Physicochemical Properties and Functional Compounds of Commercial Green Tea Seed Oil

Physicochemical properties of green tea seed oil including cold test,color,flash point,gravity,refraction index,moisture content,acid value,iodine value,unsaponifiable matter and saponification value were investigated.Fatty acid composition and catechin content of the oil was determined by GC and HPLC analysis.The oil is stable at low temperature.High flash point （267.8 ± 5.1 ℃） showed the high thermal stability of green tea seed oil as well,which support for suitability to use as cooking oil.Specific gravity and refraction index of green tea seed oil was found as 0.913 and 1.4679,respectively.Color of the oil was measured as 99.7 ±0.2 for lightness,1.9 ± 0.1 for greenness and 6.6 ± 0.1 for yellowness.Acid value （KOH mg/ml）,iodine value,unsaponifiable matter （％） and saponification value of green tea seed oil were 0.21,104.1,0.11 and 215,respectively.Fatty acids compositions of green tea seed oil was found to be dominated by oleic acid （81.3％） and presence of minor amount of linoleic acid （4.8％）,palmitic acid （4.6％）,palmitoleic acid （3.3％）,linolenic acid （3.2％） and stearic acid （1.0％）.The presence of antioxidative compounds such as （-）-epicatechingallate （207.2 ±0.2 g/g） and （-）-epigallocatechin gallate （99.5 ±0.6 g/g） in the oil could enhance its shelf life during storage.     

Long unfolded linkers facilitate membrane protein import through the nuclear pore complex

Active nuclear import of soluble cargo involves transport factors that shuttle cargo through the nuclear pore complex (NPC) by binding to phenylalanine-glycine (FG) domains. How nuclear membrane proteins cross through the NPC to reach the inner membrane is presently unclear. We found that at least a 120-residue-long intrinsically disordered linker was required for the import of membrane proteins carrying a nuclear localization signal for the transport factor karyopherin-α. We propose an import mechanism for membrane proteins in which an unfolded linker slices through the NPC scaffold to enable binding between the transport factor and the FG domains in the center of the NPC.     

Oxidative Stability of Green Tea Extract-Enriched Rice Bran Oil During Storage

Adding green tea extract to rice bran oil was expected to improve its oxidative stability,so this study was conducted to investigate oxidative stability of green tea extract-enriched rice bran oil （RBOG） during storage at 60℃ for 15 days compared to rice bran oil （RBO）,olive （OL）,canola （CN）,and grape-seed oil （GS）.Acid values did not increase during storage,and the highest value was found for OL.The peroxide values of RBOG,RBO,CN,OL,and GS increased for up to 15 days.The highest average rate constant for the change in peroxide value was found for RBO （0.282）.TBARS increased continually during storage of RBOG,RBO,CN,and OL;however,the value increased for up to 9 days and then decreased for GS.The highest average rate constant of change in TBARS was found for CN.Overall,the results suggest that green tea extract improves oxidative stability of rice bran oil.     

Growth,enzymatic glutathione peroxidase activity and biochemical status of juvenile barramundi (Lates calcarifer) fed dietary fermented lupin meal supplemented with organic selenium

To investigate the effects of high level of lupin meal (LM) supplemented with organic selenium (OS) on the growth and blood biochemistry of barramundi (Lates calcarifer), four isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets were prepared, containing either non‐fermented or fermented LM, and either supplemented with 2 mg OS/kg (LM, LM_OS, FLM and FLM_OS), or not. A fishmeal (FM)‐based diet formulated for juvenile barramundi was used as a control diet. Fish (initial mean weight of 5.88 g) were triplicated and fed the test diets for 75 days. The findings demonstrated that growth performance of fish fed with the FLM and FLM_OS diets were similar to fish fed with the FM diet (p > .05). The antioxidant glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, and haemoglobin (Hb) of fish fed with the FLM_OS diet were significantly higher than that of FM‐fed fish (p < .05). Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity was significantly increased in fish fed with non‐fermented diets (LM and LM_OS) than in those fed with fermented LM diets (FLM and FLM_OS) (p < .05). However, there were no significant differences in ALT activity among LM_OS, FLM, FLM_OS and FM diets. There was an interaction between the LM and OS on plasma CK activity; the CK of fish fed with diets supplemented with OS was higher in non‐fermented LM diets but lower in fermented LM diets (p < .05). This study suggests that fermented LM have an obvious potential to substantially replace 75% FM protein in the diets of barramundi.