United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

Alberto Nunez

Thomas A Foglia

Robert A Moreau

Michael J Haas

Helen N Lew

Xuetong Fan

Arland T Hotchkiss

George Piazza

Zongcheng Yan

Karen Wagner

Christina Khoo

Glenn R Gibson

Robert Rastall

Thomas G McCollum

Gary A Luzio

Gary D Strahan

Prasanna Vasu

Brett J Savary

Randall G Cameron

Disclosed are methods for preparing phenolic branched chain fatty acids or alkyl esters thereof, involving subjecting in a pressurized container (a) at least one phenolic compound, (b) unsaturated fatty acids having 6 to 25 carbon atoms, alkyl esters thereof, or mixtures thereof, and (c) H-ferrierite zeolite catalyst in the presence of distilled water or alcohol and a nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of about 100&#xb0; C. to about 400&#xb0; C. and a pressure of about 10 to about 1000 psi, and isolating saturated phenolic branched chain fatty acids or alkyl esters thereof or mixtures thereof. Also disclosed are methods for killing microorganisms on or in an object, involving contacting said object with an effective microorganisms killing amount of a composition comprising phenolic branched chain fatty acids or alkyl esters thereof, and optionally a carrier; the phenolic branched chain fatty acids or alkyl esters thereof may be produced by the methods described herein.

Methods for preparing phenolic branched chain alkyl fatty acids or esters thereof and methods for killing microorganisms

A composition prepared from a cranberry hull enzyme-treated composition which reduces or inhibits the adhesion of microorganisms to cells having &#x3b1;-Gal-(1-4)-Gal terminal oligosaccharide receptors for adhesion.

Cranberry xyloglucan oligosaccharide composition

A method of promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut of a human in need thereof, which involves administering to a human a composition containing an effective amount of Ara-(1-5)-(Ara)-(1-5)-Ara as a prebiotic, where n=0-18.

Methods of promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut

Enzymes accumulated in plant cell walls serve diverse physiological functions including metabolism, polysaccharide structure modification, and molecular communication in interactions with other organisms. Pectin methylesterases are economically important enzymes for their impact on quality and processing properties of fruit and vegetable food products. We have now purified TT-PME to homogeneity from sweet orange finisher pulp and determined the complete corresponding nucleic acid sequence. Purified TT-PME was observed by SDS-PAGE as two doublet bands with molecular masses of approximately 46,000 Da and 56,000 Da. Direct Edman sequencing from these proteins showed a common N-terminal peptide. De novo sequencing of eight TT-PME tryptic peptides determined by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry provided additional internal sequences. TT-PME did not correspond to any previously reportedspp. PME sequence. Our results showTT-PME is a distinctive new isoform with phylogenetic relationship closer to PME isoforms in other species rather than to previously describedPME genes.

Thermally-tolerant pectin methylesterase

A method has been discovered for the epoxidation of a compound having at least one carbon-carbon double bond, the method involves reacting a compound having at least one carbon-carbon double bond, a solvent, an oxidant, and membrane bound peroxygenase. Also discovered is a method for preparing the membrane bound peroxygenase involving grinding seeds containing peroxygenase to produce ground seeds, homogenizing the ground seeds in a buffer to form a slurry, centrifuging the slurry to produce a first supernatant, centrifuging the first supernatant to produce a second supernatant, and filtering said second supernatant through a protein-binding membrane filter to produce membrane bound peroxygenase; optionally the second supernatant is filtered through a hydrophilic membrane filter prior to filtering the second supernatant through a protein-binding membrane filter.

Epoxidation of carbon-carbon double bond with membrane bound peroxygenase

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Dresher, PA, United States of America

Alberto Nunez