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Edible mushroom production has two different stages: the vegetative stage and the fruiting stage. The vegetative phase is performed in a biotechnology laboratory and covers the technique for obtaining “spawns”, which parameters include the multiplication and reproduction of the mycelium. The fruiting phase begins with the appearance of edible mushrooms and includes everything that occurs outside the laboratory. In our country, production of edible mushrooms is limited and generally unknown. So, in this study, the vegetative phase was divided into two stages and conducted in the laboratory. Stage 1: We inoculated spores and implants of the edible mushroom species Agaricus in three synthetic growth mediums: PDA (Potato-Dextrose-Agar), PDY (Potato-Dextrose-Yeast), and MEA (Barley-Biphosphate Potassium-Agar). These were incubated in different growth chambers at three different temperatures (17ºC, 20ºC, and 25ºC). The best mushroom development in terms of micellar growth was obtained in the PDA growth medium. The temperature that contributed most favorably to this development was 17ºC. Stage 2: We re-inoculated implants from the crops of the previous step in four natural substrates (brown rice, barley creole, brown rice combined with horse manure, barley combined with horse manure) and incubated them in growth chambers at three different temperatures. It was observed that the best micellar growth occurred in the natural substrate containing barley creole. Also, the most effective incubation temperature was 20ºC. Thus, we established that the barley grains sold in our city work well as a cheap natural substrate to propagate and produce edible mushroom “seed” of the Agaricus species at a temperature of 20ºC.

OPTIMIZING MICRONUTRIENT INTAKE OF LACTATING WOMEN IN KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA, THROUGH INCREASED WILD EDIBLE PLANT CONSUMPTION Kerry Pearson Micronutrient consumption in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is insufficient to meet the needs of lactating women. Inadequate intake negatively impacts the health of both the mother and infant. Increasing consumption of wild edible plants has been recommended to combat these deficiencies, but information has not yet been provided on which types of wild plants should be eaten or in what quantity. The objective of this study was to determine the optimal mixture of wild edible plants that needs to be consumed to meet the micronutrient needs of lactating women in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This was done by creating optimization models using linear programming. Components of these models included identifying gaps between current micronutrient intake and recommended intake levels and the creation of composite nutrient profiles for groups of wild edible plants available in KwaZulu-Natal. One model calculated the optimum amount of wild edible plants that would need to be consumed in addition to the current diet to meet micronutrient recommendations. A second semi-isocaloric model calculated the optimum amount of wild edible plants that would need to be consumed if half the additional calories would replace an equivalent number of calories of the main staple food, maize. A combination of 250g leafy vegetables and 349g fruit, replacing 54g of maize meal, was determined to be the best model. This mixture will meet the micronutrient needs of 50% of lactating women and would add only 192 calories to the diet. The same blend will meet the needs of 75% of women for all nutrients except calcium, zinc, thiamin, and riboflavin. It is hoped that increased use of wild plants will also increase physical activity and make the consumption of high quality animal products more economically feasible. Understanding forces that have brought about current dietary patterns in this population and working in tandem with other nutrition intervention programs will be the best way to successfully implement these goals. More complete information is needed on the nutrient profiles of wild edible plants in South Africa and on how anti-nutrients in these plants effects bioavailability of nutrients and the health of the consumer. Despite these limitations, it is clear that a reasonable increase in wild edible plant consumption can have a tremendous positive impact on micronutrient consumption of lactating women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

<p> Edible oils consist primarily of triacylglycerols (or TAGs), which are triesters of glycerol and fatty acids. Determination of the TAG compositions of edible oils is becoming more important, given the economic value of these oil products and the increasing incidence of adulterating high quality oils with poorer quality oils. In this study we report the development of an analytical protocol using positive ion infusion electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI/MS) in conjunction with tandem mass spectrometry which affords both identification and quantification of TAGs in edible oils samples.</p> <p> This thesis reports a simple, comprehensive and quantitative method for the analysis of TAGs in edible oils in which the optimized method involves the infusion of an oil sample in chloroform:methanol (1:1) solution (~10-15 μg/mL of oil) in the presence of 0.5 mM LiCl. A sequence of corrections were applied to the raw peak area data of the TAG molecular ions, [M+Li]+, to account for: (1) normalization of peak area data using three internal standards, (2) peak area contributions of M+2 isotopic peaks of TAGs with one more degree of unsaturation and (3) peak area contributions of LiCl adduct ions, [M+Li+LiCl]+, when applicable. The major correction involved multiplication to a given TAG peak area by the appropriate electrospray relative response factor (RRF) for that TAG. The RRFs for all TAGs containing between 48 and 63 carbons in their fatty acyl chains and between 0 and 9 degrees of unsaturation were extrapolated from experimentally determined response factors of a series of standards. The RRFs were found to decrease by 6.7% for each additional acyl chain carbon but increased by 18.6% for each double bond. Comparison of these calculated RRFs to reported RRFs for a series of TAG standards showed an excellent correlation (1.06% ± 10.20% RSD).</p> <p> The use of Li+ in TAG analysis followed from the reports by Hsu and Turk [93] and Han and Gross [18] which showed that Li+ afforded more intense MS, and particularly MS/MS, spectra than either H+ or Na+. The enhanced intensities in MS/MS spectra (determined using a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer) were critical for the identification of TAGs, including the identity of the fatty acyl group located at the sn-2 position. However, this method cannot distinguish unambiguously between isobaric TAGs. This methodology was applied to the profiling of a number of edible oils including canola, olive, sesame, grape seed, walnut and hemp seed oils. The major TAGS in these samples contained 52, 54 and 56 carbons with between 0 and 11 degrees on unsaturation in a given TAG. There were minor amounts of TAGs containing 50, 55 and 57 carbons.</p> <p> The ability of this method to determine quantitatively the number of degrees of unsaturation in an oil sample was tested by examining a series of partially hydrogenated canola oil samples kindly provided by Bunge Canada. Five oil samples derived from a single feedstock with differing numbers of degrees of unsaturation, measured as iodine values, were subjected to our analytical method. The measured iodine values were compared to iodine values calculated from the number of degrees of unsaturation obtained by our MS-based method. The slope of this correlation was 1.10 with an R^2 = 0.995. Overall, this method is much simpler and more accurate than the protocol described by Han and Gross [18]. This methodology will be applied as routine method for the analysis of TAGs in biological samples such as blood samples.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The thermal, oxidative, and hydrolytic stability of several frying shortenings were studied via chemical, physical and sensory analyses. Corn, cottonseed and peanut oils, and cottonseed and soybean liquid shortenings were tested under static heating conditions, while peanut oil, and cottonseed and soybean oil liquid shortenings were evaluated under commercial frying conditions. The research had two objectives: to evaluate the relative stability of the various shortenings under both heating condition; and to evaluate new or modified quality assessment methods which would provide early prediction of heat abuse for the fast-food industry. Six of the conducted analyses were conventional or modified: free fatty acids; polar components; gas chromatograph volatile profiles; viscosity; FoodOil-Sensor; and sensory. Three were new: contact angle; high temperature; and high-temperature gas chromatographic analysis of triglyceride; and polar component % as determined by high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). Under static heating conditions, varying heating periods or shortening types had significant (P<0.000l) effects on the resulting data of the following tests: free fatty acids; polar component; total volatiles; dielectric constant; viscosity; polar component % measured by HPTLC; contact angle; and sensory analysis; but heating time had no significant effect on triglyceride profiles Under commercial frying conditions of chicken nuggets and filets, heating time had significant effects on changes in the dielectric constant; free fatty acid %; viscosity; contact angle; and sensory rating; also it had a significant effect on the polar component % under chicken nugget frying conditions only. Furthermore, heating time had no significant effect on polar component % under chicken filet frying conditions and on polar component % by HPTLC under both frying conditions Cottonseed oil liquid shortening had sensory scores equal to peanut oil under static and commercial frying conditions even though peanut oil exhibited a greater chemical and physical stability. Soybean oil liquid shortening had an objective quality identical to peanut oil, however, its subjective quality was lower. Cottonseed oil liquid shortening had better flavor but less objective stability than soybean oil liquid shortening The cut-off quality level for the shortenings was not reached, because all the shortenings were discarded after seven days of use which was before the onset of significant-quality deterioration. The best on-site index of shortening stability was the FoodOil-Sensor reading (dielectric constant) which was followed by the free fatty acid test. / Ph. D.

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