D-xylose is one of the most abundant pentose sugars in nature. To isolate oleaginous yeasts that can utilize xylose from diverse soil samples, soils from a litchi orchard, longan orchard, carambola orchard, and woods were collected, yeasts were isolated by the glycerol enrichment and their xylose-assimilating capacities were measured. A subset of these isolates was grown in nitrogen-limited med...

Cocoa is a rich source of high-quality antioxidant polyphenols. They comprise mainly catechins (29%-38% of total polyphenols), anthocyanins (4% of total polyphenols) and proanthocyanidins (58%-65% of total polyphenols). A growing body of experimental and epidemiological evidence highlights that the intake of cocoa polyphenols may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. Beyond antioxidant prop...

Chocolate today is often viewed as a food or snack with little nutritional value. The high saturated fat content of chocolate has also contributed to the belief that its consumption increases the risk of heart disease. However, recent human studies have proven that chocolate has beneficial effects on some pathogenic mechanisms of heart disease such as endothelial function and blood pressure. Al...

The objective of the current study was to explore the use of different suppository bases i.e. Cocoa butter and different grades of polyethylene glycol bases (4000 and 6000) and to observe the effect of plasticizers incorporated in the suppositories for the successful delivery of Zaltoprofen, an novel non steroidal anti inflammatory drug through rectal route of administration. Moreover, Zaltopro...

A simple method is described for the determination of molecular species of enantiomeric sn-1,2- and sn-2,3-diacylglycerols derived from natural triacylglycerols by Grignard degradation. The method is based on a preparative separation of the enantiomeric diacylglycerols as 3,5-dinitrophenylurethane (DNPU) derivatives by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a chiral column (25 cm x 4....

Impaired endothelial vasodilatation may contribute to the exaggerated blood pressure (BP) responses to exercise in individuals who are overweight/obese. The present study investigated whether consumption of cocoa flavanols, which improve endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), can modify BP responsiveness to exercise. Twenty-one volunteers (eight females and thirteen males, 54.9 (...

The butter boletes (Boletus s.l. sect. Appendiculati) are an economically important group of ectomycorrhizal fungi whose basidiocarps have a yellow tube layer that often bruises blue, yellow reticulate stipe, mild flavor and firm yellow-tinged flesh that may or may not turn blue when exposed. Morphological characters and molecular data (ITS and LSU) place this group in a separate phylogenetic c...

Although stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid, its influence on plasma cholesterol acid other health variables is neutral; possibly owing in part to poor absorption. Reduced absorption of stearic acid from particular triacylglycerols, cocoa butter and novel fats formulated with short- and long-chain acid triacylglycerol molecules (Salatrims) has been attributed to high intakes. However, the c...