In this study, the interaction of different concentrations of tannic acid (TA) (10%, 20%, and 30% w/w) and Ca²⁺ with alginate (SA) was utilized to create double-crosslinked SA films. The resulting films were evaluated for their optical, mechanical, water resistance, and barrier properties, and their microstructure and intermolecular interactions were also characterized. The SA films containing 20% TA showed the best mechanical properties, with an observed increase in tensile strength of 22.54%. In terms of water vapor permeability, the SA film containing 30% TA exhibited the highest barrier property, which was 25.36% higher than that of the pure SA film. Moreover, TA demonstrated a strong UV absorption ability, resulting in a nearly 0% UV transmittance of the SA film at 280 nm. It can be seen that SA films containing 20% TA have excellent barrier and mechanical properties, and the development of such films will be applied to the storage and packaging of fresh food. It is worth noting that this work also investigated the effect of SA coatings containing different concentrations of TA on the preservation of passion fruits for 7 days. The results revealed that passion fruits treated with SA coatings containing a 30% TA concentration maintained a better appearance on the 7th day and had the lowest weight loss and crumpling indices of approximately 8.98% and 2.17, respectively, compared to the other treatment groups. Therefore, based on the overall results, the addition of 30% TA to SA coatings proved to be more effective and can be considered a promising approach for delaying fruit senescence and decay.

In this study, zein-pectin nanoparticles loaded with Wampee [Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeels] (WEO) were developed. The particle size of the nanoparticles is 515.9 nm, polydispersity index is 0.4 and zeta potential is -39.3 mV. Subsequently, the ZWP was incorporated into sodium alginate (SA)-based film (ZWP-S). The films were then analyzed to determine their physical properties and thermal stability, and also to examine their microstructure and intermolecular forces using SEM, FTIR, and XRD techniques. Additionally, the films were evaluated for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activity, as well as their ability to sustain the release of WEO. Overall, the ZWP-S film conferred excellent functional properties, including UV barrier performance, mechanical properties (21 % increase in tensile strength), water sensitivity, stability, more compact structure, high antioxidant activity and long-lasting antimicrobial activity, surpassing those of the control film. Consequently, it was applied as a novel coating for preserving strawberries, rotting rate of strawberries was reduced by 43 % at 6d, yielding promising results in prolonging the freshness of the fruit.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease. Mitochondrial energy metabolism and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) play significant roles in AD pathology. However, the potential relationship between them is unclear. In this study, bioinformatics methods were initially applied to analyze the transcriptomic data in the CA1 and the primary visual cortex of patients with AD and Aβ42-treated SH-SY5Y cells. By applying secreted Aβ42 and p70S6K gene silencing in cells, we explored disorders in mitochondrial function and the regulatory roles of p70S6K by flow cytometry, laser scanning confocal microscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, Western blotting, and quantitative reverse transcription PCR. The study reveals that impaired mitochondrial energy metabolism is a potential pathological feature of AD and that p70S6K gene silencing reversed most of the changes induced by Aβ42, such as the activities of the electron transport chain complexes I and III, as well as ATP synthase, ATP production, generation of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential, and phosphorylation of AMPK, PINK1, and Parkin, all of which are required for mitochondria to function properly in the cell.