The significant attention gained by food-sourced vitamins has provided insights into numerous current researches; for instance, the potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention, the balance between food and dietary supplements in the general population, the role of diet and food intake in age-related macular degeneration, and the association of dietary supplement use, nutrient intake and mortality among adults. As relevant literature about food-sourced vitamin increases, continuous synthesis is warranted. To supplement existing information, this perspective review discussed food-sourced vitamins for consumer diet and health needs, scoping from vitamin absorption, metabolic functions, utilization, to balancing nutritional requirements. Relevant literatures were identified through a search of databases like Google Scholar, Web of Science, the Interscience Online Library, ScienceDirect, and PubMed. We demonstrated that vitamins whether from plant- and animal-based sources are prerequisites for the metabolic functions of the human body. The fat- and water-soluble classification of vitamins remains consistent with their respective absorption and dissolution potentials, underpinned by numerous physiological functions. Vitamins, largely absorbed in the small intestine, have their bioavailability dependent on the food composition, its associated interactions, as well as alignment with their metabolic functions, which involves antioxidants, coenzymes, electron acceptor/donor, and hormones. Moreover, vitamin deficiencies, in every form, pose a serious threat to human health. Vitamin toxicities remain rare, but can still occur mainly from supplementation, although it appears much less in water-soluble vitamins of which some excesses get readily removed by the human body, different from the fat-soluble ones that are stored in tissues and organs. Besides discussions of absorption, transport, and cellular uptake of vitamins, this perspective review also included approaches to meeting vitamin requirements and therapeutic strategies against micronutrient deficiency and COVID-19. We have also attempted on how to strike the balance between food-sourced vitamins and dietary supplements.

BACKGROUND Rice flour does not contain gluten and lacks cohesion and extensibility, which is responsible for the poor texture of rice noodles. Different technologies have been used to mitigate this challenge, including hydrothermal treatments of rice flour, direct addition of protein in noodles, use of additives such as hydrocolloids and alginates, and microbial transglutaminase (MTG). Recently, the inclusion of soy protein isolate (SPI), MTG, and glucono‐δ‐lactone (GDL) in the rice noodles system yielded rice noodles with improved texture and more compact microstructure, hence the need to optimize the addition of SPI, MTG, and GDL to make quality rice noodles. RESULTS Numerical optimization showed that rice noodles prepared with SPI, 68.32 (g kg−1 of rice flour), MTG, 5.06 (g kg−1 of rice flour) and GDL, 5.0 (g kg−1 of rice flour) gave the best response variables; hardness (53.19 N), springiness (0.76), chewiness (20.28 J), tensile strength (60.35 kPa), and cooking time (5.15 min). The pH, sensory, and microstructure results showed that the optimized rice noodles had a more compact microstructure with fewer hollows, optimum pH for MTG action, and overall sensory panelists also showed the highest preference for the optimized formulation, compared to other samples selected from the numerical optimization and desirability tests. CONCLUSION Optimization of the levels of SPI, MTG, and GDL yielded quality noodles with improved textural, mechanical, sensory, and microstructural properties. This was partly due to the favourable pH value of the optimized noodles that provided the most suitable conditions for MTG crosslinking and balanced electrostatic interaction of proteins. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Cereals and legumes are prone to perishability and have very short shelf-life if not given proper treatment. During different handling and marketing operations, there is a huge postharvest loss of agricultural produce. The qualitative and quantitative losses incurred in cereals and legumes commodities between harvest and consumption are huge. Qualitative losses such as loss inedibility, nutritional quality, calorific value, and consumer acceptability of fresh produce are much more difficult to assess than are quantitative losses. The major cause of postharvest loss (PHL) is the availability of poor infrastructure for postharvest technology (PHT) and processing of commodities. These losses can only be minimized by proper handling, marketing, and processing of the agricultural commodities; as well as the use of modern preservation technologies such as irradiation, radio frequency heating, etc. The sufficient knowledge of pre-and post-harvest preservation technologies and the provision of adequate and sufficient storage facilities for cereals and legumes handling and distribution would help to mitigate the incidence of postharvest deterioration and therefore improve the availability of cereals and legumes in the market and subsequent reduction in malnutrition for increased food security. Postharvest preservation technology of cereals and legumes is very fundamental in reducing postharvest losses and increasing food security.

Aim: Turbidity is one of the integral parameters used to ascertain beer quality and clarity. This has been achieved through a combination of filtration processes and utilization of kieselghur as filter aid. Kieselghur on the other hand is expensive and not readily available; therefore there is need to find potential filter aids from locally available materials. The aim of this research is to determine the effectiveness of egg shell powder and snail shell powder in sorghum beer clarification.   Study Design: This study was made to fit into using a combination of T-test and one way Analysis of Variance. Place and Duration of Study: The research was carried out at Department of Food Science and Technology Laboratory, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria, between May 2018 and November 2018. Methodology: Sorghum grains were malted by adoption of barley malting protocols while snail shells and egg shells obtained from the market were processed into powders. Temperature programmed infusion mashing method was used to produce wort from sorghum malt that was germinated for 2 days and 3 days. The resulting worts were fermented using Saccharomyces carlsbergensis to obtain sorghum beer and the beer was clarified with kieselghur, egg shell powder and snail shell powder. Turbidity and other quality analyses were carried out on the sorghum wort, sorghum beer and clarified sorghum beer. Results: The results showed that beers clarified with Kieselghur had better clarity than egg shell powder and snail shell powder clarified sorghum beers. Egg shell powder showed better clarification potentials than snail shell powder. There is a correlation between total solids and turbidity. Germination period significantly influenced the turbidity of sorghum beer. Conclusion: This study showed that egg shell powder can serve as potential filter aid in beverage clarification.

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