Background Equine influenza virus (EIV) can cause acute infections and outbreaks of epidemics in horses and donkeys. It is one of the most economically impactful pathogens in equine respiratory diseases globally, resulting in substantial financial losses within the farming industry. Utilizing targeted anti-viral drugs is an effective strategy.Purpose The present study analyzes the potential of herbal medicines for the treatment of equine influenza (EI) based on network pharmacology, molecular docking techniques, and in vitro anti-viral studies.Materials and Methods The construction of a "traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) component-target-disease" network was performed using Cytoscape 3.9.0. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network is performed through the STRING system. Bioconductor software was employed to conduct gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) functional enrichment analyses of biological processes (BPs). Molecular docking techniques revealed the degree of binding of core components to key target genes. Characterization of the anti-EI effect of TCM by cytotoxicity and in vitro studies.Results Consequently, five core TCMs were screened, which had 79 core targets related to EI. PPI network analysis highlighted 10 significant targets. Molecular docking results analysis revealed binding interactions between the main core component, kaempferol, and the targets prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (EGFR), with binding energies of -9.1, -8.3, and -8.0 (kcal/mol), respectively. In vitro studies have demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of kaempferol on EI is mainly in the initial phase.Conclusion Through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and in vitro experiments, kaempferol was demonstrated to combat EI through key targets of PTGS2, MMP9, EGFR, AKT, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and IL-6. This study provides a basis for treating EI with herbal medicine and for later drug development. Future research should integrate network pharmacology with clinical applications, focusing on large-scale clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TCM in influenza treatment, thereby enhancing its potential role in treating the disease.

Plant proteins have gained significant attention over animal proteins due to their low carbon footprint, balanced nutrition, and high sustainability. These attributes make plant protein nanocarriers promising for applications in drug delivery, nutraceuticals, functional foods, and other areas. Zein, a major by-product of corn starch processing, is inexpensive and widely available. Its unique self-assembly characteristics have led to its extensive use in various food and drug systems. Zein’s functional tunability allows for excellent performance in loading and transporting bioactive substances. Lutein offers numerous bioactive functions, such as antioxidant and vision protection, but suffers from poor chemical stability and low bioavailability. Nano-embedding technology can construct various zein-loaded lutein nanodelivery systems to address these issues. This review provides an overview of recent advances in the construction of zein-loaded lutein nanosystems. It discusses the fundamental properties of these systems; systematically introduces preparation techniques, structural characterization, and functional properties; and analyzes and predicts the target-controlled release and bioaccessibility of zein-loaded lutein nanosystems. The interactions and synergistic effects between Zein and lutein in the nanocomplexes are examined to elucidate the formation mechanism and conformational relationship of zein–lutein nanoparticles. The physical and chemical properties of Zein are closely related to the molecular structure. Zein and its modified products can encapsulate and protect lutein through various methods, creating more stable and efficient zein-loaded lutein nanosystems. Additionally, embedding lutein in Zein and its derivatives enhances lutein’s digestive stability, solubility, antioxidant properties, and overall bioavailability.

Lutein is a functional carotenoid that has a wide range of physiological benefits in humans. However, it easily degrades and becomes inactivated during storage and processing, resulting in low bioavailability. The development of new nanocarriers can effectively improve the stability and biological activity of lutein. In this study, zein hydrolysate (ZH) carriers were glycosylated with glucosamine (GLU) under the action of transglutaminase, and lutein-loaded glycosylated ZH nanoparticles (GZH-LUT) were constructed by liquid–liquid dispersion. The results showed that the GZH-LUT particles had a narrow size distribution in the range of 200–300 nm and a decreased zeta potential and polydispersity index. In particular, GZH trapped lutein more efficiently than ZH. In addition, GZH-LUT had better physical and chemical properties, including better water solubility, oxidative stability, and environmental stability than free lutein and ZH-LUT. These results indicate that glycosylated zein hydrolysate has the potential to be used as a novel protein-based nanocarrier to enhance the solubility and stability of lutein, which can further improve its bioavailability.

Glucosamine-glycosylated zein (GLZ) generated by transglutaminase was developed as a novel delivery vehicle to prepare lutein-loaded glycosylated zein nanoparticles (GLZ-LUT). GLZ-LUT exhibited a polydispersed spherical microstructure, lutein was embedded into GLZ to form nanocomplexes via self-assembly, they had a lower zeta potential and an average particle size of less than 200 nm. Compared to lutein-loaded zein nanoparticles (Zein-LUT), the lutein entrapment efficiency of GLZ-LUT was increased from 81.55% to 89.60%. Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis results confirmed that zein was successfully modified and that lutein was encapsulated by hydrophobic zein and GLZ. Moreover, GLZ showed significantly higher solubilization of lutein than Zein-LUT and significantly improved the in vitro release of lutein in the simulated gastrointestinal tract. The in vitro antioxidant activity of lutein was also enhanced by the encapsulation of zein and glycosylated zein. These findings indicated that GLZ represent a potentially efficient and promising nanodelivery carrier for lutein compounds.

As an important food crop, corn has an important impact on people’s lives. The processing of corn produces many by-products, such as corn gluten meal, corn husk, and corn steep liquor, which are rich in protein, oil, carbohydrates, and other nutrients, all of which are inexpensive. Their accumulation in large quantities during the production process not only results in a burden on the environment but also the loss of potentially valuable food materials that can be processed. In fact, the by-products of corn processing have been partially used in functional foods, nutrients, feed, and other industries. There is no doubt that the secondary utilization of these by-products can not only solve the problem of waste pollution caused by them, but also produce high value-added products and improve the economic benefits of corn. This paper describes in detail the processing and higher-value utilization of the five main by-products: corn gluten meal, corn husks, corn steep liquor, corn germ, and fuel ethanol by-product. The utilization status of corn processing by-products was discussed roundly, and the development trend of corn processing by-products in China and other countries was analyzed, which provided the reference for the development of the corn deep processing industry.

采用中性蛋白酶(Neutral protease,NPT)对玉米醇溶蛋白(Zein)进行酶解改性,通过反溶剂法构建玉米醇溶蛋白酶解物(Corn protein hydrolysate,CPH)负载叶黄素(CPH-LUT)纳米体系,研究了其结构表征、体外抗氧化活性及溶解释放特性.结果 表明,最佳酶解条件为:酶用量2.7％,酶解时间60 min,酶解温度50℃,酶解pH 6.0,在此条件下,对叶黄素的包封率最高可达92.1％:制备的CPH-LUT纳米粒的平均粒径为173.7 nm,多分散系数为0.077,Zeta电位为-18.1 mV;抗氧化和体外释放实验表明,CPH-LUT纳米粒中叶黄素的溶解性以及抗氧化活性显著提高,叶黄素在胃液和肠液中的释放皆符合一级动力学模型,且CPH对叶黄素具有一定的缓释作用.NPT酶解改性的玉米蛋白可作为叶黄素类功能成分保护和输送的有效载体.

玉米粥的老化回生问题是影响玉米粥食用品质和营养价值的技术难题.文章以解决东北特色玉米大碴粥的老化回生问题为目标,考察酶解工艺对方便玉米大碴粥老化回生和胃肠消化的影响.采用α-淀粉酶限制性酶解工艺抑制玉米大碴粥的老化回生,通过单因素和正交试验优化得到了抑制玉米大碴粥老化回生的最佳酶解工艺条件:α-淀粉酶用量为0.06％、酶解温度95℃、酶解时间10 min,此酶解条件下玉米大碴粥的抗老度最高达到了79.6％.经酶解处理后的大碴粥老化回生现象显著改善,且有利于人体的消化和吸收.

以酶解玉米醇溶蛋白获得的小分子玉米多肽(Corn Peptide)为包埋载体,构建玉米肽(CPT)负载叶黄素(Lutein)纳米粒(CPT-LUT),研究两亲性玉米肽对脂溶性叶黄素的包埋和释放效果.考察了反溶剂法制备的CPT-LUT对叶黄素的负载能力,结构表征和叶黄素的释放性能.结果表明:玉米肽与叶黄素质量比为15:1时,玉米肽对叶黄素的包封率可达89.22％,负载率达到6.67％.经Nano分析仪和透射电镜(TEM)分析表明:CPT-LUT的粒径较小,平均粒径为(109.22±4.16)nm,多分散指数(PDI)值为0.105(＜0.5),溶解分散性良好,呈现出均一稳定的微观结构.傅里叶红外光谱(FTIR)分析证实玉米肽与叶黄素能够形成纳米复合物结构.CPT-LUT在胃肠环境下释放叶黄素率较高,符合一级释放动力学模型.玉米肽可以作为叶黄素类生物活性成分包埋与传递的功能性载体.

采用亲水性阳离子多肽多聚赖氨酸(ε-poly-L-lysine,ε-PLL)通过静电吸附作用修饰叶黄素纳米脂质体(LUT-NLP),构建新型ε-PL修饰纳米脂质体载运体系,提高对脂溶性叶黄素的包封和释放性能.采用反向溶剂法制备LUT-NLP,通过单因素试验和正交试验优化ε-PLL修饰LUT-NLP的工艺条件,并考察修饰前后LUT-NLP的结构特征和体外释放性能.结果 表明:在ε-PLL用量0.08％、pH6.0、修饰时间2.0h时,叶黄素的包封率可达95.36％;动态光散射分析表明修饰后的脂质体平均粒径为(299.4±8.4) nm,多分散指数(PDI)降低(＜0.3),膜电位升高;透射电子显微镜结果显示由于静电吸附作用,ε-PL与脂质体表面结合形成保护包覆结构;体外释放性能评价结果显示,经ε-PL修饰的LUT-NLP在胃肠液环境中对叶黄素的释放率显著升高.ε-PL修饰可改善脂质体结构,增强对脂溶性叶黄素的包封效果和胃肠消化释放性能.

采用生物多糖——壳聚糖(CS)对桑椹花色苷纳米脂质体(MAT-LP)进行修饰,以提高桑葚花色苷的包封率和稳定性.采用反溶剂法制备MAT-LP纳米脂质体,通过单因素和正交实验优化壳聚糖修饰MAT-LP纳米脂质体的工艺条件,并研究其在不同温度、光照和金属离子条件下的稳定性.结果表明:在壳聚糖用量0.15％、修饰温度40℃、修饰时间6.0 h时,花色苷的包封率最大可达到86.22％,平均粒径从98.18 nm增加到111.5 nm.与未修饰的脂质体相比,CS修饰的花色苷纳米脂质体可减小花色苷在光、热和金属离子条件下的降解和损失,有助于增强桑葚花色苷的结构稳定性进而发挥其有效生物活性.

Zein is one of the popular bioactive carriers and play critical roles in the promotion of stability, absorption, and utilization of the nutrients and bioactive ingredients. The application of zein delivery systems for the encapsulation of bioactive ingredients has recently gained increasing interest. The aim of this work was to modify zein by pepsin and prepare the lutein-loaded zein nanoparticle (LZN) and the lutein-loaded zein hydrolysate nanoparticle (LZHN), respectively. The effects of zein hydrolysation on entrapment efficiency and in vitro digestion stability of lutein were also evaluated in this study. Hydrolysation of zein by the pepsin has important effects on lutein embedding. The optimal hydrolysis conditions, including the pepsin concentration (1.5%), temperature (55°C), and time (4 h), enhanced the entrapment efficiency (EE) of lutein by 93.82 ± 2.82% as compared to 85.18 ± 3.28% of the untreated zein, respectively. In contrast to LZN, LZHN had better structural characteristics, the average particle size decreases from 158.40 ± 3.22 nm to 112.2 ± 1.56 nm, and LZHN showed better dispersivity and zeta potential. The stability and release assays in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) showed that hydrolyzed zein nanocarriers by pepsin improved the digestion stability and promoted the release of lutein under gastrointestinal digestive conditions. These results suggest that hydrolyzed zein with pepsin may act as an effective carrier for lutein delivery and shows many potential advantages compared with the zein.

为了明确食品质量与安全专业教育与大学生科技创新能力培养的关系,提高本专业大学生的创新创业能力,把专业能力培养贯穿于大学生创新创业的全过程.通过采用专业知识创新教育、专业科研教育和实践训练等多种模式融合方式加强学生创新创业能力培养,阐明了专业教育的本质作用,通过多种教育方式提高了大学生创新创业能力和就业竞争力.

以玉米醇溶蛋白为纳米载体,通过反溶剂法制备玉米醇溶蛋白负载叶黄素纳米粒(Zein-Lutein),并对其结构表征进行解析.通过单因素和正交试验,优化玉米醇溶蛋白负载叶黄素纳米粒的制备工艺,得到了玉米醇溶蛋白负载叶黄素纳米粒制备的最佳工艺条件为:玉米醇溶蛋白与叶黄素质量比20︰1,水合时间150 min,水合温度50℃,该条件下对叶黄素的包封率为81.0％.所制备的Zein-Lutein纳米粒经Nano分析仪测得平均粒径为398.3 nm;透射电镜(TEM)显示叶黄素被玉米醇溶蛋白包埋后,Zein-Lutein纳米体系形态和分布发生了改变;傅里叶红外光谱(FTIR)分析证实玉米醇溶蛋白能够负载叶黄素形成纳米结构.