Improved awareness regarding diet and health linkages has motivated researchers to give more attention to the health perspectives of individual foods. During the previous two decades, the global dairy industry diverted its interest from simple processing of commodities to the value addition. A significant income is being earned in the dairy industry from specialty proteins. Pakistan ranked 3 rd in milk production worldwide and different milking animals e.g. cow, buffalo, goat and camel should be studied for their potential for generating new health-promoting diets and nutraceuticals foods. Bioactive proteins and peptides from having abundant applications including an antimicrobial food additive, dietary supplements, functional foods and nutraceuticals. Proteins from milk have a balanced composition of amino acids promising novel functional products. These also enhance the consistency and sensorial characteristics of various dairy products. Amongst, lactoferrin reveal bacteriostatic as well as bactericidal bustle against a variety of microorganisms. It binds iron thus depriving it required for growth like L. monocytogenes, Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Shigella dysenteriae and Bacillus subtilis. Lactoferrin executes as an alternative to antibiotics. It acts as a natural antimicrobial for bio preservation ranging from dairy, meat, seafood, beverages, bakery products, acne care, infant formulas, extending shelf life, ensuring safety and improving health by acting against life-threatening diseases like cancer, hepatitis, respiratory infections, and foodborne diseases in infants, children and adults etc. In the nutshell, the current review discusses the importance and safety perspectives of lactoferrin in the food industry as well as the health sector. ARTICLE HISTORY

Bitter melon provides health benefits against various ailments for improving the quality of life. It is nutrient dense plant-based food containing versatility of bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, polypeptide, vitamins, and minerals. Owing to presence of bioactive compounds, it has the ability to fight against various lifestyle related disorders, e.g. cancer insurgence, diabetes mellitus, abdominal pain, kidney (stone), fever, and scabies. Amongst bioactive moieties, p-insulin is similar to insulin whose subcutaneous injection significantly lower blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. It also contains steroidal saponins called charantin, act alike peptides and certain alkaloids that effectively control sugar level in blood. The therapeutic perspectives have been also highlighted as they are helpful in regulating blood cholesterol thus protecting the body from cardiovascular disorders like atherosclerosis. Whole fruit, seeds and leaves of bitter melon regulates impaired antioxidant status and suppress fat accumulation. Moreover, curative potential of its bioactive components and their utilization in value added food products are also the limelight of article.

Cereals are a part of the grass family named Gramineae. They grow dried, single-seeded fruits termed grains, consisting of seed and a fruit coat (pericarp). The grain itself contains the endosperm, embryo (germ), nuclear epidermis, and also the coat of the seed. Chemical compositions of cereals are put into the cell walls or even other barriers in components isolated from each other (Delcour et al., 2010).Pulses have long been considered to be an excellent source of proteins, fiber, and antioxidant compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, and polyphenols, for their nutritious and healthpromoting attributes and also have a lower glycemic index (Hall et al., 2017). Therefore, in many food recipes formulated for the general public or in particular for special diets like vegetarian, and gluten-free, the pulse may be taken as an entirety and being used as an element.Additionally, the pulses consumed by consumers are unexplored by the prevalence of antinutrients, including trypsin inhibitors, phytic acid, and some indigestible oligosaccharides, that cause digestive distress (Hall et al., 2017). Last but not least, the presence of nonflavors can discourage the usage of pulses when used in food processing (Roland et al., 2017).In this regard, many processes have been implemented to pulsessuch as soaking, extrusion, dehulling, and fermentation-in the light of scientific proof to suggest an increased intake of pulses to boost the health (Patterson et al., 2017). Sprouting is very common in the

Plant‐based foods have a considerable quantity of bioactive moieties which provide nutritional benefits. Literature demonstrated that intake of a dietary fiber‐rich diet has positive impacts on human health. Moreover, several studies have indicated that a high intake of soluble dietary fiber is associated with a reduced risk of numerous chronic aberrations as compared to insoluble dietary fiber. For the purpose, special attention has been paid toward enhancement of soluble dietary fiber in foods through different innovative techniques. In this review, efforts are directed to elaborate the importance of dietary fiber and to highlight the significance of conversion of insoluble dietary fiber into soluble dietary fiber. Soluble dietary fiber are functionally and nutritionally more important than insoluble dietary fiber. Moreover, much has been focused on the solubilization of dietary fibers through different techniques that ameliorates the quantity of soluble dietary fiber. An array of different techniques and methods are used such as mechanical degradation, extrusion cooking, thermal processes, chemical treatment, enzymatic methods, microbiological fermentation, and some other processes. Furthermore, physicochemical and functional perspectives of soluble dietary fiber are also the limelight of the article. Practical applications The current study is aimed to overview the functional importance and modification of dietary fiber through different techniques. Owing to water solubility, soluble dietary fibers are more important than insoluble dietary fiber in terms of gastrointestinal role, cholesterol lowering effect, weight management, improved immunity, and mood enhancement and have a positive role in product development. Therefore, modification is much important for an industrial and health point of view as it generates physicochemical changes in dietary fiber which improve bioactive functionality. As good source of soluble dietary fiber, treated foods, especially cereals, can be incorporated in products/baking products to make these functional against various diseases because consumers are more conscious toward their diet and wish for natural remedies.

Cereals have captured global importance owing to the presence of bioactive moieties in cell wall. Numerous components have been considered but non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) of cereals cell wall are of prime concern. In this comprehensive review, the basic aim is to elaborate the functional and nutritional importance of cereals cell wall with special reference to NSP. Among bioactive components of cell wall, NSP, such as arabinoxylans, ßglucans, and arabinogalactans of wheat and barley, have gained much importance. Moreover, literature revealed that NSP have greater role as prebiotic, immunomodulator, antioxidant, anti-diabetic, and cardio-protector as well as major food applications.

Dietary fiber has gained greater attention owing to their positive and potential health perspectives. Cereals are the most important and enriched source of dietary fiber with more insoluble dietary fiber than soluble. For dietary fiber modification, chemical treatment with various techniques is considered as significant approach owing to its safety point of view and involves less damage to the molecular structure of the dietary fiber through chemical reagents and content of soluble dietary fiber is increased more efficiently. The current study was aimed to nutritionally characterize the cereal grains and to partially convert insoluble dietary fiber into soluble dietary fiber through chemical treatments in combination with extrusion. For the purpose, two varieties of each cereal were characterized for their chemical composition, mineral profile, and dietary fiber content according to the respective methods. Then, dietary fiber ratio in cereals was modified through chemical treatments, that is, acid, alkaline, and consecutive acid–alkaline followed by extrusion. Results regarding dietary fiber content of cereal grains exhibited that wheat (12.03–12.20 g/100 g) contained higher total dietary fiber followed by sorghum (6.70–6.90 g/100 g). Additionally, modification of SDF (1.97%) and IDF (11.48%) ratio in wheat and SDF (1.19%) and IDF (24.25%) ratio in sorghum through extrusion processing was nonsignificant while acid–alkaline treatment showed highly significant results, that is, 768.2% increase in SDF and 56.5% decrease in IDF in wheat and 952.38% increase in SDF and 71.17% decrease in IDF in sorghum. Among chemical treatments, higher result was given by acid–alkaline method and the lower outputs were observed in case of extrusion in both cereals. Conclusively, soluble dietary fiber was significantly increased through chemical treatments alone or in combination with twin‐screw extrusion.

The current research was carried out to observe the effect of different thermal treatments on soluble and insoluble dietary fiber ratio to improve functional properties of barley. Two varieties of barley labeled as Haider‐93 and Jau‐87 were milled and then wet and dry heat‐treated. Soaking and then cooking of soaked and nonsoaked barley was performed. Untreated barley contained more insoluble dietary fiber (12.00–12.40 g/100g dm) than soluble dietary fiber (4.73–5.70 g/100g dm). Additionally, the modification of soluble (13.32%) and insoluble dietary fiber (8.79%) ratio through pressure cooking was nonsignificant while roasting showed significant results, that is, 53.91% increase in soluble dietary fiber and 8.79% decrease in insoluble dietary fiber. In phase II, cooking without soaking gave highest results, that is, 68.08% increase in soluble dietary fiber and 15.48% decrease in insoluble dietary fiber. Conclusively, among all treatments of phase I and II, the better results were shown by cooking without soaking.

The core objective of current research was determined to nutritional and bioactive profile of maize bran (MB)‐enriched flour in relation to its end‐use product quality. Furthermore, rheological properties of MB‐enriched flour at different levels (5%, 10%, and 15%) were explicated through farinograph and mixograph. Moreover, bread was prepared with the addition of MB‐enriched flour and was characterized for nutritional and textural properties. Results showed that MB‐enriched flour having high water absorption and water retaining potential up to 4%–7% as compared to wheat flour (WF). Moreover, dough height gradually decreased with the addition of MB due to water‐binding ability of bran which causes a decrease in gas retention during fermentation. This resulted in bread volume decrease (4%–7%) as compared to WF. Furthermore, the moisture content and hardness increased with the addition of MB. The water activity of bread slightly increased with the addition of maize bran after 4‐day storage. Conclusively, MB‐enriched flour improved nutritional, textural, and sensorial properties of final product.