Quantitative Determination of Acrolein in Cider by 1H NMR Spectrometry

Acrolein exposure affects ovarian function by interfering with glycolysis and mitochondrial energy metabolism in mouse

Acrolein is a widespread contaminant found in both diet and environment, entering the human body through food, alcohol, smoking, and exposure to fuel combustion fumes. While prior studies have highlighted acrolein's harmful impact on oocyte quality and early embryonic development in vitro, the specific mechanisms by which acrolein affects the female reproductive system in vivo remain poorly understood. This study first confirmed that in vitro acrolein exposure disrupts spindle morphology and chromosome alignment during the mid-MI stage of oocyte development, thus hindering oocyte maturation. Besides, exposure to acrolein not only stunts growth in mice but also impairs ovarian development, decreases the ovarian coefficient, disrupts follicular development, and increases the count of atretic follicles in vivo. Additional research has shown that acrolein exposure reduces the activity of key enzymes in glycolysis, pyruvate metabolism, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle within the ovaries. It also suppresses mitochondrial complex expression and disturbs the balance between mitochondrial fission and fusion, as confirmed by metabolomic analyses. Moreover, acrolein exposure in vivo induced granulosa cell apoptosis and reduced oocyte number. In summary, acrolein exposure impairs glucose metabolism and induces mitochondrial dysfunction in the ovaries.

Correlation of the presence of acrolein with higher alcohols, glycerol, and acidity in cachaças

Acrolein is a toxic aldehyde that can be present in various beverages, such as cachaça and other distilled spirits from sugarcane. The objective of this work was to detect and quantify acrolein in samples of cachaça produced by different processes in all regions of Brazil and to evaluate the possible routes of formation of this contaminant from the correlation with other secondary compounds present in the beverage using principal component analysis. Approximately 27.0% of the samples analyzed were outside the limit established by Brazilian legislation for this contaminant, with an average acrolein concentration of 14.01 mg 100 mL^-1 anhydrous alcohol (aa). In the other samples, the average concentration was 0.97 mg 100 mL^-1 aa. After selecting the variables that most closely correlated with the presence of acrolein in beverages, a positive correlation was found with the presence of butan-2-ol, propan-1-ol and volatile acids, and a slight correlation with the presence of phenolic compounds. Therefore, the presence of acrolein in cachaça can be associated with contamination of the fermentation must by bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, as a result of the chemical degradation and enzymatic conversion of the glycerol produced during fermentation.

Quantitative 1H NMR with global spectral deconvolution approach for the determination of gamma-aminobutyric acid in Chinese yam (Dioscorea polystachya Turczaninow)

We developed a quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) with global spectral deconvolution (GSD) method to determine the gamma-aminobutyric acid content in Chinese yam with the proton signal at δ_H 2.30. Trimethylsilyl-2,2,3,3-tetradeuteropropionic acid sodium salt was set as the internal standard. The method was validated and showed admissible stability, repeatability, and precision. Compared to the traditional high-performance liquid chromatography method, this method did not involve tedious pre-treatment and expensive standard. Compared to ordinary qNMR, GSD algorithm could effectively remove the effect of noise, baseline distortions and signal overlapping. Overall, qNMR with GSD method is a rapid, simple and reliable method to quantitatively determine functional metabolites even overlapped with other compounds in herbs or foods.

Simultaneous Determination of the Saponification Value, Acid Value, Ester Value, and Iodine Value in Commercially Available Red Fruit Oil (Pandanus conoideus, Lam.) Using 1H qNMR Spectroscopy

Red fruit oil (RFO) can be extracted from fruits of Pandanus conoideus, Lam., an endogenous plant of Papua, Indonesia. It is a commonly used essential original traditional medicine. By applying a newly developed quantitative 1H NMR (qNMR) spectroscopy method for quality assessment, a simultaneous determination of the saponification value (SV), acid value (AV), ester value (EV), and iodine value (IV) in RFO was possible. Dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2) was used as an internal standard. Optimization of NMR parameters, such as NMR pulse sequence, relaxation delay time, and receiver gain, finally established the 1H NMR-based quantification approach. Diagnostic signals of the internal standard at δ = 2.98 ppm, SV at δ = 2.37–2.20 ppm, AV at δ = 2.27–2.20 ppm, EV at δ = 2.37–2.27 ppm, and IV at δ = 5.37–5.27 ppm, respectively, were used for quantitative analysis. The method was validated concerning linearity (R2 = 0.999), precision (less than 0.83%), and repeatability in the range 99.17–101.17%. Furthermore, this method was successfully applied to crude RFO, crude RFO with palmitic and oleic acid addition, and nine commercial products. The qNMR results for the respective fat values are in accordance with the results of standard methods, as can be seen from the F- and t-test (< 1.65 and < 1.66, respectively). The fundamental advantages of qNMR, such as its rapidity and simplicity, make it a feasible and existing alternative to titration for the quality control of RFO.

Origin and Fate of Acrolein in Foods

Acrolein is a highly toxic agent that may promote the occurrence and development of various diseases. Acrolein is pervasive in all kinds of foods, and dietary intake is one of the main routes of human exposure to acrolein. Considering that acrolein is substantially eliminated after its formation during food processing and re-exposed in the human body after ingestion and metabolism, the origin and fate of acrolein must be traced in food. Focusing on molecular mechanisms, this review introduces the formation of acrolein in food and summarises both in vitro and in vivo fates of acrolein based on its interactions with small molecules and biomacromolecules. Future investigation of acrolein from different perspectives is also discussed.

Inhibitory Effect on Acrolein by Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and Its Acrolein Adducts from the Pigment of Mynica Red

Acrolein (ACR), the simplest α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, possesses high reactivity and toxicity both in vitro and in vivo and results in various chronic diseases. This has attracted increasing interest from researchers to screen various bioactive compounds to control it. In this article, we attempted to discover a new attribute of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (C3G), including its ACR-scavenging capacity, reaction pathway, and possible application. Our findings revealed that C3G could capture ACR to form mono- and diadducts at room temperature by using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and we further synthesized and elucidated the structures of C3G-ACR and C3G-2ACR using HRMS and 2D NMR. The structural data validated that there were two active sites of C3G for trapping ACR: at C-6 in the A-ring and C-5' in the B-ring. In addition, we found that C3G-ACR exhibited a more remarkable clearing ability than C3G within a short time. More than 65.9% of ACR was eliminated by C3G-ACR within 5 min via further formation of C3G-2ACR, but there was no obvious effect of C3G on ACR. When the incubation time was extended to 120 min, C3G could remove up to 83.2% of ACR. Subsequently, we also observed that mynica red (>5% C3G), as a pigmented food additive, could efficiently eliminate ACR generated in the Chinese liquor model and real red bayberry wine products to form C3G-ACR and C3G-2ACR. Both adducts increased significantly, by 10 times to a 100 times, after adding mynica red to red bayberry wine products for 24 h; they also increased rapidly with prolonged incubation time in the liquor-mynica red model system. Therefore, our findings suggest that C3G or mynica red may be developed as a promising novel ACR inhibitor in fruit wine and assembled alcoholic drinks or as a health food.