In the current study, Lactobacillus acidophilus was encapsulated in sodium alginate and whey protein isolate, with the addition of antacids CaCO 3 or Mg(OH) 2 . The obtained microgels were observed by scanning electron microscopy. Encapsulated and free probiotics were subjected to vitality assay under stressed conditions. Furthermore, dried apple snack was evaluated as a carrier for probiotics for 28 days. A significant ( p ≤ .05) effect of antacid with an encapsulating agent was observed under different stressed conditions. During exposure to simulated gastrointestinal conditions, there were observations of 1.24 log CFU and 2.17 log CFU, with corresponding 0.93 log CFU and 2.63 log CFU decrease in the case of SA + CaCO 3 and WPI + CaCO 3 respectively. Likewise, high viability was observed under thermal and refrigerated conditions for probiotics encapsulated with SA + CaCO 3 . In conclusion, the results indicated that alginate microgels with CaCO 3 are effective in prolonging the viability of probiotics under stressed conditions.

Functional foods play a key role in human health and disease. Garlic (Allium sativum) is an eminent plant and has been part of food since ancient times due to its high medicinal food value. The unpleasant taste and odor of raw garlic make consumers reluctant for its use. With consumer demand, the trend for black garlic is getting attention worldwide. Black garlic is obtained from fresh garlic after a controlled fermentation process at high humidity and temperature. The fermentation process causes implausible changes in its physicochemical properties. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted to elucidate the effect of this natural agent against different health disorders and it has been found that black garlic is an effective in decreasing diabetic, hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemic hypertension, inflammation, oxidative stress, cancer, and different neuro risks. The market for black garlic is developing rapidly to its positive functionality for human health. In the present review article, we have recapitulated the nutritional, chemical, bioactivity, physiochemical modifications during processing, food, and medicinal use and current knowledge of the subject, as well as the sensory aspects, and proposed future prospects on their possible applications as a functional food product.

According to the previous reports, the collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) causes tumorigenesis by modulating the tumor microenvironment, however, the evidence is limited to a few human cancer subtypes. In the current study, we analyzed and validated the CTHRC1 expression variations in 24 different human cancer tissues paired with normal tissues using publically available databases. We observed that CTHRC1 was overexpressed in all the 24 major subtypes of human cancers and its overexpression was significantly associated with the reduced overall survival (OS) duration of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC), Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD), and Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC). This implies that CTHRC1 plays a significant role in the development and progression of these cancers. We further noticed that CTHRC1 was also overexpressed in HNSC, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, STAD, and UCEC patients of different clinicopathological features. Pathways enrichment analysis revealed the involvement of CTHRC1 associated genes in seven diverse pathways. We also explored few interesting correlations between CTHRC1 expression and promoter methylation, genetic alterations, CNVs, CD8+ T immune cells infiltration, and tumor purity. In conclusion, CTHRC1 can serve as a shared diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HNSC, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, STAD, and UCEC patients of different clinicopathological features.

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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.