The right combo: Getting the most health benefits from fruit smoothies

Researchers find adding a banana decreased the level of flavanols in smoothies

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

Smoothies can be a tasty and convenient way to get the important fruits and vegetables you need for a healthy diet. But is a banana and blueberry smoothie the best combo? Researchers at the University of California, Davis, suggest that blending certain ingredients in smoothies can influence whether your body is getting a nutritional boost.

The study, published today in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Food and Function, used smoothies to test how various levels of polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme in many fruits and vegetables, affects the levels of flavanols in food to be absorbed by the body. Flavanols are a group of bioactive compounds that are good for your heart and cognitive health and are naturally found in apples, pears, blueberries, blackberries, grapes and cocoa — common smoothie ingredients.

“We sought to understand, on a very practical level, how a common food and food preparation like a banana-based smoothie could affect the availability of flavanols to be absorbed after intake,” said lead author Javier Ottaviani, director of the Core Laboratory of Mars Edge, which is part of Mars, Inc., and an adjunct researcher with the UC Davis Department of Nutrition.

Slice an apple or peel a banana and the fruit will quickly turn brown. That happens because of polyphenol oxidase, or PPO, an enzyme naturally present in those foods. The browning occurs when the food containing that enzyme is exposed to air, cut or bruised. The researchers wanted to know whether consuming freshly prepared smoothies made with different PPO-containing fruits impacted the amount of flavanols available to the body.

Bananas versus berries

The researchers had participants drink a smoothie made with banana, which has naturally high PPO activity, and a smoothie made with mixed berries, which have naturally low PPO activity. Participants also took a flavanol capsule as a control. Blood and urine samples were analyzed to measure how much flavanols were present in the body after ingesting the smoothie samples and capsule. The researchers found that those who drank the banana smoothie had 84% lower levels of flavanols in their body compared to the control.

“We were really surprised to see how quickly adding a single banana decreased the level of flavanols in the smoothie and the levels of flavanol absorbed in the body,” Ottaviani said. “This highlights how food preparation and combinations can affect the absorption of dietary compounds in foods.”

Last year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics issued a dietary recommendation, advising people to consume 400 to 600 milligrams of flavanols daily for cardiometabolic health. Ottaviani said for people who are trying to consume those flavanols, they should consider preparing smoothies by combining flavanol-rich fruits like berries with other ingredients that also have a low PPO activity like pineapple, oranges, mango or yogurt.

He also said bananas remain a great fruit to be eaten or consumed in smoothies. For those who want to consume smoothies with bananas, or other high PPO activity fruits and vegetables such as beet greens, the suggestion is to not combine them with flavanol-rich fruits such as berries, grapes and cocoa.

The findings of this study could spur future research into how other foods are prepared and the effects on flavanols, for example, Ottaviani said tea is a major dietary source of flavanols and depending on how it is prepared, a different amount of flavanols would be available for absorption.

“This is certainly an area that deserves more attention in the field of polyphenols and bioactive compounds in general,” said Ottaviani.

Jodi Ensunsa, Reedmond Fong, Jennifer Kimball and Alan Crozier, all affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Nutrition and researchers affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Internal Medicine, University of Reading, King Saud University and Mars, Inc. contributed to the research.

The study was funded by a research grant from Mars, Inc., which collaborates with researchers to study potential benefits of cocoa flavanols for human health.

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JOURNAL

Food & Function

DOI

10.1039/D3FO01599H 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

Impact of polyphenol oxidase on the bioavailability of flavan-3-ols in fruit smoothies: a controlled, single blinded, cross-over study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-Aug-2023

 

Math enables blending hydrogen in natural gas pipelines

Guaranteeing reliability enhances hydrogen’s role in energy transition

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DOE/LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 23, 2023 — Mathematical modeling can show how to safely blend hydrogen with natural gas for transport in existing pipeline systems. A secure and reliable transition to hydrogen is one of the proposed solutions for the shift to a net-zero-carbon economy. 

“Mixing hydrogen into a natural gas pipeline changes how the gases flow, which will create new conditions for operators,” said Anatoly Zlotnik, a co-author of a new paper on the modeling in the journal PRX Energy. Zlotnik, a mathematician at Los Alamos National Laboratory, has expertise in modeling, designing and controlling energy-transmission systems. “Our modeling shows that injecting hydrogen gradually into a natural gas pipeline network allows safe, predictable operations.”

Using nonlinear partial differential equations, Zlotnik and his Los Alamos colleagues developed the model for transporting heterogeneous mixtures of natural gas and hydrogen through pipeline systems. The infrastructure modeling includes compressor and regulator units, supply stations that inject gas into the network at defined pressure and hydrogen blends, and flow stations that withdraw the mixture from the network, according to the paper.

Solving challenges to pipeline operation

Transporting hydrogen in existing natural gas pipeline networks enables operators to maximize the utility of these extensive and expensive facilities as part of a strategy to reduce carbon-emitting fossil fuels. Hydrogen is much lighter than natural gas, which is mostly methane, so blending them challenges pipeline operation in new ways.

The Los Alamos team’s mathematical modeling determined that limiting the rate of change of hydrogen injection into a natural gas pipeline will prevent large, rapid changes in pressures. The team’s methods for simulating a pipeline network could allow operators to develop standards on injection rates.

Hydrogen offers several advantages as a clean fuel that doesn’t emit carbon dioxide. In a fuel cell, hydrogen plus oxygen create electricity to power cars, trucks and facilities. Hydrogen can also be blended with natural gas for use in appliances such as household furnaces and dryers, or it can be burned to power manufacturing facilities or generate electricity.  

The paper: “Transitions from Monotonicity to Chaos in Gas Mixture Dynamics in Pipeline Networks.” PRX Energy. DOI: 10.1103/PRXEnergy.2.033008

The funding: U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Grid Modeling (AGM) and Laboratory Directed Research and Development at Los Alamos National Laboratory

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LA-UR-23-28985

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JOURNAL

PRX Energy

DOI

10.1103/PRXEnergy.2.033008 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Transitions from Monotonicity to Chaos in Gas Mixture Dynamics in Pipeline Networks.

Sweet corn yield at the mercy of the environment, except for one key factor

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

 

IMAGE: DRAWING FROM 27 YEARS OF PROPRIETARY INDUSTRY DATA, A NEW UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AND USDA-AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE STUDY PINPOINTS FACTORS RELATED TO SWEET CORN YIELD VARIABILITY ACROSS U.S. GROWING REGIONS. AMONG SEVERAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SEED COMPANY WAS A STRONG PREDICTOR OF YIELD VARIABILITY, SUGGESTING AT LEAST ONE VARIABLE IS WITHIN PROCESSORS' CONTROL. view more 

CREDIT: LAUREN D. QUINN, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

URBANA, Ill. — A new analysis from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has identified the top factors accounting for yield variability in processing sweet corn (used for canned and frozen products), including one within the control of processors. 

“We used a very robust approach to account for sweet corn yield with field-level data across some 16,000 fields and 27 years. Year and production region were the two most important variables, which makes logical sense. But the third was seed source: the company that developed the hybrids. That's interesting because it’s actually something the industry has a choice over,” said senior study author Marty Williams, ARS ecologist and affiliate professor in the Department of Crop Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at U. of I. 

The analysis drew from confidential industry data on 67 variables relating to crop genetics, management, weather, and soil factors from fields in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest, where most of the nation’s processing sweet corn is grown. Williams and co-author Daljeet Dhaliwal, who completed his doctorate in the Department of Crop Sciences, used machine learning techniques to narrow down which of the dozens of factors correlated most strongly to yield across nearly 30 years.

Williams said the top two — year and production area — reflect big-picture environmental conditions affecting the crop over time and space. The third, seed company, came as a surprise because the researchers grouped hybrids into nine companies out of necessity. Without grouping the 100-odd hybrids in some way, the already unwieldy dataset would have been even more challenging to analyze and impossible to interpret. 

However, the million-dollar question doesn’t have a satisfying answer, as the analysis doesn’t differentiate or rank the seed companies. Williams said there is a reason for that outside the confidentiality agreement.

“We don't know that every company’s hybrids were grown under conditions identical to their competitors,” Williams said. “One company may have higher yields, but it may also be that their hybrids were grown only in more favorable conditions. We know that processors prefer hybrids that perform well under all conditions, particularly less-than-ideal conditions. Still, it’s interesting that seed source linked highly to yield. We can't say exactly why, but seed source is the one thing processors can choose.”

Another striking variable, ranking just below seed company, was high nighttime temperature. Warmer-than-usual nights increase respiration, which offsets gains made during daytime photosynthesis. According to the analysis, sweet corn yield starts taking a hit above 16 degrees Celsius (61 Fahrenheit). Field corn yield, by contrast, doesn’t start declining until nighttime temperatures exceed 21 C.  

“Sweet corn is a shallower rooted crop. It's a smaller plant, and it’s more delicate overall than field corn. So that makes some sense,” Williams said. “It could be concerning, because, at least in the Midwest, we are projected to have warmer nighttime temperatures. It's a correlation, but it's a concerning one.”

The same dataset already signaled sweet corn may be in trouble under a warming climate, but the current analysis gives Williams some hope, with at least one variable under processors’ control. 

The study, “Sweet corn yield prediction using machine learning models and field-level data,” is published in Precision Agriculture [DOI:10.1007/s11119-023-10057-1].

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JOURNAL

Precision Agriculture

DOI

10.1007/s11119-023-10057-1 

 

A global observatory to monitor Earth's biodiversity

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

At a time of nature crisis driven by unparalleled rates of biodiversity loss, a new interconnected system to monitor biodiversity around the world is urgently needed to direct and focus conservation action.

"The lethal combination of habitat loss, the exploitation of natural populations, pollution, and climate change is causing species extinction rates not seen since the last mass extinction 65 million years ago," said Prof. Andrew Gonzalez, Liber Ero Chair in Conservation Biology at McGill University, and co-Chair of GEO BON. "We lack the means to monitor these impacts fast enough across most areas of the planet."

Operating much like the existing global network of weather stations that monitor climate change and its impacts, the Global Biodiversity Observing System (GBiOS), is a proposal developed by scientists from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and its partners, that will combine technology, data, and knowledge from around the world to foster collaboration and data sharing among countries and to provide the data urgently needed to monitor biodiversity change and target action.

GBiOS can galvanize collaboration on the critical issue of biodiversity data access, sharing, and equitable use. "It can provide the information we need at the pace we need it to support countries as they make progress towards their biodiversity goals", said Prof. Alice Hughes, Associate Professor at The University of Hong Kong, and one of the dozens of scientists who collaborated to develop the proposal for GBiOS.

GBiOS is a missing piece of the science-policy puzzle needed to support the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed upon at the COP-15 conference in Montreal last year, contributing to a representative and inclusive understanding of biodiversity change and supporting effective implementation of policies that are designed to reverse biodiversity loss and achieve the global goals for nature in the coming decades.

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JOURNAL

Nature Ecology & Evolution

DOI

10.1038/s41559-023-02171-0 

ARTICLE TITLE

A global biodiversity observing system to unite monitoring and guide action

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-Aug-2023

Saudi Arabia Weighs China Bid To Build Nuclear Power Plant

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Aug 25, 2023, 

Saudi Arabia is considering a bid from a Chinese state firm to build a nuclear power plant, which could give the Kingdom leverage in possible talks for U.S. assistance for establishing a civil nuclear industry, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, quoting Saudi officials with knowledge of the matter.

Saudi Arabia has been actively seeking help with expertise in nuclear energy to develop its own civil nuclear generation capacity. The U.S. has been an obvious first choice among potential partners, but Washington has taken a cautious approach. The United States has made it clear that it would only help Riyadh develop nuclear generation capabilities if any agreement includes preventing the enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium from the reactors, to prevent the weaponization of nuclear power.

Now Saudi Arabia is evaluating a bid from China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to build a nuclear power plant in an Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, close to the border with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Saudi officials told the Journal.

China Likely Tapped Its Crude Inventories In July

Those officials also admitted to the WSJ that the idea to consider the Chinese bid was an attempt to gain leverage in talks with the U.S. about its help for Saudi Arabia’s civil nuclear program, and potentially extract some compromise on the non-proliferation issues.

The Middle East is not known for its nuclear power generation capabilities. With all its oil wealth, the region has traditionally relied on fossil fuels to meet its electricity needs.

In 2020, the first nuclear power plant in the Arab world began operating in the UAE. Plans are to expand it to a facility that would meet a quarter of the country’s electricity demand.

However, observers warn any expansion of nuclear capabilities in the sensitive Middle Eastern region could lead to a nuclear arms race that could end in disaster.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

 

U.S. Oil Industry Sues Biden Administration Over Gulf Of Mexico Lease Sale

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Aug 25, 2023, 

The American Petroleum Institute (API), U.S. supermajor Chevron, and the state of Louisiana are suing the Biden Administration after the federal government reduced the area to be offered in the next Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale by 9% to safeguard the habitat of a rare whale species.

The adjustment, which will see the Department of the Interior auction 67 million acres in the next lease sale instead of 73.4 million acres, followed a legal settlement with environmentalists regarding the whale habitat.

The latest terms of the next oil and gas lease sale will be with significantly reduced acreage and severe restrictions on oil and natural gas vessel traffic, say the claimants in the challenge filed with the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.   

“Today we’re taking steps to challenge the Department of the Interior’s unjustified actions to further restrict American energy access in the Gulf of Mexico,” API Senior Vice President and General Counsel Ryan Meyers said in a statement on Thursday.

“Despite Congress’ clear intention in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration has announced a ‘lease sale in name only’ that removes approximately 6 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico from the sale and adds new and unjustified restrictions on oil and natural gas vessels operating in this area, ignoring all other vessel traffic.”

API’s Meyers concluded, “Together with the State of Louisiana and Chevron U.S.A. Inc., we intend to use every legal tool at our disposal to challenge these actions.”

On Wednesday, responding to the reduced area for the lease sale, API Vice President of Upstream Policy, Holly Hopkins, said,

“While the Department of the Interior announced a much-needed offshore lease sale today, the Biden administration continues to throw up roadblock after roadblock to American energy production, prioritizing their campaign promise to stop American oil and natural gas development in federal waters over their duty to meet Americans’ energy nee

Strike Risk Remains For Chevron LNG Projects In Australia

By Irina Slav - Aug 25, 2023, 

Woodside Energy may have sealed a deal with trade unions to prevent a strike of gas platform workers but Chevron has yet to get so lucky.

The supermajor actually angered the alliance of unions it is negotiating with, after it put a proposal directly to the worker vote before going through the bargaining stage, Reuters reports.

 "Their stupidity is about to cost them $billions in lost production and profit," the Offshore Alliance said in a Facebook post quoted by Reuters.

Yesterday, 99% of workers in the unions working at Chevron’s two LNG projects offshore Australia voted in favor of authorizing industrial action. That could take the form of a partial strike, with workers refusing to do certain tasks, such as loading tankers, or an all-out strike.

Earlier this week, Woodside, which operates Australia’s largest LNG production facility, managed to strike an agreement with trade unions on working conditions and remuneration. Now the workers need to ratify this to make it final.

Chevron, however, seems to be having trouble repeating that success, with the risk of a strike hanging over its head.

Earlier this month, natural gas prices in Europe and Asia spiked when the news of the potential strikes broke. They have since retreated but if actual strikes begin, they would affect a tenth of the world’s supply of liquefied natural gas and another spike could follow.

The news that Chevron is failing in its negotiations with workers could also see prices higher for a while until there is a positive development.

Woodside’s North West Shelf is the largest LNG production project in Australia, with a capacity of 16.9 million tons annually, followed by Chevron’s Gorgon, which has a capacity of 15.6 million tons. Wheatstone, also operated by Chevron, can produce 8.9 million tons of LNG annually. Together, the three produce about 40 million tons of LNG per year.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

Gold's Game-Changing Role In Hydrogen Fuel Evolution

By Brian Westenhaus - Aug 24, 2023,

• Chiba University's team discovered that combining gold and nickel improves the hydrogen evolution reaction in water electrolysis.
• 
  
• The study showed that the efficiency of the GoldNickel/Gold electrocatalyst increased due to surface defects from Nickel dealloying.
• 
  
• The findings have the potential to reduce water electrolysis costs and promote a hydrogen-driven society, replacing traditional platinum catalysts.

Chiba University researchers show the hydrogen evolution reaction activity of a GoldNickel/Gold electrocatalyst increases due to surface defects formed via Nickel dealloying. Gold (Au)-based electrocatalysts used for hydrogen production via water electrolysis exhibit high chemical stability but low hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. Alloying them with nickel (Ni) can improve their HER activity.

Now, a team of researchers from Chiba University, led by Associate Professor Masashi Nakamura from the Graduate School of Engineering and including doctoral student Syunnosuke Tanaka from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering and Professor Nagahiro Hoshi from the Graduate School of Engineering, has bridged the gap in the understanding of AuNi electrocatalysts.

In their recent breakthrough article published in ChemElectroChem, the team investigated the surface structure, atomic arrangement, and HER activity of AuNi surface alloys prepared at different alloying temperatures on single-crystal Au electrodes.

During the study the team investigated the HER activity and surface properties of AuNi alloy prepared on single crystal Au surfaces, revealing the atomic structural changes and surface sites responsible for enhanced HER activity of AuNi/Au catalyst during electrolysis.

An electrochemical cell is used to split water, and the hydrogen gas gets released at the negatively charged electrode in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Catalysts are used to lower the HER overpotential – the difference between the theoretical cell voltage and the voltage required to carry out hydrogen evolution – for making the process more efficient.

Recently, an alloy of gold (Au) and nickel (Ni) showed promising HER activity. While the electrochemical properties of AuNi have been well studied, not much is known about its surface structure and atomic composition, which dictate the electrocatalytic activity of a catalyst.

Dr. Nakamura discussed the motivation behind the present research, “Rare and highly expensive metals like platinum are commonly used as catalysts for water electrolysis. While Au shows high chemical stability as a catalyst compared to platinum, it suffers from low HER activity. Now, AuNi nanoparticles have emerged as a promising non-platinum alternative, and it is crucial to improve their HER activity further.”

Related: Shale E&Ps In High-Gear Consolidation: Big Fish Seize Top-Tier Acreage

The team transferred the AuNi/Au electrode to an electrochemical cell with 0.05 M sulfuric acid to perform cyclic voltammogram (CV) and linear sweep voltammogram (LSV) measurements, evaluating its HER activity. The surface properties of the AuNi/Au catalyst were also analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and surface X-ray diffraction (SXRD) techniques.

The CVs and LSVs revealed that the HER activity of AuNi/Au depended on the surface structure of the Au substrate, with (110) surface resulting in the highest activity followed by (111) and (100), respectively. Also, the surface alloy improved the HER activity via Ni dealloying. This was verified by XPS and SXRD, wherein the team observed a decrease in the atomic occupancy on the topmost layer of the surface caused by the dissolution of Ni from the surface-alloy layer. The Ni dealloying process created defects on the surface, and the low-coordination Au sites adjacent to Ni activated the HER.

The present study provides insights into the structural and electrochemical properties of AuNi surface alloy, showing the way for highly active and durable Au-based catalysts for practical electrolysis and fuel cell applications.

“Designing effective non-platinum electrocatalysts can reduce the cost of water electrolysis and also improve its energy conversion efficiency, which is crucial for accelerating toward a hydrogen-driven society,” concluded Dr. Nakamura.

***

Water splitting using platinum is considerably more expensive than just the cost of the electricity. The platinum erodes away, so to speak, at considerable maintenance time and expense. Gold with its propensity to stay put, might offer a much more practical catalyst for electrolysis someday.

That makes this team’s work so interesting. The goal of safely stored cheap hydrogen fueling a fuel cell energizing a personal vehicle is still very much a dream. Its a lot closer than a decade ago and we have a much better idea of what its going to take to get us there.

And there is quite a way to go. But it is looking like a dream that can come true.

By Brian Westenhaus via Newenergyandfuel.com

France To Stick With Coal For Longer To Ensure Energy Security

By Charles Kennedy - Aug 25, 2023

France has extended a provision for electricity generators that allows them to use more coal in their operations in order to secure supply in the coming months.

The move comes as utility major EDF warned that nuclear power output will likely be below normal during the winter months as it is still fixing the problems that put several reactors temporarily out of commission last year.

Bloomberg reports that despite the allowance for coal use, the French government tightened the requirements for the operation of the country’s two remaining coal-fired power plants.

According to these, high emitters in the power generation sector would only be allowed to operate for up to 1,800 hours in the winter of 2023/24. That’s equal to about 11 weeks and down from 2,500 hours last winter.

Also, these generators will have to pay more for the carbon dioxide emissions they generate.

“Tension on the power system is currently lower than at the same period of last year,” the energy transition ministry said, referring to better output from wind and solar, and lower demand. “However, one must take all measures to ensure security of energy supply for the French in any event,” it added, noting the possibility of the war in Ukraine not being over by winter or the winter itself being colder than last year’s.

France, which has been one of the most reliable energy generators in Europe in recent years thanks to its nuclear fleet, is currently grappling with problems that have accumulated over years of subpar maintenance.

This led to the temporary suspension of electricity generation last year but that wasn’t the end of it. EDF is, as noted, still working on fixing all the issues while facing the challenge of summer heat compromising water used for cooling the reactors.

The utility just warned this week it would need to reduce nuclear power generation for this reason amid forecasts for a few hotter days ahead.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com