BackgroundGymnemic acids, triterpene glycosides, are known to act as human-specific sweet inhibitors. The long-lasting effect of gymnemic acids is diminished by γ-cyclodextrin. Here, we focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between gymnemic acids and sweet taste receptor ...

A mixture of gymnemic acids was precipitated from the water extract of leaves of Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R.Br. ex Sm. (Asclepiadaceae) by acidification with mineral acid. The chromatographic separation of gymnemic acids mixture afforded four new arylated gymnemic acids (1–4) along with a gymn...

A mixture of gymnemic acids was precipitated from the water extract of leaves of Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) R.Br. ex Sm. (Asclepiadaceae) by acidification with 2 N H2SO4. The chromatographic separation of the mixture afforded five new gymnemic acids (1-5). The compounds were characterized as Δ15...

Chitin is the second abundant polysaccharide after cellulose, and has been demonstrated to possess various applications in the fields of the biomaterials, water treatment, etc. Here, mechanically strong chitin films were successfully fabricated from chitin solution in NaOH/urea aqueous system wi...

The non-catalytic conversion of chitin into N-acetyl-ᴅ-glucosamine (GlcNAc) derivatives such as 2-acetamido-2,3-dideoxy-ᴅ-erythro-hex-2-enofuranose (Chromogen I) was investigated in high-temperature water at 290–390 °C and 25 MPa with a reaction time of 0–180 min. High-temperature water treat...

Chitins obtained by fermentation of shrimp wastes using Lactobacillus brevis with and without further inoculations with Rhizopus oligosporus resulted in higher molecular weight than the commercial biopolymer. After grinding in acidic conditions, the attained chitins were fully fibrillated by a m...

Chitin is a simple β-linked repeating sugar polymer prominent in the building block structures of a wide variety of organisms, from the yeast cell wall to the exoskeleton and shells of arthropods and other forms of invertebrate life. It had previously been assumed that vertebrates did not conta...

Ionic liquids (ILs), are considered as eco-friendly solvents due to their low vapor pressure and non-volatile properties compared to organic solvents and can be employed during processes for the extraction and/or conversion of lignin and chitin to value-added products which can improve the overa...

Microfibrillated chitin/gelatin composite films were prepared by solvent casting method, and the nano-sized microfibrillated chitin as reinforce phase to improve oxygen resistance, water-resistant and mechanical performance in this system. The morphologies were analyzed by scanning electron micr...

The higher order relationships of the Pentastomida have historically been tenuous. In one early and influential study, analysis of extracted chitin implicated that pentastomids possess β-chitin, a paradoxical finding given that the α allomorph is found uniformly in the cuticles of all arthropo...

Most fungi have multiple chitin synthases (CSs) that may make chitin at different sites on the cell surface, at different times during growth, and in response to cell wall stress. The structure-based model for CS function is for transfer of GlcNAc from UDP-GlcNAc at the cytoplasmic face of the p...

White shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) waste is a good source of chitin. However, the chemical chitin extraction generates a large amount of environmental-pollution and increases partial deacetylation of chitin. Therefore, the use of biological extraction is an interesting alternative. This study a...

A simple, convenient and inexpensive method for the preparation of magnetic chitin composite, in which magnetite particles are densely covered with the polysaccharide shell has been developed. Two-step procedure for magnetic chitin preparation includes: (i) adsorption of chitosan onto magnetite ...

Arachin forms a heat-reversible gel under certain experimental conditions. The minimal gelling concentration for this sytem is 7.25%. Above minimal gelling concentration calculation of thermodynamic parameters for gelation of arachin revealed a constant ΔHbonding (—1220 cal.mol−1 where ΔSbond...

The effect of formamide and urea and their amino-substituted derivatives dimethyl formamide and tetramethyl urea (at 1 m level) on thermal denaturation and protein protein interactions (at pH 3.6) that led to gelation of arachin were studied by gel melting temperature, electrophoresis, u.v. diff...

Current attention focuses on mechanisms of controlling blood pressure through the inhibition of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE). Bioactive antihypertensive peptides of food origin are increasingly gaining importance as alternates to synthetic drugs in hypertension therapy. The ACE inhibito...

Arachin, the major seed storage protein of groundnut, showed polymorphism. The polymorphic forms were due to differences in molecular size, net charge and polypeptide composition of the native protein. Purified arachin at low ionic strength resolved into monomeric and dimeric forms both on sucro...

In silico analysis of the sequences of arachin, the major storage protein of peanut suggests that it is laden with antihypertensive peptides. Physiological proteases pepsin, trypsin, chymotrypsin and pancreatin were used to release these peptides. The degree of proteolysis and in vitro angiotens...

Arachin, the major protein fraction isolated from groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) was enzymatically modified to get desired degree of hydrolysis (DH) using papain, alcalase and fungal protease. The measured DH of arachin obtained with different proteases under optimum conditions suggested that t...

Seed storage proteins commonly comprise various groups of multiple isoforms encoded by different gene families. Arachin (11S globulin), conarachin (7S globulin) and conglutin (albumin) are the three major storage proteins in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). In order to isolate peanut seed storage p...