Manisha Mangal

Utilization of Food Processing By-products as Dietary, Functional, and Novel Fiber: A Review

Fast growing food processing industry in most countries across the world, generates huge quantity of by-products, including pomace, hull, husk, pods, peel, shells, seeds, stems, stalks, bran, washings, pulp refuse, press cakes, etc., which have less use and create considerable environmental pollution. With growing interest in health promoting functional foods, the demand of natural bioactives has increased and exploration for new sources is on the way. Many of the food processing industrial by-products are rich sources of dietary, functional, and novel fibers. These by-products can be directly (or after certain modifications for isolation or purification of fiber) used for the manufacture of various foods, i.e. bread, buns, cake, pasta, noodles, biscuit, ice creams, yogurts, cheese, beverages, milk shakes, instant breakfasts, ice tea, juices, sports drinks, wine, powdered drink, fermented milk products, meat products and meat analogues, synthetic meat, etc. A comprehensive literature survey has been carried on this topic to give an overview in the field dietary fiber from food by-products. In this article, the developments in the definition of fiber, fiber classification, potential sources of dietary fibers in food processing by-products, their uses, functional properties, caloric content, energy values and the labelling regulations have been discussed.

Biotechnological advances in jojoba [Simmondsia chinensis (Link) Schneider]: recent developments and prospects for further research

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis), is a medicinal and oil-yielding, multi-purpose species of the family Simmondsiaceae. The most valuable product of jojoba seed is the liquid wax or jojoba oil which is used extensively in the cosmetic and bio-fuel industry. Propagation of jojoba is possible using conventional methods, but it is time consuming and cumbersome owing to long rotation periods, male-biased population, and long flowering and seed set time. The development of an efficient regeneration system is a prerequisite for a number of biotechnological interventions for the improvement of jojoba, such as genetic transformation, production of useful metabolites in vitro, etc. During the past decade, therefore, several attempts have been made for in vitro propagation of jojoba. Organogenesis has been achieved in this species from mature as well as juvenile explants. Present communication reports an overview of the in vitro regeneration of jojoba via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. Factors affecting organogenesis as well as production of synthetic seeds using shoot tips and axillary buds have also been discussed; however, efforts need to be made to develop an efficient genetic transformation system in jojoba. The purpose of this review is to focus upon the current information on in vitro propagation and biotechnological advances made in jojoba.

Molecular Detection of Foodborne Pathogens: A Rapid and Accurate Answer to Food Safety

Food safety is a global health concern. For the prevention and recognition of problems related to health and safety, detection of foodborne pathogen is of utmost importance at all levels of food production chain. For several decades, a lot of research has been targeted at the development of rapid methodology as reducing the time needed to complete pathogen detection tests has been the primary goal of food microbiologists. With the result, food microbiology laboratories now have a wide array of detection methods and automated technologies such as enzyme immunoassay, polymerase chain reaction, and microarrays, which can cut test times considerably. Nucleic acid amplification strategies and advances in amplicon detection methodologies have been the key factors in the progress of molecular microbiology. A comprehensive literature survey has been carried out to give an overview in the field of foodborne pathogen detection. In this paper, we describe the conventional methods, as well as recent developments in food pathogen detection, identification, and quantification, with a major emphasis on molecular detection methods.

Food Adulteration: Sources, Health Risks and Detection Methods.

ABSTRACT Adulteration in food has been a concern since the beginning of civilization, as it not only decreases the quality of food products but also results in a number of ill effects on health. Authentic testing of food and adulterant detection of various food products is required for value assessment and to assure consumer protection against fraudulent activities. Through this review we intend to compile different types of adulterations made in different food items, the health risks imposed by these adulterants and detection methods available for them. Concerns about food safety and regulation have ensured the development of various techniques like physical, biochemical/immunological and molecular techniques, for adulterant detection in food. Molecular methods are more preferable when it comes to detection of biological adulterants in food, although physical and biochemical techniques are preferable for detection of other adulterants in food.

Non-dairy Based Probiotics: A Healthy Treat for Intestine

Dairy-based fermented products and yoghurts have been utilized as potential probiotic products since ancient times. However, recent upsurge in interest of consumers towards dairy alternatives has opened up new vistas for non-dairy probiotic research and development. Various matrices and substrates such as cereals, fruit juices, or mixture thereof are being utilized for delivering these beneficial microorganisms. Each matrix offers some advantages over the other. Vast knowledge available on a number of conventional fermented foods can also be utilized for future research in this area. The present review provides an insight on the recent research/developments in the field of non-dairy probiotic foods with particular reference to the foods consumed conventionally, in addition to their commercial availability and a way forward.

MACRO AND MICROMORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF DIFFERENT ASPERGILLUS ISOLATES

Aflatoxin contamination of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a serious problem through out the world which leads to significant economic losses every year. Invasion of groundnut seed by the aflatoxin-producing fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, and subsequent contamination with aflatoxins, may occur at any stage during the postharvest handling of its seeds, which necessitates development of suitable procedures for identification of the pathogen. An identification key for different fungal isolates was developed on the basis of macromorphological features viz. diameter, elevation, margins, texture of the colony as well as colour of the colony from the top and reverse of the plate, extent of sporulation (low, medium and heavy) and presence and absence of radial sulcation after seven days of culture. Microscopic features such as shape and size of conidia, vesicles and hyphae have also been included in the key. On the basis of this key different Aspergillus isolates viz. A. Niger, A. fumigatus, A flavus, A.terreus, A.parasiticus, A.oryzae could be differentiated thereby showing a potential for detection of aflatoxigenic fungi in the infected lot.

Rice Bran Stabilization using Papain Enzyme

Attempts were made to utilize papain enzyme for the stabilization of rice bran. Rice bran was treated with different concentrations of papain. Free fatty acid concentration (FFA), an indicator of hydrolytic rancidity, was measured at different durations of storage. The effect of three factors viz. concenntration of enzyme (mg per 100g of rice bran), duration of enzymatic treatment (min.) and duration of storage (days) was studied on four responses viz. % FFA content, % oil content, % fibre and % protein content of rice bran. Experiments were conducted using Response Surface Methodology. Based on optimization, the recommended concentration was 50 mg papain enzyme per 100 g bran, with 60 min treatment duration and 15 days of storage at 4°C. The predicted value for FFA at 15th day was 9.27%, that of total fat, protein and fibre levels were 18.46, 16.27 and 8.21% respectively.

Characterization of cultivated and wild species of Capsicum using microsatellite markers

Diversity of twenty four genotypes of hot pepper representing cultivated species Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens, C. baccatum and C. chinense as well as a wild species C. chacoense was analyzed in the present study using 99 microsatellite loci distributed uniformly throughout the genome. The 85 polymorphic loci, out of 99 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci used, amplified a total of 192 alleles among the 24 genotypes with one to five allele per loci. The average number of alleles per loci was found to be 2.25. The highest polymorphism information content (PIC value) was observed to be 0.729 for the marker located on linkage group 6. Principal component analysis provided useful information regarding genetic relationship among genotypes as it distributed all the genotypes studied into three major groups each including different species. All the C. annuum genotypes were grouped together while other cultivated species formed a separate group. The C. chacoenese was the only wild species studied which, although, fell within the first group but was placed separately from C. annuum. Besides, all the Chilli leaf curl resistant genotypes were grouped together.

Conservation and Dispersion of Genes Conferring Resistance to Tomato Begomoviruses between Tomato and Pepper Genomes

In the present climate change scenario, controlling plant disease through exploitation of host plant resistance could contribute toward the sustainable crop production and global food security. In this respect, the identification of new sources of resistance and utilization of genetic diversity within the species may help in the generation of cultivars with improved disease resistance. Begomoviruses namely, Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Chilli leaf curl virus (ChLCV) are known to cause major yield losses in several economically important crop plants of the family Solanaceae. Though co-occurrence, association and synergistic interactions among these viruses in the host plants is reported, whether orthologous genetic loci in related host plants could be responsible for conferring resistance to these viruses has not been investigated yet. Several loci including Ty1, Ty2, Ty3, Ty4, and ty5 have been reported to confer resistance to leaf curl viruses in tomato. Here, we examined the pepper orthologous markers, corresponding to these QTL regions, for polymorphism between ChLCV susceptible and resistant genotypes of pepper. Further, to examine if the polymorphic markers are segregating with the disease resistance, Bulk Segregant Analysis (BSA) was performed on F2 population derived from crosses between resistant and susceptible lines. However, none of the markers showed polymorphism in BSA suggesting that the tested markers are not linked to genes/QTLs responsible for conferring resistance to ChLCV in the selected genotypes. In silico analysis was performed to study the synteny and collinearity of genes located within these QTL regions in tomato and pepper genomes, which revealed that more than 60% genes located in Ty2 and Ty4, 13.71% genes in Ty1, 23.07% in Ty3, and 44.77% genes located within ty5 QTL region in tomato are conserved in pepper genome. However, despite such a high conservation in gene content, the linkage relationship in these regions seems to be greatly affected by gross rearrangements in both the species.

Assessment of Acid, Bile tolerance and Antibiotic resistance of Lactic acid Bacteria isolated from Fermented Foods

With the aim of selecting potential probiotic cultures, 19 different bacteria were isolated from different fermented foods like curd, semolina, paneer whey and sour milk. Among the isolates, the 7 isolates identified as Streptococcus infantarius BBE2 (from curd), Enterococcus faecium BBE3 (from curd), Lactobacillus fermentum BBE4 (from curd), Lactobacillus fermentum BBE5 (from sour milk), Lactobacillus fermentum BBE6 (from curd), Lactobacillus plantarum BBE7 (from paneer whey) and Bacillus cereus (from fermented semolina) were tested for their tolerance against acidic/gastric conditions, bile and assessed for their bile salt hyrolase activity and antibiotic resistance pattern. Among all the strains, the isolates B. cereus and L. fermentum BBE5 showed maximum survival at pH2 and bile tolerance. Isolate L. fermentum BBE5 showed maximum tolerance to gastric juice and bile salt hydrolase activity. None of the isolates showed resistance towards all the tested antibiotics. Based on their survival in pH 2 and in 0.3% bile, the tested isolates may be able to resist passage through the gastro-intestinal tract. Further, the isolate L. fermentum BBE5 may be a potential probiotic.