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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the biological activities of low-calorie natural sweetener, i.e. monk fruit (Siraitia grosvenorii), which are associated with its bioactive constituents.

Recent investigations focused on biochemical characterization and nutraceutical potential of monk fruit (traditional Chinese perennial vine) have been critically reviewed. Also, the safety and influence of monk fruit on organoleptic characteristics of prepared food products have been documented.

Biochemistry of monk fruit revealed that mogrosides are the principal compounds responsible for the high-intensity sweetness in the monk fruit. The fruit induces several biological activities including anti-oxidative effect, hypoglycemic response, anti-allergic properties, anti-carcinogenic and anti-tissue damage activities. Attributing to great potential as a bio-functional sweetener in food products, monk fruit extract has been approved as Generally Regarded as Safe.

This paper highlights the biological potential of monk fruit opening the doors to future investigations for its utilization in products of commercial importance including food and pharmaceutical preparations.

Soybean is potentially a rich source of protein and lipids along with isoflavone. However, the use of soybean is limited due to presence of anti-nutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitor, phytic acid, etc. The present study aimed at evaluation of Harit soya seeds of different treatments such as soaking, dehulling, germination, soaking+roasting and roasting in order to enhance its quality.

Harit soya seeds were utilized were soaked overnight and subjected for dehulling, germination for 3 days as well as roasting followed by drying to obtain fine powder for quality evaluation.

Dehulling and germination produce significant (p < 0.01) increase in protein, crude fiber, total chlorophyll, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, flavonoids and isoflavones while fat was decreased non-significantly. The highest value of 12.4 mg/100g, 5.3 mgGAE/g and 6.6 mg/g for ascorbic acid, total phenolics and isoflavones was found in germinated seeds. Also, the effect of soaking, roasting and their combination lead to significant decrease in the functional properties of the seeds. Anti-nutritional factors were significantly (p < 0.01) reduced in all forms of treated seeds while pepsin and trysin digestibility was enhanced during soaking, dehulling and germination with maximum value of 72.6 and 25.8%, respectively in germinated seeds.

Improvement in quality of evergreen variety of soybean using cost effective traditional methods

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of board structure on financial performance of Indian software companies. It is an empirical study carried out on 92 software companies from 2011 to 2018.

The board size, board independence, board meetings, CEO duality, audit, remuneration and nomination committee are used as board structure variables. Two accounting-based measures, return on assets (ROA), return on equity and one market-based measure Tobin's Q are used as a representative of financial performance of software companies. Panel regression is used to test the hypothesis.

Results demonstrates that board size, board meetings, remuneration and nomination committee have positive impact on more than one performance measures, while audit committee do not have any relation with any of the performance measures. It is also found that CEO duality has negative but significant relation with firm's performance and board independence has negative influence on ROA.

The findings of the study attract the attention of company's policymakers, shareholders to know the importance of board structure in increasing the firm's performance. The outcome of the study has relevance in other developing economies also. The results of the study can be utilised by policymakers and regulatory bodies in the formulation of good corporate government (CG) practices for the enhancement of profitability and market value of companies.

The findings suggest that special attention should be given to quality of CG, specifically board structure while measuring corporate financial performance.