Application of High Pressure Processing on Ultrasonically Treated Extract from Wild Bitter Gourd
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
1. The abstract should contain typical experimental data to make it persuasive. 2. For the molecular weight determination, please give the Figure of HPGPC. 3. The structure of extract should be determined by 1D/2D NMR. 4. How is the extract isolated and purified? Please write down the detailed process, for example: elution curve. 5. Some references should be added, such as: 2021 Carbohydrate Polymers, 252,117179. 2021 Trends in Food Science and Technology, 112, pp. 50-57. 2021 Trends in Food Science and Technology, 109, pp. 564-568.Author Response
Thank you very much for comment and suggestion. We also corrected them one by one in the article. The revised manuscript is attached here.
- The abstract should contain typical experimental data to make it persuasive.
Answer: In this food processing paper, we provide the extraction conditions of UAE and HWE of wild bitter gourd, such as “The results showed that the wild bitter gourd powder was extracted with ultrasonic at 70°C hot water for only 20 min with water under solid-liquid ratio of 1:20 to obtain the total protein content of 1.514 mg/g.“ In addition, we provide the two sterilization methods of wild bitter gourd extract, such as “ It was treated with papaya enzyme for 2 hours in the traditional autoclave at 121°C for 15 min and HPP 300 MPa for 5 min had no significant effect on protein content, and both sterilization methods could effectively sterilize.”
- For the molecular weight determination, please give the Figure of HPGPC.
Answer: In this food processing paper, we used electrophoresis to verify that the protein has been hydrolyzed into small molecular peptides by papain.
- The structure of extract should be determined by 1D/2D NMR.
Answer: In this food processing paper, we did not determine the structure of extract; however, the anti-diabetic biofunction of the dried extract was studied and published in Foods 2022, 11, 1173. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods11081173.
- How is the extract isolated and purified? Please write down the detailed process, for example: elution curve.
Answer: The flow chart in this research is provided in supplementary file.
- Some references should be added, such as: 2021 Carbohydrate Polymers, 252,117179. 2021 Trends in Food Science and Technology, 112, pp. 50-57. 2021 Trends in Food Science and Technology, 109, pp. 564-568.
Answer: Thank you to provide these papers, which are good sources in my lecture. We added Carbohydrate polymers, 252, 117179, 2021 in the introduction.
The dry powder of M. charantia was extracted by water extraction and alcohol precipitation, and further deproteinized to obtain the polysaccharide which could significantly increase the content of SOD and CAT in serum, liver and spleen of mice, and reduce the content of MDA in liver and spleen to a certain extent [9].
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
This study investigates different techniques of extraction, sterilization and hydrolysis of wild bitter gourd. Significant English editing is required and more precise explanations, especially when it comes to extraction, sterilization and hydrolysis parameters. Sentences that should be reformulated are marked in yellow.
The last sentence in the second paragraph of Introduction could be omitted.
Section 2.1. should be reformulated (the last sentence). The complete information on suppliers should be added.
Section 2.6.1. The reference for Bradford method should be added.
Section 2.6.1. Abbreviation ABS from the Equation should be added to the text.
Mold should be changed to fungi or fungal.
Lines 305-306: Number of bacteria and fungi should be given as CFU/mL.
Lines 311-312: Shelf life – how long?
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you very much for carefully pointing out the English mistakes in the article, and we also corrected them one by one in the article. The revised manuscript file is attached.
1. The last sentence in the second paragraph of Introduction could be omitted.
Answer: ok!
2. Section 2.1. should be reformulated (the last sentence). The complete information on suppliers should be added.
Answer: The 30% acrylamide: bis solution (29:1) for electrophoresis was bought from J.T. Barker (Phillipsburg, NJ, USA). Protein maker was bought from GeneDierX, Inc. (Taoyuan, Taiwan). Tetramethyl ethylenediamine (Temed) was bought from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany). Protein loading dye was bought from Strong Biotech, Corp. (Taipei, Taiwan). Aerobic count plate (3M Petrifilm 6400), yeast and mold count plates (3M Petrifilm 6477, 500 EA/CS), and papain (2000 FCCU/mg, Decken Biotech, Taichung, Taiwan) were bought.
3. Section 2.6.1. The reference for Bradford method should be added.
Answer: We added 26. 26. Compton, S.J.; Jones, C.G. Mechanism of dye response and interference in the Bradford protein assay. Anal. Biochem. 1985, 151(2), 369-374.
4. Section 2.6.1. Abbreviation ABS from the Equation should be added to the text.
Answer: We cannot provide the equation now.
5. Mold should be changed to fungi or fungal.
Answer: We bought 3M™ Petrifilm™ Yeast and Mold Count Plate to test. ·
6. Lines 305-306: Number of bacteria and fungi should be given as CFU/mL.
Answer: The results indicated that the non-sterilized extract exhibited as high as 523,000 CFU/mL of bacteria and over 1000 CFU/mL of yeast and mold.
7. Lines 311-312: Shelf life – how long?
Answer: The shelf life of the extract by either autoclaving or HPP can be extended by 4°C refrigeration storage. It can be extended to several months. It can be further dried for storage by freeze-drying or hot air-assisted radio frequency (HARF). https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods11081173
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
It has been revised according to my suggestions.
