Search

The growing economic inequality in Kerala remains the black spot within the silver lining of its achieved heights in the domain of development. The growing inequality in both consumption expenditure and wealth questions the process of sustainable development of the state since both these inequalities having negative leverage effects on social as well as human development. The present study estimated inequality in the distribution of both consumption and wealth among social groups in Kerala and compared it with the All India pattern using 50th, 61st& 68th Rounds of National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) unit level data on household consumption expenditure and All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS)unit level data on asset holdings provided by NSSO, 70th Round Jan-Dec, 2013. The study found that marginalised groups in the social hierarchy remain the worst suffering one due to the upsurge in inequality in the state and there is little inclusiveness found in the distribution of consumption expenditure and wealth. Compared to inequality in consumption expenditure, inequality in wealth was found higher among all social groups which become a challenge to the future development especially for the deprived groups. The decomposition analysis shows that compared to 'between the group' inequality, the 'within the group' inequality contributed the highest proportion to total inequality in both the cases of consumption expenditure and wealth. This warrants the need for considering the heterogeneous character of each social group in policy formulations rather than taking each social group as a solid homogeneous one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO2-NPs), is widely used in the fields of medicine, engineering and industries. In the present study, sublethal concentration (12 mg.L-1) of SiO2-NPs was exposed to the freshwater fish, Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters 1852) for short-term (24, 72 and 96 h) and long-term (15, 30 and 60 days) durations, maintaining a control group. Gill tissues showed significant (P < 0.05) reduction in the activities of antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase with a concomitant increase in the production of hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation. Liver tissue also showed induction of oxidative stress which was evident by the significant decrease in the activities of antioxidant enzymes and generation of hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation. In brain tissue, the alteration of antioxidant defence system was more prominent only after 96 h. The activities of tissue marker enzymes were also decreased in gill, liver and brain tissues indicating tissue-specific nanotoxicity. The reversible of treatment for 60 days showed no withdrawal effect of nanoparticles in all tissues. The present results conclude that exposure to silicon dioxide nanoparticles induced oxidative stress and the effects are found irreversible in the gill, liver and brain tissues of the fish, O. mossambicus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes a simple method of preparation and physico-chemical properties of modified starches (type-3 resistant starches) from banana (Musa AAB), and the modified starches investigated as functional food with a beneficial effect on type-2 diabetes. RS3 was prepared using a method combined with debranching modification and physical modification; native and modifies starches were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and rapid visco analyzer (RVA). Use of the enzymatic and physical modification methodology, improved the yield of RS (26.62%) from Musa AAB. A reduced viscosity and swelling power; increased transition temperatures, water absorption capacity and solubility index with B-type crystalline pattern and loss of granular appearance were observed during the debranching modification and physical modification. The modified starches exhibited beneficial health effects in diabetic and HFD rats who consumed it. These results recommend that dietary feeding of RS3 was effective in the regulation of glucose and lipid profile in serum and suppressing the oxidative stress in rats under diabetic and HFD condition. This current study provides new bioactive starches, with potential applications in the food and non-food industries., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Starch extracted from Musa AAB (poovan banana) was subjected to acetylation, acid-thinning and oxidation. The effect of the treatments on molecular structure and functional properties of starch were analysed. Chemical composition revealed that non-starch components were reduced after chemical treatment. Amylose content of starch decreased on acetylation from 24.16% to 20.90%, whereas it increased to 24.50% and 25.5% on oxidation and acid-thinning, respectively. X-ray diffraction pattern of modified starches showed B-type crystalline structure with peaks at 2θ=5.5°, 15.0°, 17.1° and 23.5°; which were parallel with the pattern observed in case of native starch. Swelling capacity of starch granules was found to reduce by acid-thinning and oxidation but acetylation induced to increase it. The percentage of colour (L*, a* and b*), solubility and water absorption capacities varied significantly from native starch after chemical modification. Changes in gelatinisation temperatures and enthalpy value of starches were observed in modified starches and it is varied according to reaction conditions. Pasting properties of the starches was increased by acetylation and oxidation while acid-thinning reduced it (P<0.05)., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Gamma irradiation is one of the effective techniques able to alter structure and its properties of starch. In this research, the effect of modification in terms of molecular structure and physico-chemical properties of Amorphophallus paeoniifolius starch by γ-irradiation using (60)Co as γ-source at doses of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kGy with dose rate 2 kGy/h was studied. Morphology of native and irradiated starches under scanning electron microscope revealed that granules are round, elliptical and polygonal in shape with smooth surfaces; no cracking or roughness was noted on irradiated starches. Amylose content, pH, swelling power of the starches and syneresis of the gelatinized starch were significantly decreased by irradiation; while carboxyl content, solubility, light transmittance and water absorption capacity of the starch granules were raised with increased dose of irradiation. Reduced pasting parameters and changes in FTIR spectrum significantly differed from each other. XRD pattern of irradiated starches showed C-type pattern with intermediate peaks of 2θ at 16.92° and 18.12°, strong peaks of 2θ at 23.05° and weak peaks of 2θ at 14.7°, displaying slight decreased in the intensity of peaks in irradiated starches. Irradiation of starches increased gelatinization temperatures and enthalpy value was measured using DSC., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)