Milk is a physiological fluid which has high nutritional value and soybean has strong antioxidant characteristics which is believed to inhibit carcinogenesis. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of administration of soybean and goat's milk on hepatocarcinogenesis in rats (fed with diethylnitrosamine; DEN and acetylaminofluorene; AAF) by determining the activities of plasma gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Thirty-six rats from the species Sprague-Dawley were divided into 6 groups : control, DEN/AAF, soybean, DEN/AAF with soybean treatment, goat's milk and DEN/AAF with goat's milk treatment. Soybean and goat's milk administrations were given 5 ml/day. The rats were sacrificed after 8 weeks and the blood was collected. Treatment with DEN/AAF caused an increase in ALP and GGT levels and a decrease in weight significantly (p<0.05). ALP and GGT activities decreased significantly after administration of soybean and goat's milk (p<0.05). Administration of goat's milk and soybean alone did not cause any changes in the enzyme activities. Comparison between the effect of soybean and goat's milk in reducing the enzyme activities (ALP and GGT) did not give significant values (p>0.05). However, a decrease in weight was observed in the rats given soybean as well as goat's milk. The results obtained suggested that soybean and goat's milk may work as anti cancer agents in hepatocarcinogenesis although further studies are required to further elucidate this aspect.
Year by year, huge quantities of by-products are generated during the manufacturing process of soybean-based products. Okara is one of the by-products, and it is an insoluble portion of the soybean. It consists of high moisture (8.4-22.9%); on dry matter basis, it contains high metabolizable energy (9.0-14.2 MJ/kg) and other components that include crude protein (20.9-39.1%), crude fiber (12.2-61.3%), crude fat (4.9-21.5%), and ash (3.4-5.3%). Fermentation of okara improves its nutritional quality and reduces its anti-nutrient contents. Due to animals' palatability, okara can be used to replace the soybean meal/concentrate feed partially or completely in ruminant's diet and partially in nonruminant's diet. Okara feeding does not depress the intake, digestibility, growth, milk production, blood metabolic profiles, and meat quality of animals. However, this by-product decays quickly due to its high moisture content, and its heavy weight and sticky nature make it difficult to process and expensive to dry using conventional methods. This paper thoroughly summarizes the utilization of okara as animal feed in the cause of developing a general guideline with favorable levels of inclusion in the diets of animals for its exploitation and valorization. This review will encourage further research to develop eco-friendly and value added feed for animals.
This study was conducted to determine the proximate composition and four micronutrients (Cd, Cu, Mn and Zn) of Indian Mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), Eel (Monopterus albus) and Cockle (Anadara granosa). All fish and shellfish were purchased from local fish market in Kuantan city. All samples of each species were mixed and divided into two groups based on random selection. Each group were again divided into 3 sub-groups which were considered as replications. The first group were kept uncooked. The second group were fried in a beaker of 400 mL palm cooking oil capacity at a temperature approximately of 180 degrees C for a 15 min period. Both raw and fried samples were analysed following standard methods to determine protein, lipid, ash, moisture, carbohydrate, Cd, Cu, Mn and Zn contents. Results showed that protein content was higher in Indian mackerel and eel than cockle while overall Cd, Cu, Mn and Zn contents were higher in cockle than Indian mackerel and eel. Therefore, fish is better than shellfish in the nutritional point of view. Fried fish and shellfish had very high fat content. Therefore, frying cannot be recommended to prepare a healthy diet. More research is needed including all cooking methods of fish to know the nutritional changes by each cooking method. Fish contains many important fatty acids and amino acids which might be lost during frying. Therefore, future study should include the effects of different cooking methods on amino acids and fatty acids compositions of fish and shellfish.
Nowadays the exploration and utilisation of food and feed from marine origin is becoming more important with the increase of human population. Macroalgae are rich in nutritious compounds, which can directly be used in human and animal feed industries. The current study presents the screening of chemical components of eight macroalgae species, Sargassum boveanum, Sirophysalis trinodis, Hypnea caroides, Palisda perforata, Galaxaura rugosa, Caulerpa racemose, Caulerpa sertularioides and Bryopsis corticolans from the Persian Gulf. The results revealed that the eight studied algal species possess high protein (14.46% to 38.20%), lipid (1.27% to 9.13%) and ash (15.50% to 49.14%) contents. The fatty acids and amino acids profile showed the presence of essential fatty acids and amino acids with high nutritional value. Phaeophyta species, S. boveanum and S. trinodis, showed the highest value of ash content and polyunsaturated fatty acids while Chlorophyta species, C. racemose, C. sertularioides and B. corticolans, showed the highest level of lipid and protein contents. Rhodophyta species, G. rugosa and P. perforata, showed the highest essential amino acid content. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the potential of the studied marine species as a nutritional source for human and animal uses.
Drugs dedicated to alleviate neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's have always been associated with debilitating side effects. Medicinal mushrooms which harness neuropharmacological compounds offer a potential possibility for protection against such diseases. Pleurotus giganteus (formerly known as Panus giganteus) has been consumed by the indigenous people in Peninsular Malaysia for many years. Domestication of this wild mushroom is gaining popularity but to our knowledge, medicinal properties reported for this culinary mushroom are minimal.
Nature is an amazing source for food, shelter, clothing and medicine. An impressive number of modern drugs are isolated from many sources like plants, animals and microbes. The development of natural products from traditional medicines is of great importance to society. Modern concepts and methodologies with abundant clinical studies, unique diversity of chemical structures and biological activities aid the modern drug discovery process. Kedrostis foetidissima (Jacq.) Cogn., a traditional medicinal plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, is found in India, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and Western Malaysia. Almost all parts of the plant are used in traditional systems of medicines and reported having medicinal properties in both in vitro and in vivo studies. In the last few years, extensive research work had been carried out using extracts and isolated phytoconstituents from Kedrostis foetidissima to confirm its pharmacology and biological activities. Many scientific reports show that crude extracts and extensive numbers of phytochemical constituents isolated from Kedrostis foetidissima have activities like antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, gastroprotective, anti-inflammatory and various other important medicinal properties. The therapeutic properties of the plants are mainly attributed to the existence of phytoconstituents like phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids and steroids. This comprehensive review in various aspects gave a brief overview of phytoconstituents, nutritional values and medicinal property of the plant and might attract the researchers to explore its medicinal activity by discovering novel biologically active compounds that can serve as a lead compound in pharmaceutical and food industry.
Acid sulfate, peat, sandy podzolic, and saline soils are widely distributed in the lowlands of Thailand and Malaysia. The nutrient concentrations in the leaves of plants grown in these type of soils were studied with the aim of developing a nutritional strategy for adapting to such problem soils. In sago and oil palms that were well-adapted to peat soil, the N, P, and K concentrations were the same in the mature leaves, while the Ca, Mg, Na, and Fe concentrations were higher in the mature leaves of the oil palm than of the sago palm. Melastoma malabathricum and Melaleuca cajuputi plants that were well-adapted to low pH soils, peat. and acid sulfate soils were also studied. It was observed that a high amount of Al accumulated in the M. marabathricum leaves, while Al did not accumulate in M. cajuputi leaves. M. cajuputi plants accumulated large amounts of Na in their leaves or stems regardless of the exchangeable Na concentration in the soil, while M. malabathricum that was growing in saline-affected soils excluded Na. Positive relationships between macronutrients were recognized between P and N, between K and N, and between P and K. Al showed antagonistic relationships with P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Na. Na also showed antagonistic relationships with P, K, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Al. Fe showed weak antagonistic relationships with Zn, Mn, Cu, and Al.
This study presents the proximate and mineral composition of Peperomia pellucida L., an underexploited weed plant in Malaysia. Proximate analysis was performed using standard AOAC methods and mineral contents were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. The results indicated Peperomia pellucida to be rich in crude protein, carbohydrate and total ash contents. The high amount of total ash (31.22%)suggests a high-value mineral composition comprising potassium, calcium and iron as the main elements. The present study inferred that Peperomia pellucida would serve as a good source of protein and energy as well as micronutrients in the form of a leafy vegetable for human consumption.
The nutritional properties of surimi-like materials produced from spent duck meat processed conventionally (CDS) and processed with acid and alkaline solubilization (ACDS and ALDS, respectively) were studied. The essential amino acids (EAAs) content was significantly higher (p
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is categorized as expensive oil due to high-quality nutritional value. Unfortunately, EVOO is easily adulterated with other low-quality edible oils. Therefore, this study was done to differentiate and analyze the adulteration of EVOO with other edible oils using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The study was used several edible oils included canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, and soybean oil as an adulterant for EVOO. The adulterant EVOO samples were prepared by mixing with dissimilar concentrations of the solely edible oils (20 %, 40 %, 60 % and 80 % (v/v)). The main functional groups of EVOO and other edible oils are O-H, C-H, C=C and C=O groups were assigned around 3500 cm-1, 2925 cm-1, 3006 cm-1 and 1745 cm-1 wavenumbers, respectively. From the comparison of EVOO and other adulterant edibles oil spectra, it showed that the EVOO has the lowest absorbance intensity at around 3006 cm-1 represented double bond which is closely related to the composition of oil sample. The adulteration of EVOO was evaluated by analysing the changes in the absorbance based on the linear regression analysis graph of the bands at 3006 and 2925 cm-1 and the limit of detection (LOD) was measured. The graph of A3008/A2925 with good relative coefficients (R2) and lower LOD is more favourable than the linear regression graph of A3006 versus percentage of edible oils added in EVOO. This study showed that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is a convenient tool for analysing the adulteration of EVOO.
Palm kernel cake (PKC), a by-product of the palm oil industry is limited in its use as a feed ingredient for poultry due to its high fibre and lignin content. The presence of these antinutritive components is the result of shells contaminating the by-product. The nutritive value of PKC has to be improved in order to increase its inclusion rate in poultry diet. In this study, PKC was subjected to a separation method using static cling and electrostatic separation to removethe shells present in PKC. Response surface methodology based on Box-Behnken design was used to optimize the separation method with moisture content (8 to 18%), particle size distribution (0.5 to 2.5 mm) and feed rate (20 to 200 g/min) as the independent variables evaluated. According to the regression coefficients and significance of the quadratic polynomial model, the optimum separation parameters were as follows: 13% PKC moisture content;
The application of microbial techniques in aquaculture has been playing a vital role to increase the production yield by improving the nutritional values of the targeted fish. Phototrophic purple bacteria as single cell protein (SCP) appears to be a promising substitution for protein rich supplement for aquaculture feeds making them a promising growth enhancer in aquaculture industry. Two species of phototrophic purple bacteria, Marichromatium sp. and Rhodopseudomonas sp. were used in the commercial diet to compare the growth, survival rate and feed utilizationon for Tor tambroides juvenile. Purple bacteria were isolated from mangrove sediment and fish tank and mass cultured using 112 synthetic media under anaerobic light condition. Bacterial cells were included in the diets by mixing the fresh biomass with the crushed commercial pellet, re-pelleted and air-dried. The experimental diets were fed to the fingerlings twice per day for 10 weeks to satiation level. The results showed that there were trends of increased growth, better survival rate and improved feed conversion ratio when fed with diet 1 (Marichromatium sp.) compared with other diets. There was significant difference (p<0.05) between the sampling days. The specific growth rate and weight gain of the fish fed with diet 1 were 0.49 % and 4.92 g, respectively, compared to 0.42% and 4.11 g from the control. This study suggested that purple bacteria could be used in feed formulation as a supplement to promote growth and survival of freshwater fishes in Malaysia.
The development of food products using composite flour has increased and is attracting much attention from researchers, especially in the production of bakery products and pastries. This article focuses on the use of composite flour to produce food products, namely bread, biscuits, and pasta, with looks at on its impact, following some improvements made, on the sensory quality, rheology characteristics, and nutritional values as well as its overall acceptance. The blending of wheat flour with various sources of tubers, legumes, cereals and fruit flour in different percentages to produce variety of food products are also reported in this review. It was found that composite flour used to produce food products is still able to maintain similar characteristics to products made from full-wheat flour. The positive effects of the use of composite flour can be seen in the final product related to the functional and physicochemical properties and health benefits of raw blended flour along with percentage blending. Overall, composite flour is a good new approach to utilizing uncommon food products as the application of composite flour produced products with different characteristics and quality, depending on the types and percentage of wheat flour used in the formulation.
Ficus deltoidea leaves were widely used as a tea beverages in Malaysia with no information of its mineral content. Hence the mineral content of two species of Ficus deltoidea leaves were investigated. The dried leaves of F. deltoidea var. angustifolia and F. deltoidea var. deltoidea were acid digested and mineral elements of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Mn, Cr, Fe and Zn were determined using ICP–MS. Magnesium, potassium, sodium, manganese, iron and zinc were found to be present in the leaves of F. deltoidea var. angustifolia and F. deltoidea var. deltoidea. Concentration of magnesium (1934 mg/L), manganese (58.37 mg/L), iron (6.89 mg/L) and zinc (1.77 mg/L) in F. deltoidea var. deltoidea species were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than in F. deltoidea var. angustifolia species with concentration of 317 mg/L, 29.62 mg/L, 4.55 mg/L and 1.26 mg/L for magnesium, manganese, iron and zinc respectively. Meanwhile, concentration of sodium in F. deltoidea var. deltoidea species (3.13 mg/L) was found to be significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the concentration in F. deltoidea var. angustifolia species (9.11 mg/L). The finding showed that the leaves of F. deltoidea var. deltoidea has higher nutritional value than the leaves of F. deltoidea var. angustifolia. Leaves of Ficus deltoidea especially the F. deltoidea var. deltoidea species contain high amount of magnesium, manganese and potassium. Therefore, tea made of this leaves can be served as a good source of minerals for human consumption.
The intake of dietary fibre (DF) has been proven to lower the risk of chronic diseases, leading to the increasing demand for fibre-enriched bakery product. Banana is one of the most consumed fruits that exhibits rich sources of DF and provides excellent nutritional health benefits. However, overripe banana is discarded due to its low quality and appearance. Thus, the present work was aimed to determine the properties of chocolate cookies formulated with overripe banana pulp powder (OBPP) as partial replacement (0, 6, 8, and 10%) for wheat flour. Nutritional composition, physical properties, and sensory acceptability of the cookies were analysed using AOAC methods, texture profile analyser, and 7-point hedonic scaling method, respectively. Results showed that increased incorporation of OBPP significantly increased the nutritional values of chocolate cookies. Chocolate cookies formulated with 10% of OBPP recorded the highest total dietary fibre (8.21%) and ash (1.23%) contents. In texture profile analysis, the firmness of the chocolate cookies was recorded to increase slightly with increasing level of OBPP, although this was not significant. Sensory scores for the control (0%) and 6% OBPP-incorporated cookies were not significantly different for all the sensory attributes. However, the incorporation of 8% OBPP produced the highest scores in terms of aroma, flavour, and overall acceptance. In summary, the addition of 8% OBPP could be an effective way to produce nutritious and the most palatable chocolate cookies.
Five underutilized wild vegetables namely Limnophila aromaticoides, Ceratopetris thalictroides, Crassocephalum crepidioides, Etlingera elatoir and Monochoria vaginalis were analyzed for nutritional values, phenolic components and antioxidant activities. These wild greens were found to have high fibre (11.3-19.8 g/100g) and ash (13.0-17.6 g/100g) contents as compared to commercialized species, Brassica juncea. The iron content of Monochoria vaginalis is four times higher than Brassica juncea (33.1 mg/g dry weight). Crassocephalum crepidioides demonstrated remarkable lipid peroxidation inhibition (90.4%). The phenolic content of Etlingera elatoir is two times higher than Brassica juncea. Thus, it is of both great free radical scavenger and iron chelators with the lowest EC50 values of 1.8 mg/ml and 2.3 mg/ml respectively. As a conclusion, these wild vegetables could be potentially used in alleviating micronutrients deficiency especially for the rural populace and as a potent source of natural antioxidants.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Pleurotus sajor-caju (PSC) powder addition at 0, 4, 8 and 12% levels on the nutritional values, pasting properties, thermal characteristics, microstructure, in vitro starch digestibility, in vivo glycaemic index (GI) and sensorial properties of biscuits. Elevated incorporation levels of PSC powder increased the dietary fibre (DF) content and reduced the pasting viscosities and starch gelatinisation enthalpy value of biscuits. The addition of DF-rich PSC powder also interfered with the integrity of the starch granules by reducing the sizes and inducing the uneven spherical shapes of the starch granules, which, in turn, resulted in reduced starch susceptibility to digestive enzymes. The restriction starch hydrolysis rate markedly reduced the GI of biscuits. The incorporation of 8% PSC powder in biscuits (GI=49) could be an effective way of developing a nutritious and low-GI biscuit without jeopardizing its desirable sensorial properties.
Jatropha seed cake (JSC) is an excellent source of protein but does contain some antinutritional factors (ANF) that can act as toxins and thus negatively affect the growth and health status of fish. While this can limit the use of JSC, detoxified Jatropha protein isolate (DJPI) may be a better option. An 8-week study was performed to evaluate dietary DJPI to common carp Cyprinus carpio. Five iso-nitrogenous diets (crude protein of 38%) were formulated that consisted of a C ontrol (fish meal (FM) based protein), J 50 or J 75 (50 and 75% of FM protein replaced by DJPI), and S 50 or S 75 (50 and 75% of FM protein replaced by soy protein isolate, SPI) and fed to triplicate groups of 75 carp fingerlings (75; av. wt. ± SD; 11.4 ± 0.25 g). The growth, feeding efficiencies, digestibility, plasma biochemistry, and intestinal enzymes were measured. Results showed that growth performance of fish fed the S 75- or DJPI-based diets were not significantly different from those fed the C ontrol diet, while carp fed the S 50 had significantly better growth than the J 75 diet. Fish fed the J 75 diet had significantly lower protein and lipid digestibility as well as significantly lower intestinal amylase and protease activities than all other groups. However, all plant protein-based diets led to significantly higher crude protein, crude lipid, and gross energy in the body of common carp compared to the control treatment. Plasma cholesterol and creatinine significantly decreased in the plant protein fed groups, although plasma triglyceride as well as the red blood cells count, hematocrit, albumin, globulin, total plasma protein, and lysozyme activity were higher in plant protein fed groups compared to FM fed group. White blood cells, hemoglobulin concentration, alkaline phosphatase and alanine transaminase activities, and glucose level in blood did not differ significantly among treatments. The results suggest that the DJPI is non-toxic to carp and can be used to replace FM in the diets of common carp up to 75%, but further research to potentially reduce some inherent ANF within this protein source, such as non-starch polysaccharides, may improve nutrient utilization.
This investigation aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and physicochemical properties of seed oils from 6 date palm (Phoenix. dactylifera L.) cultivars (Barhi, Khalas, Manifi, Rezeiz, Sulaj, and Sukkari) growing in Saudi Arabia and to compare them with conventional palm olein. The mean oil content of the seeds was about 7%. Oleic acid (48.67%) was the main fatty acid, followed by lauric acid (17.26%), stearic acid (10.74%), palmitic acid (9.88%), and linolenic acid (8.13%). The mean value for free fatty acids content was 0.5%. The P. dactylifera seed oil also exhibited a mean tocol content of 70.75 mg/100 g. α-Tocotrienol was the most abundant isomer (30.19%), followed by γ-tocopherol (23.61%), γ-tocotrienol (19.07%), and α-tocopherol (17.52%). The oils showed high thermal and oxidative stabilities. The findings indicate that date seed oil has the potential to be used in the food industry as an abundant alternative to palm olein.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study showed that date seed had great nutritional value due to which it can be used for food applications especially as frying or cooking oil. In addition, date oil has also potential to be used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical practices as well. The extraction of oil from Phoenix dactylifera seed on large scale can create positive socioeconomic benefits especially for rural communities and could also assist to resolve the environmental issues generated by excess date production in large scale date-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.