Xylitol: a review on bioproduction, application, health benefits, and related safety issues.

Xylitol is a pentahydroxy sugar-alcohol which exists in a very low quantity in fruits and vegetables (plums, strawberries, cauliflower, and pumpkin). On commercial scale, xylitol can be produced by chemical and biotechnological processes. Chemical production is costly and extensive in purification steps. However, biotechnological method utilizes agricultural and forestry wastes which offer the possibilities of economic production of xylitol by reducing required energy. The precursor xylose is produced from agricultural biomass by chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis and can be converted to xylitol primarily by yeast strain. Hydrolysis under acidic condition is the more commonly used practice influenced by various process parameters. Various fermentation process inhibitors are produced during chemical hydrolysis that reduce xylitol production, a detoxification step is, therefore, necessary. Biotechnological xylitol production is an integral process of microbial species belonging to Candida genus which is influenced by various process parameters such as pH, temperature, time, nitrogen source, and yeast extract level. Xylitol has application and potential for food and pharmaceutical industries. It is a functional sweetener as it has prebiotic effects which can reduce blood glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol level. This review describes recent research developments related to bioproduction of xylitol from agricultural wastes, application, health, and safety issues.

Efficacy of herbal coded Hepcon on drug induced hepatitis in experimental animals through histopathological and biochemical analysis.

Drug-induced liver injury is the leading cause for more than 50 percent of cases of acute liver failure. This study was conducted on herbo-mineral formulation "Hepcon" to evaluate its hepatoprotective effects in drug induced hepatitis in experimental animals. The liver injury was introduced with over dosage of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The herbo-mineral formulations "Hepcon" consist of Zingiber officinale, Piprum nigrum, Ammonium chloride and Arsenic trioxide (Hartal warqi). The aqueous extraction was administered to experimental animals. Thereafter their LFTs, IgG, and tissue pathology was studied. It was observed on the basis of biochemical and histopathological analysis that animals which were subjected to Hepcon became normal in 60 days whereas those as control group did not showed improvements and most of them died. It was concluded that the efficacy of Hepcon to treat liver injury caused by CCl4 and NSAIDs is very effective, and no side effects were noticed.