Biopolymers complexes

Sletmoen, M., Maurstad, G., Stokke, B.T. (2008). Potentials of bionanotechnology in the study and manufacturing of self-assembled biopolymer complexes and gels. Food Hydrocolloids, 22, 2-11. 

Electrostatic and non-electrostatic biopolymer complexes can also be used as effective steric stabilizers of double (multiple) emulsions. In this type of emulsion, the droplets of one liquid are dispersed within larger droplets of a second immiscible liquid (the dispersion medium for the smaller droplets of the first liquid). In practice, it is found that the so-called direct water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions are more common than inverse oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) emulsions (Grigoriev and Miller, 2009). In a specific example, some W/O/W double emulsions with polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) as the primary emulsifier and WPI-polysaccharide complexes as the secondary emulsifying agent were found to be efficient storage carriers for sustained release of entrapped vitamin Bi (Benichou et al., 2002). 

Carrots treated with the dye-biopolymer complexes and processed under the optimum condition as determined by RSM were rehydrated and fixed for light microscopic examination. Thin slices of carrots (2-3 mm) were fixed on cork board and frozen in isopentane at -160°C for 15 sec. The frozen samples were warmed up to -20°C in a histostat cryostat microtome chamber and cut into sections of 28 micron thickness. The sections were fixed on slides with glycerol gel and dried in an oven at 35°C to remove any air bubble under the slides. The slides were examined and photographed under a light microscope at 500 and 785 times magnification. 

The dye-biopolymer complexes were seen at intracellular spaces in intact carrot cells (Fig. 3a) and adhered to cell walls in broken cells (Fig. 3b). These pictures provided some evidence for our hypothesis that the biopolymers migrate on and around cell walls and their presence may have assisted in preventing or reducing cell collapse during dehydration. Much work needs to be done to elucidate the role of biopolymers on quality improvement of dehydrated vegetable pieces, and to define the proper size of molecules that would accomplish the desired texture. 

These conditions generally require that the reaction partners themselves have either large dipole moments or large polarizabilities or a high density of fixed ionic groups. The structures which fulfill these conditions are macromolecules and macromolecular organizations such as polyionic biopolymers, biopolymer complexes, or biomembranes. 

Anotlier teclmique used for stmctural inference is dielectric dispersion in tlie frequency [25] or time [26] domains. The biopolymer under investigation must have a pennanent dipole moment p. It is first dissolved in a dielectrically inert solvent, e.g. octanol, which may be considered to bear some resemblance to a biological lipid membrane, and tlien tlie complex impedance i +j( is measured over a range of frequencies / typically from a... 

One of the most fascinating recent developments in biology has been the discovery of numerous highly complex biopolymer assemblies (see also section C2.14.2.3) such as the ribosome or the bacterial flagellum [93, 94 and 95], the envy of nanoteclmologists seeking to miniaturize man-made mechanical devices (note that the word machinery is also sometimes used to refer to multienzyme complexes such as the proteasome [96]), and an entire... 

In biological systems molecular assemblies connected by non-covalent interactions are as common as biopolymers. Examples arc protein and DNA helices, enzyme-substrate and multienzyme complexes, bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs), and aggregates of biopolymers forming various aqueous gels, e.g, the eye lens. About 50% of the organic substances in humans are accounted for by the membrane structures of cells, which constitute the medium for the vast majority of biochemical reactions. Evidently organic synthesis should also develop tools to mimic the Structure and propertiesof biopolymer, biomembrane, and gel structures in aqueous media. 

Biomolecule Separations. Advances in chemical separation techniques such as capillary zone electrophoresis (cze) and sedimentation field flow fractionation (sfff) allow for the isolation of nanogram quantities of amino acids and proteins, as weU as the characterization of large biomolecules (63—68) (see Biopolymers, analytical techniques). The two aforementioned techniques, as weU as chromatography and centrifugation, ate all based upon the differential migration of materials. Trends in the area of separations are toward the manipulation of smaller sample volumes, more rapid purification and analysis of materials, higher resolution of complex mixtures, milder conditions, and higher recovery (69). 

Chiral Chromatography. Chiral chromatography is used for the analysis of enantiomers, most useful for separations of pharmaceuticals and biochemical compounds (see Biopolymers, analytical techniques). There are several types of chiral stationary phases those that use attractive interactions, metal ligands, inclusion complexes, and protein complexes. The separation of optical isomers has important ramifications, especially in biochemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry, where one form of a compound may be bioactive and the other inactive, inhibitory, or toxic. 

Electrodes may also be rendered selective to more complex analytes using enzyme or other overcoats (see Biopolymers, analytical techniques Biosensors). The enzyme converts the analyte into a detectable ion or gas. Glucose and blood urea nitrogen sensors can be made in this way. 

Alternatively, using a polyethylene glycol stationary phase, aromatic hydrocarbons can also be retained and separated primarily by dipole-induced dipole interactions combined with some dispersive interactions. Molecules can exhibit multiple interactive properties. For example, phenyl ethanol possesses both a dipole as a result of the hydroxyl group and is polarizable due to the aromatic ring. Complex molecules such as biopolymers can contain many different interactive groups. 

The interactive character of a molecule can be very complex and a molecule can have many interactive sites. These sites will comprise the three basic types of interaction, i.e., dispersive, polar and ionic. Some molecules (for example, large molecules such as biopolymers) can have many different interactive sites dispersed throughout the entire molecule. The interactive character of the molecule as a whole will be... 

The consideration made above allows us to predict good chromatographic properties of the bonded phases composed of the adsorbed macromolecules. On the one hand, steric repulsion of the macromolecular solute by the loops and tails of the modifying polymer ensures the suppressed nonspecific adsorptivity of a carrier. On the other hand, the extended structure of the bonded phase may improve the adaptivity of the grafted functions and facilitate thereby the complex formation between the adsorbent and solute. The examples listed below illustrate the applicability of the composite sorbents to the different modes of liquid chromatography of biopolymers. 

Soft, wet, and complex materials (biopolymers, inorganic and organic ions... 

Xylan-type polysaccharides are the main hemicellulose components of secondary cell walls constituting about 20-30% of the biomass of dicotyl plants (hardwoods and herbaceous plants). In some tissues of monocotyl plants (grasses and cereals) xylans occur up to 50% [6j. Xylans are thus available in huge and replenishable amoimts as by-products from forestry, the agriculture, wood, and pulp and paper industries. Nowadays, xylans of some seaweed represent a novel biopolymer resource [4j. The diversity and complexity of xylans suggest that many useful by-products can be potentially produced and, therefore, these polysaccharides are considered as possible biopolymer raw materials for various exploitations. As a renewable resource, xylans are... 

The chitin is modified to impart the structure required by the functions of each particular tissue, via crystalHzation, deacetylation, cross-finking to other biopolymers (Fig. 1), and, in certain cases, quinone tanning. The resulting complex structures are capable of exceptional performances [15]. 

The application areas for LC-MS, as will be illustrated later, are diverse, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative determinations of both high-and low-molecular-weight materials, including synthetic polymers, biopolymers, environmental pollutants, pharmaceutical compounds (drugs and their metabolites) and natural products. In essence, it is used for any compounds which are found in complex matrices for which HPLC is the separation method of choice and where the mass spectrometer provides the necessary selectivity and sensitivity to provide quantitative information and/or it provides structural information that cannot be obtained by using other detectors. 

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