No abstract

AgNPs have great potential in the medical and food industries, due to their antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-HIV, and catalytic activities. However, the observed in vitro and in vivo toxicity poses considerable challenges in the synthesis and application of AgNPs.

No abstract

Lactobacillus casei Zhang is a novel strain that was screened out of koumiss collected in Inner Mongolia, and our previous research showed that L. casei Zhang has health benefits such as cholesterol-reducing and immunomodulating effects. The fermentation characteristics of L. casei Zhang in soymilk and bovine milk and the transit tolerance of L. casei Zhang in fermented milk products during refrigerated storage for 28 d were assessed. A faster decrease in pH and faster growth of L. casei Zhang during fermentation were observed in soymilk compared with bovine milk at various inoculation rates, probably because of the low pH buffering capacity of soymilk. The fermented bovine milk samples had much higher final titratable acidity (TA) values (between 0.80 and 0.93%) than the soymilk samples (between 0.40 and 0.46%). Dramatic increases in TA values in the fermented soymilk samples during storage were observed, and the TA values of the fermented soymilk samples changed from <0.56% to values between 0.86 and 0.98%. On the other hand, only slight increases in TA were observed in the bovine milk samples during the 28 d of storage. The survival rates of freshly prepared cultures of L. casei Zhang in simulated gastric juice at pH 2.0 and 2.5 were 31 and 69%, respectively, and the delivery of L. casei Zhang through fermented soymilk and bovine milk significantly improved the viability of L. casei Zhang in simulated gastric transit. Lactobacillus casei Zhang showed good tolerance to simulated gastric juice and intestinal juice in the fermented soymilk and bovine milk samples, and maintained high viability (>10(8) cfu/g) during storage at 4 degrees C for 28 d. Our results indicated that both soymilk and bovine milk could serve as vehicles for delivery of probiotic L. casei Zhang, and further research is needed to elucidate the mechanism of the change in pH and TA of L. casei Zhang in fermented milk samples during fermentation and storage and to understand the difference between soy- and milk-based systems.

Abstract:Six lactic acid bacterial (LAB) strains were isolated from traditionally fermented Xinjiang cheese and evaluated for functional and probiotic properties and potentials as starter cultures. The isolated six LAB strains comprised Lactobacillus rhamnosus (one strain), Lactobacillus helveticus (one strain), and Enterococcus hirae (four strains). All of the six strains were tolerant to acidic and bile salt conditions. Among which, the L. rhamnosus R4 strain showed more desirable antimicrobial, auto-aggregation, and hydrophobic activity. In addition, the strain L. rhamnosus R4 exhibited the highest level of free radical scavenging activity (53.78% of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals and 45.79% of hydroxyl radicals). L. rhamnosus R4 also demonstrated cholesterol and triglyceride degradation by 50.97% and 28.92%, respectively. To further examine the health-promoting effects of these LAB strains on host lifespan, Caenorhabditis elegans was used as an in vivo model. Worms fed LAB as a food source had significant differences in lifespan compared to those fed Escherichia coli OP50 (as a negative control). Feeding of L. rhamnosus R4 extended the mean lifespan of C. elegans by up to 36.1% compared to that of the control. The results suggest that the strains isolated from Xinjiang fermented dairy products have high potential as starter cultures in the cheese industry.

No abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that dietary supplementation with glutamic acid has beneficial effects on growth performance, antioxidant system, intestinal morphology, serum amino acid profile and the gene expression of intestinal amino acid transporters in growing swine fed mold-contaminated feed. Fifteen pigs (Landrace×Large White) with a mean body weight (BW) of 55 kg were randomly divided into control group (basal feed), mycotoxin group (contaminated feed) and glutamate group (2% glutamate+contaminated feed). Compared with control group, mold-contaminated feed decreased average daily gain (ADG) and increased feed conversion rate (FCR). Meanwhile, fed mold-contaminated feed impaired anti-oxidative system and intestinal morphology, as well as modified the serum amino acid profile in growing pigs. However, supplementation with glutamate exhibited potential positive effects on growth performance of pigs fed mold-contaminated feed, ameliorated the imbalance antioxidant system and abnormalities of intestinal structure caused by mycotoxins. In addition, dietary glutamate supplementation to some extent restored changed serum amino acid profile caused by mold-contaminated feed. In conclusion, glutamic acid may be act as a nutritional regulating factor to ameliorate the adverse effects induced by mycotoxins.

No abstract