Control of abusive water addition to Octopus vulgaris with non-destructive methods.

Background: Abusive water addition to octopus has evidenced the need for quick non-destructive methods for product qualification in the industry and control of fresh commercial products in markets. Electric conductivity (EC)/pH and dielectric property measurements were selected to detect water uptake in octopus.

Results: A significant EC decrease was determined after soaking octopus in freshwater for 4 h.

Estimation of dry-cured ham composition using dielectric time domain reflectometry.

Development of real-time, non-destructive methods to characterize dry-cured ham is of interest to the food industry. Since dielectric properties change depending on the composition of the food product studied, time domain reflectometry (TDR) could be a useful method to characterize dry-cured ham. In this study, samples with different compositions were measured with a TDR device equipped with an open-ended coaxial line sensor.

Flavonoid glycosides from Alchemilla speciosa.

The new flavonol glycosides quercetin 3- O-beta-(2''- O-alpha- L-rhamnopyranosyl)-glucopyranoside uronic acid and kaempferol 3- O-beta-(2''- O-alpha- L-rhamnopyranosyl)-glucopyranoside uronic acid were isolated from the leaves of Alchemilla speciosa Buser together with 13 known flavonol and flavone glycosides and (+)-catechin. The structures were determined by spectroscopic methods.

Microsomal metabolism of dictamnine: identification of metabolites and evaluation of their mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium.

Incubation of the furoquinoline alkaloid dictamnine with microsomal fractions from phenobarbital-induced rat liver resulted in a metabolite mixture from which demethyl-dictamnine and dictamnic acid were identified by a GCMS technique. The identity of the two compounds was confirmed by synthesis. Other metabolites were characterized by their mass spectra only.