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The research aimed to preserve jackfruit and produce value-added food products to address the seasonal availability of jackfruit, which often results in significant waste. Due to its limited time in the market and the potential for wastage during periods of abundance, there is a need for preserving jackfruit to extend its availability throughout the year. The study focused on developing innovative food products using jackfruit concentrate as industrial ingredients for the food industry, as current commercial applications for jackfruit nutrition are limited. The process involved preparing jackfruit concentrate through the boiling and evaporation of pulp until reached at 40 %TSS (20 % added sugar). Organoleptic evaluations determined this concentrate to be the most suitable product. Subsequently, various food items, including jackfruit jam, jackfruit leather, jackfruit pitha, and jackfruit candy, were produced using this concentrate. Organoleptic assessments were conducted for these food products, followed by an examination of their physicochemical, nutritional properties and microbial load. The chemical composition of the products revealed a range of characteristics, including 30 to 80 %TSS, 4.9–17.25 mg 100 g −1 vitamin C, 17.01–79.83 % total sugars, 9.67–51.98 % reducing sugars, 6.80–30.04 % non-reducing sugar, and a pH range of 4.2–5.7. These findings underscore the potential of jackfruit concentrate as an industrially significant ingredient, offering improved sensory qualities and nutritional benefits in various food applications. The study contributes valuable insights into the processing and utilization of jackfruit concentrate, paving the way for its broader adoption in the food industry.

The herbaceous plant black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) has a variety of medical benefits. For therapeutic uses, effective utilization of black cumin oil (BCO) depends upon its functional groups. The objective of the current study was to investigate the physicochemical characteristics, extraction methods' effects, shelf-life, and functional groups of BCO. Mechanical, cold, and Soxhlet extraction methods were used to extract oil from seeds. Proximate analysis of black cumin seeds showed 20.37 % protein, 34.24 % fat, 6.86 % moisture, 7.02 % ash, and 31.51 % carbohydrate. The density of mechanically extracted oil (MEO), Soxhlet extracted oil (SEO), Cold extracted oil (CEO), Locally labeled oil (LLO) and Locally unlabeled oil (LUO) were 0.957 g/cm3, 1.151 g/cm3, 1.170 g/cm3, 1.068 g/cm3 and 1.066 g/cm3, respectively, whereas the refractive indices were approximately similar in all oil samples. In terms of color, CEO and MEO were respectively the lightest and reddest ones among the oils. Initially, free fatty acid (FFA) contents in MEO, SEO, CEO, LCO and LUO were 6.663 %, 6.041 %, 8.214 %, 8.458 %, and 7.573 % respectively, where the highest peroxide value (PV), iodine value (IV) and saponification value (SV) were found as 26.232 mEq O2/kg, 122.275 g I2/100 g and 201.282 mg KOH/g in LCO, CEO and LUO. respectively. By 14 weeks of storage FFA, PV and SV in MEO increased from 6.663 to 14.289 %, 23.508 to 32.229 mEq O2/kg and 196.207–202.629 mg KOH/g respectively while IV decreased from 122.275 to 117.319 g I2/100 g. FTIR analysis reveals the MEO mostly consists of unsaturated fatty acids (cis). The overall findings conclude that MEO remains consumable until 10 weeks indicating a better stability against oxidation and rancidity.

Grading starfruit samples based on the stages of ripeness can be facilitated by machine vision system (MVS) that requires high-quality images. The evolution of modern smartphone cameras can be of assistance in this regard. This study was carried out to examine if smartphone image-based processing can be applied to categorize starfruit samples based on their maturity. In this regard, images of starfruit samples at three different maturity stages were acquired through smartphone camera. The MATLAB platform was used to extract the color features of the images. Each channel of the three-color space model (RGB, HSV, L*a*b*) was extracted. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to quantify the existence of variance in three different maturity classes. In addition, classification models were created using Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Linear Support Vector Machines (SVM), Quadratic SVM, Fine K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), and Subspace Discriminant Analysis (SDA). The best classifier was found to be the Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) which had an accuracy of 96.2% for calibration and 93.3% for validation. Accurate classification of the ripeness indices of starfruit samples demonstrated by LDA indicates the potential for commercial application of this technology.

Nonstructural carbohydrates and antioxidants affect the yield of any plant. In this study, changes in nonstructural carbohydrates and antioxidant metabolism in leaf and spike, as well as their effects on grain yield, were examined in relation to elevated CO2 and nitrogen supply. For this, a wheat (Triticum aestivum) was grown at two levels of CO2, i.e., ambient 400 ppm (T1) and elevated 800 ppm (T2), with two levels of nitrogen supply, i.e., 0 gN (N1) and 1 gN (N2). In the sink, elevated CO2 and nitrogen caused a several-fold increase in glucose content. Fructose showed an increase of 53% and 60% in N2 treatment under both carbon levels. At the same time, sucrose content decreased by 112% and 100% with an increase in nitrogen doses under 400 ppm and 800 ppm. Higher N decreased the superoxide dismutase activity at ambient CO2, while higher N at elevated carbon levels increased the superoxide dismutase activity. Elevated CO2 decreased the catalase activity, while the peroxidases activity increased. In the spike, catalase activity increased at a higher N level. Grain yield was significantly enhanced at elevated CO2. The correlation analysis showed that catalase has a strong positive correlation with grain yield. The changes in nonstructural carbohydrates and antioxidant enzyme activities are associated with the altered leaf-spike relationship under N availability at high CO2 levels, which could be a key factor contributing to variable yield. Differential response of nonstructural carbohydrates and antioxidant enzymes in leaf and spike is responsible for changes in grain yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the phycoremediation abilities of Chlorella vulgaris (microalga) and Anabaena variabilis (cyanobacterium) for the detoxification of polluted river water. Lab-scale phycoremediation experiments were conducted for 20 days at 30 °C using the microalgal and cyanobacterial strains and water samples collected from the Dhaleswari river in Bangladesh. The physicochemical properties such as electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), biological oxygen demand (BOD), hardness ions, and heavy metals of the collected water samples indicated that the river water is highly polluted. The results of the phycoremediation experiments demonstrated that both microalgal and cyanobacterial species significantly reduced the pollutant load and heavy metal concentrations of the river water. The pH of the river water was significantly raised from 6.97 to 8.07 and 8.28 by C. vulgaris and A. variabilis, respectively. A. variabilis demonstrated higher efficacy than C. vulgaris in reducing the EC, TDS, and BOD of the polluted river water and was more effective at reducing the pollutant load of SO42− and Zn. In regard to hardness ions and heavy metal detoxification, C. vulgaris performed better at removing Ca2+, Mg2+, Cr, and Mn. These findings indicate that both microalgae and cyanobacteria have great potential to remove various pollutants, especially heavy metals, from the polluted river water as part of a low-cost, easily controllable, environmentally friendly remediation strategy. Nevertheless, the composition of polluted water should be assessed prior to the designing of microalgae- or cyanobacteria-based remediation technology, since the pollutant removal efficiency is found to be species dependent.

With the aim of improving public health interventions, this study was conducted to ensure sustainable groundwater quality by adopting Geographical Information System (GIS) and Water Quality Index (WQI) for drinking purposes in Paikara Union, Kalihati Upazila of Bangladesh. Fifteen groundwater samples were randomly collected from different hand tubewells in April 2019 and analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), major cations and anions. Almost all physicochemical parameters fell within the acceptable limit of Bangladesh and international standards, though a few samples exceeded the standard limit considering As3+, Fe3+ and PO_4^(3-) concentrations. The spatial distribution of the quality parameters across the study area was depicted employing ArcGIS 10.5 software; therein it was revealed that slightly acidic water is dominant in the central and southern parts. Overall, THtotal cation, ClNO3, total anionNO3 and total anionCl show a very strong correlation, and contrarily, the pairs of pH, EC, TDS are poorly correlated with most of the variables and no remarkable relationship is found between pH and TH. Furthermore, WQI of the samples ranged from 20.42 to 143.36, with 73.7, 24.1, and 2.2% of the entire study area falling under excellent, good, and poor quality categories for drinking purposes, respectively. From the results, it can be inferred that the groundwater of the study area is suitable for drinking purposes but awareness-raising on chemical contents in the water at the household level is recommended. [Fundam Appl Agric 2020; 5(4.000): 521-536]

The research was conducted to elucidate the antibacterial performance and mode of action of Eucommia ulmoides male flower extract (EUMFE) against Staphylococcus aureus and its application as a natural preservative in cooked beef. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by determining the diameter of inhibition zone (DIZ), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericide concentration (MBC). The changes in membrane potential, contents of bacterial DNA and protein, integrity and permeability of the cell membrane, and cell morphology were analyzed to reveal the possible mode of action. The effect of EUMFE on the counts of S. aureus, pH, color, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) of the cooked beef stored at 4°C for 9 days were studied. The results showed that the DIZ, MIC, and MBC of EUMFE against S. aureus were 12.58 ± 0.23 mm, 40 mg/mL, and 80 mg/mL, respectively. The mode of action of EUMFE against S. aureus included hyperpolarization of cell membrane, decrease in bacterial DNA and protein contents, destruction of cell membrane integrity, increase in cell membrane permeability, and damage of cell morphology. After treatments with EUMFE, the growth of S. aureus and lipid oxidation in cooked beef were significantly inhibited (P < 0.05). The pH and TVB-N values of cooked beef treated with EUMFE were significantly reduced as compared to control group (P < 0.05). The color of cooked beef samples containing EUMFE showed decreased L* and b* values, and increased a* and ΔE* values. Therefore, our findings showed that EUMFE had a good antibacterial effect on S. aureus, and provided a theoretical basis for the application of EUMFE as a natural preservative in the preservation of cooked beef.

In the United States, breast cancer is one of the most common and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Treatment modalities for mammary tumor are surgical removal of the tumor tissue followed by either chemotherapy or radiotherapy or both. Radiation therapy is a whole body irradiation regimen that suppresses the immune system leaving hosts susceptible to infection or secondary tumors. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) in that regard is more selective, the cells that are mostly affected are those that are loaded with 109 or more 10B atoms. Previously, we have described that liposomal encapsulation of boron-rich compounds such as TAC and MAC deliver a high payload to the tumor tissue when injected intravenously. Here we report that liposome-mediated boron delivery to the tumor is inversely proportional to the size of the murine mammary (EMT-6) tumors. The plausible reason for the inverse ratio of boron and EMT-6 tumor size is the necrosis in these tumors, which is more prominent in the large tumors. The large tumors also have receding blood vessels contributing further to poor boron delivery to these tumors. We next report that the presence of boron in blood is essential for the effects of BNCT on EMT-6 tumor inhibition as direct injection of boron-rich liposomes did not provide any added advantage in inhibition of EMT-6 tumor in BALB/c mice following irradiation despite having a significantly higher amount of boron in the tumor tissue. BNCT reaction in PBMCs resulted in the modification of these cells to anti-tumor phenotype. In this study, we report the immunomodulatory effects of BNCT when boron-rich compounds are delivered systemically.

As a diverse species, watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. &Nakai var. lanatus] has different kinds of fruit sizes, shapes, flesh colors and skin colors. Skin color is among the major objectives for breeding. Yellow skin is an important trait in watermelon, but the underlying genetic mechanism is unknown. In this study, we identified a locus for yellow skin through BSA-seq and GWAS. A segregation analysis in F2 and BC1 populations derived from a cross of two inbred lines '94E1'(yellow skin) and 'Qingfeng'(green skin) suggested that skin color is a qualitative trait. BSA-seq mapping confirmed the locus in the F2 population, which was detected on chromosome 4 by GWAS among 330 varieties. Several major markers, namely, 15 CAPS markers, 6 SSR markers and 2 SNP markers, were designed to delimit the region to 59.8 kb region on chromosome 4. Utilizing the two populations consisting of 10 yellow and 10 green skin watermelons, we found a tightly linked functional SNP marker for the yellow skin phenotype. The application of this marker as a selection tool in breeding programs will help to improve the breeder's ability to make selections at early stages of growth, thus accelerating the breeding program.