Plants maceration

The fate of pectin in plant macerates and juices has been extensively studied.44 Perhaps the case that has received the most attention is that of tomato juice, and especially of the various concentrates made from it, since here again pectin has a dominant effect on consistency,480 66 and this... 

Novel processes are disclosed for preparing flour from Jerusalem artichoke tubers or similar inulin-containing plants. Macerated tubers are subjected to heat and spray dried. The flour comprises a mixture of monosaccharides and small and large oligosaccharides. 

Macerals. Coal parts derived from different plant parts, are referred to as macerals (13). The maceral names end in "-inite" as do the mineral forms of rocks. The most abundant (about 85%) maceral in U.S. coal is vitrinite, derived from the woody tissues of plants. Another maceral, called liptinite, is derived from the waxy parts of spores and poUen, or algal remains. The liptinite macerals fluoresce under blue light permitting a subdivision based on fluorescence. A third maceral, inertinite, is thought to be derived from oxidized material or fossilized charcoal remnants of early forest fires. 

Pieces of coal are mixtures of materials somewhat randomly distributed in differing amounts. The mineral matter can be readily distinguished from the organic, which is itself a mixture. Coal properties reflect the individual constituents and the relative proportions. By analogy to geologic formations, the macerals are the constituents that correspond to minerals that make up individual rocks. For coals, macerals, which tend to be consistent in their properties, represent particular classes of plant parts that have been transformed into coal (40). Most detailed chemical and physical studies of coal have been made on macerals or samples rich in a particular maceral, because maceral separation is time consuming. 

Oils produced by maceration of the true ohampaca flowera from, Ia -a plants in p.itrDlcum oil and distillation by steam at very low pressure were found by Bacon to have Iho following charaotera —... 

From the above description it will be appreciated that the efficiency of release of nutrients from ingested plant material is dependent upon the ease with which the digestive enzymes can penetrate the cell wall to release the nutrients so that they can diffuse out of the structure to be absorbed. Thus tissue maturity, cooking, macerating, mastication and mode of tissue failure, all of which control particle size, cell wall softening or cell disruption, are key features which regulate nutrient release. 

Maceration of crnshed or gronnd material in methanol containing small amounts of HCl (<1%) is commonly used at refrigerated temperatures for times ranging from a few hours to overnight. The extracted material is usually too dilute for further analyses and the extraction procednre is usually followed by evaporation of the methanol using vacnnm and mild temperatures (30 to 40°C). Alternatively, the plant materials and solvents can be mixed well with a laboratory blender for a few minutes or a chemical-resistant stir bar for a longer time. Concentration of anthocyanin extracts can be done by rotary evaporation under vacuum conditions for volatile solvents or lyophilization for water. 

Among the family of Enterobacteriaceae, two species of the genus Erwinia define the soft rot group E. chrysanthemi and E. carotovora. The main characteristic of the soft rot bacteria is their ability to produce large quantities of plant cell wall degrading enzymes. The maceration of plant tissue resulting from... 

Conclusion. We have shown that PL3 induces plant responses against maceration caused by attacking Erwinia bacteria. It remains to be elucidated whether this is caused by an enforcement of host cell walls and/or the production of compounds directed against the invading bacteria and their enzymes. 

Enzymatic maceration, which is a softening of plant tissue by the use of enzymes, has some potential quality advantages over mechanical-thermal disintegration as maceration is obtained with less damage to the cell walls. The major part of the plant cells remains intact by enzymatic maceration [25], as the enzymes attack only the space between the cells, and with only rare injury to the cell membrane [26]. The intact cells protect nutritional components within the cells which minimise flavour changes and deterioration on storage [27,28]. 

Two characteristics of the lyase that we have purified may be significant. First, the small molecular size of the protein may confer it a high mobility that could be helpful to its movement through host cell walls. In second place, it is an endo-type enzyme, fact that has been considered essential for maceration of plant tissues [35]. In this sense it is noteworthy that between the battery of pectic enzymes produced by FORL, this pectin lyase is the only protein that behaves as an endo-type. 

Strains deleted for the pel genes have been constructed from different E. chrysanthemi strains (5, 7, 8). These strains are still able to macerate plant tissues, suggesting the existence of additional pectinolytic enzymes, so called "secondary pectinases". Similarly, a pemA mutant has a reduced virulence but still remains able to cause local necrosis on Saintpaulia (9). Thus, other enzymes with PME activity could exist in E. chrysanthemi. 

The endo-action of the K. marxianus PG was demonstrated by a extremely rapid attack on plant tissue. This activity appears to be at least equivalent to that of several commercial preparations used for separating plant cells for protoplast preparation (RMC, unpublished data). Most of the endo-PGs produced by plant pathogens and saprophytes have so far been reported to possess macerating activity. PG secreted by K. marxianus CCT 3172 also had a strong activity in reducing the viscosity of cocoa pulp. Cocoa pulp generally contains 1 - 1.5% (w/w) of pectin consisting of 68% esterification and 11.6% methoxyl content [18]. 

Plant material is macerated using two volumes of 2-propanol as the extraetion solvent. The 2-propanol solvent is then deeanted and filtered. Any solid material in the filter is returned to the extraction vessel, and the entire proeedure is reiterated until the extract produced is colorless. A small volume of dioxane, 15% of the total extraeted volume, is added to the combined extracts. The chlorophyll-containing solution is then triturated with water until it is turbid, and then it is placed in a refrigerator for 2 to 3 h. 

The residue is removed from the leaf surface by shaking the leaf punch sample in an aqueous surfactant solution. This allows for removal of test substance residue from the leaf surface. It does not remove residue absorbed on the plant matrix that extraction and maceration in organic solvents would release. Generally, the extraction with aqueous surfactant is performed using a mechanical shaker for a 10-min interval and is repeated to increase transfer efficiency. 

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