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Soybean hull polysaccharides (SHPS) enhance the physicochemical properties of plant-based yogurt. However, their effects on the nutritional profile and biochemical mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to assess the impact of SHPS addition on the nonvolatile components of plant-based yogurt and its underlying mechanisms through widely targeted metabolomics analysis. The results demonstrated that the addition of SHPS (0.2 %-1.0 % w/v) enhanced the levels of free amino acids, sugars, and organic acids, with the addition of 0.6 % w/v being particularly effective in improving yogurt quality. Widely targeted metabolomics analysis revealed 278 differential metabolites between yogurt supplemented with 0.6 % SHPS (SPY) and the control sample. SHPS increased the content of various metabolites, including amino acids and derivatives, saccharides, organic acids, and flavonoids, among others. Key metabolic pathways affected by SHPS included pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis; valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis; and benzoate degradation. As the primary component of SHPS, galacturonic acid affected the metabolic products in yogurt by participating in the pentose and glucuronate interconversions and ascorbate and aldarate metabolism pathways. These findings elucidate the role of SHPS in modulating the nutritional composition of plant-based yogurt, offering valuable insights into its functional mechanisms in food processing., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Genes play a pivotal role in regulating the germination of cereal grains; however, there is limited research on the impact of germination genes on the physicochemical properties of germinated cereal starch. We investigated the effects of the OsGA20ox1 gene on the multiscale structural features and adhesion behavior of germinated brown rice starch. Compared to the knockout lines group, the wild type exhibited a decrease in double-helix content (62.74 %), relative crystallinity (47.39 %), and short-range molecular ordering (2.47 %), accompanied by enhanced erosion on the surface of starch granules. The damage to glycosidic bonds at the double-helix level and the heightened structural amorphization (90.95 %) led to reduced entanglement and interaction among starch molecules, ultimately resulting in reduced characteristic viscosity. Further transcriptomic analysis revealed that OsGA20ox1 could regulate the expression of starch-related enzyme genes in the starch metabolism pathway during germination of brown rice. This study contributes to understanding the role of germination genes in promoting the physicochemical properties of starch in germinated grains, thereby opening up new avenues for the improvement of plant-based starch, and paving the way for further research in this field., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The risk of radiation exposure increases with the development of nuclear energy and technology, and radiation protection receives more and more attention from public health and safety. However, the numerous adverse effects and low drug utilization limit the practical applications of radioprotective agents. In this study, we developed a biogenic crocetin-crosslinked chitosan nanoparticle with high stability and drug loading for efficient radioprotection. In detail, the nanoparticles were prepared using the natural antioxidant crocetin as a cross-linking reagent in amidation reactions of chitosan and mPEG-COOH. The nanoparticles exhibit a quick scavenging ability for common reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen in vitro. Meanwhile, cellular experiments demonstrate the good biocompatibility of the nanoparticles and the alleviation of radiation damage by scavenging reactive oxygen species, reducing apoptosis, and inhibiting DNA damage, etc. Importantly, the nanoparticles are effective in mitigating oxidative damage in major organs and maintaining peripheral blood cell content. In addition, they perform better radioprotective properties than free drug due to the significant extension of the blood half-life of crocetin in vivo from 10 min to 5 h. This work proposes a drug-crosslinking strategy for the design of a highly efficient radioprotective agent, which exhibits a promising prospect in the fields of nuclear emergency and public health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report a novel chitosan derivative, chitosan-ionic liquid (CS-IL) conjugation for anion adsorption. Specifically, CS-IL conjugation was synthesized through the reaction of amino groups of chitosan with carboxylic groups of 1-carboxybutyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride. Due to the amphiphilic structure, CS-IL conjugation could self-assemble into nanoparticles in distilled water. This novel chitosan derivative revealed good anion adsorption performance, and the adsorption capacity of Cr2O7(2-) and PF6(-) was 0.422 mmol/g and 0.840 mmol/g, respectively. The adsorption of Cr2O7(2-) and PF6(-) could be improved at low pH, which was ascribed to the adsorption of protonated NH2 on chitosan. Importantly, the chitosan derivative would aggregate in the water after the adsorption and could be easily separated. The properties enable CS-IL conjugation to be used as a novel anion adsorbent for wastewater treatment., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The mushrooms of the genus Ganoderma are popular for their important biological activities, such as antioxidation, anti-inflammatory, antitumour, antiulcer, antiviral, etc. Ganoderma capense is one of the important members of this fungus family, which possesses potential pharmacological properties. There is a dearth of information on the biochemical constituents of G. capense. The present study aimed to isolate, purify, and characterize the structure of the polysaccharide obtained from the mycelia of G. capense. A novel water-soluble polysaccharide (GCP50-1) was obtained from the dried powder of submerged fermentation mycelia of G. capense by extraction with hot water and further successive purification through diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) Sepharose CL-6B and Sephadex G-75 column chromatography. The average molecular weight of the polymer was 1.5 × 10(4)Da determined by a high performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), and its specific optical rotation was be [α]₂₅(D)=+170°. The structural feature of GCP50-1 was investigated by monosaccharide analysis, partial acid hydrolysis, methylation analysis, periodic acid oxidation, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The results obtained from the analyses indicated that GCP50-1 was an α-D-glucan with the main backbone chain of (1→4)-α-D-glucopyranosyl residue interspersed with (1→4, 6)-α-D-glucopyranosyl residue and the side chain attached to the O-6 position with (1→)-α-D-glucopyranosyl residue. This was the first report on the detailed structure elucidation of this novel polysaccharide from G. capense mycelia powder., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

pH- and thermo-sensitive (1→4)-2-amino-2-deoxy-β-d-glucan (i.e. chitosan) graft copolymer was prepared by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerizations of N-isopropylacrylamide with 4-methylbenzenesulfonic acid (i.e. tosylic acid)-chitosan complex. The polymerization was controlled well, and the amino group of chitosan could be deprotected easily and mildly with 15% Tris solution. The model aldehyde vanillin was conjugated with amino group of chitosan-g-PNIPAM via Schiff base bond (Loading efficiency, LE=77.6 mg/g), and the drug release could be controlled with temperature and pH. This property may promote the chitosan graft copolymer to be used in the field of "smart" drug delivery., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Thermo- and pH-sensitive chitosan-based nanoparticles were successfully prepared by one-pot polymerization of acrylic acid/chitosan with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) macro-RAFT agent. The spherical and monodisperse nanoparticles were obtained with the diameters of about 100 nm at 25 degrees C (pH=6.5), and PNIPAM was anchored as the shell via the RAFT process. The disorder shell and the large aggregates were observed at 40 degrees C (pH=6.5); and the spherical nanoparticles broke up at 25 degrees C when pH was lowered to 3. This work may provide a facile "one-pot" method to prepare functionalized chitosan-based nanoparticles without N-phthaloylation of chitosan in the process., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The temperature-responsive chitosan was synthesized by free radical polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) at 60 degrees C in the presence of RAFT-chitosan agent. The chitosan was subsequently modified with phthalic anhydride and with S-1-dodecyl-S'-(alpha,alpha'-dimethyl-alpha''-acetic acid) trithiocarbonate to serve as reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent. The polymerization results show that the graft polymerization proceeded via RAFT process, while the "well-defined" graft polymers were successfully synthesized. The temperature played an important role on the self-assembly in H2O dispersion and the morphologies of chitosan-g-PNIPAMs. To our knowledge, this is the first thermosensitive chitosan prepared from controlled graft modification of chitosan by RAFT polymerization.

The controlled graft modification of chitosan has first been achieved by nitroxide-mediated polymerization using chitosan-TEMPO macroinitiator. Chitosan-TEMPO macroinitiator was obtained from the (60)Co gamma-ray irradiation of N-phthaloylchitosan and 4-hydroxy-TEMPO in DMF under argon atmosphere. The graft copolymers were characterized by (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD) and high performance particle sizer (HPPS). The results indicate that the graft copolymers were successfully synthesized and that the graft polymerization was well controlled by the nitroxide-mediated process. The size distribution of chitosan-g-polystyrene in benzene is very narrow, which may be associated with the "well-defined" polystyrene (PSt) onto chitosan from nitroxide-mediated polymerization. This work provides a new method to prepare chitosan grafting copolymers with controlled molecular weights and "well-defined" structures.