The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a major challenge from human health perspective. The alarming exponential increase in the transmission and fatality rates related to this disease has brought the world to a halt so as to cope up with its stern consequences. This has led to the imposition of lockdown across the globe to prevent the further spread of this disease. This lock down brought about drastic impacts at social and economic fronts. However, it also posed some positive impacts on environment as well particularly in the context of air quality due to reduction in concentrations of particulate matter (PM), NO 2 and CO across the major cities of the globe as indicated by several research organizations. In China, Italy, France and Spain, there were about 20-30% reduction in NO 2 emission while in USA 30% reduction in NO 2 emission were observed. Compared to previous year, there was 11.4% improvement in the air quality in China. Drastic reductions in NO (− 77.3%), NO 2 (− 54.3%) and CO (− 64.8%) (negative sign indicating a decline) concentrations were observed in Brazil during partial lockdown compared to the five year monthly mean. In India there were about − 51.84, − 53.11, − 17.97, − 52.68, − 30.35, 0.78 and − 12.33% reduction in the concentration of PM 10, PM 2.5 , SO 2, NO 2, CO, O 3 and NH 3 respectively. This article highlights the impact of lockdown on the environment and also discusses the pre and post lockdown air pollution scenario across major cities of the world. Several aspect of environment such as air, water, noise pollution and waste management during, pre and post lockdown scenario were studied and evaluated comprehensively. This research would therefore serve as a guide to environmentalist, administrators and frontline warriors for fighting our the way to beat this deadly disease and minimize its long term implications on health and environment.
Hunger means dietary intake that does not provide the kind and quantity of food that is needed for growth, activity and the maintenance of good health. Hunger comes in many guises, four of which (i.e. starvation, undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency and nutrient depleting diseases) serve as indices of hunger in compiling global estimates. Micronutrient deficiency is a global challenge to health. Micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) have huge impact on health of vulnerable population like women and children and have jeopardized the national economy and prosperity of developing countries. Micronutrients are nutrients required by the body in small amounts for normal physiologic functions. Despite the minuscule demand for micronutrients by the body, their deficiency results in a number of health complications. Globally, more than 2 billion people are affected by micronutrient deficiency where developing world takes most of the burdens. To make things worse, micronutrient deficiency often goes unnoticed for a long time in individuals before symptoms become apparent. Large scale interventions through fortification, biofortification, biotechnology and supplementation of micronutrients to circumvent the devastating consequences of micronutrient deficiencies are showing a great progress by reducing the number of morbidity and mortality attributed to them.
This study was conducted to assess the effect of two thermal treatments, viz. roasting and pan frying (deep frying), on nutritional profile, aflatoxin, and capsaicin content in green chilies. Green chilies were subjected to roasting and frying to reduce the aflatoxin contamination, besides retaining their pungency and nutritional profile. Reversed‐phase HPLC was employed to determine the levels of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, and G2 in thermally treated and control samples. The proximate compositions of roasted and fried chili samples were significantly (p ≤ .05) different from raw chili (control), except ash content. Vitamin A levels decreased significantly (p ≤ .05) during roasting and were undetected in fried chili samples. Likewise, vitamin C was undetected in both roasted and fried chili samples. Significantly decreasing (p ≤ .05) trends were noticed in capsaicinoids viz. capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin contents including Scoville Heat Units (SHU) during roasting and frying. However, retention of capsaicinoids was higher in roasted chilies (730.00 ± 4.90 mg/kg) than fried samples (502.56 ± 5.10 mg/kg). The levels of all the four major aflatoxins (AFs)‐ AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2 recorded in control were much higher than the limits prescribed by the European Union for spices. Both thermal treatments (roasting and frying) employed proved to be effective in reducing aflatoxins like AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2 in chilies to below the prescribed limits, while as the level of AFB1 was reduced below the limits by only the frying method. This study therefore indicated the substantial impact of frying on aflatoxins.
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