Food science and Technology Letters

32-35

Authors: SHEIKH S.A., NIZAMANI S.M., MIRANI B.N., MAHMOOD N

The study was conducted to assess the effect of household processing methods such as washing, sun drying, cooking/ frying and blanching on the decontamination of bifenthrin and profenofos residues in experimentally grown bitter gourd. Simple washing of bitter gourd with tap water reduced the residues of bifenthrin to 50.62% and that of profenofos to 53.66%. Subsequent washing with detergent solution indicated a reduction of 59.78 and 65.85% in bifenthrin and profenofos residues respectively in the bitter gourd. Blanching as a processing tool has exerted a more protective effect with a drop of 80.71% in bifenthrin and 78.05% profenofos residues. A significant decrease in bifenthrin (89.65 %) and profenofos (87.92%) residues was also observed by plain washing followed by sun drying. Frying appeared to be the most effective technique to minimize bifenthrin and profenofos residues to the extent of 93.41% and 88.68%, respectively, suggesting that frying is the most potent protective food processing approach to curtail bifenthrin and profenofos in bitter gourd.

41-45

Authors: SHEIKH S.A., NIZAMANI S.M., PANHWAR A.A., MIRANI B.N

Pesticide residues were determined in marketed samples of different vegetables. Samples were collected from different markets of southern Sindh during 2012-13. Residues were extracted with QuEChERS method and were analyzed with Gas Chromatography (GC) coupled with Mass Spectrometry Detector. However, emamectin benzoate and imidacloprid were analyzed with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) coupled with Ultraviolet (UV) detector. The insecticide residues in vegetable samples were quantified by using the standards. Results showed that seven vegetables namely okra, bitter gourd, brinjal, tomato, onion, cauliflower, and chilies, were heavily contaminated with chlorpyrifos, profenofos, endosulfan, imidacloprid, emamectin benzoate, lufenuron, bifenthrin, diafenthiuron, and cypermethrin. Moreover, every vegetable was contaminated with more than one pesticide and majority of samples violated the Japanese MRLs. Desi spinach, lettuce, bottle gourd, fenugreek, peas, and cluster bean are not sprayed with pesticides normally, but these were found contaminated with trace level residues within MRL(s). This could be due to contaminated soil (from previous crops) and/or may be due to vegetable vendors’ mishandling as they use the same water for washing vegetables in series which is a common practice all over Sindh. Present study recommends that vegetables may be washed thoroughly prior to use and water may be changed after each vegetable wash or washing of vegetables may be done under running tap water in order to minimize pesticide contamination.

14-19

Authors: WONG K.V.

The hypothesis is that the lack of natural phytochemicals in the diet of the men in the West contributes to the higher incidence of prostate cancer, as compared to the rest of the world. There is strong evidence in the literature that phytochemicals play the role of a defense system in a human body so that the body is not as vulnerable to incurable and dangerous diseases. There have been studies that show phytochemicals play a major role in the prevention of cancer and fewer studies specifically on prostate cancer. Health benefits are best obtained through the consumption of a varied diet that comprise fruits and vegetables, grains, legumes and seeds which contain the phytochemicals. The current work has shown the perspective that some common foods that contain high amounts of phytochemicals which could be key to good health (as regards not getting prostate cancer) include garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, chili peppers and turmeric, as well as the almost universal food items of vegetable oil, onions and black pepper. The current paper has shown the perspective that the large incidences of prostate cancer in the USA, Canada, several western European nations, Australia and New Zealand are probably due to the lack of active phytochemicals in the daily diet of the majority of the men in these countries.

24-26

Authors: AGLAWE P.P., WADATKAR C.M

The study was undertaken to investigate the microbiological quality of raw milk samples and pasteurized samples were used to study from surrounding area of Nagpur and Wardha district, 10 raw sample and 10 pasteurized samples used. Bacteriological identification reveals a definite dominance of E. coli and E. aerogene sp. beside its, the other genera Salmonella typhi were isolated on selective agar medium. The microbial colonies were found to be high in six sample and colony content low in rest four sample. In pasteurized sample the coliform colonies were less in number as compared to raw milk sample. Bacteriological colonies were found to be opaque and metallic sheen in coloured prepared. Biochemical test were used for the of identified Escherichia coli and Enterobacter arogene.

11-13

Authors: MUSMADED D., SHARMA R.C., BALASUBRAMANIUM B

Anemia is a major health problem in India, affects all age- sex groups, mostly women in reproductive age group and young children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Population residing around the coastal belt such as Agri- Koli community is vulnerable to anemia because of their unique physical, occupational, socio-economic and cultural environment. The data pertaining to anemia profile of costal population, particularly for Agri- Koli community population staying in Navi Mumbai is hardly seen in literature. The present study has been aimed to study the hemoglobin (Hb) and total iron binding capacity (TBC) in age group of 20-50 years of male and female as markers of anemia normal healthy subjects of community residing in costal belt of Navi Mumbai to find out the incidence of anemia and its aetio-pathogenesis. Our study shows the costal communities of Navi Mumbai are more prone to anemia and it is essential to take educative steps to apprise this community about their nutritional status, encourage them to modify their diet and food habits and they should includes fish as well as green vegetables, cereals, grains, dry bean etc.

1-9

Authors: Tiwary M.K., Akhilesh Pandey, Tiwari D.P

An experiment was conducted in four villges from two tehsils, namely Roorkee and Laksar of Haridwar district of Uttarakhand. Two villages from each tehsil were indentified from where minimum 10-15 farmers of different categores in each village were selected. Blood samples from cattle and buffaloes of different physiological status viz., lactating, dry, heifer, pregnant and other reproductive health were collected from jugular vein in sterilized and vacuumized test tube. During analysis the serum samples with equal volume of concentrated HNO3 were kept for overnight in a digestion tube followed by low heat (70-800C) digestion with diacid mixture. The final content was filtered through Whatman’s filter paper No. 1 (Kolmer et al., 1951). Minerals such as Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn were estimated by using AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry). Phosphorus in blood serum (Fiske and Subbarow, 1925) using Autozyme Phosphorus kit, (ACCUREX Biomedical Pvt. Ltd.) was estimated colorimetrically. The overall blood serum mineral concentration for Ca (10.43±022 mg/dl), Mg (1.65±0.14 mg/dl), Zn (1.54±0.11 ppm), Fe (1.97±0.19 ppm) and Mn (0.54±0.02 ppm) in cattle and buffaloes of different physiological status were found above their respective critical levels whereas, Ps (3.79 ± 0.21 mg/dl) and Cu (0.46 ± 0.07 ppm) concentrations in blood serum of animals were below the respective critical levels. The average serum Ca, Mg, Zn and Fe differ significantly (P<0.05) between the Roorkee and Laksar tehsils of Haridwar district of Uttarakhand. There was significantly (P<0.05) higher serum Ca, Mg, Zn and Fe levels in animals of Laksar tehsil (10.82±0.31 mg/dl, 1.88±0.16 mg/dl, 1.92±0.14 ppm and 2.44±0.29 ppm, respectively) than in animals of Roorkee tehsil (10.03±0.25 mg/dl, 1.42±0.22 mg/dl, 1.16±0.06 ppm and 1.49±0.14 ppm, respectively). Most of the animals were found to have reproductive problems, which could be attributed to deficiency of different important minerals in this region. To overcome the deficiency, strategic dietary supplementation of minerals with better bioavailability could be a suitable approach.