Because of its resident microbiota, the human colon is one of the body’s most metabolically active organs. The use of diet to fortify certain gut flora components is a popular current aspect of ...functional food sciences and prebiotics have a significant role. Prebiotics are selectively fermented ingredients that allow specific changes, both in the composition and/or activity in the gastrointestinal microbiota that confers benefits upon host well-being and health. Improved techniques for analysis of the gut microflora, new food manufacturing biotechnologies, and increased understanding of the metabolism of prebiotic inulin and oligosaccharides by probiotics are facilitating development. Such developments are leading us to the time when we will be able to rationally develop prebiotics for specific functional properties and health outcomes. Thus, this review will focus on the progress of prebiotics in food science and technology in understanding the important role of prebiotics in health, beginning at the rationale of gut microflora and interactions with prebiotics. Furthermore, the classification criteria, food applications and safety assessment of prebiotics as food ingredient is also discussed.
Dietary proteins and phenolic compounds are commonly co-existing components that readily interact with each other to yield complexes in a wide range of food systems. The formed complexes play a ...critical role in the physiochemical characteristics of both reacting molecules, thereby impacting nutritional and quality profiles of related products. In this review, we provided the most updated knowledge on dietary protein-phenolic interactions related with food science and human nutrition, including their mechanisms of complexation, analytical technologies, and alterations in the functionality and nutraceutical properties of both reacting partners. Their potential applications in the industries regarding stability during food processing and storage, impacts on product quality, and fabrication of novel delivery systems for liable bioactives were also discussed. The interactions between dietary proteins and phenolics, either via non-covalent or covalent processes, are ubiquitous in food systems and are closely associated with chemical structures of both compounds and the surrounding conditions, mainly temperature, pH, and the presence of phenolic oxidases. Albeit in different ways, such intermolecular associations induced changes in protein conformational structures, which subsequently impacted their techno-functional properties, digestibility, and allergenic potentials; in turn, the bioaccessibility/bioavailability and health-protecting features of interacted phenolics were modified to various extents, as noticed by in vitro and in vivo evidence. Largely depending on the interaction molecules and preparation steps, those influences can be either favorable or unfavorable in different systems and therefore can be tailored to develop food products and nutraceuticals with maximized functionality and quality attributes.
This paper presents a harmonic instability analysis method using state-space modeling and participation analysis in the inverter-fed ac power systems. A full-order state-space model for the ...droop-controlled distributed generation (DG) inverter is built first, including the time delay of the digital control system, inner current and voltage control loops, and outer droop-based power control loop. Based on the DG inverter model, an overall state-space model of a two-inverter-fed system is established. The eigenvalue-based stability analysis is then presented to assess the influence of controller parameters on the harmonic instability of the power system. Moreover, the harmonic-frequency oscillation modes are identified, where participation analysis is presented to evaluate the contributions of different states to these modes and to further reveal how the system gives rise to harmonic instability. Based on the participation analysis, a reduced-order model for harmonic instability analysis is also proposed. The experimental results are presented for validating the theoretical analyses.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have advanced quickly with their power conversion efficiency approaching the record of silicon solar cells. However, there is still a big challenge to obtain both high ...efficiency and long‐term stability for future commercialization of PSCs. The major instability issue is associated with the decomposition or phase transition of perovskite materials that are believed to be intrinsically unstable under outdoor working conditions. Herein, the authors review the approaches that marked important progress in developing new functional electron/hole transporting materials that enabled highly efficient and stable PSCs. The findings that accelerate charge diffusion and that suppress the irrevocable loss of ions diffusing out of perovskite materials and other diffusion processes are highlighted. In addition, derivative interface engineering methods to control the diffusion process of charges/ions/molecules are also reviewed. Finally, the authors propose key research issues in charge transporting materials and interface engineering with regard to the important diffusion processes that will be one of the keys to realize highly efficient and long‐term stable PSCs.
Charge transporting materials with the capability to suppress ionic/molecular diffusion, accelerating electron/hole diffusion, and minimizing energy loss during transfer at interfaces, will be the key to realize highly efficient and long‐term stable perovskite solar cells. Herein, the authors review the approaches that marked important progress in developing new functional electron/hole transporting materials that have enabled highly efficient and stable PSCs.
Three-dimensional flower-like and hierarchical porous carbon material (FHPC) has been fabricated through a simple and efficient carbonization method followed by chemical activation with flower-like ...ZnO as template and pitch as carbon precursor. The hierarchical porous structure is composed of numerous micropores and well-defined mesopores in the interconnected macroporous walls. The FHPC electrode can achieve a relatively high capacitance of 294Fg−1 at a scan rate of 2mVs−1 and excellent rate capability (71% retention at 500mVs−1) with superior cycle stability (only 2% loss after 5000 cycles) in 6molL−1 KOH electrolyte. The symmetric supercapacitor fabricated with FHPC electrodes delivers a high energy density of 15.9Whkg−1 at a power density of 317.5Wkg−1 operated in the voltage range of 0–1.8V in 1molL−1 Na2SO4 aqueous electrolyte.
Food allergies are recognized as a growing public health concern, with an estimated 3% of adults and 6-8% of children affected by food allergy disorders. Hence, food allergen detection, labeling, and ...management have become significant priorities within the food industry, and there is an urgent requirement for reliable, sensitive, and user-friendly technologies to trace food allergens in food products. In this critical review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the principles and applications of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors in the identification and quantification of food allergens (milk, egg, peanut, and seafood), including fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (FOSPR), surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI), localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), and transmission surface plasmon resonance (TSPR). Moreover, the characteristics and fitness-for-purpose of each reviewed SPR biosensor is discussed, and the potential of newly developed SPR biosensors for multi-allergen real-time detection in a complex food system is highlighted. Such SPR biosensors are also required to facilitate the reliable, high-throughput, and real-time detection of food allergens by the food control industry and food safety control officials to easily monitor cross-contamination during food processing.
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•Four types of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors are reviewed.•Applications of SPR biosensors for food allergens detection are introduced.•Potential applications of SPR biosensors are discussed for allergen detection.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial effect and mechanism of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) against Shewanella putrefaciens (S. putrefaciens) and Staphylococcus ...saprophytic (S. saprophyticus). The results showed that SAEW exhibited strong antimicrobial activity against tested bacteria, which was positively correlated to the available chlorine concentration (ACC) of SAEW. The mortality rate of S. putrefaciens and S. saprophyticus was up to 96% and 85%, respectively, when the ACC of SAEW was 60.0 mg/L. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the cell morphology and structure were destroyed by SAEW. Besides, the results of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), leakage of DNA and protein provided evidence that SAEW induced membrane permeabilization in cells. Compared with the control, the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by SAEW was strengthened significantly with the increase of ACC, and the cells were injured to death accordingly.
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•SAEW exhibited a strong bactericidal ability against fish spoilage bacteria.•SAEW treatment could cause damage to the cell structure.•The release of ROS induced the necrosis of cells after SAEW treatment.•Intracellular antioxidant enzyme activity decreased after SAEW treatment.
Cow’s milk protein allergy, which occurs in approximately 5–10% of the population of infants and children, has become an important public food safety problem. As a major allergen in cow’s milk, the ...most abundant protein casein (CN) is considered to be potent in inducing food allergy. In recent years, ultrasound treatment has played a significant role in the field of colloidal particulate system. In this study, we found that ultrasound treatment dramatically decreased the diameter of a CN particle to less than 100 nm in the presence of Tween 80, producing colloidal casein (c-CN) with high transparency. The electrophoretic and transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the advanced protein structure of CN changed significantly. In addition, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with allergic sera showed that the immunoglobulin-E-binding capacity of c-CN was significantly decreased. In the meantime, the LAD2 mast cell line degranulation assay demonstrated that ultrasound treatment made CN hypoallergenic. The colloidal and hypoallergenic properties of c-CN were stably maintained for more than 30 days. Likewise, the allergenicity of fresh whole milk also decreased after ultrasound treatment. This work provided an effective way to reduce the allergenicity of milk allergen, which could be beneficial to the production of hypoallergenic cow’s milk.