Barley—Botany,production, harvesting,processing, utilization and economics

Barley, probably the oldest cultivated cereal, is widely grown in cooler areas of the world. The annual world production of nearly two and a half billion bushels exceeds that of rye but is less than that of rice, wheat, corn and oats, respectively. Most of the annual 300 million dollar crop of the U.S. is fed to livestock, but about one- third is manufactured into malt.     

Hemp—production and utilization

United States annual production oi this formerly very important bast fiber has fallen from about 75,000 tons a century ago to about 2,000 tons today. Imports, too, have dropped. Other fibers, particularly abacá, have replaced it more and more.     

Sorghum—Its production,utilization and breeding

A corn-like cereal grass which among its 400 known varieties produces broomcorn, the principal material used in the manufacture of brooms, and important edible grains of Africa and Asia—durra, kafir, milo, shallu, kaoliang, feterita and hegari.     

Hops—Their botany,history, production and utilization

The female cone-like inflorescences oi this vine are composed of scales covered with glandular hairs which produce, among other compounds, the bitter principle which has long been an indispensable ingredient in the brewing of beer. These largescale catkins have been used also in medicine because of their sedative and soporific properties, and as a tonic.     

Jute — world’s foremost bast fibre,II. Technology,marketing, production and utilization

Jute fibre is the world’s principal material in manufacturin? coarse textile for conversion into sackin? and canvas. It enters also into the production of upholstery, ru?s, carpets and roofin? fabrics. Secondary products are food from its tender shoots, medicines from its dried leaves, fuel and paper from its stems, and oil from its seeds.     

Balsa—Production and utilization

Although not the lightest known wood, balsa is the lightest commercial timber, and as such has found utilization in the manufacture of airplanes, life preservers, insulating equipment and packing crates. During recent war years Ecuador supplied 95 percent of world production but must now meet competition from wild and cultivated sources in Central America and Ceylon.     

Cellodextrin utilization and β-glucosidase production by Bacteroides polypragmatus

Bacteroides polypragmatus, a mesophilic obligate anaerobe, was shown to simultaneously ferment glucose and cellobiose giving ethanol as a major metabolic end-product. A mixture of higher cellodextrins was also utilized. The bacterium produced a -glucosidase with a pI value of 4.2 and a molecular weight of approximately 100000 daltons. The enzyme was intracellular and functioned optimally at pH 7. The K _m values obtained with p-nitrophenyl--d-glucoside and cellobiose as substrates were 0.73 mM and 100 mM, respectively. The enzyme was quite stable at elevated temperatures; in the presence of 10% glycerol (v/v), it had a half-life of 4 h at 55°C. It was also stable during long-term storage at either 4°C or-20°C, provided that 10% (v/v) glycerol was added to preparations maintained at-20°C.Abbreviations HPLC high-performance liquid chromatography - IEF isoelectric focusing - pNPG p-nitrophenyl--d-glucoside NRCC No. 25676     

Microbial transglutaminase—a review of its production and application in food processing

Transglutaminase (EC 2.3.2.13) catalyses an acyl-transfer reaction in which the -carboxamide groups of peptide-bound glutaminyl residues are the acyl donors. The enzyme catalyses in vitro cross-linking in whey proteins, soya proteins, wheat proteins, beef myosin, casein and crude actomysin refined from mechanically deboned poultry meat. In recent years, on the basis of the enzyme's reaction to gelatinize various food proteins through the formation of cross-links, this enzyme has been used in attempts to improve the functional properties of foods. Up to now, commercial transglutaminase has been merely obtained from animal tissues. The complicated separation and purification procedure results in an extremely high price for the enzyme, which hampers a wide application in food processing. Recently studies on the production of transglutaminase by microorganisms have been started. The enzyme obtained from microbial fermentation has been applied in the treatment of food of different origins. Food treated with microbial transglutaminase appeared to have an improved flavour, appearance and texture. In addition, this enzyme can increase shelf-life and reduce allergenicity of certain foods. This paper gives an overview of the development of microbial transglutaminase production, including fermentation and down-stream processing, as well as examples of how to use this valuable enzyme in processing foods of meat, fish and plant origin.     

Pectin—Its extraction and utilization

This cementing substance between the cells of all plants is economically valuable as a jellifying, stabilizing, emulsifying and binding agent, and is extracted for those purposes principally from apple pomace and citrus peels.     

The water-soluble gums—their botany,sources and utilization

Arabic, tragacanth, ghatti, karaya and other commercially valuable gums are exudations of a variety of trees and shrubs in many parts of the world. Their hydrophilic and other properties render them useful in the adhesives, beverage, cosmetic, paint, papermaking, pharmaceutical, textile and other industries.     

American witch hazel—History,nomenclature and modern utilization

The aqueous extract of witch hazel twigs has long been an American household liniment, but only three concerns manufacture it today, producing over halt a million gallons annually. The more concentrated tannin-containing alcoholic extract from leaves and bark is compounded into styptic remedies.     

The natural hard resins—their botany,sources and utilization

Accroides, Congo, damer, boea, elemi, kauri, mastic and other commercially valuable resins are exudations ot a variety of trees and shrubs in many parts of the world. Their industrial applications range from adhesives and incense through inks and oilcloth to textile sizing and wax compositions.     

Enhancing the cyclodextrin production by synchronous utilization of isoamylase and α-CGTase

Cyclodextrins (CD) are cyclic α-1,4-glucans composed of glucose units, and they have multiple applications in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, chemicals, etc. CD are usually produced by cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) from starch. In the present study, a simultaneous conversion approach was developed to improve the yield of CD from starch by conjunction use of isoamylase with α-CGTase. The isoamylase of Thermobifida fusca was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). The biochemical characterization of the enzyme showed that the optimum temperature and pH of the recombinant enzyme was 50 °C and 5.5, respectively, and it maintained 60 %, 85 % and 78 % relative activity at 30 °C, 40 °C and 60 °C, respectively. When the recombinant isoamylase and α-CGTase were used simultaneously to convert potato starch (15 %, w/v) into CD, the optimum conditions were found to be: 10 U of α-CGTase and 48 U of isoamylase per gram of substrate, with reaction temperature of 30 °C and pH 5.6. On the optimum condition, the total yield of CD reached 84.6 % (w/w) after 24 h, which was 31.2 % higher than transformation with α-CGTase alone. This is the first report of synchronous bioconversion of CD by both α-CGTase and isoamylase, and represents the highest efficiency of CD production reported so far.     

Formate production and utilization by methanogens and by sewage sludge consortia — interference with the concept of interspecies formate transfer

Pure cultures of H₂/CO₂- and formate-utilizing methanogens or mixed consortia of sewage sludge generated some formate from H₂/CO₂ at H₂ partial pressure in the gas phase above 200 kPa. At decreasing H₂ partial pressure the formate was taken up again and converted to methane. If methanogenesis was inhibited by bromoethanesulphonic acid (BESA) or a high redox potential (–180 to –200 mV), formate-utilizing methanogens produced high amounts of formate from H₂/CO₂. No formate was excreted by the species, which could only utilize H₂/CO₂ for methanogenesis. In contrast, H₂ formation from formate was observed in cultures of Methanobacterium thermoformicicum and M. formicicum. Measurable amounts were, however, only formed if its immediate utilization for methane production was inhibited by BESA. In the light of the data on formate formation from H₂/CO₂ and its re-utilization by all formate-utilizing methanogens, the concept of interspecies formate transfer of Thiele and Zeikus should be reconsidered. In pure cultures of methanogens or complex ecosystems with excess H₂, formate formation seemed to serve more as a means of disposal of surplus reducing power than for H₂ transfer. Correspondence to: J. Winter     

Arecanut: India’s popular masticatory —history,chemistry and utilization

Economic Botany - To the Indians, Malayans, or the Indonesians, betel-nut chewing is as familiar as chewing gum to the Americans. In India the use of arecanut and its cultivation constitute a...     

Sweetpotatoes—World production and food value

The sweetpotato surpasses the white potato in its content of fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, starch, calories and the vitamins carotene, riboflavin and pantothenic acid. In 1944, of more than a billion bushels produced throughout the world, over 600 million were raised in China, over 68 million in the United States.     

The Potato—Its origin,cytogenetic relationships,production, uses and food value

About eight billion bushels of potatoes are produced annually throughout the world, 400 million of them in the United States. In the United States and England they are used principally for human consumption; in other European countries as livestock food and as raw material for the manufacture of starch, alcohol and other by-products.     

Sterigmatocystin — incidence, fate and production byA versicolor in ras cheese

Sterigmatocystin (STG) is a toxic metabolite produced by severalAspergillus species. Because of its toxic and carcinogenic properties the occurrence of STG in food is considered to represent a potential hazard to man. The present study was designed to investigate following points: