Antioxidant capacity (AOC) against peroxyl radical and 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical cation was measured for a series of p-hydroxybenzoic (HB) and p-hydroxycinnamic (HC) acids at different pH. Quantum-chemical computation was performed using Gaussian 3.0 software package to calculate the geometry and energy parameters of the same compounds. Significant correlations were revealed between AOC and a number of calculated parameters. The most significant AOC descriptors for the studied compounds against peroxyl radical were found to be HOMO energy, rigidity (η) and Mulliken charge on the carbon atom in m-position to the phenolic hydroxyl. The most significant descriptor of the antioxidant properties against the ABTS radical cation at pH 7.40 is electron transfer enthalpy from the phenolate ion. The mechanism of AOC realization has been proposed for HB and HC acids against both radicals.

Summary Bacterial growth media represent a high cost in industrial applications, and for this reason, it is economically important to find less expensive supplements to replace the traditional ones. In the present work, peptide hydrolysates obtained from poultry meat and bone residues (functional animal protein [FAP]) and from feathers (functional feather protein [FFP]) were studied to determine their ability for the production of microbial biomass with improved viability. The results obtained were compared with those obtained with other supplement nutritive compounds used in fermentation growth media. The molecular composition of the hydrolysates in terms of total and soluble nitrogen, molecular weight distribution, total and free amino acids, was determined. The growth and cellular state of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains were studied by turbidimetric measurements and direct count by fluorescence microscopy. Overall, this study suggested that by‐products from poultry industry provide a good alternative to substitute expensive supplements for growth of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium with a high level of viability.

A wild isolate of Penicillium canescens was subjected to mutagenesis, and 150 chlorate-resistant mutants were isolated and classified in respect of their ability to utilize various nitrogen sources. Strains supposedly deficient in nitrate reductase have been transformed with the nitrate-reductase gene from Aspergillus niger. Transformation probably occurred by non-homologous integration of the transforming vector into the chromosome. Co-transformation with the AMA 1 replicating element from A. nidulans enhanced transformation frequency up to 2000-fold, and was shown to result in autonomous maintenance of replicating concatenates, one of which was re-isolated by transformation of E. coli.

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