An innovative carbon dots polarity probe based on intramolecular charge-transfer for visual monitoring of the total polar materials in frying oil

The presence of Total Polar Materials (TPM) in edible oils is a crucial indicator for assessing oil quality. It is of paramount importance to develop a rapid and dependable technique for monitoring polarity in frying oil. Sensitive polarity responsive fluorescence carbon dots (F-CDs) were synthesized by using p-phenylenediamine as precursors and 2-formylphenylboronic acid pinacol ester (2-FAPE) as a post-modifier. The construction of the fluorescent probe F-CDs involved a strong intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) mechanism, with 2-FAPE serving as the electron-withdrawing fluorophore and the π-conjugated structure acting as a potent electron-donating group. A strong linear relationship was observed between the emission wavelength and the TPM value of frying oil within a range of 11% to 30%. Notably, the fluorescence color of the probe transitioned from blue to yellow under UV light at 365 nm as the TMP value increased. This study expands the range of sensing applications for CDs in food safety.

Paint particle pollution in aquatic environments: Current advances and analytical challenges

Paints, coatings and varnishes play a crucial role in various industries and daily applications, providing essential material protection and enhancing aesthetic characteristics. However, they sometimes present environmental challenges such as corrosion, wear, and biofouling which lead to economic losses and ecological harm. Paint particles (PPs), including antifouling/anticorrosive paint particles (APPs), originate from marine, industrial, and architectural activities, primarily due to paint leakage, wear, and removal, thus significantly contributing to marine pollution. These particles are often misclassified as microplastics (MPs) because of their polymeric content, so the abundance of these materials is often underestimated. Standardized assessment methodologies are imperative to accurately differentiate and quantify them. Since PPs/APPs incorporate hazardous substances like metals, biocides, and additives that leach into the environment, further investigation into their potential impacts on organisms is of utmost importance to understand their complex composition and toxicity. While essential characterization techniques are needed, a holistic approach, focusing on sustainable paint formulations, is crucial for effective pollution mitigation. This review delves into the intricate structure of paint systems, elucidating the mechanisms governing the aging and formation of PPs/APPs, their prevalence and subsequent environmental and ecotoxicological repercussions. Additionally, it addresses challenges in sampling, processing, and characterizing PPs/APPs, advocating standardized approaches to mitigate their environmental threats, and proposing new perspectives for the future.

Machine Learning-based Predictive Analysis of Total Polar Compounds (TPC) content in Frying Oils: A Comprehensive Electrochemical Study of 6 Types of Frying Oils with Various Frying Timepoints

Standard approaches to determining the total polar compounds (TPC) content in frying oils such as the chromatographic techniques are slow, bulky, and expensive. This paper presents the electrochemical analysis of 6 types of frying oils inclusive of 52 frying timepoints, without sample preparation. This is achieved via impedance spectroscopy to capture sample-specific electrical polarization states. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive study of various types of frying oils, with progressively increasing frying timepoints for each type. The principal component analysis distinguishes the frying timepoints well for all oil types. TPC prediction follows, involving supervised machine learning with sample-wise leave-one-out implementation. The R² values and mean absolute errors across the test samples measure 0.93-0.97 and 0.43-1.19 respectively. This work serves as a reference for electrochemical analysis of frying oils, with the potential for portable TPC predictors for rapid accurate screening of frying oils.

Investigation of Microplastics in Digestion System: Effect on Surface Microstructures and Probiotics

There are increasingly attentions on the pollution from microplastics, especially the impact on human health. This work focuses on one hand the effect of digestion system on the surface microstructures of microplastics from the most popular sources such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride. On the other hand, how these microplastic affect probiotics in digestion system was also investigated to evaluate their toxicity on health. All the samples were treated by in vitro simulating digestion consisting of three phases: oral, gastric and intestinal. There were no physical differences observed by both Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy, and no significant chemical changes detected by both Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy after digestion treatment. The effect of these microplastics on tested strains were investigated by in vitro culture method and results showed that polystyrene microplastics could inhibit the growth of the Lactobacillus significantly. The results indicated that the digestion system could not decompose microplastics, even on the surfaces, since plastics are inert due to their low chemical reactivity, but the microplastics might lead to imbalance of intestinal microbiota.

Rapid Assessment of Quality Changes in French Fries during Deep-frying Based on FTIR Spectroscopy Combined with Artificial Neural Network

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with backpropagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) were utilized for rapid and simultaneous assessment of the lipid oxidation indices in French fries. The conventional indexes (i.e. total polar compounds, oxidized triacylglycerol polymerized products, oxidized triacylglycerol monomers, triacylglycerol hydrolysis products, and acid value), and FTIR absorbance intensity in French fries were determined during the deep-frying process, and the results showed the French fries had better quality in palm oil, followed by sunflower oil, rapeseed oil and soybean oil. The FTIR spectra of oil extracted from French fries were correlated to the reference oxidation indexes determined by AOCS standard methods. The results of BP-ANN prediction showed that the model based on FTIR fitted well (R² > 0.926, RMSEC < 0.481) compared with partial least-squares model (R² > 0.876). This facile strategy with excellent performance has great potential for rapid characterization quality of French fries during frying.

The formation, determination and health implications of polar compounds in edible oils: Current status, challenges and perspectives

To effectively control the quality of edible oil, polar compounds in edible oils have been studied extensively in the past few decades, particularly in the field of frying. This article critically reviews the formation, determination, and health implications of the polar compounds in edible oils via comprehensive literature research. The challenges and perspectives of polar compounds in edible oils are also discussed. Three chemical reactions, including oxidation, hydrolysis, and polymerization, elaborate polar compound formation. Many techniques are used to determine the total polar compound content of edible oils, with comparative analysis; Fourier transform infrared technique is a relatively ideal method. A major obstacle for nutritional studies focused on polar compounds formed during frying is that few pure compounds have been quantified. To inhibit the formation of the polar compounds effectively, investigations into the applications of enzymatic method in developing new lipophilized antioxidants may be a new direction in research.