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The effect of storage time on pH, titratable acidity, degrees Brix, organic acids, sugars, amino acids, and color of minimally processed cantaloupe melon (Cucumis melo L. var. reticulatus Naud. cv. Mission) was determined at 4 degrees C and 20 degrees C. Changes in most of the biochemical parameters with storage time were relatively slow at the lower temperature. At 20 degrees C, a 17% loss in soluble solids and a 2-fold increase in acidity occurred after 2 days. Organic acid content also increased considerably with time at this temperature as a result of the production of lactic acid. Oxalic, citric, malic, and succinic acids were the organic acids, and glucose, fructose, and sucrose were the sugars present in the freshly cut cantaloupe. Malic acid concentration decreased concurrently with lactic acid production indicating the possible involvement of anaerobic malo-lactic fermentation along with sugar utilization by lactic acid bacteria. The effect of storage on microbial growth was determined at 4, 10, and 20 degrees C. Gram-negative stained rods grew at a slower rate at 4 degrees C and 10 degrees C than the Gram-positive mesophilic bacteria that dominated microorganism growth at 20 degrees C. Eighteen amino acids were identified in fresh cantaloupe: aspartic acid, glutamic acid, asparagine, serine, glutamine, glycine, histidine, arginine, threonine, alanine, proline, tyrosine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, phenyl alanine, and lysine. The dominant amino acids were aspartic acid, glutamic acid, arginine, and alanine. Total amino acid content decreased rapidly at 20 degrees C, but only a slight decrease occurred at 4 degrees C after prolonged storage. Changes in lightness (L), chroma, and hue at both temperatures indicate the absence of browning reactions. The results indicate the potential use of lactic acid and lactic acid bacteria as quality control markers in minimally processed fruits.
The survival of bacterial pathogens in acidified foods depends not only on the hydrogen ion concentration, but also on the type of acid and the storage temperature. Shigella flexneri is a foodborne pathogen that is acid tolerant. The survival of S. flexneri 5348 in brain heart infusion broth supplemented with 0.04 M acetic, citric, lactic, malic, or tartaric acid and adjusted to pH 4 with HCI or NaOH was studied. The control medium was brain heart infusion broth adjusted to pH 4 with HCI. Stationary-phase cells were inoculated into media at initial populations of 6 to 7 log10 CFU/ml and incubated at 4, 19, 28, and 37 degrees C. A two-phase linear inactivation model was applied to plate count data to derive lag times (tL) and slopes of the curves, from which D-values and time required for a 4-log10 decrease in population (T4D) were calculated. In all cases, survival increased with decreasing temperature. For each acid, tL, the D-value, and T4D increased with decreasing temperature. All acids inhibited S. flexneri to some extent but to differing degrees as follows: lactic acid, acetic acid > citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid > HCl. The T4D values for the control medium and for media containing acetic, citric, lactic, malic, and tartaric acids were 64, 47, 50, 34, 58, and 52 h, respectively, at 37 degrees C and 2,607, 1,498, 1,905, 1,346, 1,726, and 2,134 h, respectively, at 4 degrees C. The results of this study indicate that organic acids may aid in the inactivation of Shigella. However, these data also suggest that foods stored at or below room temperature containing low levels (< 1%) of acids could cause illness if contaminated with Shigella.
Insulin regulates the expression of genes involved in a variety of metabolic processes. In chick-embryo hepatocytes in culture, insulin amplifies the tri-iodothyronine (T3)-induced enzyme activity, and the level and rate of transcription of mRNA for both fatty acid synthase (FAS) and malic enzyme (ME). Insulin alone, however, has little or no effect on the expression of these genes. In chick-embryo hepatocytes, the mechanism by which insulin regulates the expression of these or other genes is not known. Several recent studies have compared the effects of zinc, vanadate and selenate on insulin-sensitive processes in an attempt to probe the mechanism of insulin action. Because zinc, vanadate and selenate mimic the effects of insulin on several processes, they have been termed insulin-mimetics. We have studied the effect of zinc, vanadate and selenate on the T3-induced expression of both FAS and ME. Like insulin, these agents had little or no effect on the basal activities for FAS and ME in chick-embryo hepatocytes in culture for 48 h. Unlike insulin, however, zinc, vanadate and selenate inhibited the T3-induced activities and mRNA levels of both FAS and ME. Maximal inhibition was achieved at concentrations of 50 microM zinc or vanadate, or 20 microM selenate. Zinc and vanadate also inhibited the T3-induced transcription of the FAS and ME genes. Although the mechanism of this inhibition is unknown, our results indicate that it is not mediated through inhibition of binding of T3 to its nuclear receptor nor through a general toxic effect. Thus zinc, vanadate and selenate are not insulin-mimetics under all conditions, and their effects on other insulin-sensitive processes may be fortuitous and unrelated to actions or components of the insulin signalling pathway.
Effects of low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) and residence time on desorption of Cu, Cd, and Pb from two typical Chinese soils were studied. Citric, malic, and acetic acids were chosen as representatives of LMWOAs commonly present in soils. CaCl(2) and NaNO(3) were used in desorption as they were main soil background electrolytes for comparison. Desorption of Cu, Cd, and Pb from both soils followed the descending order: citric acid>malic acid>acetic acid>CaCl(2)>NaNO(3), which was consistent with the order of stability of Cu-, Cd-, and Pb-LMWOAs complexes from large to small and ion exchange ability of Ca(2+) and Na(+). Desorption of metals by inorganic salts decreased with increasing desorption solution pH. Whereas desorption of metals by LMWOAs showed different trend in response to pH change due to their different complexing abilities. Malic and acetic acids released less metals at low pH 3.1 compared with citric acid at pH 7, indicating that pH was not the dominant factor governing the release of metals. In addition, all LMWOAs desorbed more metals than inorganic salts, CaCl(2) and NaNO(3). Therefore, organic ligands played a dominant role in desorption of heavy metals. More metals were released from Jiangxi soil than from Heilongjiang soil due to lower soil pH, CEC, organic matter content and manganese oxide of Jiangxi soil. Generally, desorption of metals decreased with increasing residence time of metals in soils.
The experiments were designed to get some information on the metabolism controlled by variation of the NADP level, which is known to change with the variation of environmental factors.The exogenous NADP added to the mitochondria prepared from Vigna sesquipedalis cotyledons was associated with and/or penetrated into the mitochondria. The combined NADP served in the operation of the mitochondrial NADP-isocitric acid dehydrogenase.The variation of NADP level by exogenous NADP was observed to modify the rates of metabolic processes. The increase of exogenous NADP in Vigna hypocotyl slices lowered malic- and citric-acid contents and raised the alpha-ketoglutaric acid content. The incorporation of (14)C from acetate-2-(14)C into lipid, organic acid, amino acid, was promoted with the exogenous NADP. The (14)C-incorporation into glycolic acid, malic acid and glutamic acid was accelerated.In the mannitol homogenate of Vigna cotyledon, (14)CO(2) evolution and (14)C-incorporation into lipid, sugar, and glycolic acid from acetate-2-(14)C were promoted with the exogenous NADP. Endogenous citric acid content was lowered by NADP, while malic acid content was increased.The activation of NADP-enzymes by NADP was discussed to be involved in these variations.
The organic acids composition of six wild edible mushroom species (Amanita caesarea, Boletus edulis, Gyroporus castaneus, Lactarius deliciosus, Suillus collinitus, and Xerocomus chrysenteron) was determined by an HPLC-UV detector method. The results showed that all of the samples presented a profile composed of at least five organic acids: citric, ketoglutaric, malic, succinic, and fumaric acids. Several samples also contained oxalic, ascorbic, quinic, and shikimic acids. In a general way, the quantitation of the identified compounds indicated that malic acid, followed by the pair citric plus ketoglutaric acids, were the main compounds in the analyzed species, with the exception of A. caesarea, in which malic and ascorbic acids were the most abundant compounds. The relative amounts and the presence/absence of each identified compound may be useful for the differentiation of the species.
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Pregnant rats were injected with triiodothyronine (T3) on the 19th and 20th days of pregnancy. This elevated fetal T3 plasma values and caused a large rise in fetal liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPcK) activity. At the same time PEPcK activity in fetal brown fat was inhibited. Essentially the same effect of T3 was also noted when injected into postnatal rats. T3 injections also elevated fatty acid synthetase activity in brown fat of weanling rats but, in contrast to corticosteroids, had no effect earlier in life. No effect was noted in the liver, except a slight decrease in the fetus. T3 injections to suckling rats elevated plasma levels of insulin and glucagon within 24 h.
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It is well known that dissolved organic matter in soil solution may affect the toxicity or bioavailability of heavy metals to plants, but existing information on various organic substances is insufficient for treating problems with heavy metal-contaminated soils. To clarify how dissolved organic matter alters the toxicity and bioavailability of metals, we germinated lettuce seeds exposed to solutions containing Cu and several kinds of dissolved organic matters. Low molecular weight organic acids (citric, malic, and oxalic acids) increased the toxicity and bioavailability of Cu, but low concentrations of the synthetic chelators ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) and diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA) decreased the toxicity and bioavailability of Cu. In contrast, humic acid appeared to be the most effective organic substance for detoxifying Cu, even though it did not significantly decrease the bioavailability of Cu. Consequently, the bioavailability and toxic effects of Cu in soil depend on the nature of coexisting organic substances in the soil solution.
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Effective quantitation of organic acids (acetic, malic, and lactic acids) present in total parenteral nutrition (TPN) pharmaceutical products for final product release purposes requires accuracy, precision, and specificity but less than optimal sensitivity. A chromatographic method relying on ion-exclusion separation and low-wavelength ultraviolet detection has been developed and validated to quantitate these organic acids in matrices containing 10-fold or greater excesses of other constituents (sugars, amino acids, and other inorganic salts) with no sample preparation other than dilution. Mobile phases at slightly different pH values effectively eliminates matrix-related interferences that were observed during the analysis of several products. The validation procedure used is discussed in terms of its strategy and results. Ultimately, the assay is found to be appropriate for the release testing of several compositionally diverse TPN products.
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