Vegetable Oil Deodorizer Distillate: A Rich Source of the Natural Bioactive Components.

Deodorizer distillates are waste products of edible oil processing industries obtained during deodorization process of vegetable oils. It is very cheap source of several health beneficial components such as tocopherols, sterols, squalene as well as free fatty acids which have numerous industrial applications. These valuable components are being used in different foods, pharmaceutical formulations and cosmetics. Traditional sources of these useful components are vegetable oils, fruits, vegetables and nuts. Global need of these important components has been exceeded than their availability. The deodorizer distillates of various vegetable oils are considered to be a rich source of several valuable components. Present review will cover brief introduction of common processing stages involved in all vegetable oil processing, analytical methods for characterization of deodorizer distillates by instrumental techniques, importance and commercial value of deodorizer distillates. Future prospective of current field may leads to cost efficient processes and increased attention on the nutritional quality of deodorized oil and commercial applications of deodorizer distillates as well as their valuable components.

Characteristics and Composition of a High Oil Yielding Castor Variety from Pakistan.

Keeping in view the versatile applications of castor oil in cosmetic, pharmaceutical and recently as renewable source, the present work is a step towards the commercialization of castor on large scale in Pakistan. The current study introduces a castor variety with high oil content. Initially seeds were physically examined for some physical parameters. Seed moisture, ash content and linear dimensions such as length, width and thickness were found to be 4.53%, 6.44%, 12.24 mm, 8.31 mm and 5.67 mm, respectively. For oil extraction, Soxhlet method was used which resulted in the high oil content 54.0%. For quality assessment of oil, physicochemical parameters were checked according to official standard AOCS methods and compared with ASTM specifications. The determined parameters were as follows; specific gravity 0.953 g/cm(-3), refractive index 1.431, viscosity 672.0 mPas.s, moisture content 0.32%, FFA 0.14%, IV 83.61 gI2/100 g, PV 2.25 meq/Kg and SV 186.0 mgKOH/g. Furthermore, fatty acid analysis of oil showed that, most abundant fatty acid was ricinoleic acid 94.59%, followed by palmitic 0.31%, linoleic 1.84%, oleic (n-9) 2.05%, oleic (n-10) 0.22%, stearic 0.45% and eicosenoic acid 0.53%. The detected fatty acids were compared with registered variety and varieties of other regions.

Decontamination of poultry feed from ochratoxin A by UV and sunlight radiations.

BACKGROUND: Mycotoxin-contaminated feed is very dangerous for the growth and even life of poultry. The objective of the current study was to investigate the efficacy of ultra-violet irradiation for decontamination of ochratoxin A (OTA) in spiked and naturally contaminated poultry feed samples. Spiked and naturally contaminated feed samples were irradiated with ultra-violet light (UV) at distance of 25 cm over the feed samples. In vitro, the effect of UV intensity (0.1 mW cm(-2) at 254 nm UV-C) on different types of poultry feeds contaminated with OTA was evaluated. The same samples were also irradiated with sunlight and analysed for OTA by an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method. RESULTS: Poultry feed samples containing 500 µg kg(-1) were 100% decontaminated in 180 min with UV radiation while OTA was decreased to 70-95 µg kg(-1) using the same poultry feed samples after 8 h sunlight irradiation. Therefore, UV light was found to be more effective. Only 1 h of UV irradiation was found to be sufficient to bring the OTA level to the maximum regulatory limit suggested for poultry feeds (100 µg kg(-1) ), while 8 h were needed to obtain this level using sunlight radiations. CONCLUSION: The proposed approach is a viable option to reduce the level of OTA in contaminated poultry feeds. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of basil (Ocimum basilicum) essential oils depends on seasonal variations.

Chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils from aerial parts of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) as affected by four seasonal, namely summer, autumn, winter and spring growing variation were investigated. The hydro-distilled essential oils content ranged from 0.5% to 0.8%, the maximum amounts were observed in winter while minimum in summer. The essential oils consisted of linalool as the most abundant component (56.7-60.6%), followed by epi-α-cadinol (8.6-11.4%), α-bergamotene (7.4-9.2%) and γ-cadinene (3.2-5.4%). Samples collected in winter were found to be richer in oxygenated monoterpenes (68.9%), while those of summer were higher in sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (24.3%). The contents of most of the chemical constituents varied significantly (p<0.05) with different seasons. The essential oils investigated, exhibited good antioxidant activity as measurements by DPPH free radical-scavenging ability, bleaching ß-carotene in linoleic acid system and inhibition of linoleic acid oxidation. Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of the essential oils and linalool, the most abundant component, against bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pasteurella multocida and pathogenic fungi Aspergillus niger, Mucor mucedo, Fusarium solani, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Rhizopus solani was assessed by disc diffusion method and measurement of determination of minimum inhibitory concentration. The results of antimicrobial assays indicated that all the tested microorganisms were affected. Both the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the oils varied significantly (p<0.05), as seasons changed.