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The effects of high CO2 (5% and 10%), on respiratory metabolism and quality of sweet cherries ("Rainier" and "8–102" varieties), were evaluated following storage at 0°C for 60 d. Quality (respiration rate, weight loss, firmness, etc.) in sweet cherries was significantly improved by high CO2 in storage. And high CO2 enhanced pentose phosphate pathway, decreased in the glycolytic pathway and tricarboxylic acid cycle in aerobic respiration proved by elevated the contents of NADP(H), source, and fructose, as well as alleviated the levels of NAD(H). Cell membrane integrity was also better in these conditions, with higher activities of pyruvate kinase, phosphofructokinase b, and adenosine triphosphatase and lower activities of polyphenol oxidases and cytochrome C oxidases. Moreover, high CO2 decreased anaerobic respiration by inhibiting the accumulations of pyruvic acid, ethanol, and acetaldehyde, as well as by reducing the activities of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase. Novelty impact statement: High CO2 (5% or 10%) enhanced the NAD(P)H levels in sweet cherries held at 0°C for 60 d.Respiratory metabolism was higher following the use of 10% CO2 during such storage.High CO2 maintained cell membrane integrity in sweet cherries stored at 0°C for 60 d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify an efficient and convenient method to increase the antioxidant activity in broccoli, this study intended primarily to elucidate the effect of cutting type on the quality parameters, antioxidant substance contents and antioxidant activity of broccoli using different floret diameters of 10 × 10 cm (CS1), 5 × 5 cm (CS2), 2.5 × 2.5 cm (CS3) and shredded florets (CS4). The results showed that chlorophyll, total soluble solid, vitamin C and reduced glutathione contents of fresh‐cut broccoli were decreased obviously during the storage. However, there was a significant influence of cutting type on the enzymatic activities involved in phenolic synthesis and oxidation including phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase, cinnamate 4‐hydroxylase, and polyphenol oxidase, which contributed to increasing phenolic content by 26.8%, 30.9%, 46.0%, and 51.3% in CS1, CS2, CS3 and CS4, respectively, and further enhanced the antioxidant activity by more than 60% in fresh‐cut broccoli. Moreover, the activities of antioxidant‐related enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase, were increased significantly in fresh‐cut broccoli. In conclusion, the cutting types had no significant effect on quality but clearly influenced the antioxidant substances and activities of broccoli; therefore, this study provided an efficient and convenient method to enhance the potential nutritional value of broccoli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To assess inflammatory back pain (IBP) and neuropathic pain (NP) in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and explore their relationships with disease activity and functional status. Design Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting and Subjects A convenience sample of 132 patients with axSpA was recruited from a university-affiliated hospital in China. Methods The presence of IBP or NP, pain intensity and quality, pain interference, disease activity, and functional status were assessed. Univariate analyses and binary logistic regressions were used to identify factors related to IBP or NP. Results Fifty patients (37.9%) had IBP, and 22 (16.7%) had NP. Scores of pain intensity and pain interference, disease activity, and functional limitation were significantly higher in patients with IBP or NP than those without either (P  <   0.05). The quality of IBP or NP was mainly presented as sensory descriptors, and patients with IBP had a higher level of "tiring-exhausting" in affective descriptors (P  <   0.05). There was a significant correlation between IBP and disease activity (odds ratio [OR] = 1.813, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.196–2.750). NP was related to functional limitation (OR = 1.544, 95% CI = 1.098–2.171). Conclusions Though pain quality (sensory and affective pain descriptors) show differently in patients with IBP or NP, the axSpA patients with IBP or NP experience more severe pain intensity and pain interference, higher disease activity, and greater functional limitation. The presence of IBP or NP could reflect higher disease activity or greater functional limitation in patients with axSpA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To study pain locations and patterns in knee osteoarthritis (OA) and determine associations between knee pain patterns and pain characteristics, functional status, and psychological status. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting and Subjects A convenience sample of 203 patients with knee OA was recruited from two university-affiliated hospitals from July 2016 to July 2017. Methods Pain locations were recorded with Photographic Knee Pain Map. Pain characteristics, functional dysfunction, pain catastrophizing, and pain self-efficacy were assessed, and demographic and radiographic data were also collected. Self-reported clinical outcomes across common pain patterns were compared. Results The medial joint line area (72.9%) was the most prevalent pain zone. The common pain patterns were diffuse (34.5%), isolated medial (22.7%), isolated anterior (9.9%), and medial–lateral pain (9.9%). Scores of intermittent pain (mean difference [MD] = 9.669, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.815 to 16.523) and knee-related function in daily living (MD = −10.353, 95% CI= −17.358 to  −3.349) were worse in diffuse pain compared with isolated medial pain. Knee-related symptom scores were higher with isolated medial (MD = 13.146, 95% CI = 6.725 to 19.566), isolated anterior (MD = 15.102, 95% CI = 6.525 to 23.679), and medial–lateral (MD = 15.281, 95% CI = 6.704 to 23.857) pain relative to diffuse pain. Diffuse pain, after adjusting for confounding factors, was associated with more severe knee pain at rest, higher scores of constant and intermittent pain, lower knee-related function scores, higher pain catastrophizing, and lower pain self-efficacy scores (P  <   0.05). Conclusions The most common pattern is diffuse pain, which is associated with worse knee pain intensity at rest, constant and intermittent pain experiences, and worse physical and psychological status, compared with more localized patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A putative glycoside hydrolase family 78 α-l-rhamnosidase BtRha78A from Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron VPI-5482 was heterologously over-expressed in Escherichia coli. Enzymatic properties of recombinant BtRha78A were characterized in detail. Recombinant BtRha78A might efficiently hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl α-l-rhamnopyranoside. BtRha78A displayed the highest activity at 60 °C in pH 6.5. BtRha78A exhibited a good pH stability and relatively high thermostability. BtRha78A could be tolerant of a low concentration of alcohols. These attractive advantages made it a promising alternative biocatalyst for industrial applications. The catalytic general acid Asp335 and general base Glu595 of BtRha78A were confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis. Alanine scanning mutagenesis based on sequence alignment and structural analysis revealed that the conserved residues Asp330, Arg334, Trp339, Asp342, Tyr383, Trp440, and His620 were crucial for enzyme catalysis. Most functional residues located at the conserved general acid motif (Asp330–Asp342) and were completely conserved in the subfamily I Rha78s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Integrated proteomic and metabolomic analysis used in this study. • This study reveals the global proteins expression in wounded broccoli. • This work reveals the different DEPs between shreds and florets broccoli. • This work reveals the critical metabolic pathway responses to wounding in broccoli. The plant wound-response is a complex process that generates physiological modifications for protecting the wounded tissue. In this study, tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomic analysis was performed to clarify the comprehensive molecular mechanism for the wound-response of broccoli subjected to two wounding intensities (0.04 and 1.85 m2 kg−1 for florets and shreds, respectively). Furthermore, integrated proteomic and metabolomic analysis was performed to reveal the interaction among the critical metabolic pathway responses to wounding. The results show that a total of 399 proteins and 266 proteins were identified as differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in florets and shreds broccoli compared to control, respectively. Furthermore, 167 DEPs were detected in shreds broccoli compared to the florets broccoli. Salicylic acid (SA) and ethylene (ET) biosynthesis were more susceptible to being induced by wounding with lower intensities, whereas, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, aliphatic glucosinolate synthesis and jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis were more susceptible to being activated by wounding with higher intensities. The activation of starch and sucrose metabolism, TCA cycle, glycolysis, pentose phosphate could provide carbon sources and ATP for the production of amino acids including phenylalanine, valine, threonine, isoleucine, L -methionine, methionine and histidine. The motivation of carbohydrate metabolic pathways and amino acid biosynthesis-related pathways promotes the precursor levels for phenolic substances and glucosinolate synthesis. Furthermore, the accumulation of SA, ET and JA may activated secondary metabolite biosynthesis through the regulation of critical proteins involved in the corresponding metabolic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Metabolomics was used to explore the wounding-responsive mechanisms in broccoli. • Reveals the global metabolites levels in broccoli with different wounding intensities. • This investigation found that the purine metabolism induced by wounding in broccoli. • This study validated the plant hormone signaling induced by wounding in broccoli. • Validated that biosynthesis of secondary metabolites induced by wounding in broccoli. The mechanism of response of plant to wounding stress is a complex process that physiologically modifies the wounded tissue for protection. In this study, untargeted metabolomics and physiological analyses were performed to validate the molecular mechanism of response to wounding stress of two intensities (0.04 and 1.85 m2 kg−1) in broccoli florets and shreds, respectively. The results showed that 97 and 1220 differentially expressed metabolites could be identified in broccoli subjected to the Florets vs. Control and Shreds vs. Control experiments, respectively. The Kyoto Encyclopedia Genes and Genomes pathway analyses revealed that these metabolites were mainly involved in aminoacyl-tRNA, amino acid, and secondary metabolite biosynthesis; purine metabolism; and plant signal molecule production. This study validated that wounding stress induced plant signal molecule production. Activation of jasmonic acid biosynthesis and H 2 O 2 production were more susceptible to wounding stress of higher intensities, whereas induction of salicylic acid biosynthesis and O 2 − production were more susceptible to wounding stress of lower intensities. Furthermore, wounding stress also activated glucosinolate and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis by regulating the levels of the precursors, including L-leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, valine, isoleucine, tryptophan, methionine, and phenylalanine. Wounding stress induced phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and the antioxidant system by upregulating the corresponding critical enzyme activity and gene expression, contributing greatly to the enhancement of phenolic compound levels, free radical scavenging ability, and resistance to wounding in broccoli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cutting style has obvious influence on individual phenols content and antioxidant capacity in wounded broccoli. • Illuminate the critical genes expression involved in phenolics synthesis mechanism in wounded broccoli. • Cell antioxidant capacity of shredded broccoli increased by 86.5%. • Wounding stress might be applied as an effective way to get more antioxidants in industrial and domestic processing. To explore the effect of cutting style on the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds and cellular antioxidant capacity in wounded broccoli subjected to different cutting styles (heads, florets, 1/2 florets and shredded florets), the mechanism of the accumulation of phenolic compounds was investigated at the transcriptional level, and cellular antioxidant capacity was measured using a breast cancer cell MCF-7 culture model. The results indicated that the relative expression of the genes encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase and 4-coumarin coenzyme A ligase, three enzymes involved in phenylpropanoid metabolism, was upregulated and that contributed to the synthesis of individual phenolic compounds, including catechin, hydroxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, sinapic acid, catechin gallate, rutin, cinnamic acid and quercetin. This research constructes the phenol synthesis pathway in wounded broccoli. Moreover, the relative expression of critical genes including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase involved in the metabolism of reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased, resulting in enhanced antioxidant capacity in wounded broccoli. Cell antioxidant capacity (CAA) of heads, florets, 1/2 florets and shredded florets increased by 52.7%, 59.2%, 64.8% and 86.5%, respectively, compared to whole broccoli. The enhancement of CAA was greater as the intensity of wounding increased, indicating that enhancement of antioxidant activity occurred at the cellular level. This research helps provide a reliable and persuasive theoretical basis for nutritional value assessment at the cellular level in wounded broccoli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four LAB strains were selected from traditional northeast sauerkraut. • Sauerkraut was fermented with four LAB pure starter cultures. • Dynamic behavior of starter cultures was analyzed by qPCR. • Starters can be developed to customize fermented products for the consumer. The quality characteristics of sauerkraut fermented with autochthonous LAB selected from traditional northeast sauerkraut were investigated. The physicochemical, microbiological and metabolome were also determined. The pH decreased rapidly in inoculated sauerkraut along with high sugar utilization and acid production. qPCR analysis showed that inoculated products exhibited sufficient numbers of beneficial bacteria. PCA showed clear differences in volatilome profiles of sauerkraut depending on starter cultures used. The greatest abundance of esters (ethyl lactate, ethyl acetate and isoamyl acetate) was detected in L. plantarum -inoculated sauerkraut. Sauerkraut inoculated with L. paracasei had a significantly higher content of lactones. Leu. mesenteroides and W. cibaria inoculation contributed to an increase in acids and ketones. FAAs increased by 4.16-, 5.21-, 5.99-, 7.11- and 5.51-fold from the initial levels in spontaneous-, Leu. mesenteroides -, L. plantarum -, L. paracasei - and W. cibaria -fermented sauerkraut, respectively. Therefore, the physicochemical properties and aromatic quality of sauerkraut strongly depended on the starters used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sauerkraut was fermented under four different salt concentrations. • Microbiota varied significantly among the different salted samples. • Salt had important effects on microbial growth and flavor formation. • A correlation between microbiota and flavor metabolites was observed. • 0.5% salt supported the growth of Lactobacillus and formed more flavor compounds. This study aimed to investigate the effects of salt concentration on the microbial community and flavor metabolites formed during northeast sauerkraut fermentation using a starter culture consisting of a combination Leuconostoc mesenteroides ORC 2 and Lactobacillus plantarum HBUAS 51041. The results revealed a correlation between microbiota and flavor metabolites, with the top 20 genera being identified using Illumina MiSeq. Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc were dominant genera throughout the fermentation process, and PCoA showed that the salt concentration had distinct impacts on the microbial community. The most abundant genus Lactobacillus (88.46%) was observed in the 0.5% salted sauerkraut at day 30. Forty-six flavor metabolites were identified by HS-SPME/GC–MS. The relative contents of esters, aldehydes and ketones showed the highest values in sauerkraut fermented with a 0.5% salt concentration. Sauerkraut fermented at 2.5 and 3.5% salt were characterized by higher relative contents of acids, alcohols, isothiocyanates and hydrocarbons. Spearman's rank correlation test results showed that Lactobacillus , Leuconostoc , Enterobacteriaceae , Pseudomonas , Staphylococcus and Bacillus were closely related to flavor metabolites. These results showed the effects of salt concentration on fermentation of northeast sauerkraut, revealing that sauerkraut fermented with 0.5% salt possessed a higher abundance of Lactobacillus and accumulated more flavor compounds (esters, aldehydes, ketones, nitriles and sulfides), providing a potential alternative approach to meet the preference of consumers for desirable aromatic quality. The results of this study may contribute to the industrial production of sauerkraut in Northeastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]