four small millets was done. The water-soluble proteins, crude fiber content and the reducing power of the grains of these four millets were analyzed. The khodomillet showed maximum phenolic content (10.3%) and foxtail millet showed minimum phenolics (2.5%). As far as reducing capacity was concerned, finger millet was highest (5.7%). The prosomillet showed least reducing property (2.6%). The finger millet (391.3 mg/g each) showed maximum reducing sugar content. The prosomillet showed minimum reducing sugar (195 mg/g). The foxtail millet showed maximum protein content (305.76 mg/g) and prosomillet showed minimum protein content (144.23 mg/g). The khodomillet showed maximum crude fiber content (14.3%).The finger millet showed maximum reducing sugar content (391.3 mg/g) whereas, the khodomillet showed minimum reducing sugar (130.43 mg/g).

Silencing a sugar transporter gene reduces growth and fecundity in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae).

PubMed

Ge, Lin-Quan; Jiang, Yi-Ping; Xia, Ting; Song, Qi-Sheng; Stanley, David; Kuai, Peng; Lu, Xiu-Li; Yang, Guo-Qing; Wu, Jin-Cai

2015-07-17

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, sugar transporter gene 6 (Nlst6) is a facilitative glucose/fructose transporter (often called a passive carrier) expressed in midgut that mediates sugar transport from the midgut lumen to hemolymph. The influence of down regulating expression of sugar transporter genes on insect growth, development, and fecundity is unknown. Nonetheless, it is reasonable to suspect that transporter-mediated uptake of dietary sugar is essential to the biology of phloem-feeding insects. Based on this reasoning, we posed the hypothesis that silencing, or reducing expression, of a BPH sugar transporter gene would be deleterious to the insects. To test our hypothesis, we examined the effects of Nlst6 knockdown on BPH biology. Reducing expression of Nlst6 led to profound effects on BPHs. It significantly prolonged the pre-oviposition period, shortened the oviposition period, decreased the number of eggs deposited and reduced body weight, compared to controls. Nlst6 knockdown also significantly decreased fat body and ovarian (particularly vitellogenin) protein content as well as vitellogenin gene expression. Experimental BPHs accumulated less fat body glucose compared to controls. We infer that Nlst6 acts in BPH growth and fecundity, and has potential as a novel target gene for control of phloem-feeding pest insects.

Combustion performance evaluation of air staging of palm oil blends.

PubMed

Mohd Jaafar, Mohammad Nazri; Eldrainy, Yehia A; Mat Ali, Muhammad Faiser; Wan Omar, W Z; Mohd Hizam, Mohd Faizi Arif

2012-02-21

The problems of global warming and the unstable price of petroleum oils have led to a race to develop environmentally friendly biofuels, such as palm oil or ethanol derived from corn and sugar cane. Biofuels are a potential replacement for fossil fuel, since they are renewable and environmentally friendly. This paper evaluates the combustion performance and emission characteristics of Refined, Bleached, and Deodorized Palm Oil (RBDPO)/diesel blends B5, B10, B15, B20, and B25 by volume, using an industrial oil burner with and without secondary air. Wall temperature profiles along the combustion chamber axis were measured using a series of thermocouples fitted axially on the combustion chamber wall, and emissions released were measured using a gas analyzer. The results show that RBDPO blend B25 produced the maximum emission reduction of 56.9% of CO, 74.7% of NOx, 68.5% of SO(2), and 77.5% of UHC compared to petroleum diesel, while air staging (secondary air) in most cases reduces the emissions further. However, increasing concentrations of RBDPO in the blends also reduced the energy released from the combustion. The maximum wall temperature reduction was 62.7% for B25 at the exit of the combustion chamber.

Evaluation of fungicide and biological treatments for control of fungal storage rots in sugar beet, 2014

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Preventing sucrose losses in storage is important to the economic viability of the sugar beet industry. In an effort to establish additional measures for reducing sucrose losses in storage, ten fungicide and/or biological treatments were evaluated on sugar beet roots in a commercial sugar beet stor...

Sugar and metabolic health: is there still a debate?

PubMed

Moore, J Bernadette; Fielding, Barbara A

2016-07-01

There is considerable political and public awareness of new recommendations to reduce sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages in our diets. It is therefore timely to review the most recent changes in guidelines, with a focus on evidence for metabolic health, recent research in the area and gaps in our knowledge. Sufficient evidence links a high intake of sugar to dental caries and obesity, and high intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages in particular to increased risk of type 2 diabetes. This has led to the updating of dietary recommendations related to added sugars in the diet. The effects of specific sugars at usual intakes as part of an isoenergetic diet are less clear. The glycaemic response to food is complex and mediated by many factors, but sugar intake is not necessarily the major component. There are many challenges faced by healthcare professionals and government bodies in order to improve the health of individuals and nations through evidence-based diets. Sufficiently powered long-term mechanistic studies are still required to provide evidence for the effects of reducing dietary sugars on metabolic health. However, there are many challenges for research scientists in the implementation of these studies.

Sugar Price Supports and Taxation

PubMed Central

Dilk, Abby; Savaiano, Dennis A.

2017-01-01

Domestic US sugar production has been protected by government policy for the past 82 years, resulting in elevated domestic prices and an estimated annual (2013) $1.4 billion dollar “tax” on consumers. These elevated prices and the simultaneous federal support for domestic corn production have ensured a strong market for high-fructose corn syrup. Americans have dramatically increased their consumption of caloric sweeteners during the same period. Consumption of “empty” calories (ie, foods with low-nutrient/high-caloric density)—sugar and high-fructose corn syrup being the primary sources—is considered by most public health experts to be a key contributing factor to the rise in obesity. There have been substantial efforts to tax sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to both reduce consumption and provide a source of funds for nutrition education, thereby emulating the tobacco tax model. Volume-based SSB taxes levy the tax rate per ounce of liquid, where some are only imposed on beverages with added sugar content exceeding a set threshold. Nonetheless, volume-based taxes have significant limitations in encouraging consumers to reduce their caloric intake due to a lack of transparency at the point of purchase. Thus, it is hypothesized that point-of-purchase, nutrient-specific excise taxes on SSBs would be more effective at reducing sugar consumption. However, all SSB taxes are limited by the possibility that consumers may compensate their decreased intake from SSBs with other high-calorie junk foods. Furthermore, there are no existing studies to provide evidence on how SSB taxes will impact obesity rates in the long term. The paradox of sugar prices is that Americans have paid higher prices for sugar to protect domestic production for more than 80 years, and now, Americans are being asked to pay even more to promote public health. The effective use of sugar taxes should be considered based on their merits in reducing sugar consumption and making available a new source of funds to support nutrition education, not on lobbying efforts by the food industry or sugar and corn producers. PMID:28649143

Sugar Price Supports and Taxation: A Public Health Policy Paradox.

PubMed

Dilk, Abby; Savaiano, Dennis A

2017-05-01

Domestic US sugar production has been protected by government policy for the past 82 years, resulting in elevated domestic prices and an estimated annual (2013) $1.4 billion dollar "tax" on consumers. These elevated prices and the simultaneous federal support for domestic corn production have ensured a strong market for high-fructose corn syrup. Americans have dramatically increased their consumption of caloric sweeteners during the same period. Consumption of "empty" calories (ie, foods with low-nutrient/high-caloric density)-sugar and high-fructose corn syrup being the primary sources-is considered by most public health experts to be a key contributing factor to the rise in obesity. There have been substantial efforts to tax sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) to both reduce consumption and provide a source of funds for nutrition education, thereby emulating the tobacco tax model. Volume-based SSB taxes levy the tax rate per ounce of liquid, where some are only imposed on beverages with added sugar content exceeding a set threshold. Nonetheless, volume-based taxes have significant limitations in encouraging consumers to reduce their caloric intake due to a lack of transparency at the point of purchase. Thus, it is hypothesized that point-of-purchase, nutrient-specific excise taxes on SSBs would be more effective at reducing sugar consumption. However, all SSB taxes are limited by the possibility that consumers may compensate their decreased intake from SSBs with other high-calorie junk foods. Furthermore, there are no existing studies to provide evidence on how SSB taxes will impact obesity rates in the long term. The paradox of sugar prices is that Americans have paid higher prices for sugar to protect domestic production for more than 80 years, and now, Americans are being asked to pay even more to promote public health. The effective use of sugar taxes should be considered based on their merits in reducing sugar consumption and making available a new source of funds to support nutrition education, not on lobbying efforts by the food industry or sugar and corn producers.

Knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors of adults concerning nonalcoholic beverages suggest some lack of comprehension related to sugars.

PubMed

Rampersaud, Gail C; Kim, Hyeyoung; Gao, Zhifeng; House, Lisa A

2014-02-01

Key recommendations in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and US Department of Agriculture's MyPlate are to reduce the intake of added sugars, particularly from sugar-sweetened beverages, and drink water instead of "sugary" beverages. However, little is known about consumer knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors regarding sugars in beverages. We hypothesized that consumers would have limited or inaccurate knowledge of the sugars in beverages and that their beverage consumption behaviors would not reflect their primary concerns related to sugars in beverages. An online survey was completed by 3361 adults 18 years and older residing throughout the United States. Water was consumed in the highest amounts followed by (in descending amounts) other beverages (includes coffee and tea), added sugar beverages, milk, diet drinks, and 100% fruit juice and blends. Participants primarily associated the term "sugary" with beverages containing added sugars; however, almost 40% identified 100% fruit juice as sugary. Some participants misidentified the types of sugars in beverages, particularly with respect to milk and 100% fruit juices. Generally, beverage choices were consistent with stated concerns about total, added, or natural sugars; however, less than 40% of participants identified added sugars as a primary concern when choosing beverages despite public health recommendations to reduce the intake of added sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages. Results suggest that there may be a considerable level of consumer misunderstanding or confusion about the types of sugars in beverages. More consumer research and education are needed with the goal of helping consumers make more informed and healthy beverage choices. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sugar in Infants, Children and Adolescents: A Position Paper of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Committee on Nutrition.

PubMed

Fidler Mis, Nataša; Braegger, Christian; Bronsky, Jiri; Campoy, Cristina; Domellöf, Magnus; Embleton, Nicholas D; Hojsak, Iva; Hulst, Jessie; Indrio, Flavia; Lapillonne, Alexandre; Mihatsch, Walter; Molgaard, Christian; Vora, Rakesh; Fewtrell, Mary

2017-12-01

The consumption of sugars, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs; beverages or drinks that contain added caloric sweeteners (ie, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates), in European children and adolescents exceeds current recommendations. This is of concern because there is no nutritional requirement for free sugars, and infants have an innate preference for sweet taste, which may be modified and reinforced by pre- and postnatal exposures. Sugar-containing beverages/free sugars increase the risk for overweight/obesity and dental caries, can result in poor nutrient supply and reduced dietary diversity, and may be associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular risk, and other health effects. The term "free sugars," includes all monosaccharides/disaccharides added to foods/beverages by the manufacturer/cook/consumer, plus sugars naturally present in honey/syrups/unsweetened fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. Sugar naturally present in intact fruits and lactose in amounts naturally present in human milk or infant formula, cow/goat milk, and unsweetened milk products is not free sugar. Intake of free sugars should be reduced and minimised with a desirable goal of <5% energy intake in children and adolescents aged ≥2 to 18 years. Intake should probably be even lower in infants and toddlers <2 years. Healthy approaches to beverage and dietary consumption should be established in infancy, with the aim of preventing negative health effects in later childhood and adulthood. Sugar should preferably be consumed as part of a main meal and in a natural form as human milk, milk, unsweetened dairy products, and fresh fruits, rather than as SSBs, fruit juices, smoothies, and/or sweetened milk products. Free sugars in liquid form should be replaced by water or unsweetened milk drinks. National Authorities should adopt policies aimed at reducing the intake of free sugars in infants, children and adolescents. This may include education, improved labelling, restriction of advertising, introducing standards for kindergarten and school meals, and fiscal measures, depending on local circumstances.

Calcium addition at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest increases sugar storage, antioxidant activity and cold tolerance in native red spruce (Picea rubens).

PubMed

Halman, Joshua M; Schaberg, Paul G; Hawley, Gary J; Eagar, Christopher

2008-06-01

In fall (November 2005) and winter (February 2006), we collected current-year foliage of native red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) growing in a reference watershed and in a watershed treated in 1999 with wollastonite (CaSiO(3), a slow-release calcium source) to simulate preindustrial soil calcium concentrations (Ca-addition watershed) at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (Thornton, NH). We analyzed nutrition, soluble sugar concentrations, ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity and cold tolerance, to evaluate the basis of recent (2003) differences between watersheds in red spruce foliar winter injury. Foliar Ca and total sugar concentrations were significantly higher in trees in the Ca-addition watershed than in trees in the reference watershed during both fall (P=0.037 and 0.035, respectively) and winter (P=0.055 and 0.036, respectively). The Ca-addition treatment significantly increased foliar fructose and glucose concentrations in November (P=0.013 and 0.007, respectively) and foliar sucrose concentrations in winter (P=0.040). Foliar APX activity was similar in trees in both watersheds during fall (P=0.28), but higher in trees in the Ca-addition watershed during winter (P=0.063). Cold tolerance of foliage was significantly greater in trees in the Ca-addition watershed than in trees in the reference watershed (P<0.001). Our results suggest that low foliar sugar concentrations and APX activity, and reduced cold tolerance in trees in the reference watershed contributed to their high vulnerability to winter injury in 2003. Because the reference watershed reflects forest conditions in the region, the consequences of impaired physiological function caused by soil Ca depletion may have widespread implications for forest health.

All roads lead to Rome: Towards understanding different avenues of tolerance to huanglongbing in citrus cultivars.

PubMed

Killiny, Nabil; Jones, Shelley E; Nehela, Yasser; Hijaz, Faraj; Dutt, Manjul; Gmitter, Frederick G; Grosser, Jude W

2018-05-18

Citrus tolerance to huanglongbing could result from tolerance to the pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) and/or to its vector Diaphorina citri. Field observations and greenhouse-controlled studies showed that some citrus cultivars were more tolerant than others. However, the mechanism(s) behind the tolerance has not been determined yet. Using GC-MS, we investigated the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the non-volatile metabolite profiles of two tolerant citrus cultivars- Australian finger lime, 'LB8-9' Sugar Belle ® mandarin hybrid, and a recently released mandarin hybrid 'Bingo'. The three were grafted onto the rootstock, Carrizo citrange. Our findings showed that the metabolomic profiles of Australian finger lime were different from that of 'LB8-9'. Finger lime was high in many amino acids and tricarboxylic acid intermediates, whereas 'LB8-9' was high in several amino acids, sugars, and sugar alcohols. 'LB8-9' was high in thymol, which is known for its strong antimicrobial activity against a panel of pathogenic bacteria. The metabolomic profiles of 'Bingo' were intensely different from the other mandarin hybrid, 'LB8-9', including a reduced thymol biosynthetic pathway and low amounts of most of the amino acids and sugar alcohols. Remarkably, 1,8-cineole (eucalyptol) was only detected in 'Bingo', indicating that eucalyptol could have feeding and ovipositional repellency against D. citri. The metabolite profiles generated for HLB-tolerant citrus species will improve the ability of citrus breeders and will allow them to take more informed decisions. Metabolomic profiling of HLB-tolerant citrus species could identify tolerance specific markers that can be introduced to other commercial citrus cultivars to improve their tolerance to HLB disease. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Mondo/ChREBP-Mlx-Regulated Transcriptional Network Is Essential for Dietary Sugar Tolerance in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Havula, Essi; Teesalu, Mari; Hyötyläinen, Tuulia; Seppälä, Heini; Hasygar, Kiran; Auvinen, Petri; Orešič, Matej; Sandmann, Thomas; Hietakangas, Ville

2013-01-01

Sugars are important nutrients for many animals, but are also proposed to contribute to overnutrition-derived metabolic diseases in humans. Understanding the genetic factors governing dietary sugar tolerance therefore has profound biological and medical significance. Paralogous Mondo transcription factors ChREBP and MondoA, with their common binding partner Mlx, are key sensors of intracellular glucose flux in mammals. Here we report analysis of the in vivo function of Drosophila melanogaster Mlx and its binding partner Mondo (ChREBP) in respect to tolerance to dietary sugars. Larvae lacking mlx or having reduced mondo expression show strikingly reduced survival on a diet with moderate or high levels of sucrose, glucose, and fructose. mlx null mutants display widespread changes in lipid and phospholipid profiles, signs of amino acid catabolism, as well as strongly elevated circulating glucose levels. Systematic loss-of-function analysis of Mlx target genes reveals that circulating glucose levels and dietary sugar tolerance can be genetically uncoupled: Krüppel-like transcription factor Cabut and carbonyl detoxifying enzyme Aldehyde dehydrogenase type III are essential for dietary sugar tolerance, but display no influence on circulating glucose levels. On the other hand, Phosphofructokinase 2, a regulator of the glycolysis pathway, is needed for both dietary sugar tolerance and maintenance of circulating glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, we show evidence that fatty acid synthesis, which is a highly conserved Mondo-Mlx-regulated process, does not promote dietary sugar tolerance. In contrast, survival of larvae with reduced fatty acid synthase expression is sugar-dependent. Our data demonstrate that the transcriptional network regulated by Mondo-Mlx is a critical determinant of the healthful dietary spectrum allowing Drosophila to exploit sugar-rich nutrient sources. PMID:23593032

Sugar reduction in fruit nectars: Impact on consumers' sensory and hedonic perception.

PubMed

Oliveira, Denize; Galhardo, Juliana; Ares, Gastón; Cunha, Luís M; Deliza, Rosires

2018-05-01

Sugar sweetened beverages are one of the main sources of added sugar in the diet. Therefore, sugar reduction in these products could contribute to the prevention of various negative health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. In this context, the present work aimed to study consumer sensory and hedonic perception towards sugar reduction in fruit nectars. Five sequential difference thresholds for added sugar in three fruit nectars (passion fruit, orange/passion fruit and orange/pomegranate) were determined based on consumer perception. In each test, difference thresholds were estimated using survival analysis based on the responses of 50 consumers to six paired-comparison tests. Each pair was composed of two samples, a control nectar and a sample that was reduced in added sugar from the control. Consumers were asked to try each of the samples in each pair and to indicate which was sweeter. Then, consumers' sensory and hedonic perception of nectar samples was evaluated for each nectar using a 9-point hedonic scale and a check-all-that-apply question. Difference thresholds were estimated in 4.20%-8.14% of the added sugar concentration of the nectars. No significant differences in overall liking were detected for fruit nectars with 20% sugar reduction. However, large heterogeneity in consumer hedonic reaction towards sugar reduction was found, which should be taken into account in the design of sugar reduction programs. Consumer hedonic reaction towards sugar reduction was product dependent. Results from the present work reinforce the idea that gradual sugar reduction in sugar sweetened beverages is a feasible strategy that could contribute to reduce the sugar intake of the population. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The development of an ivermectin-based attractive toxic sugar bait (ATSB) to target Anopheles arabiensis.

PubMed

Tenywa, Frank Chelestino; Kambagha, Athumani; Saddler, Adam; Maia, Marta Ferreira

2017-08-15

An increasing number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa are moving towards malaria-elimination, mostly thanks to successful vector control campaigns. However, elimination has proven challenging, resulting in the persistence of malaria transmission. It is now accepted that in order to eliminate malaria, new complementary vector control approaches must be developed. This study describes the development of a sugar-baited resting place containing a toxic dose of ivermectin for the control of Anopheles arabiensis. Dose response experiments were performed in insectary conditions to determine the LD90 of ivermectin against An. arabiensis. Over 95% of An. arabiensis were knocked down 48 h post-sugar feeding on 10% sucrose solutions containing 0.01% ivermectin. When investigating different juices as attractants, it was observed that An. arabiensis preferred orange, watermelon and commercial guava juice over pawpaw, tomato, mango or banana, but were most likely to feed on simple 10% sugar solution. Using recycled materials, different bait prototypes were tested to determine the best design to maximize sugar feeding. Baits that offered a resting place for the mosquito rather than just a surface to sugar feed were more likely to attract An. arabiensis to sugar feed. The optimized prototype was then placed in different locations within a screen-house, colour-coded with different food dyes, containing competing vegetation (Ricinus communis) and experimental huts where humans slept under bed nets. Around half of all the released An. arabiensis sugar fed on the sugar baits, and approximately 50% of all sugar fed mosquitoes chose the baits close to outdoor vegetation before entering the huts. Ivermectin is an effective insecticide for use in sugar baits. The design of the sugar bait can influence feeding rates and, therefore, efficacy. Sugar baits that offer a resting surface are more efficient and sugar feeding on the baits is maximized when these are placed close to peri-domestic vegetation. Attractive toxic sugar baited resting places may provide an additional vector control method to complement with existing strategies.

Silencing a sugar transporter gene reduces fecundity, growth and development in the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens (Stal) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens, sugar transporter gene 6 (Nlst6) is a facilitative glucose/fructose transporter expressed in midgut that mediates sugar uptake from rice phloem, a major energy source for BPH. In mammals, down regulation of the major sugar transporter gene GLUT or SGL...

19 CFR 151.23 - Allowance for moisture in raw sugar.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Allowance for moisture in raw sugar. 151.23... Molasses § 151.23 Allowance for moisture in raw sugar. Inasmuch as the absorption of sea water or moisture reduces the polariscopic test of sugar, there shall be no allowance on account of increased weight of raw...

19 CFR 151.23 - Allowance for moisture in raw sugar.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Allowance for moisture in raw sugar. 151.23... Molasses § 151.23 Allowance for moisture in raw sugar. Inasmuch as the absorption of sea water or moisture reduces the polariscopic test of sugar, there shall be no allowance on account of increased weight of raw...

Reduced-in-sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies: Functionality of Sucralose/Maltodextrin: Isomalt Blends

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Reduced-in-sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies: Functionality of Sucralose/Maltodextrin:Isomalt Blends Rebecca McKemie1, Ruthann B. Swanson1, Elizabeth M. Savage2 and Hong Zhuang2 1University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30605; 2ARS-USDA, Athens, GA 30605 Modified baked product availability may reduce simple ...

Optimization of enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation conditions for improved bioethanol production from potato peel residues.

PubMed

Ben Taher, Imen; Fickers, Patrick; Chniti, Sofien; Hassouna, Mnasser

2017-03-01

The aim of this work was the optimization of the enzyme hydrolysis of potato peel residues (PPR) for bioethanol production. The process included a pretreatment step followed by an enzyme hydrolysis using crude enzyme system composed of cellulase, amylase and hemicellulase, produced by a mixed culture of Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma reesei. Hydrothermal, alkali and acid pretreatments were considered with regards to the enhancement of enzyme hydrolysis of potato peel residues. The obtained results showed that hydrothermal pretreatment lead to a higher enzyme hydrolysis yield compared to both acid and alkali pretreatments. Enzyme hydrolysis was also optimized for parameters such as temperature, pH, substrate loading and surfactant loading using a response surface methodology. Under optimized conditions, 77 g L -1 of reducing sugars were obtained. Yeast fermentation of the released reducing sugars led to an ethanol titer of 30 g L -1 after supplementation of the culture medium with ammonium sulfate. Moreover, a comparative study between acid and enzyme hydrolysis of potato peel residues was investigated. Results showed that enzyme hydrolysis offers higher yield of bioethanol production than acid hydrolysis. These results highlight the potential of second generation bioethanol production from potato peel residues treated with onsite produced hydrolytic enzymes. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:397-406, 2017. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Cellulolytic enzymes production by utilizing agricultural wastes under solid state fermentation and its application for biohydrogen production.

PubMed

Saratale, Ganesh D; Kshirsagar, Siddheshwar D; Sampange, Vilas T; Saratale, Rijuta G; Oh, Sang-Eun; Govindwar, Sanjay P; Oh, Min-Kyu

2014-12-01

Phanerochaete chrysosporium was evaluated for cellulase and hemicellulase production using various agricultural wastes under solid state fermentation. Optimization of various environmental factors, type of substrate, and medium composition was systematically investigated to maximize the production of enzyme complex. Using grass powder as a carbon substrate, maximum activities of endoglucanase (188.66 U/gds), exoglucanase (24.22 U/gds), cellobiase (244.60 U/gds), filter paperase (FPU) (30.22 U/gds), glucoamylase (505.0 U/gds), and xylanase (427.0 U/gds) were produced under optimized conditions. The produced crude enzyme complex was employed for hydrolysis of untreated and mild acid pretreated rice husk. The maximum amount of reducing sugar released from enzyme treated rice husk was 485 mg/g of the substrate. Finally, the hydrolysates of rice husk were used for hydrogen production by Clostridium beijerinckii. The maximum cumulative H2 production and H2 yield were 237.97 mL and 2.93 mmoL H2/g of reducing sugar, (or 2.63 mmoL H2/g of cellulose), respectively. Biohydrogen production performance obtained from this work is better than most of the reported results from relevant studies. The present study revealed the cost-effective process combining cellulolytic enzymes production under solid state fermentation (SSF) and the conversion of agro-industrial residues into renewable energy resources.

A kinetic study on the chemical cleavage of nucleoside diphosphate sugars.

PubMed

Huhta, Eija; Parjanen, Atte; Mikkola, Satu

2010-03-30

Nucleoside diphosphate sugars serve in essential roles in metabolic processes. They have, therefore, been used in mechanistic studies on glycosylation reactions, and their analogues have been synthesised as enzyme and receptor inhibitors. Despite extensive biochemical research, little is known about their chemical reactions. In the present work the chemical cleavage of two different types of nucleoside diphosphate sugars has been studied. UDP-Glc is phosphorylated at the anomeric carbon, whereas in ADP-Rib C-1 is unsubstituted, allowing hence the equilibrium between cyclic hemiacetal and acyclic carbonyl forms. Due to the structural difference, these substrates react via different pathways under slightly alkaline conditions: while UDP-Glc reacts exclusively by a nucleophilic attack of a glucose hydroxyl group on the diphosphate moiety, ADP-Rib undergoes a complex reaction sequence that involves isomerisation processes of the acyclic ribose sugar and results in a release of ADP. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proton-coupled sugar transport in the prototypical major facilitator superfamily protein XylE

PubMed Central

Wisedchaisri, Goragot; Park, Min-Sun; Iadanza, Matthew G.; Zheng, Hongjin; Gonen, Tamir

2014-01-01

The major facilitator superfamily (MFS) is the largest collection of structurally related membrane proteins that transport a wide array of substrates. The proton-coupled sugar transporter XylE is the first member of the MFS that has been structurally characterized in multiple transporting conformations, including both the outward and inward-facing states. Here we report the crystal structure of XylE in a new inward-facing open conformation, allowing us to visualize the rocker-switch movement of the N-domain against the C-domain during the transport cycle. Using molecular dynamics simulation, and functional transport assays, we describe the movement of XylE that facilitates sugar translocation across a lipid membrane and identify the likely candidate proton-coupling residues as the conserved Asp27 and Arg133. This study addresses the structural basis for proton-coupled substrate transport and release mechanism for the sugar porter family of proteins. PMID:25088546

Waffle production: influence of batter ingredients on sticking of fresh egg waffles at baking plates-Part I: effect of starch and sugar components.

PubMed

Huber, Regina; Schoenlechner, Regine

2017-05-01

Fresh egg waffles are a sweet convenience product typically baked from eggs, water, sugar, flour, fat, leavening agents, emulsifiers, preservatives, and flavors. In industrial production, waffles are baked continuously in high amounts of up to 200 kg raw material per hour. Therefore, it is important that the waffles do not stick onto the baking plates, which can cause significant product loss and increased costs due to interruption of the baking process, required cleaning procedures, and restarting of the energy-consuming start-up phase. Sticking of waffles is greatly influenced not only by baking plate material, release agent, baking temperature, and time, but also by the batter ingredients. In this study, effects of different starches and sugar components were investigated. Within the selected starches, potato starch demonstrated the highest effects on increasing waffle stability and releasing properties compared to wheat and lupine flour (less than 7% sticking waffles). Rice flour performed worst, with almost 50% of sticking waffles. Most of these waffles were broken during take-off, due to their crumbly texture. Within the sugar components, glycerine was better suitable than sorbitol and crystal sugar was superior compared to powdered sugar. They required less take-off force. It could be demonstrated that waffles with increased stability and texture were those that showed the least number of sticking waffles, thus the main aim of batter ingredients was to improve waffle quality. Waffle quality was influenced by batter parameters, significant correlations could be found, for example, a positive correlation between pH- and L-value, negative correlations between pH- and a-value, or density and aw-value. This resulted in significant correlations with take-off-force, which was correlated with L*- and b*-value (negative) and positive to a*-value. Sticking behavior was strongly associated with b*-value (positive) and to a*-value (negative).

Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation of Sugar Beet Pulp for Efficient Bioethanol Production

PubMed Central

Berłowska, Joanna; Balcerek, Maria; Dziekońska-Kubczak, Urszula; Patelski, Piotr; Dziugan, Piotr

2016-01-01

Sugar beet pulp, a byproduct of sugar beet processing, can be used as a feedstock in second-generation ethanol production. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of pretreatment, of the dosage of cellulase and hemicellulase enzyme preparations used, and of aeration on the release of fermentable sugars and ethanol yield during simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of sugar beet pulp-based worts. Pressure-thermal pretreatment was applied to sugar beet pulp suspended in 2% w/w sulphuric acid solution at a ratio providing 12% dry matter. Enzymatic hydrolysis was conducted using Viscozyme and Ultraflo Max (Novozymes) enzyme preparations (0.015–0.02 mL/g dry matter). Two yeast strains were used for fermentation: Ethanol Red (S. cerevisiae) (1 g/L) and Pichia stipitis (0.5 g/L), applied sequentially. The results show that efficient simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of sugar beet pulp was achieved. A 6 h interval for enzymatic activation between the application of enzyme preparations and inoculation with Ethanol Red further improved the fermentation performance, with the highest ethanol concentration reaching 26.9 ± 1.2 g/L and 86.5 ± 2.1% fermentation efficiency relative to the theoretical yield. PMID:27722169

Marketing potential of advanced breeding clones

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The accumulation of reducing sugars during cold storage of potato tubers is a serious and costly problem for producers and processors. The degree to which cultivars accumulate reducing sugars during storage determines their processing and market potential. Cultivars or advanced breeding lines with...

A Loose Relationship: Incomplete H+/Sugar Coupling in the MFS Sugar Transporter GlcP.

PubMed

Bazzone, Andre; Zabadne, Annas J; Salisowski, Anastasia; Madej, M Gregor; Fendler, Klaus

2017-12-19

The glucose transporter from Staphylococcus epidermidis, GlcP Se , is a homolog of the human GLUT sugar transporters of the major facilitator superfamily. Together with the xylose transporter from Escherichia coli, XylE Ec , the other prominent prokaryotic GLUT homolog, GlcP Se , is equipped with a conserved proton-binding site arguing for an electrogenic transport mode. However, the electrophysiological analysis of GlcP Se presented here reveals important differences between the two GLUT homologs. GlcP Se , unlike XylE Ec , does not perform steady-state electrogenic transport at symmetrical pH conditions. Furthermore, when a pH gradient is applied, partially uncoupled transport modes can be generated. In contrast to other bacterial sugar transporters analyzed so far, in GlcP Se sugar binding, translocation and release are also accomplished by the deprotonated transporter. Based on these experimental results, we conclude that coupling of sugar and H + transport is incomplete in GlcP Se . To verify the viability of the observed partially coupled GlcP Se transport modes, we propose a universal eight-state kinetic model in which any degree of coupling is realized and H + /sugar symport represents only a specific instance. Furthermore, using sequence comparison with strictly coupled XylE Ec and similar sugar transporters, we identify an additional charged residue that may be essential for effective H + /sugar symport. Copyright © 2017 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Australian Paradox: A Substantial Decline in Sugars Intake over the Same Timeframe that Overweight and Obesity Have Increased

PubMed Central

Barclay, Alan W.; Brand-Miller, Jennie

2011-01-01

Ecological research from the USA has demonstrated a positive relationship between sugars consumption and prevalence of obesity; however, the relationship in other nations is not well described. The aim of this study was to analyze the trends in obesity and sugar consumption in Australia over the past 30 years and to compare and contrast obesity trends and sugar consumption patterns in Australia with the UK and USA. Data on consumption of sugar in Australia, the UK and USA were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization for the years 1980-2003. The prevalence of obesity has increased 3 fold in Australians since 1980. In Australia, the UK and USA, per capita consumption of refined sucrose decreased by 23%, 10% and 20% respectively from 1980 to 2003. When all sources of nutritive sweeteners, including high fructose corn syrups, were considered, per capita consumption decreased in Australia (−16%) and the UK (−5%), but increased in the USA (+23%). In Australia, there was a reduction in sales of nutritively sweetened beverages by 64 million liters from 2002 to 2006 and a reduction in percentage of children consuming sugar-sweetened beverages between 1995 and 2007. The findings confirm an “Australian Paradox”-a substantial decline in refined sugars intake over the same timeframe that obesity has increased. The implication is that efforts to reduce sugar intake may reduce consumption but may not reduce the prevalence of obesity. PMID:22254107

[Development of a gummy candy reduced in calories by sugar substitution with Stevia rebaudiana B].

PubMed

Aranda-González, Irma; Tamayo-Dzul, Óscar; Barbosa-Martín, Enrique; Segura-Campos, Maira; Moguel-Ordoñez, Yolanda; Betancur-Ancona, David

2014-09-12

The consumption of gummy candy is widespread among people of different ages but mainly by children. The formulation of this product requires sugar that contributes to their flavor and consistency, but with the undesirable effect of increase its glycemic index and its calories from simple sugars; it is known that consumption of products with these last two characteristics are related to childhood obesity, which is a worldwide growing disease. Stevia rebaudiana is a plant that naturally contains glycosides with high sweetening power and it is considered safe for consumption. Therefore the aim of this work was to develop a gummy candy reduced in calories by replacing sugar with Stevia rebaudiana B., and analyzes its texture and acceptability. Gummy candy were prepared with different percentage of sugar reduction (-20, -40, -60, -80 and -100%) and a product control (100% sugar); gummy elasticity was assess by displacement and maximum deformation, whereas resistance was evaluated by breaking strength; those gummies with better elasticity and resistance parameters underwent proximate analysis and sensory evaluations with a unstructured scale applied to 90 school children aged between 6 and 10 years old. A gummy candy reduced in calories with 60% sugar substitution with S. rebaudiana was developed; the level of satisfaction in school children was statistically the same respect to the gummy made of 100% sugar (p <0.05). Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Contribution of Discretionary Foods and Drinks to Australian Children's Intake of Energy, Saturated Fat, Added Sugars and Salt.

PubMed

Johnson, Brittany J; Bell, Lucinda K; Zarnowiecki, Dorota; Rangan, Anna M; Golley, Rebecca K

2017-12-01

Interventions are required to reduce children's consumption of discretionary foods and drinks. To intervene we need to identify appropriate discretionary choice targets. This study aimed to determine the main discretionary choice contributors to energy and key nutrient intakes in children aged 2-18 years. Secondary analyses were performed with population weighted, single 24 h dietary recall data from the 2011-2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Cakes, muffins, and slices; sweet biscuits; potato crisps and similar snacks; and, processed meats and sugar-sweetened drinks were relatively commonly consumed and were within the top three to five contributors to per capita energy, saturated fat, sodium, and/or added sugars. Per consumer intake identified cereal-based takeaway foods; cakes, muffins and slices; meat pies and other savoury pastries; and, processed meats as top contributors to energy, saturated fat, and sodium across most age groups. Subgroups of sugar-sweetened drinks and cakes, muffins and slices were consistently key contributors to added sugars intake. This study identified optimal targets for interventions to reduce discretionary choices intake, likely to have the biggest impact on moderating energy intake while also reducing intakes of saturated fat, sodium and/or added sugars.

Reduced dietary intake of simple sugars alters perceived sweet taste intensity but not perceived pleasantness.

PubMed

Wise, Paul M; Nattress, Laura; Flammer, Linda J; Beauchamp, Gary K

2016-01-01

Individuals who adhere to reduced-sodium diets come to prefer less salt over time, but it is unclear whether sweet taste perception is modulated by reduced sugar intake. The objective was to determine how a substantial reduction in dietary intake of simple sugars affects sweetness intensity and pleasantness of sweet foods and beverages. Healthy men and women aged 21-54 y participated for 5 mo. After the baseline month, 2 subject groups were matched for demographic characteristics, body mass index, and intake of simple sugars. One group (n = 16; 13 of whom completed key experimental manipulations) was randomly assigned to receive a low-sugar diet during the subsequent 3 mo, with instructions to replace 40% of calories from simple sugars with fats, proteins, and complex carbohydrates. The other (control) group (n = 17; 16 of whom completed the study) did not change their sugar intake. During the final month, both groups chose any diet they wished. Each month subjects rated the sweetness intensity and pleasantness of vanilla puddings and raspberry beverages that varied in sucrose concentration. ANOVA showed no systematic differences between groups in rated sweetness during the baseline or first diet month. During the second diet month, the low-sugar group rated low-sucrose pudding samples as more intense than did the control group (significant group-by-concentration interaction, P = 0.002). During the third diet month, the low-sugar subjects rated both low and high concentrations in puddings as ∼40% sweeter than did the control group (significant effect of group, P = 0.01). A weaker effect on rated sweetness was obtained for the beverages. Rated pleasantness was not affected for either of the stimuli. This experiment provides empirical evidence that changes in consumption of simple sugars influence perceived sweet taste intensity. More work is needed to determine whether sugar intake ultimately shifts preferences for sweet foods and beverages. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02090478. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Enhanced mannan-derived fermentable sugars of palm kernel cake by mannanase-catalyzed hydrolysis for production of biobutanol.

PubMed

Shukor, Hafiza; Abdeshahian, Peyman; Al-Shorgani, Najeeb Kaid Nasser; Hamid, Aidil Abdul; Rahman, Norliza A; Kalil, Mohd Sahaid

2016-10-01

Catalytic depolymerization of mannan composition of palm kernel cake (PKC) by mannanase was optimized to enhance the release of mannan-derived monomeric sugars for further application in acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. Efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis of PKC was studied by evaluating effects of PKC concentration, mannanase loading, hydrolysis pH value, reaction temperature and hydrolysis time on production of fermentable sugars using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The ANOVA results revealed that all factors studied had highly significant effects on total sugar liberated (P<0.01). The optimum conditions for PKC hydrolysis were 20% (w/v) PKC concentration, 5% (w/w) mannanase loading, hydrolysis pH 4.5, 45°C temperature and 72h hydrolysis time. Enzymatic experiments in optimum conditions revealed total fermentable sugars of 71.54±2.54g/L were produced including 67.47±2.51g/L mannose and 2.94±0.03g/L glucose. ABE fermentation of sugar hydrolysate by Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4 resulted in 3.27±1.003g/L biobutanol. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficient sugar release by acetic acid ethanol-based organosolv pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification.

PubMed

Zhang, Hongdan; Wu, Shubin

2014-12-03

Acetic acid ethanol-based organosolv pretreatment of sugar cane bagasse was performed to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis. The effect of different parameters (including temperature, reaction time, solvent concentration, and acid catalyst dose) on pretreatment prehydrolyzate and subsequent enzymatic digestibility was determined. During the pretreatment process, 11.83 g of xylose based on 100 g of raw material could be obtained. After the ethanol-based pretreatment, the enzymatic hydrolysis was enhanced and the highest glucose yield of 40.99 g based on 100 g of raw material could be obtained, representing 93.8% of glucose in sugar cane bagasse. The maximum total sugar yields occurred at 190 °C, 45 min, 60:40 ethanol/water, and 5% dosage of acetic acid, reaching 58.36 g (including 17.69 g of xylose and 40.67 g of glucose) based on 100 g of raw material, representing 85.4% of total sugars in raw material. Furthermore, characterization of the pretreated sugar cane bagasse using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analyses were also developed. The results suggested that ethanol-based organosolv pretreatment could enhance enzymatic digestibilities because of the delignification and removal of xylan.

Physical Changes In The Home Environment To Reduce Television Viewing And Sugar Sweetened Beverage Consumption Among 5-12 Year Old Children: A Randomized Pilot Study

PubMed Central

French, SA; Sherwood, NE; JaKa, MM; Haapala, JL; Ebbeling, CB; Ludwig, DS

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the feasibility of a home-based intervention to reduce sugar sweetened beverage intake and television viewing among children. Lower-income parents of overweight children ages 5-12 yrs (n=40) were randomized to a home environment intervention to reduce television viewing with locking devices and displace availability of sugar sweetened beverages with home delivery of non-caloric beverages (n=25), or to a no-intervention control group (n=15) for six months. Data were collected at baseline and six months. After six months, television viewing hours per day was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group (1.7 [se=.02] vs. 2.6 [se = .25] hrs/day, respectively, p < .01). Sugar sweetened beverage intake was marginally significantly lower among intervention group compared to control group children (0.21 [se=.09] vs. 0.45 [se=.10], respectively, p < .09). BMI z-score was not significantly lower among intervention compared to control children. Among a lower-income sample of children, a home-based intervention reduced television viewing, but not sugar-sweetened beverage intake or BMI z-score. PMID:26317968

Effects of defoliation and drought on root food reserves in sugar maple seedlings

Treesearch

Johnson Parker; Johnson Parker

1970-01-01

The artificial defoliation of sugar maple (Acer. saccharum Marsh.) can cause a marked decline in root food reserves, especially starch, and an increase in the levels of the reducing sugars, fructose and glucose. Defoliation can also bring on the dieback-decline syndrome in sugar maples (Parker and Houston 1968). Two experiments designed to examine this question were...

Metabolic Flux Analysis during the Exponential Growth Phase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Wine Fermentations

PubMed Central

Quirós, Manuel; Martínez-Moreno, Rubén; Albiol, Joan; Morales, Pilar; Vázquez-Lima, Felícitas; Barreiro-Vázquez, Antonio; Ferrer, Pau; Gonzalez, Ramon

2013-01-01

As a consequence of the increase in global average temperature, grapes with the adequate phenolic and aromatic maturity tend to be overripe by the time of harvest, resulting in increased sugar concentrations and imbalanced C/N ratios in fermenting musts. This fact sets obvious additional hurdles in the challenge of obtaining wines with reduced alcohols levels, a new trend in consumer demands. It would therefore be interesting to understand Saccharomyces cerevisiae physiology during the fermentation of must with these altered characteristics. The present study aims to determine the distribution of metabolic fluxes during the yeast exponential growth phase, when both carbon and nitrogen sources are in excess, using continuous cultures. Two different sugar concentrations were studied under two different winemaking temperature conditions. Although consumption and production rates for key metabolites were severely affected by the different experimental conditions studied, the general distribution of fluxes in central carbon metabolism was basically conserved in all cases. It was also observed that temperature and sugar concentration exerted a higher effect on the pentose phosphate pathway and glycerol formation than on glycolysis and ethanol production. Additionally, nitrogen uptake, both quantitatively and qualitatively, was strongly influenced by environmental conditions. This work provides the most complete stoichiometric model used for Metabolic Flux Analysis of S. cerevisiae in wine fermentations employed so far, including the synthesis and release of relevant aroma compounds and could be used in the design of optimal nitrogen supplementation of wine fermentations. PMID:23967264

Rhizosphere C flux from tree roots to soil: spatial and temporal differences between sugar maple and yellow birch saplings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phillips, R. P.; Fahey, T. J.

2003-12-01

Rhizosphere carbon flux (RCF) has rarely been measured for intact root-soil systems. We measured RCF for eight year-old saplings of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and yellow birch (Betula allegheniensis) collected from Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and transplanted into 35 cm diameter pots with native soil horizons intact. We hypothesized birch roots which support ectomycorrhizal fungi would release more C to the rhizosphere than sugar maple roots which support vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Saplings (n=5) were pulse-labeled with 13CO2 at ambient CO2 concentrations for 4-6 hours, and the label was chased through rhizosphere and bulk soil pools in organic and mineral horizons for 7 days. We observed immediate appearance of the label in rhizosphere soil, and there was a striking difference in the temporal pattern of 13C concentration between species. In maple, peak concentration of the label appeared at day 1 and declined over time whereas in birch the label increased in concentration over the 7 day chase period. As a result, total RCF was 2-3 times greater from birch roots. We estimate at least 5% and 10% of NPP may be released from this flux pathway in sugar maple and yellow birch saplings respectively. These results suggest that rhizosphere C flux likely represents a substantial proportion of NPP in northern hardwood forests, and may be influenced by trees species and mycorrhizal association.

Enzymatic saccharification of liquid hot water and dilute sulfuric acid pretreated oil palm empty fruit bunch and sugarcane bagasse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Risanto, L.; Fitria; Fajriutami, T.; Hermiati, E.

2018-03-01

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) and sugarcane bagasse (SB) are potential feedstocks for the production of bioethanol. In this study OPEFB and SB were pretreated by liquid hot water and dilute sulfuric acid (3% H2SO4), and continued with enzymatic saccharification. Heating treatment for both methods was conducted in an autoclave at 121 °C for 1 hr. The saccharification was performed up to 72 hours with cellulase enzyme loading of 10, 20, and 30 FPU per g biomass. Results showed that OPEFB and SB pretreated with H2SO4 produced higher reducing sugars than those pretreated by liquid hot water. Higher enzyme loading also resulted in higher reducing sugars. Reducing sugars obtained from enzymatic saccharification of OPEFB were higher than those obtained from SB. The highest total reducing sugars (50.48 g/100 g biomass) was obtained from OPEFB pretreated with 3% H2SO4 at enzyme loading of 30 FPU per g biomass.

Reducing sugar loss in enzymatic hydrolysis of ethylenediamine pretreated corn stover.

PubMed

Li, Wen-Chao; Li, Xia; Qin, Lei; Zhu, Jia-Qing; Han, Xiao; Li, Bing-Zhi; Yuan, Ying-Jin

2017-01-01

In this study, the effect of ethylenediamine (EDA) on enzymatic hydrolysis with different cellulosic substrates and the approaches to reduce sugar loss in enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated. During enzymatic hydrolysis, xylose yield reduced 21.2%, 18.1% and 13.0% with 7.5mL/L EDA for AFEX pretreated corn stover (CS), washed EDA pretreated CS and CS cellulose. FTIR and GPC analysis demonstrated EDA reacted with sugar and produced high molecular weight (MW) compounds. EDA was prone to react with xylose other than glucose. H 2 O 2 and Na 2 SO 3 cannot prevent sugar loss in glucose/xylose-EDA mixture, although they inhibited the browning and high MW compounds formation. By decreasing temperature to 30°C, the loss of xylose yield reduced to only 3.8%, 3.6% and 4.2% with 7.5mL/L EDA in the enzymatic hydrolysis of AFEX pretreated CS, washed EDA pretreated CS and CS cellulose. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The use of steam explosion to increase the nutrition available from rice straw.

PubMed

Li, Bin; Chen, Kunjie; Gao, Xiang; Zhao, Chao; Shao, Qianjun; Sun, Qian; Li, Hua

2015-01-01

In the present study, rice straw was pretreated using steam-explosion (ST) technique to improve the enzymatic hydrolysis of potential reducing sugars for feed utilization. The response surface methodology based on central composite design was used to optimize the effects of steam pressure, pressure retention time, and straw moisture content on the yield of reducing sugar. All the investigated variables had significant effects (P < 0.001) on the reducing sugar yield. The optimum yield of 30.86% was obtained under the following pretreatment conditions: steam pressure, 1.54 MPa; pressure retention time, 140.5 Sec; and straw moisture content, 41.6%. The yield after thermal treatment under the same conditions was approximately 16%. Infrared (IR) radiation analysis showed a decrease in the cellulose IR crystallization index. ST noticeably increases reducing sugars in rice straw, and this technique may also be applicable to other cellulose/lignin sources of biomass. © 2014 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Lodging markedly reduced the biomass of sweet sorghum via decreasing photosynthesis in saline-alkali field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Jian Rong; Fan, Hai; Wang, Bao Shan

2018-06-01

Lodging is a serious problem in plant growth, especially in crops growth of the natural habitat. In order to determine the influence of lodging on the growth characters of sweet sorghum, plants grown in natural saline-alkali environment were used to investigate the fresh weight, dry weight, sugar content in the stalks and the photosynthesis index of salt tolerant crop sweet sorghum. Results showed that lodging significantly reduced the growth of sweet sorghum, the fresh weight and dry weight was only 28.3% and 22.5% of the normal plants when lodging occurred after 49 days. Lodging also reduced the stalks sugar content of sweet sorghum, the stalk sugar content of lodged plants was only 45.4% of that in the normal plants, when lodging occurred for 49 days. Lodging reduced the growth and sugar content by reducing the photosynthesis parameters of sweet sorghum grown in the saline-alkali field, thus, affected the accumulation of photosynthate. Interestingly, with the extension of the lodging time, lodging led to a decrease in photosynthetic rate of sweet sorghum mainly due to non-stomatal factors.

A review on polyols: new frontiers for health-based bakery products.

PubMed

Ghosh, Soma; Sudha, M L

2012-05-01

Polyols or sugar alcohols, a group of reduced calorie sweeteners, are the natural and nutritive sweeteners. These are neither sugars nor alcohols; rather they are a group of low-digestible carbohydrates which can be used instead of sucrose. They occur naturally in foods and come from plant products such as fruit and berries. They are used in food as sweeteners and bulking agents. Polyols have slightly reduced sweetness and caloric values compared to sucrose. Polyols available as either in solid crystalline form or syrups are emerging as a sugar replacer as well as a sugar substitute. Low sugar or low calorie is a top ranked market trend for bakery sector. Polyols offer the baker a versatile range of ingredients to boost the available portfolio of products. They would provide the functional benefits to bakery goods when the sugars used are replaced with polyols. This review focuses on some recent studies carried out on sucrose replacement with polyols in baked products.

Developing cold-chipping potato varieties by silencing the vacuolar invertase gene

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Accumulation of reducing sugars during cold storage is a persistent and costly problem for the potato processing industry. High temperature processing of potato tubers with elevated amounts of reducing sugars results in potato chips, fries and other products that are unacceptable to consumers becaus...

Genetic, Physiological, and Environmental Factors Affecting Acrylamide Concentration in Fried Potato Products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The discovery of acrylamide in processed potato products has brought increased interest in the controlling Maillard reaction precursors (reducing sugars and amino acids) in potato tubers. Because of their effects on nonenzymatic browning of fried potato products, reducing sugars and amino acids have...

Fluoride mechanisms.

PubMed

ten Cate, J M; van Loveren, C

1999-10-01

This article discusses fluoride mechanisms in relation to dental caries. The authors specifically address firmly bound versus loosely bound fluoride; different fluoride active ingredients; fluoride and demineralization and remineralization; fluoride slow-release devices and F-releasing dental materials; antimicrobial effects of fluoride; the uptake of fluoride by oral bacteria; inhibition of enolase, protein-intruding ATPase and sugar transport; the various aspects of plaque as it relates to fluoride; and the rational use of fluoride.

Spectrophotometric total reducing sugars assay based on cupric reduction.

PubMed

Başkan, Kevser Sözgen; Tütem, Esma; Akyüz, Esin; Özen, Seda; Apak, Reşat

2016-01-15

As the concentration of reducing sugars (RS) is controlled by European legislation for certain specific food and beverages, a simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of RS in various food products is proposed. The method is based on the reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I) with reducing sugars in alkaline medium in the presence of 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (neocuproine: Nc), followed by the formation of a colored Cu(I)-Nc charge-transfer complex. All simple sugars tested had the linear regression equations with almost equal slope values. The proposed method was successfully applied to fresh apple juice, commercial fruit juices, milk, honey and onion juice. Interference effect of phenolic compounds in plant samples was eliminated by a solid phase extraction (SPE) clean-up process. The method was proven to have higher sensitivity and precision than the widely used dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) colorimetric method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contribution of Discretionary Foods and Drinks to Australian Children’s Intake of Energy, Saturated Fat, Added Sugars and Salt

PubMed Central

Zarnowiecki, Dorota; Golley, Rebecca K.

2017-01-01

Interventions are required to reduce children’s consumption of discretionary foods and drinks. To intervene we need to identify appropriate discretionary choice targets. This study aimed to determine the main discretionary choice contributors to energy and key nutrient intakes in children aged 2–18 years. Secondary analyses were performed with population weighted, single 24 h dietary recall data from the 2011–2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Cakes, muffins, and slices; sweet biscuits; potato crisps and similar snacks; and, processed meats and sugar-sweetened drinks were relatively commonly consumed and were within the top three to five contributors to per capita energy, saturated fat, sodium, and/or added sugars. Per consumer intake identified cereal-based takeaway foods; cakes, muffins and slices; meat pies and other savoury pastries; and, processed meats as top contributors to energy, saturated fat, and sodium across most age groups. Subgroups of sugar-sweetened drinks and cakes, muffins and slices were consistently key contributors to added sugars intake. This study identified optimal targets for interventions to reduce discretionary choices intake, likely to have the biggest impact on moderating energy intake while also reducing intakes of saturated fat, sodium and/or added sugars. PMID:29194425

Pectin methyl esterase treatment on high-methoxy pectin for making fruit jam with reduced sugar content.

PubMed

Wang, Yuh-Tai; Lien, Ling-Lan; Chang, Ya-Chu; Wu, James Swi-Bea

2013-01-01

Pectin methyl esterase (PME) has been postulated to catalyse the transacylation reaction between pectin molecules. The present study aimed to prove the occurrence of this reaction. The feasibility of applying PME-catalysed transacylation between high-methoxy pectin molecules in making fruit jam with reduced sugar content was also investigated. PME treatment increased the turbidity and particle size in pectin solution and the molecular weight of pectin, while it decreased the number of methoxy ester linkages and the intensity of the CH₃ absorption peak in the Fourier transform infrared spectrum without changes in the number of total ester linkages in pectin molecules. These findings support the occurrence of PME-catalysed transacylation between pectin molecules. Higher values of hardness, gumminess and chewiness were found in a jam containing PME-treated citrus pectin (10 g L⁻¹) and sugar (350 g L⁻¹) as compared with either a jam containing untreated citrus pectin (10 g L⁻¹) and sugar (350 g L⁻¹) or strawberry jam containing pectin (10 g L⁻¹) from the fruit and sugar (650 g L⁻¹). The demand for sugar in jam making can be greatly reduced by the use of PME-treated high-methoxy pectin. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

Combined HILIC-ELSD/ESI-MS(n) enables the separation, identification and quantification of sugar beet pectin derived oligomers.

PubMed

Remoroza, C; Cord-Landwehr, S; Leijdekkers, A G M; Moerschbacher, B M; Schols, H A; Gruppen, H

2012-09-01

The combined action of endo-polygalacturonase (endo-PGII), pectin lyase (PL), pectin methyl esterase (fungal PME) and RG-I degrading enzymes enabled the extended degradation of methylesterified and acetylated sugar beet pectins (SBPs). The released oligomers were separated, identified and quantified using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) with online electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometry (ESI-IT-MS(n)) and evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD). By MS(n), the structures of galacturonic acid (GalA) oligomers having an acetyl group in the O-2 and/or O-3 positions eluting from the HILIC column were elucidated. The presence of methylesterified and/or acetylated galacturonic acid units within an oligomer reduced the interaction with the HILIC column significantly compared to the unsubstituted GalA oligomers. The HILIC column enables a good separation of most oligomers present in the digest. The use of ELSD to quantify oligogalacturonides was validated using pure GalA standards and the signal was found to be independent of the chemical structure of the oligomer being detected. The combination of chromatographic and enzymatic strategies enables to distinguish SBPs having different methylesters and acetyl group distribution. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physico-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of cotton stalk for ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Singh, Anita; Bajar, Somvir; Bishnoi, Narsi R

2017-11-01

The aim of this work was to study the physico-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of cotton stalk for ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Firstly, factors affecting pretreatment were screened out by Plackett-Burman design (PBD) and most significant factors were further optimized by Box-Behnken design (BBD). As shown by experimental study, most significant factors were FeCl 3 concentration (FC), irradiation time (IT) and substrate concentration (SC) affecting pretreatment of cotton stalk among all studied factors. Under optimum conditions of pretreatment FC 0.15mol/l, IT 20min and SC 55g/l, the release of reducing sugar was 6.6g/l. Hydrolysis of pretreated cotton stalk was done by crude on-site produced enzymes and hydrolysate was concentrated. Ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae using concentrated cotton stalk hydrolysate was 9.8g p /l, with ethanol yield 0.37g p /g s on consumed sugars. The data indicated that microwave FeCl 3 pretreated cotton stalk hydrolyses by crude unprocessed enzyme cocktail was good, and ethanol can be produced by fermentation of hydrolysate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Redox-related metabolites and gene expression modulated by sugar in sunflower leaves: similarities with Sunflower chlorotic mottle virus-induced symptom.

PubMed

Rodríguez, Marianela; Muñoz, Nacira; Lenardon, Sergio; Lascano, Ramiro

2013-01-01

Sugars are part of an integrated redox system, since they are key regulators of respiration and photosynthesis, and therefore of the levels of reducing power, ATP and ROS. These elements are major determinants of the cellular redox state, which is involved in the perception and regulation of many endogenous and environmental stimuli. Our previous findings suggested that early sugar increase produced during compatible Sunflower chlorotic mottle virus (SuCMoV) infection might modulate chlorotic symptom development through redox state alteration in sunflower. The purpose of this work was to characterize redox-related metabolites and gene expression changes associated with high sugar availability and symptom development induced by SuCMoV. The results show that sugar caused an increase in glutathione, ascorbate, pyridine nucleotides, and ATP. In addition, higher sugar availability reduced hydrogen peroxide and ΦPSII. This finding suggests that high sugar availability would be associated with cellular redox alteration and photoinhibitory process. The expression of the genes analyzed was also strongly affected by sugar, such as the down-regulation of psbA and up-regulation of psbO and cp29. The expression level of cytoplasmic (apx-1 and gr)- and chloroplastic (Fe-sod)-targeted genes was also significantly enhanced in sugar-treated leaves. Therefore, all these responses suggest that sugars induce chloroplastic redox state alteration with photoinhibition process that could be contributing to chlorotic symptom development during SuCMoV infection.

Structural analysis of N-linked carbohydrate chains of funnel web spider (Agelenopsis aperta) venom peptide isomerase.

PubMed

Shikata, Y; Ohe, H; Mano, N; Kuwada, M; Asakawa, N

1998-06-01

The structure of the N-linked carbohydrate chains of peptide isomerase from the venom of the funnel web spider (Agelenopsis aperta) has been analyzed. Carbohydrates were released from peptide isomerase by hydrazinolysis and reductively aminated with 2-aminopyridine. The fluorescent derivatives were purified by phenol/chloroform extraction, followed by size-exclusion HPLC. The structure of the purified pyridylamino (PA-) carbohydrate chains were analyzed by a combination of two-dimensional HPLC mapping, sugar composition analysis, sequential exoglycosidase digestions, and mass spectrometry. The peptide isomerase contains six kinds of N-linked carbohydrate chains of truncated high-mannose type, with a fucose alpha 1-6 linked to the reducing N-acetylglucosamine in approximately 80% of them.

Down-regulation of p-coumaroyl quinate/shikimate 3'-hydroxylase (C3'H) and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) genes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway of Eucalyptus urophylla x E. grandis leads to improved sugar release

DOE PAGES

Sykes, Robert W.; Gjersing, Erica L.; Foutz, Kirk; ...

2015-08-27

In this study, lignocellulosic materials provide an attractive replacement for food-based crops used to produce ethanol. Understanding the interactions within the cell wall is vital to overcome the highly recalcitrant nature of biomass. One factor imparting plant cell wall recalcitrance is lignin, which can be manipulated by making changes in the lignin biosynthetic pathway. In this study, eucalyptus down-regulated in expression of cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H, EC 1.14.13.11) or p-coumaroyl quinate/shikimate 3'-hydroxylase (C3'H, EC 1.14.13.36) were evaluated for cell wall composition and reduced recalcitrance.

New method for a two-step hydrolysis and chromatographic analysis of pectin neutral sugar chains.

PubMed

Garna, Haikel; Mabon, Nicolas; Wathelet, Bernard; Paquot, Michel

2004-07-28

A new method for the determination of the main neutral sugars in pectin has been developed. The sample preparation involves a mild chemical attack followed by an enzymatic hydrolysis. The completeness and nondestructive character of the method are demonstrated by comparison of the results obtained with different acids such as H2SO4, HCl, and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at different concentrations (2, 1, or 0.2 M) at two temperatures (80 or 100 degrees C). The chemical hydrolysis of pectin neutral sugar chains with strong acid (1 or 2 M) and high temperature (100 degrees C) shows that the liberation of the pectin sugars is not realized at the same rate for each sugar. Different optimum conditions are thus obtained. However, the chemical pectin hydrolysis with 0.2 M TFA at 80 degrees C is characterized by the liberation of pectin neutral sugar side chains without any degradation within 72 h of hydrolysis. Under these conditions, the liberation of some pectin sugars, essentially galactose, glucose, and rhamnose, was not complete. An enzymatic hydrolysis is necessary to obtain a complete release of all the sugars. The combination of the two treatments, a chemical hydrolysis realized with diluted acid (0.2 M) for 72 h at low temperature (80 degrees C) on one hand and an enzymatic hydrolysis on the other hand, allow a total liberation of pectin sugars. The quantitative analysis of the carbohydrates is realized with accuracy, high selectivity, and sensitivity with high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed-amperometric detection. The sugars can be analyzed without any derivatization with a limit of quantification of 0.1 mM. Copyright 2004 American Chemical Society

Glucosylated pH-sensitive liposomes as potential drug delivery systems.

PubMed

Giansanti, Luisa; Mauceri, Alessandro; Galantini, Luciano; Altieri, Barbara; Piozzi, Antonella; Mancini, Giovanna

2016-10-01

The inclusion of pH-sensitive components in liposome formulations can allow a more controlled and efficient release in response to low pH typical of some pathological tissues and/or subcellular compartments. On the other hand decorating the surface of liposomes with sugar moieties attributes to lipid vesicles specificity toward lectins, sugar-binding proteins overexpressed in many tumor tissues. A novel multifunctional pH-sensitive glucosylated amphiphile was synthesized and characterized as pure aggregate component and in mixtures with a natural phospholipid. The comparison of the properties of the new glucosylated amphiphile with respect to those of a previously described cationic structural analogue demonstrates that the pH-sensitivity can strongly affect drug release, lipid organization, as well as the exposure of the glucose residues on liposome surface and their ability to interact with Concanavalin A, a plant lectin used as model system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Controlled release liquid dosage formulation

DOEpatents

Benton, Ben F.; Gardner, David L.

1989-01-01

A liquid dual coated dosage formulation sustained release pharmaceutic having substantial shelf life prior to ingestion is disclosed. A dual coating is applied over controlled release cores to form dosage forms and the coatings comprise fats melting at less than approximately 101.degree. F. overcoated with cellulose acetate phthalate or zein. The dual coated dosage forms are dispersed in a sugar based acidic liquid carrier such as high fructose corn syrup and display a shelf life of up to approximately at least 45 days while still retaining their release profiles following ingestion. Cellulose acetate phthalate coated dosage form cores can in addition be dispersed in aqueous liquids of pH <5.

Effects of beer factory sludge on soil properties and growth of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris saccharifera L.).

PubMed

Kütük, Cihat; Cayci, Gökhan; Baran, Abdullah; Başkan, Oguz; Hartmann, Roger

2003-10-01

The possible use of beer factory sludge (BFS) for an agricultural purpose was investigated with sugar beet (Beta vulgaris saccharifera L.). BFS was air dried and sieved through a 4 mm mesh before application to a soil (Typic Xerofluvent). Afterwards, the BFS was mixed with soil at a rate 0, 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160 tonnes ha(-1). The mixtures were than put into pots and kept in the greenhouse for an incubation of five months. During the incubation, pH, the electrical conductivity, the organic matter content, NH4+-N and NO3--N content were regularly measured. At the end of the incubation period, sugar beet seeds were sown into the same pots. After a growing period of six-months the sugar beet plants were harvested, and yield and quality parameters were determined. BFS increased leaf and root yield. However, the effect of BFS on leaf growth was more pronounced than on root growth. The highest sugar content, refined sugar content and refined sugar yield were obtained with the application rate of 10 tonnes BFS per hectare. Ten tonnes of BSF per hectare was the most suitable on the basis of root quality parameters and root yield. However BFS should be applied to the soil six or seven months in advance due to the high level of nitrogen released through mineralization.

Repeated bouts of dehydration deplete nutrient reserves and reduce egg production in the mosquito Culex pipiens

PubMed Central

Benoit, Joshua B.; Patrick, Kevin R.; Desai, Karina; Hardesty, Jeffrey J.; Krause, Tyler B.; Denlinger, David L.

2010-01-01

In this study of the mosquito, Culex pipiens, we examined the impact of multiple bouts of dehydration and rehydration on survival, depletion of metabolic reserves and egg production in both non-diapausing and diapausing females. Mosquitoes provided with access to sugar during rehydration survived longer than those allowed to rehydrate without sugar, and their survival was similar to that of mosquitoes of the same age that were not dehydrated. Among mosquitoes not provided with sugar, each dehydration bout reduced the mosquito's dry mass – an effect likely to be due to the utilization of carbohydrates and lipid reserves. The toll on glycogen and lipid reserves is likely to be especially costly for diapausing mosquitoes that are dependent on these stored reserves for winter survival. Egg production in both non-diapausing and post-diapausing C. pipiens was also reduced in response to multiple bouts of dehydration. Although egg quality was not compromised, the number of eggs produced was reduced. Both non-diapausing and diapausing females can compensate for the nutrient loss due to dehydration by sugar feeding but the opportunity to feed on sugar is likely to be rarely available in the overwintering habitat of diapausing females, thus the impact of dehydration may be especially pronounced in overwintering populations of C. pipiens. PMID:20675546

Root rot in sugar beet piles at harvest

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sugar beet root rots are not only a concern because of reduced yields, but can also be associated with losses in storage. Our primary sugar beet root rot disease problem in the Amalgamated production area is Rhizoctonia root rot. However, this rot frequently only penetrates a short distance past t...

Cell wall composition and digestibility alterations in Brachypodium distachyon achieved through reduced expression of the UDP-arabinopyranose mutase

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Nucleotide-activated sugars are essential substrates for plant cell wall carbohydrate-polymer biosynthetic glycosyltransferase enzymes. The most prevalent sugars in grass cell walls include glucose (Glc), xylose (Xyl), and arabinose (Ara). These sugars are biosynthetically related via the uridine di...

Sugar beet cell wall protein confers fungal and pest resistance in genetically engineered plants

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sugar beet biomass and sugar yield are reduced by diseases caused by microbial pathogens and insect pest infestations. Since disease and pest control measures continue to rely on harmful chemical fungicides and insecticides, biotechnological approaches offer an alternate approach for disease and pe...

Antagonism of the morphine-induced locomotor activation of mice by fructose: comparison with other opiates and sugars, and sugar effects on brain morphine.

PubMed

Brase, D A; Ward, C R; Bey, P S; Dewey, W L

1991-01-01

The mouse locomotor activation test of opiate action in a 2+2 dose parallel line assay was used in a repeated testing paradigm to determine the test, opiate and hexose specificities of a previously reported antagonism of morphine-induced antinocociception by hyperglycemia. In opiate specificity studies, fructose (5 g/kg, i.p.) significantly reduced the potency ratio for morphine and methadone, but not for levorphanol, meperidine or phenazocine when intragroup comparisons were made. In intergroup comparisons, fructose significantly reduced the potencies of levorphanol and phenazocine, but not methadone or meperidine. In hexose/polyol specificity studies, tagatose and fructose significantly reduced the potency ratio for morphine, whereas glucose, galactose, mannose and the polyols, sorbitol and xylitol, caused no significant decrease in potency. Fructose, tagatose, glucose and mannose (5 g/kg, i.p.) were tested for effects on brain morphine levels 30 min after morphine (60 min after sugar), and all four sugars significantly increased brain morphine relative to saline-pretreated controls. It is concluded that the antagonism of morphine by acute sugar administration shows specificity for certain sugars and occurs despite sugar-induced increases in the distribution of morphine to the brain. Furthermore, the effects of fructose show an opiate specificity similar to that of glucose on antinociception observed previously in our laboratory, except that methadone was also significantly inhibited in the present study, when a repeated-testing experimental design was used.

Aroma-related cross-modal interactions for sugar reduction in milk desserts: Influence on consumer perception.

PubMed

Alcaire, Florencia; Antúnez, Lucía; Vidal, Leticia; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2017-07-01

Reformulation of industrialized products has been regarded as one of the most cost-effective strategies to reduce sugar intake. Although non-nutritive sweeteners have been extensively used to reduce the added sugar content of these products, increasing evidence about the existence of compensatory energy intake mechanisms makes it necessary to develop alternative strategies to achieve rapid sugar reductions. In this context, the aim of the present work was to evaluate aroma-related cross modal interactions for sugar reduction in vanilla milk desserts. In particular, the influence of increasing vanilla concentration and the joint increase of vanilla and starch concentration on consumer sensory and hedonic perception was assessed. Two studies with 100 consumers each were conducted, in which a total of 15 samples were evaluated. For each sample, consumers rated their overall liking and answered a check-all-that-apply (CATA) question comprising 12 flavour and texture terms. Sugar reduction caused significant changes in the flavour and texture characteristics of the desserts. An increase in vanilla concentration had a minor effect on their sensory characteristics. However, increasing both vanilla and starch concentration led to an increase in vanilla flavour and sweetness perception and reduced changes in consumer hedonic perception. These results showed the potential of aroma-related cross modal interactions for minimizing the sensory changes caused by sugar reduction. These strategies could contribute to product reformulation without the need to use non-nutritive sweeteners. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A trial of sugar-free or sugar-sweetened beverages and body weight in children.

PubMed

de Ruyter, Janne C; Olthof, Margreet R; Seidell, Jacob C; Katan, Martijn B

2012-10-11

The consumption of beverages that contain sugar is associated with overweight, possibly because liquid sugars do not lead to a sense of satiety, so the consumption of other foods is not reduced. However, data are lacking to show that the replacement of sugar-containing beverages with noncaloric beverages diminishes weight gain. We conducted an 18-month trial involving 641 primarily normal-weight children from 4 years 10 months to 11 years 11 months of age. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 250 ml (8 oz) per day of a sugar-free, artificially sweetened beverage (sugar-free group) or a similar sugar-containing beverage that provided 104 kcal (sugar group). Beverages were distributed through schools. At 18 months, 26% of the children had stopped consuming the beverages; the data from children who did not complete the study were imputed. The z score for the body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) increased on average by 0.02 SD units in the sugar-free group and by 0.15 SD units in the sugar group; the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the difference was -0.21 to -0.05. Weight increased by 6.35 kg in the sugar-free group as compared with 7.37 kg in the sugar group (95% CI for the difference, -1.54 to -0.48). The skinfold-thickness measurements, waist-to-height ratio, and fat mass also increased significantly less in the sugar-free group. Adverse events were minor. When we combined measurements at 18 months in 136 children who had discontinued the study with those in 477 children who completed the study, the BMI z score increased by 0.06 SD units in the sugar-free group and by 0.12 SD units in the sugar group (P=0.06). Masked replacement of sugar-containing beverages with noncaloric beverages reduced weight gain and fat accumulation in normal-weight children. (Funded by the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development and others; DRINK ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00893529.).

Consumption of added sugar among U.S. children and adolescents, 2005-2008.

PubMed

Ervin, R Bethene; Kit, Brian K; Carroll, Margaret D; Ogden, Cynthia L

2012-03-01

Approximately 16% of children and adolescents’ total caloric intakes came from added sugars. Boys consumed more added sugars than girls. Preschool-aged children consumed the fewest calories from added sugars. Although girls consumed a smaller absolute amount of calories from added sugars than boys, their intakes were not that different from boys when the amounts are expressed as a percentage of total caloric intakes. Non-Hispanic white children and adolescents consumed a larger percentage of their calories from added sugars than Mexican-American children and adolescents. Also, Non-Hispanic black girls consumed a larger percentage of their calories from added sugars than Mexican-American girls. There was very little difference in added sugar consumption based on PIR. More of the added sugars calories came from foods as opposed to beverages. Previous research has demonstrated that sodas are the single leading food source of added sugars intakes among children, adolescents, and adults (2,4). Our results showed a little more than 40% of calories from added sugars came from beverages. Poti and Popkin (5) have suggested that eating location impacts daily energy intake in children and adolescents and that foods prepared away from home, are contributing to their increased total energy intake. Our results showed that more of the added sugars calories were consumed at home rather than away from home. A substantial percentage of calories in the diets of children and adolescents between 2005 and 2008 came from added sugars. According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines "reducing the consumption of these sources of added sugars will lower the caloric content of the diet, without compromising its nutrient adequacy (3)." This strategy could play an important role in reducing the high prevalence of obesity in the United States (6) without compromising adequate nutrition. All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.

The "sugar pack" health marketing campaign in Los Angeles County, 2011-2012.

PubMed

Barragan, Noel C; Noller, Ali J; Robles, Brenda; Gase, Lauren N; Leighs, Michael S; Bogert, Suzanne; Simon, Paul A; Kuo, Tony

2014-03-01

As part of a comprehensive approach to combating the obesity epidemic, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health launched the "Sugar Pack" health marketing campaign in fall 2011. Carried out in three stages, the campaign sought to educate and motivate the public to reduce excess calorie intake from sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. The primary Sugar Pack creative concepts provided consumers with information about the number of sugar packs contained in sugary drinks. Data from formative market research as well as lessons from previous campaigns in other U.S. jurisdictions informed the development of the materials. These materials were disseminated through a multipronged platform that included paid outdoor media on transit and billboards and messaging using social media (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and sendable e-cards). Initial findings from a postcampaign assessment indicate that the Sugar Pack campaign reached broadly into targeted communities, resulting in more than 515 million impressions. Lessons learned from the campaign suggest that employing health marketing to engage the public can lead to increased knowledge, favorable recognition of health messages, and self-reported intention to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, potentially complementing other obesity prevention strategies in the field.

Sugar regulation of plastid reversion in citrus epicarp is mediated through organic acid metabolism.

PubMed

Ahmed, Omer Khidir

2009-02-01

The inhibition by sucrose of chromoplast reversion to chloroplast in citrus epicarp was studied by observing the effects of several sugars, sugar metabolites and 1-iodoacetate on chlorophyll reaccumulation in cultured Citrus paradisi Macf. pericarp segments. Pericarp segments of 1 cm in diameter were cut from yellow fruits and cultured on modified medium plus the indicated metabolites and kept under continuous fluorescent light. Accumulation of chlorophyll in the segments was measured with a spectrophotometer fitted with sphere reflectometer. Respiration was determined via., an infrared gas analyzer. Inhibition of regreening was not specific to a particular sugar. The organic acids malate, citrate, succinate, 2-oxoglutarate and especially malonate elicited effects similar to sucrose, but at much lower concentrations. However, malonate inhibition of chlorophyll accumulation was overcome by increased concentrations of glutamine. At concentrations that usually inhibited chlorophyll, malonate did not reduce CO2 production in the presence of glutamine or KNO3. Sucrose effects on regreening were reduced by 1-iodoacetate. These results indicate that sugar regulation of plastid reversion during regreening in citrus epicarp is not directly due to sugars, but is instead mediated through metabolism of sugars to organic acids, especially malonic acid.

Effect of Varying Acid Hydrolysis Condition in Gracilaria Sp. Fermentation Using Sasad

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mansuit, H.; Samsuri, M. D. C.; Sipaut, C. S.; Yee, C. F.; Yasir, S. M.; Mansa, R.

2015-04-01

Macroalgae or seaweed is being considered as promising feedstock for bioalcohol production due to high polysaccharides content. Polysaccharides can be converted into fermentable sugar through acid hydrolysis pre-treatment. In this study, the potential of using carbohydrate-rich macroalgae, Gracilaria sp. as feedstock for bioalcohol production via various acid hydrolysis conditions prior to the fermentation process was investigated and evaluated. The seaweed used in this research was from the red algae group, using species of Gracilaria sp. which was collected from Sg. Petani Kedah, Malaysia. Pre-treatment of substrate was done using H2SO4 and HCl with molarity ranging from 0.2M to 0.8M. The pretreatment time were varied in the range of 15 to 30 minutes. Fermentation was conducted using Sasad, a local Sabahan fermentation agent as a starter culture. Alcohol extraction was done using a distillation unit. Reducing sugar analysis was done by Benedict test method. Alcohol content analysis was done using specific gravity test. After hydrolysis, it was found out that acid hydrolysis at 0.2M H2SO4 and pre-treated for 20 minutes at 121°C has shown the highest reducing sugar content which has yield (10.06 mg/g) of reducing sugar. It was followed by other samples hydrolysis using 0.4M HCl with 30 minutes pre-treatment and 0.2M H2SO4, 15 minutes pre-treatment with yield of 8.06 mg/g and 5.75 mg/g reducing sugar content respectively. In conclusion, acid hydrolysis of Gracilaria sp. can produce higher reducing sugar yield and thus it can further enhance the bioalcohol production yield. Hence, acid hydrolysis of Gracilaria sp. should be studied more as it is an important step in the bioalcohol production and upscaling process.

Total, Added, and Free Sugars: Are Restrictive Guidelines Science-Based or Achievable?

PubMed Central

Erickson, Jennifer; Slavin, Joanne

2015-01-01

Sugar consumption, especially added sugars, is under attack. Various government and health authorities have suggested new sugar recommendations and guidelines as low as 5% of total calories from free sugars. Definitions for total sugars, free sugars, and added sugars are not standardized, nor are there accepted nutrient databases for this information. Our objective was to measure total sugars and added sugars in sample meal plans created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). Utilizing the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR) nutritional database, results found that plans created by the USDA and AND averaged 5.1% and 3.1% calories from added sugar, 8.7% and 3.1% from free sugar, and 23.3% and 21.1% as total sugars respectively. Compliance with proposed added sugar recommendations would require strict dietary compliance and may not be sustainable for many Americans. Without an accepted definition and equation for calculating added sugar, added sugar recommendations are arbitrary and may reduce intakes of nutrient-rich, recommended foods, such as yogurt, whole grains, and tart fruits including cranberries, cherries, and grapefruit. Added sugars are one part of excess calorie intake; however, compliance with low added sugar recommendations may not be achievable for the general public. PMID:25884659

Total, added, and free sugars: are restrictive guidelines science-based or achievable?

PubMed

Erickson, Jennifer; Slavin, Joanne

2015-04-15

Sugar consumption, especially added sugars, is under attack. Various government and health authorities have suggested new sugar recommendations and guidelines as low as 5% of total calories from free sugars. Definitions for total sugars, free sugars, and added sugars are not standardized, nor are there accepted nutrient databases for this information. Our objective was to measure total sugars and added sugars in sample meal plans created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). Utilizing the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR) nutritional database, results found that plans created by the USDA and AND averaged 5.1% and 3.1% calories from added sugar, 8.7% and 3.1% from free sugar, and 23.3% and 21.1% as total sugars respectively. Compliance with proposed added sugar recommendations would require strict dietary compliance and may not be sustainable for many Americans. Without an accepted definition and equation for calculating added sugar, added sugar recommendations are arbitrary and may reduce intakes of nutrient-rich, recommended foods, such as yogurt, whole grains, and tart fruits including cranberries, cherries, and grapefruit. Added sugars are one part of excess calorie intake; however, compliance with low added sugar recommendations may not be achievable for the general public.

The Acquisition of Indigenous Plasmids by a Genetically Marked Pseudomonad Population Colonizing the Sugar Beet Phytosphere Is Related to Local Environmental Conditions

PubMed Central

Lilley, A. K.; Bailey, M. J.

1997-01-01

The transfer of naturally occurring conjugative plasmids from the indigenous microflora to a genetically modified population of bacteria colonizing the phytospheres of plants has been observed. The marked strain (Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25EeZY6KX) was introduced as a seed dressing to sugar beets (Beta vulgaris var. Amethyst) as part of a field experiment to assess the ecology and genetic stability of deliberately released bacterial inocula. The sustained populations of the introduced strain, which colonized the phytosphere, were assessed throughout the growing season for the acquisition of plasmids conferring mercury resistance (Hg(supr)). Transconjugants were isolated only from root and leaf samples collected within a narrow temporal window coincident with the midseason maturation of the crop. Conjugal-transfer events were recorded during this defined period in two separate field release experiments conducted over consecutive years. On one occasion seven of nine individual plants sampled supported transconjugant P. fluorescens SBW25EeZY6KX, demonstrating that conjugative gene transfer between bacterial populations in the phytosphere may be a common event under specific environmental conditions. The plasmids acquired in situ by the colonizing inocula were identified as natural variants of restriction digest pattern group I, III, or IV plasmids from five genetically distinct groups of large, conjugative mercury resistance plasmids known to persist in the phytospheres of sugar beets at the field site. These data demonstrate not only that gene transfer may be a common event but also that the genetic and phenotypic stability of inocula released into the natural environment cannot be predicted. PMID:16535580

Glycofunctionalization of Poly(lactic- co-glycolic acid) Polymers: Building Blocks for the Generation of Defined Sugar-Coated Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Palmioli, Alessandro; La Ferla, Barbara

2018-06-15

A set of poly(lactic- co-glycolic acid) polymers functionalized with different monosaccharides as well as glycodendrimers and surface-decorated nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized and characterized. The functionalization of the polymer was carried out through amide bond formation with amino-modified sugar monomers and through a biocompatible chemoselective method exploiting the reducing end of a free sugar. The assemblage of the NPs adopting a nanoprecipitation method was straightforward and allowed the preparation of sugars/sugar dendrimer coated NPs.

Improved sugar yields from biomass sorghum feedstocks: comparing low-lignin mutants and pretreatment chemistries.

PubMed

Godin, Bruno; Nagle, Nick; Sattler, Scott; Agneessens, Richard; Delcarte, Jérôme; Wolfrum, Edward

2016-01-01

For biofuel production processes to be economically efficient, it is essential to maximize the production of monomeric carbohydrates from the structural carbohydrates of feedstocks. One strategy for maximizing carbohydrate production is to identify less recalcitrant feedstock cultivars by performing some type of experimental screening on a large and diverse set of candidate materials, or by identifying genetic modifications (random or directed mutations or transgenic plants) that provide decreased recalcitrance. Economic efficiency can also be increased using additional pretreatment processes such as deacetylation, which uses dilute NaOH to remove the acetyl groups of hemicellulose prior to dilute acid pretreatment. In this work, we used a laboratory-scale screening tool that mimics relevant thermochemical pretreatment conditions to compare the total sugar yield of three near-isogenic brown midrib ( bmr ) mutant lines and the wild-type (WT) sorghum cultivar. We then compared results obtained from the laboratory-scale screening pretreatment assay to a large-scale pretreatment system. After pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, the bmr mutants had higher total sugar yields than the WT sorghum cultivar. Increased pretreatment temperatures increased reactivity for all sorghum samples reducing the differences observed at lower reaction temperatures. Deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment increased the total sugar yield for all four sorghum samples, and reduced the differences in total sugar yields among them, but solubilized a sizable fraction of the non-structural carbohydrates. The general trends of increased total sugar yield in the bmr mutant compared to the WT seen at the laboratory scale were observed at the large-scale system. However, in the larger reactor system, the measured total sugar yields were lower and the difference in total sugar yield between the WT and bmr sorghum was larger. Sorghum bmr mutants, which have a reduced lignin content showed higher total sugar yields than the WT cultivar after dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment increased the total sugar yield for all four sorghum samples. However, since deacetylation also solubilizes a large fraction of the non-structural carbohydrates, the ability to derive value from these solubilized sugars will depend greatly on the proposed conversion process.

Improved sugar yields from biomass sorghum feedstocks: comparing low-lignin mutants and pretreatment chemistries

DOE PAGES

Godin, Bruno; Nagle, Nick; Sattler, Scott; ...

2016-11-21

For biofuel production processes to be economically efficient, it is essential to maximize the production of monomeric carbohydrates from the structural carbohydrates of feedstocks. One strategy for maximizing carbohydrate production is to identify less recalcitrant feedstock cultivars by performing some type of experimental screening on a large and diverse set of candidate materials, or by identifying genetic modifications (random or directed mutations or transgenic plants) that provide decreased recalcitrance. Economic efficiency can also be increased using additional pretreatment processes such as deacetylation, which uses dilute NaOH to remove the acetyl groups of hemicellulose prior to dilute acid pretreatment. In thismore » work, we used a laboratory-scale screening tool that mimics relevant thermochemical pretreatment conditions to compare the total sugar yield of three near-isogenic brown midrib (bmr) mutant lines and the wild-type (WT) sorghum cultivar. We then compared results obtained from the laboratory-scale screening pretreatment assay to a large-scale pretreatment system. After pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, the bmr mutants had higher total sugar yields than the WT sorghum cultivar. Increased pretreatment temperatures increased reactivity for all sorghum samples reducing the differences observed at lower reaction temperatures. Deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment increased the total sugar yield for all four sorghum samples, and reduced the differences in total sugar yields among them, but solubilized a sizable fraction of the non-structural carbohydrates. The general trends of increased total sugar yield in the bmr mutant compared to the WT seen at the laboratory scale were observed at the large-scale system. However, in the larger reactor system, the measured total sugar yields were lower and the difference in total sugar yield between the WT and bmr sorghum was larger. Sorghum bmr mutants, which have a reduced lignin content showed higher total sugar yields than the WT cultivar after dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. In conclusion, deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment increased the total sugar yield for all four sorghum samples. However, since deacetylation also solubilizes a large fraction of the non-structural carbohydrates, the ability to derive value from these solubilized sugars will depend greatly on the proposed conversion process.« less

Improved sugar yields from biomass sorghum feedstocks: comparing low-lignin mutants and pretreatment chemistries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Godin, Bruno; Nagle, Nick; Sattler, Scott

For biofuel production processes to be economically efficient, it is essential to maximize the production of monomeric carbohydrates from the structural carbohydrates of feedstocks. One strategy for maximizing carbohydrate production is to identify less recalcitrant feedstock cultivars by performing some type of experimental screening on a large and diverse set of candidate materials, or by identifying genetic modifications (random or directed mutations or transgenic plants) that provide decreased recalcitrance. Economic efficiency can also be increased using additional pretreatment processes such as deacetylation, which uses dilute NaOH to remove the acetyl groups of hemicellulose prior to dilute acid pretreatment. In thismore » work, we used a laboratory-scale screening tool that mimics relevant thermochemical pretreatment conditions to compare the total sugar yield of three near-isogenic brown midrib (bmr) mutant lines and the wild-type (WT) sorghum cultivar. We then compared results obtained from the laboratory-scale screening pretreatment assay to a large-scale pretreatment system. After pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, the bmr mutants had higher total sugar yields than the WT sorghum cultivar. Increased pretreatment temperatures increased reactivity for all sorghum samples reducing the differences observed at lower reaction temperatures. Deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment increased the total sugar yield for all four sorghum samples, and reduced the differences in total sugar yields among them, but solubilized a sizable fraction of the non-structural carbohydrates. The general trends of increased total sugar yield in the bmr mutant compared to the WT seen at the laboratory scale were observed at the large-scale system. However, in the larger reactor system, the measured total sugar yields were lower and the difference in total sugar yield between the WT and bmr sorghum was larger. Sorghum bmr mutants, which have a reduced lignin content showed higher total sugar yields than the WT cultivar after dilute acid pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. In conclusion, deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment increased the total sugar yield for all four sorghum samples. However, since deacetylation also solubilizes a large fraction of the non-structural carbohydrates, the ability to derive value from these solubilized sugars will depend greatly on the proposed conversion process.« less

Single and combined effects of acetic acid, furfural, and sugars on the growth of the pentose-fermenting yeast Meyerozyma guilliermondii.

PubMed

Perna, Michelle Dos Santos Cordeiro; Bastos, Reinaldo Gaspar; Ceccato-Antonini, Sandra Regina

2018-02-01

The tolerance of the pentose-fermenting yeast Meyerozyma guilliermondii to the inhibitors released after the biomass hydrolysis, such as acetic acid and furfural, was surveyed. We first verified the effects of acetic acid and cell concentrations and initial pH on the growth of a M. guilliermondii strain in a semi-synthetic medium containing acetic acid as the sole carbon source. Second, the single and combined effects of furfural, acetic acid, and sugars (xylose, arabinose, and glucose) on the sugar uptake, cell growth, and ethanol production were also analysed. Growth inhibition occurred in concentrations higher than 10.5 g l -1 acetic acid and initial pH 3.5. The maximum specific growth rate (µ) was 0.023 h -1 and the saturation constant (ks) was 0.75 g l -1 acetic acid. Initial cell concentration also influenced µ. Acetic acid (initial concentration 5 g l -1 ) was co-consumed with sugars even in the presence of 20 mg l -1 furfural without inhibition to the yeast growth. The yeast grew and fermented sugars in a sugar-based medium with acetic acid and furfural in concentrations much higher than those usually found in hemicellulosic hydrolysates.

Cultivar evaluation and essential test locations identification for sugarcane breeding in China.

PubMed

Luo, Jun; Pan, Yong-Bao; Xu, Liping; Zhang, Hua; Yuan, Zhaonian; Deng, Zuhu; Chen, Rukai; Que, Youxiong

2014-01-01

The discrepancies across test sites and years, along with the interaction between cultivar and environment, make it difficult to accurately evaluate the differences of the sugarcane cultivars. Using a genotype main effect plus genotype-environment interaction (GGE) Biplot software, the yield performance data of seven sugarcane cultivars in the 8th Chinese National Sugarcane Regional Tests were analyzed to identify cultivars recommended for commercial release. Fn38 produced a high and stable sugar yield. Gn02-70 had the lowest cane yield with high stability. Yz06-407 was a high cane yield cultivar with poor stability in sugar yield. Yz05-51 and Lc03-1137 had an unstable cane yield but relatively high sugar yield. Fn39 produced stable high sugar yield with low and unstable cane production. Significantly different sugar and cane yields were observed across seasons due to strong cultivar-environment interactions. Three areas, Guangxi Chongzuo, Guangxi Baise, and Guangxi Hechi, showed better representativeness of cane yield and sugar content than the other four areas. On the other hand, the areas Guangxi Chongzuo, Yunnan Lincang, and Yunnan Baoshan showed strong discrimination ability, while the areas Guangxi Hechi and Guangxi Liuzhou showed poor discrimination ability. This study provides a reference for cultivar evaluation and essential test locations identification for sugarcane breeding in China.

Cultivar Evaluation and Essential Test Locations Identification for Sugarcane Breeding in China

PubMed Central

Luo, Jun; Xu, Liping; Zhang, Hua; Yuan, Zhaonian; Deng, Zuhu; Chen, Rukai

2014-01-01

The discrepancies across test sites and years, along with the interaction between cultivar and environment, make it difficult to accurately evaluate the differences of the sugarcane cultivars. Using a genotype main effect plus genotype-environment interaction (GGE) Biplot software, the yield performance data of seven sugarcane cultivars in the 8th Chinese National Sugarcane Regional Tests were analyzed to identify cultivars recommended for commercial release. Fn38 produced a high and stable sugar yield. Gn02-70 had the lowest cane yield with high stability. Yz06-407 was a high cane yield cultivar with poor stability in sugar yield. Yz05-51 and Lc03-1137 had an unstable cane yield but relatively high sugar yield. Fn39 produced stable high sugar yield with low and unstable cane production. Significantly different sugar and cane yields were observed across seasons due to strong cultivar-environment interactions. Three areas, Guangxi Chongzuo, Guangxi Baise, and Guangxi Hechi, showed better representativeness of cane yield and sugar content than the other four areas. On the other hand, the areas Guangxi Chongzuo, Yunnan Lincang, and Yunnan Baoshan showed strong discrimination ability, while the areas Guangxi Hechi and Guangxi Liuzhou showed poor discrimination ability. This study provides a reference for cultivar evaluation and essential test locations identification for sugarcane breeding in China. PMID:24982939

Complete oxidative conversion of lignocellulose derived non-glucose sugars to sugar acids by Gluconobacter oxydans.

PubMed

Yao, Ruimiao; Hou, Weiliang; Bao, Jie

2017-11-01

Non-glucose sugars derived from lignocellulose cover approximately 40% of the total carbohydrates of lignocellulose biomass. The conversion of the non-glucose sugars to the target products is an important task of lignocellulose biorefining research. Here we report a fast and complete conversion of the total non-glucose sugars from corn stover into the corresponding sugar acids by whole cell catalysis and aerobic fermentation of Gluconobacter oxydans. The conversions include xylose to xylonate, arabinose to arabonate, mannose to mannonate, and galactose to galactonate, as well as with glucose into gluconate. These cellulosic non-glucose sugar acids showed the excellent cement retard setting property. The mixed cellulosic sugar acids could be used as cement retard additives without separation. The conversion of the non-glucose sugars not only makes full use of lignocellulose derived sugars, but also effectively reduces the wastewater treatment burden by removal of residual sugars. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Health and economic benefits of reducing sugar intake in the USA, including effects via non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a microsimulation model

PubMed Central

Vreman, Rick A; Goodell, Alex J; Rodriguez, Luis A; Porco, Travis C; Lustig, Robert H; Kahn, James G

2017-01-01

Objectives Excessive consumption of added sugars in the human diet has been associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), coronary heart disease (CHD) and other elements of the metabolic syndrome. Recent studies have shown that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a critical pathway to metabolic syndrome. This model assesses the health and economic benefits of interventions aimed at reducing intake of added sugars. Methods Using data from US National Health Surveys and current literature, we simulated an open cohort, for the period 2015–2035. We constructed a microsimulation model with Markov chains for NAFLD (including steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)), body mass index, T2D and CHD. We assessed reductions in population disease prevalence, disease-attributable disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and costs, with interventions that reduce added sugars consumption by either 20% or 50%. Findings The model estimated that a 20% reduction in added sugars intake will reduce prevalence of hepatic steatosis, NASH, cirrhosis, HCC, obesity, T2D and CHD. Incidence of T2D and CHD would be expected to decrease by 19.9 (95% CI 12.8 to 27.0) and 9.4 (95% CI 3.1 to 15.8) cases per 100 000 people after 20 years, respectively. A 20% reduction in consumption is also projected to annually avert 0.767 million (M) DALYs (95% CI 0.757M to 0.777M) and a total of US$10.3 billion (B) (95% CI 10.2B to 10.4B) in discounted direct medical costs by 2035. These effects increased proportionally when added sugars intake were reduced by 50%. Conclusions The decrease in incidence and prevalence of disease is similar to results in other models, but averted costs and DALYs were higher, mainly due to inclusion of NAFLD and CHD. The model suggests that efforts to reduce consumption of added sugars may result in significant public health and economic benefits. PMID:28775179

Analysis of factors affecting volatile compound formation in roasted pumpkin seeds with selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) and sensory analysis.

PubMed

Bowman, T; Barringer, S

2012-01-01

Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo and maxima) seeds are uniquely flavored and commonly consumed as a healthy roasted snack. The objective was to determine dominant volatiles in raw and roasted pumpkin seeds, and the effect of seed coat, moisture content, fatty acid ratio, total lipids, reducing sugars, and harvest year on volatile formation. Sensory was conducted to evaluate overall liking of seed variety and texture. Seed processing included extraction from the fruit, dehydration, and roasting (150 °C). Oil extraction was done using soxhlet, fatty acid profile using Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector, and reducing sugars using 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid and UV-spectroscopy. Headspace analysis of seeds was performed by selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). Volatiles dominating in raw pumpkin seeds were lipid aldehydes, ethyl acetate, 2,3-butandione, and dimethylsulfide. Compounds contributing to roasted aroma include alkylpyrazines and Strecker and lipid aldehydes. Overall, hull-less seeds had higher volatile lipid aldehydes and Strecker aldehydes. Seeds dehydrated to a moisture content of 6.5% before roasting had higher initial and final volatile concentrations than seeds starting at 50% moisture. Higher oil content resulted in higher lipid aldehyde formation during roasting with a moderate correlation between free fatty acid ratio and corresponding lipid aldehyde. Harvest year (2009 compared with 2010) had a significant impact on volatile formation in hull-less seeds, but not as much as variety differences. No significant correlation was found between reducing sugars and volatile formation. Sensory showed that hull-less seeds were liked significantly more than hulled seeds. Elucidation of aromatic flavor development during roasting with SIFT-MS provides information on flavor release and offers better control during processing. Knowledge of volatiles in raw and roasted pumpkin seeds and effects of seed coat, moisture content, seed composition, and harvest date will allow for better control over the production/storage/transportation process and a more educated decision during selection of a variety for production of pumpkin seeds in the snack food industry. © 2011 Institute of Food Technologists®

Efficient production of succinic acid from herbal extraction residue hydrolysate.

PubMed

Wang, Caixia; Su, Xinyao; Sun, Wei; Zhou, Sijing; Zheng, Junyu; Zhang, Mengting; Sun, Mengchu; Xue, Jianping; Liu, Xia; Xing, Jianmin; Chen, Shilin

2018-06-15

In this study, six different herbal-extraction residues were evaluated for succinic acid production in terms of chemical composition before and after dilute acid pretreatment (DAP) and sugar release performance. Chemical composition showed that pretreated residues of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch (GUR) and Morus alba L. (MAR) had the highest cellulose content, 50% and 52%, respectively. Higher concentrations of free sugars (71.6 g/L total sugar) and higher hydrolysis yield (92%) were both obtained under 40 FPU/g DM at 10% solid loading for GUR. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), GUR was found to show a less compact structure due to process of extraction. Specifically, the fibers in pretreated GUR were coarse and disordered compared with that of GUR indicated by SEM. Finally, 65 g/L succinic acid was produced with a higher yield of 0.89 g/g total sugar or 0.49 g/g GUR. Our results illustrate the potential of GUR for succinic acid production. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parametric study for the optimization of ionic liquid pretreatment of corn stover

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Papa, Gabriella; Feldman, Taya; Sale, Kenneth L.

A parametric study of the efficacy of the ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment (PT) of corn stover (CS) using 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C 2C 1Im][OAc] ) and cholinium lysinate ([Ch][Lys] ) was conducted. The impact of 50% and 15% biomass loading for milled and non-milled CS on IL-PT was evaluated, as well the impact of 20 and 5 mg enzyme/g glucan on saccharification efficiency. The glucose and xylose released were generated from 32 conditions – 2 ionic liquids (ILs), 2 temperatures, 2 particle sizes (S), 2 solid loadings, and 2 enzyme loadings. Statistical analysis indicates that sugar yields were correlated with lignin andmore » xylan removal and depends on the factors, where S did not explain variation in sugar yields. Both ILs were effective in pretreating large particle sized CS, without compromising sugar yields. The knowledge from material and energy balances is an essential step in directing optimization of sugar recovery at desirable process conditions.« less

The story of FiZZ: an advocacy group to end the sale of sugar sweetened beverages in New Zealand.

PubMed

Thornley, S; Sundborn, G

2014-03-01

FIZZ (which stands for fighting sugar in soft-drinks) is a new advocacy group started to reduce population consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks in New Zealand. The vision of FIZZ is for New Zealand to be sugary drink free by 2025. This means that sugar sweetened beverages will comprise < or = 5% of the total beverage market, and sugar free drinks will be the norm. In this paper, we outline the story of FIZZ: to reiterate why we believe the group is needed, reflect on what the group has achieved to date, consider what it aims to accomplish, and outline what methods it will seek to achieve these aims. Put simply, we believe that the epidemiological evidence that sugar intake, particularly in liquid form, causes poor physical and mental health is overwhelming. Swapping sugar sweetened drinks for sugar free alternatives, water or milk, is, in our view, an urgently needed and important step which is likely to reduce the epidemic of unhealthy weight (obesity) and its sequelae. The nutrition environment in New Zealand is now out of step with scientific evidence, with virtually unrestricted access to, and sales and marketing of, sugary drinks to both children and adults. FIZZ is seeking the implementation of local and nationwide policy, similar to those implemented for tobacco, to limit advertising, restrict marketing, raise purchase prices and ultimately curb the sales of sugary drinks in New Zealand. FIZZ is also working in communities to raise people's awareness of the harms sugary drinks pose to health. We at FIZZ also acknowledge that the beverage industry may play an important role in accomplishing this vision, and have established that there is common ground upon which FIZZ and industry can engage to reduce the sugary drink intake.

Sensitive high-throughput screening for the detection of reducing sugars.

PubMed

Mellitzer, Andrea; Glieder, Anton; Weis, Roland; Reisinger, Christoph; Flicker, Karlheinz

2012-01-01

The exploitation of renewable resources for the production of biofuels relies on efficient processes for the enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic materials. The development of enzymes and strains for these processes requires reliable and fast activity-based screening assays. Additionally, these assays are also required to operate on the microscale and on the high-throughput level. Herein, we report the development of a highly sensitive reducing-sugar assay in a 96-well microplate screening format. The assay is based on the formation of osazones from reducing sugars and para-hydroxybenzoic acid hydrazide. By using this sensitive assay, the enzyme loads and conversion times during lignocellulose hydrolysis can be reduced, thus allowing higher throughput. The assay is about five times more sensitive than the widely applied dinitrosalicylic acid based assay and can reliably detect reducing sugars down to 10 μM. The assay-specific variation over one microplate was determined for three different lignocellulolytic enzymes and ranges from 2 to 8%. Furthermore, the assay was combined with a microscale cultivation procedure for the activity-based screening of Pichia pastoris strains expressing functional Thermomyces lanuginosus xylanase A, Trichoderma reesei β-mannanase, or T. reesei cellobiohydrolase 2. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Postharvest respiration rate and sucrose concentration of Rhizoctonia-infected sugar beet roots

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Rhizoctonia crown and root rot (RCRR), caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-2, is a common root disease on sugar beet that reduces yield and sucrose during the growing season and causes further losses by increasing respiration and reducing sucrose content during storage. The industry needs to identify...

Efficacy of reducing sugar and phenol-sulfuric acid assays for analysis of soluble carbohydrates in feedstuffs

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Reducing sugar (RSA) and phenol–sulfuric acid (PSA) assays are commonly used to analyze water-soluble carbohydrates. However, questions have arisen as to their accuracy for measurement of feedstuffs with diverse carbohydrate profiles. This study evaluated the efficacy of RSA and PSA as they would co...

Effect of non-nutritive sugars to decrease the survivorship of spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In this study, we investigated the effects of non-nutritive sugars and sugar alcohols on the survivorship of spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, and found erythritol and erythrose as potentially toxic to the fly. In a dose-dependent study, erythritol and erythrose significantly reduced fly ...

Soluble inhibitors/deactivators of cellulase enzymes from lignocellulosic biomass.

PubMed

Kim, Youngmi; Ximenes, Eduardo; Mosier, Nathan S; Ladisch, Michael R

2011-04-07

Liquid hot water, steam explosion, and dilute acid pretreatments of lignocellulose generate soluble inhibitors which hamper enzymatic hydrolysis as well as fermentation of sugars to ethanol. Toxic and inhibitory compounds will vary with pretreatment and include soluble sugars, furan derivatives (hydroxymethyl fulfural, furfural), organic acids (acetic, formic and, levulinic acid), and phenolic compounds. Their effect is seen when an increase in the concentration of pretreated biomass in a hydrolysis slurry results in decreased cellulose conversion, even though the ratio of enzyme to cellulose is kept constant. We used lignin-free cellulose, Solka Floc, combined with mixtures of soluble components released during pretreatment of wood, to prove that the decrease in the rate and extent of cellulose hydrolysis is due to a combination of enzyme inhibition and deactivation. The causative agents were extracted from wood pretreatment liquid using PEG surfactant, activated charcoal or ethyl acetate and then desorbed, recovered, and added back to a mixture of enzyme and cellulose. At enzyme loadings of either 1 or 25mg protein/g glucan, the most inhibitory components, later identified as phenolics, decreased the rate and extent of cellulose hydrolysis by half due to both inhibition and precipitation of the enzymes. Full enzyme activity occurred when the phenols were removed. Hence detoxification of pretreated woods through phenol removal is expected to reduce enzyme loadings, and therefore reduce enzyme costs, for a given level of cellulose conversion. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Blending better beverage options: a nutrition education and experiential workshop for youths.

PubMed

Isoldi, Kathy K; Dolar, Veronika

2015-01-01

To reduce intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in youths as a means to reduce obesity risk. Youths 5-14 years old attending a summer program were given a two-hour workshop addressing the sugar content in SSBs, the health risks from drinking SSBs, and hands-on preparation as well as tastings of low-sugar beverage alternatives. Data on usual intake of SSBs was obtained at baseline, and pre- and postprogram surveys were conducted to gauge change in knowledge and/or attitudes regarding SSBs. There were 128 participants (63% male) in the program. SSBs were commonly consumed with over 80% reporting regular consumption (mean daily intake 17.9 ounces). Significant increase in knowledge regarding the sugar content of commonly consumed SSBs was achieved; however change in attitudes was not significant. The large majority of youths reported enjoying the workshop and intention to reduce intake of SSBs following program participation. SSBs are commonly consumed by youths. Knowledge regarding the sugar content of SSBs is easier to impart to youths than influencing attitudes held about these beverages. Long-term interventions that reach out to parents and address the widespread availability of SSBs are needed to influence resistant attitudes and beverage choosing behaviors in youths.

Change in content of sugars and free amino acids in potato tubers under short-term storage at low temperature and the effect on acrylamide level after frying.

PubMed

Ohara-Takada, Akiko; Matsuura-Endo, Chie; Chuda, Yoshihiro; Ono, Hiroshi; Yada, Hiroshi; Yoshida, Mitsuru; Kobayashi, Akira; Tsuda, Shogo; Takigawa, Shigenobu; Noda, Takahiro; Yamauchi, Hiroaki; Mori, Motoyuki

2005-07-01

Changes in the sugar and amino acid contents of potato tubers during short-term storage and the effect on the acrylamide level in chips after frying were investigated. The acrylamide content in chips began to increase after 3 days of storage at 2 degrees C in response to the increase of glucose and fructose contents in the tubers. There was strong correlation between the reducing sugar content and acrylamide level, R(2)=0.873 for fructose and R(2)=0.836 for glucose. The sucrose content had less correlation with the acrylamide content because of its decrease after 4 weeks of storage at 2 degrees C, while the reducing sugar in potato tubers and the acrylamide in chips continued to increase. The contents of the four amino acids, i.e., asparatic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid and glutamine, showed no significant correlation with the acrylamide level. These results suggest that the content of reducing sugars in potato tubers determined the degree of acrylamide formation in chips. The chip color, as evaluated by L* (lightness), was correlated well with the acrylamide content.

The role of dopamine D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens during taste-aversive learning and memory extinction after long-term sugar consumption.

PubMed

Miranda, María Isabel; Rangel-Hernández, José Alejandro; Vera-Rivera, Gabriela; García-Medina, Nadia Edith; Soto-Alonso, Gerardo; Rodríguez-García, Gabriela; Núñez-Jaramillo, Luis

2017-09-17

The nucleus accumbens (NAcc) is a forebrain region that may significantly contribute to the integration of taste and visceral signals during food consumption. Changes in dopamine release in the NAcc have been observed during consumption of a sweet taste and during compulsive consumption of dietary sugars, suggesting that NAcc dopaminergic transmission is strongly correlated with taste familiarity and the hedonic value content. NAcc core and shell nuclei are differentially involved during and after sugar exposure and, particularly, previous evidence suggests that dopamine D2 receptors could be related with the strength of the latent inhibition (LI) of conditioned taste aversion (CTA), which depends on the length of the taste stimulus pre-exposure. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate, after long-term exposure to sugar, the function of dopaminergic D2 receptors in the NAcc core during taste memory retrieval preference test, and during CTA. Adult rats were exposed during 14days to 10% sugar solution as a single liquid ad libitum. NAcc core bilateral injections of D2 dopamine receptor antagonist, haloperidol (1μg/μL), were made before third preference test and CTA acquisition. We found that sugar was similarly preferred after 3 acute presentations or 14days of continued sugar consumption and that haloperidol did not disrupt this appetitive memory retrieval. Nevertheless, D2 receptors antagonism differentially affects aversive memory formation after acute or long-term sugar consumption. These results demonstrate that NAcc dopamine D2 receptors have a differential function during CTA depending on the degree of sugar familiarity. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wilmore with Planned Thanksgiving Meal Items

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-11-23

Commander Barry Wilmore takes a self-portrait with food packages (smoked turkey, cranapple dessert, cornbread dressing, and tea with sugar) planned for his Thanksgiving meal. Image was taken near the galley table in the Unity Node 1, and released by Wilmore on Instagram.

Conversion of Sugar to Fat: Is Hepatic de Novo Lipogenesis Leading to Metabolic Syndrome and Associated Chronic Diseases?

PubMed

Schwarz, Jean-Marc; Clearfield, Michael; Mulligan, Kathleen

2017-08-01

Epidemiologic studies suggest a link between excess sugar consumption and obesity, fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. One important pathway that may link these metabolic diseases to sugar consumption is hepatic conversion of sugar to fat, a process known as de novo lipogenesis (DNL). Mechanistic studies have shown that diets high in simple sugars increase both DNL and liver fat. Importantly, removal of sugar from diets of children with obesity for only 9 days consistently reduced DNL and liver fat and improved glucose and lipid metabolism. Although the sugar and beverage industries continue to question the scientific evidence linking high-sugar diets to metabolic diseases, major health organizations now make evidence-based recommendations to limit consumption of simple sugars to no more than 5% to 10% of daily intake. Clear recommendation about moderating sugar intake to patients may be an important nonpharmacologic tool to include in clinical practice.

Sources of Added Sugars in Young Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Low and High Intakes of Added Sugars.

PubMed

Bailey, Regan L; Fulgoni, Victor L; Cowan, Alexandra E; Gaine, P Courtney

2018-01-17

High intake of added sugars is associated with excess energy intake and poorer diet quality. The objective of this cross-sectional study ( n = 16,806) was to estimate usual intakes and the primary food sources of added sugars across the range of intakes (i.e., deciles) among U.S. children (2-8 years), adolescents and teens (9-18 years), and adults (≥19 years) using the National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) data from 2009-2012. The percent energy contributed by added sugars was 14.3 ± 0.2% (2-8 years), 16.2 ± 0.2% (9-18 years), and 13.1 ± 0.2% (≥19 years), suggesting the highest intakes are among adolescents and teens. However, the primary foods/beverages that contribute to added sugars were remarkably consistent across the range of intakes, with the exception of the lowest decile, and include sweetened beverages and sweet bakery products. Interestingly across all age groups, even those in the lowest decile of added sugars exceed the 10% guidelines. Additional foods contributing to high intakes were candy and other desserts (e.g., ice cream) in children and adolescents, and coffee and teas in adults. Tailoring public health messaging to reduce intakes of these identified food groups may be of utility in designing effective strategies to reduce added sugar intake in the U.S.

Nectar Sugar Production across Floral Phases in the Gynodioecious Protandrous Plant Geranium sylvaticum

PubMed Central

Varga, Sandra; Nuortila, Carolin; Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit

2013-01-01

Many zoophilous plants attract their pollinators by offering nectar as a reward. In gynodioecious plants (i.e. populations are composed of female and hermaphrodite individuals) nectar production has been repeatedly reported to be larger in hermaphrodite compared to female flowers even though nectar production across the different floral phases in dichogamous plants (i.e. plants with time separation of pollen dispersal and stigma receptivity) has rarely been examined. In this study, sugar production in nectar standing crop and secretion rate were investigated in Geranium sylvaticum, a gynodioecious plant species with protandry (i.e. with hermaphrodite flowers releasing their pollen before the stigma is receptive). We found that flowers from hermaphrodites produced more nectar than female flowers in terms of total nectar sugar content. In addition, differences in nectar production among floral phases were found in hermaphrodite flowers but not in female flowers. In hermaphrodite flowers, maximum sugar content coincided with pollen presentation and declined slightly towards the female phase, indicating nectar reabsorption, whereas in female flowers sugar content did not differ between the floral phases. These differences in floral reward are discussed in relation to visitation patterns by pollinators and seed production in this species. PMID:23614053

Nectar sugar production across floral phases in the Gynodioecious Protandrous Plant Geranium sylvaticum [corrected].

PubMed

Varga, Sandra; Nuortila, Carolin; Kytöviita, Minna-Maarit

2013-01-01

Many zoophilous plants attract their pollinators by offering nectar as a reward. In gynodioecious plants (i.e. populations are composed of female and hermaphrodite individuals) nectar production has been repeatedly reported to be larger in hermaphrodite compared to female flowers even though nectar production across the different floral phases in dichogamous plants (i.e. plants with time separation of pollen dispersal and stigma receptivity) has rarely been examined. In this study, sugar production in nectar standing crop and secretion rate were investigated in Geranium sylvaticum, a gynodioecious plant species with protandry (i.e. with hermaphrodite flowers releasing their pollen before the stigma is receptive). We found that flowers from hermaphrodites produced more nectar than female flowers in terms of total nectar sugar content. In addition, differences in nectar production among floral phases were found in hermaphrodite flowers but not in female flowers. In hermaphrodite flowers, maximum sugar content coincided with pollen presentation and declined slightly towards the female phase, indicating nectar reabsorption, whereas in female flowers sugar content did not differ between the floral phases. These differences in floral reward are discussed in relation to visitation patterns by pollinators and seed production in this species.

Identification and overexpression of a knotted1-like transcription factor in switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) for lignocellulosic feedstock improvement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wuddineh, Wegi A.; Mazarei, Mitra; Zhang, Ji -Yi

High biomass production and wide adaptation has made switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) an important candidate lignocellulosic bioenergy crop. One major limitation of this and other lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of complex carbohydrates to hydrolysis for conversion to biofuels. Lignin is the major contributor to recalcitrance as it limits the accessibility of cell wall carbohydrates to enzymatic breakdown into fermentable sugars. Therefore, genetic manipulation of the lignin biosynthesis pathway is one strategy to reduce recalcitrance. Here, we identified a switchgrass Knotted1 transcription factor, PvKN1, with the aim of genetically engineering switchgrass for reduced biomass recalcitrance for biofuel production. Genemore » expression of the endogenous PvKN1 gene was observed to be highest in young inflorescences and stems. Ectopic overexpression of PvKN1 in switchgrass altered growth, especially in early developmental stages. Transgenic lines had reduced expression of most lignin biosynthetic genes accompanied by a reduction in lignin content suggesting the involvement of PvKN1 in the broad regulation of the lignin biosynthesis pathway. Moreover, the reduced expression of the Gibberellin 20-oxidase (GA20ox) gene in tandem with the increased expression of Gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA2ox) genes in transgenic PvKN1 lines suggest that PvKN1 may exert regulatory effects via modulation of GA signaling. Furthermore, overexpression of PvKN1 altered the expression of cellulose and hemicellulose biosynthetic genes and increased sugar release efficiency in transgenic lines. Our findings demonstrated that switchgrass PvKN1 is a putative ortholog of maize KN1 that is linked to plant lignification and cell wall and development traits as a major regulatory gene. Therefore, targeted overexpression of PvKN1 in bioenergy feedstocks may provide one feasible strategy for reducing biomass recalcitrance and simultaneously improving plant growth characteristics.« less

Identification and overexpression of a knotted1-like transcription factor in switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) for lignocellulosic feedstock improvement

DOE PAGES

Wuddineh, Wegi A.; Mazarei, Mitra; Zhang, Ji -Yi; ...

2016-04-28

High biomass production and wide adaptation has made switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) an important candidate lignocellulosic bioenergy crop. One major limitation of this and other lignocellulosic feedstocks is the recalcitrance of complex carbohydrates to hydrolysis for conversion to biofuels. Lignin is the major contributor to recalcitrance as it limits the accessibility of cell wall carbohydrates to enzymatic breakdown into fermentable sugars. Therefore, genetic manipulation of the lignin biosynthesis pathway is one strategy to reduce recalcitrance. Here, we identified a switchgrass Knotted1 transcription factor, PvKN1, with the aim of genetically engineering switchgrass for reduced biomass recalcitrance for biofuel production. Genemore » expression of the endogenous PvKN1 gene was observed to be highest in young inflorescences and stems. Ectopic overexpression of PvKN1 in switchgrass altered growth, especially in early developmental stages. Transgenic lines had reduced expression of most lignin biosynthetic genes accompanied by a reduction in lignin content suggesting the involvement of PvKN1 in the broad regulation of the lignin biosynthesis pathway. Moreover, the reduced expression of the Gibberellin 20-oxidase (GA20ox) gene in tandem with the increased expression of Gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA2ox) genes in transgenic PvKN1 lines suggest that PvKN1 may exert regulatory effects via modulation of GA signaling. Furthermore, overexpression of PvKN1 altered the expression of cellulose and hemicellulose biosynthetic genes and increased sugar release efficiency in transgenic lines. Our findings demonstrated that switchgrass PvKN1 is a putative ortholog of maize KN1 that is linked to plant lignification and cell wall and development traits as a major regulatory gene. Therefore, targeted overexpression of PvKN1 in bioenergy feedstocks may provide one feasible strategy for reducing biomass recalcitrance and simultaneously improving plant growth characteristics.« less

Reducing calories and added sugars by improving children's beverage choices.

PubMed

Briefel, Ronette R; Wilson, Ander; Cabili, Charlotte; Hedley Dodd, Allison

2013-02-01

Because childhood obesity is such a threat to the physical, mental, and social health of youth, there is a great need to identify effective strategies to reduce its prevalence. The objective of this study was to estimate the mean calories from added sugars that are saved by switching sugar-sweetened beverages (including soda, fruit-flavored drinks, and sport drinks) and flavored milks consumed to unflavored low-fat milk (<1% fat) at meals and water between meals. Simulation analyses used 24-hour dietary recall data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study (n=2,314), a 2005 national cross-sectional study of schools and students participating in the National School Lunch Program, to estimate changes in mean calories from added sugars both at and away from school. Overall, these changes translated to a mean of 205 calories or a 10% savings in energy intake across all students (8% among children in elementary school and 11% in middle and high schools). Eighty percent of the daily savings were attributed to beverages consumed away from school, with results consistent across school level, sex, race/ethnicity, and weight status. Children's consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages at home contributed the greatest share of empty calories from added sugars. Such findings indicate that parental education should focus on the importance of reducing or eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages served at home. This conclusion has implications for improving children's food and beverage environments for food and nutrition educators and practitioners, other health care professionals, policy makers, researchers, and parents. Copyright © 2013 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Laboratory studies of sweets re-formulated to improve their dental properties.

PubMed

Grenby, T H; Mistry, M

1996-03-01

To evaluate the potential dental effects of ten new types of sugar-free sweets formulated with Lycasin or isomalt as bulk sweeteners instead of sugars. Examination of the sweets for their acidity, fermentability by oral microorganisms, influence on the demineralisation of dental enamel, and their influence on human interdental plaque pH, compared with conventional sugar-containing sweets. The importance of reducing the levels of flavouring acids in the sweets was demonstrated. It was not straightforward to evaluate chocolate products in this system, but the potential benefits of re-formulating fruit gums, lollipops, chew-bars, toffee and fudge with Lycasin or isomalt in place of sugars were shown by determining their reduced acidogenicity and fermentability compared with conventional confectionery. The extent of demineralisation of dental enamel was related to both the acidity and the fermentability of the sweets. Re-formulating sweets with reduced acidity levels and bulk sweeteners not fermentable by dental plaque microorganisms can provide a basis for improving their potential dental effects.

Improving Nutrient Release of Wall-disruption Bee Pollen with a Combination of Ultrasonication and High Shear Technique.

PubMed

Wu, Wei; Wang, Kai; Qiao, Jiangtao; Dong, Jie; Li, Zhanping; Zhang, Hongcheng

2018-06-22

Bee pollen, collected by honey bees, contains a substantial amount of nutrients and has a high nutritive value. However, a high level of nutrients can be difficult to be digested and absorbed due to the complex wall of bee pollen. We observed that amino acids were mostly distributed inside cell wall of lotus bee pollen, rape bee pollen, apricot bee pollen, wuweizi bee pollen and camellia bee pollen, using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS). Thus, five species of bee pollen were wall-disrupted with a combination of ultrasonication and high shear technique (US-HS). After the treatment, bee pollen walls were entirely broken into fragments, and a high number of nutrients were released. The contents of amino acids, fatty acids, protein, crude fat, reducing sugar, β-carotene, calcium, iron, zinc, selenium obviously increased after wall-disruption. Overall, our study demonstrates that US-HS can disrupt bee pollen wall to release nutrients. Therefore, further studies are being conducted to compare the digestibility and absorptivity of pollen nutrients before and after wall-disruption. Additionally, TOF-SIMS seems to be a reliable mapping technique for determining the distribution of food ingredients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The beta-1,4-endogalactanase A gene from Aspergillus niger is specifically induced on arabinose and galacturonic acid and plays an important role in the degradation of pectic hairy regions.

PubMed

De Vries, Ronald P; Parenicová, Lucie; Hinz, Sandra W A; Kester, Harry C M; Beldman, Gerrit; Benen, Jacques A E; Visser, Jaap

2002-10-01

The Aspergillus nigerbeta-1,4-endogalactanase encoding gene (galA) was cloned and characterized. The expression of galA in A. niger was only detected in the presence of sugar beet pectin, d-galacturonic acid and l-arabinose, suggesting that galA is coregulated with both the pectinolytic genes as well as the arabinanolytic genes. The corresponding enzyme, endogalactanase A (GALA), contains both active site residues identified previously for the Pseudomonas fluorescensbeta-1,4-endogalactanase. The galA gene was overexpressed to facilitate purification of GALA. The enzyme has a molecular mass of 48.5 kDa and a pH optimum between 4 and 4.5. Incubations of arabinogalactans of potato, onion and soy with GALA resulted initially in the release of d-galactotriose and d-galactotetraose, whereas prolonged incubation resulted in d-galactose and d-galactobiose, predominantly. MALDI-TOF analysis revealed the release of l-arabinose substituted d-galacto-oligosaccharides from soy arabinogalactan. This is the first report of the ability of a beta-1,4-endogalactanase to release substituted d-galacto-oligosaccharides. GALA was not active towards d-galacto-oligosaccharides that were substituted with d-glucose at the reducing end.

Design, formulation and evaluation of Aloe vera chewing gum

PubMed Central

Aslani, Abolfazl; Ghannadi, Alireza; Raddanipour, Razieh

2015-01-01

Background: Aloe vera has antioxidant, antiinflammatory, healing, antiseptic, anticancer and antidiabetic effects. The aim of the present study was to design and evaluate the formulation of Aloe vera chewing gum with an appropriate taste and quality with the indications for healing oral wounds, such as lichen planus, mouth sores caused by cancer chemotherapy and mouth abscesses as well as reducing mouth dryness caused by chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: In Aloe vera powder, the carbohydrate content was determined according to mannose and phenolic compounds in terms of gallic acid. Aloe vera powder, sugar, liquid glucose, glycerin, sweeteners and different flavors were added to the soft gum bases. In Aloe vera chewing gum formulation, 10% of dried Aloe vera extract entered the gum base. Then the chewing gum was cut into pieces of suitable sizes. Weight uniformity, content uniformity, the organoleptic properties evaluation, releasing the active ingredient in the phosphate buffer (pH, 6.8) and taste evaluation were examined by Latin square method. Results: One gram of Aloe vera powder contained 5.16 ± 0.25 mg/g of phenolic compounds and 104.63 ± 4.72 mg/g of carbohydrates. After making 16 Aloe vera chewing gum formulations, the F16 formulation was selected as the best formulation according to its physicochemical and organoleptic properties. In fact F16 formulation has suitable hardness, lack of adhesion to the tooth and appropriate size and taste; and after 30 min, it released more than 90% of its drug content. Conclusion: After assessments made, the F16 formulation with maltitol, aspartame and sugar sweeteners was selected as the best formulation. Among various flavors used, peppermint flavor which had the most acceptance between consumers was selected. PMID:26605214

Differential expression of the enzymes associated with cold-induced sweetening in long term cold stored potatoes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Accumulation of high levels of reducing sugars during cold storage (4-6°C) known as cold-induced sweetening (CIS) is a major post-harvest disorder and is one of the most significant concerns for the potato processing industry. The biochemical process of reducing sugar accumulation during cold stora...

Vacuolar invertase gene silencing in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) improves processing quality by decreasing the frequency of sugar-end defects

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Sugar-end defect is a tuber quality disorder that causes unacceptable darkening of one end of French fries. This defect appears when environmental stress during tuber growth increases post-harvest vacuolar acid invertase activity at one end of the tuber. Reducing sugars produced by invertase form da...

Downregulation of Cinnamyl-Alcohol Dehydrogenase in Switchgrass by RNA Silencing Results in Enhanced Glucose Release after Cellulase Treatment

PubMed Central

Saathoff, Aaron J.; Sarath, Gautam; Chow, Elaine K.; Dien, Bruce S.; Tobias, Christian M.

2011-01-01

Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyzes the last step in monolignol biosynthesis and genetic evidence indicates CAD deficiency in grasses both decreases overall lignin, alters lignin structure and increases enzymatic recovery of sugars. To ascertain the effect of CAD downregulation in switchgrass, RNA mediated silencing of CAD was induced through Agrobacterium mediated transformation of cv. “Alamo” with an inverted repeat construct containing a fragment derived from the coding sequence of PviCAD2. The resulting primary transformants accumulated less CAD RNA transcript and protein than control transformants and were demonstrated to be stably transformed with between 1 and 5 copies of the T-DNA. CAD activity against coniferaldehyde, and sinapaldehyde in stems of silenced lines was significantly reduced as was overall lignin and cutin. Glucose release from ground samples pretreated with ammonium hydroxide and digested with cellulases was greater than in control transformants. When stained with the lignin and cutin specific stain phloroglucinol-HCl the staining intensity of one line indicated greater incorporation of hydroxycinnamyl aldehydes in the lignin. PMID:21298014

Downregulation of cinnamyl-alcohol dehydrogenase in switchgrass by RNA silencing results in enhanced glucose release after cellulase treatment.

PubMed

Saathoff, Aaron J; Sarath, Gautam; Chow, Elaine K; Dien, Bruce S; Tobias, Christian M

2011-01-27

Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) catalyzes the last step in monolignol biosynthesis and genetic evidence indicates CAD deficiency in grasses both decreases overall lignin, alters lignin structure and increases enzymatic recovery of sugars. To ascertain the effect of CAD downregulation in switchgrass, RNA mediated silencing of CAD was induced through Agrobacterium mediated transformation of cv. "Alamo" with an inverted repeat construct containing a fragment derived from the coding sequence of PviCAD2. The resulting primary transformants accumulated less CAD RNA transcript and protein than control transformants and were demonstrated to be stably transformed with between 1 and 5 copies of the T-DNA. CAD activity against coniferaldehyde, and sinapaldehyde in stems of silenced lines was significantly reduced as was overall lignin and cutin. Glucose release from ground samples pretreated with ammonium hydroxide and digested with cellulases was greater than in control transformants. When stained with the lignin and cutin specific stain phloroglucinol-HCl the staining intensity of one line indicated greater incorporation of hydroxycinnamyl aldehydes in the lignin.

An 'end-game' for sugar sweetened beverages?

PubMed

Sundborn, G; Merriman, T R; Thornley, S; Metcalf, P; Jackson, R

2014-03-01

The epidemic of unhealthy weight is now in its third decade. The multitude of initiatives designed to address this issue (globally) have predominantly been ineffective as the prevalence of unhealthy weight has continued to rise. Public health professionals have proposed an 'endgame' for tobacco smoking in New Zealand by 2025, which has received widespread support. Similarly, here, to control the prevalence of unhealthy weight, we consider whether a similar approach to tobacco is justified to restrict the intake of sweetened beverages. This paper reviews the evidence relating sugar sweetened beverages to unhealthy weight and adverse health effects. Current initiatives aimed at reducing sugar sweetened beverage consumption both internationally and in New Zealand are reviewed. Epidemiological evidence consistently links sugar-sweetened drink intake with unhealthy weight and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as diabetes, gout, and raised blood pressure. Food disappearance data suggests that sugar intake continues to increase in New Zealand, and that a subtle addiction to sugar may underlie this trend. A number of successful initiatives to reduce sugary drink intake are described. IMPLICATION/CONCLUSION: We argue that an 'endgame' to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages be supported as a means to address the issue of unhealthy weight at a population level. Finally, a preliminary draft endgame plan is presented for consideration, dialogue and debate.

An in-depth understanding of biomass recalcitrance using natural poplar variants as the feedstock

DOE PAGES

Meng, Xianzhi; Pu, Yunqiao; Yoo, Chang Geun; ...

2016-12-12

Here, in an effort to better understand the biomass recalcitrance, six natural poplar variants were selected as feedstocks based on previous sugar release analysis. Compositional analysis and physicochemical characterizations of these poplars were performed and the correlations between these physicochemical properties and enzymatic hydrolysis yield were investigated. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and 13C solid state NMR were used to determine the degree of polymerization (DP) and crystallinity index (CrI) of cellulose, and the results along with the sugar release study indicated that cellulose DP likely played a more important role in enzymatic hydrolysis. Simons’ stain revealed that the accessible surface area of substrate significantly varied among these variants from 17.3 to 33.2 mg gmore » $$–1\\atop{biomass}$$ as reflected by dye adsorption, and cellulose accessibility was shown as one of the major factors governing substrates digestibility. HSQC and 31P NMR analysis detailed the structural features of poplar lignin variants. Overall, cellulose relevant factors appeared to have a stronger correlation with glucose release, if any, than lignin structural features. Lignin structural features, such as a phenolic hydroxyl group and the ratio of syringyl and guaiacyl (S/G), were found to have a more convincing impact on xylose release. Low lignin content, low cellulose DP, and high cellulose accessibility generally favor enzymatic hydrolysis; however, recalcitrance cannot be simply judged on any single substrate factor.« less

An in-depth understanding of biomass recalcitrance using natural poplar variants as the feedstock

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meng, Xianzhi; Pu, Yunqiao; Yoo, Chang Geun

Here, in an effort to better understand the biomass recalcitrance, six natural poplar variants were selected as feedstocks based on previous sugar release analysis. Compositional analysis and physicochemical characterizations of these poplars were performed and the correlations between these physicochemical properties and enzymatic hydrolysis yield were investigated. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and 13C solid state NMR were used to determine the degree of polymerization (DP) and crystallinity index (CrI) of cellulose, and the results along with the sugar release study indicated that cellulose DP likely played a more important role in enzymatic hydrolysis. Simons’ stain revealed that the accessible surface area of substrate significantly varied among these variants from 17.3 to 33.2 mg gmore » $$–1\\atop{biomass}$$ as reflected by dye adsorption, and cellulose accessibility was shown as one of the major factors governing substrates digestibility. HSQC and 31P NMR analysis detailed the structural features of poplar lignin variants. Overall, cellulose relevant factors appeared to have a stronger correlation with glucose release, if any, than lignin structural features. Lignin structural features, such as a phenolic hydroxyl group and the ratio of syringyl and guaiacyl (S/G), were found to have a more convincing impact on xylose release. Low lignin content, low cellulose DP, and high cellulose accessibility generally favor enzymatic hydrolysis; however, recalcitrance cannot be simply judged on any single substrate factor.« less

Effect of interfacial composition and crumbliness on aroma release in soy protein/sugar beet pectin mixed emulsion gels.

PubMed

Hou, Jun-Jie; Guo, Jian; Wang, Jin-Mei; Yang, Xiao-Quan

2016-10-01

In this study, soy protein isolate/sugar beet pectin (SPI/SBP) emulsion gels were prepared through an enzymatic gelation process. The effects of emulsifier (SBP, SPI or SPI/SBP complex) and emulsification process on the microstructure, texture, breakdown properties and aroma release behavior of resulting emulsion gels were investigated. Oil emulsification by SBP/SPI complex resulted in a higher amount of emulsifier absorbing on the oil-water interface than by SBP and SPI alone, indicating that a more compact interfacial network was formed. Flocculation of oil droplets was observed and corresponding emulsion gels exhibited lower fracture force and strain when the oil was emulsified by SPI and SBP/SPI complex. Moreover, emulsion gels with small droplets produced a greater quantity of small fragments after mastication. However, microstructure did not have a significant effect on breakdown properties of emulsion gels. Headspace gas chromatography analysis showed that the release rate of ethyl butyrate before and after mastication was significantly lower in emulsion gel with more compact network, but the release of aroma compounds with higher hydrophobicity did not show a significant influence of the microstructure and texture of emulsion gel. This finding provides a useful application for designing semi-solid foods with desirable flavor perception. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

G-protein gamma subunit 1 is required for sugar reception in Drosophila

PubMed Central

Ishimoto, Hiroshi; Takahashi, Kuniaki; Ueda, Ryu; Tanimura, Teiichi

2005-01-01

Though G-proteins have been implicated in the primary step of taste signal transduction, no direct demonstration has been done in insects. We show here that a G-protein gamma subunit, Gγ1, is required for the signal transduction of sugar taste reception in Drosophila. The Gγ1 gene is expressed mainly in one of the gustatory receptor neurons. Behavioral responses of the flies to sucrose were reduced by the targeted suppression of neural functions of Gγ1-expressing cells using neural modulator genes such as the modified Shaker K+ channel (EKO), the tetanus toxin light chain or the shibire (shits1) gene. RNA interference targeting to the Gγ1 gene reduced the amount of Gγ1 mRNA and suppressed electrophysiological response of the sugar receptor neuron. We also demonstrated that responses to sugars were lowered in Gγ1 null mutant, Gγ1N159. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Gγ1 participates in the signal transduction of sugar taste reception. PMID:16121192

Galvanostatic electrodeposition of copper nanoparticles on screen-printed carbon electrodes and their application for reducing sugars determination.

PubMed

Pérez-Fernández, Beatriz; Martín-Yerga, Daniel; Costa-García, Agustín

2017-12-01

In this work, a novel method for the galvanostatic electrodeposition of copper nanoparticles on screen-printed carbon electrodes was developed. Nanoparticles of spherical morphology with sizes between 60 and 280nm were obtained. The electrocatalytic effect of these copper nanospheres towards the oxidation of different sugars was studied. Excellent analytical performance was obtained with the nanostructured sensor: low detection limits and wide linear ranges (1-10,000µM) were achieving for the different reducing sugars evaluated (glucose, fructose, arabinose, galactose, mannose, xylose) with very similar calibration slopes, which demonstrates the possibility of total sugar detection. The reproducibility of these sensors was 4.4% (intra-electrode) and 7.2% (inter-electrode). The stability of the nanostructured electrodes was at least 30 days, even using the same device on different days. Several real samples (honey, orange juice and normal and sugar-free soft drinks) were evaluated to study the reliability of the nanostructured sensor. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Winter climate change and fine root biogenic silica in sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum): Implications for silica in the Anthropocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maguire, Timothy J.; Templer, Pamela H.; Battles, John J.; Fulweiler, Robinson W.

2017-03-01

Winter temperatures are projected to increase over the next century, leading to reductions in winter snowpack and increased frequency of soil freezing in many northern forest ecosystems. Here we examine biogenic silica (BSi) concentrations in sugar maple (Acer saccharum) fine roots collected from a snow manipulation experiment at Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (New Hampshire, USA). Increased soil freezing significantly lowered the BSi content of sugar maple fine roots potentially decreasing their capacity to take up water and dissolved nutrients. The reduced silica uptake (8 ± 1 kmol silica km-2) by sugar maple fine roots is comparable to silica export from temperate forest watersheds. We estimate that fine roots account for 29% of sugar maple BSi, despite accounting for only 4% of their biomass. These results suggest that increased frequency of soil freezing will reduce silica uptake by temperate tree roots, thereby changing silica availability in downstream receiving waters.

Two-step sequential pretreatment for the enhanced enzymatic hydrolysis of coffee spent waste.

PubMed

Ravindran, Rajeev; Jaiswal, Swarna; Abu-Ghannam, Nissreen; Jaiswal, Amit K

2017-09-01

In the present study, eight different pretreatments of varying nature (physical, chemical and physico-chemical) followed by a sequential, combinatorial pretreatment strategy was applied to spent coffee waste to attain maximum sugar yield. Pretreated samples were analysed for total reducing sugar, individual sugars and generation of inhibitory compounds such as furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) which can hinder microbial growth and enzyme activity. Native spent coffee waste was high in hemicellulose content. Galactose was found to be the predominant sugar in spent coffee waste. Results showed that sequential pretreatment yielded 350.12mg of reducing sugar/g of substrate, which was 1.7-fold higher than in native spent coffee waste (203.4mg/g of substrate). Furthermore, extensive delignification was achieved using sequential pretreatment strategy. XRD, FTIR, and DSC profiles of the pretreated substrates were studied to analyse the various changes incurred in sequentially pretreated spent coffee waste as opposed to native spent coffee waste. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evidence for a blockwise distribution of acetyl groups onto homogalacturonans from a commercial sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) pectin.

PubMed

Ralet, Marie-Christine; Crépeau, Marie-Jeanne; Bonnin, Estelle

2008-06-01

Commercial acid-extracted sugar beet pectin was extensively hydrolysed using an endo-polygalacturonase (AnPGI from Aspergillus niger or AnPGII from A. niger or FmPG from Fusarium moniliforme) in combination with Aspergillus aculeatus pectin methyl-esterase (AaPME). The homogalacturonan-derived oligogalacturonates released were quantified by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography and their structure determined by mass spectrometry. The different endo-polygalacturonases exhibited variable tolerance towards acetyl groups. AnPGI was the most active and FmPG the less. A hypothetical homogalacturonan was constructed using the AnPGI-recovered oligogalacturonates as building blocks and the validity of the model was checked taking into account FmPG observed requirements and hydrolysis products. A blockwise repartition of the acetyl groups onto sugar beet pectin homogalacturonan is proposed.

Waste heat recovery systems in the sugar industry: An Indian perspective

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Madnaik, S.D.; Jadhav, M.G.

1996-04-01

This article identifies the key role of the sugar industry in the rural development of developing countries. The Indian sugar industry, already second largest among the country`s processing industries, shows even greater potential, according to the Plan Documents (shown in a table). The potential of waste heat in sugar processing plants, which produce white crystal sugar using the double sulphitation clarification process, is estimated at 5757.9 KJ/kg of sugar. Efficient waste heat recovery (WHR) systems could help arrest the trend of increasing production costs. This would help the sugar industry not only in India, but in many other countries asmore » well. The innovative methods suggested and discussed briefly in this article include dehydration of prepared cane, bagasse drying, and juice heating using waste heat. These methods can reduce the cost of energy in sugar production by at least 10% and improve efficiency and productivity.« less

Comparing salt tolerance of beet cultivars and their halophytic ancestor: consequences of domestication and breeding programmes

PubMed Central

Rozema, Jelte; Cornelisse, Danny; Zhang, Yuancheng; Li, Hongxiu; Bruning, Bas; Katschnig, Diana; Broekman, Rob; Ji, Bin; van Bodegom, Peter

2015-01-01

Salt tolerance of higher plants is determined by a complex set of traits, the timing and rate of evolution of which are largely unknown. We compared the salt tolerance of cultivars of sugar beet and their ancestor, sea beet, in hydroponic studies and evaluated whether traditional domestication and more recent breeding have changed salt tolerance of the cultivars relative to their ancestor. Our comparison of salt tolerance of crop cultivars is based on values of the relative growth rate (RGR) of the entire plant at various salinity levels. We found considerable salt tolerance of the sea beet and slightly, but significantly, reduced salt tolerance of the sugar beet cultivars. This indicates that traditional domestication by selection for morphological traits such as leaf size, beet shape and size, enhanced productivity, sugar content and palatability slightly affected salt tolerance of sugar beet cultivars. Salt tolerance among four sugar beet cultivars, three of which have been claimed to be salt tolerant, did not differ. We analysed the components of RGR to understand the mechanism of salt tolerance at the whole-plant level. The growth rate reduction at higher salinity was linked with reduced leaf area at the whole-plant level (leaf area ratio) and at the individual leaf level (specific leaf area). The leaf weight fraction was not affected by increased salinity. On the other hand, succulence and leaf thickness and the net assimilation per unit of leaf area (unit leaf rate) increased in response to salt treatment, thus partially counteracting reduced capture of light by lower leaf area. This compensatory mechanism may form part of the salt tolerance mechanism of sea beet and the four studied sugar beet cultivars. Together, our results indicate that domestication of the halophytic ancestor sea beet slightly reduced salt tolerance and that breeding for improved salt tolerance of sugar beet cultivars has not been effective. PMID:25492122

Replacement of glycaemic carbohydrates by inulin-type fructans from chicory (oligofructose, inulin) reduces the postprandial blood glucose and insulin response to foods: report of two double-blind, randomized, controlled trials.

PubMed

Lightowler, Helen; Thondre, Sangeetha; Holz, Anja; Theis, Stephan

2018-04-01

Inulin-type fructans are recognized as prebiotic dietary fibres and classified as non-digestible carbohydrates that do not contribute to glycaemia. The aim of the present studies was to investigate the glycaemic response (GR) and insulinaemic response (IR) to foods in which sucrose was partially replaced by inulin or oligofructose from chicory. In a double-blind, randomized, controlled cross-over design, 40-42 healthy adults consumed a yogurt drink containing oligofructose or fruit jelly containing inulin and the respective full-sugar variants. Capillary blood glucose and insulin were measured in fasted participants and at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after starting to drink/eat. For each test food, the incremental area under the curve (iAUC) for glucose and insulin was calculated and the GR and IR determined. Consumption of a yogurt drink with oligofructose which was 20% reduced in sugars significantly lowered the glycaemic response compared to the full-sugar reference (iAUC 120min 31.9 and 37.3 mmol/L/min, respectively; p < 0.05). A fruit jelly made with inulin and containing 30% less sugars than the full-sugar variant likewise resulted in a significantly reduced blood glucose response (iAUC 120min 53.7 and 63.7 mmol/L/min, respectively; p < 0.05). In both studies, the postprandial insulin response was lowered in parallel (p < 0.05). The reduction of postprandial glycaemia was positively correlated to the proportion of sugars replaced by inulin-type fructans (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the studies confirmed that substitution of glycaemic sugars by inulin or oligofructose from chicory may be an effective strategy to reduce the postprandial blood glucose response to foods.

Proposed mechanisms for water oxidation by Photosystem II and nanosized manganese oxides.

PubMed

Najafpour, Mohamad Mahdi; Heidari, Sima; Balaghi, S Esmael; Hołyńska, Małgorzata; Sadr, Moayad Hossaini; Soltani, Behzad; Khatamian, Maasoumeh; Larkum, Anthony W; Allakhverdiev, Suleyman I

2017-02-01

Plants, algae and cyanobacteria capture sunlight, extracting electrons from H 2 O to reduce CO 2 into sugars while releasing O 2 in the oxygenic photosynthetic process. Because of the important role of water oxidation in artificial photosynthesis and many solar fuel systems, understanding the structure and function of this unique biological catalyst forms a requisite research field. Herein the structure of the water-oxidizing complex and its ligand environment are described with reference to the 1.9Å resolution X-ray-derived crystallographic model of the water-oxidizing complex from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus vulcanus. Proposed mechanisms for water oxidation by Photosystem II and nanosized manganese oxides are also reviewed and discussed in the paper. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Intake of Sugar-sweetened Beverages and Fecundability in a North American Preconception Cohort.

PubMed

Hatch, Elizabeth E; Wesselink, Amelia K; Hahn, Kristen A; Michiel, James J; Mikkelsen, Ellen M; Sorensen, Henrik Toft; Rothman, Kenneth J; Wise, Lauren A

2018-05-01

Dietary factors, including sugar-sweetened beverages, may have adverse effects on fertility. Sugar-sweetened beverages were associated with poor semen quality in cross-sectional studies, and female soda intake has been associated with lower fecundability in some studies. We evaluated the association of female and male sugar-sweetened beverage intake with fecundability among 3,828 women planning pregnancy and 1,045 of their male partners in a North American prospective cohort study. We followed participants until pregnancy or for up to 12 menstrual cycles. Eligible women were aged 21-45 (male partners ≥21), attempting conception for ≤6 cycles, and not using fertility treatments. Participants completed a comprehensive baseline questionnaire, including questions on sugar-sweetened beverage consumption during the previous 4 weeks. We estimated time-to-pregnancy from follow-up questionnaires completed every 2 months by the female partner. We calculated adjusted fecundability ratios (FR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) according to intake of sugar- sweetened beverages using proportional probabilities regression. Both female and male intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages were associated with reduced fecundability (FR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.70, 0.94 and 0.78; 95% CI = 0.63, 0.95 for ≥7 sugar-sweetened beverages per week compared with none, for females and males, respectively). Fecundability was further reduced among those who drank ≥7 servings per week of sugar-sweetened sodas (FR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.59, 0.95 for females and 0.67, 95% CI = 0.51, 0.89 for males). Sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly sodas and energy drinks, were associated with lower fecundability, but diet soda and fruit juice had little association.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lenné, T.; Kent, B.; Koster, K.L.

Small angle X-ray scattering is used to study the effects of sugars on membranes during dehydration. Previous work has shown that the bilayer and chain-chain repeat spacings of DPPC bilayers are relatively unaffected by the presence of sugars. In this work we present a preliminary analysis of the electron density profiles of DPPC in the presence of sugars at low hydration. The difficulties of determining the correct phasing are discussed. Sugars and other small solutes have been shown to have an important role in improving the tolerance of a range of species to desiccation and freezing. In particular it hasmore » been shown that sugars can stabilize membranes in the fluid membrane phase during dehydration, and in the fully dehydrated state. Equivalently, at a particular hydration, the presence of sugars lowers the transition temperature between the fluid and gel phases. There are two competing models for explaining the effects of sugars on membrane phase transition temperatures. One, designated the water replacement hypothesis (WRH) states that sugars hydrogen bond to phospholipid headgroups, thus hindering the fluid-gel phase transition. One version of this model suggests that certain sugars (such as trehalose) achieve the measured effects by inserting between the phospholipid head groups. An alternative model explains the observed effects of sugars in terms of the sugars effect on the hydration repulsion that develops between opposing membranes during dehydration. The hydration repulsion leads to a lateral compressive stress in the bilayer which squeezes adjacent lipids more closely together, resulting in a transition to the gel phase. When sugars are present, their osmotic and volumetric effects reduce the hydration repulsion, reduce the compressive stress in the membranes, and therefore tend to maintain the average lateral separation between lipids. This model is called the hydration forces explanation (HFE). We recently showed that neither mono- nor di-saccharides affect the average distance between lipid chains in the bilayer, supporting the predictions of the HFE. In this paper we further investigate the effects of sugars on membrane structure by conducting electron density analysis of recent data. This preliminary analysis sheds additional light onto the effects of sugars on membrane structure.« less

On-site hydrolytic enzymes production from fungal co-cultivation of Bermuda grass and corn cob.

PubMed

Amaro-Reyes, Aldo; Gracida, Jorge; Huizache-Peña, Nelson; Elizondo-García, Norberto; Salazar-Martínez, José; García Almendárez, Blanca E; Regalado, Carlos

2016-07-01

Solid state fermentation (SSF) is used to produce industrial enzymes. The objective of this study was to use a co-culture of Aspergillus niger GS1 and Trichoderma reesei, grown on a mixture of Bermuda grass and corn cob to obtain fermented forage (FF) rich in hydrolytic enzymes, as a value added ingredient for animal feed. FPase, amylase and xylanase productivities (dry matter, DM) were 8.8, 181.4, and 42.1Ug(-1)h(-1), respectively (1U=reducing sugars released min(-1)), after 12-16h of SSF with C/N=60. Cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin decreased 1.6-, 2.7- and 1.9-fold (DM), respectively. In vitro ruminal and true digestibility of DM was improved 2.4- and 1.4-fold. Ruminal digestion of FF reduced 1.32-fold the acetate:propionate ratio, which may reduce the environmental impact of ruminants feeding. On-site hydrolytic enzymes productivity using SSF without enzymes extraction could be of economic potential for digestibility improvement in animal feed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Special role of corn flour as an ideal carbon source for aerobic denitrification with minimized nitrous oxide emission.

PubMed

Zhu, Shuangyue; Zheng, Maosheng; Li, Can; Gui, Mengyao; Chen, Qian; Ni, Jinren

2015-06-01

Much effort has been made for reducing nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in wastewater treatment processes. This paper presents an interesting way to minimize N2O in aerobic denitrification by strain Pseudomonas stutzeri PCN-1 with help of corn flour as cheaper additional carbon source. Experimental results showed that maximal N2O accumulation by strain PCN-1 was only 0.02% of removed nitrogen if corn flour was used as sole carbon source, which was significantly reduced by 52.07-99.81% comparing with others such as succinate, glucose, acetate and citrate. Sustained release of reducing sugar from starch and continuous expression of nosZ coding for N2O reductase contributed to the special role of corn flour as the ideal carbon source for strain PCN-1. Further experiments in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) demonstrated similarly efficient nitrogen removal with much less N2O emission due to synergy of the novel strain and activated sludge, which was then confirmed by quantitative PCR analysis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cross-sectional survey of the amount of free sugars and calories in carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages on sale in the UK

PubMed Central

Hashem, Kawther M; He, Feng J; Jenner, Katharine H; MacGregor, Graham A

2016-01-01

Objectives To investigate the free sugars and calorie content of carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (CSSB) available in the main UK supermarkets. Study design We carried out a cross-sectional survey in 2014 of 169 CSSB. Methods The free sugars (sugars g/100 mL) and calorie (kcal/100 mL) were collected from product packaging and nutrient information panels of CSSB available in 9 main UK supermarkets. Results The average free sugars content in CSSB was 30.1±10.7 g/330 mL, and 91% of CSSB would receive a ‘red’ (high) label for sugars per serving. There was a large variation in sugars content between different flavours of CSSB and within the same type of flavour ranging from 3.3 to 52.8 g/330 mL. On average, ginger beer (38.5±9.9 g/330 mL) contained the highest amounts of sugars and ginger ale (22.9±7.7 g/330 mL) contained the lowest. Cola flavour is the most popular flavour in the UK with an average free sugars content of 35.0±1.1 g/330 mL. On average, the supermarket own brand contained lower levels of sugars than branded products (27.9±10.6 vs 31.6±10.6 g/330 mL, p=0.02). The average calorie content in CSSB was 126.1±43.5 kcal/330 mL. Cola flavour had a calorie content of 143.5±5.2 kcal/330 mL. Among the 169 products surveyed, 55% exceeded the maximum daily recommendation for free sugars intake (30 g) per 330 mL. Conclusions Free sugars content of CSSB in the UK is high and is a major contributor to free sugars intake. There is a wide variation in the sugars content of CSSB and even within the same flavour of CSSB. These findings demonstrate that the amount of free sugars added to CSSB can be reduced without technical issues, and there is an urgent need to set incremental free sugars reduction targets. A reduction in sugars content and overall CSSB consumption will be very beneficial in reducing obesity, type 2 diabetes and dental caries. PMID:28186923

Cross-sectional survey of the amount of free sugars and calories in carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages on sale in the UK.

PubMed

Hashem, Kawther M; He, Feng J; Jenner, Katharine H; MacGregor, Graham A

2016-11-15

To investigate the free sugars and calorie content of carbonated sugar-sweetened beverages (CSSB) available in the main UK supermarkets. We carried out a cross-sectional survey in 2014 of 169 CSSB. The free sugars (sugars g/100 mL) and calorie (kcal/100 mL) were collected from product packaging and nutrient information panels of CSSB available in 9 main UK supermarkets. The average free sugars content in CSSB was 30.1±10.7 g/330 mL, and 91% of CSSB would receive a 'red' (high) label for sugars per serving. There was a large variation in sugars content between different flavours of CSSB and within the same type of flavour ranging from 3.3 to 52.8 g/330 mL. On average, ginger beer (38.5±9.9 g/330 mL) contained the highest amounts of sugars and ginger ale (22.9±7.7 g/330 mL) contained the lowest. Cola flavour is the most popular flavour in the UK with an average free sugars content of 35.0±1.1 g/330 mL. On average, the supermarket own brand contained lower levels of sugars than branded products (27.9±10.6 vs 31.6±10.6 g/330 mL, p=0.02). The average calorie content in CSSB was 126.1±43.5 kcal/330 mL. Cola flavour had a calorie content of 143.5±5.2 kcal/330 mL. Among the 169 products surveyed, 55% exceeded the maximum daily recommendation for free sugars intake (30 g) per 330 mL. Free sugars content of CSSB in the UK is high and is a major contributor to free sugars intake. There is a wide variation in the sugars content of CSSB and even within the same flavour of CSSB. These findings demonstrate that the amount of free sugars added to CSSB can be reduced without technical issues, and there is an urgent need to set incremental free sugars reduction targets. A reduction in sugars content and overall CSSB consumption will be very beneficial in reducing obesity, type 2 diabetes and dental caries. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Biocatalytic route to sugar-PEG-based polymers for drug delivery applications.

PubMed

Bhatia, Sumati; Mohr, Andreas; Mathur, Divya; Parmar, Virinder S; Haag, Rainer; Prasad, Ashok K

2011-10-10

Sugar-PEG-based polymers were synthesized by enzymatic copolymerization of 4-C-hydroxymethyl-1,2-O-isopropylidene-β-L-threo-pentofuranose/4-C-hydroxymethyl-1,2-O-benzylidene-β-L-threo-pentofuranose/4-C-hydroxymethyl-1,2-O-isopropylidene-3-O-pentyl-β-L-threo-pentofuranose with PEG-600 dimethyl ester using Novozyme-435 (Candida antarctica lipase immobilized on polyacrylate). Carbohydrate monomers were obtained by the multistep synthesis starting from diacetone-D-glucose and PEG-600 dimethyl ester, which was in turn obtained by the esterification of the commercially available PEG-600 diacid. Aggregation studies on the copolymers revealed that in aqueous solution those polymers bearing the hydrophobic pentyl/benzylidene moiety spontaneously self-assembled into supramolecular aggregates. The critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of polymers was determined by surface tension measurements, and the precise size of the aggregates was obtained by dynamic light scattering. The polymeric aggregates were further explored for their drug encapsulation properties in buffered aqueous solution of pH 7.4 (37 °C) using nile red as a hydrophobic model compound by means of UV/vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. There was no significant encapsulation in polymer synthesized from 4-C-hydroxymethyl-1,2-O-isopropylidene-β-L-threo-pentofuranose because this sugar monomer does not contain a big hydrophobic moiety as the pentyl or the benzylidene moiety. Nile red release study was performed at pH 5.0 and 7.4 using fluorescence spectroscopy. The release of nile red from the polymer bearing benzylidene moiety and pentyl moiety was observed with a half life of 3.4 and 2.0 h, respectively at pH 5.0, whereas no release was found at pH 7.4.

Hypertension Due to Toxic White Crystals in the Diet: Should We Blame Salt or Sugar?

PubMed

DiNicolantonio, James J; O'Keefe, James H

The "Salt Hypothesis" is the notion that an increase in salt intake will increase blood pressure and thus increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD),which has been a point of contention for decades. Despite this, numerous health organizations, dietary guidelines, and government policies advocate population-wide salt restriction. However, there is no conclusive proof that restricting salt intake reduces the risk of hypertension (HTN) and/or CVD events; sodium restriction in fact may paradoxically lead to adverse health outcomes. Importantly, another white crystal, sucrose (or table sugar) but also high-fructose corn syrup are much more detrimental food additives. Indeed, added sugars have the ability to induce hypertension via the promotion of inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and obesity. Considering that there is no physiologic requirement for dietary carbohydrate, there is little reason to suspect adverse health consequences from cutting back on sugar. This paper reviews the evidence relating to salt and sugar on HTN and CVD. Based on our review of the scientific literature, guidelines should focus more on reducing sugar rather than salt for the prevention and treatment of HTN and its consequences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reduced Availability of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Diet Soda Has a Limited Impact on Beverage Consumption Patterns in Maine High School Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whatley Blum, Janet E.; Davee, Anne-Marie; Beaudoin, Christina M.; Jenkins, Paul L.; Kaley, Lori A.; Wigand, Debra A.

2008-01-01

Objective: To examine change in high school students' beverage consumption patterns pre- and post-intervention of reduced availability of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and diet soda in school food venues. Design: A prospective, quasi-experimental, nonrandomized study design. Setting: Public high schools. Participants: A convenience sample from…

Health and economic benefits of reducing sugar intake in the USA, including effects via non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a microsimulation model.

PubMed

Vreman, Rick A; Goodell, Alex J; Rodriguez, Luis A; Porco, Travis C; Lustig, Robert H; Kahn, James G

2017-08-03

Excessive consumption of added sugars in the human diet has been associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), coronary heart disease (CHD) and other elements of the metabolic syndrome. Recent studies have shown that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a critical pathway to metabolic syndrome. This model assesses the health and economic benefits of interventions aimed at reducing intake of added sugars. Using data from US National Health Surveys and current literature, we simulated an open cohort, for the period 2015-2035. We constructed a microsimulation model with Markov chains for NAFLD (including steatosis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)), body mass index, T2D and CHD. We assessed reductions in population disease prevalence, disease-attributable disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and costs, with interventions that reduce added sugars consumption by either 20% or 50%. The model estimated that a 20% reduction in added sugars intake will reduce prevalence of hepatic steatosis, NASH, cirrhosis, HCC, obesity, T2D and CHD. Incidence of T2D and CHD would be expected to decrease by 19.9 (95% CI 12.8 to 27.0) and 9.4 (95% CI 3.1 to 15.8) cases per 100 000 people after 20 years, respectively. A 20% reduction in consumption is also projected to annually avert 0.767 million (M) DALYs (95% CI 0.757M to 0.777M) and a total of US$10.3 billion (B) (95% CI 10.2B to 10.4B) in discounted direct medical costs by 2035. These effects increased proportionally when added sugars intake were reduced by 50%. The decrease in incidence and prevalence of disease is similar to results in other models, but averted costs and DALYs were higher, mainly due to inclusion of NAFLD and CHD. The model suggests that efforts to reduce consumption of added sugars may result in significant public health and economic benefits. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Artificial photosynthesis for production of hydrogen peroxide and its fuel cells.

PubMed

Fukuzumi, Shunichi

2016-05-01

The reducing power released from photosystem I (PSI) via ferredoxin enables the reduction of NADP(+) to NADPH, which is essential in the Calvin-Benson cycle to make sugars in photosynthesis. Alternatively, PSI can reduce O2 to produce hydrogen peroxide as a fuel. This article describes the artificial version of the photocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide from water and O2 using solar energy. Hydrogen peroxide is used as a fuel in hydrogen peroxide fuel cells to make electricity. The combination of the photocatalytic H2O2 production from water and O2 using solar energy with one-compartment H2O2 fuel cells provides on-site production and usage of H2O2 as a more useful and promising solar fuel than hydrogen. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Biodesign for Bioenergetics--The design and engineering of electronc transfer cofactors, proteins and protein networks, edited by Ronald L. Koder and J.L. Ross Anderson. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of almond processing on levels and distribution of aflatoxins in finished products and byproducts.

PubMed

Zivoli, Rosanna; Gambacorta, Lucia; Perrone, Giancarlo; Solfrizzo, Michele

2014-06-18

The fate of aflatoxins during processing of contaminated almonds into nougat, pastries, and almond syrup was evaluated by testing the effect of each processing step (blanching, peeling, roasting, caramelization, cooking, and water infusion) on the distribution and levels of aflatoxins. Blanching and peeling did not reduce total aflatoxins that were distributed between peeled almonds (90-93%) and skins (7-10%). Roasting of peeled almonds reduced up to 50% of aflatoxins. Up to 70% reduction of aflatoxins was observed during preparation and cooking of almond nougat in caramelized sugar. Aflatoxins were substantially stable during preparation and cooking of almond pastries. The whole process of almond syrup preparation produced a marked increase of total aflatoxins (up to 270%) that were distributed between syrup (18-25%) and spent almonds (75-82%). The increase of total aflatoxins was probably due to the activation of almond enzymes during the infusion step that released free aflatoxins from masked aflatoxins.

Effects of sublethal exposure to boric acid sugar bait on adult survival, host-seeking, bloodfeeding behavior, and reproduction of Stegomyia albopicta.

PubMed

Ali, Arshad; Xue, Rui-De; Barnard, Donald R

2006-09-01

Effects of sublethal exposure to 0.1% boric acid sugar bait on adult survival, host-seeking, bloodfeeding behavior, and reproduction of Stegomyia albopicta were studied in the laboratory. Survival of males as well as females was significantly reduced when exposed to the bait, compared to control adults. The host-seeking and bloodfeeding activities in the baited females decreased, but the mean duration of blood engorgement (probing to voluntary withdrawal of proboscis) was not significantly different between the baited and control females. The landing and biting rates (human forearm) were significantly reduced in the baited females compared to nonbaited controls. Fecundity and fertility (based on number of laid eggs per female and percentage egg hatch, respectively) in the baited females were significantly reduced, and ovarian development was retarded. Sublethal exposure to sugar-based boric acid bait has the potential to reduce adult populations of St. albopicta.

Sources of Added Sugars in Young Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Low and High Intakes of Added Sugars

PubMed Central

Fulgoni, Victor L.; Cowan, Alexandra E.; Gaine, P. Courtney

2018-01-01

High intake of added sugars is associated with excess energy intake and poorer diet quality. The objective of this cross-sectional study (n = 16,806) was to estimate usual intakes and the primary food sources of added sugars across the range of intakes (i.e., deciles) among U.S. children (2–8 years), adolescents and teens (9–18 years), and adults (≥19 years) using the National Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) data from 2009–2012. The percent energy contributed by added sugars was 14.3 ± 0.2% (2–8 years), 16.2 ± 0.2% (9–18 years), and 13.1 ± 0.2% (≥19 years), suggesting the highest intakes are among adolescents and teens. However, the primary foods/beverages that contribute to added sugars were remarkably consistent across the range of intakes, with the exception of the lowest decile, and include sweetened beverages and sweet bakery products. Interestingly across all age groups, even those in the lowest decile of added sugars exceed the 10% guidelines. Additional foods contributing to high intakes were candy and other desserts (e.g., ice cream) in children and adolescents, and coffee and teas in adults. Tailoring public health messaging to reduce intakes of these identified food groups may be of utility in designing effective strategies to reduce added sugar intake in the U.S. PMID:29342109

Trends in Beverage Consumption Among High School Students - United States, 2007-2015.

PubMed

Miller, Gabrielle; Merlo, Caitlin; Demissie, Zewditu; Sliwa, Sarah; Park, Sohyun

2017-02-03

Beverages play an important role in the diets of adolescents because they help to maintain hydration and can provide important nutrients, such as calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin C (1). However, some beverages, such as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) (e.g., soda or pop), provide calories with no beneficial nutrients. Beverage consumption patterns among American youth have changed over time; however, little is known about differences in consumption of various beverages by demographic characteristics such as grade in school, free/reduced price lunch eligibility, and race/ethnicity (2). CDC analyzed data from the 2007-2015 national Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) to assess whether the prevalence of drinking non-diet soda or pop (soda), milk, and 100% fruit juice (juice) has significantly changed over time among U.S. high school students. During 2007-2015, daily soda consumption decreased significantly from 33.8% to 20.5%. During 2007-2011, daily milk and juice consumption did not significantly change, but during 2011-2015 daily milk and juice consumption decreased from 44.3% to 37.4% and from 27.2% to 21.6%, respectively. Although a decrease in daily soda consumption is a positive change, soda consumption remains high. Although there is not a specific recommendation for sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 recommend that U.S. residents reduce sugar-sweetened beverage and sweet consumption to reduce intake of added sugars to less than 10% of calories per day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 recommend that persons choose beverages with no added sugars, such as water, in place of sugar-sweetened beverages, as one strategy for achieving the added sugars recommendation. Adolescents might need additional support in choosing more healthful beverages, such as low-fat milk, in place of SSBs.

"If it tastes good, I'm drinking it": qualitative study of beverage consumption among college students.

PubMed

Block, Jason P; Gillman, Matthew W; Linakis, Stephanie K; Goldman, Roberta E

2013-06-01

This study examined how college students choose beverages and whether behavioral interventions might reduce their heavy consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. From April to June 2010, 90 students participated in 12 focus groups at 6 colleges in Massachusetts and Louisiana. The study team undertook a group content analysis of the verbatim focus group transcripts using the immersion-crystallization method. The mean age of participants was 19 years. Fifty percent were white, and 47% were black. Several themes emerged in focus groups: taste is paramount; price is important but secondary; health and nutritional content of beverages are of limited interest; juice has a "health halo"; and water is consumed primarily for hydration. Students were often highly fixated on favorite sugar-sweetened beverages. Price was uniquely important for good-tasting beverages costing less than one dollar. Some students reported calorie content as important for food choices, but most had no awareness of beverage calorie content. Students' negative perceptions of sugar-sweetened beverages focused largely on the "dangers" of sugar and chemicals in sodas. They expressed particular concern about soda's corrosive chemical properties or diet soda causing cancer. The health halo for juice persisted even with some recognition of high sugar content. Students thought shocking educational messages would be necessary to get them to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Among college students, taste and price were the most important factors in choosing beverages. Interventions using shocking visual images or providing low-cost or free water may conquer taste and brand preference to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage intake. Copyright © 2013 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

“If it Tastes Good, I’m Drinking It”: Qualitative Study of Beverage Consumption among College Students

PubMed Central

Block, Jason P.; Gillman, Matthew W.; Linakis, Stephanie K.; Goldman, Roberta E.

2012-01-01

Purpose This study examined how college students choose beverages and whether behavioral interventions might reduce their heavy consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Methods From April to June 2010, 90 students participated in 12 focus groups at 6 colleges in Massachusetts and Louisiana. The study team undertook a group content analysis of the verbatim focus group transcripts using the immersion-crystallization method. Results The mean age of participants was 19 years. 50% were white, and 47% were black. Several themes emerged in focus groups: taste is paramount; price is important but secondary; health and nutritional content of beverages are of limited interest; juice has a “health halo”; and water is consumed primarily for hydration. Students were often highly fixated on favorite sugar-sweetened beverages. Price was uniquely important for good-tasting beverages costing less than one dollar. Some students reported calorie content as important for food choices, but most had no awareness of beverage calorie content. Students’ negative perceptions of sugar-sweetened beverages focused largely on the “dangers” of sugar and chemicals in sodas. They expressed particular concern about soda’s corrosive chemical properties or diet soda causing cancer. The health halo for juice persisted even with some recognition of high sugar content. Students thought shocking educational messages would be necessary to get them to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Conclusions Among college students, taste and price were the most important factors in choosing beverages. Interventions using shocking visual images or providing low-cost or free water may conquer taste and brand preference to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage intake. PMID:23415754

Analysis of selected sugars and sugar phosphates in mouse heart tissue by reductive amination and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Han, Jun; Tschernutter, Vera; Yang, Juncong; Eckle, Tobias; Borchers, Christoph H

2013-06-18

Sensitive and reliable analysis of sugars and sugar phosphates in tissues and cells is essential for many biological and cell engineering studies. However, the successful analysis of these endogenous compounds in biological samples by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS) is often difficult because of their poor chromatographic retention properties in reversed-phase LC, the complex biological matrices, and the ionization suppression in ESI. This situation is further complicated by the existence of their multiple structural isomers in vivo. This work describes the combination of reductive amination using 3-amino-9-ethylcarbazole, with a new LC approach using a pentafluorophenyl core-shell ultrahigh performance (UP) LC column and methylphosphonic acid as an efficient tail-sweeping reagent for improved chromatographic separation. This new method was used for selected detection and accurate quantitation of the major free and phosphorylated reducing sugars in mouse heart tissue. Among the detected compounds, accurate quantitation of glyceraldehyde, ribose, glucose, glycerylaldehyde-3-phosphate, ribose-5-phosphate, glucose-6-phosphate, and mannose-6-phosphate was achieved by UPLC/multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM)-MS, with analytical accuracies ranging from 87.4% to 109.4% and CVs of ≤8.5% (n = 6). To demonstrate isotope-resolved metabolic profiling, we used UPLC/quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF)-MS to analyze the isotope distribution patterns of C3 to C6 free and phosphorylated reducing sugars in heart tissues from (13)C-labeled wild type and knockout mice. In conclusion, the preanalytical derivatization-LC/ESI-MS method has resulted in selective determination of free and phosphorylated reducing sugars without the interferences from their nonreducing structural isomers in mouse heart tissue, with analytical sensitivities in the femtomole to low picomole range.

Registration of "CPSG-3481 sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘CPSG-3481’ (Reg. No. , PI 676023) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) was a new cultivar developed through cooperative research conducted by the Shakarganj Sugar Research Institute in Pakistan and the USDA-ARS Sugarcane Field Station in USA, and released to growers for loam soils...

Feasibility of removing furfurals from sugar solutions using activated biochars made from agricultural residues

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Lignocellulosic feedstocks are often prepared for ethanol fermentation by treatment with a dilute mineral acid catalyst that hydrolyzes the hemicellulose and possibly cellulose into soluble carbohydrates. The acid catalyzed reaction scheme is sequential whereby released monosaccharides are further ...

Ryan M. Ness | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Interests Ryan M. Ness is a research technician in the Biomass Analysis group within the National Renewable , wet chemical analysis, and instrumental analysis of lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks. Bench-scale Publications "The Effect of Biomass Densification on Structural Sugar Release and Yield in Biofuel

Notice of release of sugarcane variety HoCP 09-804

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station of the LSU Agricultural Center, and the American Sugar Cane League of the U.S.A., Inc., working cooperatively to develop improved sugarcane varieties, have jointly develope...

CARBOXYLIC ACID EFFECTS ON ETHANOL RECOVERY FROM AQUEOUS MIXTURES USING PERVAPORATION THROUGH MFI ZEOLITE-FILLED POLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE MEMBRANES

EPA Science Inventory

Most bioethanol is produced by fermenting sugars released from biomass and using distillation to recover the ethanol. Recovering ethanol from the fermentation broths using pervaporation through hydrophobic membranes is potentially economically competitive with distillation for s...

Two-stage hydrothermal processing of wheat (Triticum aestivum) bran for the production of feruloylated Arabinoxylooligosaccharides.

PubMed

Rose, Devin J; Inglett, George E

2010-05-26

Two-stage hydrothermal processing was employed to obtain feruloylated arabinoxylooligosaccharides (AXOS) from wheat bran. First, wheat bran in water (10% w/w solids) was heated to 130 degrees C, releasing 36.3% of total solids, 70.3% of starch, and 6.06% of pentose sugars. Wheat bran was then heated to 170-220 degrees C. Heating to 200 and 210 degrees C released the most AXOS (70% of the insoluble arabinoxylan) and esterified ferulate (30% of the initial ferulic acid). Treatment of 200 degrees C retained a higher proportion of high molecular weight (>1,338) compounds than 210 degrees C and was the preferred treatment temperature because autohydrolysate liquors contained lower concentrations of many contaminants. Purification of this autohydrolysate liquor with ethyl acetate extraction, vacuum concentration, and ion exchange resulted in a product containing 32.0% AXOS and 4.77% esterified ferulate, accompanied by 36.0% other oligosaccharides and free sugars, with an antioxidant activity of 29.7 micromol Trolox equivalents/g dry matter.

Importance of cellulase cocktails favoring hydrolysis of cellulose.

PubMed

Victoria, Juliet; Odaneth, Annamma; Lali, Arvind

2017-07-03

Depolymerization of lignocellulosic biomass is catalyzed by groups of enzymes whose action is influenced by substrate features and the composition of cellulase preparation. Cellulases contain a mixture of variety of enzymes, whose proportions dictate the saccharification of biomass. In the current study, four cellulase preparation varying in their composition were used to hydrolyze two types of alkali-treated biomass (aqueous ammonia-treated rice straw and sodium hydroxide-treated rice straw) to study the effect on catalytic rate, saccharification yields, and sugar release profile. We found that substrate features affected the extent of saccharification but had minimal effect on the sugar release pattern. In addition, complete hydrolysis to glucose was observed with enzyme preparation having at least a cellobiase units (CBU)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) ratio (>0.15), while a modified enzyme ratio can be used for oligosaccharide synthesis. Thus, cellulase preparation with defined ratios of the three main enzymes can improve the saccharification which is of utmost importance in defining the success of lignocellulose-based economies.

Maillard-reaction-induced modification and aggregation of proteins and hardening of texture in protein bar model systems.

PubMed

Zhou, Peng; Guo, Mufan; Liu, Dasong; Liu, Xiaoming; Labuza, Teodore P

2013-03-01

The hardening of high-protein bars causes problems in their acceptability to consumers. The objective of this study was to determine the progress of the Maillard reaction in model systems of high-protein nutritional bars containing reducing sugars, and to illustrate the influences of the Maillard reaction on the modification and aggregation of proteins and the hardening of bar matrices during storage. The progress of the Maillard reaction, glycation, and aggregation of proteins, and textural changes in bar matrices were investigated during storage at 25, 35, and 45 °C. The initial development of the Maillard reaction caused little changes in hardness; however, further storage resulted in dramatic modification of protein with formation of high-molecular-weight polymers, resulting in the hardening in texture. The replacement of reducing sugars with nonreducing ingredients such as sugar alcohols in the formula minimized the changes in texture. The hardening of high-protein bars causes problems in their acceptability to consumers. Maillard reaction is one of the mechanisms contributing to the hardening of bar matrix, particularly for the late stage of storage. The replacement of reducing sugars with nonreducing ingredients such as sugar alcohols in the formula will minimize the changes in texture. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Blending Better Beverage Options: A Nutrition Education and Experiential Workshop for Youths

PubMed Central

Isoldi, Kathy K.; Dolar, Veronika

2015-01-01

Objective. To reduce intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in youths as a means to reduce obesity risk. Methods. Youths 5–14 years old attending a summer program were given a two-hour workshop addressing the sugar content in SSBs, the health risks from drinking SSBs, and hands-on preparation as well as tastings of low-sugar beverage alternatives. Data on usual intake of SSBs was obtained at baseline, and pre- and postprogram surveys were conducted to gauge change in knowledge and/or attitudes regarding SSBs. Results. There were 128 participants (63% male) in the program. SSBs were commonly consumed with over 80% reporting regular consumption (mean daily intake 17.9 ounces). Significant increase in knowledge regarding the sugar content of commonly consumed SSBs was achieved; however change in attitudes was not significant. The large majority of youths reported enjoying the workshop and intention to reduce intake of SSBs following program participation. Conclusion. SSBs are commonly consumed by youths. Knowledge regarding the sugar content of SSBs is easier to impart to youths than influencing attitudes held about these beverages. Long-term interventions that reach out to parents and address the widespread availability of SSBs are needed to influence resistant attitudes and beverage choosing behaviors in youths. PMID:25874119

Sodium hydroxide pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of coastal Bermuda grass.

PubMed

Wang, Ziyu; Keshwani, Deepak R; Redding, Arthur P; Cheng, Jay J

2010-05-01

Coastal Bermuda grass was pretreated with NaOH at concentrations from 0.5% to 3% (w/v) for a residence time from 15 to 90min at 121 degrees C. The pretreatments were evaluated based on total lignin removal and production of total reducing sugars, glucose and xylose from enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated biomass. Up to 86% lignin removal was observed. The optimal NaOH pretreatment conditions at 121 degrees C for total reducing sugars production as well as glucose and xylose yields are 15min and 0.75% NaOH. Under these optimal pretreatment conditions, total reducing sugars yield was about 71% of the theoretical maximum, and the overall conversion efficiencies for glucan and xylan were 90.43% and 65.11%, respectively. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating Free and Added Sugar Intakes in New Zealand.

PubMed

Kibblewhite, Rachael; Nettleton, Alice; McLean, Rachael; Haszard, Jillian; Fleming, Elizabeth; Kruimer, Devonia; Te Morenga, Lisa

2017-11-27

The reduction of free or added sugar intake (sugars added to food and drinks as a sweetener) is almost universally recommended to reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases and dental caries. The World Health Organisation recommends intakes of free sugars of less than 10% of energy intake. However, estimating and monitoring intakes at the population level is challenging because free sugars cannot be analytically distinguished from naturally occurring sugars and most national food composition databases do not include data on free or added sugars. We developed free and added sugar estimates for the New Zealand (NZ) food composition database (FOODfiles 2010) by adapting a method developed for Australia. We reanalyzed the 24 h recall dietary data collected for 4721 adults aged 15 years and over participating in the nationally representative 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey to estimate free and added sugar intakes. The median estimated intake of free and added sugars was 57 and 49 g/day respectively and 42% of adults consumed less than 10% of their energy intake from free sugars. This approach provides more direct estimates of the free and added sugar contents of New Zealand foods than previously available and will enable monitoring of adherence to free sugar intake guidelines in future.

Estimating Free and Added Sugar Intakes in New Zealand

PubMed Central

Kibblewhite, Rachael; Nettleton, Alice; McLean, Rachael; Haszard, Jillian; Fleming, Elizabeth; Kruimer, Devonia

2017-01-01

The reduction of free or added sugar intake (sugars added to food and drinks as a sweetener) is almost universally recommended to reduce the risk of obesity-related diseases and dental caries. The World Health Organisation recommends intakes of free sugars of less than 10% of energy intake. However, estimating and monitoring intakes at the population level is challenging because free sugars cannot be analytically distinguished from naturally occurring sugars and most national food composition databases do not include data on free or added sugars. We developed free and added sugar estimates for the New Zealand (NZ) food composition database (FOODfiles 2010) by adapting a method developed for Australia. We reanalyzed the 24 h recall dietary data collected for 4721 adults aged 15 years and over participating in the nationally representative 2008/09 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey to estimate free and added sugar intakes. The median estimated intake of free and added sugars was 57 and 49 g/day respectively and 42% of adults consumed less than 10% of their energy intake from free sugars. This approach provides more direct estimates of the free and added sugar contents of New Zealand foods than previously available and will enable monitoring of adherence to free sugar intake guidelines in future. PMID:29186927

Kr-86 Ion-Beam Irradiation of Hydrated DNA: Free Radical and Unaltered Base Yields

PubMed Central

Becker, David; Adhikary, Amitava; Tetteh, Smedley T.; Bull, Arthur W.; Sevilla, Michael D.

2012-01-01

This work reports an ESR and product analysis investigation of Kr-86 ion-beam irradiation of hydrated DNA at 77 K. The irradiation results in the formation and trapping of both base radicals and sugar phosphate radicals (DNA backbone radicals). The absolute yields (G, μmol/J) of the base radicals are smaller than the yields found in similarly prepared γ-irradiated DNA samples, and the relative yields of backbone radicals relative to base radicals are much higher than that found in γ-irradiated samples. From these results, we have elaborated our radiation chemical model of the track structure for ion-beam irradiated DNA as it applies to krypton ion-beams. The base radicals, which are trapped as ion radicals or reversibly protonated or deprotonated ion radicals, are formed almost entirely in the track penumbra, a region in which radiation chemical effects are similar to those found in γ-irradiated samples. By comparing the yields of base radicals in ion-beam samples to the yields of the same radicals in γ-irradiated samples, the partition of energy between the low-LET region (penumbra) and the core is experimentally determined. The neutral sugar and other backbone radicals, which are not as susceptible to recombination as are ion radicals, are formed largely in the track core. The backbone radicals show a linear dose response up to very high doses. Unaltered base release yields in Kr-86 irradiated hydrated DNA are equal to sugar radical yields within experimental error limits, consistent with radiation-chemical processes in which all base release originates with sugar radicals. Two phosphorus-centered radicals from fragmentation of the DNA backbone are found in low yields. PMID:23106211

Kr-86 ion-beam irradiation of hydrated DNA: free radical and unaltered base yields.

PubMed

Becker, David; Adhikary, Amitava; Tetteh, Smedley T; Bull, Arthur W; Sevilla, Michael D

2012-12-01

This work reports an ESR and product analysis investigation of Kr-86 ion-beam irradiation of hydrated DNA at 77 K. The irradiation results in the formation and trapping of both base radicals and sugar phosphate radicals (DNA backbone radicals). The absolute yields (G, μmol/J) of the base radicals are smaller than the yields found in similarly prepared γ-irradiated DNA samples, and the relative yields of backbone radicals relative to base radicals are much higher than that found in γ-irradiated samples. From these results, we have elaborated our radiation chemical model of the track structure for ion-beam irradiated DNA as it applies to krypton ion-beams. The base radicals, which are trapped as ion radicals or reversibly protonated or deprotonated ion radicals, are formed almost entirely in the track penumbra, a region in which radiation chemical effects are similar to those found in γ-irradiated samples. By comparing the yields of base radicals in ion-beam samples to the yields of the same radicals in γ-irradiated samples, the partition of energy between the low-LET region (penumbra) and the core is experimentally determined. The neutral sugar and other backbone radicals, which are not as susceptible to recombination as are ion radicals, are formed largely in the track core. The backbone radicals show a linear dose response up to very high doses. Unaltered base release yields in Kr-86 irradiated hydrated DNA are equal to sugar radical yields within experimental error limits, consistent with radiation-chemical processes in which all base release originates with sugar radicals. Two phosphorus-centered radicals from fragmentation of the DNA backbone are found in low yields.

Inactive enzymatic mutant proteins (phosphoglycerate mutase and enolase) as sugar binders for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate regeneration reactors

PubMed Central

De, Debojyoti; Dutta, Debajyoti; Kundu, Moloy; Mahato, Sourav; Schiavone, Marc T; Chaudhuri, Surabhi; Giri, Ashok; Gupta, Vidya; Bhattacharya, Sanjoy K

2005-01-01

Background Carbon dioxide fixation bioprocess in reactors necessitates recycling of D-ribulose1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) for continuous operation. A radically new close loop of RuBP regenerating reactor design has been proposed that will harbor enzyme-complexes instead of purified enzymes. These reactors will need binders enabling selective capture and release of sugar and intermediate metabolites enabling specific conversions during regeneration. In the current manuscript we describe properties of proteins that will act as potential binders in RuBP regeneration reactors. Results We demonstrate specific binding of 3-phosphoglycerate (3PGA) and 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde (3PGAL) from sugar mixtures by inactive mutant of yeast enzymes phosphoglycerate mutase and enolase. The reversibility in binding with respect to pH and EDTA has also been shown. No chemical conversion of incubated sugars or sugar intermediate metabolites were found by the inactive enzymatic proteins. The dissociation constants for sugar metabolites are in the micromolar range, both proteins showed lower dissociation constant (Kd) for 3-phosphoglycerate (655–796 μM) compared to 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde (822–966 μM) indicating higher affinity for 3PGA. The proteins did not show binding to glucose, sucrose or fructose within the sensitivity limits of detection. Phosphoglycerate mutase showed slightly lower stability on repeated use than enolase mutants. Conclusions The sugar and their intermediate metabolite binders may have a useful role in RuBP regeneration reactors. The reversibility of binding with respect to changes in physicochemical factors and stability when subjected to repeated changes in these conditions are expected to make the mutant proteins candidates for in-situ removal of sugar intermediate metabolites for forward driving of specific reactions in enzyme-complex reactors. PMID:15689239

Production and transformation of dissolved neutral sugars and amino acids by bacteria in seawater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jørgensen, L.; Lechtenfeld, O. J.; Benner, R.; Middelboe, M.; Stedmon, C. A.

2014-10-01

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ocean consists of a heterogeneous mixture of molecules, most of which are of unknown origin. Neutral sugars and amino acids are among the few recognizable biomolecules in DOM, and the molecular composition of these biomolecules is shaped primarily by biological production and degradation processes. This study provides insight into the bioavailability of biomolecules as well as the chemical composition of DOM produced by bacteria. The molecular compositions of combined neutral sugars and amino acids were investigated in DOM produced by bacteria and in DOM remaining after 32 days of bacterial degradation. Results from bioassay incubations with natural seawater (sampled from water masses originating from the surface waters of the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean) and artificial seawater indicate that the molecular compositions following bacterial degradation are not strongly influenced by the initial substrate or bacterial community. The molecular composition of neutral sugars released by bacteria was characterized by a high glucose content (47 mol %) and heterogeneous contributions from other neutral sugars (3-14 mol %). DOM remaining after bacterial degradation was characterized by a high galactose content (33 mol %), followed by glucose (22 mol %) and the remaining neutral sugars (7-11 mol %). The ratio of D-amino acids to L-amino acids increased during the experiments as a response to bacterial degradation, and after 32 days, the D/L ratios of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine and alanine reached around 0.79, 0.32, 0.30 and 0.51 in all treatments, respectively. The striking similarity in neutral sugar and amino acid compositions between natural (representing marine semi-labile and refractory DOM) and artificial (representing bacterially produced DOM) seawater samples, suggests that microbes transform bioavailable neutral sugars and amino acids into a common, more persistent form.

The effect of sugar-sweetened beverage front-of-pack labels on drink selection, health knowledge and awareness: An online randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Billich, Natassja; Blake, Miranda R; Backholer, Kathryn; Cobcroft, Megan; Li, Vincy; Peeters, Anna

2018-06-04

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) provide little nutritional value and are associated with an increased risk of diet-related diseases. Despite this, SSB consumption is high globally. One emerging strategy aimed at reducing SSB consumption involves the use of front-of-pack (FOP) labels that clearly identify the risks associated with SSB consumption. The aim of this research study was to determine whether FOP labels with a graphic warning, text warning, sugar information (with the number of teaspoons of added sugar) or Health Star Rating (HSR) reduces intended choice of a SSB in an online choice experiment with young Australian adults. 994 participants were recruited and completed the online choice experiment. Compared to the control group who were not exposed to a label, the graphic warning, text warning, sugar information and HSR labels all significantly reduced selection of a SSB in the choice scenario. The magnitude of effect was greatest for the graphic warning label (OR 0.22 95% CI 0.14-0.35). Compared to the control group, only the HSR label significantly increased selections of the high HSR drinks (OR 2.18 95% CI 1.20-3.97). FOP labels, particularly those with graphic warnings, have the potential to reduce intended SSB purchases. Labels that also identify healthier alternatives may influence consumers to substitute SSBs with healthier drinks. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Impact of Masked Replacement of Sugar-Sweetened with Sugar-Free Beverages on Body Weight Increases with Initial BMI: Secondary Analysis of Data from an 18 Month Double-Blind Trial in Children.

PubMed

Katan, Martijn B; de Ruyter, Janne C; Kuijper, Lothar D J; Chow, Carson C; Hall, Kevin D; Olthof, Margreet R

2016-01-01

Substituting sugar-free for sugar-sweetened beverages reduces weight gain. This effect may be more pronounced in children with a high body mass index (BMI) because their sensing of kilocalories might be compromised. We investigated the impact of sugar-free versus sugary drinks separately in children with a higher and a lower initial BMI z score, and predicted caloric intakes and degree of compensation in the two groups. This is a secondary, explorative analysis of our double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) which showed that replacement of one 250-mL sugary drink per day by a sugar-free drink for 18 months significantly reduced weight gain. In the 477 children who completed the trial, mean initial weights were close to the Dutch average. Only 16% were overweight and 3% obese. Weight changes were expressed as BMI z-score, i.e. as standard deviations of the BMI distribution per age and sex group. We designated the 239 children with an initial BMI z-score below the median as 'lower BMI' and the 238 children above the median as 'higher BMI'. The difference in caloric intake from experimental beverages between treatments was 86 kcal/day both in the lower and in the higher BMI group. We used a multiple linear regression and the coefficient of the interaction term (initial BMI group times treatment), indicated whether children with a lower BMI responded differently from children with a higher BMI. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05. Relative to the sugar sweetened beverage, consumption of the sugar-free beverage for 18 months reduced the BMI z-score by 0.05 SD units within the lower BMI group and by 0.21 SD within the higher BMI group. Body weight gain was reduced by 0.62 kg in the lower BMI group and by 1.53 kg in the higher BMI group. Thus the treatment reduced the BMI z-score by 0.16 SD units more in the higher BMI group than in the lower BMI group (p = 0.04; 95% CI -0.31 to -0.01). The impact of the intervention on body weight gain differed by 0.90 kg between BMI groups (p = 0.09; 95% CI -1.95 to 0.14). In addition, we used a physiologically-based model of growth and energy balance to estimate the degree to which children had compensated for the covertly removed sugar kilocalories by increasing their intake of other foods. The model predicts that children with a lower BMI had compensated 65% (95% CI 28 to 102) of the covertly removed sugar kilocalories, whereas children with a higher BMI compensated only 13% (95% CI -37 to 63). The children with a BMI above the median might have a reduced tendency to compensate for changes in caloric intake. Differences in these subconscious compensatory mechanisms may be an important cause of differences in the tendency to gain weight. If further research bears this out, cutting down on the intake of sugar-sweetened drinks may benefit a large proportion of children, especially those who show a tendency to become overweight. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00893529.

Pilot scale dilute acid pretreatment of rice straw and fermentable sugar recovery at high solid loadings.

PubMed

Kapoor, Manali; Soam, Shveta; Agrawal, Ruchi; Gupta, Ravi P; Tuli, Deepak K; Kumar, Ravindra

2017-01-01

The aim of this work was to study the dilute acid pretreatment of rice straw (RS) and fermentable sugar recovery at high solid loadings at pilot scale. A series of pretreatment experiments were performed on RS resulting in >25wt% solids followed by enzymatic hydrolysis without solid-liquid separation at 20 and 25wt% using 10FPU/g of the pretreated residue. The overall sugar recovery including the sugars released in pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis was calculated along with a mass balance. Accordingly, the optimized conditions, i.e. 0.35wt% acid, 162°C and 10min were identified. The final glucose and xylose concentrations obtained were 83.3 and 31.9g/L respectively resulting in total concentration of 115.2g/L, with a potential to produce >50g/L of ethanol. This is the first report on pilot scale study on acid pretreatment of RS in a screw feeder horizontal reactor followed by enzymatic hydrolysis at high solid loadings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structure-Based Annotation of a Novel Sugar Isomerase from the Pathogenic E. coli O157:H7

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

van Staalduinen, L.; Park, C; Yeom, S

2010-01-01

Prokaryotes can use a variety of sugars as carbon sources in order to provide a selective survival advantage. The gene z5688 found in the pathogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 encodes a 'hypothetical' protein of unknown function. Sequence analysis identified the gene product as a putative member of the cupin superfamily of proteins, but no other functional information was known. We have determined the crystal structure of the Z5688 protein at 1.6 {angstrom} resolution and identified the protein as a novel E. coli sugar isomerase (EcSI) through overall fold analysis and secondary-structure matching. Extensive substrate screening revealed that EcSI is capable ofmore » acting on D-lyxose and D-mannose. The complex structure of EcSI with fructose allowed the identification of key active-site residues, and mutagenesis confirmed their importance. The structure of EcSI also suggested a novel mechanism for substrate binding and product release in a cupin sugar isomerase. Supplementation of a nonpathogenic E. coli strain with EcSI enabled cell growth on the rare pentose d-lyxose.« less

Sugar 101

MedlinePlus

... Obesity, And What You Can Do Understanding the American Obesity Epidemic Stress Management How Does Stress Affect You? ... nutrients to food. Over the past 30 years, Americans have steadily ... contributed to the obesity epidemic. Reducing the amount of added sugars we ...

8. August, 1971. SECOND FLOOR LOOKING NW. EVAPORATOR UNITS USED ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

8. August, 1971. SECOND FLOOR LOOKING NW. EVAPORATOR UNITS USED IN SEQUENCE TO REDUCE OR CONCENTRATE BEET JUICE. - Utah Sugar Company, Garland Beet Sugar Refinery, Factory Street, Garland, Box Elder County, UT

Cross-sectional surveys of the amount of sugar, energy and caffeine in sugar-sweetened drinks marketed and consumed as energy drinks in the UK between 2015 and 2017: monitoring reformulation progress

PubMed Central

He, Feng J; MacGregor, Graham A

2017-01-01

Objectives To investigate the sugar, energy and caffeine content of sugar-sweetened drinks marketed and consumed as energy drinks available in the UK. Study design We carried out a cross-sectional survey in 2015 and 2017 of energy drinks available in the main UK retailers. Methods The sugar (sugars g/100 mL), energy (kcal/100 mL), caffeine (mg/100 mL) and serving size were collected from product packaging and nutrition information panels of energy drinks available in the nine main UK grocery retailers, three health and beauty retailers and one convenience store. Results The number of formulations (per 100 mL) and number of products (per serving) have fallen (from 75 to 49 and from 90 to 59) between 2015 and 2017, respectively. Energy drinks surveyed showed a 10% reduction in sugar, from 10.6 to 9.5 g/100 mL (P=0.011) and a 6% reduction in energy content (P=0.005) per 100 mL between 2015 and 2017. The average caffeine content of energy drinks, with a warning label, has remained high at 31.5±0.9 in 2015 and 31.3±1.0 mg/100 mL in 2017. Despite there being reductions, sugar, energy and caffeine content remain at concerning levels in 2017. Conclusions To reduce the harmful impact of energy drinks, further reduction in sugar and a reduction in caffeine by reformulation are urgently needed. Other measures such as ban on the sale of energy drinks to children and smaller product sizes should also be explored, while warning labels should be kept. A reduction in sugar, energy and caffeine content and overall energy drinks consumption could be beneficial in reducing sugar, energy and caffeine intake of consumers of energy drinks. PMID:29242395

Inequalities in the frequency of free sugars intake among Syrian 1-year-old infants: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Joury, Easter; Khairallah, May; Sabbah, Wael; Elias, Kanaan; Bedi, Raman

2016-09-08

High frequency of free sugars intake, during the first year of life is probably the greatest risk factor for early childhood caries. The latter is a global public health challenge. Very little is known about the social determinants of infant's frequency of free sugars intake, particularly in low-income countries. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the association between the frequency of free sugars intake among 1-year-old Syrian infants and each of parents' socioeconomic position (SEP), maternal frequency of free sugars intake and knowledge of infant's oral health behaviour. Using a cross-sectional design, 323 1-year-old infants, attending vaccination clinics in 3 maternal and child health centres (MCHCs) in Damascus, Syria, were selected. A systematic random sampling was applied using the MCHCs' monthly vaccination registries. The 3 MCHCs were located in affluent, moderate and deprived areas. Infants' mothers completed a structured questionnaire on socio-demographics, infant's and mother's frequency of free sugars intake from cariogenic foods and beverages, and mother's knowledge about infant's oral health behaviour. Binary and multiple regression analyses were performed. The level of significance was set at 5 %. The response rate was 100 %. Overall, 42.7 % of infants had high frequency of free sugars intake (>4times a day). Infants whose fathers were not working were more likely to have high frequency of free sugars intake. Similarly, infants whose mothers had low level of knowledge about infant's oral health behaviour, or high frequency of free sugars intake were more likely to have high frequency of free sugars intake. The association between father's occupation and infant's frequency of free sugars intake attenuated after adjustment for mother's knowledge and frequency of free sugars intake (adjusted OR = 1.5, 1.8, 3.2; 95%CI = 0.5-4.8, 1.1-3, 1.4-7.4; respectively). There are socioeconomic inequalities in the frequency of free sugars intake among Syrian 1-year-old infants. Integrated pre/post-natal interventions, targeting mothers from low SEP and aiming at reducing their free sugars intake and improving their knowledge about infant's oral health behaviour, will potentially reduce socioeconomic inequalities in infant's frequency of free sugars intake.

Hexoses as phloem transport sugars: the end of a dogma?

PubMed

van Bel, Aart J E; Hess, Paul H

2008-01-01

According to most textbooks, only non-reducing carbohydrate species such as sucrose, sugar alcohols, and raffinose-family sugars function as phloem translocates. Occasional abundance of reducing sugar species (such as hexoses) in sieve-tube sap has been discarded as an experimental artefact. This study, however, discloses a widespread occurrence of hexoses in the sieve-tube sap. Phloem exudation facilitated by EDTA provided evidence that many of the members of two plant families (Ranunculaceae and Papaveraceae) investigated translocate >80% of carbohydrates in the form of hexoses. Representatives of other families also appear to translocate appreciable amounts of hexoses in the sieve tubes. Promoting effects of EDTA, activities of sucrose-degrading enzymes, and sugar uptake by micro-organisms on hexose contents of phloem exudates were checked. The rate of sucrose degradation is far too low to explain the large proportions of hexoses measured in phloem exudates; nor did other factors tested seem to stimulate the occurrence of hexoses. The validity of the approach is further supported by the virtual absence of hexoses in exudates from species that were known as exclusive sucrose transporters. This study urges a rethink of the existing views on carbohydrate transport species in the phloem stream. Hexose translocation is to be regarded as a normal mode of carbohydrate transfer by the phloem equivalent to that of sucrose, raffinose-family sugars, or sugar alcohols.

Dietary sources of sugars in adolescents' diet: the HELENA study.

PubMed

Mesana, M I; Hilbig, A; Androutsos, O; Cuenca-García, M; Dallongeville, J; Huybrechts, I; De Henauw, S; Widhalm, K; Kafatos, A; Nova, E; Marcos, A; González-Gross, M; Molnar, D; Gottrand, F; Moreno, L A

2018-03-01

To report dietary sugars consumption and their different types and food sources, in European adolescents. Food consumption data of selected groups were obtained from 1630 adolescents (45.6% males, 12.5-17.5 years) from the HELENA study using two nonconsecutive 24-h recalls. Energy intake, total sugars and free sugars were assessed using the HELENA-DIAT software. Multiple regression analyses were performed adjusting for relevant confounders. Total sugars intake (137.5 g/day) represented 23.6% and free sugars (110.1 g/day), 19% of energy intake. Girls had significantly lower intakes of energy, carbohydrates, total sugars and free sugars. 94% of adolescents had a consumption of free sugars above 10% of total energy intake. The main food contributor to free sugars was 'carbonated, soft and isotonic drinks,' followed by 'non-chocolate confectionary' and 'sugar, honey, jam and syrup.' Older boys and girls had significantly higher intakes of free sugars from 'cakes, pies and biscuits.' Free sugars intake was negatively associated with low socioeconomic status for 'non-chocolate confectionary' and 'sugar, honey and jam' groups; with low maternal educational level for carbonated and 'soft drinks,' 'sugar, honey and jam,' 'cakes and pies' and 'breakfast cereals' groups; and with high paternal educational level for 'carbonated and soft drinks' and 'chocolates' group. The majority (94%) of studied adolescents consumed free sugars above 10% of daily energy intake. Our data indicate a broad variety in foods providing free sugars. Continued efforts are required at different levels to reduce the intake of free sugars, especially in families with a low educational level.

Sugar Efflux from Maize (Zea mays L.) Pedicel Tissue 1

PubMed Central

Porter, Gregory A.; Knievel, Daniel P.; Shannon, Jack C.

1985-01-01

Sugar release from the pedicel tissue of maize (Zea mays L.) kernels was studied by removing the distal portion of the kernel and the lower endosperm, followed by replacement of the endosperm with an agar solute trap. Sugars were unloaded into the apoplast of the pedicel and accumulated in the agar trap while the ear remained attached to the maize plant. The kinetics of 14C-assimilate movement into treated versus intact kernels were comparable. The rate of unloading declined with time, but sugar efflux from the pedicel continued for at least 6 hours and in most experiments the unloading rates approximated those necessary to support normal kernel growth rates. The unloading process was challenged with a variety of buffers, inhibitors, and solutes in order to characterize sugar unloading from this tissue. Unloading was not affected by apoplastic pH or a variety of metabolic inhibitors. Although p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonic acid (PCMBS), a nonpenetrating sulfhydryl group reagent, did not affect sugar unloading, it effectively inhibited extracellular acid invertase. When the pedicel cups were pretreated with PCMBS, at least 60% of sugars unloaded from the pedicel could be identified as sucrose. Unloading was inhibited up to 70% by 10 millimolar CaCl2. Unloading was stimulated by 15 millimolar ethyleneglycol-bis(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid which partially reversed the inhibitory effects of Ca2+. Based on these results, we suggest that passive efflux of sucrose occurs from the maize pedicel symplast followed by extracellular hydrolysis to hexoses. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 2 PMID:16664091

Structure of a eukaryotic SWEET transporter in a homotrimeric complex.

PubMed

Tao, Yuyong; Cheung, Lily S; Li, Shuo; Eom, Joon-Seob; Chen, Li-Qing; Xu, Yan; Perry, Kay; Frommer, Wolf B; Feng, Liang

2015-11-12

Eukaryotes rely on efficient distribution of energy and carbon skeletons between organs in the form of sugars. Glucose in animals and sucrose in plants serve as the dominant distribution forms. Cellular sugar uptake and release require vesicular and/or plasma membrane transport proteins. Humans and plants use proteins from three superfamilies for sugar translocation: the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), the sodium solute symporter family (SSF; only in the animal kingdom), and SWEETs. SWEETs carry mono- and disaccharides across vacuolar or plasma membranes. Plant SWEETs play key roles in sugar translocation between compartments, cells, and organs, notably in nectar secretion, phloem loading for long distance translocation, pollen nutrition, and seed filling. Plant SWEETs cause pathogen susceptibility possibly by sugar leakage from infected cells. The vacuolar Arabidopsis thaliana AtSWEET2 sequesters sugars in root vacuoles; loss-of-function mutants show increased susceptibility to Pythium infection. Here we show that its orthologue, the vacuolar glucose transporter OsSWEET2b from rice (Oryza sativa), consists of an asymmetrical pair of triple-helix bundles, connected by an inversion linker transmembrane helix (TM4) to create the translocation pathway. Structural and biochemical analyses show OsSWEET2b in an apparent inward (cytosolic) open state forming homomeric trimers. TM4 tightly interacts with the first triple-helix bundle within a protomer and mediates key contacts among protomers. Structure-guided mutagenesis of the close paralogue SWEET1 from Arabidopsis identified key residues in substrate translocation and protomer crosstalk. Insights into the structure-function relationship of SWEETs are valuable for understanding the transport mechanism of eukaryotic SWEETs and may be useful for engineering sugar flux.

Adaptation of the Nelson-Somogyi reducing-sugar assay to a microassay using microtiter plates.

PubMed

Green, F; Clausen, C A; Highley, T L

1989-11-01

The Nelson-Somogyi assay for reducing sugars was adapted to microtiter plates. The primary advantages of this modified assay are (i) smaller sample and reagent volumes, (ii) elimination of boiling and filtration steps, (iii) automated measurement with a dual-wavelength scanning TLC densitometer, (iv) increased range and reproducibility, and (v) automated colorimetric readings by reflectance rather than absorbance.

Phytohormone and assimilate profiles in emasculated flowers of the black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) during development.

PubMed

Sun, Peng; Yuan, Cunquan; Dai, Li; Xi, Yang; Li, Yunfei; Hu, Ruiyang; Sun, Yuhan; Xu, Zhaohe; Li, Yun

2013-09-01

Emasculation and bagging of flowers, which are widely used in the controlled pollination of monoclinous plants, may induce premature senescence, flower abscission and low fruit set. To determine the mechanism responsible for these phenomena, levels of abscisic acid (ABA), jasmonic acid (JA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ethylene, soluble sugars, reducing sugars and free amino acids in black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) flowers subjected to different treatments were quantified at different developmental stages. The phytohormones and assimilates were also quantified in untreated flowers to investigate the presence of discernible patterns. The levels of ethylene and ABA in emasculated and bagged (EB) flowers increased prematurely compared with those of untreated flowers, whereas the content of reducing sugars in EB flowers decreased compared with that of untreated flowers. These results indicated that the premature increase in ethylene and ABA synthesis, and the decrease in reducing sugars content, in EB flowers may cause flower abscission and result in low fruit set, which may be relevant for assimilate applications and future research on the regulation of controlled pollinations with exogenous phytohormones.

Americans' opinions about policies to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

PubMed

Gollust, Sarah E; Barry, Colleen L; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2014-06-01

Strategies to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages are a key component of public health promotion and obesity prevention, yet the introduction of many of these policies has been met with political controversy. The objective of this study is to assess the levels of and determinants of U.S. public support for policies to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. An Internet-based survey (N=1319) was fielded with a nationally-representative sample of U.S. adults aged 18-64 during fall 2012. Respondents have the highest support for calorie labeling (65%) and removing drinks from schools (62%), and the lowest support for taxes (22%) or portion size restrictions (26%). Examining several determinants of support simultaneously, Democrats and those with negative views of soda companies are more likely to support these policies. The results provide policymakers and advocates with insights about the political feasibility of policy approaches to address the prevalent consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, as well as the role of attitudes toward soda companies as an independent predictor of the public's opinions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reduced fat and sugar vanilla ice creams: sensory profiling and external preference mapping.

PubMed

Cadena, R S; Cruz, A G; Faria, J A F; Bolini, H M A

2012-09-01

The aims of this study were (1) to map sensory attributes of vanilla ice cream with reduced fat and sugar, and (2) to determine drivers of liking by applying external preference mapping and reveal the relationship between descriptive attributes and hedonic judgments using the partial least squares method. Descriptive sensory profiles (n=11) and consumer test (n=117) of 6 samples of vanilla ice cream (3 traditional and 3 with reduced fat and sugar) were determined. The attributes brightness and sweet aftertaste for sample and creaminess (appearance and texture) and sweet aroma contributed positively to the acceptance of ice cream samples. The attributes aeration, powdered milk aroma and flavor, and white chocolate aroma and flavor contributed positively to the acceptance of the ice creams. The attributes hydrogenated fat aroma and flavor were responsible for the lower acceptance of samples. The reduction in fat and sugar did not necessarily cause a decrease in acceptance. The most important factors were selection of the appropriate sweetener system and the use of good quality raw material. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Use of glutaraldehyde and benzalkonium chloride for minimizing post-harvest physio-chemical and microbial changes responsible for sucrose losses in sugar cane.

PubMed

Singh, Pushpa; Arya, Namita; Tiwari, Priyanka; Suman, Archna; Rai, R K; Shrivastava, A K; Solomon, S

2008-08-27

Sugar cane is sensitive to enormous sucrose losses induced by physio-chemical and microbial changes, the severity being increased during the time lag between harvest and crushing in the mills. Minimization of the sucrose losses in the field is essential for better sugar recovery and prevention of sucrose losses. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of glutaraldehyde and benzalkonium chloride for their effects on the microbial counts and physio-chemical changes responsible for sucrose losses. Glutaraldehyde and benzalkonium chloride (1000 + 250 ppm) reduced the losses in sucrose content to 7.1% as compared to the 30.8% loss in the control, thus improving the performance by 76.9%. The application of chemicals reduced the acid invertase activity (by 60%), lowered weight loss, titrable acidity, reducing sugars content, dextran, ethanol, and ethylene production and respiration rates. The application led to the reduction in the total bacterial, fungal, Leuconostoc, and yeast counts by 67.92, 51.3%, 26.08, and 51.2%, respectively.

Synergic effects of sugar and caffeine on insulin-mediated metabolomic alterations after an acute consumption of soft drinks.

PubMed

González-Domínguez, Raúl; Mateos, Rosa María; Lechuga-Sancho, Alfonso María; González-Cortés, José Joaquín; Corrales-Cuevas, Manuel; Rojas-Cots, Juan Alberto; Segundo, Carmen; Schwarz, Mónica

2017-09-01

High sugar consumption elicits numerous deleterious effects on health by inducing insulin resistance, which is closely associated with the development of metabolic disorders such as obesity or type-2 diabetes. Furthermore, there is also growing evidence that caffeine may play an important role in the regulation of insulin release and the appearance of related metabolic impairments. Thus, the aim of this work was to investigate the impact of acute sugar and caffeine intake on the metabolic health status by using a metabolomic multi-platform based on the combination of flow injection mass spectrometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. To this end, we performed a randomized, crossover and double-blind intervention study with different soft drinks from the same brand. Numerous metabolomic changes were detected in serum samples over time after the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, including energy-related metabolites, amino acids and lipids, thus demonstrating the intense effects provoked by acute sugar consumption on the organism during 3 h of follow-up. However, the most significant findings were observed after the co-ingestion of caffeine, which could be indicative of a synergic effect of this psychostimulant on insulin-mediated perturbations. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Insights revealed by rodent models of sugar binge eating.

PubMed

Murray, Susan M; Tulloch, Alastair J; Chen, Eunice Y; Avena, Nicole M

2015-12-01

Binge eating is seen across the spectrum of eating disorder diagnoses as well as among individuals who do not meet diagnostic criteria. Analyses of the specific types of foods that are frequently binged upon reveal that sugar-rich items feature prominently in binge-type meals, making the effects of binge consumption of sugar an important focus of study. One avenue to do this involves the use of animal models. Foundational and recent studies of animal models of sugar bingeing, both outlined here, lend insight into the various neurotransmitters and neuropeptides that may participate in or be altered by this behavior. Further, several preclinical studies incorporating sugar bingeing paradigms have explored the utility of pharmacological agents that target such neural systems for reducing sugar bingeing in an effort to enhance clinical treatment. Indeed, the translational implications of findings generated using animal models of sugar bingeing are considered here, along with potential avenues for further study.

Sugar beet factory lime affects the mobilization of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn under dynamic redox conditions in a contaminated floodplain soil.

PubMed

Shaheen, Sabry M; Rinklebe, Jörg

2017-01-15

The impact of sugar beet factory lime (SBFL) on the release dynamics and mobilization of toxic metals (TMs) under dynamic redox conditions in floodplain soils has not been studied up to date. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the scientific hypothesis that SBFL is able to immobilize Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn under different redox potentials (E H ) in a contaminated floodplain soil. For this purpose, the non-treated contaminated soil (CS) and the same soil treated with SBFL (CS+SBFL) were flooded in the laboratory using a highly sophisticated automated biogeochemical microcosm apparatus. The experiment was conducted stepwise from reducing (-13 mV) to oxidizing (+519 mV) soil conditions. Soil pH decreased under oxic conditions in CS (from 6.9 to 4.0) and in CS+SBFL (from 7.5 to 4.4). The mobilization of Cu, Cr, Pb, and Fe were lower in CS+SBFL than in CS under both reducing/neutral and oxic/acidic conditions. Those results demonstrate that SBFL is able to decrease concentrations of these elements under a wide range of redox and pH conditions. The mobilization of Cd, Co, Mn, Mo, Ni, and Zn were higher in CS+SBFL than in CS under reducing/neutral conditions; however, these concentrations showed an opposite behavior under oxic/acidic conditions and were lower in CS+SBFL than in CS. We conclude that SBFL immobilized Cu, Cr, Pb, and Fe under dynamic redox conditions and immobilized Cd, Co, Mn, Mo, Ni, and Zn under oxic acidic conditions; however, the latter elements were mobilized under reducing neutral conditions in the studied soil. Therefore, the addition of SBFL to acid floodplain soils contaminated with TMs might be an important alternative for ameliorating these soils with view to a sustainable management of these soils. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial production of rhamnolipids using sugars as carbon sources.

PubMed

Tan, Yun Nian; Li, Qingxin

2018-06-08

Rhamnolipids are a class of biosurfactants with effective surface-active properties. The high cost of microbial production of rhamnolipids largely affects their commercial applications. To reduce the production post, research has been carried out in screening more powerful strains, engineering microbes with higher biosurfactant yields and exploring cheaper substrates to reduce the production cost. Extensive refining is required for biosurfactant production using oils and oil-containing wastes, necessitating the use of complex and expensive biosurfactant recovery methods such as extraction with solvents or acid precipitation. As raw materials normally can account for 10-30% of the overall production cost, sugars have been proven to be an alternative carbon source for microbial production of rhamnolipids due to its lower costs and straightforward processing techniques. Studies have thus been focused on using tropical agroindustrial crop residues as renewable substrates. Herein, we reviewed studies that are using sugar-containing substrates as carbon sources for producing rhamnolipids. We speculate that sugars derived from agricultural wastes rich in cellulose and sugar-containing wastes are potential carbon sources in fermentation while challenges still remain in large scales.

Theory based interventions for caries related sugar intake in adults: systematic review.

PubMed

Al Rawahi, Said Hartih; Asimakopoulou, Koula; Newton, Jonathon Timothy

2017-07-25

Theories of behavior change are essential in the design of effective behaviour change strategies. No studies have assessed the effectiveness of interventions based on psychological theories to reduce sugar intake related to dental caries. The study assessed the effect of interventions based on Social Congition Models (SCMs) on sugar intake in adults, when compared with educational interventions or no intervention. A range of papers were considered: Systematic review Systematic Reviews with or without Meta Analyses; Randomised Controlled Trials; Controlled Clinical Trials and Before and after studies, of interventions based on Social Cognition Models aimed at dietary intake of sugar in adults. The Cochrane database including: Oral Health Group's Trials Register (2015), MEDLINE (from 1966 to September 2015), EMBASE (from 1980 to September 2015), PsycINFO (from 1966 to September 2015) were searched. No article met the full eligibility criteria for the current systematic review so no articles were included. There is a need for more clinical trials to assess the effectiveness of interventions based on psychological theory in reducing dietary sugar intake among adults. PROSPERO: CRD42015026357 .

Differentiation of the Stereochemistry and Anomeric Configuration for 1-3 Linked Disaccharides Via Tandem Mass Spectrometry and 18O-labeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konda, Chiharu; Bendiak, Brad; Xia, Yu

2012-02-01

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of deprotonated hexose-containing disaccharides ( m/z 341) with 1-2, 1-4, and 1-6 linkages yields product ions at m/z 221, which have been identified as glycosyl-glycolaldehyde anions. From disaccharides with these linkages, CID of m/z 221 ions produces distinct fragmentation patterns that enable the stereochemistries and anomeric configurations of the non-reducing sugar units to be determined. However, only trace quantities of m/z 221 ions can be generated for 1-3 linkages in Paul or linear ion traps, preventing further CID analysis. Here we demonstrate that high intensities of m/z 221 ions can be built up in the linear ion trap (Q3) from beam-type CID of a series of 1-3 linked disaccharides conducted on a triple quadrupole/linear ion trap mass spectrometer. 18O-labeling at the carbonyl position of the reducing sugar allowed mass-discrimination of the "sidedness" of dissociation events to either side of the glycosidic linkage. Under relatively low energy beam-type CID and ion trap CID, an m/z 223 product ion containing 18O predominated. It was a structural isomer that fragmented quite differently than the glycosyl-glycolaldehydes and did not provide structural information about the non-reducing sugar. Under higher collision energy beam-type CID conditions, the formation of m/z 221 ions, which have the glycosyl-glycolaldehyde structures, were favored. Characteristic fragmentation patterns were observed for each m/z 221 ion from higher energy beam-type CID of 1-3 linked disaccharides and the stereochemistry of the non-reducing sugar, together with the anomeric configuration, were successfully identified both with and without 18O-labeling of the reducing sugar carbonyl group.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Are the Main Sources of Added Sugar Intake in the Mexican Population.

PubMed

Sánchez-Pimienta, Tania G; Batis, Carolina; Lutter, Chessa K; Rivera, Juan A

2016-09-01

Sugar intake has been associated with an increased prevalence of obesity, other noncommunicable diseases, and dental caries. The WHO recommends that free sugars should be <10% of total energy intake (TEI) and that additional health benefits could be obtained with a reduction below 5% of TEI. The objective of this study was to estimate the total, intrinsic, and added sugar intake in the Mexican diet and to identify the food groups that are the main sources of these sugars. We used data from a national probabilistic survey [ENSANUT (National Health and Nutrition Survey) 2012], which represents 3 geographic regions and urban and rural areas. Dietary information was obtained by administering a 24-h recall questionnaire to 10,096 participants. Total sugar intake was estimated by using the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) food-composition table and an established method to estimate added sugars. The mean intakes of total, intrinsic, and added sugars were 365, 127, and 238 kcal/d, respectively. Added sugars contributed 13% of TEI. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) were the main source of sugars, contributing 69% of added sugars. Food products high in saturated fat and/or added sugar (HSFAS) were the second main sources of added sugars, contributing 25% of added sugars. The average intake of added sugars in the Mexican diet is higher than WHO recommendations, which may partly explain the high prevalence of obesity and diabetes in Mexico. Because SSBs and HSFAS contribute >94% of total added sugars, strategies to reduce their intake should be strengthened. This includes stronger food labels to warn the consumer about the content of added sugars in foods and beverages. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Cyclic AMP regulates the biosynthesis of cellobiohydrolase in Cellulomonas flavigena growing in sugar cane bagasse.

PubMed

Herrera-Herrera, Jesús Antonio; Pérez-Avalos, Odilia; Salgado, Luis M; Ponce-Noyola, Teresa

2009-10-01

Cellulomonas flavigena produces a battery of cellulase components that act concertedly to degrade cellulose. The addition of cAMP to repressed C. flavigena cultures released catabolic repression, while addition of cAMP to induced C. flavigena cultures led to a cellobiohydrolase hyperproduction. Exogenous cAMP showed positive regulation on cellobiohydrolase production in C. flavigena grown on sugar cane bagasse. A C. flavigena cellobiohydrolase gene was cloned (named celA), which coded for a 71- kDa enzyme. Upstream, a repressor celR1, identified as a 38 kDa protein, was monitored by use of polyclonal antibodies.

Intake of added sugar in Malaysia: a review.

PubMed

Amarra, Maria Sofia V; Khor, Geok Lin; Chan, Pauline

2016-01-01

The term 'added sugars' refers to sugars and syrup added to foods during processing or preparation, and sugars and syrups added at the table. Calls to limit the daily intakes of added sugars and its sources arose from evidence analysed by WHO, the American Heart Association and other organizations. The present review examined the best available evidence regarding levels of added sugar consumption among different age and sex groups in Malaysia and sources of added sugars. Information was extracted from food balance sheets, household expenditure surveys, nutrition surveys and published studies. Varying results emerged, as nationwide information on intake of sugar and foods with added sugar were obtained at different times and used different assessment methods. Data from the 2003 Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) using food frequency questionnaires suggested that on average, Malaysian adults consumed 30 grams of sweetened condensed milk (equivalent to 16 grams sugar) and 21 grams of table sugar per day, which together are below the WHO recommendation of 50 grams sugar for every 2000 kcal/day to reduce risk of chronic disease. Published studies suggested that, for both adults and the elderly, frequently consumed sweetened foods were beverages (tea or coffee) with sweetened condensed milk and added sugar. More accurate data should be obtained by conducting population-wide studies using biomarkers of sugar intake (e.g. 24-hour urinary sucrose and fructose excretion or serum abundance of the stable isotope 13C) to determine intake levels, and multiple 24 hour recalls to identify major food sources of added sugar.

Effects of honey and sugar dressings on wound healing.

PubMed

Mphande, A N G; Killowe, C; Phalira, S; Jones, H Wynn; Harrison, W J

2007-07-01

To investigate whether there is a difference between the efficacy of honey and sugar as wound dressings. Patients with open or infected wounds were randomised to receive either honey or sugar dressings. Bacterial colonisation, wound size, wound ASEPSIS score and pain were assessed at the start of treatment and at weekly intervals until full healing occurred. Forty patients were enrolled; 18 received sugar dressings and 22 honey dressings. In the honey group, 55% of patients had positive wound cultures at the start of treatment and 23% at one week, compared with 52% and 39% respectively in the sugar group.The median rate of healing in the first two weeks of treatment was 3.8cm2/week for the honey group and 2.2cm2/week for the sugar group. After three weeks of treatment 86% of patients treated with honey had no pain during dressing changes, compared with 72% treated with sugar. Honey appears to be more effective than sugar in reducing bacterial contamination and promoting wound healing, and slightly less painful than sugar during dressing changes and motion.

Stochastic steps in secondary active sugar transport

PubMed Central

Adelman, Joshua L.; Ghezzi, Chiara; Bisignano, Paola; Loo, Donald D. F.; Choe, Seungho; Abramson, Jeff; Rosenberg, John M.; Wright, Ernest M.; Grabe, Michael

2016-01-01

Secondary active transporters, such as those that adopt the leucine-transporter fold, are found in all domains of life, and they have the unique capability of harnessing the energy stored in ion gradients to accumulate small molecules essential for life as well as expel toxic and harmful compounds. How these proteins couple ion binding and transport to the concomitant flow of substrates is a fundamental structural and biophysical question that is beginning to be answered at the atomistic level with the advent of high-resolution structures of transporters in different structural states. Nonetheless, the dynamic character of the transporters, such as ion/substrate binding order and how binding triggers conformational change, is not revealed from static structures, yet it is critical to understanding their function. Here, we report a series of molecular simulations carried out on the sugar transporter vSGLT that lend insight into how substrate and ions are released from the inward-facing state of the transporter. Our simulations reveal that the order of release is stochastic. Functional experiments were designed to test this prediction on the human homolog, hSGLT1, and we also found that cytoplasmic release is not ordered, but we confirmed that substrate and ion binding from the extracellular space is ordered. Our findings unify conflicting published results concerning cytoplasmic release of ions and substrate and hint at the possibility that other transporters in the superfamily may lack coordination between ions and substrate in the inward-facing state. PMID:27325773

Stochastic steps in secondary active sugar transport.

PubMed

Adelman, Joshua L; Ghezzi, Chiara; Bisignano, Paola; Loo, Donald D F; Choe, Seungho; Abramson, Jeff; Rosenberg, John M; Wright, Ernest M; Grabe, Michael

2016-07-05

Secondary active transporters, such as those that adopt the leucine-transporter fold, are found in all domains of life, and they have the unique capability of harnessing the energy stored in ion gradients to accumulate small molecules essential for life as well as expel toxic and harmful compounds. How these proteins couple ion binding and transport to the concomitant flow of substrates is a fundamental structural and biophysical question that is beginning to be answered at the atomistic level with the advent of high-resolution structures of transporters in different structural states. Nonetheless, the dynamic character of the transporters, such as ion/substrate binding order and how binding triggers conformational change, is not revealed from static structures, yet it is critical to understanding their function. Here, we report a series of molecular simulations carried out on the sugar transporter vSGLT that lend insight into how substrate and ions are released from the inward-facing state of the transporter. Our simulations reveal that the order of release is stochastic. Functional experiments were designed to test this prediction on the human homolog, hSGLT1, and we also found that cytoplasmic release is not ordered, but we confirmed that substrate and ion binding from the extracellular space is ordered. Our findings unify conflicting published results concerning cytoplasmic release of ions and substrate and hint at the possibility that other transporters in the superfamily may lack coordination between ions and substrate in the inward-facing state.

Thermo-chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis for enhancing saccharification of catalpa sawdust.

PubMed

Jin, Shuguang; Zhang, Guangming; Zhang, Panyue; Li, Fan; Fan, Shiyang; Li, Juan

2016-04-01

To improve the reducing sugar production from catalpa sawdust, thermo-chemical pretreatments were examined and the chemicals used including NaOH, Ca(OH)2, H2SO4, and HCl. The hemicellulose solubilization and cellulose crystallinity index (CrI) were significantly increased after thermo-alkaline pretreatments, and the thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment showed the best improvement for reducing sugar production comparing to other three pretreatments. The conditions of thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis were systematically optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the reducing sugar yield increased by 1185.7% comparing to the control. This study indicates that the thermo-Ca(OH)2 pretreatment is ideal for the saccharification of catalpa sawdust and that catalpa sawdust is a promising raw material for biofuel. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Added fructose: a principal driver of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its consequences.

PubMed

DiNicolantonio, James J; O'Keefe, James H; Lucan, Sean C

2015-03-01

Data from animal experiments and human studies implicate added sugars (eg, sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup) in the development of diabetes mellitus and related metabolic derangements that raise cardiovascular (CV) risk. Added fructose in particular (eg, as a constituent of added sucrose or as the main component of high-fructose sweeteners) may pose the greatest problem for incident diabetes, diabetes-related metabolic abnormalities, and CV risk. Conversely, whole foods that contain fructose (eg, fruits and vegetables) pose no problem for health and are likely protective against diabetes and adverse CV outcomes. Several dietary guidelines appropriately recommend consuming whole foods over foods with added sugars, but some (eg, recommendations from the American Diabetes Association) do not recommend restricting fructose-containing added sugars to any specific level. Other guidelines (such as from the Institute of Medicine) allow up to 25% of calories as fructose-containing added sugars. Intake of added fructose at such high levels would undoubtedly worsen rates of diabetes and its complications. There is no need for added fructose or any added sugars in the diet; reducing intake to 5% of total calories (the level now suggested by the World Health Organization) has been shown to improve glucose tolerance in humans and decrease the prevalence of diabetes and the metabolic derangements that often precede and accompany it. Reducing the intake of added sugars could translate to reduced diabetes-related morbidity and premature mortality for populations. Copyright © 2015 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Environmentally Sustainable Yellow Smoke Formulations for Use in the M194 Hand Held Signal

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-10

of the pyrotechnic train through the system hardware, potassium chlorate (oxidizer) and the sugar (fuel, or reducing agent) engage in a reduction...1: Composition of M194 control formulation Ingredient Wt. % Function Potassium Chlorate 35.0 Oxidizer Sugar (sucrose) 20.0 Fuel Vat yellow...Experimental Section 1. Materials Potassium chlorate , potassium nitrate, sodium bicarbonate, stearic acid, and sugar were purchased from Hummel

Fructosamine: Structure, Analysis, and Clinical Usefulness

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-09

reaction of amino acids and reducing sugars to fbrm The nonenzymatic glycation of hemoglobin having been stable ketoamine adducts (5). The Maillard ...clature for any reaction linking a sugar to a protein (I1 control. Unlike glycated hemoglobin, which reflects the aver- Thus "glycated" protein is...fructosamine is a ketoamine, a derivative of the nonenzy- Introduction matic reaction product of a sugar (usually glucose) and a protein (usually

Examining the Relationship between Free Sugars and Calorie Contents in Canadian Prepacked Foods and Beverages

PubMed Central

Lou, Wendy; L’Abbe, Mary R.

2017-01-01

To align with broader public health initiatives, reformulation of products to be lower in sugars requires interventions that also aim to reduce calorie contents. Currently available foods and beverages with a range of nutrient levels can be used to project successful reformulation opportunities. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between free sugars and calorie levels in Canadian prepackaged foods and beverages. This study was a cross-sectional analysis of the University of Toronto’s 2013 Food Label Database, limited to major sources of total sugar intake in Canada (n = 6755). Penalized B-spline regression modelling was used to examine the relationship between free sugar levels (g/100 g or 100 mL) and caloric density (kcal/100 g or 10mL), by subcategory. Significant relationships were observed for only 3 of 5 beverage subcategories and for 14 of 32 food subcategories. Most subcategories demonstrated a positive trend with varying magnitude, however, results were not consistent across related subcategories (e.g., dairy-based products). Findings highlight potential areas of concern for reformulation, and the need for innovative solutions to ensure free sugars are reduced in products within the context of improving overall nutritional quality of the diet. PMID:28872586

Men: Eat Right, Stay Healthy

MedlinePlus

... These include brown sugar, corn sweetener, dextrose, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, and honey. They should make up less than 10% of your calories per day. An added note: Replacing added sugars with high-intensity sweeteners (like saccharin or aspartame) may reduce ...

Sugar-Terminated Nanoparticle Chaperones Are 102-105 Times Better Than Molecular Sugars in Inhibiting Protein Aggregation and Reducing Amyloidogenic Cytotoxicity.

PubMed

Pradhan, Nibedita; Shekhar, Shashi; Jana, Nihar R; Jana, Nikhil R

2017-03-29

Sugar-based osmolyte molecules are known to stabilize proteins under stress, but usually they have poor chaperone performance in inhibiting protein aggregation. Here, we show that the nanoparticle form of sugars molecule can enhance their chaperone performance typically by 10 2 -10 5 times, compared to molecular sugar. Sugar-based plate-like nanoparticles of 20-40 nm hydrodynamic size have been synthesized by simple heating of acidic aqueous solution of glucose/sucrose/maltose/trehalose. These nanoparticles have excitation-dependent green/yellow/orange emission and surface chemistry identical to the respective sugar molecule. Fibrillation of lysozyme/insulin/amyloid beta in extracellular space, aggregation of mutant huntingtin protein inside model neuronal cell, and cytotoxic effect of fibrils are investigated in the presence of these sugar nanoparticles. We found that sugar nanoparticles are 10 2 -10 5 times efficient than respective sugar molecules in inhibiting protein fibrillation and preventing cytotoxicity arising of fibrils. We propose that better performance of the nanoparticle form is linked to its stronger binding with fibril structure and enhanced cell uptake. This result suggests that nanoparticle form of osmolyte can be an attractive option in prevention and curing of protein aggregation-derived diseases.

Sodium hydroxide pretreatment of genetically modified switchgrass for improved enzymatic release of sugars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Overcoming biomass recalcitrance to biological conversion has been the focus of enormous research efforts in the cellulosic biofuel area in the past decades. In this study, Alamo switchgrass was genetically transformed to suppress the expression of 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL). The transgenic plants...

Field productivities of Switchgrass for conversion to sugars and ethanol

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Switchgrass (SG, Panicum virgatum) is a warm season perennial grass being developed as a dedicated bioenergy crop. The Agricultural Research Service has recently released a new cultivar of SG named Liberty, which is a cross between Summer and Kanlow cultivars. In prior studies Liberty grown on 4 sit...

The impact of stress-response related transcription factors on lignocellulosic hydrolysate inhibitor tolerance of Saccharomyces strains

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant biomass is a desirable feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Unfortunately, pretreatment processes to release sugars locked in plant biomass, or lignocellulosic feedstocks, lead to the production of fermentation inhibitors, such as furfural and hydroxymethyl furfural, ...

DOWNREGULATION OF CINNAMYL-ALCOHOL DEHYDROGENASE IN SWITCHGRASS BY RNA SILENCING RESULTS IN ENHANCED GLUCOSE RELEASE AFTER CELLULASE TREATMENT

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), catalyzes the last step in monolignol biosynthesis and genetic evidence indicates CAD deficiency in grasses both decreases overall lignin, alters lignin structure and increases enzymatic recovery of sugars. To ascertain the effect of CAD downregulation in switch...

Registration of ‘CP 06-2400’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘CP 06-2400’ (Reg. No. ; PI ____) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) was developed through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. and released to growers for organic (muck) soils in Florida in October 2013. ...

Registration of ‘CP 06-2400’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Technical Abstract: ‘CP 06-2400’ (Reg. No. ; PI 670018) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) was developed through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. and released to growers for organic (muck) soils in Fl...

Registration of ‘CP 09-1430’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘CP 09-1430’ (Reg. No. ; PI 686940 sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) was developed and released (6 Jun. 2016) through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS Sugarcane Field Station , Canal Point, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. for use on ...

Registration of 'CP 09-2392' Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

CP 09-2392’ (Reg. No.____; PI _____) sugarcane, a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp, was developed through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc., and was released to growers in June 2016. ‘CP 09-2392’ was selected from a cro...

Optimization of Hydrothermal and Diluted Acid Pretreatments of Tunisian Luffa cylindrica (L.) Fibers for 2G Bioethanol Production through the Cubic Central Composite Experimental Design CCD: Response Surface Methodology

PubMed Central

Ziadi, Manel; Ben Hassen-Trabelsi, Aida; Mekni, Sabrine; Aïssi, Balkiss; Alaya, Marwen; Bergaoui, Latifa; Hamdi, Moktar

2017-01-01

This paper opens up a new issue dealing with Luffa cylindrica (LC) lignocellulosic biomass recovery in order to produce 2G bioethanol. LC fibers are composed of three principal fractions, namely, α-cellulose (45.80%  ± 1.3), hemicelluloses (20.76%  ± 0.3), and lignins (13.15%  ± 0.6). The optimization of LC fibers hydrothermal and diluted acid pretreatments duration and temperature were achieved through the cubic central composite experimental design CCD. The pretreatments optimization was monitored via the determination of reducing sugars. Then, the 2G bioethanol process feasibility was tested by means of three successive steps, namely, LC fibers hydrothermal pretreatment performed at 96°C during 54 minutes, enzymatic saccharification carried out by means of a commercial enzyme AP2, and the alcoholic fermentation fulfilled with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. LC fibers hydrothermal pretreatment liberated 33.55 g/kg of reducing sugars. Enzymatic hydrolysis allowed achieving 59.4 g/kg of reducing sugars. The conversion yield of reducing sugar to ethanol was 88.66%. After the distillation step, concentration of ethanol was 1.58% with a volumetric yield about 70%. PMID:28243606

Comparison of reduced sugar high quality chocolates sweetened with stevioside and crude stevia 'green' extract.

PubMed

Torri, Luisa; Frati, Alessandra; Ninfali, Paolino; Mantegna, Stefano; Cravotto, Giancarlo; Morini, Gabriella

2017-06-01

The demand for zero and reduced-sugar food products containing cocoa is expanding continuously. The present study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of producing high-quality chocolate sweetened with a crude extract of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) prepared by a green microwave-assisted water-steam extraction procedure. Seven approximately isosweet chocolate formulations were developed, mixing cocoa paste, sucrose, commercial stevioside, crude green extract and maltitol in different proportions. All samples were analyzed for the determination of polyphenol and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, and sensory acceptability. The use of a crude stevia extract allowed low-sugar, high-quality chocolates to be obtained that were also acceptable by consumers and had a significant increased antioxidant activity. Moreover, consumers' segmentation revealed a cluster of consumers showing the same overall liking for the sample with 50% sucrose replaced by the stevia crude extract as that obtained with the commercial stevioside and the control sample (without sucrose replacement). The results provide information that can contribute to promoting the development of sweet food products, with advantages in terms of an improved nutritional value (reduced sugar content and increased antioxidant activity) and a reduced impact of the production process on the environment. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

A Comparison of Polysaccharide Substrates and Reducing Sugar Methods for the Measurement of endo-1,4-β-Xylanase.

PubMed

McCleary, Barry V; McGeough, Paraic

2015-11-01

The most commonly used method for the measurement of the level of endo-xylanase in commercial enzyme preparations is the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) reducing sugar method with birchwood xylan as substrate. It is well known that with the DNS method, much higher enzyme activity values are obtained than with the Nelson-Somogyi (NS) reducing sugar method. In this paper, we have compared the DNS and NS reducing sugar assays using a range of xylan-type substrates and accurately compared the molar response factors for xylose and a range of xylo-oligosaccharides. Purified beechwood xylan or wheat arabinoxylan is shown to be a suitable replacement for birchwood xylan which is no longer commercially available, and it is clearly demonstrated that the DNS method grossly overestimates endo-xylanase activity. Unlike the DNS assay, the NS assay gave the equivalent colour response with equimolar amounts of xylose, xylobiose, xylotriose and xylotetraose demonstrating that it accurately measures the quantity of glycosidic bonds cleaved by the endo-xylanase. The authors strongly recommend cessation of the use of the DNS assay for measurement of endo-xylanase due to the fact that the values obtained are grossly overestimated due to secondary reactions in colour development.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Azhar, A.; Hamdy, M.K.

Use of ultrafiltration membrane systems in stirred cell and in thin-channel systems for immobilizing enzyme (sweet potato intrinsic and crystalline beta-amylase) in hydrolysis of sweet potato through a continuous operation mode were studied. Both the filtration rate and reducing sugars, produced as the result of enzymic hydrolysis, decreased with the filtration time. The immobilized enzymes in the thin-channel system showed a much better performance compared to that in the stirred cell system. Addition of crystalline sweet potato beta-amylase to the sweet potato increased both the filtration rate and reducing-sugars content. Alcohol fermentation of the filtrate resulted in an alcohol contentmore » of 4.2%. This represented fermentation of 95% of the sugars with an efficiency of 88%.« less

The effect of sugar-free versus sugar-sweetened beverages on satiety, liking and wanting: an 18 month randomized double-blind trial in children.

PubMed

de Ruyter, Janne C; Katan, Martijn B; Kuijper, Lothar D J; Liem, Djin G; Olthof, Margreet R

2013-01-01

Substituting sugar-free for sugar-sweetened beverages reduces weight gain. A possible explanation is that sugar-containing and sugar-free beverages cause the same degree of satiety. However, this has not been tested in long-term trials. We randomized 203 children aged 7-11 years to receive 250 mL per day of an artificially sweetened sugar-free beverage or a similarly looking and tasting sugar-sweetened beverage. We measured satiety on a 5-point scale by questionnaire at 0, 6, 12 and 18 months. We calculated the change in satiety from before intake to 1 minute after intake and 15 minutes after intake. We then calculated the odds ratio that satiety increased by 1 point in the sugar-group versus the sugar-free group. We also investigated how much the children liked and wanted the beverages. 146 children or 72% completed the study. We found no statistically significant difference in satiety between the sugar-free and sugar-sweetened group; the adjusted odds ratio for a 1 point increase in satiety in the sugar group versus the sugar-free group was 0.77 at 1 minute (95% confidence interval, 0.46 to 1.29), and 1.44 at 15 minutes after intake (95% CI, 0.86 to 2.40). The sugar-group liked and wanted their beverage slightly more than the sugar-free group, adjusted odds ratio 1.63 (95% CI 1.05 to 2.54) and 1.65 (95% CI 1.07 to 2.55), respectively. Sugar-sweetened and sugar-free beverages produced similar satiety. Therefore when children are given sugar-free instead of sugar-containing drinks they might not make up the missing calories from other sources. This may explain our previous observation that children in the sugar-free group accumulated less body fat than those in the sugar group. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00893529 http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00893529.

The snacking rat as model of human obesity: effects of a free-choice high-fat high-sugar diet on meal patterns.

PubMed

la Fleur, S E; Luijendijk, M C M; van der Zwaal, E M; Brans, M A D; Adan, R A H

2014-05-01

Rats subjected to a free-choice high-fat high-sugar (fcHFHS) diet persistently overeat, exhibit increased food-motivated behavior and become overtly obese. Conversely, several studies using a non-choice (nc) high-energy diet showed only an initial increase in food intake with unaltered or reduced food-motivated behavior. This raises the question of the importance of choice in the persistence of hyperphagia in rats on a fcHFHS diet. Meal patterns, food intake and body weight gain were studied in male Wistar rats on free-choice diets with fat and/or sugar and in rats on nc diets with fat and sugar (custom made with ingredients similar to the fcHFHS diet). Rats on a ncHFHS diet initially overconsumed, but reduced intake thereafter, whereas rats on a fcHFHS diet remained hyperphagic. Because half of the sugar intake in the fcHFHS group occurred during the inactive period, we next determined whether sugar intake during the light phase was a necessary requirement for hyperphagia, by restricting access to liquid sugar to either the light or dark period with unlimited access to fat and chow. Results showed that hyperphagia occurred irrespective of the timing of sugar intake. Meal pattern analysis revealed consumption of larger but fewer meals in the ncHFHS group, as well as the fcHF group. Interestingly, meal number was increased in all rats drinking liquid sugar (whether on a fcHFHS or a fcHS diet), whereas a compensatory decrease in meal size was only observed in the fcHS group, but not the fcHFHS group. We hereby show the importance of choice in the observation of fcHFHS diet-induced hyperphagia, which results in increases in meal number due to sugar drinking without any compensatory decrease in meal size. We thus provide a novel dietary model in rats that mimics important features of human overconsumption that have been ignored in rodent models of obesity.

Forage and sugar in dairy calves' starter diet and their interaction on performance, weaning age and rumen fermentation.

PubMed

Beiranvand, H; Ghorbani, G R; Khorvash, M; Kazemi-Bonchenari, M

2014-06-01

The effects of sugar and forage inclusion in calves' starter and their interaction on animal performance and rumen fermentation parameters were investigated. Twenty-eight neonatal Holstein male calves 3 days of age with average body weights of 42 ± 4 kg were allocated to four different treatments. All calves were fed a similar basal diet consisting of milk and concentrate. The experimental treatments were: (i) basal diet with no supplementation (Control, hereafter designated by C), (ii) basal diet plus 5% granular sugar cane (Sugar, designated by S), (iii) basal diet plus 5% forage (Forage, designated by F) and (iv) basal diet plus 5% forage with 5% granular sugar cane (F × S). Supplement ingredients were used on a dry matter (DM) basis. Rumen fluid parameters were measured twice on days 35 and 70 of the study period. The calves were weaned when they could consume 1 kg of starter for three consecutive days. The results show that starter intake was not affected by treatment; however, the lowest ADG was observed with calves in the sugar treatment. Weaning age was affected by treatments, and forage showed to reduce milk consumption period down to its shortest. Forage-sugar interaction was found to have no effects on animal performance. The structural body indices as well as the health status of the calves were similar in different treatments. Rumen pH did not differ among the treatment groups. Among the rumen parameters, total VFA concentration and molar proportions of butyrate and propionate did not exhibit any significant differences among the treatments. However, ruminal acetate concentration decreased in calves that fed sugar cane during the early weeks of the study period. Comparison of forage and sugar included in the starter diets revealed that forage reduced weaning age, while sugar cane had a negative effect on calves' performance. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

'The university should promote health, but not enforce it': opinions and attitudes about the regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages in a university setting.

PubMed

Howse, Elly; Freeman, Becky; Wu, Jason H Y; Rooney, Kieron

2017-08-01

The study aimed to determine the opinions and attitudes of a university population regarding the regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages in a university setting, primarily looking at differences in opinion between younger adults (under 30 years of age) and older adults (30 years of age or older). An online survey was conducted at an Australian university in April-May 2016 using a convenience sample of students and staff between the ages of 16 and 84 years. The survey included questions about consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and level of agreement and support of proposed sugar-sweetened beverage interventions. Quantitative response data and qualitative open-ended response data were analysed. Nine hundred thirteen responses from students and staff were analysed. In this population, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was low and awareness of the health risks of sugar-sweetened beverages was high. Overall, the surveyed population indicated more support for interventions that require higher levels of personal responsibility. The population did support some environment-centred, population-based interventions, such as increasing access to drinking water and reducing the price of healthier beverage alternatives. However there was less support for more restrictive interventions such as removing sugar-sweetened beverages from sale. Young adults tended to be less supportive of most interventions than older adults. These findings indicate there is some support for environment-centred, population-based approaches to reduce the availability and appeal of sugar-sweetened beverages in an adult environment such as a university setting. However these results suggest that public health may need to focus less on educating populations about the harms associated with sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, there should be greater emphasis on explaining to populations and communities why environment-centred approaches relating to the sale and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages should be prioritised over interventions that simply target personal responsibility and individual behaviours.

Bioactive Properties of Maillard Reaction Products Generated From Food Protein-derived Peptides.

PubMed

Arihara, K; Zhou, L; Ohata, M

Food protein-derived peptides are promising food ingredients for developing functional foods, since various bioactive peptides are released from food proteins. The Maillard reaction, which plays an important role in most processed foods, generates various chemical components during processing. Although changes of amino acids or proteins and reduced sugars by the Maillard reaction have been studied extensively, such changes of peptides by the Maillard reaction are still not resolved enough. Since food protein-derived peptides are widely utilized in many processed foods, it deserves concern and research on the changes of peptides by the Maillard reaction in foods during processing or storage. This chapter initially overviewed food protein-derived bioactive peptides. Then, Maillard reaction products generated from peptides are discussed. We focused particularly on their bioactivities. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Honey collected from different floras of Chandigarh Tricity: a comparative study involving physicochemical parameters and biochemical activities.

PubMed

Kumar, Pradeep; Sindhu, Rakesh K; Narayan, Shridhar; Singh, Inderbir

2010-12-01

Different monofloral honeys have a distinctive flavor and color because of differences in physicochemical parameters because of their principal nectar sources or floral types. Honey samples were collected from Apis mellifera colonies forged on 10 floras to analyze the quality of honey in terms of standards laid by Honey Grading and Marking Rules (HGMR), India, 2008 and Codex Alimentarious Commission (CAC), 1969 . The honey samples were analyzed for various physicochemical parameters of honey quality control, i.e., pH, total acidity, moisture, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars, total sugars, water insoluble solids (WIS), ash content, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural content, and diastase value. The antioxidant potential was estimated using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Further, honey samples were assayed for antibacterial activities against clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli using the hole-plate diffusion method. The physicochemical variation in the composition of honey because of floral source shows Ziziphus honey with high pH and diastase values along with low acidity, whereas Helianthus honey contained high reducing sugar and low moisture content. Amomum, Brassica, Acacia, and Citrus contained lowest amount of non-reducing sugars, ash, WIS, and moisture, respectively. Lowest 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) value was detected in Amomum honey, while highest HMF value was observed with Eucalyptus. The maximum antibacterial and antioxidant potential was observed in Azadirachta and Citrus, respectively. The quality of honey produced by local beekeepers met HGMR and CAC standards, and the chemical composition and biological properties of honey were dependent on the floral source from which it was produced.

Concrete images of the sugar content in sugar-sweetened beverages reduces attraction to and selection of these beverages.

PubMed

Adams, John Milton; Hart, William; Gilmer, Lauren; Lloyd-Richardson, Elizabeth E; Burton, K Alex

2014-12-01

In the present research, we offer a novel method for informing consumers about the sugar content in sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). With a series of experiments, we present evidence that this method curbs preference for SSBs and leads to more negative attitudes toward SSBs. We propose that people view SSBs more negatively and show less preference for SSBs when they are able to concretely visualize the quantity of sugar in SSBs. For example, we suggest that people might have more negative views toward the idea of consuming 28 sugar cubes (concrete information), compared to consuming "70g" of sugar (abstract information). Indeed, we found that, without any intervention, people struggle to convert sugar grams into a concrete, physical sugar representation (Experiment 1). But, when people are provided ways to convert abstract sugar-nutrition information into a concrete representation, they find SSBs less attractive (Experiment 2) and are less likely to select SSBs in favor of sugar-free beverage options (Experiments 3 and 4). These findings offer direct applications to the design of public-health messages and nutrition-education interventions. Such applications might benefit society in its battle with the obesity epidemic. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adding yeasts with sugar to increase the number of effective insecticide classes to manage Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in cherry.

PubMed

Knight, Alan L; Basoalto, Esteban; Yee, Wee; Hilton, Rick; Kurtzman, Cletus P

2016-08-01

Drosophila suzukii is a major pest of cherry in the western United States. We evaluated whether the addition of sugary baits could improve the efficacy of two classes of insecticides not considered to be sufficiently effective for this pest, diamides and spinosyns, in laboratory and field trials in cherry. Adding cane sugar alone or in combination with the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae or Aureobasidium pullulans significantly improved insecticide efficacy. However, the significance of adding yeasts to the sugar plus insecticide on fly mortality varied with respect to both the insecticide and yeast species. The addition of S. cerevisiae to sugar also did not significantly reduce egg densities in fruit compared with sugar alone. The addition of a yeast plus sugar significantly reduced egg densities in three field trials with cyantraniliprole and in two out of three trials with spinosad. The addition of cane sugar with or without yeast can improve the effectiveness of diamide and spinosyn insecticides for D. suzukii in cherry. Inclusion of these two insecticides in D. suzukii management programs may alleviate the strong selection pressure currently being imposed on a few mode-of-action insecticide classes used by growers to maintain fly suppression over long continuous harvest periods of mixed cultivars. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Chemical properties and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species quenching activities of dry sugar-amino acid maillard reaction mixtures exposed to baking temperatures.

PubMed

Chen, Xiu-Min; Liang, Ningjian; Kitts, David D

2015-10-01

Maillard reaction products (MRPs) derived from 10 different, dry sugar-amino acid reaction model systems were examined for changes in color index (E), sugar loss, and formation of α-dicarbonyl compounds; the changes were correlated with relative activities to quench both reactive oxygen (ROS) and reactive nitrogen (RNS) species. Reducing sugars, xylose, ribose, fructose, glucose, and non-reducing sucrose were reacted with glycine (Xyl-Gly, Rib-Gly, Fru-Gly, Glc-Gly, and Suc-Gly), or lysine (Xyl-Lys, Rib-Lys, Fru-Lys, Glc-Lys, and Suc-Lys), respectively, at temperatures of 150°C and 180°C for time periods ranging from 5 to 60min. ROS quenching capacity was negatively correlated with color index (E) (r=-0.604, P<0.001), and positively correlated with sugar loss (r=0.567, P<0.001). MRPs also exhibited activity to quench RNS as assessed by nitric oxide (NO) inhibition in differentiated Caco-2 cells that were induced with interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and phorbol ester (PMA) cocktail. We also showed a correlation between RNS and color index, sugar loss, and ROS quenching activities for MR mixtures that were heated for a short time (e.g. 10min) at 150°C. MRP quenching of ROS was largely influenced by sugar type, whereas, RNS quenching was dependent more so on the interaction between reactants and reaction conditions used to generate MRPs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The curse of invertase

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Among the greatest quality concerns for chip and fry processing potato tubers are cold-induced sweetening, sugar end defects, translucent ends, stem-end chip defect and high acrylamide-forming potential. These problems all result from elevated amounts of glucose and fructose, reducing sugars produce...

Relative ability of fat and sugar tastes to activate reward, gustatory, and somatosensory regions.

PubMed

Stice, Eric; Burger, Kyle S; Yokum, Sonja

2013-12-01

Although the intake of high-fat and high-sugar food activates mesolimbic reward, gustatory, and oral somatosensory brain regions, contributing to overeating, few studies have examined the relative role of fat and sugar in the activation of these brain regions, which would inform policy, prevention, and treatment interventions designed to reduce obesity. We evaluated the effect of a high-fat or high-sugar equicaloric chocolate milkshake and increasing fat or sugar milkshake content on the activation of these regions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess the neural response to the intake of high-fat/high-sugar, high-fat/low-sugar, low-fat/high-sugar, and low-fat/low-sugar chocolate milkshakes and a tasteless solution in 106 lean adolescents (mean ± SD age = 15.00 ± 0.88 y). Analyses contrasted the activation to the various milkshakes. High-fat compared with high-sugar equicaloric milkshakes caused greater activation in the bilateral caudate, postcentral gyrus, hippocampus, and inferior frontal gyrus. High-sugar compared with high-fat equicaloric milkshakes caused greater activation in the bilateral insula extending into the putamen, the Rolandic operculum, and thalamus, which produced large activation regions. Increasing sugar in low-fat milkshakes caused greater activation in the bilateral insula and Rolandic operculum; increasing fat content did not elicit greater activation in any region. Fat caused greater activation of the caudate and oral somatosensory regions than did sugar, sugar caused greater activation in the putamen and gustatory regions than did fat, increasing sugar caused greater activity in gustatory regions, and increasing fat did not affect the activation. Results imply that sugar more effectively recruits reward and gustatory regions, suggesting that policy, prevention, and treatment interventions should prioritize reductions in sugar intake. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as DK092468.

Effects of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on Caries and Treatment Costs.

PubMed

Schwendicke, F; Thomson, W M; Broadbent, J M; Stolpe, M

2016-11-01

Caries increment is affected by sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. Taxing SSBs could reduce sugar consumption and caries increment. The authors aimed to estimate the impact of a 20% SSB sales tax on caries increment and associated treatment costs (as well as the resulting tax revenue) in the context of Germany. A model-based approach was taken, estimating the effects for the German population aged 14 to 79 y over a 10-y period. Taxation was assumed to affect beverage-associated sugar consumption via empirical demand elasticities. Altered consumption affected caries increments and treatment costs, with cost estimates being calculated under the perspective of the statutory health insurance. National representative consumption and price data were used to estimate tax revenue. Microsimulations were performed to estimate health outcomes, costs, and revenue impact in different age, sex, and income groups. Implementing a 20% SSB sales tax reduced sugar consumption in nearly all male groups but in fewer female groups. The reduction was larger among younger than older individuals and among those with low income. Taxation reduced caries increment and treatment costs especially in younger (rather than older) individuals and those with low income. Over 10 y, mean (SD) net caries increments at the population level were 82.27 (1.15) million and 83.02 (1.08) million teeth at 20% and 0% SSB tax, respectively. These generated treatment costs of 2.64 (0.39) billion and 2.72 (0.35) billion euro, respectively. Additional tax revenue was 37.99 (3.41) billion euro over the 10 y. In conclusion and within the limitations of this study's perspective, database, and underlying assumptions, implementing a 20% sales tax on SSBs is likely to reduce caries increment, especially in young low-income males, thereby also reducing inequalities in the distribution of caries experience. Taxation would also reduce treatment costs. However, these reductions might be limited in the total population.

Comparing the Nutritional Impact of Dietary Strategies to Reduce Discretionary Choice Intake in the Australian Adult Population: A Simulation Modelling Study.

PubMed

Grieger, Jessica A; Johnson, Brittany J; Wycherley, Thomas P; Golley, Rebecca K

2017-05-03

Dietary strategies to reduce discretionary choice intake are commonly utilized in practice, but evidence on their relative efficacy is lacking. The aim was to compare the potential impact on nutritional intake of three strategies to reducing discretionary choices intake in the Australian adult (19-90 years) population. Dietary simulation modelling using data from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011-2012 was conducted ( n = 9341; one 24 h dietary recall). Strategies modelled were: moderation (reduce discretionary choices by 50%, with 0%, 25% or 75% energy compensation); substitution (replace 50% of discretionary choices with core choices); reformulation (replace 50% SFA with unsaturated fats, reduce added sugars by 25%, and reduce sodium by 20%). Compared to the base case (observed) intake, modelled intakes in the moderation scenario showed: -17.3% lower energy (sensitivity analyses, 25% energy compensation -14.2%; 75% energy compensation -8.0%), -20.9% lower SFA (-17.4%; -10.5%), -43.3% lower added sugars (-41.1%; -36.7%) and 17.7% lower sodium (-14.3%; -7.5%). Substitution with a range of core items, or with fruits, vegetables and core beverages only, resulted in similar changes in energy intake (-13.5% and -15.4%), SFA (-17.7% and -20.1%), added sugars (-42.6% and -43%) and sodium (-13.7% and -16.5%), respectively. Reformulating discretionary choices had minimal impact on reducing energy intake but reduced SFA (-10.3% to -30.9%), added sugars (-9.3% to -52.9%), and alcohol (-25.0% to -49.9%) and sodium (-3.3% to -13.2%). The substitution and reformulation scenarios minimized negative changes in fiber, protein and micronutrient intakes. While each strategy has strengths and limitations, substitution of discretionary choices with core foods and beverages may optimize the nutritional impact.

Controlled release of β-carotene in β-lactoglobulin-dextran-conjugated nanoparticles' in vitro digestion and transport with Caco-2 monolayers.

PubMed

Yi, Jiang; Lam, Tina I; Yokoyama, Wallace; Cheng, Luisa W; Zhong, Fang

2014-09-03

Undesirable aggregation of nanoparticles stabilized by proteins may occur at the protein's isoelectric point when the particle has zero net charge. Stability against aggregation of nanoparticles may be improved by reacting free amino groups with reducing sugars by the Maillard reaction. β-Lactoglobulin (BLG)-dextran conjugates were characterized by SDS-PAGE and CD. Nanoparticles (60-70 nm diameter) of β-carotene (BC) encapsulated by BLG or BLG-dextran were prepared by the homogenization-evaporation method. Both BLG and BLG-dextran nanoparticles appeared to be spherically shaped and uniformly dispersed by TEM. The stability and release of BC from the nanoparticles under simulated gastrointestinal conditions were evaluated. Dextran conjugation prevented the flocculation or aggregation of BLG-dextran particles at pH ∼4-5 compared to very large sized aggregates of BLG nanoparticles. The released contents of BC from BLG and BLG-dextran nanoparticles under acidic gastric conditions were 6.2 ± 0.9 and 5.4 ± 0.3%, respectively. The release of BC from BLG-dextran nanoparticles by trypsin digestion was 51.8 ± 4.3% of total encapsulated BC, and that from BLG nanoparticles was 60.9 ± 2.9%. Neither BLG-BC nanoparticles nor the Maillard-reacted BLG-dextran conjugates were cytotoxic to Caco-2 cells, even at 10 mg/mL. The apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) of Caco-2 cells to BC was improved by nanoencapsulation, compared to free BC suspension. The results indicate that BC-encapsulated β-lactoglobulin-dextran-conjugated nanoparticles are more stable to aggregation under gastric pH conditions with good release and permeability properties.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Teymouri, Farzaneh

MBI, a 501c(3) company focusing on de-risking and scaling up bio-based technologies, has teamed with Michigan State University and the Idaho National Laboratory to develop and demonstrate process improvements to the ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment process. The logistical hurdles of biomass handling are well known, and the regional depot concept - in which small, distributed bioprocessing operations collect, preprocess, and densify biomass before shipping to a centralized refinery - is a promising alternative to centralized collection. AFEXTM (AFEX is a trademark of MBI) has unique features among pretreatments that would make it desirable as a pretreatment prior to densificationmore » at the depot scale. MBI has developed a novel design, using a packed bed reactor for the AFEX process that can be scaled down economically to the depot scale at a lower capital cost as compared to the traditional design (Pandia type reactor). Thus, the purpose of this project was to develop, scale-up, demonstrate, and improve this novel design The key challenges are the recovery of ammonia, consistent and complete pretreatment performance, and the overall throughput of the reactor. In this project an engineering scale packed bed AFEX system with 1-ton per day capacity was installed at MBI’s building. The system has been operational since mid-2013. During that time, MBI has demonstrated the robustness, reliability, and consistency of the process. To date, nearly 500 runs have been performed in the reactors. There have been no incidences of plugging (i.e., inability to remove ammonia from biomass after the treatment), nor has there been any instance of a major ammonia release into the atmosphere. Likewise, the sugar released via enzyme hydrolysis has remained consistent throughout these runs. Our economic model shows a 46% reduction in AFEX capital cost at the 100 ton/day scale compared to the traditional design of AFEX (Pandia type reactor). The key performance factors were demonstrated; >94% ammonia recovery, >75% sugar yields at high solid loading, and complete utilization of the sugars for ethanol production at the 2500 liter scale. Fermentation tests were performed using Zymomonas mobilis 8b and densified AFEX-treated corn stover at >20% solid loading. The obtained titer (~60g/l), productivity (2.5 g/L-h), and yield (330 L/tonne of biomass) exceeded the performance targets set out by NREL. The key findings from these efforts are: no contamination was observed, no cleanup of the sugar stream was required, and no major nutrient addition was required. Our economic model shows that using a packed bed design for the AFEX process and pelleted AFEX-treated biomass reduces the ethanol production cost by 24% when compared to using the traditional AFEX design.« less

Sucrose and color profiles in sugarcane (Saccharum sp.) juice analyzed by UFLC-ELSD and Synapt High-Definition Mass Spectrometry during radiation treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima, Roberta B.; de Aguiar, Claudio Lima; Galaverna, Renan; Baptista, Antonio S.; Eberlin, Marcos N.; Arthur, Valter

2016-04-01

This work evaluated the effect of electron beam irradiation (E-beam) on sugarcane juice and compared the results with preliminary tests performed on sugarcane juice treated with gamma irradiation. The samples were irradiated at 5, 10 and 20 kGy doses and results were compared wile control samples without irradiation. The results showed a significant increase (p≤0.05) of phenolic compounds in both treatments. We also observed increased contents of reducing sugars (glucose and fructose) for the samples irradiated with gamma rays and E-beam measured by the DNS methods. However, there was no significant difference of sugars content measured by chromatographic analyses performed in the sugarcane juice treated with E-beam. Therefore reducing sugars content could be overestimated by the DNS method because salts in sugarcane juice. The treatments were able to reduce sugarcane juice ICUMSA color intensity in both treatments with irradiation. E-beam reduced sugarcane juice color by roughly 49% compared the control, while gamma irradiation reduced it by 30%.

Glycation of myofibrillar proteins and ATPase activity after incubation with eleven sugars.

PubMed

Syrový, I

1994-01-01

Rat skeletal muscle myofibrils were incubated in the presence of D-glucose, D-fructose, D-galactose, D-ribose, D-tagatose, D-arabinose, D-xylose, D-mannose, L-sorbose, L-rhamnose or DL-glyceraldehyde and myofibrillar ATPase activity as well as the extent of glycation was measured. The attachment of sugars to proteins during glycation was generally dependent on the percentage of a given sugar present in the open-chain form. Glycation resulted in the decrease of myofibrillar ATPase activity. This decrease was low after incubation of myofibrillar proteins with slowly glycating sugars (e.g. glucose) and high with fast glycating sugars (e.g. ribose or glyceraldehyde). ATPase activity was less reduced in the presence of beta-mercaptoethanol.

Small angle scattering from protein/sugar conjugates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, Andrew; White, John

2006-11-01

The Maillard reaction between free amine groups on proteins and sugars is well known. We have examined the effect of the reaction of the casein group of milk proteins with sugars on their nanoscale structure and aggregation. The small angle neutron scattering from beta casein and sodium caseinate and their sugar conjugates have been studied as a function of solution concentration. At high conjugate concentration (greater than ca. 5 mg/ml) the addition of sugar reduces supra-micellar aggregation of the protein whilst at lower concentration, where the protein is expected to be deaggregated already, little effect is seen. Guinier analysis of the scattering data show a radius of gyration of around 75 A˚ for beta casein in solution and around 80 A˚ for the sucrose conjugate.

The reactions of cytidine and 2'-deoxycytidine with SO4.- revisited. Pulse radiolysis and product studies.

PubMed

Aravindakumar, Charuvila T; Schuchmann, Man Nien; Rao, Balijepalli S; von Sonntag, Justus; von Sonntag, Clemens

2003-01-21

The reactions of SO4.- with 2'-deoxycytidine 1a and cytidine 1b lead to very different intermediates (base radicals with 1a, sugar radicals with 1b). The present study provides spectral and kinetic data for the various intermediates by pulse radiolysis as well as information on final product yields (free cytosine). Taking these and literature data into account allows us to substantiate but also modify in essential aspects the current mechanistic concept (H. Catterall, M. J. Davies and B. C. Gilbert, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 2, 1992, 1379). SO4.- radicals have been generated radiolytically in the reaction of peroxodisulfate with the hydrated electron (and the H. atom). In the reaction of SO4.- with 1a (k = 1.6 x 10(9) dm3 mol-1 s-1), a transient (lambda max = 400 nm, shifted to 450 nm at pH 3) is observed. This absorption is due to two intermediates. The major component (lambda max approximately 385 nm) does not react with O2 and has been attributed to an N-centered radical 4a formed upon sulfate release and deprotonation at nitrogen. The minor component, rapidly wiped out by O2, must be due to C-centered OH-adduct radical(s) 6a and/or 7a suggested to be formed by a water-induced nucleophilic replacement. These radicals decay by second-order kinetics. Free cytosine is only formed in low yields (G = 0.14 x 10(-7) mol J-1 upon electron-beam irradiation). In contrast, 1b gives rise to an intermediate absorbing at lambda max = 530 nm (shifted to 600 nm in acid solution) which rapidly decays (k = 6 x 10(4) s-1). In the presence of O2, the decay is much faster (k approximately 1.3 x 10(9) dm3 mol-1 s-1) indicating that this species must be a C-centered radical. This has been attributed to the C(5)-yl radical 8 formed upon the reaction of the C(2')-OH group with the cytidine SO4(.-)-adduct radical 2b. This reaction competes very effectively with the corresponding reaction of water and the release of sulfate and a proton generating the N-centered radical. Upon the decay of 8, sugar radical 11 is formed with the release of cytosine. The latter is formed with a G value of 2.8 x 10(-7) mol J-1 (85% of primary SO4.-) at high dose rates (electron beam irradiation). At low dose rates (gamma-radiolysis) its yield is increased to 7 x 10(-7) mol J-1 due to a chain reaction involving peroxodisulfate and reducing free radicals. Phosphate buffer prevents the formation of the sugar radical at the SO4(.-)-adduct stage by enhancing the rate of sulfate release by deprotonation of 2b and also by speeding up the decay of the C(5)-yl radical into another (base) radical. Cytosine release in cytidine is mechanistically related to strand breakage in poly(C). Literature data on the effect of dioxygen on strand breakage yields in poly(C) induced by SO4.- (suppressed) and upon photoionisation (unaltered) lead us to conclude that in poly(C) and also in the present system free radical cations are not involved to a major extent. This conclusion modifies an essential aspect of the current mechanistic concept.

Jasmonates are essential factors inducing gummosis in tulips: mode of action of jasmonates focusing on sugar metabolism.

PubMed

Skrzypek, Edyta; Miyamoto, Kensuke; Saniewski, Marian; Ueda, Junichi

2005-05-01

The purpose of this study was to know the mechanism of jasmonates to induce gummosis in tulip (Tulipa gesneriana L. cv. Apeldoorn) shoots, especially on the focus of sugar metabolism. Gummosis in the first internode of tulip plants was induced by the application of methyl jasmonate (JA-Me, 1% w/w in lanolin) and jasmonic acid (JA, 1% w/w in lanolin) 5 days after application and strongly stimulated by the simultaneous application of ethylene-releasing compound, ethephon (2-chloroethylphosphonic acid, 1% w/w in lanolin), although ethephon alone had little effect. JA-Me stimulated ethylene production of the first internodes of tulips, ethylene production increasing up to more than 5 times at day 1 and day 3 after the application. On the other hand, application of ethephon did not increase endogenous levels of jasmonates in tulip stems. Analysis of composition of tulip gums revealed that they were consisted of glucuronoarabinoxylan with an average molecular weight of ca. 700 kDa. JA-Me strongly decreased the total amount of soluble sugars in tulip stems even in 1 day after application, being ca. 50% of initial values 5 days after application, but ethephon did not. However, both JA-Me and ethephon had almost no effect on the neutral sugar compositions of soluble sugars mainly consisting of glucose, mannose and xylose in ratio of 20:2:1 and traces of arabinose. Both JA-Me and ethephon applied exogenously stimulated senescence of tulip shoots shown by the loss of chlorophyll. These results strongly suggest that the essential factor of gummosis in tulips is jasmonates affecting the sugar metabolism in tulip shoots. The mode of action of jasmonates to induce gummosis of tulip shoots is discussed in relation to ethylene production, sugar metabolism and senescence.

Structure of a eukaryotic SWEET transporter in a homotrimeric complex

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tao, Yuyong; Cheung, Lily S.; Li, Shuo

Eukaryotes rely on efficient distribution of energy and carbon skeletons between organs in the form of sugars. Glucose in animals and sucrose in plants serve as the dominant distribution forms. Cellular sugar uptake and release require vesicular and/or plasma membrane transport proteins. Humans and plants use proteins from three superfamilies for sugar translocation: the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), the sodium solute symporter family (SSF; only in the animal kingdom), and SWEETs. SWEETs carry mono- and disaccharides across vacuolar or plasma membranes. Plant SWEETs play key roles in sugar translocation between compartments, cells, and organs, notably in nectar secretion, phloem loadingmore » for long distance translocation, pollen nutrition, and seed filling. Plant SWEETs cause pathogen susceptibility possibly by sugar leakage from infected cells. The vacuolar Arabidopsis thaliana AtSWEET2 sequesters sugars in root vacuoles; loss-of-function mutants show increased susceptibility to Pythium infection. In this paper, we show that its orthologue, the vacuolar glucose transporter OsSWEET2b from rice (Oryza sativa), consists of an asymmetrical pair of triple-helix bundles, connected by an inversion linker transmembrane helix (TM4) to create the translocation pathway. Structural and biochemical analyses show OsSWEET2b in an apparent inward (cytosolic) open state forming homomeric trimers. TM4 tightly interacts with the first triple-helix bundle within a protomer and mediates key contacts among protomers. Structure-guided mutagenesis of the close paralogue SWEET1 from Arabidopsis identified key residues in substrate translocation and protomer crosstalk. Finally, insights into the structure–function relationship of SWEETs are valuable for understanding the transport mechanism of eukaryotic SWEETs and may be useful for engineering sugar flux.« less

Structure of a eukaryotic SWEET transporter in a homotrimeric complex

DOE PAGES

Tao, Yuyong; Cheung, Lily S.; Li, Shuo; ...

2015-10-19

Eukaryotes rely on efficient distribution of energy and carbon skeletons between organs in the form of sugars. Glucose in animals and sucrose in plants serve as the dominant distribution forms. Cellular sugar uptake and release require vesicular and/or plasma membrane transport proteins. Humans and plants use proteins from three superfamilies for sugar translocation: the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), the sodium solute symporter family (SSF; only in the animal kingdom), and SWEETs. SWEETs carry mono- and disaccharides across vacuolar or plasma membranes. Plant SWEETs play key roles in sugar translocation between compartments, cells, and organs, notably in nectar secretion, phloem loadingmore » for long distance translocation, pollen nutrition, and seed filling. Plant SWEETs cause pathogen susceptibility possibly by sugar leakage from infected cells. The vacuolar Arabidopsis thaliana AtSWEET2 sequesters sugars in root vacuoles; loss-of-function mutants show increased susceptibility to Pythium infection. In this paper, we show that its orthologue, the vacuolar glucose transporter OsSWEET2b from rice (Oryza sativa), consists of an asymmetrical pair of triple-helix bundles, connected by an inversion linker transmembrane helix (TM4) to create the translocation pathway. Structural and biochemical analyses show OsSWEET2b in an apparent inward (cytosolic) open state forming homomeric trimers. TM4 tightly interacts with the first triple-helix bundle within a protomer and mediates key contacts among protomers. Structure-guided mutagenesis of the close paralogue SWEET1 from Arabidopsis identified key residues in substrate translocation and protomer crosstalk. Finally, insights into the structure–function relationship of SWEETs are valuable for understanding the transport mechanism of eukaryotic SWEETs and may be useful for engineering sugar flux.« less

Structure of a eukaryotic SWEET transporter in a homo-trimeric complex

PubMed Central

Li, Shuo; Eom, Joon-Seob; Chen, Li-Qing; Xu, Yan; Perry, Kay; Frommer, Wolf B.; Feng, Liang

2016-01-01

Eukaryotes rely on efficient distribution of energy and carbon skeletons between organs in the form of sugars. Glucose in animals and sucrose in plants serve as dominant distribution forms. Cellular sugar uptake and release require vesicular and/or plasma membrane transport proteins. Humans and plants use related proteins from three superfamilies for sugar translocation: the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), the sodium solute symporter Family (SSF; only animal kingdom), and SWEETs1-5. SWEETs carry mono- and disaccharides6 across vacuolar or plasma membranes. Plant SWEETs play key roles in sugar translocation between compartments, cells, and organs, notably in nectar secretion7, phloem loading for long distance translocation8, pollen nutrition9, and seed filling10. Plant SWEETs cause pathogen susceptibility by sugar leakage from infected cells3,11,12. The vacuolar AtSWEET2 sequesters sugars in root vacuoles; loss-of-function increases susceptibility to Pythium infection13. Here we show that its orthologue, the vacuolar glucose transporter OsSWEET2b from rice, consists of an asymmetrical pair of triple-helix-bundles (THBs), connected by an inversion linker helix (TM4) to create the translocation pathway. Structural and biochemical analyses show OsSWEET2b in an apparent inward (cytosolic) open state forming homomeric trimers. TM4 tightly interacts with the first THB within a protomer and mediates key contacts among protomers. Structure-guided mutagenesis of the close paralogue SWEET1 from Arabidopsis identified key residues in substrate translocation and protomer crosstalk. Insights into the structure-function relationship of SWEETs is valuable for understanding the transport mechanism of eukaryotic SWEETs and may be useful for engineering sugar flux. PMID:26479032

Sugar acetates as CO2-philes: molecular interactions and structure aspects from absorption measurement using quartz crystal microbalance.

PubMed

Ma, Shao-Ling; Wu, You-Ting; Hurrey, Michael L; Wallen, Scott L; Grant, Christine S

2010-03-25

Sugar acetates, recognized as attractive CO(2)-philic compounds, have potential uses as pharmaceutical excipients, controlled release agents, and surfactants for microemulsion systems in CO(2)-based processes. This study focuses on the quantitative examination of absorption of high pressure CO(2) into these sugar derivatives using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a detector. In addition to the absorption measurement, the QCM is initially found to be able to detect the CO(2)-induced deliquescence of sugar acetates, and the CO(2) pressure at which the deliquescence happens depends on several influencing factors such as the temperature and thickness of the film. The CO(2) absorption in alpha-D-glucose pentaacetate (Ac-alpha-GLU) is revealed to be of an order of magnitude larger in comparison with its anomer Ac-beta-GLU, whereas alpha-D-galactose pentaacetate (Ac-alpha-GAL) absorbs CO(2) less than Ac-alpha-GLU due to the steric-hindrance between the acetyl groups on the anomeric and C4 carbons, implying the significant importance of the molecular structure and configuration of sugar acetates on the absorption. The effects of molecular size and acetyl number of sugar acetates on the CO(2) absorption are evaluated and the results indicate that the conformation and packing of crystalline sugar acetate as well as the accessibility of the acetyls are also vital for the absorption of CO(2). It is additionally found that a CO(2)-induced change in the structure from a crystalline system to an amorphous system results in an order of magnitude increase in CO(2) absorption. Further investigation illustrates the interaction strength between sugar acetates and CO(2) by calculating the thermodynamic parameters such as Henry's law constant, enthalpy and entropy of dissolution from the determined CO(2) absorption. Experiments and calculations demonstrate that sugar acetates exhibit high CO(2) absorption, as at least comparable to ionic liquids. Since the ionic liquids have potential uses in the separation of acidic gases, it is evident from this study that sugar acetates could be used as possible materials for CO(2) separation.

Acute Effects of Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners on Small Intestinal Sugar Transport: A Study Using CaCo-2 Cells As an In Vitro Model of the Human Enterocyte.

PubMed

O'Brien, Patrick; Corpe, Christopher Peter

2016-01-01

The gastrointestinal tract is responsible for the assimilation of nutrients and plays a key role in the regulation of nutrient metabolism and energy balance. The molecular mechanisms by which intestinal sugar transport are regulated are controversial. Based on rodent studies, two models currently exist that involve activation of the sweet-taste receptor, T1R2/3: an indirect model, whereby luminal carbohydrates activate T1R2/3 expressed on enteroendocrine cells, resulting in the release of gut peptides which in turn regulate enterocyte sugar transport capacity; and a direct model, whereby T1R2/3 expressed on the enterocyte regulates enterocyte function. To study the direct model of intestinal sugar transport using CaCo-2 cells, a well-established in vitro model of the human enterocyte. Uptake of 10mM 14C D-Glucose and D-Fructose into confluent CaCo-2/TC7 cells was assessed following 3hr preincubation with sugars and artificial sweeteners in the presence and absence of the sweet taste receptor inhibitor, lactisole. Expression of the intestinal sugar transporters and sweet-taste receptors were also determined by RT-PCR. In response to short term changes in extracellular glucose and glucose/fructose concentrations (2.5mM to 75mM) carrier-mediated sugar uptake mediated by SGLT1 and/or the facilitative hexose transporters (GLUT1,2,3 and 5) was increased. Lactisole and artificial sweeteners had no effect on sugar transport regulated by glucose alone; however, lactisole increased glucose transport in cells exposed to glucose/fructose. RT-PCR revealed Tas1r3 and SGLT3 gene expression in CaCo-2/TC7 cells, but not Tas1r2. In the short term, enterocyte sugar transport activities respond directly to extracellular glucose levels, but not fructose or artificial sweeteners. We found no evidence of a functional heterodimeric sweet taste receptor, T1R2/3 in CaCo-2 cells. However, when glucose/fructose is administered together there is an inhibitory effect on glucose transport possibly mediated by T1R3.

Cross-sectional surveys of the amount of sugar, energy and caffeine in sugar-sweetened drinks marketed and consumed as energy drinks in the UK between 2015 and 2017: monitoring reformulation progress.

PubMed

Hashem, Kawther M; He, Feng J; MacGregor, Graham A

2017-12-14

To investigate the sugar, energy and caffeine content of sugar-sweetened drinks marketed and consumed as energy drinks available in the UK. We carried out a cross-sectional survey in 2015 and 2017 of energy drinks available in the main UK retailers. The sugar (sugars g/100 mL), energy (kcal/100 mL), caffeine (mg/100 mL) and serving size were collected from product packaging and nutrition information panels of energy drinks available in the nine main UK grocery retailers, three health and beauty retailers and one convenience store. The number of formulations (per 100 mL) and number of products (per serving) have fallen (from 75 to 49 and from 90 to 59) between 2015 and 2017, respectively. Energy drinks surveyed showed a 10% reduction in sugar, from 10.6 to 9.5 g/100 mL (P=0.011) and a 6% reduction in energy content (P=0.005) per 100 mL between 2015 and 2017. The average caffeine content of energy drinks, with a warning label, has remained high at 31.5±0.9 in 2015 and 31.3±1.0 mg/100 mL in 2017. Despite there being reductions, sugar, energy and caffeine content remain at concerning levels in 2017. To reduce the harmful impact of energy drinks, further reduction in sugar and a reduction in caffeine by reformulation are urgently needed. Other measures such as ban on the sale of energy drinks to children and smaller product sizes should also be explored, while warning labels should be kept. A reduction in sugar, energy and caffeine content and overall energy drinks consumption could be beneficial in reducing sugar, energy and caffeine intake of consumers of energy drinks. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Determinants of knowledge and attitudes about sugar and the association of knowledge and attitudes with sugar intake among adults: A systematic review.

PubMed

Gupta, Adyya; Smithers, Lisa G; Harford, Jane; Merlin, Tracy; Braunack-Mayer, Annette

2018-07-01

Efforts to reduce sugar intake levels have been primarily limited to increasing knowledge and changing attitudes. We conducted a systematic review to (1) identify factors influencing adults' knowledge and attitudes about sugar, and (2) determine if there is an association between knowledge and attitudes about sugar and sugar intake. We searched 15 electronic databases from inception to December 2016 for English language publications including adults with relevant exposure and outcome measures. Findings were summarised meta-narratively. Of 3287 studies, 22 studies (14 for objective one and 8 for objective two) were included. Individual (liking of sugary food), interpersonal (attitudes of peers) and environmental factors (media, health professionals and food labelling) influenced adults' knowledge and attitudes about sugar, at least to some extent. Overall, quality of the studies included in our review was weak, and evidence for the application of the Knowledge-Attitude-Behavior model for understanding sugar intake is limited. Protocol registered in the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews (registration number CRD42015027540). Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Readiness to change sugar sweetened beverage intake among college students.

PubMed

Huffman, Laura; West, Delia Smith

2007-01-01

The prevalence of obesity is a topic of concern in the United States, especially among children and young adults, and there is also a growing concern that sugared beverage consumption may contribute to increasing obesity rates. However, few studies to date have examined sugar sweetened beverage consumption trends in college students. This study investigated self-reported sugared beverage consumption, nutritional knowledge, and readiness to change sugar sweetened beverage intake in college students (N=201; 33% minority). On average, non-overweight students reported significantly greater intake of sugared beverages than overweight students, and minority students reported greater consumption than Caucasians. A substantial majority of the sample (69%) reported that they had recently reduced their intake or were maintaining a reduction in intake. However, even those students indicating reduction in consumption reported intake of at least one sugar sweetened beverage daily. This suggests that high calorie beverage intake is a significant concern among young adult college-aged populations and that interventions targeting excess sugar sweetened beverage intake may have a role in obesity prevention efforts for this population.

Comparative study of the physicochemical, nutritional, and antioxidant properties of some commercial refined and non-centrifugal sugars.

PubMed

Lee, Jong Suk; Ramalingam, Srinivasan; Jo, Il Guk; Kwon, Ye Som; Bahuguna, Ashutosh; Oh, Young Sook; Kwon, O-Jun; Kim, Myunghee

2018-07-01

Three refined and four unrefined branded commercial sugars available in Korea were investigated in terms of pH, soluble solids, moisture, ash content, turbidity, color values, microbial profile, reducing power, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activities, cellular antioxidant activity, and total phytoconstituent (i.e. phenolic, flavonoid, mineral, sucrose, glucose, and fructose) contents using standard analytical protocols such as high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography-flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. All tested physicochemical parameters were within the recommended standard levels. Significantly high nutritional and antioxidant properties were observed for the unrefined sugars, especially AUNO® sugar, whereas a high sucrose content was detected for the refined sugars. Hence, this study revealed that the degree of purification affects the nutritional values and antioxidant potentials of sugars. The present findings also indicate that unrefined sugars can be used as sweeteners in sugar-based cuisine to obtain nutritional and antioxidant-rich foodstuff. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors related to reducing free sugar intake among white ethnic adults in the UK: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Rawahi, Said Harith Al; Asimakopoulou, Koula; Newton, Jonathon Timothy

2018-01-01

To determine the barriers and enablers to behavioural change to reduce free sugar intake related to dental caries in a sample of UK adults who identify their ethnicity as White. Qualitative study comprising semi-structured interviews of 27 participants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis methods. The Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour model (COM-B) and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) were used to guide the derivation of themes. Data saturation occurred at 27 interviews. The COM-B Model and TDF domains captured various factors that may influence the consumption of free sugar. TDF elements which are reflected in the study are: Knowledge; Psychological skills; Memory, attention, and decision processes; Behavioural regulation; Physical skills; Social influence; Environmental context and resources; Social and professional role and identity; Beliefs about capabilities; Beliefs about consequence; Intentions and goals reinforcement; and Emotions. COM-B Model elements which are reflected in the study are: psychological capabilities, physical capabilities, social opportunities, physical opportunities, reflective motivation, and automatic motivation. The COM-B model and TDF framework provided a comprehensive account of the barriers and facilitators of reducing sugar intake among white ethnic groups.

The Untapped Power of Soda Taxes: Incentivizing Consumers, Generating Revenue, and Altering Corporate Behavior

PubMed Central

Roache, Sarah A.; Gostin, Lawrence O.

2017-01-01

Globally, soda taxes are gaining momentum as powerful interventions to discourage sugar consumption and thereby reduce the growing burden of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Evidence from early adopters including Mexico and Berkeley, California, confirms that soda taxes can disincentivize consumption through price increases and raise revenue to support government programs. The United Kingdom’s new graduated levy on sweetened beverages is yielding yet another powerful impact: soda manufacturers are reformulating their beverages to significantly reduce the sugar content. Product reformulation – whether incentivized or mandatory – helps reduce overconsumption of sugars at the societal level, moving away from the long-standing notion of individual responsibility in favor of collective strategies to promote health. But as a matter of health equity, soda product reformulation should occur globally, especially in low- and middleincome countries (LMICs), which are increasingly targeted as emerging markets for soda and junk food and are disproportionately impacted by NCDs. As global momentum for sugar reduction increases, governments and public health advocates should harness the power of soda taxes to tackle the economic, social, and informational drivers of soda consumption, driving improvements in food environments and the public’s health. PMID:28949460

2013 R&D 100 Award: DNATrax could revolutionize air quality detection and tracking

ScienceCinema

Farquar, George

2018-01-16

A team of LLNL scientists and engineers has developed a safe and versatile material, known as DNA Tagged Reagents for Aerosol Experiments (DNATrax), that can be used to reliably and rapidly diagnose airflow patterns and problems in both indoor and outdoor venues. Until DNATrax particles were developed, no rapid or safe way existed to validate air transport models with realistic particles in the range of 1-10 microns. Successful DNATrax testing was conducted at the Pentagon in November 2012 in conjunction with the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. This study enhanced the team's understanding of indoor ventilation environments created by heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. DNATrax are particles comprised of sugar and synthetic DNA that serve as a bar code for the particle. The potential for creating unique bar-coded particles is virtually unlimited, thus allowing for simultaneous and repeated releases, which dramatically reduces the costs associated with conducting tests for contaminants. Among the applications for the new material are indoor air quality detection, for homes, offices, ships and airplanes; urban particulate tracking, for subway stations, train stations, and convention centers; environmental release tracking; and oil and gas uses, including fracking, to better track fluid flow.

2013 R&D 100 Award: DNATrax could revolutionize air quality detection and tracking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farquar, George

A team of LLNL scientists and engineers has developed a safe and versatile material, known as DNA Tagged Reagents for Aerosol Experiments (DNATrax), that can be used to reliably and rapidly diagnose airflow patterns and problems in both indoor and outdoor venues. Until DNATrax particles were developed, no rapid or safe way existed to validate air transport models with realistic particles in the range of 1-10 microns. Successful DNATrax testing was conducted at the Pentagon in November 2012 in conjunction with the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. This study enhanced the team's understanding of indoor ventilation environments created by heating, ventilationmore » and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. DNATrax are particles comprised of sugar and synthetic DNA that serve as a bar code for the particle. The potential for creating unique bar-coded particles is virtually unlimited, thus allowing for simultaneous and repeated releases, which dramatically reduces the costs associated with conducting tests for contaminants. Among the applications for the new material are indoor air quality detection, for homes, offices, ships and airplanes; urban particulate tracking, for subway stations, train stations, and convention centers; environmental release tracking; and oil and gas uses, including fracking, to better track fluid flow.« less

Mary Poppins was right: Adding small amounts of sugar or salt reduces the bitterness of vegetables.

PubMed

Bakke, Alyssa J; Stubbs, Cody A; McDowell, Elliott H; Moding, Kameron J; Johnson, Susan L; Hayes, John E

2018-07-01

Only a quarter of adults and 7% of children consume recommended amounts of vegetables each day. Often vegetables are not initially palatable due to bitterness, which may lead children and adults to refuse to taste or eat them. The objective of this research was to determine if very small amounts of sugar or salt (common household ingredients) could lead to significant reductions in bitterness intensity and increased hedonic ratings of green vegetable purees. For Experiment 1, three different green vegetable purees (broccoli, spinach, and kale) were prepared with different levels of sugar (0%, 0.6%, 1.2%, and 1.8%) or salt (0 and 0.2%). Samples were evaluated using standard descriptive analysis techniques with nine adults who completed more than 20 h of green vegetable specific training as a group. For Experiment 2, each vegetable puree was prepared with either 0% or 2% sugar, and bitterness was assessed via a forced choice task with 84 adults. For Experiment 3, each vegetable puree was prepared with 0%, 1%, or 2% sugar and rated for liking on standard 9 point hedonic scales by 99 adults. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that addition of small amounts of sugar and salt each reduced the bitterness (and increased sweetness and saltiness) from all three vegetables without altering other sensory properties (e.g. texture or aroma). Experiment 3 showed that adding sugar to vegetable purees increased hedonic ratings for adult consumers. We also found parents had mixed attitudes about the idea of adding sugar to foods intended for infants and toddlers. Further research on the effects of bitterness masking especially for specific populations (e.g., infants and young children or adults who have higher sensitivity to bitter taste) is warranted. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of sugar rich diet on brain serotonin, hyperphagia and anxiety in animal model of both genders.

PubMed

Inam, Qurrat-ul-Aen; Ikram, Huma; Shireen, Erum; Haleem, Darakhshan Jabeen

2016-05-01

Lower levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT; serotonin) in the brain elicit sugar craving, while ingestion of sugar rich diet improves mood and alleviates anxiety. Gender differences occur not only in brain serotonin metabolism but also in a serotonin mediated functional responses. The present study was therefore designed to investigate gender related differences on the effects of long term consumption of sugar rich diet on the metabolism of serotonin in the hypothalamus and whole brain which may be relevant with the hyperphagic and anxiety reducing effects of sugar rich diet. Male and female rats were fed freely on a sugar rich diet for five weeks. Hyperphagic effects were monitored by measuring total food intake and body weights changes during the intervention. Anxiolytic effects of sugar rich diet was monitored in light-dark transition test. The results show that ingestion of sugar rich diet decreased serotonin metabolism more in female than male rats. Anxiolytic effects were elicited only in male rats. Hyperphagia was comparable in both male and female rats. Finings would help in understanding the role of sugar rich diet-induced greater decreases of serotonin in sweet craving in women during stress.

Development of tuberous roots and sugar accumulation as related to invertase activity and mineral nutrition.

PubMed

Ricardo, C P; Sovia, D

1974-03-01

Sucrose storage in tuberous roots was not observed when the tissues had very high activities of acid invertase. High activities of the enzyme were always present in the roots at early stages of their development. In species where the activity of the enzyme decreased during root development, sucrose was stored. Thus, acid invertase was undetectable in mature roots of carrots (Daucus carota L.) where sucrose formed almost 80% of the dry matter. Conversely, radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and turnip (Brassica rapa L.) roots, in which the activity of the enzyme remained high until maturity, did not store appreciable amounts of sucrose (2% and 9%, respectively, of the dry matter in the mature roots), reducing sugars being the main reserve (more than 80% of the dry matter in mature turnips). The correlation between sucrose content and acid invertase activity was furthermore evident in both sucrose- and hexose-storing roots when the activity of this enzyme was affected by changes in the mineral nutrition. Deficiencies of nitrogen and sulphur reduced the activity of acid and alkaline invertases and led to increase in sucrose content and decrease in reducing sugars. However, the decline of alkaline invertase activity in tissues low in acid invertase had no clear effect on sugar content. Sodium chloride (10(-1)M) affected acid invertase and sugars in a manner similar to that of the two deficiencies, but had practically no effect on alkaline invertase. The changes in sugar content produced by the variations in mineral nutrition were small in hexose-storing roots in relation to those of sucrose-storing roots. It is possible that this result is related to the different levels of acid invertase in the two types of roots.

Effect of increasing the price of sugar-sweetened beverages on alcoholic beverage purchases: an economic analysis of sales data.

PubMed

Quirmbach, Diana; Cornelsen, Laura; Jebb, Susan A; Marteau, Theresa; Smith, Richard

2018-04-01

Taxing soft-drinks may reduce their purchase, but assessing the impact on health demands wider consideration on alternative beverage choices. Effects on alcoholic drinks are of particular concern, as many contain similar or greater amounts of sugar than soft-drinks and have additional health harms. Changes in consumption of alcoholic drinks may reinforce or negate the intended effect of price changes for soft-drinks. A partial demand model, adapted from the Almost Ideal Demand System, was applied to Kantar Worldpanel data from 31 919 households from January 2012 to December 2013, covering drink purchases for home consumption, providing ~6 million purchases aggregated into 11 groups, including three levels of soft-drink, three of other non-alcoholic drinks and five of alcoholic drinks. An increase in the price of high-sugar drinks leads to an increase in the purchase of lager, an increase in the price of medium-sugar drinks reduces purchases of alcoholic drinks, while an increase in the price of diet/low-sugar drinks increases purchases of beer, cider and wines. Overall, the effects of price rises are greatest in the low-income group. Increasing the price of soft-drinks may change purchase patterns for alcohol. Increasing the price of medium-sugar drinks has the potential to have a multiplier-effect beneficial to health through reducing alcohol purchases, with the converse for increases in the price of diet-drinks. Although the reasons for such associations cannot be explained from this analysis, requiring further study, the design of fiscal interventions should now consider these wider potential outcomes. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Effect of increasing the price of sugar-sweetened beverages on alcoholic beverage purchases: an economic analysis of sales data

PubMed Central

Quirmbach, Diana; Cornelsen, Laura; Jebb, Susan A; Marteau, Theresa; Smith, Richard

2018-01-01

Background Taxing soft-drinks may reduce their purchase, but assessing the impact on health demands wider consideration on alternative beverage choices. Effects on alcoholic drinks are of particular concern, as many contain similar or greater amounts of sugar than soft-drinks and have additional health harms. Changes in consumption of alcoholic drinks may reinforce or negate the intended effect of price changes for soft-drinks. Methods A partial demand model, adapted from the Almost Ideal Demand System, was applied to Kantar Worldpanel data from 31 919 households from January 2012 to December 2013, covering drink purchases for home consumption, providing ~6 million purchases aggregated into 11 groups, including three levels of soft-drink, three of other non-alcoholic drinks and five of alcoholic drinks. Results An increase in the price of high-sugar drinks leads to an increase in the purchase of lager, an increase in the price of medium-sugar drinks reduces purchases of alcoholic drinks, while an increase in the price of diet/low-sugar drinks increases purchases of beer, cider and wines. Overall, the effects of price rises are greatest in the low-income group. Conclusion Increasing the price of soft-drinks may change purchase patterns for alcohol. Increasing the price of medium-sugar drinks has the potential to have a multiplier-effect beneficial to health through reducing alcohol purchases, with the converse for increases in the price of diet-drinks. Although the reasons for such associations cannot be explained from this analysis, requiring further study, the design of fiscal interventions should now consider these wider potential outcomes. PMID:29363613

QTL Analyses in Multiple Populations Employed for the Fine Mapping and Identification of Candidate Genes at a Locus Affecting Sugar Accumulation in Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

PubMed Central

Argyris, Jason M.; Díaz, Aurora; Ruggieri, Valentino; Fernández, Marta; Jahrmann, Torben; Gibon, Yves; Picó, Belén; Martín-Hernández, Ana M.; Monforte, Antonio J.; Garcia-Mas, Jordi

2017-01-01

Sugar content is the major determinant of both fruit quality and consumer acceptance in melon (Cucumis melo L), and is a primary target for crop improvement. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) derived from the intraspecific cross between a “Piel de Sapo” (PS) type and the exotic cultivar “Songwhan Charmi” (SC), and several populations generated from the cross of PS × Ames 24294 (“Trigonus”), a wild melon, were used to identify QTL related to sugar and organic acid composition. Seventy-eight QTL were detected across several locations and different years, with three important clusters related to sugar content located on chromosomes 4, 5, and 7. Two PS × SC NILs (SC5-1 and SC5-2) sharing a common genomic interval of 1.7 Mb at the top of chromosome 5 contained QTL reducing soluble solids content (SSC) and sucrose content by an average of 29 and 68%, respectively. This cluster collocated with QTL affecting sugar content identified in other studies in lines developed from the PS × SC cross and supported the presence of a stable consensus locus involved in sugar accumulation that we named SUCQSC5.1. QTL reducing soluble solids and sucrose content identified in the “Trigonus” mapping populations, as well as QTL identified in previous studies from other ssp. agrestis sources, collocated with SUCQSC5.1, suggesting that they may be allelic and implying a role in domestication. In subNILs derived from the PS × SC5-1 cross, SUCQSC5.1 reduced SSC and sucrose content by an average of 18 and 34%, respectively, and was fine-mapped to a 56.1 kb interval containing four genes. Expression analysis of the candidate genes in mature fruit showed differences between the subNILs with PS alleles that were “high” sugar and SC alleles of “low” sugar phenotypes for MELO3C014519, encoding a putative BEL1-like homeodomain protein. Sequence differences in the gene predicted to affect protein function were restricted to SC and other ssp. agrestis cultivar groups. These results provide the basis for further investigation of genes affecting sugar accumulation in melon. PMID:29018473

Sugar-Responsive Layer-by-Layer Film Composed of Phenylboronic Acid-Appended Insulin and Poly(vinyl alcohol).

PubMed

Takei, Chihiro; Ohno, Yui; Seki, Tomohiro; Miki, Ryotaro; Seki, Toshinobu; Egawa, Yuya

2018-01-01

Previous studies have shown that reversible chemical bond formation between phenylboronic acid (PBA) and 1,3-diol can be utilized as the driving force for the preparation of layer-by-layer (LbL) films. The LbL films composed of a PBA-appended polymer and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) disintegrated in the presence of sugar. This type of LbL films has been recognized as a promising approach for sugar-responsive drug release systems, but an issue preventing the practical application of LbL films is combining them with insulin. In this report, we have proposed a solution for this issue by using PBA-appended insulin as a component of the LbL film. We prepared two kinds of PBA-appended insulin derivatives and confirmed that they retained their hypoglycemic activity. The LbL films composed of PBA-appended insulin and PVA were successfully prepared through reversible chemical bond formation between the boronic acid moiety and the 1,3-diol of PVA. The LbL film disintegrated upon treatment with sugars. Based on the results presented herein, we discuss the suitability of the PBA moiety with respect to hypoglycemic activity, binding ability, and selectivity for D-glucose.

A rare sugar, d-allose, confers resistance to rice bacterial blight with upregulation of defense-related genes in Oryza sativa.

PubMed

Kano, Akihito; Gomi, Kenji; Yamasaki-Kokudo, Yumiko; Satoh, Masaru; Fukumoto, Takeshi; Ohtani, Kouhei; Tajima, Shigeyuki; Izumori, Ken; Tanaka, Keiji; Ishida, Yutaka; Tada, Yasuomi; Nishizawa, Yoko; Akimitsu, Kazuya

2010-01-01

We investigated responses of rice plant to three rare sugars, d-altrose, d-sorbose, and d-allose, due to establishment of mass production methods for these rare sugars. Root growth and shoot growth were significantly inhibited by d-allose but not by the other rare sugars. A large-scale gene expression analysis using a rice microarray revealed that d-allose treatment causes a high upregulation of many defense-related, pathogenesis-related (PR) protein genes in rice. The PR protein genes were not upregulated by other rare sugars. Furthermore, d-allose treatment of rice plants conferred limited resistance of the rice against the pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae but the other tested sugars did not. These results indicate that d-allose has a growth inhibitory effect but might prove to be a candidate elicitor for reducing disease development in rice.

High Titer and Yields Achieved with Novel, Low-Severity Pretreatment Strategy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NREL researchers obtained high concentration sugar syrups in enzymatic hydrolysis that are fermentable to ethanol and other advanced biofuels and intermediate products at high yields. The novel DMR process is simpler and bypasses all severe pretreatment methods, thus reducing the environmental impact. The results are unprecedented. Researchers achieved a high concentration of sugars (230g/L of monomeric sugar and 270 g/L total sugar) and this low toxicity, highly fermentable syrup yielded 86 g/L ethanol (> 90 percent conversion). In addition, the lignin streams from this process can readily be converted to jet or renewable diesel blendstocks through a hydrodeoxygenation step. Themore » NREL-developed, low severity DMR process may potentially replace higher severity chemical pretreatments and associated expensive reactors constructed of exotic alloys with a simpler process, using commercial-scale equipment commonly associated with the pulp and paper industry, to produce high concentration, low toxicity sugar streams and highly reactive lignin streams from non-food renewable biomass for biological and catalytic upgrading to advanced biofuels and chemicals. The simpler DMR process with black liquor recycling could reduce environmental and life-cycle impacts, and repurpose shuttered pulp and paper mills to help revitalize rural economies.« less

Food sources of free sugars in children's diet and identification of lifestyle patterns associated with free sugars intake: the GRECO (Greek Childhood Obesity) study.

PubMed

Farajian, Paul; Risvas, Grigoris; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes B; Zampelas, Antonis

2016-09-01

Excessive free sugars consumption has a possible role in health issues, diet quality and obesity development. The present cross-sectional study aimed to identify the major food sources of free sugars in Greek children's diet and investigate possible associations of dietary patterns with free sugars intake. Anthropometric measurements and information on dietary and physical activity habits were obtained. Energy and free sugars intake coming from foods were estimated and principal components analysis was applied to identify dietary patterns. The GRECO (Greek Childhood Obesity) study. Nationwide sample of 3089 children (aged 10-12 years). Adopting WHO criteria, 44·2 % of participants were categorized as having free sugars intake above 10 % of total energy intake. Mean contribution of free sugars to energy intake was 11·2 %, and the major food sources of free sugars differed from those of other childhood populations. Free sugars intake was not associated with overweight/obesity. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that two lifestyle and dietary patterns, characterized by higher consumption of sweets, fast foods, fries, sugared drinks, frequently ordering/eating outside home and having meals in front of a screen (pattern 1) and higher consumption of whole fruits, 100 % fruit juices, vegetables, legumes and honey/jam (pattern 2), were positively associated with free sugars intake. A large proportion of children exceeded the recommended cut-off and free sugars intake was associated with lifestyle patterns rather than single foods. Public health programmes aiming to reduce free sugars consumption should be tailored on promoting the correct dietary habits of specific childhood populations.

Production of reducing sugar from Enteromorpha intestinalis by hydrothermal and enzymatic hydrolysis.

PubMed

Kim, Dong-Hyun; Lee, Sang-Bum; Jeong, Gwi-Taek

2014-06-01

In this work, to evaluate the efficacy of marine macro-algae Enteromorpha intestinalis as a potential bioenergy resource, the effects of reaction conditions (solid-to-liquid ratio, reaction temperature, and reaction time) on sugars produced by a combined process of hydrothermal and enzymatic hydrolysis were investigated. As a result of the hydrothermal hydrolysis, a 7.3g/L (8% yield) total reducing sugar was obtained under conditions including solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:10, reaction temperature of 170°C, and reaction time of 60min. By subsequent (post-hydrothermal) enzymatic hydrolysis of samples treated at 170°C for 30min, a 20.1g/L (22% yield) was achieved. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Azhar, A.; Hamdy, M.K.

Use of ultrafiltration membrane systems in stirred cell and in thin-channel systems for immobilizing enzyme (sweet potato intrinsic and crystalline /beta/-amylase) in hydrolysis of sweet potato through a continuous operation mode were studied. Both the filtration rate and reducing sugars, produced as the result of enzymatic hydrolysis, decreased with the filtration time. THe immobilized enzymes in the thin-channel system showed a much better performance compared to that in the stirred cell system. Addition of crystalline sweet potato /beta/-amylase to the sweet potato increased both the filtration rate and reducing-sugars content. Alcoholic fermentation of the filtrate resulted in an alcohol contentmore » of 4.2%. This represented fermentation of 95% of the sugars with an efficiency of 88%. 17 refs.« less

Registration of ‘CP 08-1110’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘CP 08-1110’ (Reg. No.CV-171; PI 678579) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) was developed through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. and released to growers for mineral (sand) soils in Florida in October 2014...

Registration of ‘CP 06-2042’ Sugarcane

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

‘CP 06-2042’ (Reg. No.CV-169; PI 675156) sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) was developed through cooperative research conducted by the USDA-ARS, the University of Florida, and the Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc., and released to growers for organic (muck) and mineral (sand) soils in Fl...

Flammability studies of impregnated paper sheets

Treesearch

Ivan Simkovic; Anne Fuller; Robert White

2011-01-01

Paper sheets impregnated with flame retardants made from agricultural residues and other additives were studied with the cone calorimeter. The use of sugar beet ethanol eluent (SBE), CaCl2, and ZnCl2 lowered the peak rate of heat release (PRHR) the most in comparison to water treated material. The average effective heat of...

Evaluation of nutritional quality and antioxidant potential of pigeonpea genotypes.

PubMed

Sekhon, Japjot; Grewal, Satvir Kaur; Singh, Inderjit; Kaur, Jagmeet

2017-10-01

Three released cultivars, forty four advance breeding lines and three wild species of pigeonpea ( Cajanus cajan L. Millsp) were evaluated for nutritional, antinutritional traits and antioxidant potential so as to identify promising genotypes. The average content of total soluble sugars, starch and total soluble proteins was found to be 43.66, 360.51 and 204.54 mg/g, respectively. Antioxidant potential in terms of free radical scavenging activity (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), reducing power, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity was estimated. The diversity was observed in genotypes with all the traits. AL 1960, AL 2000, AL 2009 and AL 2046 had high total soluble proteins, medium antinutritional factors and good antioxidant potential. AL 201, AL 1931, AL 1932, AL 1960, AL 2046, AL 2049 and AL 2060 had good nutritional value as protein and starch content ranged from 20 to 23 and 42 to 52%, respectively. Wild species C. scarabaeoides 1CP15683/W15 had lower carbohydrates, proteins, and antinutritional traits while high antioxidant potential due to high total phenols, DPPH, FRAP and reducing power. The diversity observed in genotypes with all the traits could be further used to develop nutritionally important genotypes.

Endoglycosidase and glycoamidase release of N-linked oligosaccharides.

PubMed

Freeze, H H

2001-05-01

Carbohydrate chain modifications are often used to monitor glycoprotein movement through the secretory pathway. This is because stepwise sugar-chain processing is unidirectional and generally corresponds to the forward or anterograde movement of proteins. This unit offers a group of techniques that will help analyze the general structure of carbohydrate chains on a protein and, therefore, oligosaccharide processing mileposts. The sugar chains themselves are not analyzed, but their presence and structure are inferred from gel mobility differences after one or more enzymatic digestions. This approach is most often used in combination with [35S]Met pulse-chase metabolic labeling protocols, but they can be applied to any suitably labeled protein (e.g., biotinylated or 125I-labeled).

Production of nanoparticles under benign conditions using vitamins, sugars, glutathione and polyphenols from tea and winery

EPA Science Inventory

In continuation of our developmental program for sustainable pathways to nanomaterials, an account of greener preparation of nanoparticles utilizing naturally occurring reagents such as vitamins, sugars, tea extracts, and biodegradable polymers will be presented which reduces or ...

Toward a physiology of dual-process reasoning and judgment: lemonade, willpower, and expensive rule-based analysis.

PubMed

Masicampo, E J; Baumeister, Roy F

2008-03-01

This experiment used the attraction effect to test the hypothesis that ingestion of sugar can reduce reliance on intuitive, heuristic-based decision making. In the attraction effect, a difficult choice between two options is swayed by the presence of a seemingly irrelevant "decoy" option. We replicated this effect and the finding that the effect increases when people have depleted their mental resources performing a previous self-control task. Our hypothesis was based on the assumption that effortful processes require and consume relatively large amounts of glucose (brain fuel), and that this use of glucose is why people use heuristic strategies after exerting self-control. Before performing any tasks, some participants drank lemonade sweetened with sugar, which restores blood glucose, whereas others drank lemonade containing a sugar substitute. Only lemonade with sugar reduced the attraction effect. These results show one way in which the body (blood glucose) interacts with the mind (self-control and reliance on heuristics).

Saccharification of woody biomass using glycoside hydrolases from Stereum hirsutum.

PubMed

Jeya, Marimuthu; Kalyani, Dayanand; Dhiman, Saurabh Sudha; Kim, Hoon; Woo, Seongmin; Kim, Dongwook; Lee, Jung-Kul

2012-08-01

Enzymatic saccharification of woody biomasses was performed using glycoside hydrolases from Stereum hirsutum, a newly isolated fungal strain found to secrete efficient glycoside hydrolases. The strain showed the highest β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, endoglucanase, endoxylanase, laccase, and filter paper activity of 10.3, 1.7, 10.3, 29.9, 0.12, and 0.58 U/ml, respectively. Among the various biomasses tested for saccharification, pine biomass produced maximum reducing sugar. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the hydrolysis of pine biomass to achieve the highest level of sugars. The parameters including enzyme, substrate concentration, temperature and pH were found to be critical for the conversion of pine biomass into sugars. Maximum saccharification of 49.7% (435 mg/g-substrate) was obtained after 96 h of hydrolysis. A close agreement between the experimental results and the model predictions was achieved. S. hirsutum could be a good choice for the production of reducing sugars from cellulosic biomasses. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acrylamide monitoring in Switzerland, 2007-2009: results and conclusions.

PubMed

Biedermann, M; Grundbock, F; Fiselier, K; Biedermann, S; Burgi, C; Grob, K

2010-10-01

Parallel to the European Union acrylamide monitoring for the years 2007-2009, Switzerland performed its own monitoring, covering the whole range of products that significantly contain acrylamide (almost 300 samples per year), but focusing on those products that may result in high exposure. As reducing sugars are critical for potato products, these were included. No significant change, particularly improvement, was noticed, especially regarding those products for which substantial potential for improvement is known. 'Western-style' French fries continued to contain some four times more reducing sugars than 'traditional' fries, with correspondingly higher acrylamide in the finished product. The supply of raw potatoes low in reducing sugars by retail shops needs improvement, but there seemed to be insufficient willingness on a voluntary basis. A foreign producer was successful in penetrating the Swiss market with special potato chips containing up to 7000 microg kg(-1) acrylamide and only harsh measures could stop this. Three of about 61 products in the group of bakery ware showed a marked improvement. But there was also a store brand cracker that competed with a leading brand which contained 15 times more acrylamide (845 microg kg(-1)). Cereals contained 1080 microg kg(-1) acrylamide and even a warning did not prompt the producer to sell substantially better products one year later. It seems that only measures by the authorities will achieve improvements. The following seem promising: a limit for reducing sugars in prefabricates for French fries; the improved supply of raw potatoes low in sugars for roasting and frying; a legal limit for acrylamide content in potato chips; a general provision that products must not contain substantially more acrylamide than achievable by good manufacturing practice; and fryers with a temperature profile from an initial high to a lower final value.

Combination of endovascular graft exclusion and drug therapy in AAA with hypertension or hyperglycemia.

PubMed

Wang, Dile; Qu, Bihui; He, Tao

2017-08-01

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of combination of endovascular graft exclusion and drugs for hypertension/hyperglycemia for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We analyzed 156 patients with AAA. Eighty-four patients were hypertensive and 72 were hyperglycemic. After endovascular graft exclusion, hypertensive patients were divided into four groups and treated with cyclopenthiazide, reserpine, propranolol, and placebo respectively. Hyperglycemic patients were divided into three groups and treated with metformin, insulin, and placebo respectively. Body temperature and peripheral blood leukocytes were measured at day 1, 2, 7, and 14 after endovascular graft exclusion. Size of AAAs, blood pressure, and blood sugar were measured again after 1 year. In hypertensive patients, the size of AAAs reduced after endovascular graft exclusion, while the combined treatments with cyclopenthiazide, reserpine, or propranolol helped to reduce blood pressure (blood pressure decrease <10 mmHg (18/21), <10 mmHg (12/21), <10 mmHg (8/21), and <10 mmHg (10/21) in the control group, cyclopenthiazide group, reserpine group, and propranolol group, respectively. AAA size decreased in the control group (P<0.001) and in the other three groups (P<0.0001). Similar results were obtained in hyperglycemic patients. The size of AAAs reduced after endovascular graft exclusion. Combined treatment with Metformin and Insulin reduced blood sugar (control, blood sugar >7.8 mmol/L (22/24), AAA size (P<0.001); metformin, blood sugar >7.8 mmol/L (14/24), AAA size (P<0.0001); insulin, blood sugar >7.8 mmol/L (11/24), AAA size (P<0.0001). Combination of endovascular graft exclusion with medicine is more effective than the former treatment alone for AAA therapy.

Does information about sugar source influence consumer liking of products made with beet and cane sugars?

PubMed

Urbanus, Brittany L; Schmidt, Shelly J; Lee, Soo-Yeun

2014-11-01

Beet sugar contains an off-aroma, which was hypothesized to generate expectations on the acceptability of a product made with beet sugar. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the impact of information about the sugar source (beet vs. cane) on the overall liking of an orange-flavored beverage. One hundred panelists evaluated an orange-flavored powdered beverage mix and beverage made with beet and cane sugars using a 5-phase testing protocol involving a tetrad test and hedonic ratings performed under blind and informed conditions. Tetrad test results indicated that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) between the beverage mix made with beet sugar and cane sugar; however, no difference was found between the beverage made with beet sugar and cane sugar. Hedonic ratings revealed the significance of information conditions on the panelists evaluation of sugar (F = 24.67, P < 0.001); however, no difference in the liking was identified for the beverage mix or beverage. Average hedonic scores were higher under informed condition compared to blind condition for all products, possibly because labels tend to reduce uncertainty about a product. Results from this study are representative of the responses from the general population and suggest that they are not affected by sugar source information in a beverage product. Based on concerns with the use of beet sugar expressed in the popular press, there may be a subgroup of the population that has a preconceived bias about sugar sources due to their prior experiences and knowledge and, thus, would be influenced by labels indicating the sugar source used in a product. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®