Quality Control Of Raw Materials Research Articles

Aspects of chemical training of the personnel for organic farming

Organic farming is aimed at providing the population with high-quality safe agricultural products and preserving the ecological well-being of agrocenoses and adjacent territories. The implementation of this project is currently associated with a number of problems, for the solution of which educational institutions must train qualified personnel. The authors investigated the aspects of chemical training of specialists necessary for the development of organic farming. The article considers three groups of specialties: 1) farm specialists working with soil and plants (agronomists, soil scientists, ecologists); 2) specialists engaged in product processing (food production technologists, medicinal and essential oil raw materials technologists, biotechnologists, etc.); 3) specialists of laboratories for quality control of raw materials and finished products. Analysis of the labor functions of specialists, the goals and objectives of organic farming, as well as the experience of cooperation of the Department of Chemistry of the Russian State Agricultural University-Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K. A. Timiryazev with agricultural farms for the implementation of organic technology, showed that the most important components of chemical education are as follows: 1) basic chemical training that allows to understand and manage the dynamic processes occurring in the agrosphere; 2) modern instrumental methods of analysis necessary for quality and safety control of raw materials and products, agrochemical diagnostics of soils and water sources; environmental monitoring to assess the impact of agriculture on soil fertility; research activities; evaluation of processing, storage, packaging methods. Laboratory specialists should have the competence to perform physico-chemical determinations of test samples. Other groups of specialists should know the purpose of the methods, be able to interpret the results of determinations. The article presents educational programs of different levels (bachelor’s, master’s, qualification enhancement), which allow to form the necessary chemical competencies.

Development of a new NIR-machine learning approach for simultaneous detection of diesel various properties

The computer aided detection of diesel multiple properties is an active field of energy and chemical research as a result of the need for quality control and brands management of diesel raw materials. Based on this premise, this paper aimed to detect the diesel density, viscosity, freezing point, boiling point, cetane number and total aromatics using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) data combined with improved XY co-occurrence distance (ISPXY) and improved grey wolf optimized support vector regression (IGWO-SVR). The outcomes of average recovery, mean square error, mean absolute percentage error and determination coefficient of the proposed model are all better than other machine learning models. Further, this method is green, simple, effective, rapid, and can be embedded in the industrial network as a unit, which provides intelligent guidance for refineries to accurately control the quality of diesel oil.

Highway Engineering Cement Concrete Raw Materials Test and Quality Control

Highway Engineering Cement Concrete Raw Materials Test and Quality Control

Micrographic Profiling and Phytochemical Analysis of Some Plants Consumed by Okapia johnstoni (Giraffidae: Mammalia) in Democratic Republic of the Congo

The aim of this study was to determine the phytochemical composition and micrographic characteristics of the plants consumed by Okapia johnstoni. The results indicate that each plant species has characteristic microscopic elements for its identification. These plants are rich in phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavonoids, anthraquinones, coumarins, terpenoids and iridoids. Alchornea cordifolia is richer in total polyphenols (198.53±3.39 mg GAE/g DM) followed respectively by Musanga cercopioides (91.87±6.71 mg GAE/g DM), Macaranga spinosa (59.65±6.54 mg GAE/g DM), Ficus vallis-choudae (46.37±2.43 mg GAE/g DM), Cola acuminata (38.83±4.04 mg GAE/g DM), Pycnanthus angolensis (31.96±3.45 mg GAE/g DM), Alstonia boonei (31.55±1.60 mg GAE/g DM) and Trilepisium madagascariensis (25.18±0.99 mg GAE/g DM). As for flavonoids, the highest content is obtained in T. madagascariensis followed respectively by A. boonei, Pycnanthus angolensis, Cola acuminata, M. spinosa, F. vallis-choudae, M. cercopioides and A. cordifolia. The difference in the content of secondary metabolites is justified by the fact that their expression in the plant is a function of both abiotic and biotic factors and the specificity of each plant species linked to its genetic make-up. The characterization of these chemical compounds is necessary for the formulation of herbal medicines for the management of Okapi ex situ or for human health. Also, the microscopic profiles of the leaves powder of the studied plant species provide relevant information, which may be helpful for the plant authentication and for quality control of raw material.

Method for Trifuzol-Neo assay determination by GC-MS

The derivatives of 1,2,4-triazole are of the great scientific interest in the fields of pharmaceutics, agricultural chemistry, and construction The production of Trifuzol-Neo has already been launched, and it is now commercially available. Compounds based on 1,2,4-triazole may also be useful in veterinary practice due to their antiviral activity. Trifuzol-Neo, or piperidinium ([5-(2-furanyl)-4-phenyl-4Н-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl]thio)acetate (Figure 1), has already proved to be an effective immunostimulator for poultry.Since that, the quality control of raw materials and the ready product is required during the production stage. Currently, there is only one method for determination of the assay of Trifuzol-Neo, which involves HPLC-DMD (Center of Medical Research Information and Patent and Licensing Practice of Ukraine. The main disadvantages of HPLC-DMD are the use of relatively high amounts of costly solvents (acetonitrile in this case), considerable baseline instability, and time-consuming system stabilization. Gas-chromatography is able to avoid these constrictions since it involves gas as a mobile phase, which is a more cost-effective and reproducible alternative. The newly developed GC/MS method for Trifuzol-Neo assay determination consists of the following steps: weighing 20.0mg of Trifuzol-Neo powder, dillution in 20mL methanol, injection of 0.5uL of the obtained solution to GC column (at least three times). The same operations are done with a Trifuzol-Neo standard.

Scientific-methodological approach for standardization of herbal raw materials and herbal preparations using high-performance thin-layer chromatography procedure

The high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) is widely used for quality control of herbal raw materials (HRM).
 The purpose of this work were to define the problematic issues of quality control of herbal drugs in Ukraine and to develop a systematic scientific and methodological approach for the standardization of HRM and herbal drugs using the modern analytical technique of HPTLC: to optimize the existing and develop new methods of identification and determination of adulterations, and to develop alternative methods of quantitative determination, as well as studying of the stability.
 As a result of a critical evaluation of existing approaches for the standardization of HRM and herbal drugs of Ukraine’s flora, numerous problematic issues were identified, including the existence of a limited number of national monographs / national parts of monographs on the HRM of the Ukraine’s flora, which were not previously standardized by other pharmacopeias; non-consideration of Ukraine’s flora species (non-pharmacopoeial) in monographs on closely related species that introduced in the State Pharmacopoeia of Ukraine; lack of specificity of combinations of physical and chemical methods used for quality control; lack of specificity and reproducibility, the labor intensity of methods; necessity of usage of toxic solvents and precursors; use of different groups of markers and methods for the HRM and its finished product or HRM and its closely related species, etc. The proposed systematic scientific and methodological approach includes: a preliminary collection of information about the object of study, markers/groups of bioactive substances, approaches to its standardization; theoretical evaluation of existing techniques of quality control in monographs on HRM and experimental approbation using samples of domestic plants, determination of the need for optimization of existed methods by the parallel development of specific, reproducible and documented methods for identification, adulterations’ detection, quantification, and bio-detection (if necessary) by HPTLC method. The approach is illustrated with examples.
 The proposed approach can be used for comprehensive HPTLC analysis of domestic HRM and herbal drugs for research, prevention of adulteration, standardization of initial HRM and its finished product, pharmaceutical development, and stability studies.

Analytical control of silicified graphite SG-P

An analytical scheme for the analysis of silicified graphite SG-P, a four-phase composite material consisting of silicon, carbon, silicon carbide and silicon dioxide, has been developed. The procedure can be successfully used in the quality control of raw materials and in the study of the phase composition of finished products The porosity and density of the graphite base, as well as the impurities contained in the base and silicon change the course of silicification and the properties of the finished product as well. The impurities are the main reason for the formation of delamination, swelling, cracking and light spots on the treated surfaces. It should be noted that the iron content 0.023 – 0.17 wt.% in the carbon material intended for silicification, leads to catalytic graphitization of the artificial graphite and dispersion in the silicon melt. Methods of rapid assessment of the quality of raw materials are to be used to provide quick understanding of their suitability for manufacturing final products on their base. Quality control of the silicified graphite produced at the JSC «Research Institute Graphite» is carried out by determination of the phase composition of the finished product by chemical and X-ray diffraction methods of analysis. The content of silicon carbide (not less than 45%), unbound silicon and carbon (not more than 20 and 35%, respectively) affects the corrosion resistance and thermal expansion of silicified graphite.

An effect of the recipe composition on minced meat properties

The paper describes an experiment on the development of minced meat recipes for poultry-based semi-prepared products. The design principle included a search for optimal compatibility of recipe ingredients to develop a balanced meat system. The model recipes included meat from different animal and poultry species, by-products and dairy products. White and red turkey meat and chicken breast fillet provided recipes with complete animal proteins. Fat meat raw materials were partly replaced with milk fat. A semi-prepared product filled into an intestinal casing was named “sausages for grilling”. A technology of sausages for grilling was developed with the indication of the main control technological parameters for the production process and thermal treatment up to product readiness. The incoming control of raw material quality was carried out: dairy cream was assessed by acidity and pasteurization effectiveness; cheese by sensory indicators; meat raw materials by the pH value. The functional-technological properties of raw minced meat for sausages for grilling were compared before and after cooking by the pH level, moisture mass fraction, water binding capacity. The rheological properties of minced meat (adhesion, viscosity, shearing structural-mechanical properties) were studied. The expedience of introducing meat by-products and dairy ingredients into recipes of sausages for grilling to stabilize protein and fat in the meat system was substantiated. It was proved that replacement of the main raw materials in recipes with pork heart, ginger, cheese and chicken liver allows obtaining sausages for grilling with preservation of high quality indicators. Sausage sensory properties after grilling were analyzed.

Recent Applications of Capillary Electrophoresis in the Determination of Active Compounds in Medicinal Plants and Pharmaceutical Formulations.

The present review summarizes scientific reports from between 2010 and 2019 on the use of capillary electrophoresis to quantify active constituents (i.e., phenolic compounds, coumarins, protoberberines, curcuminoids, iridoid glycosides, alkaloids, triterpene acids) in medicinal plants and herbal formulations. The present literature review is founded on PRISMA guidelines and selection criteria were formulated on the basis of PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study type). The scrutiny reveals capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection as the most frequently used capillary electromigration technique for the selective separation and quantification of bioactive compounds. For the purpose of improvement of resolution and sensitivity, other detection methods are used (including mass spectrometry), modifiers to the background electrolyte are introduced and different extraction as well as pre-concentration techniques are employed. In conclusion, capillary electrophoresis is a powerful tool and for given applications it is comparable to high performance liquid chromatography. Short time of execution, high efficiency, versatility in separation modes and low consumption of solvents and sample make capillary electrophoresis an attractive and eco-friendly alternative to more expensive methods for the quality control of drugs or raw plant material without any relevant decrease in sensitivity.

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO CREATING AN EFFECTIVE SYSTEM OF INCOMING CONTROL AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT

A key component of the quality management system is the incoming quality control of raw materials, materials and components. The course of the further production process and the quality of manufactured products depend on the correctness of its implementation, the accuracy of compliance with all the necessary procedures. Another important aspect that is inextricably linked with incoming inspection is working with suppliers. In order to minimize costs and increase the effectiveness of actions, it is necessary to establish a stable and well-coordinated work on the supply of raw materials, materials and components. To accomplish this task, the enterprise must develop and approve a methodology for evaluating suppliers, which allows them to conduct a comprehensive analysis, choose the most reliable suppliers with a proven reputation and high performance. The research base is a machine-building enterprise – public joint-stock company “NEFAZ” (PJSC “NEFAZ”). The article identifies problem areas and suggests methods for their improvement. Based on the results of the study, a comprehensive methodology for assessing suppliers has been developed, which makes it possible to determine the rating of the supplier and, depending on this, to establish the type of incoming control. Possible types of effect from the introduction of this technique at the enterprise are considered.

Determination of indicators allowing to evaluating the hemostatic activity of chitosan without a biological experiment

The biopolymer chitosan is widely used for the development of local hemostatic agents. However, the physicochemical parameters of chitosan that determine its hemostatic properties have not yet been determined. Standard quality control of chitosan-containing raw materials and medical products on its basis do not allow us to make a conclusion about the effectiveness of their use for stopping bleeding. The most reliable method for assessing hemostatic activity remains in vivo experiment on large animals. The aim of this study was to determine additional physicochemical parameters of chitosan, which would make it possible to predict its hemostatic activity without conducting a biological experiment. In this work, using the methods of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, spectrophotometry and viscometry, it has been shown that the ability to initiate hemostasis is depending of the molecular weight and degree of deacetylation of chitosan, but not enough linearly. The hemostatic properties in vitro increases in a series of samples with a relatively constant molecular weight with an increase in the degree of deacetylation. As well as in a series with the same degree of deacetylation with an increase in molecular weight. However, at molecular weight values more than 300 kDa, the viscosity of the polymer causes the opposite effect: with an increase in the degree of deacetylation, the hemostatic activity decreases. The best ability to initiate hemostasis have chitosan samples with a degree of deacetylation of 90.0%–97.4% and molecular weight 145.7–284.7 kDa, in which at pH of solution close to physiological, a significant part of the molecules transitioned from conformation state rigid rod to state globule. It was accompanied by an abrupt change in light transmission of the solution. It was concluded, that it is possible to study conformational states by spectrophotometry to assess the hemostatic activity of chitosan samples without performing biological experiment.

Quality Control of Raw Materials on Red Snapper (Lutjanus sp.) Freezing Process in PT. Tridaya Jaya Manunggal Pasuruan East Java

Red snappers are fishery commodities which have high market values. Raw materials of red snappers are important elements which determine the quality of the final products. Therefore, an enhancement of raw materials quality should be conducted through quality supervision and examination when the raw materials are retrieved, stored, and about to enter production process. The aim of this fieldwork practice is to find out the raw materials quality control on red snapper freezing process in PT. Tridaya Jaya Manunggal Pasuruan, East Java. The data taken consists of primary and secondary data which are processed descriptively. Data collection techniques through observation, interviews, active participation and literature review. PT. Tridaya Jaya Manunggal has implemented quality control on production process, starting from raw materials retrieval until these raw materials become final products. The quality control of raw red snappers were done in accordance with the quality control procedures which are plan, do, check, and action. The results of implementing quality control which were executed with organoleptic examination, temperature, Total Volatile Base (TVB), microbiology, and heavy metals on raw red snappers. Raw materials which didn’t meet the required standard were rejected, and then they were processed to be second grade products.

Формирование качественных характеристик соевого солода посредством использования активатора роста органической природы

Introduction. Soy is one of the most promising plant raw materials as it is rich in proteins and amino acids. However, its content of anti-nutritive compounds is too high to be used in food and beverage industry without precure. The research objective was to obtain soy-based malt with a high enzymatic activity, low content of anti-nutritional substances, and increased nutritional value.
 Study objects and methods. The study featured Far-Eastern soybean varieties and malt. It involved standard methods of quality control of raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished products of beer and alcohol industry, as well as the capillary electrophoresis, spectrophotometry, and potentiometry.
 Results and discussion. Germination of soybeans of all varieties contributed to the accumulation of hydrolytic enzymes and amino acids in the grain. The use of a complex of organic acids from the Krebs cycle at a concentration of 10–9 mol/dm3 at the soaking stage increased amylolytic, proteolytic, and lipoxygenase hydrolytic processes by 11, 22, and 12%, respectively. The level of urease, which correlates with the content of anti-nutritional substances, decreased by two times from the original level and was 0.4–0.5 units of pH. Germination stage fell down to 2.5–3 days, while the content of amino acids increased by 33–35% in comparison with unprocessed malt during soaking.
 Conclusion. The use of organic acids in soy malting improved the quality and technological indicators, increased the level of amino acids, and decreased the level of anti-nutritional substances, making soy malt suitable for beverage industry.

Mass spectral analysis of secondary metabolites from Zingiber montanum rhizome extract using UHPLC-HR-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS.

Zingiber montanum (J.Koenig) Link ex A.Dietr. is a popular medicinal plant in Thailand. Its rhizomes have been used as an ingredient in various Thai traditional medicine formulas. While many reports have focused on the chemical constituents and biological activities of this plant, a comprehensive study on secondary metabolite profiling using tandem mass spectrometry has, to this point, never been documented. To analyze the chemical constituents in Z. montanum rhizomes using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with ultra-high-resolution electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HR-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS) analyses and to utilize the characteristic fragmentation patterns of these compounds to facilitate their identification. UHPLC-HR-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS in positive ion mode was used for chemical identification of secondary metabolites from the ethanolic extract of the plant material. MS/MS data of some known reference compounds, together with detailed fragmentation pattern information of several compounds obtained from the crude extract, were used to elucidate their chemical structures. In this work, one benzaldehyde, ten phenylbutenoid monomers, six curcuminoids, and nine phenylbutenoid dimers were assigned based on their characteristic fragment ions. Among these compounds, 2-(3,4-dimethoxystyryl)oxirane was tentatively suggested as a potential new compound. Several characteristic fragment ions from these compounds were assigned and the relative ion abundance of these was also used to differentiate the chemical structures of compounds having the same molecular mass. The results will benefit future high-throughput screening of bioactive compounds and method development for the quality control of raw materials and herbal drugs derived from Z. montanum rhizome extracts.

Chemotyping the medicinal herb Egletes viscosa through SPME-GC‑MS

A solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (SPME-GC–MS) method was developed to discriminate the two chemotypes of the medicinal herb Egletes viscosa. The optimization of the extraction conditions was carried out through factorial design and response surface methodology. The best conditions were achieved when the flower buds (0.33 g) using the divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane-coated fiber (DVB/CAR/PDMS, 50/30 µm) were extracted for 6.6 min at 40 °C, corresponding to an extraction time 30x shorter and a sample mass 300x lesser than the conventional method based on hydrodistillation (HD). Five out of 16 commercial samples were classified as chemotype A for presenting trans-pinocarveyl acetate as major compound (25.7–34.3%), while the others were from chemotype B for being richer in cis-isopinocarveyl acetate (27.4–62.2%). This finding is in perfect agreement with the classification provided by HD-GC–MS. Regardless of the extraction method, the volatiles constituents were basically monoterpenoids and monoterpenes, but SPME extracted more compounds than HD (33 × 24). In addition, many of them were detected only by one of the extraction methods or fiber coating. Since our SPME method demonstrated to be able to discriminate the two chemotypes in a non-destructive way providing the volatile chemical composition, it will be helpful for chemical screening and quality control of raw materials for pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes.

Study on Quality Control of Concrete Raw Materials in Road and Bridge Construction

The main material of concrete is a construction building material composed of water and mineral mixture and cement and chemical additives in the corresponding proportion and below the standard. In the process of making concrete material, slurry and cement are needed to mix, then cement slurry and sand are mixed into mortar according to the corresponding proportion, and aggregate is added to mortar to form concrete building material. In the process of concrete preparation, the most important construction link is mixing, which needs to be fully stirred to make the performance of concrete meet the construction needs. In the process of concrete construction technology development, both mix ratio and production technology have become more and more mature, but there are still some problems, which have an impact on the quality of concrete. Therefore, this paper discusses the quality control of concrete raw materials according to the construction process of road and bridge.

Shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy as enabling technique for the analysis of animal feedstuff

AbstractTo achieve the best performance and health in farm animals, high‐quality pellets should be applied for feeding. Raw materials used for pellet production can have a significant influence on the nutritive and physical characteristics of the final product. A comprehensive quality control of raw materials and pellets is therefore essential. Optical inspection techniques show great promise as they enable fast, simple, and non‐destructive analysis. This study demonstrates the potential of shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) for inspection of intact feed pellets and their constituents. SERDS combines the ability of conventional Raman spectroscopy to obtain chemically specific information from the sample with efficient fluorescence background rejection capabilities. The latter is an essential prerequisite for the application to highly fluorescent natural samples, for example, feedstuffs. A custom dual‐wavelength diode laser with two slightly shifted emission wavelengths (785.2 and 784.6 nm) as required for SERDS is used as excitation light source. Results demonstrate that Raman signals can efficiently be separated from unwanted background contributions allowing for qualitative spatially resolved analysis of chicken feed pellets. Individual constituents present at levels down to 10 g/kg were successfully detected by means of their characteristic spectral signature. This highlights the large potential of SERDS and could pave the way for future inspection of raw materials and pellets at selected points along the process chain.

Reliability of Quality of Dry Building Mixtures

Information about the results of calculating the quality assurance of dry building mixes, based on the requirements of regulatory documents, is provided. An example of calculating the reliability of quality control of raw materials, operational and acceptance control is provided. It is shown that the normative security of the quality of dry construction mixtures is 0.9447957, which implies a probability of a defect 5.52%. To ensure a higher level of dry building mixtures quality, the application of the six sigma methodology is proposed.

Morphoanatomical study, seasonal variation, and larvicidal activity of volatile oils from the leaves of Campomanesia pubescens (DC.) O. Berg (Myrtaceae)

The aim of this study was to perform from the morpho-anatomical study, physicochemical characterization, chemical composition, seasonal variability and larvicidal activity of the volatile oils of Campomanesia pubescens (DC.) O. Berg leaves. The botanical material was collected in Hidrolândia, Goiás. Morpho-anatomical characterization and phytochemical screening were performed by conventional methods. Leaf powders were submitted to hydrodistillation in the Clevenger apparatus and the identification of the chemical components of the volatile oils obtained was done by GC-MS. The larvicidal activity was carried out with third-stage larvae of the Aedes aegypti. The leaf blade, the main vein, and the young stem have a uni-stratified epidermis covered by a cuticle. The mesophyll and cortical parenchyma of the main vein and young stem have secretory cavities and idioblasts with crystals. The main rib contains a bicolateral bundle in an open arch. The young stem has a discontinuous band of sclerenchyma external to the phloem cells. Most volatile oil compounds are spathulenol, caryophyllene oxide, α-macrocarpene, and z-caryophylleneIn phytochemical analysis, tannins, digitalis, flavonoids, and total phenols were detected. The content of volatile compounds was 7.36%, that of total ash was 1.77%, and that of mucilage was 3.52 ml. The volatile oil at the concentration used was inactive against Ae aegypti larvae. The present study contributes to the taxonomic knowledge of the species and provides parameters for quality control of the plant raw material. This work represents the first description of the chemical compounds and seasonal variability of volatile oils from C. pubescens leaves collected in Goiás state.

Emerging Herbal Cosmetic Production in Sri Lanka: Identifying Possible Interventions for the Development of the Herbal Cosmetic Industry.

Although the herbal cosmetic industry has exponentially increased globally, manufacturing of herbal cosmetic products in Sri Lanka is still very limited. Therefore, objectives of the study were to recognize plants used in commercialized herbal cosmetic products and major constraints faced by herbal cosmetic manufacturers and to identify possible interventions for the development of herbal cosmetic industry of Sri Lanka. Information was gathered via a semistructured questionnaire by personal interviews with 11 large-scale multiple herbal cosmetic products manufacturers. Collected data were analyzed via frequency index for usage and descriptive statistics. A total of 115 plant species belonging to 56 families were identified. Extensive usage of Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f., Coscinium fenestratum (Goetgh.) Colebr., and Santalum album L. (90.91%) was reported among herbal cosmetic manufacturers. The highest number of plants or plant materials was used for manufacturing skin care products (54.78%) followed by hair care (19.13%) and oral care (6.96%). The majority of plants were reported from the plant family Fabaceae (16 species). Leaves (20.87%) were the widely used plant part, whereas 10 plant species were used as whole plants. Inadequacy of 7 plants/plant materials and importation of 8 plant materials for the production were also recognized. As major constraints faced by herbal cosmetic manufacturers, inadequate availability and poor quality of raw materials were emphasized. In conclusion, establishing proper cultivation system, implementing strategies for quality control of raw materials, and conducting ethnobotany, ethnopharmacological surveys to identify cosmetic potential of medicinal plants and partnerships with universities to transfer technology for product development to industries are possible interventions for the development of herbal cosmetic industry of Sri Lanka.