INFORM October 2024

30 • inform October 2024, Vol. 35 (9) EXTRACTS & DISTILLATES Phospholipid articles picked by researchers This column highlights articles from non-AOCS journals to complement the AOCS member benefit of access to full journal articles at www.aocs.org/stay-informed/journals.

study assesses the latter using an exergy assessment of oleosome extraction for food emulsions. The contribution of each part of the process to the overall impact was investigated. Based on current lab-scale data, oleosome extraction has nearly twice the exergy loss compared to the industrial process of oil extraction and industrial assembly of emulsions. The exergy losses of the lab-scale oleosome extraction are currently dominated by the chemical exergy associ ated with product loss during the separation of oleosomes from the rest of the biomass. This loss is expected to significantly decrease when upscaled to industrial scale. When substituted with indus trial material efficiencies, the total exergy loss decreased to nearly a quarter of the original loss, representing oleosome extraction as a potentially more effective and environment-friendly option. Flaxseed oleosomes: Responsiveness to physicochemical stresses, tribological shear and storage This study aimed to extract oleosomes (OLs) from flaxseeds and assess their response to environmental conditions during stor age (pH and ionic strengths), shear and tribological stresses. Our hypothesis was that a shear-induced instability will enable OLs to exhibit favourable lubrication performance. During storage, OLs exhibited resistance to droplet aggregation for up to 6 weeks owing to the proteins (3.5–152.8 kDa molecular weights) stabilizing the OL droplets. However, presence of divalent (Ca 2+ ) ions induced destabilization with marked increase in droplet size ( p < 0.05 ). OLs demonstrated shear thinning behaviour, displaying an order of magnitude higher viscosity than flaxseed oil (FSO) at low shear rates (<10 s −1 ). Strikingly, OLs mirrored the frictional profile of FSO regardless of entrainment speeds, due to droplet coalescence, validating the hypothesis. Such kinetic stability with shear-induced coalescing feature of OLs hold strong potential for future plant based food development, particularly in achieving desired mouth feel characteristics. Kara, H.H., et al. , Food Chemistry , 431, 137160, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137160

Ryan J. Stoklosa is a research chemical engineer and lead scientist for the USDA, Agricultural Research Service located in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania. His research focuses on technologies to convert plant biomass into fuels and high value chemicals.

The unique characteristics of phospholipids drive their continued research for utilization in a range of applications. Food-based uti lization of phospholipids is one area of promise. Recent work has focused on phospholipid oil extraction capability from fruits such as capsicum that improved oil yields and could potentially replace oil extraction by mechanical pressing and solvent extraction. Other work has examined phospholipids extracted from flaxseeds that were found to have favorable lubrication properties with targeted use in plant-based food formulations for improved sensory per formance. A second research trend investigates the breakdown of phospholipid membranes by antibiotics. Newly discovered and existing antibiotics were shown to inhibit the activity of a bacte rial phospholipid membrane and the mechanism of action was described. Other research has reported on new antibiotics dis rupting lipopolysaccharide transport proteins in Gram-negative bacteria with this work revealing a substrate-bound conformation geometry that is favorable for drug delivery applications. Efficiency of aqueous oleosome extraction from capsicum seeds compared to classical oil extraction Han, M., et al. , Bioresource Technology , 399, 130571, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130571 The extraction of oil from oilseeds in intact oleosomes is one of the suggested processes that could replace the extraction of oil by pressing and solvent extraction, being milder, environmentally less impactful and potentially more efficient in its use of resources. This