Search results

This study aims to investigate the behavior of the green biomass-derived copper (lignin/silica/fatty acids) complex, copper lignin/silica/fatty acids (Cu-LSF) complex, when incorporated into the nonpolar ethylene propylene diene (EPDFM) rubber matrix, focusing on its reinforcing and antioxidant effect on the resulting EPDM composites.

The structure of the prepared EPDM composites was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and the dispersion of the additive fillers and antioxidants in the EPDM matrix was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. Also, the rheometric characteristics, mechanical properties, swelling behavior and thermal gravimetric analysis of all the prepared EPDM composites were explored as well.

Results revealed that the Cu-LSF complex dispersed well in the nonpolar EPDM rubber matrix, in thepresence of coupling system, with enhanced Cu-LSF-rubber interactions and increased cross-linking density, which reflected on the improved rheological and mechanical properties of the resulting EPDM composites. From the various investigations performed in the current study, the authors can suggest 7–11 phr is the optimal effective concentration of Cu-LSF complex loading. Interestingly, EPDM composites containing Cu-LSF complex showed better antiaging performance, thermal stability and fluid resistance, when compared with those containing the commercial antioxidants (2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline and N-isopropyl-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine). These findings are in good agreement with our previous study on polar nitrile butadiene rubber.

The current study suggests the green biomass-derived Cu-LSF complex to be a promising low-cost and environmentally safe alternative filler and antioxidant to the hazardous commercial ones.

The major objective of this research work was to evaluate various physico-chemical characteristics, such as, chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, objective color and texture profile analysis (TPA) of the wheat flour/chickpea flour (CF) blends, so that nutritious baked products could be consumed by the type-2 diabetic persons.

Wholegrain wheat flour (WGF) and white wheat flour (WWF) were substituted with CF at 0 to 40% levels. These wheat flour/CF blends were analyzed for proximate composition, the prepared dough and baked breads were tested for objective color, antioxidant capacity as trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), malondialdehyde (MDA) and total phenolic content (TPC) and TPA.

WGF had the highest TEAC (117.42 mM/100g) value, followed by WWF (73.98 mM/100g) and CF (60.67 mM/100g). TEAC, MDA and TPC values varied significantly among all the three flour samples.

Inclusion of whole chickpea (without dehulling) flour in such type of blends would be another interesting investigation during the future research studies.

These research findings have a great potential for the production of these baked products for human consumption on an industrial scale.

Production of breads using wheat flour and CF blends would benefits the consumers.

Production of Arabic and pan breads using wheat flour and CF blends would, therefore, combine the benefits of both the needed proteins of plant origin and the health-promoting bioactive compounds, in a most sustainable way for the consumers.

Renal failure is an end-stage consequence after persistent hyperglycemia during diabetic nephropathy (DN), and the etiology of DN has been linked to oxidative stress. The purpose of this research was to determine the beneficial synergistic effects of S-Allyl Cysteine (SAC) and Taurine (TAU) on oxidative damage in the kidneys of type 2 diabetic rats induced by hyperglycemia.

Experimental diabetes was developed by administering intraperitoneal single dose of streptozotocin (STZ; 65 mg/kg) with nicotinamide (NA; 230 mg/kg) in adult rats. Diabetic and control rats were treated with SAC (150 mg/kg), TAU (200 mg/kg) or SAC and TAU combination (75 + 100 mg/kg) for four weeks. The estimation of body weight, fasting blood glucose (FBG), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), oxidative stress markers along with kidney histopathology was done to investigate the antidiabetic potential of SAC/TAU in the NA/STZ diabetic group.

The following results were obtained for the therapeutic efficacy of SAC/TAU: decrease in blood glucose level, decreased level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and increased levels of GSH, glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and catalase (CAT). SAC/TAU significantly modulated diabetes-induced histological changes in the kidney of rats.

SAC/TAU combination therapy modulated the oxidative stress markers in the kidney in diabetic rat model and also prevented oxidative damage as observed through histopathological findings.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of bio-based lubricants (BBL), namely, palm mid-olein (PMO) enriched with an antioxidant agent, tertiary-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and a viscosity improver, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), in journal bearing (JB) applications.

Samples of the BBL were prepared by blending it with TBHQ and EVA at various blending ratios. The oxidative stability (OS) and viscosity of the BBL samples were examined using differential scanning calorimetry and a viscometer, respectively. Meanwhile, their performance in JB applications was evaluated through the use of a JB test rig with a 0.5 length-to-diameter ratio at various operating conditions.

It was found that the combination of PMO + TBHQ + EVA demonstrated a superior oil film pressure and load-carrying capacity, resulting in a reduced friction coefficient and a smaller attitude angle compared to the use of only PMO or VG68. However, it was observed that the addition of TBHQ and EVA to the PMO did not have a significant impact on the minimum oil film thickness.

The results would be quite useful for researchers generally and designers of bearings in particular.

This study used PMO as the base stock, and its compatibility with TBHQ and EVA was investigated in terms of its OS and viscosity. The performance of this treated BBL was evaluated in a hydrodynamic JB.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-11-2023-0363/

Globally, consumer’s inclination towards functional foods had noticed due to their greater health consciousness coupled with enhanced health-care cost. The fact that probiotics could promote a healthier gut microbiome led projection of probiotic foods as functional foods and had emerged as an important dietary strategy for improved human health. It had established that ice cream was a better carrier for probiotics than fermented milked due to greater stability of probiotics in ice cream matrix. Global demand for ice cream boomed and probiotic ice cream could have been one of the most demanded functional foods. The purpose of this paper was to review the technological aspects and factors affecting probiotic viability and to standardize methodology to produce functional probiotic ice cream.

Attempt was made to search the literature (review and researched papers) to identify diverse factors affecting the probiotic viability and major technological challenge faced during formulation of probiotic ice cream. Keywords used for data searched included dairy-based functional foods, ice cream variants, probiotic ice cream, factors affecting probiotic viability and health benefits of probiotic ice cream.

Retention of probiotic viability at a level of >10⁶ cfu/ml is a prerequisite for functional probiotic ice creams. Functional probiotic ice cream could have been produced with the modification of basic mix and modulating technological parameters during processing and freezing. Functionality can be further enhanced with the inclusion of certain nutraceutical components such as prebiotics, antioxidant, phenolic compounds and dietary fibres. Based upon reviewed literature, suggested method for the manufacture of functional probiotic ice cream involved freezing of a probiotic ice cream mix obtained by blending 10% probiotic fermented milk with 90% non-fermented plain ice cream mix for higher probiotic viability. Probiotic ice cream with functional features, comparable with traditional ice cream in terms of technological and sensory properties could be produced and can crop up as a novel functional food.

Probiotic ice cream with functional features may attract food manufacturers to cater health-conscious consumers.

Ulam is a traditional salad that contains high levels of antioxidants and is commonly consumed in raw form. However, the average ulam consumption among the low-income Malaysian population was only ½ serving daily. Thus, this study aimed to explore the motivators and barriers to ulam consumption among residents of low-cost housing areas (household income RM4849 or $1015.50) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Six focus group discussions were conducted with 27 Malay residents aged 18–59 years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The researchers asked the participants a series of semi-structured questions. All the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers coded the transcripts independently, and several themes were identified. The data were analysed using Nvivo version 12 software.

Three main factors for ulam consumption were identified in this study: personal, environmental and behavioural. The motivators and barriers were identified based on nine main themes and 16 sub-themes.

The results of this study identified potential areas for an effective intervention to increase ulam intake among residents in low-cost housing areas.

This work has the potential to identify the factors that have an impact on consumers' ulam preferences to help fulfil daily vegetable recommendations.

The purpose of the study was to produce a healthier, convenient and traditional ready-to-eat (RTE) snack option with increased nutritional value, using spent hen meat, dietary fibre (DF) and simple technological methods. The product was designed to be stable without refrigeration and be easily adoptable by local self-help groups, rural women and youth and entrepreneurs in urban and semi-urban areas.

Conventional binder used for making snacks, i.e. rice flour was partially replaced by different sources of antioxidant DFs, i.e. oat flour (T₁ – 10%), finger millet flour (T₂ – 5%) and amaranth flour (T₃ –15%) to prepare spent hen snack sticks (SHSS). The snacks were then packaged in low density polyethylene (LDPE) pouches and evaluated for their storage stability at ambient temperature for a period of 35 days. Their physico-chemical, sensory and microbiological quality was evaluated at a regular interval of 7 days. The proximate composition of developed SHSS was compared to commercially available snack products (chakli/murukku – snacks without meat).

The fibre-enriched SHSS showed significant improvement in nutritive value, as they contained more fibre (p = 0.001) and protein (p = 0.029) than control SHSS. When compared to commercially available snack product SHSS showed three-fold significant increase in protein (p = 0.000) and ash content (p = 0.001) and only 11%–12% total fat as compared to 31% fat in the market-available product. The most acceptable treatment in terms of overall sensory quality and nutritional aspects was T₃; however, T₂ was more shelf-stable during the storage period. The study showed that fibre-enriched snacks can be stored at ambient temperature for up to 35 days without substantial loss in physico-chemical, sensory and microbial quality. Hence, substituting rice flour with DFs can lead to the development of products with better sensory attributes and improved functionality.

The simplicity of the product in terms of composition, machinery and low production costs makes it an easily adoptable one by small-scale entrepreneurs, especially those belonging to semi-urban areas.

Incorporation of spent hen meat, a relatively cheap but abundant source of protein, in RTE products can serve as an effective way to alleviate protein malnutrition, whereas addition of fibre further improves the functionality of the product. The methodology can be easily taken up by small-scale entrepreneurs and create a market for snack-based functional meat products.

In the developing field of nano-materials synthesis, copper oxide nanoparticles (NPs) are deemed to be one of the most significant transition metal oxides because of their intriguing characteristics. Its synthesis employing green chemistry principles has become a key source for next-generation antibiotics attributed to its features such as environmental friendliness, ease of use and affordability. Because they are more environmentally benign, plants have been employed to create metallic NPs. These plant extracts serve as capping, stabilising or hydrolytic agents and enable a regulated synthesis as well.

Organic chemical solvents are harmful and entail intense conditions during nanoparticle synthesis. The copper oxide NPs (CuO-NPs) synthesised by employing the green chemistry principle showed potential antitumor properties. Green synthesised CuO-NPs are regarded to be a strong contender for applications in the pharmacological, biomedical and environmental fields.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the anticancer potential of CuO-NPs plant extracts to isolate and characterise the active anticancer principles as well as to yield more effective, affordable, and safer cancer therapies.

This review article highlights the copper oxide nanoparticle's biomedical applications such as anticancer, antimicrobial, dental and drug delivery properties, future research perspectives and direction are also discussed.

The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants impacting consumer behaviour in organic food consumption in Bangladesh. This study aims to identify the key factors facilitating organic food consumption and establish a framework by analysing their contextual relationships.

The study used interpretive structural modelling (ISM), relying on expert perspectives from experienced academicians and marketing professionals. A Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliqués à un Classement (MICMAC) analysis was performed to assess the driving forces and interdependencies among these determinants.

The MICMAC analysis grouped determinants influencing organic food purchases into four categories. The dependent factors, like attitude and food safety, showed moderate driving forces and high dependence. Linkage determinants, such as environmental concern and price, exerted considerable influence with moderate dependence. Independent variables, especially knowledge about organic food, had a strong impact with relatively low dependence.

This study’s insights offer valuable guidance for managers in the organic food industry, providing strategies to address consumer behaviour. Prioritising education on environmental benefits, transparent pricing, collaborating on policies, ensuring food safety and understanding determinants impacting purchase intent can aid in designing effective marketing strategies and product offerings aligned with consumer needs, ultimately promoting sustainability.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the interconnections and relative significance of determinants influencing organic food purchases, using the ISM approach and MICMAC analysis. It delves into the previously unexplored territory of understanding the relationships and hierarchical significance of these determinants in shaping consumer behaviour towards organic food purchases.

Three-dimentional (3D) food printers are innovative technologies that contribute to healthy, personalized and stainable nutrition. However, many consumers are still vigilant about 3D printed food in the age of technology. The purpose of this study is to develop a scale and propose a model for consumption preferences associated with 3D-printed food (3DPF).

The developed questionnaire was handed to 192 Z and Y generation participants (Data1) for the exploratory factor analysis stage initially. Then, the questionnaire was handed to another group of 165 participants (Data 2) for verification by confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, the dimensions “healthy and personalized nutrition,” “sustainable nutrition” and “socio-cultural nutrition” were analyzed by structural equation modeling.

The results indicated that there was a high relationship between “healthy and personalized nutrition” and “sustainable nutrition” as well as between “sustainable nutrition” and “socio-cultural nutrition” when 3DPF was considered.

The study would contribute to the new survey area related to 3DPF by presenting a scale and proposing a model. Also, the study reveals which nutritional factors affect the Z and Y generation’s consumption of 3DPF. In this context, the study aims to make marketing contributions to the food production, restaurant and hotel sectors.

3D食品打印机是创新技术, 有助于健康、个性化和可持续的营养。然而, 在科技时代, 许多消费者仍然对3D打印食品保持警惕。本研究的目的是开发一个刻画与3D打印食品相关的消费偏好的量表并提出一个模型。

本研究首先将开发的问卷交给192名Z和Y世代参与者（数据1）进行探索性因素分析阶段。然后, 将问卷交给另一组165名参与者（数据2）通过验证性因素分析进行验证。最后, 通过结构方程模型分析了“健康和个性化营养”、“可持续营养”和“社会文化营养”这三个维度。

结果表明, 在考虑3D打印食品时, “健康和个性化营养”与“可持续营养”之间以及“可持续营养”与“社会文化营养”之间存在很高的关系。

本研究通过提出一个量表并提出一个模型, 为与3D打印食品相关的新调查领域做出了贡献。此外, 研究揭示了影响Z和Y世代对3D打印食品消费的营养因素。在这一背景下, 本研究旨在为食品生产、餐厅和酒店等领域做出营销贡献。