In India, the street food trade is a growing sector with its expansion linked with urbanisation and the need of urban populations for both employment and food. However, the microbiological status of popularly consumed raw street foods, general hygienic and vending practices are not known. We visited 75 vendors (50 having fixed stalls and 25 with mobile stalls) operating in three major locations: mandi (open market place), bus terminus and railway station in New Delhi and Patiala City. A total of 150 samples each of coriander sauce, of ready-to-eat salads and coconut slices collected were analysed for Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella spp. Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus were detected in 91 (60%) samples of coriander sauce, 87 (58%) samples of coconut slices and 129 (86%) samples of ready-to-eat salads. Twenty-three (15%) samples of coconut slices contained Shigella (18 Sh. dysenteraie type 1 and 5 Sh. flexneri 2a), 13 (8%) samples of ready-to-eat salads and 10 (6%) samples of coriander sauce contained Sh. flexneri 2a. Street vendors lacked access to potable water, toilet facilities and operated under poor hygiene conditions. The results of our study suggest that street vended coconut slices, coriander sauce and ready-to-eat salads could be important potential vehicles for food-borne diseases.

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Lactic acid bacteria from indigenous pickled vegetables and fermented beverages (fermented rice and Madhuca longifolia flowers) were isolated and investigated for their functional characteristics in vitro as potential new probiotic strains. Four isolates (all Lactobacillus spp.) selected on the basis of high tolerance to bile (0.2%) were identified by standard and molecular methods (16S rDNA) as L. helveticus, L. casei, L. delbrueckii and L. bulgaricus from pickled vegetables and fermented beverages respectively. These selected strains had antibiotic resistance, tolerance to artificial gastric juice and phenol (0.4%), enzymatic profile, and antagonistic activity against enteric pathogens (Enterobacter sakazakii, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella flexneri 2a, Listeria monocytogenes, Yersinia enterocolitica and Aeromonas hydrophila). All strains survived well in artificial gastric juice at low pH (3.0) values for 4 h, possessed bile salt hydrolase activity and were susceptible to most antibiotics including vancomycin. Additionally, the isolates exhibited high tolerance to phenol, high cell surface hydrophobicity (>60%) and induced proliferation of murine splenocytes. All the four strains of present study suppressed the Con A-stimulated proliferation of the mouse spleen cells, although L. casei had the strongest suppressive effect. The results of this study suggest a potential application of the strains (following human clinical trials), for developing probiotic foods.

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Total polyphenolics and free radical scavenging properties of extracts obtained from osmotically dehydrated, and spiced mushroom snack food with raw unprocessed mushrooms were studied. Sensorially acceptable mushroom snack was prepared in the laboratory by osmotically dehydrating Agaricus bisporous in 5% salt solution followed by addition of an adequate combination of spices and vacuum drying. The extracts of raw and dry snackmushrooms were then evaluated for their scavenging activities against the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and 2,2-azobis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS). The scavenging activity of free extracts of raw and dry snack mushrooms on DPPH radical were 76% and 72%, respectively. The ABTS radical scavenging activity of the free extracts of raw sample expressed as ascorbic acid equivalent antioxidant activity (AEAC) was 2.76 mg ascorbic acid equivalents/100 g and 2.67 mg ascorbic acid equivalents/100 g snack mushroom. Both free and bound polyphenolic contents in mushroom snacks were slightly higher than raw mushrooms whereas total flavonoids levels decreased marginally. No change in antioxidants status of the dry snack product was observed when dry snack stored at ambient temperature for up to 15 days. The results of this study suggested that mushroom snacks prepared using a combination of the above methods was able to retain a significant amount of antioxidants, phenols and flavonoids and mushroom snacks may prove to be an alternative nutritious snack.

Fried sourdough bread (bhatura) with an elevated amount of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was produced using lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The LAB starter was screened and isolated from pickled yam showing highest GABA content and was identified as Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis. The maximum GABA production in de Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) media supplemented with monosodium glutamate (MSG) was 110 mg/100 ml at pH 5, and 1-3% NaCl did not change the production of GABA significantly (p>0.05). When MSG was replaced with Vigna mungo in sourdough, the amount of GABA for bhatura was 226.22 mg/100 g representing about 10-fold increase. A sensory evaluation resulted as the overall general acceptability of bhatura to be 4.91 ± 0.03 on a five-point hedonic scale. Thus, the results indicated the potential of L. lactis as a LAB starter for the production of GABA-enriched bhatura. Although other physiological effects can be expected in the product, animal and clinical studies are mandatory prior to application of this food.

Extracellular biopolymer produced from Klebsiella terrigena was found to have excellent flocculating ability over a wide range of colloid particles (0.5 to 25μ). The biopolymer was thermostable, with an optimum temperature for flocculation of 30°C. Analysis with Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry (FT‐IR) shows that the biopolymer mainly possesses hydroxyl, carboxyl, and methoxyl groups, with neutral sugar and uronic acid as its major and minor components, and the structure of a polysaccharide. The average molecular weight of the biopolymer was greater than 2 × 10 3 kilodalton (KDa), as determined by gel permeation chromatography. Scanning electron microscopy indicated a porous morphology of the biopolymer. At a dosage of 2 mg/L, the purified biopolymer could remove 62.3% of Cryptosporidium oocysts (1 × 10 6) spiked in tap water samples. Calcium (5mM) was required for effective removal. The removal efficiency of Cryptosporidium oocysts by the biopolymer remained unaltered over a pH range of 6 to 8. The results of this study indicates a possible utility of the Klebsiella terrigena biopolymer as an alternative to typically used chemical flocculants for removal of Cryptosporidium oocysts from water.