The mystery surrounding high concentrations of Cr(III) in plants has been uncovered. It is attributed to the presence of low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA) in soil in which the plants are growing. Apart from that, the factors influencing solubility of Cr(VI) in soil have also been investigated. It was found that the solubility of Cr(VI) species is governed by the presence of CO3 2− ions in a soil solution that resulted when atmospheric CO2 dissolves in soil–water. Concentrations of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) were determined in plants, collected on unpolluted soils in different geographical areas. It was found that the concentration of Cr(VI) in plants correlated with the soluble fraction of Cr(VI) in soil, while Cr(III) concentration in plants is limited by concentration LMWOA in soil. It can therefore be concluded that the high level of Cr(III) in plants is also due to the direct absorptions of the species from soil rich in organic acids.

Beef tendons were sectioned into 60 mum-thick slices (1cm 2) and deposited onto glass cover slips. These meat slices were flooded with a cell suspension of either Pseudomonas fluorescens, Enterobacter agglomerans, or Moraxella osloensis in distilled water and adhesion allowed to occur. The adhesion experiments were also conducted on agar-covered slides to evaluate the effect of the nature of the substratum on adhesion. The non-adherent organisms found on either surface tested (meat or agar) were removed by flushing liquid over the slide. The slides were then incubated in a moist atmosphere at 30°C. Once the presence of microcolonies had been established microscopically, the slides were mounted into flow chambers and the surface flushed with distilled water to ascertain the effects of bacterial proliferation on adhesion. In other experiments, the influence of acetic, citric, and lactic acid rinses on cell adhesion and subsequent cell proliferation was evaluated. Microcolony formation was shown to reduce the adhesion strength of Enterobacter agglomerans and, to a lesser extent, that of Moraxella osloensis while increasing that of Pseudomonas fluorescens. The probable determinant of adhesion strengths of microcolonies is exopolymer synthesis. A minimal decrease in bacterial adhesion and microcolony formation was observed with the use of organic acid rinses. The bactericidal activity and effect on bacterial proliferation increased with increasing concentration and rinse times of the organic acids. The extent of the adhesion reductions suggests that the preservation action of organic acids is due to cell death and not adhesion inhibition.

The physicochemical characteristics of seven cold-pressed flaxseed oils sold in New Zealand were investigated for their fatty acid composition, tocopherol composition, moisture and volatile matter, free fatty acids, chlorophyll pigments, unsaponifiable matter, total phenolic acids and flavanoids, and colour. The seven cold-pressed flaxseed oils exhibited significant variations in their physicochemical characteristics. Quality of the oils in terms of oxidative stability was also investigated. Four oils were found to be within the limit of good stability oil indices, measured in terms of peroxide value, p-anisidine value, conjugated dienoic acids, specific extinction in ultraviolet spectrum, acid value and food oil sensor readings (to indicate total polar compounds). The role of minor constituents in the oxidative stability of two selected oils with different levels of fatty acid composition and minor constituents was investigated. Pan heating at 150�C caused loss of tocopherols, plastochromanol-8, phenolic acids, chlorophyll pigments, β-carotene and lutein and changes in the fatty acid composition. The pan-heated oils exceeded the limit of good stability oil indices using the measurement mentioned above except for acid value. The addition of α-tocopherol to the oils did not provide enhanced protection to the oils in accelerated aging of oil tests at 60�C. It was most likely that phenolic acids present in the oils played a dominant role in the oxidative stability of the oils. Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of triolein with cinnamic and ferulic acids using a commercially available immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica (Novozym 435) was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the lipophilized products as model systems for enhanced protection of unsaturated oil. The lipophilized products were identified using Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectroscopy (ESI-MS). Separation and isolation of two classes of lipophilized products was also achieved using a solid phase extraction method developed in this study for further investigation into the structure-free radical scavenging activity. Free radical scavenging activity was determined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) method. The polarity of the solvents proved important in determining the free radical scavenging activity of the substrates. Ferulic acid showed much higher free radical scavenging activity than cinnamic acid, which had limited activity. The esterification of cinnamic acid and ferulic acid with triolein resulted in significant increase and decrease in the free radical scavenging activity, respectively. These opposite effects were due to the effect of addition of electron-donating alkyl groups on the predominant mechanism of reaction (hydrogen atom transfer or electron transfer) of a species with DPPH. The effect of esterification of cinnamic acid was confirmed using ethyl cinnamate which greatly enhances the free radical scavenging activity. Although, compared with the lipophilized cinnamic acid product, the activity was lower. The free radical scavenging activity of the main component isolated from lipophilized cinnamic acid product using solid phase extraction, monocinnamoyldioleoylglycerol, was as good as the unseparated mixture of lipophilized product. Based on the ratio of a substrate to DPPH concentration, lipophilized ferulic acid was a much more efficient free radical scavenger than lipophilized cinnamic acid. Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of flaxseed oil with cinnamic and ferulic acids using Novozym 435 was conducted to evaluate whether the lipophilized products provided enhanced antioxidant activity in the oil. The lipophilized products were identified using ESI-MS and were examined for their free radical scavenging activity toward DPPH in ethanol and ethyl acetate. Ferulic acid showed the highest free radical scavenging activity among all substrates tested while cinnamic acid had negligible activity. The effect of esterification of cinnamic acid and ferulic acid with flaxseed oil was similar to that with triolein. Lipophilized ferulic acid was a better free radical scavenger as compared with lipophilized cinnamic acid and extended the naturally-occuring antioxidant capacity of the flaxseed oil. Lipophilized cinnamic acid did not provide much enhanced radical scavenging activity in the flaxseed oil as the presence of natural hydrophilic antioxidants in the oil had much greater radical scavenging activity. It may still be useful for unsaturated oils with a small amount of natural antioxidants in them. Lipophilized cinnamic and ferulic acids showed higher free radical scavenging activity when tested in a less polar solvent (ethyl acetate) whereas ferulic acid showed better activity in a more polar solvent (ethanol). These results indicate that the choice of solvent for the DPPH assay is critical in evaluating the free radical scavenging activity of substrates of differing polarity, and support previous observations by other authors that the solubility of an antioxidant in relation to the site of oxidation is an important factor for consideration in the use of antioxidants.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1956. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-84).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2010. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 44 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

The nitrosyl complex CpW(NO)R₂ (R = CH₂SiMe₃) forms 1:1 adducts via isonitrosyl linkages to Lewis acids such as AlMe₃ and Cp₃Er, i.e. CpWR₂(NO→A) (A = AlMe₃, ErCp₃). These adducts regenerate the starting dialkyl complex when treated with water. Protonation of CpW(NO)R₂ by HBF₄⋅0Me₂ can also be effected. Whether the site of protonation is the nitrogen or the oxygen atom of the nitrosyl ligand is not known with certainty, although O-protonation is postulated by analogy with the other Lewis-acid adducts of CpW(NO)R₂. In these adducts, the nitrosyl stretching frequency is shifted to lower wavenumbers relative to that of the parent dialkyl, to an extent which increases as harder Lewis acids are employed. The colour of the adducts also ranges from red to orange to yellow as progressively harder acids are used. Treatment of CpW(NO) (CH₂SiMe₃)₂ with [Ph₃C]⁺ PF₆⁻ in Ch₂CL₂ results in electrophilic cleavage of a carbon-silicon bond to yield the mixed dialkyl CpW(NO)(CH₂SiMe₃)(CH₂CPh₃), which has been fully characterized by spectroscopic methods and by a single-crystal X-ray crystallographic study. The formation of Me₃SiF and PF₅ (coordinated to Lewis bases in the reaction mixture) as by-products of this reaction has been confirmed by ³¹P and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy of the reaction mixture in CD₂CL₂. Preliminary attempts to extend this novel reaction of a silicon-containing ligand by using other carbocations were unsuccessful. This is attributed to the high reactivity of the required carbocations and the large number of possible reaction sites on the metal complex. Some reactions of the mixed dialkyl CpW(NO)RR¹ (R = CH₂SiMe₃ R¹ = CH₂CPh₃) were found to be analogous to those of the parent CpW(NO)R₂, while other reactions followed a different course because of the ability of the CH₂CPh₃ ligand to orthometallate. Thus, CpW(NO)RR¹ is much less thermally stable than CpW(NO)R₂. As a solid or a solution in non-coordinating solvents, it decomposes in a matter of days at room temperatures to a mixture of products which were not identified. In acetonitrile solution, an orthometallated complex derived from CpW(NO)RR¹ can be trapped by coordination of solvent. The product CpW(NO)(CH₂C(C₆H₄)Ph₂)(NCMe) has been isolated and crystallographically characterized. Cyclic voltammograms of CpW(NO)R₂ and CpW(NO)RR¹ show that both complexes undergo an apparently chemically reversible reduction and an irreversible oxidation. The mixed dialkyl CpW(NO)RR¹ is somewhat easier both to reduce and to oxidize than CpW(NO)R₂. Like CpW(NO)R₂, CpW(NO)RR¹ reversibly forms a 1:1 adduct with PMe₃. Also analogously to CpW(NO)R₂, it reacts with 0₂ to form a 5:1 mixture of dioxoalkyl complexes CpW(0)₂R and CpW(0)₂R¹, and with NO(g) to form 2 CpW(NO)R¹(ƞ² -0₂N₂R). In this product, insertion of NO has occurred exclusively in the W-CH₂SiMe₃ bond. Upon photolysis, both complexes CpW(NO)R¹¹(ƞ²-0₂N₂R) (R¹¹ = CH₂SiMe₃ or CH₂CPh₃) form dioxo alkyls CpW(O)₂R¹¹ in an unprecedented reaction. The ability of CpW(NO)RR¹ to orthometallate also results in the formation, when this complex is treated with sulphur, of CpW(O)(CH₂C(C₆H₄)Ph₂)-(SR). No analogue to this compound can be obtained from reaction of CpW(NO)R₂ with sulphur. The sequence of reactions leading to the formation of this product is not known. / Science, Faculty of / Chemistry, Department of / Graduate

The aim of the thesis is determination and optimization of organic acids in beers using the methods of capillary isotachophoresis (CITP) and high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (HPLC/UV). Beer is a complicated matrix therefore the samples need pretreatment using solid phase extraction (SPE). The diploma thesis discusses the optimization of the analytical methods (HPLC/UV and CITP) and optimization of SPE. In the theoretical part, history, characterization and technology of beer production are presented. Further, characteristics of organic acids and methods for organic acid determination are also discussed. The experimental part deals with the preparation of solutions, tested samples, calibration samples. Parameters and procedures of analytical methods (HPLC/UV and CITP) and pretreatment using the solid phase extraction are also described in the experimental part. All results are summarized and compared with the current literature in discussion and conclusion. Eleven beer samples from the retail stores were analyzed. In all samples, six organic acids (lactic, oxalic, succinic, acetic, citric, benzoic) were determined by CITP and five organic acids (lactic, oxalic, succinic, acetic, citric) by HPLC/UV were determined. Results of this study give an overview of the organic acid contents in beer samples.

Lactic acid producing bacteria (LAB) and organic acids have been proposed as effective alternatives to antibiotics, however there is limited literature concerning their combination. Thus, the objective of this thesis was to investigate the effects of LAB, encapsulated butyric acid (EBA), and their combination. Under challenged conditions, the in vitro study demonstrated that both EBA and LAB were capable of reducing pathogen proliferation over time, with greater efficacy at lower initial concentration. However, EBA demonstrated a greater effectiveness on pathogen reduction. Under challenged conditions, the results of the in vivo study indicated that birds fed LAB performed comparatively to that of birds fed antibiotics concerning BW and FCR from d 0-45 and both diets enhanced gut physiology, pH and immune parameters. Overall, the results of the thesis indicate the ineffectiveness of combining EBA and LAB, while providing valuable evidence supporting LAB as an effective alternative to antibiotics.