javad feizi

saffron as the most expensive spice in the world contains compounds called crocins that grant it unique properties. Extraction and purification of this glycosidic compound is one of the major challenges in saffron processing. Graphene oxide (GO) is an excellent adsorbent due to its properties such as flat structure, high surface area, variety of oxygenated functional groups on the surface and the ease and cheapness of its production from graphite. Therefore, in this study, the extraction and purification of saffron crocins were evaluated using 3D nanostructure of GO modified with chitosan biopolymer.

Graphene oxide synthesis was conducted through improved Hummers method followed by modification with chitosan. 15 ml of crocin solution with different concentration (25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/ml) was mixed with 15mg of nanostructure and under controlled conditions (temperature, pH and stiring rate). In certain intervals (0-200 min), the amount of crocin in solution was determined through reading its absorption at 440 nm. Kinetics (pseudo first and second order models) and isotherms (Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherms) studies of process was investigated. The efficiency of nanostructure in crocin purification was assessed by HPLC at three wavelength of 250, 310 and 440 nm. In order to assess the ability of nanostructure in separation and purification of crocin, saffron extract was used. In order to remove picrocrocin and safranal, dried stigma of saffron was treated in two stages and then extraction was performed using distilled water. The nanostructure was washed with methanol and the extract injected to HPLC.

The best process conditions for crocin isolation were stirring speed = 300 rpm, temperature of 318 K, concentration of 100 mg/l and normal pH of saffron extract. Crocin adsorption was a physiosorption process and followed the pseudo-second-order model and the Freundlich isotherm. HPLC results showed that the purity of the isolated crocin was high and very close to the standard sample.

Instrumental analysis confirmed the formation of graphene oxide/chitosan nanostructures. The effect of process variables including pH, temperature, stirring speed and crocin solution concentration on the separation process efficiency was determined. The adsorption process of crocin on the nanostructures followed a pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption was physical. The results of this study showed that synthesized nanostructures can be well used in the purification process of valuable compounds.

It appears necessary to produce drinks which are full of phenolic compounds and antioxidant,according tothe style of modern life and importance of confront with oxidative stress and changing the people's taste in using ready-made and carbonated drinks. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of storage conditions on physicochemical, sensory and shelf-life characteristics of three samples of pomegranate juice, barberry and their mixture of in order to improve quality.In this study, indicators of antioxidant properties, color, vitamin C and sensory evaluation of three drinks, pomegranate, barberry and their mixture (50:50 v/v) in one month period in differenttemprature conditions (4, 17 and 30°C) and light was kept and measured for each indicator.Results indicate that treatment type, keeping time and mutual effects of these two factors have meaningfull effect on these three drinks (P≤0.05). This study showed that decreasing rate of antioxidant property in one month in carbonated and gas free type does not have a meaningful different and in some case carbonated type showed more capability in keeping its properties.Considering the public tendency for using carbonate drinks this is important.With regard to the obtained results and for keeping valuable trophic properties of drinks, they should be kept in low temperature after producing and consumed in a short period after producing.

Saffron is a plant from Crocus Sativus species which is one of the most valuable indigenous herbs in Iran and is known as the most expensive spice and red gold. Saffron stigma consists of three major constituents including crocin (water soluble caretenoid pigments), picocrocin (bitter glycoside tasting) and safranal (the major volatile constituents in saffron aroma). The aim of this study was determination and comparison of existed metabolites in different types of saffron based on their geographical origins using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy techniques (GC-MS) and 13 volatile metabolites were determined and compared in different saffron samples from seven different regions of Khorasan Razavi province. These regions were Taybad, Neyshabour, torbate heydarieh, torbate jam, Zaveh and Kashmar.The results from statistical analysis (analysis of variance ANOVA followed by Duncan test) show that the level of metabolites were different in different regions and this can be the main reason of their discrimination against each other. These volatile metabolites were safranal, Megastigma-4,6(Z),8(Z)-triene, α-Guaiene, icosane and vitamine E. The results of this study show that in spite of similarities of constituents of these saffron samples, there are significant differences between the levels of metabolites in these regions although these region are close to each other. These differences show that these saffron can be applied in different purposes including pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and health industries depending on their origin. Saffron of Torbat-e-jam is proper for food industries since it is rich in aroma and Taibad is proper for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and health industries. The quality of Kashmar saffron is worse than other regions.

Removing sugar color is one of the most important goals of raw sugar refineries. Also, color and ash have the most important effect on the quality of crystallized sugar. In order to produce high quality products, every year, a lot of equipment and operating costs and spend for the remove of the color and ash in every sugar mill and refinery. The quality of sugar depends on the quality of the sugar syrup that is produced from it, so the effective refine process, which has the ability to produce bright syrup with a low amount of color, is necessary in the sugar industry. In this research, Treatments of Brix in three level (40, 50 and 60), syrup Flow rate in three level (4, 6 and 8 ) and the Temperature in three level (40, 50 and 60 °C) were considered and color, Invert, pH, ash and purity were measured according to ICUMSA methods and based on the efficacy of each treatments in decoloration and also according to the characteristics of the syrup, optimization was done by the surface response method. The model offered by response surface for the responses of color, pH, Invert sugar, and purity were significant and it was found that the use of ozone in important parameters in the sugar industry includes a reduction in color has a positive effect and on other parameters such as ash, pH, Invert Sugar, and purity have very little effect. The optimal treatment introduced by the model was temperature 43 °C, flow rate 4.2 and the Brix 54, and it was found that no significant effect between amount of specified by software and experimental samples(p>0.05) and optimization points specifiedtruly.

In this paper, method based on high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection has been suggested to measure aflatoxin in saffron. This method required a simple extraction of aflatoxin using MeOH/H2O (80:20, v/v) and a purification by immunoaffinity column cleanup. Aflatoxin measurement was performed at an emission wavelength of 445 nm and an excitation wavelength of 365 nm. Detection limits for AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2 were 0.293, 0.08, 0.55, and 0.30 ng g-1, respectively. The percentage of Relative standard deviations for measuring aflatoxin is in the range of 1.33-5.10 % and the percentage of recovery is in the range of 94-67. Regarding The overall results of high-performance liquid chromatography applied in this experiment, we can realize that this method can be used for detection and measurement of different kinds of aflatoxins in saffron.

The direct relation between high blood cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases has been proved. Food containing high amount of cholesterol such as meat and meat products, egg yolk, milk and dairy products can be elevated the cholesterol content in blood plasma. The possibility of cholesterol reduction in milk using beta cyclodextrin was investigated. In this research, various amounts of β- cyclodextrin (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 %) were mixed with raw (unhomogenized and unpasteurized) and homogenized milk at two temperature conditions of 8°C and 20 C. The cholesterol content of milk was measured for each treatment. The results that statistically were analyzed and showed that the cholesterol content of milk remarkably was decreased with increasing the amount of β- cyclodextrin, particularly in homogenized milk at 20 C. However, the reduction rate of cholesterol were decreased when extra β- cyclodextrin added due to its intermolecular reactions. The maximum cholesterol reduction was achieved when 1.5 % β- cyclodextrin added to homogenized milk at 20°C.