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Soil salinization has become a major constraint affecting crop production worldwide. Salinity induces complex metabolic processes that involves ion toxicity, osmotic stress, biochemical and physiological perturbations. Sorghum is a gluten-free cereal crop, well adapted to semi-arid tropics, highly biomass productive and water-efficient. Sorghum crop's growing is an efficient way to utilize saline soils. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the tolerance behavior of sorghum genotypes under different salinity levels (60, 80, 100, 120, 140 mM NaCl) concerning the performance of physiological, biochemical, and quality traits. Amongst 23 screened sorghum genotypes and 300 lines of sorghum germplasm, SSG59–3 was identified as salt-tolerant and PC-5 as salt susceptible genotype based on germination studies. The photochemical quantum yield (PC-5: 39.1% and SSG59–3: 12.7% reduction), chlorophyll content (SPAD units), relative water content and chlorophyll stability index (PC-5: 65.3% and SSG59–3: 54.9%) were significantly higher in SSG59–3 (SSG59–3 was identified as salt tolerant). Similarly, significant percent reductions in plant height (SSG59–3: 76%, PC-5: 86%), fresh and dry weight were observed with increasing salinity levels from 60 to 140 mM NaCl. Total phenols and soluble sugars (SSG59–3: 62.5%, PC-5: 46.7%) exhibited an upward trend, while flavanoids and flavanols showed a reverse trend. Salinity also affected the nutritive value of sorghum adversely, but the effect was less pronounced in SSG59–3. Quality traits viz. crude protein (SSG59–3: 5.16% and PC-5: 3.22%) and in-vitro dry matter digestibility reduced with increasing salinity levels from 60 to 140 mM NaCl. Reversibly, HCN content increased with every increment of salt stress, from 121.12–133.55 μg/g but were under the threshold level. Based on the above results, it was concluded that SSG59–3 performed better by retaining higher plant water status, photosynthetic rate and phenolic compounds, thereby alleviating stress, which may be utilized as genetic resource to establish sorghum cultivars with improved quality in saline soils.

Among cereals, sorghum, a gluten-free cereal is a rich source of bioactive polyphenols and dietary antioxidants. Sorghum polyphenolic compounds were characterized and quantified in five sorghum genotypes by high performance liquid chromatography. Grain samples of five sorghum genotypes were grounded and subjected top extraction for profile of polyphenols via High Performance Liquid Chromotography. Results showed that red and brown pericarp genotypes had higher total proanthocyanidin and total phenolic content, therefore, resulting in overall high antioxidant activities. The phenolic acids that showed the higher antioxidant activity in red (SSG 59-3) and brown (G-46) genotypes were caffeic acid, taxifolin and apigeninidin. SSG 59-3 (20.55 ± 0.11a, 45.66 ± 0.23b, 15.34 ± 0.10c) had higher antioxidant activity evaluated by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assay. The concentrations of the sorghum-specific 3-deoxyanthocyanidins luteolinidin and apigeninidin were higher in red sorghum. Correlation analysis showed that antioxidant activity had a linear relationship with their polyphenols. Thus, our findings indicated that there is cumulative effect of both high antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds which may be exploited for human food to improve the nutritional value and health properties.

Salinity stress has become a significant concern to global food security. Revealing the mechanisms that enable plants to survive under salinity has immense significance. Sorghum has increasingly attracted researchers interested in understanding the survival and adaptation strategies to high salinity. However, systematic analysis of the DEGs (differentially expressed genes) and their relative expression has not been reported in sorghum under salt stress. The de novo transcriptomic analysis of sorghum under different salinity levels from 60 to 120 mM NaCl was generated using Illumina HiSeq. Approximately 323.49 million high-quality reads, with an average contig length of 1145 bp, were assembled de novo. On average, 62% of unigenes were functionally annotated to known proteins. These DEGs were mainly involved in several important metabolic processes, such as carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, cell wall biogenesis, photosynthesis, and hormone signaling. SSG 59-3 alleviated the adverse effects of salinity by suppressing oxidative stress (H2O2) and stimulating enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant activities (SOD, APX, CAT, APX, POX, GR, GSH, ASC, proline, and GB), as well as protecting cell membrane integrity (MDA and electrolyte leakage). Significant up-regulation of transcripts encoding the NAC, MYB, and WRYK families, NHX transporters, the aquaporin protein family, photosynthetic genes, antioxidants, and compatible osmolyte proteins were observed. The tolerant line (SSG 59-3) engaged highly efficient machinery in response to elevated salinity, especially during the transport and influx of K+ ions, signal transduction, and osmotic homeostasis. Our data provide insights into the evolution of the NAC TFs gene family and further support the hypothesis that these genes are essential for plant responses to salinity. The findings may provide a molecular foundation for further exploring the potential functions of NAC TFs in developing salt-resistant sorghum lines.

Wheat contributes more than 50% of calories to the people worldwide. In terms of appearance, colour, texture and flavor, the quality is determined by raw material, processing methods and other ingredients. The glutenin and gliadin proteins influence dough properties. Thirty-six durum wheat genotypes were evaluated for various quality traits viz. grain appearance score, grain hardness, sedimentation value and wet and dry gluten content. The superior genotypes for the physical characteristics of grains were PDW 337, UAS 448 and PDW 335. Wet and dry gluten were maximum in UAS 448 and WHD 954. PDW 337 (44 ml) and DDW 27 (44 ml) had highest sedimentation value. Present study reveals the identification of superior durum wheat genotypes which may be used in future breeding programmes to enhance the quality for human nutrition and specific end-uses.

Sorghum is a C4 cereal grain crop which is well adapted to harsh environment. It is a potential model for gaining better understanding of the molecular mechanism due to its wider adaptability to abiotic stresses. In this study, protein extraction was standardized using different methods to study the electrophoretic pattern of sorghum leaves under different salinity levels. The extraction of soluble protein with lysis buffer, followed by its clean-up was found to be the most effective method. The different profiles of salt-responsive proteins were analyzed in G-46 and CSV 44F sorghum genotypes based on their tolerance behavior towards salinity. The kafirin level also changed depending upon the concentration and exposure time to salts suggesting the stored proteins as energy source under stress conditions. The relative expression of salt-responsive genes was studied using Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) which might be used as a molecular screening tool for identification of salt-tolerant genotypes in affected areas. The validated responses were examined in terms of metabolic changes and the expression of stress-induced proteins-viz. heat shock proteins (hsp) via immunoblotting assay. The results showed that the two sorghum genotypes adopted distinct approaches in response to salinity, with G-46 performing better in terms of leaf function. Also, we have standardized different protein extraction methods followed by their clean-up for electrophoretic profiling.

Food-based components represent major sources of functional bioactive compounds. Milk is a rich source of multiple bioactive peptides that not only help to fulfill consumers ‘nutritional requirements but also play a significant role in preventing several health disorders. Understanding the chemical composition of milk and its products is critical for producing consistent and high-quality dairy products and functional dairy ingredients. Over the last two decades, peptides have gained significant attention by scientific evidence for its beneficial health impacts besides their established nutrient value. Increasing awareness of essential milk proteins has facilitated the development of novel milk protein products that are progressively required for nutritional benefits. The need to better understand the beneficial effects of milk-protein derived peptides has, therefore, led to the development of analytical approaches for the isolation, separation and identification of bioactive peptides in complex dairy products. Continuous emphasis is on the biological function and nutritional characteristics of milk constituents using several powerful techniques, namely omics, model cell lines, gut microbiome analysis and imaging techniques. This review briefly describes the state-of-the-art approach of peptidomics and lipidomics profiling approaches for the identification and detection of milk-derived bioactive peptides while taking into account recent progress in their analysis and emphasizing the difficulty of analysis of these functional and endogenous peptides.

Antibodies or immunoglobulins are the vital component of adaptive immune system in mammals...