Marine nutraceuticals : glucosomine and omega-3 fatty acids : new trends for established ingredients

Glucosamine and long-chain omega-3 lipid are the two most widely consumed marine nutracuticals. These   ingredients have been used as dietary supplement ingredients for many years, but  are now becoming important functional food and beverage ingredients. The production of GRAS and vegetarian glucosamine has led to increased use of this ingredient in beverages in particular. For long chain omega -3 lipid the development of stabilisation technologies has been critical for the increased use of these lipids in functional foods. The development of new sources of both of these ingredients, together with novel delivery and application technologies, will continue to drive increased consumption of these marine nutracuticals, in particular as functional food and beverage ingredients.

You're too queer for the straights and now too queer for the gays!

In this piece, the author traces her history and objectives as an academic, author and activist with and in gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer/questioning (GLBTIQ) issues and communities in Australia, her border zone positioning in relation to internal debates and exclusions between gay/lesbian and bisexual rights and subcommunities and the various responses to her work on bisexuality from research participants, other GLBTIQ academics and activists. The author also discusses the pivotal role the Journal of Bisexuality has played in her development.

Cellulose nanofibre textured SERS substrate

Poor reproducibility limits the wide uptake of low-cost surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrates. This study reports a relatively low-cost and reproducible cellulose nanofibre (CNF) textured SERS substrate. Utilizing a layer of CNFs deposited onto glass slides, nanoscale roughness was achieved, which facilitated effective aggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to form a novel CNF textured SERS substrate. This substrate meets the critical roughness requirements to control the distribution of AuNPs to provide 'hot spots' for SERS detection, offering significant signal enhancement. The reproducibility and accuracy of low-cost cellulosic SERS substrates were significantly improved on a model SERS molecule of 4-aminothiophenol.

The microstructure and physicochemical properties of probiotic buffalo yoghurt during fermentation and storage: a comparison with bovine yoghurt

The physicochemical and rheological properties of yoghurt made from unstandardised unhomogenised buffalo milk were investigated during fermentation and 28 days of storage and compared to the properties of yoghurt made from homogenised fortified bovine milk. A number of differences observed in the gel network can be linked to differences in milk composition. The microstructure of buffalo yoghurt, as assessed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and cryo scanning electron microscopy (cryo-SEM), was interrupted by large fat globules and featured more serum pores. These fat globules have a lower surface area and bind less protein than the homogenised fat globules in bovine milk. These microstructural differences likely lead to the higher syneresis observed for buffalo yoghurt with an increase from 17.4 % (w/w) to 19.7 % (w/w) in the weight of whey generated at days 1 and 28 of the storage. The higher concentration of total calcium in buffalo milk resulted in the release of more ionic calcium during fermentation. Gelation was also slower but the strength of the two gels was similar due to similar protein and total solids concentrations. Buffalo yoghurt was more viscous, less able to recover from deformation and less Newtonian than bovine yoghurt with a thixotropy of 3,035 Pa.s-1 measured for buffalo yoghurt at the end of the storage, at least four times higher than the thixotropy of bovine yoghurt. While the titratable acidity, lactose consumption and changes in organic acid concentrations were similar, differences were recorded in the viability of probiotic bacteria with a lower viability of Lactobacillus acidophilus of 5.17 log (CFU/g) recorded for buffalo yoghurt at day 28 of the storage. Our results show that factors other than the total solids content and protein concentration of milk affect the structural properties of yoghurt. They also illustrate the physicochemical reasons why buffalo and bovine yoghurt are reported to have different sensory properties and provide insight into how compositional changes can be used to alter the microstructure and properties of dairy products. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.