The Cerasus humilis kernel is a by-product of Cerasus humilis fruit processing after removing the pulp. Cerasus humilis kernels have abundant nutritional value, while high content of amygdalin limits ...the deep processing of Cerasus humilis kernels. This study aimed to establish a simple and fast way to degrade amygdalin using lactic acid bacteria to ferment and convert amygdalin into other substances. Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus acidophilus were directly fermented using the nutrients of Cerasus humilis kernel, and the degradation effect could reach 84.78 % and 71.73 %, respectively. In addition, the substances produced by amygdalin during fermentation were inferred by identifying the degradation products. A novel biotransformation pathway for amygdalin was established, providing ideas for the comprehensive utilisation of the Cerasus humilis kernel.
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•Cerasus humilis kernel was fermented by lactic acid bacteria for the first time.•Amygdalin is degraded by low-cost, environmentally friendly microorganisms.•The degradation effect of amygdalin by Lactobacillus paracasei was 84.78 %.
•A HPLC–MS/MS method was developed for determination of four alkaloids in chick.•The developed method was validated as per USFDA bioanalytical guideline.•First paper on drug residue determination of ...sanguinarine in chick.
A specific and reliable HPLC–MS/MS method was developed and validated for simultaneously determination of sanguinarine, chelerythrine and their metabolites (dihydrosanguinarine and dihydrochelerythrine) in chicken tissue for the first time. This is important because these compounds are related to the use of a naturally occurring and novel feed additive with many benefits, but the levels of these compounds must be strictly controlled. The compounds were extracted by acetonitrile and 1% HCl–methanol solution successively and then separated on a C18 column. A triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source was used for detection. Quantification was performed using multiple reaction monitoring with positive mode. The method was validated in terms of specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and stability. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 0.5–100.0ng/g for sanguinarine, 0.5–100.0ng/g for chelerythrine, 0.2–100.0ng/g for dihydrosanguinarine and 0.1–100ng/g for dihydrochelerythrine, respectively. All of the recovery rates of the four analytes were over 85%. The RSD of intra-day and inter-day precision was less than 5.0%, and the relative error was all within 12.0%. This validated method has been successfully applied to assess the drug residue and metabolite residue characteristics of sanguinarine and chelerythrine in chicken tissue after oral administration of the extracts of Macleaya cordata (Willd.) R. Br, and to investigate the pharmacokinetic parameters of sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine in chicken plasma.
Selenium (Se) supplementation through plant-based foods is easy to implement and effective; therefore, it is important to explore the Se-enrichment ability of staple grains and analyze their quality. ...The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of foliar application of Se on the quality, Se-enriched capacity, organic Se composition and content of rice under field cultivation. The results showed that exogenous Se application at 80 mg L−1 contributed the most to the yield, and eight elements differed accordingly to the application of Se, promoted the accumulation of Se-containing organic matter in rice grain. This indicates that rational foliar application of Se can effectively improve the quality of rice grains. Moreover, selenomethionine (SeMet), selenocysteine (SeCys2), and Se-methylselenocysteine (Se-MeSeCys) are important components of Se-enriched in hydrolyzed proteins in grains. Based on these results, foliar spraying of Se is a suitable method to supplement rice with additional Se and can improve the yield and quality of rice grains, particularly the quality of organic Se and Se-containing amino acids.
•Foliar application of selenium to rice significantly increases its total selenium content.•Mg, P, S, Fe, and Zn content increased with increasing Se concentration.•Se application promoted the accumulation of organic matter and the content of organic matter containing Se in rice.•Se-Met, Se-Cys and Se-MeSeCys were detected in protein hydrolysates.
•Magnetic boron nitride nanosheets (Fe3O4@BNNSs) composite was synthesized.•Fe3O4@BNNSs as the MSPE adsorbent was applied for the first time.•MSPE coupled with HPLC-MS/MS was used to analysis of ...PGRs.•The method was effective to determine PGRs in tomatoes.
A novel magnetic boron nitride nanosheets (Fe3O4@BNNSs) composite-based magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) method was employed to analyse six plant growth regulators (PGRs) in tomatoes combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The novel Fe3O4@BNNSs composite was prepared via an in situ chemical coprecipitation process and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). Several factors that may affect the extraction efficiencies were optimized. Under the optimal factors, low limits of detection (0.002–0.010 ng g−1), good linear ranges (0.05–10 ng g−1) and satisfactory precisions (intra-day: 1.2%-3.9%; inter-day: 2.1%-6.9%) were achieved. The established approach was successfully employed to extract and determine PGRs in tomatoes, and the spiked recoveries were between 85.2 and 109.0%.
In 16 pediatric patients, plasma concentrations of S,S-EBDM were much lower in comparison to pro-drug treosulfan but biological half-lives of the both compounds were similar. Display omitted
Pro-drug ...treosulfan (TREO) is currently evaluated in randomized phase III clinical trials as a conditioning agent prior to HSCT. In the present paper pharmacokinetics of both TREO and its biologically active monoepoxide (S,S-EBDM) was investigated in pediatric patients for the first time. The studies were carried out in 16 children (median age 7.5years) undergoing TREO-based preparative regimen prior to HSCT, who received 10, 12 or 14g/m2 of the drug as a 1h or 2h intravenous infusion. Plasma concentrations of TREO as well as S,S-EBDM were determined using the validated HPLC–MS/MS method. The changes in S,S-EBDM concentration over time followed TREO levels. The area under the curve (AUC) of TREO was 100-fold higher than AUC of S,S-EBDM. No statistically significant dependency of the dose-normalized AUC of either TREO or S,S-EBDM on the patients’ age and body surface area was stated. Moreover, plasma Cmax as well as AUC of S,S-EBDM demonstrated linear correlation with the Cmax and AUC of TREO, respectively. The biological half-lives of TREO and S,S-EBDM were similar. This indicates that S,S-EBDM was completely eliminated from the patients’ blood within relatively short time, comparable to TREO.
► Direct injection HPLC–MS/MS used for measuring artificial sweeteners (ASs) in water. ► Degradation kinetics of aspartame (ASP) at different pH was performed. ► Diketopiperazine (DKP), represents ...main transformation product of ASP in water. ► DKP present only in wastewater effluents at low frequencies. ► Determination of levels of AS in different environmental water samples.
A HPLC–MS/MS method is presented for the simultaneous determination of frequently used artificial sweeteners (ASs) and the main metabolite of aspartame (ASP), diketopiperazine (DKP), in environmental water samples using the direct-injection (DI) technique, thereby achieving limits of quantification (LOQ) of 10ngL−1. For a reliable quantification of ASP pH should be adjusted to 4.3 to prevent formation of the metabolite. Acesulfame (ACE), saccharin (SAC), cyclamate (CYC) and sucralose (SUC) were ubiquitously found in water samples. Highest concentrations up to 61μgL−1 of ACE were found in wastewater effluents, followed by surface water with concentrations up to 7μgL−1, lakes up to 600ngL−1 and groundwater and tap water up to 70ngL−1. The metabolite DKP was only detected in wastewater up to 200ngL−1 and at low detection frequencies.
•Improved methods for the reliable and fast analysis of amino acids in food and feed.•Dramatic reduction of analysis time by microwave hydrolysis and UHPLC-MS/MS.•Comparable results to laboratories ...using ISO, AOAC and regulation (EC) 152/2009 methods.•Determination of hydroxyproline, hydroxylysine, taurine, and ornithine also possible.•High specificity and selectivity due to UHPLC-MS/MS with AQC derivatization.
The determination of amino acids in food and feed by chromatography has a long history and is described in several official methods, including standards from ISO, AOAC, and the European Commission (EC) regulation 152/2009. The procedure usually consists of labor- and time-consuming preparation techniques and ion-exchange chromatography with challenging chromatographic conditions. Consequently, several approaches have been published to overcome these drawbacks but the knowledge about their suitability for complex matrices such as food and feed is limited.
In this paper, we describe the development of two new methods to determine amino acids in food and feed. These methods involve microwave hydrolysis and reversed-phase UHPLC-MS/MS with pre-column derivatization using 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate (AQC). Both methods provide streamlined sample preparations and a dramatic reduction in analysis time while offering a high degree of specificity and selectivity. Selectivity also enabled the simultaneous determination of the more uncommon substances hydroxyproline, hydroxylysine, taurine, ornithine, and γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) along with amino acids typically present in food and feed. The results were all satisfactory with regards to sensitivity, accuracy, precision, and comparability with laboratories that use other methods, for example from ISO, AOAC, or regulation (EC) 152/2009. We therefore concluded that both methods provide a reliable and modern approach to overcome many of the drawbacks that occur with the conventional standard methods.
The temporal characteristic and source apportionment analyses on carbohydrates in this study are useful for understanding PM2.5 sources in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. Carbohydrates are ...important consistent of primary organic aerosol (POA) and some of them are widely used as tracers for source apportionment of fine particle (PM2.5). In this study, ambient concentrations of 10 carbohydrates (levoglucosan, arabitol, mannitol, sucrose, fructose, glucose, inositol, threitol, 2-methyl-threitol, and trehalose) in PM2.5 at a suburb site of Nanjing during 2017–2018 were quantified by a high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrum/mass spectrum (HPLC-MS/MS). Among all measured carbohydrates, Levoglucosan, with the average concentration of 337.6 ng m−3, was the dominant one, contributing 89% of the total 10 carbohydrates concentration. The concentration of levoglucosan in 2017 was 412.4 ng m−3, higher than that of 2018 (232.5 ng m−3). Similarly, the average concentration for other 9 carbohydrates was 43.6 ng m−3 in 2017, slightly higher than 2018 (38.32 ng m−3). Levoglucosan concentrations presented a similar seasonal variation in both 2017 and 2018, which values were high in winter and autumn, and went down in summer and spring. As for the other 9 carbohydrates, their overall concentrations presented different seasonal variation patterns between 2017 and 2018. During 2017, their concentrations were the highest in summer, followed by spring, autumn, and winter. However, the richest concentrations occurred in spring, followed by autumn, summer and winter during 2018. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was then applied for sources apportionment of carbohydrates. Seven sources were identified, including airborne pollen, fungal spores and soil dust, plants debris, biomass burning, biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA), threitol-rich source, and inositol-rich source. Biomass burning contributed the most to the measured concentrations of 10 carbohydrates, with relative contribution of 57.9%, followed by airborne pollen (12.9%), 2-methyl-threitol rich source (10.0%), fungal spores and soil dust (9.4%), plant debris (6.3%), threitol-rich source (2.4%), and inositol-rich source (1.1%). Relative contributions of biomass burning showed a significant decrease from 68.8% in 2017 to 50% in 2018, suggesting that biomass burning in YRD region was well controlled in 2018 compared to 2017.
•Two-years carbohydrates in Nanjing were quantified by HPLC-MS/MS.•Seasonal variations of each carbohydrates were conducted in past two years.•Source apportionment were applied to analyze the sources of carbohydrates in Nanjing.
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are the main by-products of microbial fermentations occurring in the human intestine and are directly involved in the host's physiological balance. As impaired gut ...concentrations of acetic, propionic, and butyric acids are often associated with systemic disorders, the administration of SCFA-producing microorganisms has been suggested as attractive approach to solve symptoms related to SCFA deficiency.
In this research, nine probiotic strains (
NR, OC, SIN, and T,
ATCC 7050,
DSM 16604,
DSM 17938,
ATCC 53103, and
CNCM I-745) commonly included in commercial formulations were tested for their ability to secrete SCFAs by using an improved protocol in high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS-MS).
The developed method was highly sensitive and specific, showing excellent limits of detection and quantification of secreted SCFAs. All tested microorganisms were shown to secrete acetic acid, with only
and
additionally able to produce propionic and butyric acids. Quantitative differences in the secretion of SCFAs were also evidenced.
The experimental approach described in this study may contribute to the characterization of probiotics as SCFA-producing organisms, a crucial stage toward their application to improve SCFA deficiency.
