Monoglycerides (MGs) have been incorporated into the matrix of poly(glycerol-co-glutaric acid) films to investigate their effect on the thermal, mechanical, and solvent absorption properties of the resultant films. Solvent absorption studies revealed that poly(glycerol-co-glutaric acid-co-MG) films were able to absorb and resorb solvents better than poly(glycerol-co-glutaric acid) films, albeit they had higher erosion levels. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that the incorporated MGs did not affect the thermal stability of the glycerol-based films. The MG-incorporated films were observed to be much softer than the poly(glycerol-co-glycerol) films which was further proven by a 39-fold reduction in Young's Modulus and 17-fold reduction in fracture energy when compared to the poly(glycerol-co-glycerol). Mechanical property studies also revealed that the incorporation of MGs increased the elongation % and reduced the tensile strength of poly(glycerol-co-glutaric acid) films. Correlation analysis revealed a strong linear relationship between Young's Modulus and fracture energy (R 2 5 0.9962), and between Young's Modulus and tensile strength (R 2 5 0.9972). Our study proved that MGs can be successfully incorporated in the polymer matrix of poly(glycerol-co-glutaric acid) films to produce softer films with increased elongation and increased solvent absorption capacity.

In this study, the effects of extrusion conditions such as feed moisture content (20%, 24%, and 28%), screw speed (200, 300, and 400 rpm), and extrusion temperature (130, 150, and 170 • C) on the physical and functional properties (moisture content, expansion ratio, bulk density, hardness, water absorption index [WAI], water solubility index [WSI]) of intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) were investigated for the first time. Response surface methodology was used toThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

The effect of carbon dioxide‐argon radio frequency cold plasma treatment on the in vitro digestion and structural characteristics of granular and non‐granular waxy maize, potato, and rice starches was investigated in this study. The effect on the fine structure of waxy potato was very minimal after plasma treatment irrespective of their granular or non‐granular form. The short chain length (SCL) of waxy maize and rice (granular and non‐granular) starches was reduced leading to subsequent increases in the long chain length (LCL). In vitro digestibility studies showed that cold plasma treatment enhanced (p < 0.05) the amount of slowly digestible starches (5.62%; 10.24%) and resistant starches (0.28%; 85.66%) in non‐granular waxy maize (WMS NG) and granular waxy potato starches (WPS G), respectively. The amount of rapidly digestible starches increased in granular waxy maize starch (WMS G) (85.08%) but was unaffected in non‐granular waxy rice (WRS NG), WPS G, and non‐granular waxy potato starches after plasma treatment. FTIR‐ATR data confirmed the ability of cold plasma to induce cross‐linking in waxy starches specifically in WMS NG, WRS G, WRS NG, and WPS G. Overall, the unit and internal chain structure of the waxy starches were mostly unaffected by radio frequency plasma treatment. Cross‐linking served as the dominant mechanism by which plasma altered the structure and digestibility of these starches. Practical Application Cold plasma technology has been suggested as a green technique for starch modification. More research is, however, needed to facilitate the industrial scale up of this technology. In this study, we utilized a carbon dioxide‐argon radio frequency cold plasma to modify waxy maize, rice and potato starches. Cold plasma treatment resulted in starches that were resistant to digestion and were highly cross‐linked. The cross‐linking would give the starches the ability to possibly withstand the high temperatures and shear that can be applied during industrial processing.

This study investigated the compositional characteristics and shelf-life of Njangsa seed oil (NSO). Oil from Njangsa had a high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of which alpha eleostearic acid (α-ESA), an unusual conjugated linoleic acid was the most prevalent (about 52%). Linoleic acid was also present in appreciable amounts (approximately 34%). Our investigations also indicated that the acid-catalyzed transesterification of NSO resulted in lower yields of α-ESA methyl esters, due to isomerization, a phenomenon which was not observed under basic conditions. The triacylglycerol (TAG) profile analysis showed the presence of at least 1 α-ESA fatty acid chain in more than 95% of the oil's TAGs. Shelf-life was determined by the Weibull Hazard Sensory Method, where the end of shelf-life was defined as the time at which 50% of panelists found the flavor of NSO to be unacceptable. This was determined as 21 wk. Our findings therefore support the potential commercial viability of NSO as an important source of physiologically beneficial PUFAs.

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