Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2018 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a widespread public health problem in developing\nnations affecting greatly pregnant and lactating women. To alleviate the\ndeficiency, many strategies were set up by the Cameroonian authorities.\nHowever, the level of VAD is still very high, thus the option of supplementation\nof foods remains a very important option. The aim of this study was to\nevaluate the impact of a food supplementation with komba, a Cameroonian\ntraditional yellow maize cake, on vitamin A status of lactating mothers in\nNgaoundere town. To achieve this, 40 lactating mothers were recruited in four\nhealth facilities of the Ngaoundere town. They were dewormed and subdivided\nin two groups of 20 subjects each and fed for two months. The test\ngroup received 200 g of yellow maize cake while the control group received\n200 g of white maize. 24-hour dietary recall was used to assess their food intake\nduring the study period. Blood sample were collected at the beginning\nand the end of the study and the serum retinol determined. Results show that\nbefore the supplementation, 45% of the women had inadequate level of serum\nretinol in each group. At the end of the 2 months of supplementation, 30% of\nthe control group remained inadequate, while the totality of all the women in\nthe test group had adequate serum retinol levels (â�¥1.05 �¼mol/l). That means\nan improvement of the vitamin A status in the test group. Results also show a\nsignificant (p < 0.05) increase of 36.3% of serum retinol in the test group\nagainst 3.8% in the control group. The women of the test group had more\nchances to see their serum retinol increasing compared to the control group.\nConsumption of yellow maize cake therefore improves the vitamin A status of\nlactating mothers. The population can therefore change their habits to consume\nyellow maize instead of the white maize variety popularly consumed....
Plant-based nutraceuticals are categorised as nutritional supplements which contain\na high concentration of antioxidants with the intention of minimising the deleterious effect of\nan oxidative insult. The primary aim of this novel study was to determine the effect of exogenous\nbarley-wheat grass juice (BWJ) on indices of exercise-induced oxidative stress. Ten (n = 10) apparently\nhealthy, recreationally trained (Ã?â?¢VO2max 55.9 Ã?± 6 mLÃ?·kgâË?â??1Ã?·minâË?â??1), males (age 22 Ã?± 2 years, height\n181 Ã?± 6 cm, weight 87 Ã?± 8 kg, body mass index (BMI) 27 Ã?± 1) volunteered to participant in the study.\nIn a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover design, participants consumed either\na placebo, a low dose (70 mL per day) of BWJ, or a high dose (140 mL per day) of BWJ for 7-days.\nExperimental exercise consisted of a standard maximal oxygen uptake test until volitional fatigue.\nDNA damage, as assessed by the single cell gel electrophoresis comet assay, increased following\nhigh intensity exercise across all groups (time Ã?â?? group; p < 0.05, Effect Size (ES) = 0.7), although\nthere was no selective difference for intervention (p > 0.05). There was a main effect for time in\nlipid hydroperoxide concentration (pooled-group data, pre- vs. post-exercise, p < 0.05, ES = 0.2)\ndemonstrating that exercise increased lipid peroxidation. Superoxide dismutase activity (SOD)\nincreased by 44.7% following BWJ supplementation (pooled group data, pre- vs. post). The ascorbyl\nfree radical (p < 0.05, ES = 0.26), Ã?±-tocopherol (p = 0.007, ES = 0.2), and xanthophyll (p = 0.000,\nES = 0.5), increased between the pre- and post-exercise time points indicating a main effect of time.\nThis study illustrates that a 7-day supplementation period of a novel plant-derived nutraceutical\nproduct is insufficient at attenuating exercise-induced oxidative damage. It is possible that with\na larger sample size, and longer supplementation period, this novel plant-based nutraceutical could\npotentially offer effective prophylaxis against exercise-induced oxidative stress; as such, this justifies\nthe need for further research....
Nutraceutical formulations attract a great deal of consideration in daily schedule due to its nontoxic and traditional use. Corn silk or the stigma of Zea mays is used traditionally in weight loss stimulation, treatment of cystitis, urinary infections and obesity. Corn silk is a waste material or by-product with abundant availability from corn cultivation contains variety of nutrients and phytochemicals including proteins, vitamins, alkaloids, tannins, mineral salts and carbohydrate. Current research work had made an attempt to develop Zea mays silk based jelly as nutraceutical formulations for treatment of urinary tract infection. Jelly formulations were developed using corn silk extract. Stevia was applied as an artificial sweetener due to its non-calorific value which made product much more economic than available marketed products. Jellies were prepared by heating and congealing technique and optimized using 32 full factorial designs with concentration of gelatin and propylene glycol as independent variable. Optimization model predicted a yield of viscosity 3780±43.20 cp and percentage extract release (1 hour) at 93.15±0.29%. The quantification of phytochemicals were confirmed by LCMS study and found in the optimum range. Anti-microbial activity of extract and jelly formulation was detected against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus. The observed responses of optimized process were in close agreement with predicted values. The formulation was found to be very stable over duration of 90 days. Current study highlighted an approach in developing Zea mays silk based patient-friendly jellies for paediatric and geriatric patients with low nutritive value which can be used as nutraceutical....
Sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches to the production of health foods have become very popular. The concept of\nthis study was to develop chewing candy (CC)ââ?¬â?nutraceutical formulations based on sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.)\nand quince (Cydonia oblonga L.) juice and juice by-products (BuJ, QuJ, BuBP, and QuBP, resp.), as ingredients showing antimicrobial\nproperties against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii,\nProteus mirabilis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Enterococcus faecalis, E. faecium, and Bacillus cereus. Two\ntexture-forming agents (agar and gelatin) were tested for CC formulation. BuJ, QuJ, BuBP, and QuBP showed antimicrobial\nactivity against all the pathogens tested, and the largest inhibition zones against Bacillus and Proteus mirabilis were observed for\nBuJ and QuJ, respectively. Agar and/or gelatin selection has a significant influence on CC texture (p 0.0001), and interactions of\nagar and/or gelatin selection Ã?â?? juice or juice by-products and sea buckthorn or quince Ã?â?? juice or juice by-products were also\nsignificant (p 0.0001). The best acceptability was shown for CC prepared with agar and BuBP (131.7) and with gelatin and QuJ\n(132.0). The addition of BuJ, QuJ, BuBP, and QuBP increases the antioxidant activity of CC by five times. Finally, not just juice, but\nalso juice by-products, have great potential as desirable antimicrobial ingredients for the food industry....
The use of medicinal plants mixed with yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) has been poorly studied in the ethnopharmacological\nliterature so far. The Paraguayan Mestizo people have the longest tradition of using the yerba mate beverage, apart from the\nindigenous Guarani people. This study analyses the role of yerba mate and medicinal plants in the treatment of illnesses within\nParaguayan folk medicine.The research was conducted among 100 Paraguayan migrants living inMisiones, Argentina, in 2014 and\n2015. Yerba mate is not considered to be amedicinal plant by its own virtues but is culturally a very important type ofmedicinal plant\nintake. Ninety-seven species are employed in hot and cold versions of the yerba mate beverage. The most important species are as\nfollows:Allophylus edulis (highest number of citations),Aristolochia triangularis (highest relative importance value), and Achyrocline\nflaccida and Achyrocline tomentosa (highest score by Index of Agreement on Species). The plants are used in the treatment of 18\nmedicinal categories, which include illnesses traditionally treated with plants: digestive system, humoral medicine, and relatively\nnew health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and high levels of cholesterol. Newly incorporated medicinal plants, such as\nMoringa oleifera, are ingested predominantly or exclusively with the mate beverage....
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