Osmotic Treatment Research Articles

Comprehensive impact of pre-treatment methods on white radish quality, water migration, and microstructure

The preprocessing stage is crucial in vegetable processing, significantly influencing the final product's quality. This study investigates the effects of various pre-pre-treatment methods, including cutting, blanching, osmotic, and ultrasound-assisted osmotic treatment, on the quality characteristics, water migration, and microstructure of white radish. The results showed that osmosis and ultrasound-assisted osmosis has the least effect on the total color difference (ΔE) and the greatest water loss (WL) (p < 0.05); blanching has the least effect on the hardness and eutectic points (p < 0.05); and the blanching-ultrasound-assisted osmosis has the greatest solid gain (p < 0.05). The increase of WL led to a decrease in hardness (−0.82). By analyzing the quality characteristics of different pre-treatment methods, contributing to the development of suitable pre-treatment methods for different products and optimization pre-treatments according to requirements. The mechanism of quality characteristics of pre-treatments on products is the future research direction.

Osmotic Treatment of Orange and Pink Sweet Potato-Mass Transfer Rate and Efficiency

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are globally cultivated due to its adaptability, high nutritional value, and short growing season, tolerance to high-temperature soils, low fertility, and minimal pest or disease issues, making it a valuable asset to the food industry. Osmotic treatment, a renowned preservation technique requiring mild temperatures and minimal energy, has gained prominence. Over ten years of research at the Faculty of Technology Novi Sad has pioneered the use of sugar beet molasses as an effective osmotic solution for drying different herbs, fruits, vegetables, and meat. This study specifically focused on osmotically treating samples of pink and orange sweet potatoes in sugar beet molasses (80% w/w) to explore the influence of solution temperatures (20°C, 35°C, and 50°C) and osmotic treatment durations (1h, 3h, and 5h) on mass transfer rate and treatment efficiency. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and color correlation analysis were employed to illustrate the connections between different sweet potato samples. Findings indicate that the mass transfer rate peaks at the onset of the process. Particularly with the highest temperature after 1h of osmotic treatment The highest values for RWL and RSG (13.33±0.02, 1.85±0.04 and 11.51±0.02, accordingly) were obtained for both orange ((15.19±0.08 g/(gi.s.w.·s)·105and 4.53±0.06 g/(gi.s.w.·s)·105) and pink sweet potato ((9.91±0.02 g/(gi.s.w.·s)·105 and 3.78±0.04 g/(gi.s.w.·s)·105), respectively. Notably, diffusion is most rapid within the initial three hours, suggesting potential reductions in processing time aligned with these results.

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Phospholipase Ds in Perennial Ryegrass Highlights LpABFs-LpPLDδ3 Cascade Modulated Osmotic and Heat Stress Responses.

The phospholipase Ds (PLDs) are crucial for cellular signalling and play roles in plant abiotic stress response. In this study, we identified 12 PLD genes from the genome data of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), which is widely used as forage and turfgrass. Among them, LpPLDδ3 was significantly repressed by ABA treatment, and induced by drought stress and heat stress treatments. The ectopic overexpression (OE) of LpPLDδ3 in Arabidopsis enhanced plant tolerance to osmotic and heat stress as demonstrated by an increased survival rate and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation and electrolyte leakage (EL). Arabidopsis endogenous ABA RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING FACTORs (ABFs) and heat stress responsive genes were elevated in LpPLDδ3 OE lines under osmotic and heat stress treatments. Additionally, overexpression of LpPLDδ3 in perennial ryegrass protoplasts could increase heat stress tolerance and elevate expression level of heat stress responsive genes. Moreover, LpABF2 and LpABF4 depressed the LpPLDδ3 expression by directly binding to its ABRE core-binding motif of promoter region. In summary, LpPLDδ3 was repressed by LpABF2 and LpABF4 and positively involved in perennial ryegrass osmotic and heat stress responses.

Chromosome doubling increases PECTIN METHYLESTERASE 2 expression, biomass, and osmotic stress tolerance in kiwifruit

Abstract Chromosome doubling-induced polyploidization is a popular tool for crop breeding. Polyploidy crops commonly have multiple advantages, including increased biomass and stress tolerance. However, little is known about the genes responsible for these advantages. We found kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis cv. Hongyang) PECTIN METHYLESTERASE 2 (AcPME2)is substantially upregulated in artificially created tetraploid plants that show increased biomass and enhanced tolerance to osmotic stress. Overexpression (OE) of AcPME2 led to increased biomass and enhanced stress tolerance in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and kiwifruit. Upon short-term osmotic stress treatment, AcPME2-OE plants showed higher levels of demethylesterified pectins and more Ca2+ accumulation in the cell wall than Col-0 plants, which led to increased cell wall stiffness. The stress-induced plasmolysis assays indicated that AcPME2 dynamically mediated the cell wall stiffness in response to osmotic stress, which is dependent on Ca2+ accumulation. Transcriptomic analysis discovered that dozens of stress-responsive genes were significantly upregulated in the AcPME2-OE plants under osmotic stress. Besides, AcPME2-mediated cell wall reinforcement prevented cell wall collapse and deformation under osmotic stress. Our results revealed a single gene contributes to two advantages of polyploidization (increased biomass and osmotic stress tolerance) and that AcPME2 dynamically regulates cell wall stiffness in response to osmotic stress.

Decoding the role of OsPRX83 in enhancing osmotic stress tolerance in rice through ABA-dependent pathways and ROS scavenging

ABSTRACT Plant Class III peroxidases have diverse roles in controlling root hair growth, anther development, and abiotic and biotic stress responses. However, their abiotic stress response mechanism in rice remains elusive. Here, we identified a peroxidase precursor gene, OsPRX83, and investigated its role in enhancing osmotic stress tolerance in rice. We used OsPRX83 overexpression and CRISPR-Cas9-generated mutant lines to elucidate OsPRX83‘s function and expression patterns under stress conditions. The expression of OsPRX83 was induced by H2O2, PEG, NaCl, and ABA treatments. Using qRT-PCR, RNA sequencing, and physiological assays, we demonstrated that overexpression of OsPRX83 enhanced the osmotic and oxidative stress tolerance as compared to the wild-type and mutant seedlings, as evident from the higher survival rates, enhanced peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities, and increased ABA sensitivity compared with mutants and wild-type plants. Transcriptome analysis further supported the involvement of OsPRX83 in the ROS scavenging, by modulating the expression of OsDREB1B, OsDREB1E, OsDREB1F, OsDREB1G in response to osmotic treatment. In summary, our study suggests that OsPRX83 plays a pivotal role in enhancing stress tolerance in rice through ABA-dependent pathways and ROS scavenging. Therefore, this study elucidates the function of a novel abiotic stress response gene in rice, thereby may contribute to a new genetic engineering resource for engineering drought-resistant rice varieties.

Metal Sulfates and Microbial Food Treatment Alleviate the Oxidative Damage Caused by PEG-Induced Osmotic Stress in Cotton Plants

Background: Drought stress restricts cotton production, which causes a considerable loss of cotton yields worldwide. Plant activators improve crop production and ameliorate abiotic stresses. Thus, the effects of plant activators on the genotype of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Candia, which is resistant to drought, were investigated.Methods: Plants were treated with the plant activators, and then osmotic stress was initiated by 30% PEG 6000 treatment for 13 days. Antioxidant enzyme activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and peroxidase (POX) were measured along with growth, relative water content (RWC), osmotic potential, photosynthetic pigments, ion leakage, proline accumulation, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and reactive oxygen species (ROS).Results: Osmotic stress reduced shoot fresh weight (FW) and osmotic potential but increased root length of Candia. Activator treatment alleviated these effects. Photosynthetic pigment contents and cell membrane permeability were not affected by osmotic stress and activator treatments; proline accumulation and lipid peroxidation levels were enhanced by osmotic stress, but activators alleviated these increments. Activity bands for the isozymes Mn-SOD1, SOD2, and SOD3, as well as the isozyme Fe-SOD, were found in Candia. Osmotic stress elevated APX activity in Candia leaves, while activator treatment decreased it. POX activity was not affected by osmotic stress, but activator treatment decreased POX activity. Osmotic stress-induced accumulation of ROS was lessened by activator treatment.Conclusion: Plant activator treatment reduced the amount of oxidative damage (ROS buildup and lipid peroxidation) caused by drought stress in the Candia genotype.Keywords: Antioxidant system; Cotton; Gossypium hirsutum L.; Osmotic stress; PEG 6000; Plant activators

Hyperosmolar therapy response in traumatic brain injury: Explainable artificial intelligence based long-term time series forecasting approach

In the neurological intensive care setting implementing tier-based therapy, osmotic therapy serves as an intermediate approach for reducing intracranial pressure (ICP). However, discussions regarding quantitative and specific criteria for the maintenance and transition of treatment remain limited. This study proposes an explainable neural network forecasting of physiological responses after osmotic therapy administration for the purpose of treatment guidance. Recordings of arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure were obtained from 107 patients with traumatic brain injury. To maintain adequate intracranial pressure, arterial blood pressure, and cerebral perfusion pressure, 20 % mannitol (100 ml; no. infusion, 3,571) and 11.3 % hypertonic saline (40 ml; no. infusion, 574) were administered. The LTSF-NLinear model was used to predict the target signal response for the subsequent 1 h. Six prediction models were derived by combining two agents (mannitol or hypertonic saline) and three target signals (mean arterial blood pressure, mean intracranial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure). To validate the model’s robustness while considering patient heterogeneity, group (5)-fold cross-validation was implemented. To assess the predictive ability of the proposed model for adverse clinical events, binary classification of hypotension, intracranial hypertension, and cerebral hypoperfusion was performed. The overall function of the model was elucidated using linear weight visualization. Additionally, the DeepSHAP application allows for a detailed investigation of the prediction process for a single case. The relationship between response to osmotic therapy and patient outcomes was statistically significant. The proposed models achieved reasonable performance, with R2 score > 0.8 for physiological signal predictions and accuracy > 0.9 for event predictions. Through global explanation, the recent values of mean arterial blood pressure, mean intracranial pressure, and cerebral perfusion pressure of input signals significantly influenced physiological responses after osmotic treatment. In the context of local explanation (a single case), it was possible to determine how physiological state influenced the response. The proposed model is expected to provide objective and quantitative information on osmotherapy in neurological intensive care environments, enabling guidance for alternative and aggressive treatments. Thus, it can potentially aid in enhancing the prognosis of patients with traumatic brain injury and improving the clinical workflow. Moreover, the global and local explanations of the proposed model can provide valuable insights for future researchers.

A CAM-Related NF-YB Transcription Factor Enhances Multiple Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Abiotic stresses often occur simultaneously, and the tolerance mechanisms of plants to combined multiple abiotic stresses remain poorly studied. Extremophytes, adapted to abiotic stressors, might possess stress-adaptive or -responsive regulators that could enhance multiple abiotic stress resistance in crop plants. We identified an NF-YB transcription factor (TF) from the heat-tolerant obligate Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant, Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi, as a potential regulator of multiple abiotic stresses. The KfNF-YB3 gene was overexpressed in Arabidopsis to determine its role in multiple abiotic stress responses. Transgenic lines exhibited accelerated flowering time, increased biomass, larger rosette size, higher seed yield, and more leaves. Transgenic lines had higher germination rates under combined NaCl, osmotic, and water-deficit stress treatments compared to control plants. They also showed enhanced root growth and survival under simultaneous NaCl, osmotic, water-deficit, and heat stress conditions in vitro. Interestingly, potted transgenic lines had higher survival rates, yield, and biomass under simultaneous heat, water-deficit, and light stresses compared to control plants. Altogether, these results provide initial insights into the functions of a CAM-related TF and its potential roles in regulating multiple abiotic stress responses. The CAM abiotic stress-responsive TF-based approach appears to be an ideal strategy to enhance multi-stress resilience in crop plants.

Improved biolistic transformation and genome editing in wheat by using trehalose for high osmotic treatment.

The tissue culture process is usually involved in gene transfer and genome editing in plants. Like other species, there is enormous variation among wheat genotypes in tissue culture response. In the rapidly advancing system of CRISPR/Cas9 for genome editing, particle bombardment has received increasing attention as a delivery method for a large amount of nucleic acids and RNA-protein complexes. However, the efficiency of transformation by particle bombardment has been low in wheat, and only a limited number of varieties have been transformed. In this study, replacement of maltose with trehalose as an osmolyte for high osmotic treatment for the protection of tissues from physical impacts improved callus formation in immature wheat embryos and efficiency of transformation and genome editing in varieties that are relatively poor in tissue culture response. The range of varieties amenable to biolistic transformation and genome editing may be expanded by this modification.

DIA-Based Phosphoproteomics Identifies Early Phosphorylation Events in Response to EGTA and Mannitol in Arabidopsis

Osmotic stress significantly hampers plant growth and crop yields, emphasizing the need for a thorough comprehension of the underlying molecular responses. Previous research has demonstrated that osmotic stress rapidly induces calcium influx and signaling, along with the activation of a specific subset of protein kinases, notably the Raf-like protein (RAF)-sucrose nonfermenting-1–related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) kinase cascades within minutes. However, the intricate interplay between calcium signaling and the activation of RAF-SnRK2 kinase cascades remains elusive. Here, in this study, we discovered that Raf-like protein (RAF) kinases undergo hyperphosphorylation in response to osmotic shocks. Intriguingly, treatment with the calcium chelator EGTA robustly activates RAF-SnRK2 cascades, mirroring the effects of osmotic treatment. Utilizing high-throughput data-independent acquisition–based phosphoproteomics, we unveiled the global impact of EGTA on protein phosphorylation. Beyond the activation of RAFs and SnRK2s, EGTA treatment also activates mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades, Calcium-dependent protein kinases, and receptor-like protein kinases, etc. Through overlapping assays, we identified potential roles of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinases and receptor-like protein kinases in the osmotic stress–induced activation of RAF-SnRK2 cascades. Our findings illuminate the regulation of phosphorylation and cellular events by Ca2+ signaling, offering insights into the (exocellular) Ca2+ deprivation during early hyperosmolality sensing and signaling.

Genome-wide characterization of Remorin gene family and their responsive expression to abiotic stresses and plant hormone in Brassica napus.

Remorin proteins could be positively related to salt and osmotic stress resistance in rapeseed. Remorins (REMs) play a crucial role in adaptations to adverse environments. However, their roles in abiotic stress and phytohormone responses in oil crops are still largely unknown. In this study, we identified 47 BnaREM genes in the B.napus genome. Phylogenetic relationship and synteny analysis revealed that they were categorized into 5 distinct groups and have gone through 55 segmental duplication events under purifying selection. Gene structure and conserved domains analysis demonstrated that they were highly conserved and all BnaREMs contained a conserved Remorin_C domain, with a variable N-terminal region. Promoter sequence analysis showed that BnaREM gene promoters contained various hormones and stress-related cis-acting elements. Transcriptome data from BrassicaEDB database exhibited that all BnaREMs were ubiquitously expressed in buds, stamens, inflorescences, young leaves, mature leaves, roots, stems, seeds, silique pericarps, embryos and seed coats. The qRT-PCR analysis indicated that most of them were responsive to ABA, salt and osmotic treatments. Further mutant complementary experiments revealed that the expression of BnaREM1.3-4C-1 in the Arabidopsis rem1.3 mutant restored the retarded growth phenotype and the ability to resistance to salt and osmotic stresses. Our findings provide fundamental information on the structure and evolutionary relationship of the BnaREM family genes in rapeseed, and reveal the potential function of BnaREM1.3-4C-1 in stress and hormone response.

Osmotic Dehydration Model for Sweet Potato Varieties in Sugar Beet Molasses Using the Peleg Model and Fitting Absorption Data Using the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer Model.

This study investigates the applicability of the Peleg model to the osmotic dehydration of various sweet potato variety samples in sugar beet molasses, addressing a notable gap in the existing literature. The osmotic dehydration was performed using an 80% sugar beet molasses solution at temperatures of 20 °C, 35 °C, and 50 °C for periods of 1, 3, and 5 h. The sample-to-solution ratio was 1:5. The objectives encompassed evaluating the Peleg equation's suitability for modeling mass transfer during osmotic dehydration and determining equilibrium water and solid contents at various temperatures. With its modified equation, the Peleg model accurately described water loss and solid gain dynamics during osmotic treatment, as evidenced by a high coefficient of determination value (r2) ranging from 0.990 to 1.000. Analysis of Peleg constants revealed temperature and concentration dependencies, aligning with previous observations. The Guggenheim, Anderson, and de Boer (GAB) model was employed to characterize sorption isotherms, yielding coefficients comparable to prior studies. Effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy calculations further elucidated the drying kinetics, with effective moisture diffusivity values ranging from 1.85 × 10-8 to 4.83 × 10-8 m2/s and activation energy between 7.096 and 16.652 kJ/mol. These findings contribute to understanding the complex kinetics of osmotic dehydration and provide insights into the modeling and optimization of dehydration processes for sweet potato samples, with implications for food processing and preservation methodologies.

Effect of osmotic pressure and simultaneous heat-moisture phosphorylation treatments on the physicochemical properties of mung bean, water caltrop, and corn starches

This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties of modified starch prepared through the simultaneous heat-moisture and phosphorylation treatment (HMPT) and osmotic pressure treatment (OPT) for water caltrop starch (WCS), mung bean starch (MBS), and amylose-rich corn starch (CS) for different time periods. Furthermore, variations in starch content [amylose and resistant starch (RS)], swelling powder (SP), water solubility index (WSI), crystallinity, thermal properties, gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH), and glycemic index (GI) were examined. This study demonstrates that neither HMPT nor OPT resulted in a significant increase in the resistant starch (RS) content, whereas all samples succeeded in heat-treating at 105 °C for another 10 min exhibited a significant increase in RS content compared to their native counterparts. Moreover, the gelatinization temperatures of the three starches increased (To, Tp, and Tc), whereas their gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH) and pasting viscosity decreased. In particular, the GI of all three modified starches subjected to HMPT or OPT showed a decreasing trend with modification time, with OPT exhibiting the best effect. Therefore, appropriate modification through HMPT or OPT is a viable approach to develop MBS, WCS, and CS as processed foods with low GI requirements, which exceptionally may be suitable for canned foods, noodles, and bakery products.

Preparation of low-fat and shape-preserving walnut via combined carbon dioxide osmotic treatment and subcritical fluid defatting

A sequential process, CO2 osmotic treatment combined with subcritical fluid defatting was developed to prepare low-fat walnut kernel preserving shape integrity. The influence of operating parameters involving osmotic pressure and subcritical butane defatting repeats on the defatting effect has been investigated. CO2 osmotic at 25 MPa resulted in defatting rate as 37.12% and minimum perfect kernel rate (81.48%). Increase of defatting repeats from one to three times led to exploding quantities of defatting rate (from 9.98% to 40.61%) but no significant varies of perfect kernel rate (p > 0.5). With the increase of defatting rate, the amount of oil bodies in walnut cells decreased, and defatting rate presented negative correlated with hardness and chewiness of products. Hexanal, nonanal and heptaldehyde were the predominant volatile compounds. After defatting, they may be removed as accompanying components and showed a slight downward trend. However, results of electronic nose revealed that there was no significant difference among flavor of walnut with different defatting rate (p > 0.5). Slight defatting caused significant variations in the taste of walnuts. As the defatting rate exceeded 18.65%, products expressed similar taste. Overall, coupling CO2 osmotic treatment with subcritical fluid defatting proved to be great potential for application in shape-preserving defatting.

Assessing the hydromechanical control of plant growth.

Multicellular organisms grow and acquire their shapes through the differential expansion and deformation of their cells. Recent research has addressed the role of cell and tissue mechanical properties in these processes. In plants, it is believed that growth rate is a function of the mechanical stress exerted on the cell wall, the thin polymeric layer surrounding cells, involving an effective viscosity. Nevertheless, recent studies have questioned this view, suggesting that cell wall elasticity sets the growth rate or that uptake of water is limiting for plant growth. To assess these issues, we developed a microfluidic device to quantify the growth rates, elastic properties and hydraulic conductivity of individual Marchantia polymorpha plants in a controlled environment with a high throughput. We characterized the effect of osmotic treatment and abscisic acid on growth and hydromechanical properties. Overall, the instantaneous growth rate of individuals is correlated with both bulk elastic modulus and hydraulic conductivity. Our results are consistent with a framework in which the growth rate is determined primarily by the elasticity of the wall and its remodelling, and secondarily by hydraulic conductivity. Accordingly, the coupling between the chemistry of the cell wall and the hydromechanics of the cell appears as key to set growth patterns during morphogenesis.

Inhibition of enzymatic browning in freeze-thawed apricot fruit by combined chlorogenic acid and osmotic dehydration treatments

In this study, the inhibitors of apricot browning were analyzed by investigating the effects of osmotic dehydration (OD) pretreatment combined with chlorogenic acid (CA) on cell disruption, loss of phenolic substrates, and changes in key enzymes during freeze-thawing. Both OD and OD-CA mitigated the deterioration caused by ice crystal damage during freeze-thawing. OD and OD-CA significantly reduces the BI of apricots by 43.27 and 59.55 compared to CK. The PPO and POD activity in OD-CA apricots are only 61.11% and 42.13% of those in OD. OD-CA could also protect SOD and CAT activity, with their activity in the OD-CA being 1.41 and 1.14 times that of OD group. This indicated that OD-CA treatment protected against the activities of ROS-scavenging enzymes. Compared with OD, OD-CA could better protect the bioactive substance of apricot. The contents of ascorbic acid, total phenols, and total flavonoids in OD-CA were 1.32 times, 1.11 times, and 1.05 times higher than those in OD. OD-CA also effectively protected chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, catechins, and rutin. In summary, OD-CA primarily reduced the browning by protecting the integrity of cell structures, minimizing the potential for exposure to air, enzymes, and phenolic substrates, and inhibiting browning enzymes activity.

Meta-analysis of public RNA sequencing data of abscisic acid-related abiotic stresses in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and cold negatively affect plant growth and crop productivity. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to these stressors is essential for stress tolerance in crops. The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is significantly increased upon abiotic stressors, inducing physiological responses to adapt to stress and regulate gene expression. Although many studies have examined the components of established stress signaling pathways, few have explored other unknown elements. This study aimed to identify novel stress-responsive genes in plants by performing a meta-analysis of public RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data in Arabidopsis thaliana, focusing on five ABA-related stress conditions (ABA, Salt, Dehydration, Osmotic, and Cold). The meta-analysis of 216 paired datasets from five stress conditions was conducted, and differentially expressed genes were identified by introducing a new metric, called TN [stress-treated (T) and non-treated (N)] score. We revealed that 14 genes were commonly upregulated and 8 genes were commonly downregulated across all five treatments, including some that were not previously associated with these stress responses. On the other hand, some genes regulated by salt, dehydration, and osmotic treatments were not regulated by exogenous ABA or cold stress, suggesting that they may be involved in the plant response to dehydration independent of ABA. Our meta-analysis revealed a list of candidate genes with unknown molecular mechanisms in ABA-dependent and ABA-independent stress responses. These genes could be valuable resources for selecting genome editing targets and potentially contribute to the discovery of novel stress tolerance mechanisms and pathways in plants.

Tailoring the physicochemical properties of starch: impact of integrated ultrasonic and ethanol pretreatment on the oil uptake of infrared fried ginkgo seeds.

The structural changes of starch would have a more crucial impact on oil absorption and quality changes in starch-rich fruits and vegetables during frying process with enhanced heat transfer (such as infrared frying). In the present study, the influence of integrated ultrasonic and ethanol (US + ethanol) pretreatment on oil uptake in infrared fried (IF) ginkgo seeds was evaluated regarding modifications in the physicochemical properties of starch. The pretreatment was performed with ultrasonic (40 kHz, 300 W) and ethanol osmotic (95%, v/v) treatment individually or integrated for 40 min. The mass transfer in the pretreatment was facilitated by combined ultrasound and ethanol. The swelling power, solubility, and gelatinization degree of starch was significantly increased. Low-frequency-NMR curves and images revealed that the bound water fraction in ginkgo seeds was increased and the water distribution was homogenized. The results of Fourier transform-infrared spectrum and differential scanning calorimeter revealed that the crystalline regions of starch were reduced and the thermal enthalpy was decreased after US + ethanol pretreatment. The total, surface and structural oil content in IF ginkgo seeds with US + ethanol pretreatment was reduced by 29.10%, 34.52% and 29.73%, respectively. The US + ethanol pretreatment led to a thinner crust layer with increased porosity and smaller-sized pores in the IF ginkgo seeds as observed by stereo microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The changes in structural and physicochemical properties of starch by combined ultrasound and ethanol affect the crust ratio and pore characteristics in fried high-starch fruits and vegetables, thereby reducing oil absorption. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Genome-wide association analysis reveals genes controlling an antagonistic effect of biotic and osmotic stress on Arabidopsis thaliana growth.

While the response of Arabidopsis thaliana to drought, herbivory or fungal infection has been well-examined, the consequences of exposure to a series of such (a)biotic stresses are not well studied. This work reports on the genetic mechanisms underlying the Arabidopsis response to single osmotic stress, and to combinatorial stress, either fungal infection using Botrytis cinerea or herbivory using Pieris rapae caterpillars followed by an osmotic stress treatment. Several small-effect genetic loci associated with rosette dry weight (DW), rosette water content (WC), and the projected rosette leaf area in response to combinatorial stress were mapped using univariate and multi-environment genome-wide association approaches. A single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with DROUGHT-INDUCED 19 (DI19) was identified by both approaches, supporting its potential involvement in the response to combinatorial stress. Several SNPs were found to be in linkage disequilibrium with known stress-responsive genes such as PEROXIDASE 34 (PRX34), BASIC LEUCINE ZIPPER 25 (bZIP25), RESISTANCE METHYLATED GENE 1 (RMG1) and WHITE RUST RESISTANCE 4 (WRR4). An antagonistic effect between biotic and osmotic stress was found for prx34 and arf4 mutants, which suggests PRX34 and ARF4 play an important role in the response to the combinatorial stress.

Combination of Osmotic Dehydration and Further Drying to Improve the Quality of Dried Carrots

The food industry needs carrots as a processed product for dry products using drying technology to maintain product quality. The aim of the research was to examine the effect of osmotic dehydration temperature with ternary solution on the quality of carrots. The treatments studied were osmotic media temperatures of 25°C and 50°C combined with oven drying and infrared until the water content reached ±10%. Parameters measured after osmotic dehydration were loss of water and increase in solids, quality parameters after further drying were water content and post-storage quality parameters were carotenoids and rehydration test. The dehydration treatment resulted in a reduction of water of 27.25%-44.24% and addition of solids of 15.37%- 18.31%. The initial water content of carrots before osmotic treatment was 90%, the water content after osmotic at 25°C was 65.72% and 50°C was 63.29%. Combination of osmotic with oven requires 22-24 hours of drying time while infrared requires 8- 10 hours of drying time. The best carotenoid value was osmotic dehydration at 25°C followed by an oven or infrared with a value of 32.95(mg/100g)–31.94(mg/100g). Whereas at 50°C the rehydration values were in the range 271.14%-301.42% Keywords: Carrots, Infrared drying, Osmotic dehydration, Osmotic solution, Oven drying