Bioevaluation and molecular docking analysis of novel phenylpropanoid derivatives as potent food preservative and anti-microbials

Computational studies of tyrosinase inhibitors

Computational studies have significantly advanced the understanding of tyrosinase (TYR) function, mechanism, and inhibition, accelerating the development of more effective and selective inhibitors. This chapter provides an overview of in silico studies on TYR inhibitors, emphasizing key inhibitory chemotypes and the main residues involved in ligand-target interactions. The chapter discusses tools applied in the context of TYR inhibitor development, e.g., structure-based virtual screening, molecular docking, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms.

Emerging technologies for preservation and quality evaluation of postharvest edible mushrooms: A review

Edible mushrooms are the highly demanded foods of which production and consumption have been steadily increasing globally. Owing to the quality loss and short shelf-life in harvested mushrooms, it is necessary for the implementation of effective preservation and intelligent evaluation technologies to alleviate this issue. The aim of this review was to analyze the development and innovation thematic lines, topics, and trends by bibliometric analysis and review of the literature methods. The challenges faced in researching these topics were proposed and the mechanisms of quality loss in mushrooms during storage were updated. This review summarized the effects of chemical processing (antioxidants, ozone, and coatings), physical treatments (non-thermal plasma, packaging and latent thermal storage) and other emerging application on the quality of fresh mushrooms while discussing the efficiency in extending the shelf-life. It also discussed the emerging evaluation techniques based on the various chemometric methods and computer vision system in monitoring the freshness and predicting the shelf-life of mushrooms which have been developed. Preservation technology optimization and dynamic quality evaluation are vital for achieving mushroom quality control. This review can provide a comprehensive research reference for reducing mushroom quality loss and extending shelf-life, along with optimizing efficiency of storage and transportation operations.

Morphologically dissimilar spores of Aspergillus sojae exhibit genomic homogeneity but the differential in Kojic acid accumulation

We reported that Aspergillus sojae (SSC-3), an indigenous isolate from rice husk, is a potent kojic acid producer. During optimization, it was observed that under static fermentation conditions, this fungal strain produces two dissimilar morphological green and yellow spores, i.e., SSC-3(Y) and SSC-3(G). Furthermore, these different spore types differ in color, morphology, and in kojic acid metabolite accumulation, with green spores producing 12.87 g/l and yellow spores producing 8.63 g/l of kojic acid on the 12th day of fermentation. To understand if there is a genetic basis for the difference in morphology and metabolite accumulation characteristics, sequencing of internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) and RAPD analysis from both the spore were carried out. Our study revealed that though the spores are dissimilar with respect to morphology and metabolite accumulation profile, they are genetically homogenous. This suggests that there could be epigenetic differences in these spore types, which may be explored in detail in further studies.