We report on the pore size distribution and water retention of Beacon sandstone from Antarctica that harbours a cryptoendolithic community, predominantly lichens, just below the surface. We measured the pore size distribution, drying time and equilibrium relative humidity of sandstone samples that were colonized by lichens. The incremental pore volume distribution peaks at ~10 μm radius, but ~20% of the pore volume occurs for a radius < 0.02 μm. Water from snowmelt fills ~20% of the total pore volume. It takes ~4–5 days of evaporation to lose 90% of the water. As the rock loses water, the equilibrium relative humidity remains at 99% until an appreciable amount (80–90%) of the pore water is lost, after which the equilibrium relative humidity starts to decrease. The relative humidity remains at > 80% (68 h) long after the water content falls to < 98% (19 h) - the point at which liquid water is estimated no longer to be present. Lichens can remain active in air with high relative humidity (> 80%). Thus, the pore size distribution of the sandstone may play a role in explaining why lichens dominate these sandstones.

Direct water-activity measurements were made for calcium-smectite-CaCl2 mixtures. The samples used were prepared by high-pressure filtration and had water contents <0.60% by weight of clay. For deionized water, the water activity (aw) ranged between 1 and 0.4 and was independent of the pressure history of the clay cake. Good agreement was found with the results of an adsorption isotherm. Samples were also prepared in 1,3, and 5 M CaCl2 solutions. The final concentration of chloride present in the cakes was measured: substantial anion exclusion was observed. The water activity of the clay-salt mixtures depended on both the water content and the concentration of CaCl2. The data can be well represented by the expression aw = min(aw0, aw*c × aw*s), where aw0 is the water activity of the brine used to prepare the cake, and aw*c and aw*s are water activities calculated for clay (in absence of salt) and salt (in absence of clay), respectively. The compaction and swelling behavior of a core of the same Ca-smectite was also investigated for pressures (P) between 0.5 and 800 bar. In two compaction-swelling cycles total recovery of the void ratio (e) was observed with, however, large hysteresis in the relationship between e and P. The osmotic pressure developed in the core at equilibrium, evaluated using the water-activity data, was intermediate between the compaction and swelling pressures. Apparently, another force, Pm, linked to irreversible changes in the structure of the matrix was contributing to the resistance to compaction. Pm values agreed with literature results for Ca-smectite suspensions.

The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) theory models the effective specific surface area and water content of solids as a function of the relative vapor pressure of water. A modified form of the BET equation has been used successfully to model water activity in concentrated electrolyte solutions as a function of electrolyte concentration. This modified form, referred to here as the Stokes-Robinson BET model, is based on the electrolyte molality rather than on the mass of solute sorbed. The present study evaluates the Stokes-Robinson form of the BET equation to model water-sorption data on two smectites with different layer charges. One smectite was saturated with Na+ and another with Na+, Ca2+, or Mg2+. These results are compared to the Stokes-Robinson BET results of aqueous electrolyte solutions. Given published data on cation exchange capacities and water-vapor sorption isotherms for various clays, the molality of the aqueous phase in contact with the clay surface is calculated and related to water activity. The Stokes-Robinson BET model was found to describe accurately the water activity as a function of cation molality below water activities of 0.5 for the smectites. Good relative agreement was obtained between the number of water binding sites predicted by the model and the experimental data reported in the literature for other smectites. Water molecules were found to have a significantly greater affinity for montmorillonite than electrolyte solutions with the same cation molality as the montmorillonite interlayer. This modified BET approach simplifies water-activity modeling in highly saline environments because the same equation can be used for both the liquid- and mineral-surface phases.

Pomegranate peel is an agro-industrial residue obtained after fruit processing with high total polyphenol (TP) content, making it an attractive by-product for its reuse. Pomegranate peel extract (PPE) and its bioactive compounds have shown positive effects on obesity models. Effects on favouring mitochondrial biogenesis and function have also been described. However, once phenolic compounds are extracted, their stability can be affected by diverse factors. Microencapsulation could improve PPE stability, allowing its incorporation into functional foods. Nevertheless, studies on the potential biological effects of PPE microparticles (MPPE) in obesity models are lacking. This study aims to evaluate the effect of MPPE on brown adipose tissue (BAT) mitochondrial structure and function and metabolic alterations related to obesity in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). PPE was microencapsulated by spray drying using inulin (IN) as a wall material and physically–chemically characterised. Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J mice (n 40) were randomly distributed into five groups: control diet (CD), HFD, HFD + IN, HFD + PPE (50 mg/kg per d TP) and HFD + MPPE (50 mg/kg per d TP), for 14 weeks. A glucose tolerance test and indirect calorimetry were conducted. Blood and adipose tissue samples were obtained. MPPE supplementation prevented HFD-induced body weight gain (P < 0·001), fasting glycaemia (P = 0·007) and total cholesterol rise (P = 0·001). MPPE resulted in higher BAT mitochondrial complex IV activity (P = 0·03) and prevented HFD-induced mitochondrial cristae alteration (P = 0·02). In conclusion, MPPE prevented HFD-induced excessive body weight gain and associated metabolic disturbances, potentially by activating complex IV activity and preserving mitochondrial cristae structure in BAT in mice fed with a HFD.

Naujakasite (Na6(Fe,Mn)Al4Si8O26) is a characteristic, rock-forming mineral of hyperagpaitic naujakasite lujavrite (arfvedsonite + naujakasite + steenstrupine + albite ± relict nepheline ± microcline ± ussingite) from the Ilímaussaq complex, South Greenland, and is only known from this complex. The qualitative stability relationships of naujakasite-bearing, low-variance liquidus mineral assemblages at near-solidus conditions in lujavritic magma can be modelled within the six-component system Si-Al-Fe-Na-O-H. The modelling suggests that an uncommon combination of elevated water activity and low oxygen fugacity is needed to stabilize arfvedsonite + naujakasite mineral assemblages in highly sodic liquids. These conditions are incompatible with the stable coexistence of aegirine and arfvedsonite. They are met in the arfvedsonite-bearing lujavrites of Ilímaussaq, but apparently not in rocks of similar composition in the Khibina and Lovozero complexes, Kola Peninsula, where aegirine- or aegirine-arfvedsonite-bearing mineral assemblages are characteristic. Liquid lines of descent leading to crystallization of naujakasite have to pass through the albite+nepheline+arfvedsonite liquidus field in the Si-Al-Fe-Na-O-H system, reaching this field at the high-Na side of the albite-nepheline-arfvedsonite plane.

The aim of the present research was to evaluate bovine muscles to be subjected to freeze-drying for an instant meal. Physicochemical and senescence parameters were evaluated. The experimental part was divided into two steps. In the first step, the Semitendinosus muscle was chosen to establish methodology and experimental conditions. Physicochemical, microstructure and senescence parameters were analysed. In the second step, economic bovine muscles such as Semimembranous and Spinalis dorsi were subjected to the same methodology and conditions as in the first step in order to compare them by analysing the same parameters. L* and a* values were statistically significant (P<0.05) for Semimembranous and Spinalis dorsi muscles, showing differences among condition effects and in muscles. Humidity and water activity showed among the muscles analysed that cooked and rehydrated samples did not exhibit differences. Microstructure of Semitendinosus and Semimembranous were not separated and fragmented as occurred with Spinalis dorsi after freeze-drying. Results allowed us to select among the muscles studied that Semimembranous was suitable and economic to be used in an instant meal.

This study developed mathematical models in order to evaluate the effect of Aw (Water activity) and growth temperature on Staphylococcus aureus kinetic behaviour. The Aw levels (0·970, 0·975, 0·983, and 0·991) of cheese were adjusted by NaCl; then, Staph. aureus was inoculated on the cheese, followed by storage at 7–30 °C for 72–720 h. Total bacterial and Staph. aureus cell counts were enumerated on tryptic soy agar and mannitol salt agar, respectively. The Baranyi model was fitted to the Staph. aureus growth data in order to calculate the maximum specific growth rate (μmax; log CFU/g/h), lag phase duration (λ; h), lower asymptote (N0; log CFU/g) and upper asymptote (Nmax; log CFU/g). The effects of storage temperature and Aw on the kinetic parameters (μmax and λ) were then further analysed with the Ratkowsky-type model and a polynomial equation, respectively. The root mean square error (RMSE) and relative error (RE) were calculated in order to estimate the model performance. No significant effect of Aw on Staph. aureus growth was observed at 7 °C; thus, the Baranyi model was fitted to the growth data from 15, 25 and 30 °C. The μmax values (0·011–0·303 log CFU/g/h) increased (P<0·05) as the storage temperature and Aw increased. In addition, λ values (2·42–63·48 h) decreased (P<0·05) as storage temperature and Aw increased; yet, the effect of Aw on λ was observed only at 15 °C. The theoretical minimum storage temperature and Aw were 10·15 °C and 0·882, respectively. RMSE (0·010–1·544) and RE values (−0·131 to 0·187) from validation indicated that model performance was appropriate. Hence, these results suggest that the developed models in this study should be useful in describing the effect of temperature and Aw on the growth kinetic behaviour of Staph. aureus in cheese along with the exposure assessment of Staph. aureus in cheese as well.

When seeds deteriorate, they lose vigour and become more sensitive to stresses upon germination. Eventually seeds lose the ability to germinate. The factors which determine the rate of this ‘aging’ are the temperature and moisture content at which seeds are stored and an ill-defined parameter, seed quality. While it has been known for many years that manipulation of these factors influences the longevity of seeds, the precise interactions among them are so poorly understood as to preclude the prediction of longevity for a particular seed lot. Concepts from studies of materials and food stability can be applied to seed aging research, and this may help us take a more integrative approach to understanding the kinetics of seed deterioration. These concepts describe the physical environment of the seed matrix in response to changing water contents and temperature. Water activity models describe the state of water in the seed, while the glass models describe the state of the aqueous solution. Both models presume that changes of state affect the nature and kinetics of chemical reactions. Thus, the physical and chemical environment within the seed are inextricably linked.