Determination of the Fatty Acid Profile of Breast Milk from Nursing Mothers in Bungoma County, Kenya

The fatty acid profile in breast milk of nursing mothers who participated in a Cohort for Vitamin A (COVA) study at the fourth and ninth month of lactation was investigated. Breast milk samples were collected by manual expression and stored at - 20°C until analysis. The fat was extracted from the milk and methylated using the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) Official Methods with modifications. The separation, identification and quantification of the fatty acid methyl esters was performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Fat contents of human milk increased significantly between the fourth and ninth month of lactation 0.38 and 1.21 mg·mL-1 respectively;P 0.05) than the average percent of the total unsaturated FAs (48.93%). Similarly, at the 9th month the percentage average of the total saturated fatty acids (15.18%) was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the average percent of the total unsaturated FAs (31.05%). The results obtained in this study demonstrated that the fat content in breast milk significantly increased in the 9th compared to the 4th month of lactation. The fatty profile was also significantly different with the omega 6 being the dominant at the 9th month compared with the omega - 9 being dominant at the 4th month of lactation.

Ethanol Evaporation Characteristics of the Blends of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester and Ethanol

The evaporation characteristics of fatty acid methyl ester(FAME)mixed with four concentrations of ethanol at 873 K and normal atmospheric pressure are studied herein.FAME is used as base oils,and et hanol mass fractions vary from 10%,20%,30%to 40%。The experimental results show that the evaporation process of the binary component droplets of FAME-ethanol can be divided into two stages:a fuctuation evaporation stage,and an equilibrium evaporation stage.In these four concentration gradients,micro-explosions occur in the droplet evaporation process.The fuctuation evaporation stage is divided into two stages:a strong fuctuation stage and a weak fluctuation stage.After the micro-explosion,there is still a small amount of ethanol in the droplet.Due to the surface tension of the droplet,a small amount of ethanol cannot make the droplet violently fuctuate.The results show that the earlier the droplet micro-explosion occurs,the more intense it is,and the shorter the lifetime of the droplet is.Different concentrations of ethanol have different improvements in droplet evaporation characteristics.Generally,the higher the ethanol concentration is,the shorter the lifetime of the droplet is.However,increasing the ethanol concentration from 20%to 30%has the most obvious effect on the lifetime of the droplet.

Effect of natural and synthetic antioxidants on oxidative stability of FAMEs obtained from hevea brasiliensis

Biodiesel(fatty acid alkyl esters),an alternate to fossil fuel,has the tendency of autoxidation and hence requires antioxidants for long term storage.The influence of synthetic and natural antioxidants on the oxidative stability was analysed for fresh FAMEs(fatty acid methyl esters)obtained from hevea brasiliensis at 140 C.Higher activity was observed for synthetic antioxidants following the order of GA】BHT】DTBP】Q】GT-M】PH-M】GT-C,whereas the oxidative stability of stored FAMEs samples measured at 110 C reveals a nearly inverse trend.Storage stability was tested for the FAMEs obtained from hevea brasiliensis stored at 30 C,after addition of synthetic and natural antioxidants—butylated hydroxytoluene(BHT),2,6-di-tert-butylphenol(DTBP),quercetin(Q),gallic acid(GA),methanol extracts from green tea(GTM),pomegranate hull(PH-M),and chloroform extract of green tea(GT-C).Antioxidant activities above 1500 ppm was in the order of DTBP】BHT】GA】GT-C】GT-M】Q】PH-M.Synthetic antioxidants have been found more efficient to improve the storage stability of FAMEs obtained from hevea brasiliensis.DTBP in particular has the highest protection factor.

Lipid Distribution in Marine Sediments from the Northern South China Sea and Association with Gas Hydrate

The distributions of lipids in surface and subsurface sediments from the northern South China Sea were determined. The n-alkanes were in bimodal distribution that is characterized by a centre at n-C16 –n-C20 with maximum at C18（or C19） and n-C27 –n-C31 as well as at C29（or C31）. The short-chain alkanes suffered from significant losses due to their slow deposition in the water column, and their presence with a slight even carbon predominance in shallow seafloor sediments was ascribed mainly to the direct input from the benthos. The long-chain alkanes with odd predominance indicate transportion of terrigenous organic matter. Immature hopanoid biomarkers reflect the intense microbial activity for bacteria–derived organic matter and the gradual increase of maturity with burial depth. Abundant n-fatty acid methyl esters（n-FAMEs） that are in distributions coincident with fatty acids were detected in all samples. We proposed that the observed FAMEs originated from the methyl esterification of fatty acids; methanol production by methanotrophs and methanogenic archaea related to the anaerobic oxidation of methane, and sulfate reduction provided an O–methyl donor for methylation of fatty acids. The CH4 released from hydrate dissociation at oxygen isotope stage II of Cores ZD3 and ZS5, which had been confirmed by the occurrence of negative δ13C excursion and spherical pyrite aggregates, could have accelerated the above process and thus maximized the relative content of FAMEs at ZD3-2（400–420 cm depth） and ZS5-2（241–291 cm depth）.

In Situ Transesterification of Wet Marine and Fresh Water Microalgae for Biodiesel Production and Its Effect on the Algal Residue

This article reports a high yielding technique of synthesizing zirconium dodecyl sulphate (“ZDS”) for in situ transesterification of Nannochloropsis occulata and Chlorella vulgaris for fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production. ZDS produced a significantly higher FAME yield in N. occulata than in C. vulgaris (p = 0.008). The varying performance of ZDS in the two species could be due to their different cell wall chemistries. Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) in H2SO4 for FAME enhancement from the two species was also studied. Treatment with SDS in H2SO4 increased the FAME production rate in both species. Residual protein content after the in situ transesterification in C. vulgaris and N. occulata reduced respectively by 6.5% and 10%. The carbohydrate content was reduced by 71% in C. vulgaris and 65% in N. occulata. The water tolerance of the process when using H2SO4, with or without SDS, was evaluated by hydrating the two species with 10% - 30% distilled water (w/w dry algae). The FAME concentration began to diminish only at 30% water content in both species. Furthermore, the presence of a small amount of water in the biomass or methanol increased the lipid extraction efficiency, improving the FAME yield, rather than inhibiting the reaction.

Epoxidized methyl ricinoleate bio-plasticizer with a pendant acetate ester for PVC artificial material:circumventing existing limit on achievable migration resistance

Processing polyvinyl chloride(PVC)artificial material requires plasticizer that softens the PVC coating.Currently,utilizing unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters to obtain epoxidized fatty acid methyl ester(EFAME)bio-plasticizers constitutes an environmentally responsible solution to substitute conventional ortho-phthalates that are endocrine disruptors or probable carcinogens.However,commercial EFAMEs,even with the highest epoxy value(ca.5.5-5.8%)so far,still suffer from fast leaching from the PVC matrix,burdening the environment and shortening lifespan of the artificial material.Here,we report a proof-of-principle demonstration of a new strategy to obtain migration-resistant EFAME that harnesses the midchain hydroxyl of methyl ricinoleate and covalently attachment of a pendant acetate ester.Despite a low epoxy value(3.0%),the engineered bio-plasticizer displays significantly suppressed migration in multiple scenarios compared with one conventional EFAME with much higher epoxy value(5.8%).Circumventing the limit confronting previous strategy that highlights the sole contribution of epoxy value to achievable migration resistance,the rationale herein may provide guidance for designing new EFAMEs with comparable performance to ortho-phthalates,thus bringing the old and oft-maligned PVC artificial material industry one step closer to sustainability.

Optical property of biodiesel and base stock in terahertz region

Biodiesel （BD） is the product of catalysed transesterification reaction, in which fatty acid （FA） is transformed to fatty acid methyl ester （FAME）, named BD. The frequency-dependent absorption and refractive characters of BDs and its base stocks have been researched in the spectral range of 0.2-1.5 THz by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy （THz-TDS）. The BDs showed higher absorption value than those of its base stocks because of the concomitant, and the increasing of absorption coefficients of three BDs differed with the different transesterification technology. The results suggested that THz-TDS can be a promising method to the quality control and ester transfer efficiency analysis of BD.

A simple approach with scale-up potential towards intrinsically flame-retardant biobased co-plasticizer for PVC artificial materials

As an imitation of genuine leather,polyvinyl chloride(PVC)artificial materials are versatile,but suffers from being flammable due to the presence of large amounts of combustible plasticizers.Under such circumstance,intrinsically flame-retardant plasticizers displaying dual functions have been a subject of intensive research interest.However,previous strategies attempting to covalently attach flame-retardant moiety to plasticizers invariably required either expensive starting materials or laborious and tedious procedures,ultimately limiting their scale-up application in industry.In addition,driven by escalating demand of halogen-free flame retardants worldwide from an environmental health perspective,previously reported intrinsically flame-retardant plasticizers were mainly halogenfree,less attractive in PVC artificial material industry simply because PVC itself is a halogen-containing polymer.Here,we report an approach to introduce chlorine moieties into unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester by a simple addition reaction occurring on carbon-carbon double bonds,yielding a chlorine-containing,intrinsically flameretardant bio-plasticizer.When combined with di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate(DOP)in PVC formulations,the chlorinated fatty acid methyl ester is qualified as a co-plasticizer while conferring flame retardancy upon the PVC coatings.This approach involves only a one-step procedure that employs renewable fatty acid methyl esters and cheap chlorine gas as raw materials,thus being of great potential to enable intrinsically flame-retardant bioplasticizers on a large scale to manufacture functional PVC artificial materials for application in fire-prone scenarios.