Faqir Muhammad Anjum

Postharvest intervention technologies for safety enhancement of meat and meat based products; a critical review

Globally, the demand for safe, healthy and nutritious meat and allied products possesses improved taste with extended shelf life is mounting. Microbial safety is among the imperative challenges that prevails in meat products because they provide an ideal medium for the growth of microorganisms particularly pathogenic bacteria. The incidence of these microbes can result quality deterioration of products leading towards food borne diseases when consumed by peoples. Several preservation technologies like chemical and biological interventions are effective to retard or inactivate the growth of micro-organisms most commonly related to food-borne diseases. Despite these, innovative approaches like hydrostatic pressure processing, active packaging, pulse electric field, hurdle approach and use of natural antimicrobials can be deployed to enhance the safety of meat and meat products. The objective of review is to describe the current approaches and developing technologies for enhancing safety of meat and allied meat products.

Potential protective properties of flax lignan secoisolariciresinol diglucoside

Lignans are a group of phytonutrients which are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Flaxseed is the richest source of providing lignan precursor such as secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG). This article reviews the studies relevant to experimental models in animals and humans demonstrating the possible nutraceutical actions of SDG to prevent and alleviate lifestyle-related diseases. A local and international web-based literature review for this project was carried out to provide information relating to the study. The major key word “SDG” was selected to gather information using the electronic databases pertaining to the current state of flaxseed lignans composition, bioactive compounds, metabolism and to find out their role in terms of chemopreventive action. The extraction methods vary from simple to complex depending on separation, fractionation, identification and detection of the analytes. The majority of studies demonstrate that SDG interferes with the development of different types of diseases like cardiovascular, diabetic, lupus nephritis, bone, kidney, menopause, reproduction, mental stress, immunity, atherosclerosis, hemopoietic, liver necrosis and urinary disorders due to its various biological properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antiobesity, antihypolipidemic and neuroprotective effects. Moreover, SDG has a defending mediator against various cancers by modulating multiple cell signaling pathways. As discussed in this review, SDG has shown therapeutic potential against a number of human diseases and can be recommended for discerning consumers.

Natural polyphenols: An overview

ABSTRACT Plant-derived functional foods are gaining considerable attention due to their safety and therapeutic potentials. Research on plant-based functional foods presents several challenges ranges from hypercholesterolemia to cancer prevention. In last decade, special attention has been paid to edible plants and especially their phytochemicals. Today, there is an increasing interest in their bioactivities provided by these phytochemicals. Polyphenols are the most numerous and widely distributed group of bioactive molecules. Polyphenols have two general classes, one is flavonoids and other is phenolic acids. Among these, flavonoids are further divided into flavones, flavononse, flavonols, flavanols, isoflavones, and phenolic acids are generally classified into hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids. Fruit peel is one of the dense sources for flavonoids and their content may vary from species to species and due to exposure of light. Polyphenols have wide range of molecules and different set of biological activities that are mainly attributed to their structure. Investigations have revealed that polyphenols play a key role to prevent various diseases, like hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and cancer insurgence. The current review article summarizes the literature pertaining to polyphenols and its allied health benefits.

Aqueous garlic extract attenuates hypercholesterolemic and hyperglycemic perspectives; rabbit experimental modeling

Functional and nutraceutical foods are gaining popularity worldwide due to the consumer trend towards natural cure by means of dietary modifications. In 20th Century, nutritionists of the Western world focused mainly on the identification, isolation and purification of nutrients essential for human growth and development. Garlic ( Allium sativum ), is one of the most essential vegetables providing health benefits due to array of bioactive compounds. These bioactive moieties are responsible for curing various lifestyle related disorders like hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity and cancer insurgence. In this context, aqueous garlic extraction was carried out followed by in vivo modeling. Efficacy study was conducted by providing aqueous garlic extract along with basal diet on rabbits for a period of 28 days. Accordingly, four groups were made providing different concentrations of aqueous garlic extract (control, 3, 6 and 9 mL/kg body weight). Functional garlic extract containing water soluble active compounds resulted in significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL level indicating their effectiveness against hypercholesterolemic perspectives and allied discrepancies. Likewise, serum glucose level was also substantially reduced by aqueous garlic extract. From the present investigation, it was deduced that different concentrations of aqueous garlic extract were effective against hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia. Key words:

Antioxidant proteins and peptides to enhance the oxidative stability of meat and meat products: A comprehensive review

ABSTRACT Lipid oxidation is among the major flaw-grounding processes in meat and meat-based products that can affect interactions among lipids and proteins, leading to critically undesirable changes. Therefore, it is imperative to control lipid oxidation in meat allied products to enhance consumer acceptability. Moreover, lipid oxidation is somber dilemma visage by the meat processing industry, affects food constituents, leading to detrimental alterations that can impart the deleterious effects on human health upon consumption. Various synthetic (butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ)) and natural antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin A, tocopherols, especially vitamin E, flavonoids particularly quercetin, proteins, and peptides) as well as preservatives are employed to extend the storability of meat and resultants products; however, great consideration is paid to the utilization of natural antioxidants due to the harmful side effects imparted by synthetic counterparts. Recently, bioactive peptides are claimed to thwart lipid oxidation in meat and other products; in addition, these antioxidant peptides have also been reported to possess substantial health-promoting potential besides controlling oxidation. Therefore, the present review is intended to emphasize the sources, production methods, and applications of antioxidant proteins and peptides to control oxidative degradation in meat products and the potential health benefits of bioactive peptides. Furthermore, the techniques available for the extraction, characterization, and assessment of the antioxidant capability of bioactive peptides are discussed critically in this review.

Acute effects of different dietary polysaccharides added in milk on food intake, postprandial appetite and glycemic responses in healthy young females.

Abstract In the present study we compared the postprandial glycemic and satiety responses of different dietary polysaccharides when added in milk (2% M.F.). The objective of this study was to evaluate different polysaccharides against postprandial glucose, appetite responses and food intake at subsequent meal. In a repeated measures design, 30 females (18–30 years) consumed 250 ml milk 2% M.F. (control), or milk with carrageenan (2.5 g), guar gum (2.5 g) and alginate (2.5 g), followed by an ad libitum pizza meal after 120 min. Alginate and guar gum addition resulted in lower caloric intake at subsequent pizza meal. The post-treatment (0–120 min) glucose and average appetite were suppressed by alginate and guar gum (p < 0.0001), with more pronounced effect of guar gum. However, alginate resulted in lower blood glucose (p < 0.0001) compared with control and carrageenan during post-treatment. Alginate and guar gum added beverages would be beneficial in short-term regulation of postprandial glycemia and satiety.

Electrophoretic Characteristics of Gluten Proteins as Influenced by Crop Year and Variety

The glutenin and gliadin fractions in different wheat varieties produced during two different cropping years were determined through SDS-PAGE and Acid-PAGE. It was evident from the electropherograms that greater numbers of polypeptides were present in the region falling under low molecular weight glutenin subunits. The SDS-PAGE patterns of molecular weight of glutenin subunits of different wheat varieties showed the presence of glutenin subunits in the range of 28.23 to 110.89 kDa and 28.29 to 113.51 kDa during the cropping years 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively. The highest molecular weight glutenin subunit (110.89 kDa) was observed in wheat variety Lassani-08, during the crop year 2010-11, while during the cropping season 2011-12, the highest molecular weight glutenin subunit (113.51 kDa) was found in wheat variety AARI-10. It was also evident from the results that the maximum numbers of gliadin electropherograms were found in wheat variety Lassani-08. The results regarding gliadin bands revealed that total gliadin electropherograms ranged from 31.03 to 89.61 kDa and 32.91 to 92.22 kDa among different wheat varieties, during the crop years 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively. The polypeptides with molecular weight between 31.03 to 54.50 kDa and 32.91 to 55.21 kDa belongs to α-, β- and γ-subunits of gliadin, during the crop years 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively. The group of polypeptides with a molecular weight of about 54.50 to 89.61 kDa and 55.21 to 92.22 kDa was composed of subunits of ω-gliadins during the crop years 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively.

Physiological and Nutraceutical Perspectives of Fructan

Functional and nutraceutical foods have captured the global market owing to trends and perceptions of consumers on the natural products and diet-health linkages. Health promoting potential of such foods has been attributed to the presence of essential bioactive moieties. Wheat, being staple food in many parts of the world, gained substantial attention of researchers particularly for the extraction of various functional components. Among these, fructan oligosaccharides in nature bestow quality of baked products and provide protection against various physiological disorders. Addition of fructan in various baked products enhances softness and color, especially in bread, and also imparts textural improvement. Moreover, fructans boost mineral absorption, hypocholesterolemic, and hypoglycemic perspectives, bifidogenic nature and controlling cancer insurgence. The benefits allied with fructan are mainly dose and time dependent. In this context, its industrial applications for vulnerable groups are increasing worldwide.