No abstract

Four green leafy vegetables commonly consumed in South India were selected for the study. They were subjected to three different methods of cooking namely, conventional, pressure, and microwave cooking. Proximate composition, vitamins (ascorbic acid and b-carotene), mineral content (calcium, phosphorus, and iron), and in vitro available iron of the raw and cooked samples were estimated. The cooked samples were further subjected to sensory analysis. The results showed that the nutrient content of each green leafy vegetable was distinct and spinach was comparatively a poor source of all nutrients. Cooking caused a significant difference only in the ascorbic acid and b-carotene content of the greens. No significant difference was observed in the nutrient content due to the three different methods of cooking adopted. Results of the sensory test revealed that color was the only attribute that varied to a large extent due to cooking. Color of pressure cooked greens was considered inferior to conventionally cooked and microwave cooked samples. The sensory attributes of microwave cooked greens were similar to the conventionally cooked samples.

The following four vegetables; beans (Phaseolus vulgaris var. vulgaris), brinjal (Solanum melongena var. esculentum), knol-khol (Brassica oleracea var. caulorapa) and radish (Raphanus raphanistrum satvius) were processed either by conventional, pressure or microwave cooking methods and were analysed for their nutritional and sensory profile. Raw samples were used as controls. Microwave cooking resulted in greater moisture loss when compared with vegetables cooked by other methods. The protein, fat, total ash, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and dietary fibre contents of the vegetables did not differ significantly in raw or cooked vegetables. Ascorbic acid was destroyed to the greatest extent by pressure cooking followed by microwave and conventional method. The sensory attributes of cooked vegetables, as evaluated by a paired preference test, revealed that there were no significant differences between cooked radish and knol-khol but, in the case of beans and brinjal, microwave and conventionally cooked samples were preferred over pressure cooked ones.

The Integration of multiple degradation pathways in a single catalyst is a potential approach to advance the technologies of organic pollutants degradation. To integrate both heterogenized photo-Fenton reaction and Z-scheme...

Saturated fat and trans fat consumption is linked to cardiovascular disease. Considering the health implications of saturated and trans fats investigation was undertaken with the objective to study the fat compositions in biscuits sold in Indian market. These commercial biscuits were analysed for saturated and trans fatty acids using capillary GC. The results of analysis of 46 biscuit samples showed that the total fat content ranged from 9.5 to 25.0 g/100 g of biscuits. The fatty acid profile showed that, saturated fat content in biscuits ranged from 5.1 to 18.7 g/100 g. The overall range of total trans fat content was found to be 0.1 to 3.2 g/100 g biscuit and cis monounsaturated fatty acid content varied from 0.9 to 8.6 g/100 g of biscuits. The low-level trans fatty acid was mainly by dienes and trienes where as high-level trans was from monoenes of C18. Polyunsaturated fatty acids in biscuits ranged from 0.2 to 3.5 g/100 g. Biscuits of same brand on repeat analysis over a period of one year showed little variation in fat, saturated and trans fat content.