Source: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA submitted to NRP
ENZYME STABILIZATION AND RAPID METHODS FOR CITRUS AND FRUIT JUICE QUALITY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0217047
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 1, 2009
Project End Date
Dec 31, 2013
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611
Performing Department
Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred
Non Technical Summary
Assuring the production and quality of US agricultural commodities, processed foods and beverages is vital to the country's security and market competitiveness. Fresh and processed foods need to be safe as well as nutritious and good tasting. Maximizing sensory attributes and nutritional value while retaining fresh-like quality and ensuring safety are requirements for all food processors eager to conquer diverse emerging markets. The goals of this project are (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes and (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. Pectic enzymes are used for viscosity reduction and yield increase in the fruit juice industry. Lipases are used in the production of natural flavors. Stabilization and reuse of enzymes has the potential to decrease production costs and increase productivity. The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on enzyme activity will be characterized by applying HHP to pectic enzymes and lipases at different temperatrues. Faster and more accurate and automated quality methods are required in the food industry. This research will focus on developing novel sensors, biosensors or rapid assays to replace the current assays for pectinesterase and oil content in juice. Physical, biochemical and electrochemical strategies will be used. We also expect to develop biosensors for indirect rapid detection of food pathogens. Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB)is one of the most threatening citrus diseases in the world and it is gravely affecting Florida's industry. Rapid in-field diagnosis of the disease can help reducing its spread. Knowing the changes in metabolites present in infected trees can help understanding the mechanisms of infection. In this research we will focus on identifying biomarkers for rapid detection of citrus HLB. Based on these biomarkers, we expect to develop portable sensors or biosensors for rapid, in-field diagnosis of HLB. Outcomes. a) Improved understanding of the effects of HHP on enzyme catalysis and structure. b) Incorporation of research findings into two graduate courses taught by Dr. Reyes De Corcuera: Citrus Processing Technology and Food Kinetics. c) Quality assurance laboratories are expected to save time and improve product quality by implementing a faster PME activity method for fruit juices. d) A faster and more sensitive method to determine oil in juice is expected to reduce processing costs to citrus juice and oil processors by reducing assay time and providing feed-back process control and more accurate quality control. e) In-field determination of titratable acidity that citrus growers can readily and inexpensively adopt at harvesting and increase crop value. f) Rapid methods for Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 detection in foods reduce assay time and minimize the likelyhood that contaminated or under processed foods reach the consumer, thus, minimizes foodborne disease outbreaks. g)In-field diagnosis of HLB is expected to help citrus growers mitigate the spread of this disease
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
5015010100015%
5015010202015%
4040999200015%
4040999202020%
7120999110315%
2120999116020%
Goals / Objectives
Assuring safety, nutritional value and sensory attributes of foods is vital for the US food processing and agricultural industries. The goals of this project are (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes and (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. Most foods are very complex biological systems that undergo metabolic, chemical and physical changes from harvesting to processing. The specific objectives of this research are: 1. To characterize the kinetics of pectic enzymes and lipases, immobilized and in solution under different hydrostatic pressure and temperature conditions. 2. To develop electrochemical enzyme biosensors for selective quantification of fruit juice quality and plant metabolism. 3. To develop rapid methods for the determination of citrus oil. 4. To develop a rapid method for in-field determination of titratable acidity in non-climacteric fruit. 5. Identify biomarkers for rapid detection of citrus Huanglongbing. 6. To develop rapid methods for food microbiology. Outputs of this research include: I. Enzyme Stabilization. a) Improved technology that combines HHP and temperature in enzyme catalysis b) Incorporation of research findings into two graduate courses taught by Dr. Reyes De Corcuera: Citrus Processing Technology and Food Kinetics. II. Bioelectrochemical Methods a) A biosensor for direct determination of PME activity in fruit juices that industry will be able to implement easily and at low cost compared to the time-consuming titration method b) A faster and more sensitive method to determine oil in juice that will reduce costs to juice and citrus oil processors by reducing assay time, providing feed-back process control and more accurate quality control. c) A prototype for in-field determination of titratable acidity that citrus growers can readily and inexpensively adopt at harvesting and increase crop value. d) Rapid methods for Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 detection in foods e) EDIS publications and Citrus Technology Workshops describing novel analytical methods. III. Metabolomics. a) A rapid method or sensor for in-field diagnosis of HLB.
Project Methods
I Enzyme Stabilization. Thermal stability of the enzyme will be determined when incubated in the absence of substrate for various amounts of time at different temperature-pressure combinations. Activity will be assayed ex-situ after incubation using spectrophotometry, GC or HPLC. Once the range of temperatures and pressures under which the enzyme is stable has been determined, the enzyme will be exposed to the substrate and the activity will be measured. In-situ determination of enzyme activity will be done by absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy will be used in a sapphire window HHP cell instrumented with a fiber optic spectrophotometer. Dr. Reyes De Corcuera (Food Engineering) will focus on enzyme kinetics and modeling, Dr Goodrich (Food Safety and Quality) will focus on process validation and Dr. Rouseff (Flavor Chemistry) on chemical analysis. II Bioelectrochemical Methods. Pectin esterase activity will be measured. A methanol biosensor will be fabricated by immobilizing alcohol oxidase in an electrochemically generated polymer as described elsewhere (Reyes-De-Corcuera et al., 2005a). The biosensor will be optimized and tested first on a model system with pectin solutions and pectin esterase from citrus and then on orange juice. Effects of electroactive interfering species will be assessed. Pectin esterase activity will be assayed at pH in the range of 7.0 to 8.5. Preliminary research on the development of ultramicrobiosensors to measure glucose and sucrose fluxes in citrus cells has been carried out. Glucose ultramicrobiosensors will be inserted in citrus vacuoles previously captured with a micropipette. Different concentrations of glucose will be added to the surroundings of the cell. Glucose uptake will be monitored continuously. Exploratory research will be carried out to determine the effects of oil concentration in orange juice (0 to 0.1% v/v oil) on its dielectric properties at frequencies from 1 to 2000 MHz. containing . All determinations will be compared to the conventional method. Drs. Reyes De Corcuera and Goodrich will work on the validation of the proposed prototype. A prototype sensor consisting of two platinum flags separated by a plastic divider has been built. A pH probe is placed adjacent to the cathode where hydroxide ions are produced. The dynamics of the prototype sensor will be characterized and compared to a conventional titration. The effects of hydrolysis potential and temperature will be characterized. Metabolomics. Changes in metabolite profiles in 'Valencia' orange leaves caused by water stress, girdling and zinc deficiency will be characterized by HPLC-MS, GC-MS and CE and compared to those produced by HLB and other plant stresses (girdling, water stress etc). This work will be done by Drs. Brlanski, (Plant Pathology), Wang (Microbiology), and Reyes De Corcuera The Metabolome of Salmonella, E-coli O157:H7 and mixed cultures will be analyzed by HPLC-MS and GC-MS. Dr. Danyluk will supervise microbiology tasks

Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/13

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences of this research were the Food Science and Citurs research community, Food Sciecne and Food Engineering graduate and undergraduate students, food and beverage processors, and Florida citrus growers Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Nothing further to report as the PI changed institutions on July 1, 2013

Publications

  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Yang, Z. DETERMINATION OF ENZYME ACTIVITY AS POTENTIAL BIOMARKER FOR EARLY DETECTION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI K12 AND SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM LT2 DURING BACTERIA LAG PHASE IN MINIMAL MEDIA PLUS SELECTED SUGARS. M.S. Thesis


Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience:The main target audience of this years research was the Food Science reseach community, undergraduate students and a graduate student that carried out most of the research effort this year. Efforts encompassed research and teaching innovations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training Activities: Goal (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes. Nothing to report. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. The graduate student working on this research learned a number of microbiology and spectrometric laboratory techniques and presented the results of the research on rapdid methods of detection of E. coli K-12 in an oral presentation at a professional meeting, as well as as a written paper submitted to the proceedings of the conference. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this resesarch were disseminated at the annual meeting of the Florida State Horitucltural Society, impacting mostly the Food Science Research Community, What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the last report for this project.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes. Nothing to report. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. We continued the characterization of the lag phase of Escherichia coli K-12 as well as Salmonella Typhimorium in minimal media enriched with selected minimal media. Enzyme activities at the end of the lag phase and beginning of the exponentials phase were determined.E.coli K12 lysate was detected after 6 h of incubation in lactose when population levels were approximately 4 log CFU/ml. Earliest esterase activity of Salmonella.Typhimurium LT2 was able to detected after 3 h of incubation in minimal medium plus galactose

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hijaz, F.M., Manthey, J.A., Folimonova, S.Y., Davis, C.L., Jones, S.E., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.* (2013). An HPLC characterization of the changes in sweet orange leaf metabolite profile following infection by the bacterial pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. PLOS one 8: (11), e79485 http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0079485
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M.* and Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. (2012) Metabolomics in Food Science in Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, Vol. 67. Henry, J. Editor. Academic Press, pp. 1-24.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. Perception of Math and Quantitative Skills Taught at Undergraduate Food Science Programs: Results of a Preliminary Survey. Presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists, July 16, 2013, Chicago, IL
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. Real-Time Remote Laboratories Used to Teach Citrus Processing Technology. Overview and Demonstration. Presented at the 2013 annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists, July 16, 2013, Chicago, IL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Yang, Z. Danyluk, M., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. Enzyme- Based Method for Rapid Detection of E. coli K12 during the Lag Phase or Early Exponential Phase. Presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society.


Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Goal (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes. Final report of stabilization of pectinases was submitted separately for project FLA-LAL-004928 and presented as a poster at the 2012 annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists in Las Vegas, Nevada. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. In collaboration with Dr. Geoffrey Puzon from CSIRO, Perth, Australia an in-line sensor for detection of biofilm formation in water distribution systems and liquid food contact surfaces was developed. The results were presented at Biosensors 2012, Cancun, Mexico, May 2012. Rheological characterization of citrus pulp by capillary viscometry at selected processing conditions using a modified concentric tube pasteurizer were presented at the 2012 Citrus Engineering conference in Lake Alfred, Florida. Thermal properties and heat transfer characteristics of citrus pulp were presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists in Las Vegas, Nevada. A summary of both, rheological and thermal properties was presented at the 2012 International Citrus and Beverage Conference in Clearwater, Florida. Research on the effects of in-field thermal treatment of citrus trees was initiated. First draft a book chapter on fruit and vegetable juice processing was submitted to publisher. Three M.S. students, a visiting scientist from Italy and a laboratory technician were mentored and conducted most this research. Two M.S. students in food science graduated after working in these projects. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Reyes-De-Corcuera served as PI coordinating all research activities, weekly meetings, supervising and training students as well as in reporting results, writing reviewing and submitting research for presentations at professional meetings and for publication in refereed journals. Dr. Goodrich-Schneider, assisted in the student research planning, results discussion and reviewed manuscripts for publication and served as committee member for graduate students providing expertise in fruit beverage quality and processing and is serving as co-author of one book chapter. Dr. Danyluk serves as committee member for one graduate student providing expertise in food microbiology through research meetings and manuscript review. All food microbiology work was done in Dr. Danyluk's laboratories. Dr. Ehsani served as committee member for one of the students and participated in discussions and developed research proposals for rapid methods of detection of HLB with expertise in non destructive optical methods. Dr. Nian Wang provided expertise in plant pathology through discussions and supply of materials. Dr. Svetlana Folimonova provided plant material from plants inoculated with HLB to assess differences in susceptibility to HLB among citrus cultivars. She assisted in manuscript writing and review. TARGET AUDIENCES: The citrus and beverage processing industry, the international research community the education community benefited from this research. Efforts include the participation at the International Citrus and Beverage Conference where the rheological and thermal properties of citrus pulp were presented as stated in the 'Ouput' section of this report. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Goal (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes. Preliminary experiments on the effects of HHP on lipase-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil for biodiesel production revealed that HHP did not stabilize lipase in vegetable oil. Therefore there was not a kinetic advantage of using HHP. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. New metabolomic and enzyme-based strategies for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens were studied. In particular, characterization of the lag phase of Escherichia coli K-12 in minimal media enriched with selected minimal media. Enzyme activities at the end of the lag phase and beginning of the exponentials phase were determined. Initial titer of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus in leaves from orange trees was low very variable in adjacent leaves making it very difficult to assess the kinetics of thermal inactivation. Heat capacity and thermal conductivity of orange pulp did not change with pulp concentration and depends mostly on soluble solids content.

Publications

  • Gonzalez, P., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I., Etxeberria, E.* (2012) Characterization of leaf starch from HLB-affected and unaffected-girdled citrus tress. Physiol. Molec. Plant Pathol. 79, 71-78.
  • Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M., Futch, D.B., Shilts, T., Folimonova, S.Y., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.* (2012). GC-MS metabolomic differentiation of selected citrus varieties with different sensitivity to citrus Huanglongbing. Plant. Physiol. Biochem. 53:69-76.
  • Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M.* and Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. (2012) Metabolomics in Food Science in Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, Vol. 67. Henry, J. Editor.
  • Payne, E., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. (2012) Rheological properties of orange pulp. Absstract of the 2012 Citrus Engineering Converence, p. 8
  • Hijaz, F., Manthey, J., Folimonova, S.Y., Davis, C.L., Jones, S.E., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. (2012) HPLC-MS Analysis of Secondary Metabolites in Leaves from Orange Trees Infected with Huanglongbing: A 9-Month Time Series Study. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc.
  • Jones, S.E., Hijaz, F,., Folimonova, S.Y., Manthey, J., Reyes-Ce-Corcuera, J.I. (2012) GC-MS Analysis of Secondary Metabolites in Leaves from Orange Trees Infected with HLB: A 9-month Course Study. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc.


Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Goal (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes. The effects of HHP on lipase-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil for biodiesel production was initiated. Protocols for enzyme derivatization and immobilization at HHP as well as for enzyme activity and stability in soybean oil-alcohol were developed. HHP equipment was modified by adding a second cell to treat two samples simultaneously. The results of the research carried out in this and previous years were presented at the annual meetings of the Institute of Food Technologists in June and as seminars at National University of Colombia and CSIRO, Australia to foster international collaboration. Our findings were also presented at a graduate seminar at the departments of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Florida. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. A metabolomic-based method for rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Hartford, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Salmonella Muenchen in nonselective media was developed. All pathogenic bacteria were grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB) at 37 C followed by metabolite quantification at 2-h intervals for 24 h. Results were compared with the metabolite profiles similarly obtained with E. coli K12, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Saccharomyces cereviseae, and Aspergillus oryzae grown individually or as a cocktail under the same conditions. Metabolomic insights on pathogen infection and other stresses in Citrus was presented at the Annual meeting of the American Society of Horticultural Science. The use of metabolomic tools for HLB control was presented at the 5th International Citriculture Week, Martniez de la Torre, Veracruz, Mexico. Results on rheological characterization of citrus pulp and on the optimized high pressure stabilization of a commercial pectinase formulation for combined juice clarification and pasteurization was presented at the 2011 IFT Meeting in New Orleans. Citrus pulp was characterized by capillary viscometry. A concentric tube pasteurizer was modified to control temperature and record flow rate, temperature and pressure drop. We started writing a book chapter on fruit and vegetable juice processing. One postdoctoral associate, one M.S. a visiting scientist from Italy and two laboratory technicians conducted most this research. One new M.S. student was recruited to continue the research on metabolomics of food borne pathogens. Part of the results from this research were presented at Annual meeting of the American Society of Horticultural Science and the 5th International Week of Citriculture in Veracruz, Mexico. One M.S. student in food science defended her thesis. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Reyes-De-Corcuera served as PI coordinating all research activities, weekly meetings, supervising and training students as well as in reporting results, writing reviewing and submitting research for presentations at professional meetings and for publication in refereed journals. Dr. Goodrich-Schneider, assisted in the student research planning, results discussion and reviewed manuscripts for publication and served as committee member for graduate students providing expertise in fruit beverage quality and processing and is serving as co-author of one book chpater. Dr. Danyluk serves as committee member for one graduate students providing expertise in food microbiology through research meetings and manuscript review. All food microbiology work was done in Dr. Danyluk's laboratories. Dr. Rouseff provided advice in analytical techniques and allowed use of compound spectra database and statistical software. Dr. Ehsani served as committee member for one of the students and participated in discussions and developed research proposals for rapid methods of detection of HLB with expertise in non destructive optical methods. Dr. Etxeberria serves as committee member for one of the PhD students providing expertise in plant physiology related to the HLB project. Drs. Brlanski and Wang provided expertise in plant pathology through discussions and supply of materials. Dr. Svetlana Folimonova provided plant material from plants inoculated with HLB for a 9-month experiment to study the movement of Cantidatus liberibacter asiaticus in planta by metabolomic profiling and PCR methods. She assisted in manuscript review. Four M.S. students, Elyse Payne, Brittany Tomlin, Sabrina Terada and Juan F. Munoz participated in this project. Also, one Chemist technician and one visiting scientist contributed to this research. TARGET AUDIENCES: The citrus and beverage processing industry, the international research community the education community benefited from this research. Efforts include the participation at the International Citrus and Beverage Conference where remote laboratories were presented as tools for teaching and training in quality assurance as well as presentations at professional meetings detailed in the 'Ouput' section of this report. A course in sensors a data acquisition for biological sciences was offered to assist graduate students in developing effective and efficient data acquisition systems for their research programs PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Goal (I) to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes. No additional data to report. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. Principal component analysis (PCAS) discriminated pathogenic microorganisms grown in TSB. Metabolites responsible of PCAS classification were dextrose, cadaverine, the aminoacids L-histidine, glycine, and L-tyrosine, as well as the volatiles 1-octanol, 1-propanol, 1butanol, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, and 2,5-dimethyl-pyrazine. Partial least square (PLS) models based on the overall metabolite profile of each bacteria were able to detect the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella spp. at levels of approximately 7 +/- 2 CFU/25 g of ground beef and chicken within 18 h. This approach reduces at least in half the time required to identify contaminated foods and has the potential to change industry protocols. A new method to calculated slippage coefficient based on combined rotational rheology at shear rates where slippage does not occur and capillary viscometry data was proposed. Orange pulp flow was modeled through capillary viscometry accounting for slippage at selected temperatures of 4, 10, 21, 30, or 50 C and concentrations of 854 +/- 19, 749 +/- 21, 649+/- 26, or 545 +/- 20 g/L. As the measured flow rate increased the measured pressure drop increased monotonously confirming that at all flow rates in this experiment slippage was present. Pressure drop in a 11.27 m long, 22.9 mm diameter pipe ranged from 150 kPa at for 3.5 E-4 m3/s at 50 C to 377 kPa for 1.1 E-4 m3/s at 4 C. Generally as the measured flow rate increased the slippage coefficient increased. The slippage coefficient ranged from 5.2 x 10-5 to 1.7 x 10-3 m2 / (Pa s) with a standard deviation range of 4.1 x 10-7 to 2.8 x 10-3.

Publications

  • Miyazakia, T., Plotto, A., Baldwin A.E., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I., Gmitter, Jr.F.G. (2011).Characterization of Aroma Volatiles in Tangerine Hybrids by Gas-Chromatography-Olfactometry. J. Sci. Food Agr. In press.
  • Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M., Danyluk, M.D., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. (2011) GC-MS Based Metabolomics for Rapid Simultaneous Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Muenchen, and Salmonella Hartford in Ground Beef and Chicken. J. Food Sci. 76(4):M238-M246.
  • Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M., Garcia Torres, R., Etxeberria, E., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I., (2011) GC-MS analysis of headspace and liquid extracts for metabolomic differentiation of citrus Huanglongbing and zinc deficiency in leaves of 'Valencia' sweet orange from commercial groves. Phytochem. Anal. 22:236-246
  • Reyes De Corcuera, J.I., Goodrich-Schneider, R.M., Braddock, R.J. (2011). Oranges In: Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Processing and Packaging, Siddiq M (editor). John-Wiley Publishing Co., Ames, Iowa, USA (in press)


Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Goal (I) "to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes". The effects of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) on enzyme activity and stability was extensively reviewed in the literature. We studied the combined effects of HHP in the range of 0.1 to 600 MPa and 40 to 85 C on the activity of lipase B from Candida Antarctica in hexane or in ionic liquids. Preliminary research was also carried out on the effects of HHP on pectinase activity. A method based on the rate of viscosity decrease was developed to determine enzyme activity. One food science Ph.D. student completed his doctoral research working on this project. One chemical engineering undergraduate student worked in this project during the summer. The results of this research were presented at the annual meetings of the Institute of Food Technologists in June and the 5th International Technical Symposium on Food Processing, Monitoring Technology in Bioprocesses and Food Quality Management, CIGR in Potsdam Germany in September. Our findings were also presented at four graduate seminars at the departments of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. Goal (II) "to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products". The literature on metabolomics in food science was extensively reviewed as well as the effects of dissolved oxygen in fruit juices. We haved profiled part of the metabolome of leaves from HLB-infected and healthy trees using capillary electrophoresis (CE), gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) to identify HLB-specific biomarkers for detection and diagnostic as well as to better understand plant/HLB interactions. GC-MS analyses were done on the head space or by derivatization of non-volatiles. We compared samples from infected trees to samples from healthy. We also tracked changes from the time of graft inoculation to full development of symptoms. An amperometric enzyme biosensor prototype for myo-inositol as biomarker for HLB was developed. Myo-inositol was later found not to be specific for HLB. Metabolomics methods based on HPLC-MS, capillary electrophoresis, and GC-MS were developed to monitor changes in metabolites excreted during each growth phase. Specifically, detected metabolites were determined by individual metabolomics comparison of E. coli K-12, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Hartford, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown under the same conditions. One food science Ph.D. student conducted this research as part of his dissertation. The results from this research were presented at the annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists in June, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers in July, the 1st International Meeting of Citrus Researchers in Mexico in August and at 2 graduate food science seminars. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Reyes-De-Corcuera served as PI coordinating all research activities, weekly meetings, supervising and training students as well as in reporting results, writing reviewing and submitting research for presentations at professional meetings and for publication in refereed journals. Dr. Goodrich-Schneider, participated in research planning, results discussion and reviewed manuscripts for publication and served as committee member for two graduate students providing expertise in fruit beverage quality and processing. Dr. Danyluk serves as committee member for two graduate students providing expertise in food microbiology through research meetings and manuscript review. All food microbiology work was done in Dr. Danyluk's laboratories. Dr. Rouseff provided advice in analytical techniques and served as committee member for two graduate students and reviewed manuscripts for publication. Dr. Ehsani served as committee member for one of the students and participated in discussions and developed research proposals for rapid methods of detection of HLB with expertise in non destructive optical methods. Dr. Etxeberria serves as committee member for one of the PhD students providing expertise in plant physiology related to the HLB project. Drs. Brlanski and Wang provided expertise in plant pathology through discussions and supply of materials. Dr. Svetlana Folimonova provided plant material from plants inoculated with HLB for a six-month experiment to determine relative tolerance and time required for symptoms to develop. She assisted in manuscript review. Three PhD students, Michael Eisenmenger, Juan Manuel Cevallos-Cevallos and Rosalia Garcia-Torres as well as one MS student participated in this project. Also, one Chemist technician and three undergraduate students worked during the summer in this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: With respect to goal (I) "to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes", the main target audience are food processors that utilize enzymes. That includes flavor producers as well as fruit juice and beverage processors. In particular our resesarch this year targetted banana flavor producers and processors of clarified juices that use pectinases to reduce viscosity and increase yied. With respect to goal (II) "to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products", HLB research target audience are citrus growers in Florida and throughout the US. Food borne pathogen resesarch targets all food processors. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Goal (I) "to carry out exploratory research on stabilization and activation of citrus and other food enzymes". HHP reduced thermal inactivation of lipase by up to 152% after 4 h at 80 C and 400 MPa when compared to incubations at low pressure. No significant differences were found in activation energy (Ea) at different pressures, irrespectively of the pressurization and heating sequence, and were between 35.7 +/- 3.5 and 47.8 +/- 8.2 kJ/mol. Increasing pressure up to 350 MPa increased lipase activity while pressures greater than 350 MPa maintained or decreased lipase activity. Activation volume (Va) appeared negative between ambient pressure and 200MPa in contrast to a positive Va between 300 and 600 MPa. Apparent Va was 14.3 +/- 1.7 or 15.2 +/- 2.2 cm3/mol at 40 or 80 C, respectively, between 300 and 500 MPa. Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of isoamyl acetate in hexane at 10 to 250 MPa at 80 C and 1 to 100 MPa at 40 C resulted in activation volumes of -12.9 +/- 1.7 and -21.6 +/- 2.9 cm3/mol respectively. Increasing pressure from 10 MPa to 200 MPa resulted in approximately 10-fold increase in Vmax at both 40 and 80 C. Pressure increased KM from 2.4 +/- 0.004 to 38.0 +/- 0.684 mM at 40 C. In contrast at 80 C pressure did not affect KM. Goal (II) to develop new and improved methods for plant and food pathogen detection, quality assurance of food and beverage products. Metabolites that are in significantly different concentrations in leaves from HLB-infected trees compared to leaves from healthy are: hesperidin, naringenin, quercitin and three unknown metabolites determined by CE. Optimized extraction conditions for CE were a mixture of methanol, water, and chloroform in an 8:1:1 ratio as the solvent, followed by 30 min sonication on ice, and 12-h extraction at 0 C. Optimal separation was achieved in a semi-aqueous BGE solution consisting of 8.5mM of sodium borate (pH 9.3), 15% ACN, and 9% 1-butanol yielded the best peak separation with detection at 190 nm. Isocaryophyllene, alpha-selinene, beta-selinene and fructose determined by GC-MS were also potential biomarkers. Metabolites that are in significantly different concentrations in leaves from HLB-infected trees compared to leaves from healthy and zinc-deficient trees are: L-proline, beta-elemene, (-)trans-caryophyllene and alpha-humulene as well as one unknown metabolite. Approximately 900 compounds were detected by HPLC-MS in leaves from both healthy and HLB-infected trees and showed three zones with significant variation in compound concentration. Metabolite-based rapid methods have the potential to detect pathogens growing in culture media after 6 h incubation at levels of 6 CFU/25 g of sample. Metabolite-based quantification can be potentially achieved by the use of non-selective media but is more likely to be successful with selective media. Some metabolites have been detected as potential biomarkers of food borne pathogens. Confirmation is underway.

Publications

  • Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.*, Etxeberria, E., Danyluk, M.D., Rodrick, G.E. (2009) Metabolomic analysis in food science. A review. Trends Food Sci Technol, 20:557-566.
  • Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M.; Rouseff, R.L.; Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.* (2009)Untargeted metabolite analysis of healthy and Huanglongbing infected orange leaves by CE-DAD. Electrophoresis, 30:1240-1247.
  • Eisenmenger, M.J., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.* (2009) High Pressure Enhancement of Enzymes: A Review. Enzyme Microb. Technol, 45:331-347.
  • Eisenmenger, M.J., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.* (2009) Hydrostatic Pressure Increased Stability and Activity of Immobilized Lipase in Hexane. Enzyme Microb. Technol, 45: 118-125.
  • Garcia-Torres, R., Ponagandla, N.R., Rouseff, R.L. Goodrich-Schneider, R.M., Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.* (2009) Effects of Dissolved Oxygen in Fruit Juices and Methods of Removal. CRFSFS, 8:409-423.
  • Teruel, M.A., Jenkins, D.M.*, Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I. (2009) Crystallization of beta-D-Glucose and Analysis with a Simple Glucose Biosensor. J. Chem. Educ., 86 (8):959-961.