Characterization and quantitation of phenolic compounds in new apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) varieties

Thirty-seven apricot varieties, including four new releases (Rojo Pasión, Murciana, Selene, and Dorada) obtained from different crosses between apricot varieties and three traditional Spanish cultivars (Currot, Mauricio, and Búlida), were separated according to flesh color into four groups: white, yellow, light orange, and orange (mean hue angles in flesh were 88.1, 85.0, 77.6, and 72.4, respectively). Four phenolic compound groups, procyanidins, hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, flavonols, and anthocyanins, were identified by HPLC-MS/MS and individually quantified using HPLC-DAD. Chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acids, procyanidins B1, B2, and B4, and some procyanidin trimers, quercetin 3-rutinoside, kaempferol 3-rhamnosyl-hexoside and quercetin 3-acetyl-hexoside, cyanidin 3-rutinoside, and 3-glucoside, were detected and quantified in the skin and flesh of the different cultivars. The total phenolics content, quantified as the addition of the individual compounds quantified by HPLC, ranged between 32.6 and 160.0 mg 100 g(-1) of edible tissue. No correlation between the flesh color and the phenolic content of the different cultivars was observed.     

Changes in Cd,Cu, Ni,Pb and Zn Fractionation and Liberation Due to Mussel Shell Amendment on a Mine Soil

Mining activities are related to relevant environmental pollution issues that should be controlled. We used sequential extractions to fractionate Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn retained on unamended or mussel shell‐amended mine soil samples, all of them treated with a mixture of the five heavy metals (total metal concentration of 1·57 mmol L⁻¹), after 1, 7 and 30 days of incubation. In addition, we used the stirred flow chamber technique to study the release of each of the five heavy metals from these different unamended and shell‐amended soil samples. The results indicate that the shell amendment caused a decrease in the most soluble fraction, while increasing the most recalcitrant (least mobile) fraction. With equivalent implications, the stirred flow chamber experiments showed that mussel shell amendment was associated to a decrease in heavy metal release and increased retention. The highest mussel shell dose and incubation time caused the most relevant changes in pH values and thus in metal retention, also indicating the importance of pH modifications in the mechanism of retention acting in the amended samples. In view of these results, the use of mussel shell amendment can be encouraged to increase heavy metal retention in acid mine soils, in order to minimise risks of environmental pollution. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genotyping-by-sequencing reveals the origin of the Tunisian relatives of cultivated carrot (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Daucus carota</Emphasis>)

Tunisia, other countries in northwestern Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula, represent a center of diversity of Daucus. The genus traditionally has included about 20–25 species worldwide, but a recent molecular study redefined and expanded Daucus to include representatives from nine other genera. By this classification, Daucus now contains about 40 species, with some of them having winged fruits in addition to its traditionally recognized spiny fruits. The taxonomy of Daucus in Tunisia has recently been studied with morphological data, concluding that D. carota subsp. capillifolius is a subspecies that co-occurs and crosses with subsp. carota. The present study extends these findings with additional data from Genotyping-by-Sequencing (GBS) from 33 Tunisian accessions of D. carota (93 individuals with two to three replicates per accession), including the first collections of subsp. gummifer from Tunisia. Placed in the context of additional GBS data, D. carota subsp. gummifer has separate origins from other collections of subsp. carota in Tunisia and/or immediately adjacent areas to the north in Italy or its surrounding islands. Our results add support to the utility of large SNP datasets for species-level phylogenetic studies in Daucus.     

Resistant Starch Escaped from Ethanol Production: Evidence from Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy of Distiller's Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS)

The origin of resistant starch (RS) in distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) of triticale, wheat, barley, and corn from dry‐grind ethanol production was studied. A considerable portion of starch (up to 18% in DDGS) escaped from either granular starch hydrolysis or conventional jet‐cooking and fermentation processes. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that some starch granules were still encapsulated in cells of grain kernel or embedded in protein matrix after milling and were thus physically inaccessible to amylases (type RS1). The crystalline structures of native starch granules were not completely degraded by amylases, retaining the skeletal structures in residual starch during granular starch hydrolysis or leaving residue granules and fragments with layered structures after jet‐cooking followed by the liquefaction and saccharification process, indicating the presence of RS2. Moreover, retrograded starch molecules (mainly amylose) as RS3, complexes of starch with other nonfermentable components as RS4, and starch–lipid complexes as RS5 were also present in DDGS. In general, the RS that escaped from the granular starch hydrolysis process was mainly RS1 and RS2, whereas that from the jet‐cooking process contained all types of RS (RS1 to RS5). Thus, the starch conversion efficiency and ethanol yield could be potentially affected by the presence of various RS in DDGS.     

Glycoprofiling of bifidobacterial consumption of human milk oligosaccharides demonstrates strain specific, preferential consumption of small chain glycans secreted in early human lactation

The molecular basis by which human breast milk supports the development of a protective intestinal microbiome in infants is unknown. After lactose and lipids, human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are quantitatively the third largest and most diverse component of breast milk. In this work, glycomic profiling of HMO consumption by bifidobacteria using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry reveals that one species, Bifidobacterium longum biovar infantis ATCC 15697, an isolate from the infant gut, preferentially consumes small mass oligosaccharides, representing 63.9% of the total HMOs available. These HMOs were detected in human breast milk at the onset and constantly through the first month of lactation by use of high performance liquid chromatography-chip time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Further characterization revealed that strain ATCC 15697 possesses both fucosidase and sialidase activities not present in the other tested strains. This work provides evidence that these small mass HMOs are selectively metabolized by select bifidobacterial strains and represent a potential new class of bioactive molecules functioning as prebiotics to facilitate a protective gut colonization in breast-fed newborns.     

Avoidance of low pH and elevated Al concentrations by Brook Charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) Alevins in laboratory tests

Laboratory studies were conducted to test the ability of brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) alevins, the earliest free-swimming life stage of the species, to detect and avoid toxic levels of H⁺ and inorganic Al. Alevins were tested in steep gradient choice tanks using a range of H⁺ (pH 4.0 to 5.5) and Al (0 to 500 μg L^?1) concentrations in low Ca (2.0 mg L^?1) water. The young brook charr actively avoided acidic water with a pH < 5.0. Aluminum additions of 500 μg L^?l increased the avoidance response. The observed behavioral response of alevins to low pH and elevated levels of Al, may be of significant adaptive advantage in systems undergoing acidification.     

Aroma compound analysis of Eruca sativa (Brassicaceae) SPME headspace leaf samples using GC,GC-MS,and olfactometry

The aroma compounds of rocket salad (Eruca sativa) SPME headspace samples of fresh leaves were analyzed using GC, GC-MS, and olfactometry. More than 50 constituents of the Eruca headspace could be identified to be essential volatiles, responsible for the characteristic intense green; herbal; nutty and almond-like; Brassicaceae-like (direction of cabbage, broccoli, and mustard); and horseradish-like aroma of these salad leaves. As aroma impact compounds, especially isothiocyanates, and derivatives of butane, hexane, octane, and nonane were identified. 4-Methylthiobutyl isothiocyanate (14.2%), cis-3-hexen-1-ol (11.0%), cis-3-hexenyl butanoate (10.8%), 5-methylthiopentyl isothiocyanate (9.3%), cis-3-hexenyl 2-methylbutanoate (5.4%), and 5-methylthiopentanenitrile (5.0%) were found in concentrations higher than 5.0% (calculated as % peak area of GC analysis using a nonpolar column).     

Detailed physicochemical characterization of the 2S storage protein from rape (Brassica napus L.)

Chromatographic, chemical, and spectroscopic techniques were used to characterize the physicochemical properties of napin purified by preparative chromatography. The molar extinction coefficient was determined (epsilon = 0.56), and static and dynamic light scattering measurements enabled the average molecular weight (M(w) = 13919), the second virial coefficient (A(2) = 23.95 x 10(-)(5) mol cm(3) g(-)(2)), and the hydrodynamic radius (R(H) = 1.98 nm) to be determined. No conformational changes were observed by fluorescence and circular dichroism measurements in different buffers at pH 3, 4.6, 7, and 12, confirming the high pH stability of this protein. From MALDI-TOF analysis and after enzymatic digestion, it was found that this purified sample, extracted from the rapeseed variety Express, contained mainly isoform 2SS3_BRANA.     

Community structures of Collembola in sugar maple forests: relations to humus type and seasonal trends

Community structures of Collembola and their seasonal fluctuations were studied in eight southern Quebec sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) forests growing on mull, moder and mor humus types. Endogeic species were extracted from soil cores using Berlese-Tullgren funnels while epigeic species were collected using pit-light traps (Luminoc®). Comparisons of species presence, abundance, and dominance among sites and seasons were done using Sorensen's similarity coefficients and CANOCO. A total of 92 species from 7 families and 35 genera were identified. Species dominance and community structure differed according to humus types. Two groups of endogeic species were identified. The mor/mor-moder type group included Folsomia penicula, Hypogastrura (Ceratophysella) spp. Que., Micrisotoma achromata, Onychiurus (Protaphorura)? parvicornis, Onychiurus (Onychiurus) sp. A Que. And Onychiurus (Onychiurus) sp. B Que. The mull/mull-moder type group included Isotoma (Desoria) notabilis, Tullbergia (Tullbergia) silvicola, Tullbergia (Tullbergia) clavata, and Pseudosinella alba. Such clear humus type relationships were not found among the epigeic species, but important seasonal changes in community structures were found for these species. Spring species were Sminthurinus (Katiannina) macgillivrayi, Hypogastrura (Ceratophysella) maheuxi, Hypogastrura (Hypogastrura) sp. A Que. and Sminthurinus (Sminthurinus) latimaculosus. Tomocerus (Pogonognathellus) flavescens, Sminthurinus (Sminthurinus) henshawi, and Orchesella hexfasciata appeared in the summer samples while Dicyrtoma (Dicyrtoma) aurata was found only in fall samples where it was dominant in most sites along with either Sminthurides (Sminthurides) lepus or Sminthurinus (Sminthurinus) quadrimaculatus. No strong seasonal trends were found among the dominant endogeic species.