Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus L.), native to northeast Africa, belongs to the sedge family (Babiker et al., 2021). It is an important multipurpose crop, its stems and leaves can be used as green feed and knitting materials, and the roots with a fragrant smell are a potential source of essential oils (Duman, 2019;Lasekan, 2013;Ozcan et al., 2021). Tigernut tubers are rich in lipids, proteins, starches, dietary fibers, and vitamins, which are usually applied to develop edible oil, plant milk, and snack food (Clemente-Villalba et al., 2021;Oluwajuyitan & Ijarotimi, 2019).The extraction and physicochemical characterization of tigernut tuber oil have been widely reported (Aljuhaimi, Ghafoor, et al., 2018; Aljuhaimi, Simsek, & Ozcan, 2018). But there are few types of research on tigernut tuber starch (TTS). Manek et al. found that TTS conformed well to United States Pharmacopeia and could be employed as a binder for the production of metronidazole tablets (Manek et al., 2012). It was found that the freeze-thaw stability of TTS was higher than that of potato starch (PS), but its paste clarity was lower (Jing et al., 2012). Neto et al. evaluated the physicochemical properties of TTS and modified it with octenyl succinic anhydride, which improved the resistance of TTS to temperature (Neto et al., 2018). Liu et al. isolated TTS from tigernut tuber meals and cakes remaining after oil extraction and found that the various oil extraction methods had different influences on the ordered structure of starch granules, resulting in the change of functional properties of TTS (Liu et al., 2019). In this study, the preparation, composition, granule morphology, crystal structure, pasting properties, functional properties, and gel properties of tigernut tuber starch (TTS) were systematically investigated. The feasibility of TTS to replace wheat flour (WF) in steamed bread production was also evaluated.

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Beneficial nematodes are used as biological control agents. Lowcost mass production of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) is an important prerequisite toward their successful commercialization. EPNs can be grown via in vivo methods or in sold or liquid fermentation. For solid and liquid approaches, media optimization is paramount to maximizing EPN yield and quality. In solid media, the authors investigated the effects of incorporating pulverized insect powder from larvae of three insects (Galleria mellonella, Tenebrio molitor, and Lucillia sericata) at three dose levels (1, 3, and 5%). The impact of insect powder was assessed on infective juvenile (IJ) yield in solid media. Additionally, IJs produced in solid culture were subsequently assessed for virulence, and progeny production in a target insect, Spodoptera litura. The dose level of larval powder had a significant effect on IJ yield in both trials, whereas insect type had significant effect on IJ yield in trial 1 but not in trial 2. The maximum solid culture yield was observed in T. molitor powder at the highest dose in both trials. Moreover, the time-to-death in S. litura was substantially shortened in trial 1 and in trial 2 when IJs from the T. molitor powder treatment were applied. There was no significant effect of combining two insect powders relative to addition of powder from a single insect species. These findings indicate that addition of insect powder to solid media leads to high mass production yields, and the fitness of the IJs produced (e.g., in virulence and reproductive capacity) can be enhanced as well.

We performed ultrasound-assisted extraction coupled with natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) to achieve the green and efficient preparation of flavonoid extract from Ampelopsis grossedentata leaves. We then evaluated its antioxidant and antiproliferative activities. A NADES consisting of choline chloride and glucose at a molar ratio of 4:1 with 20% water was determined to be the most suitable solvent. The optimal extraction conditions were: a liquid-to-solid ratio of 30 mL/g, an ultrasonication power of 490 W, and an ultrasonication time of 6.5 min. The actual flavonoid yield was 83.93%, which was close to the predicted yield. Further, 86.75% of the flavonoids were recovered by adding the same volume of phosphate buffer saline (100 mM, pH of 7.0) to the extract solution. Although the chemical antioxidant activities of the flavonoid extract were slightly inferior to those of dihydromyricetin, the flavonoid extract could still effectively inhibit the proliferation of human breast MDA-MB-231 cells by inducing cell apoptosis, retarding the cell cycle, changing the mitochondrial membrane potential and scavenging intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). The obtained results can provide a reference in the development of plant-derived functional foods.

Mangiferin (MAG) is a kind of polyphenol with many bioactivities. However, its application in medicines and functional foods is restricted because of its poor aqueous solubility and stability. The construction of a MAG/protein complex is an effective way to solve this bottleneck. In this study, the interaction of MAG and ovalbumin (OVA) was systematically investigated by spectrofluorimetry, and their binding mode was clarified based on molecular docking. The results suggested that MAG could cause the static fluorescence quenching of OVA with the quenching constant ( Kq) of >2 × 1010 L/(mol·s). Their binding performance increased with increasing temperature, and the binding-site number ( n) was close to 1. The thermodynamic analysis indicated that the binding was a spontaneous process, which was mainly driven by hydrophobic force. During this process, there was no apparent change in the microenvironment surrounding the tyrosine and tryptophan residues of OVA. The molecular docking results demonstrated the hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding in the complex, which well-confirmed the results of the fluorescence experiments.