The impact of addition of pearl millet starch-germ complex in white bread on nutritional, textural, structural, and glycaemic response: Single blinded randomized controlled trial in healthy and pre-diabetic participants

The rise of pre-diabetes at the global level has created a significant interest in developing low glycaemic index food products. The pearl millet is a cheaper source of starch and its germ contains significant amount of protein and fat. The complexing of pearl millet starch and germ by dry heat treatment (PMSGH) resulted an increase in the resistant starch content upto 45.09 % due to formation of amylose-glutelin-linoleic acid complex. The resulting pearl millet starch germ complex was incorporated into wheat bread at 20, 25, and 30 %. The PMSGH incorporated into bread at 30 % reduced the glycaemic index to 52.31. The PMSGH incorporated bread had significantly (p < 0.05)increased in the hardness with a reduction in springiness and cohesiveness. The structural attributes of the 30 % PMSGH incorporated bread revealed a significant (p < 0.05)increase in 1040/1020 cm-1 ratio and relative crystallinity. The consumption of functional bread incorporated with pearl millet starch germ complex reduced blood glucose levels and in vivo glycaemic index in healthy and pre-diabetic participants when compared to white bread. Hence, the study showed that the incorporation of pearl millet starch-germ complex into food products could be a potential new and healthier approach for improving dietary options in pre-diabetes care.

Nutritional interventions for improving the endurance performance in athletes

Endurance refers to the ability of skeletal muscles to perform continuously withstanding the hardships of exercise. Endurance exercises have three phases: pre-, during-, and post-workout phase. The nutritional requirements that drive these phases vary on intensity, type of workout, individual's body composition, training, weather conditions, etc. Generally, the pre-workout phase requires glycogen synthesis and spare glycogen breakdown. While workout phase, requires rapid absorption of exogenous glucose, insulin release to transport glucose into muscle cells, replenish the loss of electrolytes, promote fluid retention, etc. However, post-workout phase requires quick amino acid absorption, muscle protein synthesis, repair of damaged muscle fibres and tendon, ameliorate inflammation, oxidative stress, etc. Therefore, nutritional sources that can help these metabolic requirements is recommended. In this review, various dietary interventions including timing and amount of nutrient consumption that can promote the above metabolic requirements that in turn support in improving the endurance potential in athletes are discussed.HIGHLIGHTSReview article describes nutritional requirements of endurance exercises.It also describes nutritional interventions to enhance the endurance potential in athletes.

DoseCal: a virtual calculator for dosage conversion between human and different animal species

CONTEXT

The scientists as well as pharmacologists frequently convert the dose of drugs or extracts between human and different animal species. According to the literature, the extrapolation of the dose by simple conversion based only on body weight is not an accurate method. The miscalculation of dosage conversion may result in adverse effects due to overdose or reduced potency due to underdose.

AIM

To develop a conversion calculator with factual factor like K_m factor.

METHOD

The virtual calculator was developed as a web-based application using hypertext pre-processor programming language. My SQL software was used to store the data related to DoseCal.

RESULTS

Based on the K_m factor, dose conversion calculator called DoseCal was developed. The DoseCal would provide the dosage for both per kg and actual weight of the animal taken for the experiment.

CONCLUSION

The DoseCal would assist scientists in the dosage conversion easily and accurately between species.

Synthesis, characterization and anti-inflammatory properties of karanjin (Pongamia pinnata seed) and its derivatives

Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) is a medicinal tree used in the Indian traditional ayurvedic system for treating several ailments. The seeds contain a unique furano-flavonoid karanjin, which has shown to possess many medicinal properties. Its usage at the clinical level is affected due to poor solubility and absorption. In the present investigation, molecular modifications of karanjin were attempted and evaluated their effect on anti-inflammatory activity. Firstly, Karanja ketone was obtained from karanjin by hydrolysis, and it was converted into karanja ketone oxime. The oxime undergoes Beckmann rearrangement and cyclized to yield furano benzoxazole (karanja oxazole). The new derivatives were purified with >95% purity (HPLC) and spectrally characterized (HR-MS, FTIR, and NMR). Among the test compounds, karanja ketone oxime exhibited higher antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 360 µg/ml (DPPH). Soy lipoxygenase-1 (LOX-1) inhibitory activity of oxime was higher (IC50 = 65.4 µM) than other compounds. Fluorescence studies showed that oxime had higher quenching capacity with a Qmax of 76.3% and a binding constant of 0.9 × 105 M-1 for soy LOX-1. In-silico interaction studies showed that karanja ketone oxime had the least binding energy of -5.76 kcal/mol with LOX-1 by forming two hydrogen bonds with hydrophobic amino acids Leu 390 and Gly 392. The compounds were evaluated for their acute anti-inflammatory activity by the paw and ear edema in the rat model. Karanjin inhibits paw edema and ear edema by 34.13% and 51.13%, respectively, whereas the derivatives inhibited by 45-57 % and 70-76.8%. This study reports a rational approach to synthesize karanjin derivatives with considerable anti-inflammatory properties, both in-vitro and in-vivo.

The potential of the iron concentrated germinated wheat in wheat flour fortification: an alternative to the conventional expensive iron fortification

Investigation of the effect of the Fe abiotic stress on the germination rate, iron accumulation, root and shoot elongation of wheat (Triticum aestivum) was carried out. The grains were exposed to different experimental concentrations of ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄) (0-15 mM). The effect of the treatment on the shoot and root elongation of the seeds were reported. There is a linear relationship between the treatment and the inhibition of shoot elongation. The half-inhibition dose (ID₅₀) of FeSO₄ on inhibition of shoot elongation was 7.3 mM. Each treatment groups (3-15 mM) were used to fortify the wheat flour at 0.1 mg Fe/g. The effect of fortification on rheology (farinograph, extensograph, and amylograph), quality of pasta and iron bioavailability was studied. The pasta cooking properties, texture and sensory properties of 12 and 15 mM composite pasta were equally acceptable as wheat without fortification, or NaFeEDTA fortified pasta. The iron dialysability of 3-15 mM composite pasta was similar to the NaFeEDTA fortified pasta. The iron bioavailability (in vivo) of 15 mM group based pasta was evaluated in the anemic rats. The pasta at 4% (Fe 0.026 mg/g) in iron-deficient diet fed to anemic rats for 2 weeks showed percentage iron absorption (PIA) and hemoglobin regeneration efficiency (HRE) of 85.3% and 44.4% respectively which is higher than the NaFeEDTA. In conclusion, iron-fortified pasta is the promising food fortificant with more iron bioavailability in the prevention of iron deficiency anemia.

Characterization of nutrients, amino acids, polyphenols and antioxidant activity of Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) peel

Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula) is consumed as a vegetable after peeling off the skin which is a domestic waste. Luffa acutangula peel (LAP) was observed to be a good source of fiber (20.6 %) and minerals (7.7 %). Amino acid analysis revealed presence of the highest content of Carnosine followed by aspartic acid and aminoadipic acid. Antioxidant activity of different extracts showed that ethyl acetate extract was more potent when compared to other solvent extractions. It exhibited a significant amount of phenolic acids like p-coumaric acid (68.64 mg/100 g of dry weight) followed by gallic acid (34.98 mg/100 g of dry weight), protocatechuic acid (30.52 mg/100 g of dry weight) in free form and ferulic acid (13.04 mg/100 g of dry weight) in bound form.

Solid lipid nanoparticle enhances bioavailability of hydroxycitric acid compared to a microparticle delivery system

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are the most promising delivery system that improves the stability, bioavailability and controlled release of food bioactive compounds.

The influence of droplet size on the stability, in vivo digestion, and oral bioavailability of vitamin E emulsions

Vitamin E (α-tocopherol) is a nutraceutical compound, which has been shown to possess potent antioxidant and anticancer activity.

Effects of fermentatively recovered fish waste lipids on the growth and composition of broiler meat

1. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of feeding fermentatively recovered fish oil (FFO) from fish processing waste (FPW), on the performance and carcass composition of broilers. A total of 60 one-d-old VenCobb broiler chicks randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups were studied. 2. The birds were randomly assigned to treatment groups and fed with a normal commercial diet (control, T1), a diet with 2% groundnut oil (positive control, T2), a diet with 1% FFO (T3), a diet with 1.5% FFO (T4) and a diet with 2% FFO (T5). Performance and growth parameters (feed intake and body weight) and fatty acid composition of serum, liver and meat were determined. 3. The performance characteristics of broiler meat did not differ among treatments. Feeding FFO reduced total cholesterol concentration in serum, meat and liver of the FFO-fed groups (T3 to T5) as compared to both the controls (T1 and T2), but there was no significant difference in triglyceride concentration between treatments. Increased concentrations of EPA and DHA in serum, liver and meat of FFO-fed groups, as compared to both controls, were observed as the FFO concentration increased. 4. The study clearly demonstrates the value of oil recovered from FPW in addition to addressing the environmental issues related to disposal of such biological waste.

Safety evaluation of Mucor rouxii CFR-G15 biomass containing ω-6 fatty acids in rats

Mucor rouxii CFR-G15 is an oleaginous zygomycetous fungus. The mycelia of the fungus accumulate 35.0±0.8% total lipid of which, 18.55±0.46% is gamma linolenic acid. Acute and subchronic studies were conducted by feeding rats with dry biomass of M. rouxii CFR-G15 to assess the safety of the oils in the fungal mycelium. For acute toxicity studies, adult male rats fed with diet at 0, 5000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000 mg/kg bw for 1 day, and the animals were monitored for 14 days. Rats weighing 35±2.5 g were fed for 13 weeks with a diet incorporating 2500, 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 mg/kg (w/w) dry biomass for subchronic toxicity studies. Control consists of the diet without the dry biomass. Dietary feeding of M. rouxii biomass at any level showed no significant changes (p>0.05) in food intake, body weight, organs weight and serum enzymes. Macroscopic and microscopic observations revealed that the vital organs were unaffected by the feed containing the dry biomass. However, triglycerides and cholesterol levels in serum were decreased significantly (p<0.05) in the test rats. The results of this study suggests that feeding fungal mycelia containing oil is safe when fed to rats and also shows positive effects on controlling triglycerides and cholesterol.

Antioxidant and lipid peroxidation activities in rats fed with Aspergillus carbonarius carotenoid

Effect of feeding partially saturated canthaxanthin (PSC), purified from Aspergillus carbonarius mutant, was studied using four groups of female albino rats (n=6) for 4 weeks. While the control group received basal diet ad libitum, Groups I, II and III were fed with basal diet containing 50, 100 and 250 ppm PSC, respectively. PSC feeding did not cause any significant changes in food intake and there was no gain in body weight either. PSC included in the diet significantly decreased cholesterol in blood. There was 44.75% and 60.54% decrease in LDL-cholesterol in rats fed with 50 and 100 ppm carotenoid. Hepatic ascorbic acid content increased by 44.59% in rats fed with 50 ppm PSC. Dietary PSC at 250 ppm lowered lipid peroxides by 19.49%. Activities of antioxidant enzymes, glutathione transferase and catalase were significantly higher in serum and liver of PSC fed rats compared to the controls. The results suggested that PSC feeding can induce hypocholesterolmic and antioxidant properties in rats.