Development and optimization of a HPLC-RI method for the determination of major sugars in apple juice and evaluation of the effect of the ripening stage

The sugars in apple juice prove its authenticity and its sensory and nutritional properties. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a simple analytical method using high performance liquid chromatography with refractive index detection (HPLC-RI) to determinate and quantify the sugars sucrose, D-glucose, D-fructose, and D-sorbitol polyol in apple juices, as well as to analyze the juices from the Fuji suprema and Lis Gala cultivars at three ripening stages. The analytical performance parameters evaluated indicated that the method was specific for the compounds analyzed, and the linearity of the calibration curves of sugars showed high correlation coefficients (close to 1.0). The limits of detection and quantification are consistent with recommendations available in the literature for this type of matrix. Sample preparation is simple and generates small amount of residues. Over 70% of the sugars were determined in the juices of apples at the pre-ripe stage, with an increase during senescence. This method is applicable for the determination of sugars in juices and evaluation of apple ripening.

The production of Pleurotus sajor-caju in peach palm leaves (Bactris gasipaes) and evaluation of its use to enrich wheat flour

The aim of this study was to evaluate of Pleurotus sajor-caju production in peach palm leaves and the addition of different fractions of mushroom powder to wheat flour to increase its nutritional value without changing its characteristics. The best yield (48.4%), biologic efficiency (4.5%), and Pr (0.36 g/day) values were obtained using 20% inoculum fraction and 10% rice bran fraction. The Pleurotus sajor-caju fruiting body cultivated under these conditions had the following composition in 100 g: 29.91 g (carbohydrates), 42.92 g (proteins), 1.24 g (lipids), 15.93 g (fibers), 7.42 g (ashes), 1.6 g (phosphorus), 2.7 g (potassium), 8.73 mg (iron), 23.75 mg (sodium), 0.34 mg (thiamine), and 0.57 mg (riboflavin). The wheat flour with mushroom powder had reduced sugar content, but it did not have increased fat content. The fiber, protein, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and riboflavin contents were increased mainly when 10% mushroom powder was added to the wheat flour. Furthermore, this flour does not undergo drastic alterations in its physicochemical characteristics such as in moisture, wet gluten, color, and falling number.

Characterization, physicochemical stability, and evaluation of in vitro digestibility of solid lipid microparticles produced with palm kernel oil and tristearin

Solid lipid particles have been investigated by food researchers due to their ability to enhance the incorporation and bioavailability of lipophilic bioactives in aqueous formulations. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the physicochemical stability and digestibility of lipid microparticles produced with tristearin and palm kernel oil. The motivation for conducting this study was the fact that mixing lipids can prevent the expulsion of the bioactive from the lipid core and enhance the digestibility of lipid structures. The lipid microparticles containing different palm kernel oil contents were stable after 60 days of storage according to the particle size and zeta potential data. Their calorimetric behavior indicated that they were composed of a very heterogeneous lipid matrix. Lipid microparticles were stable under various conditions of ionic strength, sugar concentration, temperature, and pH. Digestibility assays indicated no differences in the release of free fatty acids, which was approximately 30% in all analises. The in vitro digestibility tests showed that the amount of palm kernel in the particles did not affect the percentage of lipolysis, probably due to the high amount of surfactants used and/or the solid state of the microparticles.

Screening of iron-enriched fungus from natural environment and evaluation of organically bound iron bioavailability in rats

Iron is an essential element for nearly all living organisms, and its deficiency is the most common form of malnutrition in the world. The organic forms of trace elements are considered more bioavailable than the inorganic forms. Although Saccharomyces cerevisiae can enrich metal elements and convert inorganic iron to organic species, its tolerability and transforming capacity are limited. The aim of this study was to screen higher biomass and other iron-enriched fungi strains besides Saccharomyces cerevisiae from the natural environment. A PDA medium containing 800 μg/mL iron was used for initial screening. Fifty strains that tolerated high iron concentration were isolated from the natural environment, and only one strain, No.BY1109, grew well at Fe (II) concentration of 10,000μg/ml. According to morphological characterization, 18S rDNA sequence analysis, and biophysical and biochemical characterization, the strain No.BY1109 was identified as Rhodotorula. The iron content of No.BY1109 (10 mg Fe/g dry cell) was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. The results of distribution of iron in the cells showed that iron ion was mainly chelated in the cell walls and vacuoles. The bioavailability in rats confirmed that strain No.BY1109 had higher absorption efficiency than that of ferrous sulfate after single dose oral administration. The present study introduces new iron supplements, and it is a basis for finding new iron supplements from natural environment.

Public management, policy capacity, innovation and development

In this paper we discuss the question of what factors in development policy create specific forms of policy capacity and under what circumstances developmentoriented complementarities or mismatches between the public and private sectors emerge. We argue that specific forms of policy capacity emerge from three interlinked policy choices, each fundamentally evolutionary in nature: policy choices on understanding the nature and sources of technical change and innovation; on the ways of financing economic growth, in particular technical change; and on the nature of public management to deliver and implement both previous sets of policy choices. Thus, policy capacity is not so much a continuum of abilities (from less to more), but rather a variety of modes of making policy that originate from co-evolutionary processes in capitalist development. To illustrate, we briefly reflect upon how the East Asian developmental states of the 1960s-1980s and Eastern European transition policies since the 1990s led to almost opposite institutional systems for financing, designing and managing development strategies, and how this led, through co-evolutionary processes, to different forms of policy capacity.