The Correlation Between the Chemical Composition and the Microstructure of the Polysaccharides of Two Varieties of Mexican Red Prickly Pear Fruits.

The red prickly pear fruit ( L. Mill), endemic from Mexico's semi-desert regions and present in North Africa and Southern Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, is a valuable source of nutrients, bioactive compounds, and polysaccharides. This study used non-destructive techniques like microscopy and Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy to characterize polysaccharides extracted from two red prickly pear varieties.

Immobilization of chloroperoxidase on mesoporous materials for the oxidation of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene, a recalcitrant organic sulfur compound present in petroleum fractions.

The catalytic potential of chloroperoxidase (CPO) immobilized on mesoporous materials was evaluated for the oxidation of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene in water/acetonitrile mixtures. Two different types of materials were used for the immobilization: a metal containing Al-MCM-41 material with a pore size of 26 A and SBA-16 materials with three different pore sizes: 40, 90 and 117 A. The SBA-16 40 A did not retain any CPO.