Assessing the Food Quality Using Carbon Nanomaterial Based Electrodes by Voltammetric Techniques.

The world is facing a global financial loss and health effects due to food quality adulteration and contamination, which are seriously affecting human health. Synthetic colors, flavors, and preservatives are added to make food more attractive to consumers. Therefore, food safety has become one of the fundamental needs of mankind. Due to the importance of food safety, the world is in great need of developing desirable and accurate methods for determining the quality of food. In recent years, the electrochemical methods have become more popular, due to their simplicity, ease in handling, economics, and specificity in determining food safety. Common food contaminants, such as pesticides, additives, and animal drug residues, cause foods that are most vulnerable to contamination to undergo evaluation frequently. The present review article discusses the electrochemical detection of the above food contaminants using different carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC), carbon dots, boron doped diamond (BDD), and fullerenes. The voltammetric methods, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), have been proven to be potential methods for determining food contaminants. The use of carbon-based electrodes has the added advantage of electrochemically sensing the food contaminants due to their excellent sensitivity, specificity, large surface area, high porosity, antifouling, and biocompatibility.

A Study on Glycyrrhiza glabra-Fortified Bread: Predicted Glycemic Index and Bioactive Component.

Bread is one of the highest-selling food products throughout the world. Lots of demand arose from the bread producers by the consumers to convert the traditional bread into functional food. In this study, normal bread was converted to functional herbal bread by infusing it with extracts of Glycyrrhiza glabra. The functional components of the Glycyrrhiza glabra were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LCMS). The antioxidant study revealed that the extract has high antioxidant potency. The present study also investigated the antidiabetic potency of the extract. Bread is fortified with various percentages of Glycyrrhiza glabra, such as 2, 4, and 6. The fortified bread was analyzed for various sensory and taste parameters. Biochemical assays such as the in vitro digestibility test and glycaemic index suggest that fortified bread reduces the glycaemic index. From the study, it was inferred that 6% of infused bread was found to have high potency as a functional food when compared to 2 and 4%. From the above study, it was suggested that fortified bread reduces the glycaemic index and is best suited for diabetic people and diet watchers.

Optimization studies of stir casting parameters and mechanical properties of TiO2 reinforced Al 7075 composite using response surface methodology.

Stir casting is a common metallurgical route in the casting of aluminum composites. Series of work done in this aspect considered the development of the composites with fixed stir casting parameters without applying an optimization approach. These parameters affect the microstructure and performance of the composites. The study is focused on the optimization of the stir casting parameters in the production of Al 7075 reinforced with TiO2 microparticles for performance improvement. Three stir casting parameters of stirring temperature, speed, and time were varied and optimized using the central composite design technique of the response surface method. Properties evaluated were ultimate tensile strength, hardness, impact strength, elastic modulus, and compressive strength. ANOVA results showed that the three stir casting parameters had a significant impact on the property responses. Five quadratic models were established for the properties linking them to the factors. The models were confirmed to be statistically significant at a confidence level of 95% and variations were observed to be < 5%. The interaction profile of the parameters as per response surface was analyzed. Contour plots associated with each interaction gave different ranges of stirring parameters in which each property can be maximized. Simultaneous optimization of the properties using Minitab 19 software showcased 779.3 °C, 574.2 rpm, and 22.5 min as the optimal stir casting parameters for temperature, speed and time respectively.

Redox Components: Key Regulators of Epigenetic Modifications in Plants.

Epigenetic modifications including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and chromatin remodeling are crucial regulators of chromatin architecture and gene expression in plants. Their dynamics are significantly influenced by oxidants, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), and antioxidants, like pyridine nucleotides and glutathione in plants. These redox intermediates regulate the activities and expression of many enzymes involved in DNA methylation, histone methylation and acetylation, and chromatin remodeling, consequently controlling plant growth and development, and responses to diverse environmental stresses. In recent years, much progress has been made in understanding the functional mechanisms of epigenetic modifications and the roles of redox mediators in controlling gene expression in plants. However, the integrated view of the mechanisms for redox regulation of the epigenetic marks is limited. In this review, we summarize recent advances on the roles and mechanisms of redox components in regulating multiple epigenetic modifications, with a focus of the functions of ROS, NO, and multiple antioxidants in plants.