Volume 17, No. 3 (2016)

HOW PROPERTIES OF EDIBLE OILS ARE IMPROVED BY ESSENTIAL OILS

SONIA AMARIEI, GEORGE GUTT, CRISTINA E. HRETCANU(*), ANA LEAHU, MIRCEA A. OROIAN, MARIA POROCH-SERIŢAN, ALICE I. ROŞU

The main aim of the present paper is to find out whether the addition of essential oils determines better oxidation stability and positive change of sensory and hedonic perception of edible oils. The oxidation stability of sunflower, corn and grape seed oils was analyzed in the presence of antioxidants in essential oils of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) during storage, under conditions of accelerated oxidative processes (4 days, at 60 °C). The total phenolic compounds of these essential oils were determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. The DPPH method was used to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of basil, rosemary and thyme essential oils in comparison with known synthetic antioxidant L(+)-ascorbic acid. The addition of essential oils to edible oils, the amounts proposed in analyses, determines a favorable influence on their oxidation stability as well as their taste. The influence of addition of essential oils on the taste of edible oils was studied in two products consumed mainly at breakfast, bread and spinach leaves. The results recommend the use of these plant extracts as additives in edible oils rather than synthetic antioxidants.

ISOLATION OF PROTEIN MINERAL CONCENTRATES AT ELECTROPHYSICAL PROCESSING OF WHEY IN STATIONARY REGIME

MIRCEA BOLOGA, TATIANA STEPURINA, OLGA ILIASENCO, ALBERT POLICARPOV, VALERIA VRABIE, VALERIU GONCEARUC, IRINA PALADII, CATALINA SPRINCEAN, ELVIRA VRABIE(*)

The paper deals with the study of isolation of protein mineral concentrates at the electrophysical processing of whey, which is practically important for food industry, as one. In the focus of attention were variations of the: electric current strength, energy consumption, pH values, and the degree of the isolations of proteins at different current densities. As a result, the optimal degree of the isolation of proteins at the stationary regime was determined, which heavily depends on the primary processing of milk as well as on the solid matter content and protein of the initial whey.

IN-SITU SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CHITOSAN-Fe3O4 NANOPARTICLES USING TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE/CITRATE AS CROSS-LINKER

VITA T. MARDILA(1), IKA O. WULANDARI(1), RIZKY A. SHOBIRIN(1), DIONYSIUS J.D.H. SANTJOJO(2), AKHMAD SABARUDIN(1*)

One pot in-situ co-precipitation of chitosan-Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a candidate of drug delivery agent have been synthesized using combination of tripolyphosphate (TPP)/citrate as cross-linkers. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of preparation process towards chitosan-Fe3O4 nanoparticles characteristics. Chitosan-Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared on various preparation condition including Chitosan:Fe(II):Fe(III) ratio, TPP:citrate ratio, and cross-linking time. The X-ray diffraction result shows that the phase contained in nanoparticles produced is mostly Fe3O4 phase, since the diffraction peaks of the samples were consistent with the database in crystalline pattern of the Fe3O4 phase in ICSD#26410. The percentage of Fe3O4 was obtained from Materials Analysis Using Diffraction (MAUD) program. The presence of chitosan prevents the oxidation of Fe3O4, as evidenced by larger percentage of Fe3O4 in chitosan-Fe3O4 nanoparticles than bare Fe3O4. The combination of TPP:citrate as cross-linking agent was able to produce particles with spherical shape. Cross-linking time affect the particle size, crystallite size, and percentage of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Longer duration of cross-linking process would produce the smaller particle size and crystallite size. Meanwhile, the percentage of Fe3O4 decreased with the increasing cross-linking time, due to the oxidation of samples in contact with the oxygen dissolved in the water.

INFLUENCE OF SYNTHESIS PARAMETERS ON MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF ALUMINUM(III)-PILLARED BENTONITES

ANA-MARIA GEORGESCU(1*), FRANÇOISE NARDOU(2), ILEANA DENISA NISTOR(1)

Al-pillared interlayered clays (Al-PILCs) have been prepared from Romanian natural calcium bentonite (Orasu Nou deposit) and the effect of some parameters on the morphological properties has been investigated. The synthesis of Al-pillared bentonite consists in the following five steps: bentonite purification, ionic exchange of bentonite with Cu(II) ions, preparation of pillaring agent, intercalation of ionic exchanged bentonite with pillaring agent and calcination. The pillared clays present a rigid structure, a high thermal stability given by the oxido-metallic pillars formed after calcination. The raw material and the obtained nanomaterials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The intercalation of the Al-polyhydroxocations into the interlayer of montmorillonite strongly modified the morphology of the Al-PILCs. The material with the best characteristics will be chosen in the aim of its using in liquid effluents remediation.

THE TREATED EGGSHELLS AS A NEW BIOSORBENT FOR ELIMINATION OF CARBARYL PESTICIDE FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS: KINETICS, THERMODYNAMICS AND ISOTHERMS

ABDELHAMID BAKKA(1*), RACHID MAMOUNI(1*), NABIL SAFFAJ(1), ABDELLATIF LAKNIFLI(1), ABDELJALIL BENLHACHEMI(3), BAHCINE BAKIZ(3), MOHAMMADINE EL HADDAD(2), MOHAMED AIT TALEB(1), AZIZA ROUDANI(1), ABDELLAH FAOUZI(1)

The efficiency of treated eggshells (TES) for removing the carbaryl pesticide from aqueous solutions was examined by biosorption process. Batch mode experiments were conducted using various parameters such as contact time, temperature, biosorbent amount, carbaryl concentration and pH. Removal efficiency of carbaryl by the TES attained 87.35 % after 60 min of contact time, using 10 mg·L-1 of pesticide and 1.5 g·L-1 of biosorbent. The results indicate that Freundlich equation is well described with the carbaryl adsorption, with correlation coefficient R2 value of 0.99. They showed that the biosorption processes were spontaneous and exothermic. The Gibbs energy ∆G increased with increase in temperature indicating an increase in feasibility of biosorption at low temperature. These results show that treated eggshells can be employed as an alternative to commercial adsorbents in the removal of pesticides from aqueous solutions.

THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE ABANDONED URANIUM MINING EXPLOITATIONS ON ROCKS AND SOILS - ZIMBRU PERIMETER, ARAD COUNTY

DIANA M. BANU(1,2*), VIORICA E. IONITA(2), AURA D. RADU(2), MIHAI NITA(3)

The mining exploration and exploitation, especially the activity of uranium mineralization exploration and exploitation has a negative impact on the environment by the alterations of the landscape and the degradation of the environmental factors' quality. The principal environmental factors that could be affected by mining operations resulting from uranium exploitation are: water, air, soil, population, fauna, and flora. The aim of this study is, first, to identify the sources of pollution (natural radionuclides - natural radioactive series of uranium, radium, thorium, potassium and heavy metals that are accompanying the mineralizations) for two of the most important environmental factors: rocks and soils: and, second, to assess the pollution impact on those two environmental factors. In order to identify this pollutants and their impact assessment it was selected as a study case an abandoned uranium mining perimeter named the Zimbru perimeter located in Arad County, Romania.

STUDY OF REMOVAL OF CONGO RED BY LOCAL NATURAL CLAY

SAFAE BENTAHAR(1), ABDELLAH DBIK(1), MOHAMMED EL KHOMRI(1), NOUREDDINE EL MESSAOUDI(1), BAHCINE BAKIZ(2), ABDELLAH LACHERAI(1*)

The adsorption behavior of anionic dye (Congo Red) from aqueous solutions onto natural clay originated from Agadir region (south Morocco) was examined in this work. Batch mode experiments were performed to describe the Influence of interacting parameters such as contact times (10 - 70 min), adsorbent dose (1 - 6 g·L-1), initial dye concentration (100 - 900 mg·L-1), temperature (22 - 50 °C) and pH values (2 - 12) on dye removal. According to the obtained results, the adsorption of CR onto clay natural was dependent on pH, initial dye concentration and temperature. Experimental data have been modeled according to both Langmuir and Freundlich models. Also, kinetic studies of CR onto clay were evaluated by pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order. It was found that the adsorption of the dye on the clay were well fitted by the Langmuir model with coefficient of correlation R2 = 0.98 and maximum adsorption capacity 74.62 mg·g-1. Adsorption kinetics indicated that the adsorption of CR was found to follow a pseudo second-order model (R2 = 0.999). The thermodynamic parameters were also calculated, which suggested that the adsorption of anionic dye onto clay is physiosorptive process, spontaneous, and endothermic in nature.

PREBIOTICS AS DRYING AIDS FOR SPRAY DRYING FRUIT JUICES

R. FREIXO, T. M. R. S. BRANDÃO, J. SILVA, A. GOMES, M. PINTADO, C. L. M. SILVA, A. M. M. B. MORAIS(*), P. TEIXEIRA

Natural fruit juices are difficult to transform into powder because they are rich in sugars and acids with low glass transition temperatures, resulting in a sticky behaviour during spray drying. The present research work aimed to test the prebiotics maltodextrin and arabic gum as drying agents in order to be able to produce dehydrated powder from pineapple, strawberry and apple juices. 2 % of maltodextrin and an inlet air temperature of 130 °C are recommended to spray dry apple juice, reaching 60 % yield of powder with a water activity below 0.40. For strawberry juice, 2 % of this carrier is recommended and the inlet air temperature, 120 °C or 130 °C, did not seem relevant. For pineapple, neither the concentration of the carrier nor the inlet air temperature seemed to be relevant.