This paper describes the composition of walnut oils obtained from nuts collected from seven countries that are major suppliers of walnut oil. Oils were extracted from the nuts using small-scale industry pressing equipment and analyzed using standard methods for fatty acids, fatty acids in the triacylglycerol 2-position, tocopherols and tocotrienols, triacylglycerols, sterols, steradienes, and iodine value. Values for the composition of the sterols, triacylglycerols, fatty acids, iodine value, and tocopherol composition were generally in good agreement with the results of previous similar surveys. Tocotrienols were not detected in any sample. Steradienes (stigmastadiene, campestadiene, stigmastatriene, and campestatriene) were not detected in any oil.

This paper describes the composition of 30 grape-seed oils obtained from France, Italy, and Spain during 2002-2003. Oils were extracted from the seeds using small-scale industrial solvent extraction equipment and analyzed in their unrefined state using standard methods for fatty acids, fatty acids in the triacylglycerol 2-position, tocopherols and tocotrienols, triglycerides, sterols, steradienes, and iodine value. Values for the composition of the sterols, triglycerides, fatty acids, iodine value, and tocopherol composition were generally in good agreement with the results of previous similar surveys. Steradienes (stigmastadiene, campestadiene, stigmastatriene, and campestatriene) were detected in the oil and were probably formed from sterols during the extraction process.

No abstract

While many compounds have been reported to change in laboratory based drought-stress experiments, little is known about how such compounds change, and are significant, under field conditions. The Pisum sativum L. (pea) leaf metabolome has been profiled, using 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, to monitor the changes induced by drought-stress, under both glasshouse and simulated field conditions. Significant changes in resonances were attributed to a range of compounds, identified as both primary and secondary metabolites, highlighting metabolic pathways that are stress-responsive. Importantly, these effects were largely consistent among different experiments with highly diverse conditions. The metabolites that were present at significantly higher concentrations in droughtstressed plants under all growth conditions included proline, valine, threonine, homoserine, myoinositol, c-aminobutyrate (GABA) and trigonelline (nicotinic acid betaine). Metabolites that were altered in relative amounts in different experiments, but not specifically associated with drought-stress, were also identified. These included glutamate, asparagine and malate, with the last being present at up to 5-fold higher concentrations in plants grown in field experiments. Such changes may be expected to impact both on plant performance and crop end-use.

This paper describes the composition of authentic hazelnut oils obtained from nuts collected from five countries that are major suppliers of hazelnut oil. Oils were analyzed using standard methods for fatty acids, fatty acids in the triacylglycerol 2-position, tocopherols and tocotrienols, triacylglycerols, sterols, steradienes, and iodine value. The results were generally in good agreement with those of other publications. Tocotrienols, previously unreported in hazelnut oil, were detected in one sample. There were no major differences in the composition of oils from different countries. Roasting the nuts prior to pressing had little effect on oil composition.

The thermally-reversible gelation of aqueous solutions of diblock copolymers of ethylene oxide (E) and tw-lactide (L), E42L12, E3*L16, E39L20, E41L26. E7,LI4 and E77L26, has been studied using gelation temperature measurements, polarised light microscopy and NMR spectroscopy. The solutions showed a high temperature gel-sol boundary but no low temperature gel-sol boundary. Polarised light microscopy showed that the gel phase was isotropic, and the dependence of sol-gel temperature on concentration suggested that the micelles were prolate ellipsoidal, rather then spherical. NMR spectroscopy showed that below ca. 60 "C, the L block in the micelle core became highly restricted. It is tentatively suggested that this is due to the L blocks forming an ordered structure, thus explaining the absence of a low temperature gel-sol boundary.

No abstract

Proton NMR relaxation, diffusion and microimaging techniques were used to investigate the internal structure of calcium alginate gel beads formed by dripping a sodium alginate solution into a calcium chloride solution. It is shown that many of the pore structures previously reported are probably artefacts of sample preparation. Evidence is presented for a non‐uniform calcium alginate concentration profile even in beads that have been ‘equilibrated’ in calcium chloride solution for over 24 h. It is found that the internal structure depends on the ratio of calcium and alginate concentrations and a microstructural phase diagram can be constructed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.