Explore the vast range of titles available.

Essential oils (EOs) are complex mixtures of compounds derived from plants that exhibit antimicrobial activity. Several studies have demonstrated their antifungal activity in food matrices or in vitro via vapor phase or direct addition. Recently, researchers are focusing on elucidating the target site or the mechanism of action of various EOs. Past research has suggested evidence of how EOs act in the fungal cells via assays assessed from cell wall alterations or gene expression modifications. However, no previous reports have summarized most methods for finding the target site of the mechanism of action for EOs. Therefore, this review presents the methods and assays used to discover the target site or the mechanism of action of EOs against fungal cells. Researchers commonly analyze the plasma membrane integrity using various techniques as well as the changes in cell morphology. Meanwhile, the quantification of the activity of the mitochondrial enzymes, ROS species, and gene expression are less assayed.

This study aimed to explore the antioxidant and antibacterial compounds in P. edulis peels and to identify the effectiveness of P. edulis peels extract on preserved meat. In this research studies, the antioxidant compound from sample extract of P. edulis peel is determined using total flavonoid and total phenolic content respectively. TPC of 7.273 ± 0.002 mg GAE/g extract was detected while TFC of 8.364 ± 0.002 mg QE/g extract was found significantly. LC-QTOF_MS confirmed the phenolic compounds in the P. edulis extract. Antibacterial ability of sample extract is proven by inhibition zone observed in agar plate that containing four types of foodborne pathogen extract exerted a strong antibacterial activity against three tested strains which were E. coli , Serratia and Aureus . The effectiveness of sample extract on meat antioxidant is determined using DPPH when percentage of scavenging activity up to 13%, ABTS with 60%, reducing power assay with 48% and metMY reach maximum percentage which is 70% at day 6. The pH value of marinated meat with sample extract indicated that the meat is safe and not required immediate consumption after 9 days. In conclusion, P. edulis peels extract can be considered as a natural antioxidant and antibacterial on meat as well as food preservative for frozen meat.

Sterile and fresh tissues of three marine macroalgae red, green and brown ( Kappaphycus alvarezii, Kappaphycus striatus and Padina gymnospora ) collected from Malaysia east costal seas were compared for the antioxidants and polysaccharide composition of sugars as well as the active components. Results obtained showed that polysaccharides isolated from Kappaphycus alvarezii, Kappaphycus striatus and Padina gymnospora ) can be used as a source of natural antioxidant compounds as they possess antioxidant potential in which the Padina gymnospora showed 15.56 ± 0.12 mg/mL to be the best antioxidants among all the polysaccharides studied. The hot water extraction method is effective in isolating polysaccharides from studied seaweeds. The GC–MS analysis revealed that there is presence of chemical compounds such as furfural was 25.53% in Kappaphycus alvarezii and 21.04% in Kappaphycus striatus also Padina gymnospora incorporates n- Hexadecanoic acid about 26.31% in seaweed polysaccharides that contribute to their antioxidant activities. Further studies can be done on determining the seaweed species that are available abundantly with the best source of natural antioxidant compounds.

The edible flowers and its several products gaining its importance as functional food. Pumpkin flower mainly consumed in India and Mexico but due to lack of scientific research there is a neophobia among people. The objective of the paper is to analyse the physicochemical, biochemical properties, proximate analysis, antioxidant activities, anthocyanin content and fatty acid profiling. The fresh pumpkin flower was having an average moisture content of 85% (wb) with a dimension of 90 × 51 x 22 mm (l x w x t). The (L, a*, b*) value signifies the bright yellow color having gumminess (26 g) and chewiness (4.70 mJ). In this study the nutritional properties of the pumpkin flower were also determined and significant amount of Sodium (11.5 mg/100 g), Potassium (18.2 mg/100 g), Calcium (17.6 mg/100 g), phenol (17.39 µg/ml), flavonoid (17.13 µg/ml), antioxidant (51.65%DPPH) and anthocyanin (10.3 mg/100 g) was present. Among several fatty acids’ oleic acid (21%), myristic acid (15.99%) and stearic acid (15.19%) was maximum. The presence of several phytonutrients and fatty acids makes pumpkin flower a potential source of functional food in near future. Graphical abstract

Cyanobacteria is blue–green microalgae that produces a variety of secondary metabolites such as antibiotic, cytotoxic and antimicrobial agents. Present investigation proposed to study an extraction of active agents from Cyanobacteria and its antibacterial activity. The Cyanobacteria were collected, and isolated colony was found to be Oscillatoria sp. and it was grown in BG 11 medium for mass cultivation. Then the centrifuged biomass was weighed and used for extraction of bioactive compounds. GCMS analysis from Oscillatoria sp. determines fatty acid, triazine derivatives, pyridine derivatives, acridine derivatives. The result revealed that Oscillatoria sp. can play crucial roles as antibacterial agents because the methanolic extract are inhibiting the growth of S. aureus for gram-positive whereas P. aeruginosa for gram-negative bacteria. The crude extract was effective against S. aureus with the highest concentration, 100 mg/ml where area of the zone was 14.10 ± 0.8 mm. The crude extract actively inhibited P. aeruginosa at 75 and 100 mg/ml with highest area of inhibition were in the average of 13.23 ± 0.1 and 15.43 ± 0.2 mm. Finally, the antimicrobial activity was carried out by disc diffusion method with different concentrations of active compounds shows the MIC value in gram-positive bacteria was 30 µg/ml whereas for gram-negative bacteria was 25 µg/ml. Cyanobacteria extract should be preferred and considered to be new natural drug or antibiotics in pharmaceutical and health care industry. This coastal region should be studied further by researchers to study more information and benefits in the future.

In this research communication, taro starch and fenugreek mucilage were used, in four combination ratios, 1:1 (T1),1:2 (T2),1:3 (T3),2:1 (T4), one pure taro starch (To) and one pure fenugreek mucilage (Fo) to develop total six edible films. Films were evaluated on the basis of optical,textural, morphological, microbiological, color and thermal properties. The optical properties such as transparency and opacity found better results in higher taro concentration films i.e. T1 and T4. In color analysis, the chroma values were found in the range of 66.17–78.80 and hue angle values were found in the range of 22.67–33.85, for all the films. Films of pure fenugreek (Fo) and higher concentration ratio of fenugreek (T2 and T3) found highest rupture strength when compared with another film. Thermal conductivity of the films was founded in the range of 0.049–0.099 W/m°K. A least microbial growth of 1.0 × 10 2  ± 0.03 cfu/ml was found in Fo film and maximum microbial growth of 1.5 × 10 2  ± 0.03 cfu/ml was found pure taro starch film (To). SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) analysis of films found smooth surface for (To) and (Fo) films when compared to other films. Higher values of water vapour permeability indicated the porous structure,which allowed the water to penetrate inside the films, it was in the range of 1.53–2.79 mg/Pa.s.m 2 × 10 –11 . The film (To and Fo) found better results for most of the properties. This edible films can be used as a primary packaging material for food products.

A Nigerian Amaranthus viridis seed ( Tete ) was subjected to various processing conditions with the view to examining the impact of processing techniques on the nutritional, functional and pasting properties of the Amaranthus viridis seed flour. The outcome of the research demonstrated that germination fundamentally increased the nutritional as well as the functional properties of the amaranth flour while autoclaving enhanced the physical, pasting properties and flowability of the flour when compared to other processing methods. Defatted amaranth flour had the highest protein solubility when compared with other processing techniques. Likewise, germination and fermentation resulted in decrease in the degree of lightness and redness of the flour. The chemometrics analysis of the data revealed that three principal components accounted for 92.65% of the total variation of the data while the herechical clustering analysis revealed that processing of the seed led to the classification of the flour into three groups. Finally, from the study, both fermentation and germination enhanced the nutritional and functional properties of the amaranth flour and subsequently could be utilized formulation of gluten-free products and being used as functional food ingredients for weaning foods and baked products.

In recent years, virgin coconut oil (VCO) has been gaining dramatic growth in food markets and is one the most clinically studied edible oils. However, owing to its low plasticity and stiff nature, VCO could not be applied directly in edible fats production and various modification processes must be considered. In present study, physical blending with palm olein (PO) and chemical interesterification were conducted in order to improve the functional characteristics of VCO. Likewise, the alterations in chemical composition, solid fat content (SFC), slip melting point (SMP) and rheological attributes (e.g. flow behavior, strain sweep, frequency sweep and temperature sweep) of fat blends, prior and following interesterification were investigated. All blends were trans -free and interesterification modified the melting characteristics of fat blends through reduction of SFC and SMP. In terms of rheological attributes, a shear thinning demeanor in all fat blends was noticed and the flow data were fitted well with Herschel – Bulkley model. Interesterified samples were illustrated lower storage (G′) and loss (G″) moduli compared to initial blends. The elastic attribute of interesterified 10:90, 20:80, 30:70, 40:60 and 50:50 blends was prevailing up to 28.89, 29.68, 31.28, 34.46 and 36.05 °C, respectively. Finally, the interesterified blends of VCO and PO revealed characteristics fitted for production of not only trans -free roll-in shortening but table-grade, stick and Danish margarines, as well.

Influence of deep fat frying parameters on quality attributes of chicken nuggets from FUNAAB-Alpha broilers and optimization of the process using Box-Behnken experimental design of response surface methodology was investigated. Fried chicken nuggets were obtained using frying temperature (155–175 °C), frying time (3–7 min) and sample thickness (0.5–2.5 cm) as independent variables. Oil and moisture contents, texture (hardness, chewiness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness and springiness) and colour (L*, a* and b*) of samples were analyzed using standard procedures. Significance of each term in polynomial regression equations was evaluated on quality attributes. The accuracy of the regression models varied between 0.727 and 0.939. The effect of frying temperature on quality attributes of fried chicken nuggets was more significant ( p  > 0.05). The optimum frying temperature, frying time and sample thickness are determined as 175 °C, 3 min, 2.32 cm, respectively. Absolute percent error between optimized and experimental data were within the acceptable limit. Graphic abstract

This study provided a step-by-step procedure to investigate the distribution of 17 amino acids (AAs) in 50 fish, 50 bovine and 54 porcine gelatines using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Diode-Array Detector (UHPLC–DAD) with the incorporation of principal component analysis (PCA). Dataset pre-processing step, including outlier removal, analysis of variance (ANOVA), dataset adequacy test, dataset transformation and correlation test was performed before the PCA. The method rendered linearity range of 37.5–1000 pmol/µL and accuracy of 85–111% recovery. The bovine and porcine gelatines showed a similar ranking while the l -Alanine (Ala), l -Arginine (Arg) and l -Glutamic acid (Glu) concentrations had differed the fish gelatine from the bovine and porcine gelatines. The PCA, which explained 77.013% cumulative variability at eigenvalue of 5.436, showed AAs with strong FL in PC1 had polar and nonpolar side chains while AAs with strong FL in PC2 had polar side chain. The AAs with moderate and weak FL in PC1 had a nonpolar side chain. The AAs with strong FL of in PC1 were also the same AAs with 7, 6 and 5 strong CMs as determined in the correlation test. The second PCA showed that the l -Serine (Ser), Arg, Glycine (Gly), l -Threonine (Thr), l -Methionine (Met), l -Histidine (His) and L-Hydroxyproline (Hyp) were significant in fish gelatine; Hyp, Met, Thr, Ser, His, Gly, and Arg in bovine gelatine; and l -Proline (Pro), l -Tyrosine (Tyr), l -Valine (Val), l -Leucine (Leu), and l -Phenylalanine (Phe) in porcine gelatine. The 100% fish, bovine and porcine gelatines accommodated grouping 1, 2 and 3, respectively, which proved that AAs with strong FL (Hyp, His, Ser, Arg, Gly, Thr, Pro, Tyr, Met, Val, Leu and Phe) were the significant AAs and becomes the biomarkers to identify the gelatine source. From this study, the PCA was a useful tool to analyse a multivariate dataset that could provide an in-depth understanding of AA distributions as compared to ANOVA and correlation test.