RESUMO
The adzuki bean (Vigna angularis), known for its rich nutritional composition, holds significant promise in addressing food and nutritional security, particularly for low socioeconomic classes and the predominantly vegetarian and vegan populations worldwide. In this study, we assessed a total of 100 diverse adzuki bean accessions, analyzing essential nutritional compounds using AOAC's official analysis procedures and other widely accepted standard techniques. Our analysis of variance revealed significant genotype variations for all the traits studied. The variability range among different traits was as follows: moisture: 7.5-13.3 g/100 g, ash: 1.8-4.2 g/100 g, protein: 18.0-23.9 g/100 g, starch: 31.0-43.9 g/100 g, total soluble sugar: 3.0-8.2 g/100 g, phytic acid: 0.65-1.43 g/100 g, phenol: 0.01-0.59 g/100 g, antioxidant: 11.4-19.7 mg/100 g GAE. Noteworthy accessions included IC341955 and EC15256, exhibiting very high protein content, while IC341957 and IC341955 showed increased antioxidant activity. To understand intertrait relationships, we computed correlation coefficients between the traits. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) revealed that the first four principal components contributed to 63.6% of the variation. Further, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) identified nutri-dense accessions, such as IC360533, characterized by high ash (>4.2 g/100 g) and protein (>23.4 g/100 g) content and low phytic acid (0.652 g/100 g). These promising compositions provide practical support for the development of high-value food and feed varieties using effective breeding strategies, ultimately contributing to improved global food security.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis E, caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV), accounts for 50% of acute hepatitis cases in India. We report an outbreak of hepatitis E in Shimla, India, in 2015-2016. METHODS: ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, received two batches of water samples from Shimla in January 2016 to test for the presence of enterically transmitted hepatitis viruses. Subsequently, 57 icterus patients were tested for various markers of hepatotropic viruses, i.e. anti-HEV IgM/IgG, anti-hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) IgM/IgG antibodies and HEV RNA. Water samples were screened for HEV and HAV RNA followed by phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 48/57 patients availing municipal water had evidence of HEV infection, detected by serology and RT-PCR. All the water samples tested positive for HEV and HAV RNA, while the patients were negative for anti-HAV IgM antibody, indicating no recent HAV infection. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the aetiological agent of the current outbreak to be HEV genotype 1. CONCLUSIONS: Serology and RT-PCR confirmed HEV as the aetiology of the outbreak. The absence of new cases of hepatitis A, despite the presence of HAV in the water supply, could be due to previously acquired immunity. Sewage contamination of water leading to faecal-oral transmission of HEV still remains a concern, thus emphasising the need for a vaccination/control strategy.