Effect of γ irradiation on the fatty acid composition of soybean and soybean oil

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs): Sources, Digestion, Absorption, Application and Their Potential Adjunctive Effects on Visual Fatigue

When the eyes are exposed to the environment, they are easily affected by strong light stimulation and harmful substances. At the same time, prolonged use of the eyes or incorrect eye habits can cause visual fatigue, which mainly manifests as eye dryness, soreness, blurred vision, and various discomforts. The main reason for this is a decline in the function of the eye, especially the cornea and retina on the surface of the eye, which have the greatest impact on the normal function of the eye. Research has found that supplementation with appropriate foods or nutrients can effectively strengthen the eye against external and internal stimuli, thereby alleviating or avoiding visual fatigue. Among these, supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids has been found to be effective at protecting eye health and relieving visual fatigue. This article summarizes the sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids (including the main dietary sources and internal synthesis), the mechanisms of digestion and absorption of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the body and the safety of polyunsaturated fatty acid applications. It also reviews the mechanism of action of polyunsaturated fatty acids in aiding the relief of visual fatigue based on the mechanism of impaired function or structure of the ocular surface and fundus in the hope of providing some reference and insight into the development and application of polyunsaturated fatty acids in functional foods for the relief of visual fatigue.

Effect of Lipid Type on the Acidogenic Performance of Food Waste

Due to its high lipid content and intricate constitution, food waste poses a considerable challenge for biotreatment. This research aims to investigate the potential influence of diverse lipid species on anaerobic fermentation, induced by the varying dietary patterns observed in distinct regions. The investigation involved incorporating 5% (w/w) of beef tallow, mutton fat, soybean oil, peanut oil, and rapeseed oil, separately, into simulated food waste, and subjected it to batch mode acidogenic fermentation. The inclusion of unsaturated fatty acids resulted in a redirection of the metabolic pathway from the lactic acid type to the ethanol, acetic acid, and butyric acid types. The succession of the acidogenic metabolic pathway was highly correlated with the lipid types; beef tallow, mutton fat, soybean oil, and peanut oil delayed the metabolic process by 1, 2, 3, and 8 d, respectively, whereas rapeseed oil accelerated it by 2 d. The lipids contained within the food waste did not facilitate the buildup of soluble substances, resulting in a decrease of 14.0~59.7%. Notwithstanding, valeric acid was exclusively generated during the beef tallow and peanut oil treatments, whereas the production of lactic acid in peanut oil showed a 35.9% increase in comparison to the control.

Control of post-harvest storage losses in water chestnut (Trapa bispinosa Roxburg) fruits by natural functional herbal coating and gamma radiation processing

Water chestnut (Trapa bispinosa Roxburg) has short shelf life even after drying due to insect infestations resulting in huge economic losses to farmers. Study was performed including coating with Aloe-vera gel, air drying, LDPE packaging and gamma irradiation (≤ 1 kGy) were evaluated for their efficacy in controlling storage losses. The study was performed with complete randomized design up to 6-month storage period. Physico-chemical properties analysis indicated, weight loss (0.11-0.88%), damage (upto 6.5%) and lesser grain borer infestation (up to 16 no. per packet) during storage at different intervals. Moisture content ranged (9.25-10.10%), protein (8.82-8.89%), fat (0.90-1.00%), carbohydrate (76.83-76.89%), total ash (3.11-4.18%), total sugar (5.83-5.89%), reducing sugar (1.84-1.88%), non-reducing sugar (3.98-4.02%), amylose (66.54-66.64%), in-vitro starch digestibility (3.14-3.18%), phenolics (0.14-0.18%), acidity (0.11-0.12%) and ascorbic acid (41.66-50.00 mg/100 g). These treatments were not found to affect the quality attributes significantly however; it helps in controlling insect infestations at ambient condition. The sensory score of the product, 'Sev' was ranked as like slightly to moderately range. It could be concluded that water chestnut with combinations of 50% aloe-vera gel +0.75 kGy gamma radiation treatment could be stored up to 6 months with retention of quality attributes.

Selection of mutants with high linolenic acid contents and characterization of fatty acid desaturase 2 and 3 genes during seed development in soybean (Glycine max)

BACKGROUND

Soybean seeds contain 18-24% lipids, which are made up of 85% polyunsaturated fatty acids. Two of these (linoleic and linolenic acids) comprise essential fatty acids that are not synthesized in humans and animals. Linolenic acid plays a vital role in the maintenance of brain function and is a source of docosahexaenoic acid for retinal and nerve tissue, with its physiological functions being a focus of attention.

RESULTS

We developed mutant soybean populations via gamma irradiation of Korean cultivars Danbaek and Daepung and evaluated the linolenic acid content of 78 and 154 M9 mutant progenies. We selected the four mutant lines with the highest linolenic acid contents based on 2 years of investigation of fatty acids. The selected mutant lines had linolenic acid contents that were 33.9% to 67.7% higher than those of the original cultivars and exhibited increased fatty acid desaturase (FAD) gene expression levels during seed development. We also identified nucleotide polymorphisms of FAD genes in the four mutant lines.

CONCLUSION

The present study found that linolenic acid content is related to significantly increased expression levels of the FAD3C and FAD3D genes in the endoplasmic reticulum, which was uncovered by radiation mutation breeding of soybean. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effects of gamma irradiation on aflatoxin B1 levels in soybean and on the properties of soybean and soybean oil

Fungal infection is inevitable in the cultivation and storage process of soybean. Gamma irradiation is an effective method to control fungal growth and inactivate mycotoxins. The effects of gamma irradiation and fungal damage on the number of fungi, aflatoxin B1 content, proximate composition of soybeans, and quality of soybean oil (acid value, peroxide value, iodine value, fatty acid profile, tocopherols content, and oxidation stability) were investigated in this work. Growth of fungi caused some changes in proximate composition of soybean and qualities of soybean oil. However, the changes depended on the damage extent of soybeans. No significant change was found for the soybeans incubated for 30 days (moderately fungi-damaged). Gamma irradiation could completely eliminate the fungi and greatly reduce the content of aflatoxin B1 in soybeans at 10 kGy. For soybeans incubated for 30 days, there were no significant changes in the quality attributes, tocopherols content and oxidation stability of oil when the gamma irradiation dose was less than 20 kGy. Gamma irradiation is a promising method to improve the safety and economy of moderately fungi-damaged soybean used for feedstuff.