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IntroductionKahudi and Kharoli are unique naturally fermented mustard seed products prepared and consumed in the northeastern region of India. The pre-fermentation processing of mustard seeds (soaking, pan-frying, mixing with alkaline or acidic additives, airtight packaging) renders a stringent fermentation environment. The metabolic activities of fermenting bacterial populations yield a myriad of glucosinolate-derived bioactive components which have not been described earlier.MethodsThis present study employed integrated 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and LC-MS-based metabolomics to elucidate the bacterial diversity and metabolome of the two fermented mustard seed food products.Results and DiscussionUnivariate and multivariate analyses of metabolomics data revealed differential abundances of a few therapeutically-important metabolites viz., sinapine, indole-3-carbinol, γ-linolenic acid in Kahudi, and metabolites viz., β-sitosterol acetate, 3-butylene glucosinolate, erucic acid in Kharoli. A metagenomic investigation involving the 16S rRNA (V3–V4) amplicon sequencing showed the dominance of Firmicutes (99.1 ± 0.18%) in Kahudi, and Firmicutes (79.6 ± 1.92%) and Proteobacteria (20.37 ± 1.94%) in Kharoli. The most abundant genera were Bacillus (88.7 ± 1.67% in Kahudi; 12.5 ± 1.75% in Kharoli) followed by Lysinibacillus (67.1 ± 2.37% in Kharoli; 10.4 ± 1.74% in Kahudi). Members of both these genera are well known for proteolytic and endospore-forming abilities which could have helped in colonizing and thriving in the stringent fermentation environments.

The present study aims to find the contribution of self-concept, stress, educational aspirations, parental involvement and guidance needs in predicting the scholastic achievement of secondary school students. The sample for the study comprised 205 students studying in 8th, 9th and 10th classes, selected through random sampling technique. The researchers used Children’s Self Concept Scale (Ahluwalia & Singh, 1986), Student Stress Scale (Akhtar, 2011), Educational Aspiration Test (Khan, 2009), Parental Involvement Scale (Chauhan & Arora, 2009), and a self-constructed Guidance Needs Scale in the study. Findings reveal that self-concept, educational aspirations, and parental involvement have a positive relationship with the scholastic achievement of students and stress and guidance needs have a negative relationship. Multiple linear regression analysis was found significant at 0.01 level of significance. Self-concept, stress, educational aspirations, parental involvement and guidance needs contribute significantly to the variance in the scholastic achievement of the students. Implications of these results for parents, teachers, counsellors and school administrators have been reported in the study.