Identification of authentic and adulterated Aquilariae Lignum Resinatum by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and two-dimensional correlation analysis

Ultrasound-laccase pre-treatment enhances agarwood essential oil extraction and bioactivity

Agarwood essential oil is prized for its elegant aroma and pharmacological properties; however, the traditional hydrodistillation method suffers from inefficiencies, constraining the industrial potential of agarwood. We proposed an ultrasonic-assisted laccase synergistic pretreatment technique that enhanced extraction throughput by 70.90 % compared to the traditional method by facilitating pore formation in agarwood and expediting the release of essential oil. The essential oil extracted using this method retained a similar aromatic profile to the traditional method but achieved a higher sesquiterpene oxide concentration (95.3 % vs. 89.6 %). Additionally, it exhibited notable improvements in antioxidant activity, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, and α-glucosidase inhibition, attributed to the increased affinity of sesquiterpene oxides for enzymes through hydrogen bonding, covalent interactions, and hydrophobic effects with amino acid residues. This approach not only maximises the efficiency of agarwood essential oil extraction and amplifies its bioactive properties, but also offers a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative, promoting the long-term vitality of the agarwood industry.

Discrimination of Adulterated Ginkgo Biloba Products Based on 2T2D Correlation Spectroscopy in UV-Vis Range

Ginkgo biloba is a popular medicinal plant widely used in numerous herbal products, including food supplements. Due to its popularity and growing economic value, G. biloba leaf extract has become the target of economically motivated adulterations. There are many reports about the poor quality of ginkgo products and their adulteration, mainly by adding flavonols, flavonol glycosides, or extracts from other plants. In this work, we developed an approach using two-trace two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2T2D COS) in UV-Vis range combined with multilinear principal component analysis (MPCA) to detect potential adulteration of twenty G. biloba food supplements. UV-Vis spectral data are obtained for 80% methanol and aqueous extracts in the range of 245–410 nm. Three series of two-dimensional correlation spectra were interpreted by visual inspection and using MPCA. The proposed relatively quick and straightforward approach successfully differentiated supplements adulterated with rutin or those lacking ginkgo leaf extract. Supporting information about adulteration was obtained from the difference between the DPPH radical scavenging capacity of both extracts and from chromatographic (HPLC-DAD) fingerprints of methanolic samples.

Study on Ultraviolet Aging Mechanism of Carbon Nanotubes/SBS Composite-Modified Asphalt in Two-Dimensional Infrared Correlation Spectroscopy

In order to explore the influence mechanism of carbon nanotubes on the ultraviolet (UV) aging properties of the SBS-modified asphalt binder, the changes of functional groups in the one-dimensional infrared spectrum and two-dimensional infrared correlation spectrum are studied in this paper. The results show that the UV aging process of the SBS-modified asphalt binder is the process of alkane chain cleavage and reorganization, the formation of oxygen-containing functional groups and decomposition of SBS. The incorporation of carbon nanotubes can reduce the mutual conversion of methyl and methylene functional groups, inhibit the decomposition of butadiene and the destruction of C = C double bonds in SBS. The degradation of SBS during the process of UV aging leads to the change of many functional groups and acceleration of the aging of the SBS-modified asphalt binder. The addition of carbon nanotubes can effectively alleviate the degradation of SBS and the formation of oxygen-containing functional groups at the early stage of UV aging, and reduce the influence of these two changes on other functional groups; thus, improving the anti-aging performance of the SBS-modified asphalt binder.

Chemical Authentication of Botanical Ingredients: A Review of Commercial Herbal Products

Chemical methods are the most important and widely used traditional plant identification techniques recommended by national and international pharmacopoeias. We have reviewed the successful use of different chemical methods for the botanical authentication of 2,386 commercial herbal products, sold in 37 countries spread over six continents. The majority of the analyzed products were reported to be authentic (73%) but more than a quarter proved to be adulterated (27%). At a national level, the number of products and the adulteration proportions varied very widely. Yet, the adulteration reported for the four countries, from which more than 100 commercial products were purchased and their botanical ingredients chemically authenticated, was 37% (United Kingdom), 31% (Italy), 27% (United States), and 21% (China). Simple or hyphenated chemical analytical techniques have identified the total absence of labeled botanical ingredients, substitution with closely related or unrelated species, the use of biological filler material, and the hidden presence of regulated, forbidden or allergenic species. Additionally, affecting the safety and efficacy of the commercial herbal products, other low quality aspects were reported: considerable variability of the labeled metabolic profile and/or phytochemical content, significant product-to-product variation of botanical ingredients or even between batches by the same manufacturer, and misleading quality and quantity label claims. Choosing an appropriate chemical technique can be the only possibility for assessing the botanical authenticity of samples which have lost their diagnostic microscopic characteristics or were processed so that DNA cannot be adequately recovered.

Investigation on the effect of active-polymers with different functional groups for EOR

Active-polymer attracted increasing interest as an enhancing oil recovery technology in oilfield development owing to the characteristics of polymer and surfactant. Different types of active functional groups, which grafted on the polymer branched chain, have different effects on the oil displacement performance of the active-polymers. In this article, the determination of molecular size and viscosity of active-polymers were characterized by Scatterer and Rheometer to detect the expanded swept volume ability. And the Leica microscope was used to evaluate the emulsifying property of the active-polymers, which confirmed the oil sweep efficiency. Results show that the Type I active-polymer have a greater molecular size and stronger viscosity, which is a profile control system for expanding the swept volume. The emulsification performance of Type III active-polymer is more stable, which is suitable for improving the oil cleaning efficiency. The results obtained in this paper reveal the application prospect of the active-polymer to enhance oil recovery in the development of oilfields.

Detection of adulterants in dietary supplements with Ginkgo biloba extract by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and multivariate methods PLS-DA and PCA

The infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) sampling coupled with chemometric methods has been applied to non-destructive detection of adulterants in dietary supplements containing Ginkgo biloba extract. The sample set comprised the spectra of six drugs and sixteen dietary supplements with ginkgo leaf extract. Spectral data (900-1800 cm^-1) were analyzed using multivariate partial least squares regression combined with a discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The second derivative of spectra followed by mean centering was used as pre-processing method. Three models were constructed and validated for detection of potential adulterants: kaempferol, quercetin, and rutin. The iPLS-DA classification models achieved about 87.5%, 93,7%, and 87,5% of correct classification for adulteration with kaempferol, quercetin and rutin, respectively. The results obtained from classification models were verified by chromatographic fingerprints of unhydrolyzed sample extracts. Two-trace two-dimensional asynchronous correlation maps were constructed from pairs of spectra (each dietary supplement spectrum vs. averaged spectrum of drugs) and then analyzed by multiway PCA which revealed good discrimination between samples.

Optimal Hyperspectral Characteristics Determination for Winter Wheat Yield Prediction

Crop growth in different periods influences the final yield. This study started from the agronomic mechanism of yield formation and aimed to extract useful spectral characteristics in different phenological phases, which could directly describe the final yield and dynamic contributions of different phases to the yield formation. Hyperspectral information of the winter wheat canopy was acquired during three important phases (jointing stage, heading stage, and grain-filling stage). An enhanced 2D correlation spectral analysis method modified by mutual information was proposed to identify the sensitive wavebands. The selected wavebands performed well with good mechanism interpretation and close correlation with important crop growth parameters and main physiological activities related to yield formation. The quantitative contribution proportions of plant growth in three phases to the final yield were estimated by determining the coefficients of partial least square models based on full spectral information. They were then used as single-phase weight factors to merge the selected wavebands. The support vector machine model based on the weighted spectral dataset performed well in yield prediction with satisfactory accuracy and robustness. This result would provide rapid and accurate guidance for agricultural production and would be valuable for the processing of hyperspectral remote sensing data.

Rapid and automatic chemical identification of the medicinal flower buds of Lonicera plants by the benchtop and hand-held Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

With the utilization of the hand-held equipment, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a promising analytical technique to minimize the time cost for the chemical identification of herbal materials. This research examines the feasibility of the hand-held FT-IR spectrometer for the on-site testing of herbal materials, using Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF) and Lonicerae Flos (LF) as examples. Correlation-based linear discriminant models for LJF and LF are established based on the benchtop and hand-held FT-IR instruments. The benchtop FT-IR models can exactly recognize all articles of LJF and LF. Although a few LF articles are misjudged at the sub-class level, the hand-held FT-IR models are able to exactly discriminate LJF and LF. As a direct and label-free analytical technique, FT-IR spectroscopy has great potential in the rapid and automatic chemical identification of herbal materials either in laboratories or in fields. This is helpful to prevent the spread and use of adulterated herbal materials in time.