Publications by authors named "Fenglin Gu"

Freshwater soaking of the conchocelis is often used to reduce yellow spot, white spot, and mud red disease in Pyropia yezoensis. However, the understanding of physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic changes for the conchocelis under freshwater stress remains limited. Here, we comprehensively explored the dynamic changes of physiological activities, transcriptomes, and metabolomes of the conchocelis under three points of freshwater stress (0 h, 4 h, and 24 h) and one point of seawater recovery (R2h).

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Background: We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the impact of metabolic syndrome (MetS), its individual components, and the number of metabolic risk factors on the prognosis of pancreatic cancer (PC) following pancreatectomy.

Methods: MetS was defined as meeting any three of the following criteria: (1) waist circumference ≥85 cm in men or ≥80 cm in women; (2) triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL or receiving drug treatment for elevated triglycerides; (3) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol <40 mg/dL in men or <50 mg/dL in women or receiving drug treatment for reduced HDL-C; (4) systolic blood pressure ≥130 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥85 mmHg or receiving drug treatment for hypertension; and (5) fasting glucose, (FG) ≥100 mg/dL or receiving drug treatment for elevated glucose. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by the Cox regression model.

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Vanilla ( Andrews) is a valuable orchid spice cultivated for its highly priced beans. Vanilla has been planted in Hainan province of China via cutting propagation for about 40 years. The yield has been decreasing annually for the past ten years due to pod numbers declining significantly even though it seems to grow normally without disease symptoms, while the reason is still unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • * In this study, 27 TCP members were identified in the pepper genome, divided into Class I and Class II based on phylogenetic analysis, with similar motif patterns within each class.
  • * Expression levels of these factors varied across different tissues and growth stages; notably, a Class II member (CIN) was highly expressed in flowers, while Class I was prominent in leaves and Class II in lateral branches, indicating their specific roles in pepper development.
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This study investigated the immunoprotective effects of the extract of (EVPA) on cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced immunosuppression in mice. The results show that EVPA administration significantly alleviated the immune damage induced by Cy, as evidenced by an improved body weight, organ index, and colonic injury. A further analysis of microbial diversity revealed that the EVPA primarily increased the abundance of the beneficial bacteria , , and while decreasing , , , and , thereby ameliorating the microbial dysbiosis caused by Cy.

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Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is an economically important crop containing capsaicinoids in the seed and placenta, which has various culinary, medical, and industrial applications. Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are a large group of hydrophilic proteins participating in the plant stress response and seed development.

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Background: Piper nigrum essential oil (PnEO) possesses pleasant aroma, unique flavor, and various bioactivities; however, its role against colitis remains unclear.

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the role of PnEO in relieving colitis and explored its potential mechanisms in a mouse model of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis.

Methods: Initially, we identified and quantified the components of PnEO by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

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Article Synopsis
  • The CCCH zinc finger gene family in peppers encodes proteins that can bind to DNA and RNA and is critical for growth, development, and stress responses.
  • A total of 57 CCCH genes were identified in the pepper genome, showing significant structural variation and differing exon counts ranging from one to fourteen.
  • Gene duplication analysis indicated that segmental duplication is the primary factor in the expansion of CCCH genes, which are notably enhanced during responses to environmental stresses like cold and heat.
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Plant cytochrome P450 is a multifamily enzyme widely involved in biochemical reactions for the synthesis of antioxidants, pigments, structural polymers, and defense-related compounds. Pepper ( L.) is an economically important plant.

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In this study, the yield, content of piperine, and antioxidant activity of pepper oleoresin obtained with the methods of maceration, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), and ultrasound-MAE (UMAE) were analyzed, and the microstructure of pepper residue was observed. For the yield and piperine content, the UMAE method had the best extraction capacity among the four methods. While, the oleoresin obtained with maceration had the highest total phenolic content, and the antioxidant activity of the oleoresin obtained by maceration was higher than that of the extracts acquired by UAE, MAE, and UMAE, and a high positive correlation was observed between the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of the oleoresin obtained by these extraction methods.

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Vanilla produces aroma after curing. There were a few reports about the possible involvement of microorganisms during the curing process. Bacterial and fungal community was analyzed to explore the distinct roles.

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This survey reports for the first time the changed of quality of fermented cocoa ( L.) beans. The quality evaluation and simultaneous detection of amino acids, flavor, procyanidin, color, fat, protein, antioxidant activity, and enthalpy were obtained for different fermentation stages of cocoa beans.

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This paper compares the differences in metabolites of vanilla beans at five different curing stages. Key vanilla flavors, vanillin precursors and main enzymes during the curing process of Hainan vanilla beans were also analyzed. Hundreds of metabolites were detected based on metabolic analyses of a widely targeted metabolome technique, compared with blanched vanilla beans (BVB), sweating vanilla beans (SVB) and drying vanilla beans (DVB), the total peak intensity of cured vanilla beans (CVB) is on the rise.

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In the present study, nontargeted metabolomics was used to screen the phenolic and polyhydroxy compounds in pepper products. A total of 186 phenolic and polyhydroxy compounds, including anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, catechin derivatives, flavanones, flavones, flavonols, isoflavones and 3---coumaroyl quinic acid -hexoside, quinic acid (polyhydroxy compounds), etc. For the selected 50 types of phenolic compound, except malvidin 3,5-diglucoside (malvin), l-epicatechin and 4'-hydroxy-5,7-dimethoxyflavanone, other compound contents were present in high contents in freeze-dried pepper berries, and pinocembrin was relatively abundant in two kinds of pepper products.

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Black pepper ( L.) is the most widely used spice in the world. Blackening is considered to be beneficial and important in the processing of black pepper because it contributes to its color and flavor.

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High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used for comprehensive metabolomic fingerprinting of vanilla fruits prepared from the curing process. In this study, the metabolic changes of vanilla pods and vanilla beans were characterized using MS-based metabolomics to elucidate the biosynthesis of vanillin. The vanilla pods were significantly different from vanilla beans.

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Colonizing Bacillus in vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews) beans is involved in glucovanillin hydrolysis and vanillin formation during conventional curing. The flavor profiles of vanilla beans under Bacillus-assisted curing were analyzed through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, electronic nose, and quantitative sensory analysis. The flavor profiles were analytically compared among the vanilla beans under Bacillus-assisted curing, conventional curing, and non-microorganism-assisted curing.

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Vanilla beans were analyzed using biochemical methods, which revealed that glucovanillin disperses from the inner part to the outer part of the vanilla bean during the curing process and is simultaneously hydrolyzed by β-d-glucosidase. Enzymatic hydrolysis was found to occur on the surface of the vanilla beans. Transcripts of the β-d-glucosidase gene (bgl) of colonizing microorganisms were detected.

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A Gram-positive bacterium, designated strain XY18(T), was isolated from a cured vanilla bean in Hainan province, China. Cells were rod-shaped, endospore producing, and peritrichous flagella. Strain XY18(T) grew at salinities of 0-8 % (w/v) NaCl (optimally 1-4 %), pH 4.

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Production of vanillin from natural green vanilla pods was carried out by enzyme-assisted extraction combined with pre-freezing and thawing. In the first step the green vanilla pods were pre-frozen and then thawed to destroy cellular compartmentation. In the second step pectinase from Aspergillus niger was used to hydrolyze the pectin between the glucovanillin substrate and β-glucosidase.

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Vanillin yield, microscopic structure, antioxidant activity and overall odour of vanilla extracts obtained by different treatments were investigated. MAE showed the strongest extraction power, shortest time and highest antioxidant activity. Maceration gave higher vanillin yields than UAE and PAE, similar antioxidant activity with UAE, but longer times than UAE and PAE.

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In this study, we compared the effects of cryogenic grinding and hammer milling on the flavour attributes of black, white, and green pepper. The flavour attributes were analysed using headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), sensory evaluation and electronic nose (e-nose) analysis. Cryogenic grinding resulted in minimal damage to the colour, flavour, and sensory attributes of the spices.

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Chemical component of Hainan green coffee beans was analyzed with solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and the discrepancy between two green coffee beans was differentiated through the spectrum database retrieval and retention index of compound characterization. The experimental results show that: the chemical composition of Wanning coffee beans and Chengmai coffee beans is basically the same. The quantity of analyzed compound in Wanning area coffee is 91, and in Chengmai area coffee is 106, the quantity of the same compound is 66, and the percent of the same component is 75.

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A survey on five kinds of cocoa beans from new cocoa planting countries was conducted to analyze each kind's basic quality. The average bean weight and butter content of Hainan cocoa beans were the lowest, at less than 1.1 g, and 39.

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This paper investigates polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity, reduced weight percentage after sun drying, and the changes in colour and appearance of green pepper (Piper nigrum Linnaeus) berries after blanching and sun drying. The results show that the degree of reduced weight percentage and browning in green pepper berries after blanching for 10 min is greater at 100°C than at 90 and 80°C. Moreover, the samples blanched at 100°C for 10 min had the fastest water loss, but the lowest PPO activity.

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