The effects of various treatments were evaluated for extending shelf-life of fresh-sliced pears. Sliced Anjou pears had browning-free color for 30 d by dipping with 1.0% ascorbic acid and 1.0% calcium lactate, but texture was soft with juice leakage. The combination treatment of 0.01% 4-hexylresorcinol (4-HR), 0.5% ascorbic acid and 1.0% calcium lactate can provide 15 to 30 d shelf-life for Anjou, Bartlett, and Bosc pears when the pears are sliced at an average ripeness of 43, 49, and 38 Newton respectively, with 2 min dipping, partial vacuum packaging, and 2 to 5 °C storage. 4-HR residual content ranged from 1 to 7 ppm after 14 d storage. Panelists could detect a flavor difference between 0.01% 4-HR treated pears and controls.Key Words: fresh-sliced pears, extending shelf-life, 4-HR residue, sensory propertiesshelf-life of fresh-cut pears with retention of visually appealing color and acceptable texture. Results & Discussion Effect of calcium lactate on color and textureCalcium has been reported to maintain the cell wall structure in fruits by interacting with pectic acid in the cell wall to form calcium pectate which firms molecular bonding between constituents of cell wall (Fennema 1985). Thus, fruits treated with calcium are generally firmer than controls (Poovaiah 1986). Ponting and others (1972) evaluated both calcium lactate and calcium chloride as firming agents for canned apples and noted that calcium lactate gave a somewhat better flavor than calcium chloride. Calcium lactate as a firming agent helped Bosc pear slices maintain firmness, with increasing benefit from increased concentration (Fig. 1). Bosc pear slices treated with 1.0% calcium lactate had a significantly firmer texture than the control. However, no significant firming effect was obtained for Bartlett slices with calcium dipping treatments (data not shown). Visual observations revealed that the surfaces of both Bartlett and Bosc pear slices dipped with 1.0% calcium lactate were smooth, while treatments not containing calcium lactate had varying degrees of stickiness and mushiness on the surfaces.With respect to color, calcium lactate did not inhibit browning. Color values of CIE L* (lightness) and hue angle (color itself) for calcium lactate-treated Bosc pear slices decreased similarly for all treatments, indicating that no significant browning inhibition occurred for all calcium lactate concentrations tested. Results were similar for calcium lactate treated Bartlett pear slices (data not shown). These findings are in an agreement with those of Ponting and others (1972) who reported that calcium treatment alone resulted in poor color on apple slices. Gorny and others (1998) reported that 1.0% calcium chloride with 2.0% ascorbic acid applied as a dip for 1 min was effective in reducing pear slice surface browning. Ponting et al. (1972) also found that the combination of treatments with 1.0% ascorbic acid and 0.1% calcium chloride effectively inhibited browning in apple slices. The combination of 1.0% ascorbic acid with 1.0% calcium lactate ...

No abstract

No abstract

Many cancers, such as human breast cancer and lung cancer, easily metastasize to bones, leading to the formation of secondary tumors in advanced stages. On the basis of the CD44-targeted effect of oHA and the bone-targeted effect of ALN, we prepared a reduction-responsive, CD44 receptor-targeting and bone-targeting nanomicelle, called CUR-loaded ALN-oHA-S-S-CUR micelles. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the antitumor activity and bone-targeting ability of CUR-loaded ALN-oHA-S-S-CUR micelles. The in vivo experiment results showed that a larger number of micelles was gathered in the bone metastatic tumor tissue and reduced the bone destruction. The CUR-loaded ALN-oHA-S-S-CUR micelles markedly inhibited the tumor growth. So the CUR-loaded ALN-oHA-S-S-CUR micelles constitute a promising drug delivery system for bone tumor therapy.