Millet starch: A review.

The demand for millets and their products is becoming popular globally due to their various health-promoting properties. The major constituent of the millet is its starch which contributes about 70% of total millet grain and decides the quality of millet-based food products. The application of starch for various purposes is dependent upon its physicochemical, structural, and functional properties. A native starch does not possess all the required properties for a specific use. However, product-specific properties can be achieved by modifying the structure of starches. Information deficit on millet starch has undermined its potential use in new food product design. The objective of this review is to examine the chemical composition, characterization, structural chemistry, digestibility, hydrolysis, and modification techniques of the millet starches. The review paper also discusses the various applications of native and modified starches in the food industry.

Study on Power Ultrasound Optimization and Its Comparison with Conventional Thermal Processing for Treatment of Raw Honey.

The present study was done to optimize the power ultrasound processing for maximizing diastase activity of and minimizing hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content in honey using response surface methodology. Experimental design with treatment time (1-15 min), amplitude (20-100%) and volume (40-80 mL) as independent variables under controlled temperature conditions was studied and it was concluded that treatment time of 8 min, amplitude of 60% and volume of 60 mL give optimal diastase activity and HMF content, i.e. 32.07 Schade units and 30.14 mg/kg, respectively. Further thermal profile analyses were done with initial heating temperatures of 65, 75, 85 and 95 ºC until temperature of honey reached up to 65 ºC followed by holding time of 25 min at 65 ºC, and the results were compared with thermal profile of honey treated with optimized power ultrasound. The quality characteristics like moisture, pH, diastase activity, HMF content, colour parameters and total colour difference were least affected by optimized power ultrasound treatment. Microbiological analysis also showed lower counts of aerobic mesophilic bacteria and in ultrasonically treated honey than in thermally processed honey samples complete destruction of coliforms, yeasts and moulds. Thus, it was concluded that power ultrasound under suggested operating conditions is an alternative nonthermal processing technique for honey.

Trends in utilization of agro-industrial byproducts for production of bacteriocins and their biopreservative applications.

Bacteriocins are proteinaceous, ribosomally synthesized bio-molecules having major roles in food preservation due to their antimicrobial action against food spoilage microorganisms. These have gained importance in the last decades because of increasing interest in natural products and their applications in the field of biopreservation, pharmaceutical, aquaculture, livestock, etc. Their production is quite expensive which includes the cost of synthetic media and downstream processing of which 30% of the total production cost relies on synthetic media and nutritional supplements used for growth of microorganisms. The low cost agro-industrial by-products, rich in nutritional supplements, can act as a good substitute for high valued synthetic media. This review provides comprehensive information on the use of cost effective, renewable agro-industrial by-products as substrates for the production of bacteriocins and their application in food as biopreservatives.

Bacteriocins: Recent Trends and Potential Applications.

In the modern era, there is great need for food preservation in both developing and developed countries due to increasing demand for extending shelf life and prevention of spoilage of food material. With the emergence of new pathogens and ability of micro-organisms to undergo changes, exploration of new avenues for the food preservation has gained importance. Moreover, awareness among consumers regarding harmful effects of chemical preservatives has been increased. Globally, altogether there is increasing demand by consumers for chemical-free and minimal processed food products. Potential of bacteriocin and its application in reducing the microbiological spoilages and in the preservation of food is long been recognized. Bacteriocins are normally specific to closely related species without disrupting the growth of other microbial populations. A number of applications of bacteriocin have been reported for humans, live stock, aquaculture etc. This review is focused on recent trends and applications of bacteriocins in different areas in addition to their biopreservative potential.

Fructo-oligosaccharides: Production, Purification and Potential Applications.

The nutritional and therapeutic benefits of prebiotics have attracted the keen interest of consumers and food processing industry for their use as food ingredients. Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), new alternative sweeteners, constitute 1-kestose, nystose, and 1-beta-fructofuranosyl nystose produced from sucrose by the action of fructosyltransferase from plants, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. FOS has low caloric values, non-cariogenic properties, and help gut absorption of ions, decrease levels of lipids and cholesterol and bifidus-stimulating functionality. The purified linear fructose oligomers are added to various food products like cookies, yoghurt, infant milk products, desserts, and beverages due to their potential health benefits. This review is focused on the various aspects of biotechnological production, purification and potential applications of fructo-oligosaccharides.

Simple sequence repeat markers in genetic divergence and marker-assisted selection of rice cultivars: a review.

Sequencing of rice genome has facilitated the understanding of rice evolution and has been utilized extensively for mining of DNA markers to facilitate marker-assisted breeding. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that are tandemly repeated nucleotide sequence motifs flanked by unique sequences are presently the maker of choice in rice improvement due to their abundance, co-dominant inheritance, high levels of allelic diversity, and simple reproducible assay. The current level of genome coverage by SSR markers in rice is sufficient to employ them for genotype identification and marker-assisted selection in breeding for mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci analysis. This review provides comprehensive information on the mapping and applications of SSR markers in investigation of rice cultivars to study their genetic divergence and marker-assisted selection of important agronomic traits.