Academy of State Administration of Grain

Lipid metabolism is critical for seed germination, directly impacting their nutritional value as a food raw material. Conventional methods for oil analysis are destructive and fail to determine oil distribution. This study evaluated the feasibility of using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) coupled with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a non-destructive approach for monitoring oil changes in germinating oilseeds. Four representative oilseed varieties - herbaceous (peanut, soybean) and woody (camellia, almond) - were investigated to analyze oil changes during germination. The accuracy of LF-NMR was validated against Soxhlet extraction and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The results revealed that herbaceous seeds exhibited rapid oil mobilization germination, whereas woody seeds showed slower oil consumption. High correlations were observed between LF-NMR method and conventional method/CLSM imaging method (R2 > 0.9). Notably, MRI-imaging oil ratio demonstrated the highest accuracy in quantifying both oil content and distribution. Greenness evaluation results show that LF-NMR is the greenest method for sample preparation and measurement process. These findings confirm LF-NMR as an effective method for non-destructive monitoring of oil content and distribution during seed germination, which holds significant application potential in areas such as food raw material quality assessment and the optimization of oilseed processing pretreatment. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.

Medium- and long-chain triglycerides (MLCTs) are structured lipids composed of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) and long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs), which have been increasingly applied in the food, medical, and nutritional industries because of their unique metabolic and physiological properties. However, most existing studies have focused on the synthesis and nutritional evaluation of MLCTs under laboratory conditions. In contrast, limited research has systematically compared the compositional characteristics, oxidative stability, volatile profiles, and thermal behavior of commercially produced MLCT products. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively analyze the physicochemical and structural properties of five representative commercial MLCT products to provide data supporting their functional and technological utilization. The structured fat emulsion of LW (Li Wen) contained high proportions of MLCTs and MCFAs (68.17% and 31.39%, respectively) and exhibited the highest oxidative stability index of 7.2 h. A total of 82 glyceride species were identified across five commercial MLCT products. Principal component analysis indicated that LLCy (linoleic acid-linoleic acid-caprylic acid) contributed significantly to the compositions of LW, KRD (Kang Rui Da), and QY (Qing Yi); OOCa (oleic acid-oleic acid-capric acid) was predominant in RQ (Ri Qing); and CyCyLn (caprylic acid-caprylic acid-linolenic acid) was characteristic of FH (Fu Hui). Differential scanning calorimetry revealed major exothermal peaks between -27.35 and -50.64 °C during cooling, while two endothermal peaks, except in LW, appeared between -21.25 and -29.88 °C during melting. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the MLCT foodprints of 1056 cm-1, and the absence of peroxides and of trans fatty acids (TFAs) in all MLCTs products. Microstructural observations showed that LW, QY, and FH exhibited uniform, fine, and densely packed crystal morphologies. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first comprehensive characterization of commercially available MLCT products, offering fundamental insights that may facilitate their broader application in functional foods and nutraceuticals. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.

The abuse of high concentrations of forchlorfenuron can lead to malformed fruits and pose risks to human health, highlighting the need for effective detection methods. In this study, a flexible multi-frequency resonant terahertz metamaterial sensor is designed and validated both theoretically and experimentally. The sensor exhibits magnetic dipole resonances at 0.53 THz and 2.30 THz, and the physical enhancement mechanism of the magnetic dipole resonances is analyzed through the distributions of electric field, magnetic field, and surface current. Simulation results reveal that the metamaterial sensor achieves a maximum detection sensitivity of 440 GHz/RIU, with multi-frequency resonance maintained across a polarization angle range of 0°– 90°. Experimental detection reveals that the designed multi-frequency resonant metamaterial sensor successfully detects different concentrations of forchlorfenuron, with a minimum detectable concentration of 0.01 mg/L. These theoretical and experimental results confirm the feasibility of a multi-frequency resonant terahertz metamaterial sensor for forchlorfenuron detection.

This study aims to enhance the utilization value of corncob by efficiently extracting ferulic acid (FA) and <italic>p-</italic>coumaric acid (<italic>p</italic>CA) through environmentally sustainable methods. The research explores a novel approach that combines autohydrolysis pretreatment with the synergistic effects of xylanase SrXyn10AR and feruloyl esterase BpFae^T132C-D143C. By conducting comprehensive optimization through single-factor analysis and response surface methodology (RSM) experiments, the optimal processing conditions were established: corncob particles of 40–60 mesh size were subjected to autohydrolysis at 165 °C for 34 min with a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:90.8, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis at 43 °C, 90 rpm, and pH 5.5 for 2.5 h, utilizing BpFae^T132C-D143C and SrXyn10AR enzymes at a concentration of 1.1 U/mL each. Under these refined conditions, the yield of FA and <italic>p</italic>CA soared to 63.42%, marking a 2.42-fold increase compared to pre-optimization levels. Furthermore, this process yielded xylooligosaccharides as a valuable co-product, with a yield of 303.31 mg/g. In conclusion, this study develops an efficient and environmentally friendly strategy for extracting phenolic acids from corncob. By leveraging autohydrolysis pretreatment combined with dual-enzyme hydrolysis technology, this approach can pave a new way for the value-added utilization of corncob resources.

The increasing frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall, attributed to climate change, has considerably escalated the multifaceted threat of mycotoxins to agricultural productivity, food security, and public health. This review comprehensively examines the effect of climate change on fungal growth dynamics, mycotoxin production, and exposure patterns. Central to this effect is the phenomenon of niche transition within fungal communities, marked by the expansion of the thermal tolerance of traditional toxigenic species and the emergence of novel thermotolerant fungi via cross-regional migration. In addition, climate change drives the regional migration of mycotoxins and promotes the emergence of "novel" and "masked" mycotoxins by altering substrate effects. Furthermore, climate-driven environmental stress may activate previously silent secondary metabolic gene clusters (or hidden gene clusters) by affecting the regulatory network and epigenetic mechanisms of fungi, thereby reshaping metabolic pathways and inducing differential expression of genes related to toxin synthesis, resulting in a surge in mycotoxin exposure. This review also evaluates current global mycotoxin exposure trends and critically analyzes the limitations of prevailing fungal growth and mycotoxin prediction models, which often fail to explain the nonlinear effects of climate variables. Ultimately, this review underscores the pressing need to redefine the mycotoxin risk framework and develop mechanistic information prediction tools tailored to climate change, thereby warning of new risks associated with global warming.