Microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) has been shown to effectively induce soymilk with a certain level of solid content to form filled tofu. The gel formation of this kind of tofu and the influence of reaction parameters on the properties of formed tofu were investigated by dynamic oscillatory and/or large-strain rheological measurements. The gelation process and the development of the mechanical moduli (especially the storage modulus, G0) of this kind of tofu were highly dependent upon the incubation temperature. Textural property analysis (TPA) results showed that many TPA parameters of this kind of tofu, including gel hardness, gumminess, springiness and cohesiveness, were also affected by the applied enzyme amount, the pH of soymilk and the presence of NaCl, especially for gel hardness. In addition, the additional heating and cooling treatment could significantly improve the gel strength of tofu, induced by MTGase at lower temperatures (e.g. 25 and 37 1C). These results suggested that a new kind of tofu with good quality could be produced using the enzymatic cross-linking technique, by the combination with the thermal treatment.

The process, thermodynamical isotherm and mechanism of Cr(III) uptake by Spirulina platensis were investigated in this paper. At the beginning of Cr uptake, Cr is physically adsorbed to the surface of algal cell by electrostatic attraction. Finally, chemical complexation through ion-exchange with K+, Mn2+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, Fe3+, Zn2+, H+, etc. ions by reversible or irreversible strategies plays the main role in Cr uptake. Most of the absorbed Cr are steadily bound to proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, etc. Biological ligands, whereas only a very small part of Cr are loosely adsorbed on the algal surface. Langmuir isotherm model seems to be suitable for describing Cr uptake than Freundlich isotherm model. pH is the most important factor influencing Cr uptake as well as anions, cell concentration, Cr concentration, temperature, light. Scatchard analysis and isotherm analysis indicate multi types binding sites for Cr and multi interactions between Cr and alga. Bioaccumulation strategy is suggested to be involved in Cr uptake besides biosorption e.g. adsorption and chemical complexation. S. platensis is of efficiently capable in the uptake of Cr(III), consequently high-value Spirulina can be produced.

The influence of covalent cross-linking by microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) on the sequential in vitro pepsin and trypsin digestion process and the digestibility of soy protein isolate (SPI), was investigated by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and nitrogen release analyses. Various subunits of b-conglycinin and acidic subunits of glycinin were cross-linked by MTGase to form high molecular weight (MW) biopolymers, while basic subunits of glycinin were unaffected. SDS-PAGE analysis indicated that the cross-linking mainly affected in vitro pepsin digestion pattern of various subunits of b-conglycinin, while the trypsin digestion pattern of native SPI was nearly unaffected. Nitrogen release analysis showed that the in vitro pepsin or/and trypsin digestibility of native SPI (at the end of pepsin or trypsin ingestion) was significantly decreased (P＞0.01) by the MTGase treatment (for more than 2 h). The cross-linking by MTGase also significantly decreased the in vitro digestibility of preheated SPI. These results suggest that the cross-linking by means of transglutaminase may negatively affect the nutritional properties of food proteins.

Dextran is a bacterial polysaccharide which can be produced from sucrose and usually used for clinical treatment as one kind of practical polysaceharide drags. The molecular weight distribution of dextran is an important index for its application. However, it is hardly to control strictly by the traditional separating method with ethanol. Taking separation and purification of medicinal dextran as the object of this study, a new separation technology, coupling electro-ultra-filtration with solvadng-out-crystagization (EUF-SOC) was developed and applied successfully, It was found that the permeate flux of optimized EUF-SOC technology is several times of normal ultra-filtration (UF) or enhanced ultrafiltration with an electric field (EUF), and its quality is higher than that of traditional process. The selective crystallization of dextran can be realized and homogeneous dextran crystals can be got in the process of membrane filtration by using EUF-SOC technology. The results showed that the mass transfer coefficient (k) of EUF-SOC process is about 4 times of UF and 2 times of EUF.