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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.

The purpose of this study is to determine the viability of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GR-1 (L. rhamnosus GR-1) in five yogurt samples with or without quinoa, chickpea, soybean and rice flour over various fermentation periods and refrigerated storage durations, with a focus on exploring the potential of functional foods, which provide health benefits beyond nutritional value. Additionally, the study aimed to evaluate consumer acceptance of yogurt fortified with functional flour. Using a nine-point hedonic scale, from 1 (dislike extremely) to 9 (like extremely), participants rated appearance, flavour, texture and overall acceptability.

The samples were inoculated with the probiotic strain L. rhamnosus GR-1 and fermented for 0, 2, 4 and 6 h at 38°C, followed by refrigerated storage at 4°C for 1, 15 and 30 days, respectively. Microbial enumeration was performed throughout fermentation and storage to assess the viability of L. rhamnosus GR-1. A sensory evaluation involving 86 participants was conducted to assess the consumer acceptability of the yogurt samples.

Notably, L. rhamnosus GR-1 achieved viable counts of 108 colony-forming units per mL in all treatments at all fermentation time points. Over the 30-day storage period, no statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in average pH values were observed among the five treatments, and within each treatment, pH levels remained stable, with an overall mean of 4.2 ± 0.64. Treatment 4, which featured rice flour fortification, received higher hedonic scores from sensory panellists in terms of appearance, flavour, texture and overall acceptability. These findings indicate that incorporating functional flours in conjunction with cow’s milk effectively promotes and preserves the viability of L. rhamnosus GR-1 in yogurt.

Exploring the potential of probiotic yogurt enriched with diverse functional flours to enhance nutritional content and health benefits as well as attract new consumers, this study addressed a critical gap in understanding consumer perceptions and generated insights for creating innovative and health-promoting dairy products.

This paper aims to investigate the ability of traditional biopolymers, such as funori or the nanoscale form of cellulose nanocrystals, to consolidate fragile paper and preserve it for as long as possible.

Degraded papers dating back two centuries were separated into paper samples for consolidation processes. Funori – a marine spleen – was used as a traditional consolidation material and a mixture with ZnO NPs compared with modern materials, such as cellulose nanocrystals. The samples were aged for 25 years, examinations and analyses were performed using scanning electron microscopy and color change was assessed using the CIELAB system, X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

According to the results, using traditional materials to consolidate damage, such as funori, after aging resulted in glossiness on the surface, a color change and increased water content and oxidation. Furthermore, samples treated with a mixture of ZnO NPs and funori revealed that the mixture improved the sample properties and increased the degree of crystallization. Cellulose nanocrystals improved the surface, filled gaps, formed bridges between the fibers and acted as a protector from aging effects.

This paper highlights the ability of nanomaterials to enhance the properties of materials as additives and treat the paper manuscripts from weaknesses.

The purpose of this study is to enhance the functional properties of Hessian fabric through resin finishing. Hessian bags made of lignocellulosic jute fiber are commonly used to pack, store and transport agro-commodities, including horticultural crops such as rice, potato, onion and wheat. However, because of high water affinity, these bags undergo degradation in properties due to moisture release by the stored commodities themselves. Exposure to natural elements, e.g. rain and dew, also causes moisture absorption in hessian bags. Once the bag gets moistened, degradation of jute bags starts due to microbial attack, leading to loss in tensile strength and change in extensibility, leading to ultimate breakage in warp and weft directions of the fabric.

To overcome the degradation in the functional properties of hessian fabric due to exposure to moisture and microbial attack, the application of semi-synthetic polymeric materials was carried out.

Tenacity, bursting strength, puncture resistance, tear strength and breaking load, as well as life cycle of resin-treated jute fabric was found to be better than control jute.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no recent reports of resin finishing on jute (hessian) fabric with semi-synthetic resins are presently available, other than coating with rubber.

This study aims to examine the relationship between muscle strength, eating index and blood pressure in adolescent girls. Growing studies show earlier onset of hypertension in youth. The prevalence may deteriorate during the COVID-19 pandemic due to unhealthy behavioral changes. Muscle mass (MM) is reported to be associated with blood pressure (BP), but there are limited studies that observed the relationship between the functional properties of muscle (muscle strength [MS]), healthy eating index (HEI) and BP.

This cross-sectional study involved 499 girls aged 15–18 years. HEI was generated from a 24-h food recall. MM and body fat (BF) were measured by bioelectrical impendence analysis (BIA), and MS and BP were measured by hand grip and Tensimeter, respectively. Multiple linear tests were performed to obtain an adjusted model.

Almost five out of 100 girls had high BP (4.8%) and a good diet (4%). The majority of them had desirable MM (75.9%) and low MS (50.1%). HEI negatively and MS are positively associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP). The inclusion of MM in the model diminished the association between MS and SBP completely. After adjustment for age and BF, only MM (ß = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.95) was associated with SBP. HEI was inversely (ß = −0.16, 95% CI = −0.31, −0.09) whereas MM (ß = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.11, 0.53) was positively associated with diastolic BP.

Studies associating MM or MS with better physical performance and metabolic health are mostly reported in the elderly; current finding contributes to the lack of literature and implies the importance of examining those associations at a younger age.

HEI and MM are associated with young girls’ BP in different directions. Healthy eating and engagement in activities to optimize muscle function should be promoted in adolescent girls to alleviate the risk of getting cardiovascular disease.

The aim of this study is to examine the agency problems that arise between retail property owners and outsourced facility management (FM) service vendors in Ghana.

This study was carried out using telephone and face-to-face interviews. Nine facility managers (n =9) and six retail property owners (n = 6) purposively selected participated in the interviews. The responses from the interviews were analysed using content analysis. To begin with the analysis, the recorded audio for each respondent during the interviews was transcribed to augment what was written during the interviews. The next step was the development of a coding framework where each of the agency problems was assigned unique codes and grouped under themes. Each response was assigned a predefined code based on the agency problems identified in the literature. The research team discussed the consistency of the thematic codes assigned to each of the responses to ensure that each response was captured under the appropriate agency problem theme it best represents.

The results showed that agency problems in FM outsourcing in the Ghanaian retail sector are related to disagreement on expenditure associated with maintenance and repairs and improper tenant information sharing and use by FM service providers. Based on the findings, it is recommended that property owners explore the mixed approach to FM to mitigate the risks of complete outsourcing of FM services. It is also recommended that a clear path on how tenant information can be shared be pre-agreed in FM contracts.

This study provides new literature relating to agency problems in outsourcing and may be the first of its kind for FM in the Ghanaian retail industry. The findings could serve as a starting point for service providers and their principals to find common grounds to understand each other and mitigate the agency problems that could arise and their overall impact on performance.

This papers aims to study lattice structures in terms of geometric variables, manufacturing variables and material-based variants and their correlation with compressive behaviour for their application in a methodology for the design and development of personalized elastic therapeutic products.

Lattice samples were designed and manufactured using extrusion-based additive manufacturing technologies. Mechanical tests were carried out on lattice samples for elasticity characterization purposes. The relationships between sample stiffness and key geometric and manufacturing variables were subsequently used in the case study on the design of a pressure cushion model for validation purposes. Differentiated areas were established according to patient’s pressure map to subsequently make a correlation between the patient’s pressure needs and lattice samples stiffness.

A substantial and wide variation in lattice compressive behaviour was found depending on the key study variables. The proposed methodology made it possible to efficiently identify and adjust the pressure of the different areas of the product to adapt them to the elastic needs of the patient. In this sense, the characterization lattice samples turned out to provide an effective and flexible response to the pressure requirements.

This study provides a generalized foundation of lattice structural design and adjustable stiffness in application of pressure cushions, which can be equally applied to other designs with similar purposes. The relevance and contribution of this work lie in the proposed methodology for the design of personalized therapeutic products based on the use of individual lattice structures that function as independent customizable cells.

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of banana (Musa) peel and guava (Psidium guajava) leaves extract as mordants on jute–cotton union fabrics dyed with onion skin extract as a natural dye.

The dye was extracted from the outer skin of onions by boiling in water and later concentrated. The bio-mordants were prepared by maceration using methanol and ethanol. The fabrics were pre-mordanted, simultaneously mordanted and post-mordanted with various concentrations according to the weight of the fabric. The dyed and mordanted fabrics were later subjected to measurement of color coordinates, color strength and colorfastness to the washing test. Furthermore, the dyed samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared, and different chemical bonds were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis.

Significant improvement was obtained in colorfastness and color strength values in various instances using banana peel and guava leaves as bio mordants. Post-mordanted with banana peel provided the best results for wash fastness. Better color strength was achieved by fabric post-mordanted with guava leave extracts.

Sustainable dyeing methods of natural dyes using banana peel and guava leaves as bio mordants were explored on jute–cotton union fabrics. Improvement in colorfastness and color strength for various instances was observed. Thus, this paper provides a promising alternative to metallic salt mordants.

In pursuit of affordable and nutrient-rich food alternatives, the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) emerged as a selected food ink for 3D printing. The purpose of this paper is to harness SCOBY’s potential to create cost-effective and nourishing food options using the innovative technique of 3D printing.

This work presents a comparative analysis of the printability of SCOBY with blends of wheat flour, with a focus on the optimization of process variables such as printing composition, nozzle height, nozzle diameter, printing speed, extrusion motor speed and extrusion rate. Extensive research was carried out to explore the diverse physical, mechanical and rheological properties of food ink.

Among the ratios tested, SCOBY, with SCOBY:wheat flour ratio at 1:0.33 exhibited the highest precision and layer definition when 3D printed at 50 and 60 mm/s printing speeds, 180 rpm motor speed and 0.8 mm nozzle with a 0.005 cm³/s extrusion rate, with minimum alteration in colour.

Food layered manufacturing (FLM) is a novel concept that uses a specialized printer to fabricate edible objects by layering edible materials, such as chocolate, confectionaries and pureed fruits and vegetables. FLM is a disruptive technology that enables the creation of personalized and texture-tailored foods, incorporating desired nutritional values and food quality, using a variety of ingredients and additions. This research highlights the potential of SCOBY as a viable material for 3D food printing applications.

Agricultural waste and food sources are some of the pollutants of the environment. One of these wastes is the peel of fruits that cannot be consumed as food. In this regard, walnut husk (WH) and oleaster peel (PO) are known as two important sources of tannin and are bulky wastes. Because of the high percentage of tannin, these materials can be used as a natural source for the preparation of bio-mordant in the dyeing process.

In this study, Reseda and Madder were used as natural dyes in the presence of a mixture of two bio-mordants. WH and PO were selected as bio-mordant. All natural resources are extracted to obtain the juice. The phenolic percentage of tannin-containing extracts was evaluated and then it was used for wool yarns by premordanting method. The results of evaluating the fastness properties using the ISO method.

The most important achievement of this research is the use of agricultural waste in the dyeing process to reduce environmental pollution and create added value. All compounds rich in tannin have some phenolic components, therefore the amount of phenolic content of these extracts was evaluated. The effect of mixing the mordant on the color characteristics of the yarns was investigated and the results showed that changing the ratio of the combination of two mordant is effective on the K/S values. The results of evaluating the fastness properties using the ISO method showed that the washing, rubbing and light fastness in the presence of mordant is good, good and moderate, respectively.

In this paper, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, for the first time, the combination of two natural extracts obtained from agricultural waste has been used to create a new bio-mordant on fibers and improve stability.