Browsing by Author "Li, Wei (TTU)"
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Item A decade of improving nutritional quality of horticultural crops agronomically (2012−2022): A systematic literature review(2024) Kathi, Shivani (TTU); Laza, Haydee (TTU); Singh, Sukhbir (TTU); Thompson, Leslie (TTU); Li, Wei (TTU); Simpson, Catherine (TTU)The ultimate goal of world crop production is to produce more with less to meet the growing population demands. However, concentrating solely on increased quantity of production often impacts the quality of produce. Consumption of crops or foods that do not meet nutritional or dietary needs can lead to malnutrition. Malnutrition and undernutrition are prevalent in a significant portion of the population. Agronomic biofortification of minerals and vitamins in horticultural crops has emerged as a promising approach to address nutrient deficiencies and enhance the nutritional quality of food. Despite numerous research papers on plant nutrient biofortification, there remains a lack of systematic reviews that comprehensively summarize the latest knowledge on this topic. Herein we discuss different agronomic ways to biofortify several horticultural crops over the past decade. This systematic review aims to fill this gap by presenting various methodologies and comparing the outcomes of these methods in respect to nutrient content in plant parts. The review focuses on original research papers collected from various scientific databases including Scopus and Web of Knowledge, covering the most recent literature from the last ten years (2012–2022) for specific studies on the agronomic biofortification macronutrients, micronutrients, and vitamins in horticultural plants with exclusion of certain criteria such as ‘genetic,’ ‘breeding,’ and ‘agronomic crops.’ This review critically analyzes the current state of research and explores prospects for the future in this field. The biofortification of various minerals and vitamins, including calcium, selenium, iodine, B vitamins, vitamin A, and vitamin C, are examined, highlighting the achievements and limitations of existing studies. In conclusion, agronomic biofortification of minerals and vitamins in horticultural crops with further research offers a promising approach to address nutrient deficiencies and improve the nutritional quality of food.Item Enhanced adsorption behaviors of Co2+ on robust chitosan hydrogel microspheres derived from an alkali solution system: kinetics and isotherm analysis(2018) Hou, Tianyu; Zhang, Hongjiao; He, Dongliang; Liu, Qingye (TTU); Zhang, Zhijun; Xiao, Longqiang; Li, Wei (TTU); Barnes, Melanie (TTU)Chitosan hydrogel microspheres derived from the LiOH/KOH/urea aqueous system demonstrate great characteristics of high mechanical strength, relative chemical inertness, renewability and 3-D fibrous network, making them promising functional supports. This work aims to investigate the tunable Co2+ adsorption behaviors on these robust chitosan microspheres in detail, providing the theoretical basis for optimizing the preparation procedure of chitosan microspheres supported Co3O4 catalysts in the future. The experimental results revealed that the fabricated original chitosan microspheres with more extended chain conformation could display enhanced adsorption capacity for Co2+ at determined concentration both in water and alcohol solutions, which is about 2-7 times higher than that of the conventional chitosan hydrogel microspheres prepared from the acetic acid solution. The kinetic experiments indicated that the adsorption process in water solution agreed with the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation mostly, while the chemical and physical adsorptions commonly contribute to the higher Co2+ adsorption on chitosan microspheres in alcohol solution. Moreover, in both cases, the film diffusion or chemical reaction is the rate limiting process in the initial adsorption stage, and the adsorption of Co2+ on chitosan microspheres can well fit to the Langmuir isotherm. Thermodynamic analysis demonstrated that such adsorption behaviors were dominated by an endothermic (ΔH° > 0) and spontaneous (ΔG° < 0) process.Item Increasing vitamin C through agronomic biofortifcation of arugula microgreens(2022) Kathi, Shivani (TTU); Laza, Haydee (TTU); Singh, Sukhbir (TTU); Thompson, Leslie (TTU); Li, Wei (TTU); Simpson, Catherine (TTU)Vitamin C (Vit C) is an essential micronutrient and antioxidant for human health. Unfortunately, Vit C cannot be produced in humans and is ingested through diet while severe deficiencies can lead to scurvy. However, consumption is often inconsistent, and foods vary in Vit C concentrations. Biofortification, the practice of increasing micronutrient or mineral concentrations, can improve the nutritional quality of crops and allow for more consistent dietary levels of these nutrients. Of the three leading biofortification practices (i.e., conventional, transgenic, and agronomical), the least explored approach to increase Vit C in microgreens is agronomically, especially through the supplemental application of ascorbic acid. In this study, biofortification of Vit C in microgreens through supplemental ascorbic acid was attempted and proven achievable. Arugula (Eruca sativa 'Astro') microgreens were irrigated with four concentrations of ascorbic acid and a control. Total Vit C (T-AsA) and ascorbic acid increased in microgreens as supplementary concentrations increased. In conclusion, biofortification of Vit C in microgreens through supplemental ascorbic acid is achievable, and consumption of these bio-fortified microgreens could help fulfill the daily Vit C requirements for humans, thereby reducing the need for supplemental vitamins.Item Magnetic properties of PDMS embedded with strontium ferrite particles cured under different magnetic field configurations(2022) De Oliveira Barros, Amanda (TTU); Hasan Kashem, Md Nayeem (TTU); Luna, Daniel; Geerts, Wilhelmus J.; Li, Wei (TTU); Yang, James (TTU)Flexible materials embedded with hard magnetic particles have recently gained widespread recognition as small-scale actuators due to their capacity to be a rapid and precise shape-shifting material. Strontium ferrite (SrFe12O19) particles have been shown as a great candidate for such applications, since it is an inert hard magnetic material that, in contrast to barium ferrite and neodymium, is also biocompatible. The preparation of such material is done by mixing the magnetic particles into the uncured elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)), in liquid form, and then pouring the mixture in a mold for curing. If the samples are subjected to a magnetic field during the curing process, chains of particles are formed in the direction of the applied field, thus creating an easy axis in this same direction. The magnetic properties of such composite cannot yet be found in literature. In this study, we analyzed three concentrations of strontium ferrite particles in PDMS under three field configurations, resulting in 9 different samples. The concentrations used were 1:1, 2:1, and 4:1 ratios of PDMS to strontium ferrite per weight. All three types of samples were cured either in a zero magnetic field, or over the north pole of a neodymium permanent magnet, or over the side of said magnet. A biaxial vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) was used to measure hysteresis curves parallel and perpendicular to the curing field. The samples cured in a field show a squareness ratio of up to 0.94 while the samples cured in zero field, only close to 0.5. The samples cured in a field show a magnetic anisotropy with an easy axis parallel to the curing field. Harvesting these modified properties, a mobile robot manufacturing method is proposed that bypasses the need of applying a high intensity magnetic field.Item Microfluidic preparation, shrinkage, and surface modification of monodispersed alginate microbeads for 3D cell culture(2019) Yu, Dan (TTU); Dong, Ziye (TTU); Lim, Hyun Taek (TTU); Chen, Yuting; Ding, Zhenya (TTU); Sultana, Nadia (TTU); Wu, Jiangyu; Qin, Bingyu; Cheng, Jianjian; Li, Wei (TTU)Functionalized alginate microbeads (MB) have been widely used for three-dimensional (3D) culture of cells and creating biomimetic tissue models. However, conventional methods for preparing these MB suffer from poor polydispersity, due to coalescence of droplets during the gelation process and post-aggregation. It remains an immense challenge to prepare alginate MB with narrow size distribution and uniform shape, especially when their diameters are similar to the size of cells. In this work, we developed a simple method to produce monodispersed, cell-size alginate MB through microfluidic emulsification, followed by a controlled shrinkage process and gelation in mineral oil with low concentration of calcium ion (Ca2+). During the gelation process caused by the diffusion of Ca2+ from the oil to water phase, a large amount of satellite droplets with sub-micrometer sizes was formed at the water/oil interface. As a result, each original droplet was transformed to one shrunken-MB with much smaller size and numerous submicron-size satellites. To explore the feasibility of the shrunken-MB for culturing with cells, we have successfully modified a variety of polymer nanofilms on MB surfaces using a layer-by-layer assembly approach. Finally, the nanofilm-modified MB was applied to a 3D culture of GFP-expressing fibroblast cells and demonstrated good biocompatibility.Item Pulmonary-arterial-hypertension (PAH)-on-a-chip: fabrication, validation and application(2020) Al-Hilal, Taslim A. (TTUHSC); Keshavarz, Ali (TTUHSC); Kadry, Hossam (TTUHSC); Lahooti, Behnaz (TTUHSC); Al-Obaida, Ahmed (TTUHSC); Ding, Zhenya (TTU); Li, Wei (TTU); Kamm, Roger; McMurtry, Ivan F.; Lahm, Tim; Nozik-Grayck, Eva; Stenmark, Kurt R.; Ahsan, Fakhrul (TTUHSC)Currently used animal and cellular models for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) only partially recapitulate its pathophysiology in humans and are thus inadequate in reproducing the hallmarks of the disease, inconsistent in portraying the sex-disparity, and unyielding to combinatorial study designs. Here we sought to deploy the ingenuity of microengineering in developing and validating a tissue chip model for human PAH. We designed and fabricated a microfluidic device to emulate the luminal, intimal, medial, adventitial, and perivascular layers of a pulmonary artery. By growing three types of pulmonary arterial cells (PACs)-endothelial, smooth muscle, and adventitial cells, we recreated the PAH pathophysiology on the device. Diseased (PAH) PACs, when grown on the chips, moved of out their designated layers and created phenomena similar to the major pathologies of human PAH: intimal thickening, muscularization, and arterial remodeling and show an endothelial to mesenchymal transition. Flow-induced stress caused control cells, grown on the chips, to undergo morphological changes and elicit arterial remodeling. Our data also suggest that the newly developed chips can be used to elucidate the sex disparity in PAH and to study the therapeutic efficacy of existing and investigational anti-PAH drugs. We believe this miniaturized device can be deployed for testing various prevailing and new hypotheses regarding the pathobiology and drug therapy in human PAH.Item Simultaneous biofortification of vitamin C and mineral nutrients in arugula microgreens(2024) Kathi, Shivani (TTU); Laza, Haydee (TTU); Singh, Sukhbir (TTU); Thompson, Leslie (TTU); Li, Wei (TTU); Simpson, Catherine (TTU)Microgreens have shown promise in improving the overall nutritional value of diets due to their high nutrient density. Agronomic biofortification, is an efficient strategy for enhancing the nutritional value of crops, including microgreens. This study aimed to biofortify vitamin C and other essential nutrients in arugula microgreens using four treatments containing 0.25 % ascorbic acid, pH adjusted with different bases: KOH, Ca(OH)2, ZnCO3, or NaOH and a deionized water control. The results indicate that ascorbic acid-treated microgreens had more vitamin C, greater fresh weight and % dry matter than the control. The ascorbic acid + Zn treatment had an 135 % average increase in vitamin C compared to the control. Microgreens treated with ascorbic acid also showed increased levels of minerals that are present in the nutrient solution, such as potassium, sodium, calcium, and zinc. This research contributes to the growing interest in microgreens biofortification and their role in addressing multi-nutrient deficiencies.Item Vitamin C biofortification of broccoli microgreens and resulting effects on nutrient composition(2023) Kathi, Shivani (TTU); Laza, Haydee (TTU); Singh, Sukhbir (TTU); Thompson, Leslie (TTU); Li, Wei (TTU); Simpson, Catherine (TTU)The consumption of plants plays an important role in human health. In addition to providing macro and micronutrients, plants are the sole sources of several phytonutrients that play a major role in disease prevention. However, in modern diets, increased consumption of cheaper, processed foods with poor nutritional value over fruits and vegetables leads to insufficient consumption of essential nutrients such as vitamin C. Taking supplements can address some of the insufficient nutrients in a diet. However, supplements are not as diverse or bioavailable as the nutrients in plants. Improving the abundance of nutrients in plants will reduce the amounts that need to be consumed, thereby reducing the price barrier and use of supplements. In this study, broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) microgreens grown in a controlled environment were biofortified for increased vitamin C content. The microgreens grown on growing pads were treated with supplemental nutrient solutions. Treatments were applied four to five days after germination and included four different concentrations of ascorbic acid specifically, 0% (control), 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.25% and 0.5%, added to the nutrient solution. Microgreens with turgid cotyledons and appearance of tip of first true leaves were harvested about 14 days after germination and were analyzed for biomass, chlorophylls, carotenoids, vitamin C and other minerals content. The ascorbic acid improved the microgreens’ fresh biomass, percent dry matter, chlorophylls, carotenoids, vitamin C, and potassium content. Moreover, this study also mapped out the correlation between ascorbic acid, phytochemicals, and broccoli microgreens’ mineral composition. The total vitamin C was positively correlated to K and negatively correlated to chlorophylls, N, P, Mg, Ca, S, and B (p < 0.01). These relationships can be applied in future vitamin C biofortification research across different microgreens. In conclusion, vitamin C was increased up to 222% by supplemental ascorbic acid without being detrimental to plant health and mineral composition.