Search results
1 – 7 of 7Jaspreet Kaur, Vikas Kumar, Ankit Goyal, Beenu Tanwar, Yogesh Gat, Rasane Prasad and Sheenam Suri
The purpose of this paper is to explore the health effects and safety aspects regarding the consumption of energy drink (ED).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the health effects and safety aspects regarding the consumption of energy drink (ED).
Design/methodology/approach
A wide variety of publications was identified through electronic databases (ScienceDirect, PubMed, SciELO, Google Scholar, Link springer and ResearchGate) on the basis of different keyword such as composition, market status, consumption pattern, health effects, consequences and policies related to ED consumption.
Findings
Owing to its popularity, various brands of EDs have been introduced in the market along with a wide variety of modifications to attract the consumers of all age groups. EDs comprise majorly active ingredients such as caffeine, taurine, guarana, L-carnitine and glucoronolactone, ginseng and sweeteners. EDs are well known to have good taste, enhance energy levels, physical alertness and performance, but they also pose risk of certain health hazards, i.e. caffeine intoxication. Because of this, different policies have been formulated by various regulatory bodies of respective countries regarding the composition, labelling, distribution and sale of EDs.
Originality/value
This review will provide a brief overview of composition, market status, consumption pattern, health effects, consequences and policies related to ED consumption.
Details
Keywords
Beenu Tanwar, Rajni Modgil and Ankit Goyal
The purpose of this study is to assess the protein (biological) quality of pecan and pine nuts supplemented diets in male Wistar albino rats.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to assess the protein (biological) quality of pecan and pine nuts supplemented diets in male Wistar albino rats.
Design/methodology/approach
A randomized and controlled study (45 d) was conducted in male Wistar albino rats (n = 60) comprising six groups, namely, control (Cc), control with 1% cholesterol (CC1), Pecan group (Pe), Pecan group supplemented with 1% cholesterol (Pi1), Pine group supplemented with 1% cholesterol (Pi1). Protein quality of supplemented diet/s was assessed in terms of various biological indices.
Findings
Pe and Pi groups exhibited normal growth when compared with Cc. Despite showing higher feed and protein intake, Pe and Pi groups exhibited significantly (P = 0.023) lower weight gain than Cc. There was no significant difference between the protein efficiency ratio (3.8 ± 0.2 and 3.7 ± 0.2), apparent protein digestibility (81.5 ± 2.2 and 80.5 ± 2%), true protein digestibility (90.6 ± 1.1 and 88.5 ± 3.5%) and biological value (BV) (75.6 ± 0.9 and 72.6 ± 0.9%) of Pe and Pi groups, respectively. Pe group presented considerably higher net protein utilization (68.5 ± 1.4 vs 64.4 ± 0.8%) and protein retention efficiency (34.8 ± 1.1 vs 31.2 ± 1.3%) than Pi group. Overall, pecan-based diet displayed superior biological quality over pine nut. Antinutrients present in the nuts did not show any major negative effect on the growth, digestibility and bioavailability of the nutrients in rats. BV ranging from 72.6% to 75.6% suggested a satisfactory quality of experimental nut-based diets.
Research limitations/implications
Further investigation of pecan and pine nuts consumption to examine the potential benefits and associated mechanisms of action is warranted which would aid in a better understanding and to establish nutritional recommendations.
Originality/value
Overall, the exploitation of pecan and pine nut flours for the development of value-added food products is favorable from a nutritional point of view.
Details
Keywords
Gagandeep Kaur, Vikas Kumar, Ankit Goyal, Beenu Tanwar and Jaspreet Kaur
Radish (Raphanus sativus) is valued for its nutritive and medicinal properties, but its juice is not palatable because of the pungent flavor. The purpose of this study is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Radish (Raphanus sativus) is valued for its nutritive and medicinal properties, but its juice is not palatable because of the pungent flavor. The purpose of this study is to optimize the blending process of radish juice by using sugarcane juice, herbal extract and salt concentration.
Design/methodology/approach
The statistical design provided 20 formulations; where herbal extract concentration varied from 0.5 to 2.5 per cent, sugarcane juice concentration from 20 to 50 per cent and salt concentration from 0 to 1.5 per cent.
Findings
The p = 0.05 was used to designate the statistical significance of all the responses under study. Different product formulations had total soluble solids (TSS) that ranged from 9.7 to 15.0°Brix, titratable acidity from 0.6 to 1.3%, pH from 3.3 to 4.0, reducing sugars from 0.6 to 0.8%, total sugars from 9.4 to 3.1%, total protein from 172.9 to 304.8 mg/100 ml, total phenols from 25.5 to 29.8 mg/100 ml, ascorbic acid from 10.4 to 19.8 mg/100 ml, antioxidant activity from 77.3 to 83.6% and overall acceptability from 5.6 to 7.7. Sugarcane juice concentration of 30%, herbal extract mixture and salt concentrations of 1 and 1.5%, respectively, were the optimized process conditions for the preparation of nutritional radish juice achieved with the best fit of desirability, i.e. 0.88. Cluster analysis revealed that concentration of sugarcane juice had the maximum significant effect on the quality characteristics of nutritional radish beverage as compared to the other two variables under study.
Originality/value
The developed product can help to promote the use of radish as a substrate for the beverage industry.
Details
Keywords
Beenu Tanwar, Rajni Modgil and Ankit Goyal
The health-promoting phytochemicals such as phenolic compounds and flavonoids present in nonfatty portion of pecan nut remain overlooked. The present study aimed to evaluate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The health-promoting phytochemicals such as phenolic compounds and flavonoids present in nonfatty portion of pecan nut remain overlooked. The present study aimed to evaluate the nutritional and antinutritional/phytochemical constituents of pecan nut and its effect (as a whole nut flour) on the blood lipid profile in the rat model.
Design/methodology/approach
The nutritional composition as well as phytochemicals were evaluated by using standard chemical methods. A controlled randomized study was conducted to assess the hypocholesterolemic effect of nut supplementation in male Wistar albino rats.
Findings
Phytochemicals/antinutrients analysis exhibited remarkable amount of phenolic compounds (47.05 ± 9.85–302.67 ± 7.72 mg GAE/100 g) and flavonoids (44.95 ± 0.23 mg/100 g) with low trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) (1.18 ± 0.03 TIU/mg), saponins (0.49 ± 0.04 g/100 g), alkaloids (0.26 ± 0.03 mg/100 g), phytic acid (854.75 ± 15.47) and oxalates (8.15 ± 0.58 mg/100 g) content. Kernel oil showed 2.87 ± 0.75 meq O2/kg oil peroxide value (PV), well below the maximum permissible limit, demonstrating good oxidative stability of pecan oil. Pecan nut-supplemented diet exhibited a favorable alteration in the blood lipid profile by decreasing total cholesterol (TC) (from 85.42 ± 1.62–229.23 ± 3.43 to 72.24 ± 1.39–106.10 ± 1.69 mg/dl) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (from 64.02 ± 1.96–199.07 ± 4.40 to 38.73 ± 0.79–55.48 ± 1.69 mg/dl) and increasing high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (from 8.70 ± 0.85–9.64 ± 1.10 to 20.25 ± 0.65–24.96 ± 0.56 mg/dl) when compared with control (CC).
Research limitations/implications
This information would be further useful for assessing the biological quality of pecan nut as well as developing value-added food products by exploiting deoiled pecan protein concentrates.
Originality/value
Pecan nut is a rich source of traditional nutrients and phytochemicals and can be recommended to patients with hypercholesterolemia and related cardiovascular diseases.
Details
Keywords
Kirti Goyal, Satish Kumar, Purnima Rao, Sisira Colombage and Ankit Sharma
This study aims to explore the impact of the containment measures during COVID-19 on individuals’ finances, financial resilience during such distress and identifying the most…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of the containment measures during COVID-19 on individuals’ finances, financial resilience during such distress and identifying the most financially vulnerable among them. Tracing such impact during the pandemic has been challenging due to a lack of representative data. This paper addresses this gap in the present study.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey has been conducted using a structured questionnaire containing various items that portray the impact on income, spending, saving, investment, borrowing, insurance and retirement. The sample consists of 699 respondents and purposive and snowball sampling has been used for data collection. The results are presented and analyzed using infographics and frequency distributions. This study conducts an analysis of variance and Chi-square tests for significance.
Findings
This paper finds a fall in income and limited ability to cope with the current economic conditions. The survey highlights inadequate savings and insurance, weak retirement planning, outstanding loans and under-diversified investments inhibiting financial resilience even among the higher-income group. Particularly, lower-income strata, women and not much educated are most financially vulnerable. Further, no substantial financial benefits have been received from the government and people rely on their usual income sources.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that measures the pandemic’s impact on personal finances, especially in connection with a developing economy like India. Policy interventions are critical to the millions for whom financial literacy is required now more than ever.
Details
Keywords
This study examines the research landscape of Lean Six-Sigma (LSS) applications in hospitals for the period of the last decade (2011–2020) to derive answers to the research…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the research landscape of Lean Six-Sigma (LSS) applications in hospitals for the period of the last decade (2011–2020) to derive answers to the research questions RQ 1: What are the current publication trends for the application of LSS in hospitals concerning document type, Journal (Source), active authors and country-wise publications and their comparison in the two most reputed scientific databases, i.e. Scopus and Web of Science (WoS), RQ2: What are the clusters based on the authors and keywords? RQ3: What are the research trends and author's productivity in LSS applications in Hospitals? RQ4: What are the future research areas?
Design/methodology/approach
This article compares these two databases (Scopus and WoS) based on publication pattern, document type, active authors and co-citation analysis. This article analyzes the core sources, author's productivity, globally cited articles, word growth analysis, thematic map and world collaboration map on the WoS and Scopus dataset. The software used are Vosviewer, Biblioshiny (R Package for Bibliometric) and M.S. Excel.
Findings
The application of LSS in hospitals is a niche theme. In the WoS database International Journal of Lean Six-Sigma and in Scopus database International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance are the most relevant sources publishing research articles in this field. The USA has the highest scientific production in this field. Among the authors, Antony J is the most active author in this area, with the highest contribution over the years.
Originality/value
This study fills the literature gap by mapping the field of LSS in hospitals.
Details
Keywords
Muhammad Usman Tariq, Muhammad Babar, Marc Poulin and Akmal Saeed Khattak
The purpose of the proposed model is to assist the e-business to predict the churned users using machine learning. This paper aims to monitor the customer behavior and to perform…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the proposed model is to assist the e-business to predict the churned users using machine learning. This paper aims to monitor the customer behavior and to perform decision-making accordingly.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model uses the 2-D convolutional neural network (CNN; a technique of deep learning). The proposed model is a layered architecture that comprises two different phases that are data load and preprocessing layer and 2-D CNN layer. In addition, the Apache Spark parallel and distributed framework is used to process the data in a parallel environment. Training data is captured from Kaggle by using Telco Customer Churn.
Findings
The proposed model is accurate and has an accuracy score of 0.963 out of 1. In addition, the training and validation loss is extremely less, which is 0.004. The confusion matric results show the true-positive values are 95% and the true-negative values are 94%. However, the false-negative is only 5% and the false-positive is only 6%, which is effective.
Originality/value
This paper highlights an inclusive description of preprocessing required for the CNN model. The data set is addressed more carefully for the successful customer churn prediction.
Details