No abstract

No abstract

BackgroundHericium erinaceus (HE) is a well-known mushroom in traditional Chinese food and medicine. HE extracts from the fruiting body and mycelia not only exhibit immunomodulatory, antimutagenic and antitumor activity but also have neuroprotective properties. Here, we purified HE polysaccharides (HEPS), composed of two high molecular weight polysaccharides (1.7 × 105 Da and 1.1 × 105 Da), and evaluated their protective effects on amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced neurotoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells.MethodsHEPS were prepared and purified using a 95 % ethanol extraction method. The components of HEPS were analyzed and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were determined using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The neuroprotective effects of the polysaccharides were evaluated through a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and an MTT assay and by quantifying reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMP) of Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in cells.ResultOur results showed that 250 μg/ml HEPS was harmless and promoted cell viability with 1.2 μM Aβ treatment. We observed that the free radical scavenging rate exceeded 90 % when the concentration of HEPS was higher than 1 mg/mL in cells. The HEPS decreased the production of ROS from 80 to 58 % in a dose-dependent manner. Cell pretreatment with 250 μg/mL HEPS significantly reduced Aβ-induced high MMPs from 74 to 51 % and 94 to 62 % at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Finally, 250 μg/mL of HEPS prevented Aβ-induced cell shrinkage and nuclear degradation of PC12 cells.ConclusionOur results demonstrate that HEPS exhibit antioxidant and neuroprotective effects on Aβ-induced neurotoxicity in neurons.

No abstract

No abstract

Detection of species adulteration in ground meat products is important for consumer protection and food-labeling law enforcement. This study was conducted to develop monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that can be used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for rapid detection of any cooked mammalian meats in cooked poultry products. Soluble muscle proteins extracted from cooked pork (heated at 100 degrees C for 15 min) were used as the antigen to immunized mice for developing the MAb. One that was developed, MAb 2F8 (IgG2b class), strongly reacted with cooked meat of five mammalian species (beef cattle, hogs, sheep, horse, and deer) but did not react with any cooked poultry (chicken, turkey, and duck) or raw meats. At least 0.5% by weight of pork, beef, lamb, and horse meats in a chicken-based mixture could not detect using the indirect ELISA with MAb 2F8. The MAb 2F8 is useful in a single initial screening test to detect the presence of five nonpoultry meat adulterants in cooked poultry products.

No abstract

Plant-based food ingredients such as garlic, Chinese leek, Chinese onion, green onion and onion are widely used in many cuisines around the world. However, these ingredients known as the “five forbidden vegetables” (FFVs) are not allowed in some vegetarian diets. In this study, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for the detection of FFVs using five respective LAMP primer sets. The specific primers targeted the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence regions among the five vegetables. The results demonstrated that the identification of FFVs using the newly developed LAMP assay is more sensitive than the traditional PCR method. Using pepper, basil, parsley, chili and ginger as references, established LAMP primer sets showed high specificity for the identification of the FFV species. Moreover, when FFVs were mixed with other plant ingredients at different ratios (100:0, 50:50, 20:80, 10:90, 5:95, 2:98, and 1:99), no cross-reactivity was evident using LAMP. Finally, genomic DNAs extracted from boiled and steamed FFVs in processed foods were used as templates; the performance of the LAMP reaction was not influenced using validated LAMP primers. Not only can FFV ingredients be identified but commercial foods containing FFVs can also be authenticated. This LAMP method will be useful for the authentication of FFVs in practical food markets in the future.