Moisture‐dependent engineering properties of arugula seed relevant in mechanical processing and bulk handling

Engineering properties of Cassia tora L. seeds and meal as a function of moisture content

Engineering properties are of great importance for Cassia tora L. seeds in aspects of harvesting, handling mechanical design and product processing. The effect of moisture content (7, 10, 13, 16 and 19%) (wet basis) on the properties: physical (length, width, bulk and true density, porosity, thousand seeds mass, coefficient of static friction and angle of repose), mechanical (hardness, fragmentation energy and failure deformations), and thermal (specific heat, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity), were systematically studied. As the moisture contents increase from 7 to 19%, the length (L) increased from 4.52 to 5.87 mm, the thickness (T) from 2.51 to 3.21 mm and the width (W) from 2.36 to 3.02 mm, respectively. The bulk and true density of Cassia tora L. seeds decreased from 775.83 to 654.17 kg/m³ and from 1295.21 to 1154.72 kg/m³, respectively, with the moisture content raised from 7 to 19%. The thermal conductivity of Cassia tora L. seeds meal was found to be 0.068–0.098 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, 0.078–0.112 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, 0.089–0.125 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, 0.098–0.136 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, 0.108–0.148 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, 0.119–0.159 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively, at 25 °C, 45 °C, 65 °C, 85 °C, 105 °C and 125 °C in moisture ranges of 7–19%. The thermal diffusivity was found to decrease from 5.21 × 10^–8 to 4.53 × 10^–8 m²/s, from 5.75 × 10^–8 to 4.91 × 10^–8 m²/s, from 6.11 × 10^–8 to 5.17 × 10^–8 m²/s, from 6.52 × 10^–8 to 5.36 × 10^–8 m²/s, from 7.17 × 10^–8 to 5.77 × 10^–8 m²/s, from 7.36 × 10^–8 to 5.84 × 10^–8 m²/s, respectively, at 25 °C, 45 °C, 65 °C, 85 °C, 105 °C and 125 °C in moisture ranges of 7–19%. The results suggested that physical properties exhibited linear relationships with moisture content using the regression model, while mechanical properties showed a second-order polynomial relationship with moisture content. Furthermore, significant variation existed in thermal properties because of differentiate moisture content and temperature. These data and rules are also useful for high efficiency machines design and mechanisms development.

Cardiovascular benefits of Eruca sativa mill. Defatted seed meal extract: Potential role of hydrogen sulfide

Eruca sativa Mill. is an edible plant belonging to the Brassicaceae botanical family with a long story as a medicinal material, mainly linked to the presence of glucoerucin. One of the main products of this glucosinolate is erucin, a biologicallly active isothiocyanate recently recognized as a hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) donor. In this work, an Eruca sativa extract has been obtained from a defatted seed meal (DSM), achieving a powder rich in thiofunctionalized glucosinolates, glucoerucin, and glucoraphanin, accounting for 95% and 5% of the total glucosinolate content (17% on a dry weight basis), associated with 13 identified phenolic acids and flavonoids accounting for 2.5%. In a cell‐free model, Eruca sativa DSM extract slowly released H₂S. Moreover, this extract promoted significant hypotensive effects in hypertensive rats, and evoked dose‐dependent cardioprotection in in vivo model of acute myocardial infarct, obtained through a reversible coronary occlusion. This latter effect was sensitive to blockers of mitochondrial KATP and Kv7.4 potassium channels, suggesting a potential role of these mitochondrial channels in the protective effects of Eruca sativa DSM extract. Accordingly, Eruca sativa DSM extract reduced calcium uptake and apoptotic cell death in isolated cardiac mitochondria. Taken together, these results demonstrate that Eruca sativa DSM extract is endowed with an interesting nutraceutical profile on the cardiovascular system due to, at least in part, its H₂S releasing properties. These results pave the way for future investigations on active metabolites.