Bananas are a valuable crop that are embedded with various micronutrients. Unripe bananas are of interest because they are used by commercial interests as a source of starch. These starches can be modified to resistant forms to slow digestibility and lower glycemic index. In this context, they are of interest in diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease research. Additionally, there is pharmaceutical interest in modified banana starches in terms of drug delivery and in the textile industry as filler in yarn. Due to the texturizing capacity, mouthfeel, and palatability of banana starches, the beverage, bakery, and confectionery industries have investigated their use for novel formulations. This Review summarizes the properties and applications of banana starches.

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Sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) are vegetable crops that possess varied aroma, color, flavor, nutritional and medicinal value (Melgar-Lalanne et al., 2017). In the last few years, sweet peppers gained the attention of researchers due to the presence of an ample amount of phytochemicals such as phenols, antioxidants, carotenoids, flavonoids, and fiber that impart neutraceutical properties. Thus, sweet pepper represents a source of beneficial compounds, which makes it a good antioxidant additive for food and increases its potential usability as a functional food (Hernández-Carrión et al., 2015). Moreover, sweet peppers have been recently reported to be effective in protecting against diabetes, cardiovascular and carcinogenic diseases because of their hypolipidemic, hypocholesterolemic, antithrombotic and anti-hypertensive effects. They also possess many other biological activities such as antimicrobial, antiasthmatic, antimutagenic, and immunomodulatory activities (Blanco-Ríos et al., 2013). Sweet peppers are strong-flavored vegetables used in a wide variety of ways, hence used as a coloring and flavoring agent in sweets, soft drinks, snacks, sauces, soups and other processed products (Giuffrida et al., 2013).However, sweet peppers are highly susceptible to microbial decay due to their high water content, therefore, need to be preserved.To enhance the shelf-life and extends the storage stability of sweet peppers various methods such as drying, evaporation, canning and freezing have been used. Drying is a widely employed method to enhance their shelf life by decreasing the moisture content which aids in microbial stability (Vincente et al., 2014). The hot-air drying is a commonly used drying technique relating to its low investment, minimum operating cost and simple process (Wang et al., 2017). Drying

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Euryale ferox (also known as foxnut), belongs to the family Nymphaeaceae. It is mainly grown in India, China, Japan, and Korea. It is a highly nutritious food, abundant in nutritional and bioactive compounds such as carbohydrates, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols. It is considered a functional food owing to its various health benefits such as antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, antifatigue, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, antimelanogenic, etc. E. ferox has immense potential in both food and non‐food industries. Regardless of being recognized as a superfood packed with nutritional as well as medicinal properties, it is still neglected, and there has not been much attention given to its cultivation. Therefore, in this review, the potential of E. ferox as a superfood has been explored to enhance its utilization in the development of different foods and make it available outside its growing area. Practical applications Euryale ferox is abundant in several macronutrients and micronutrients; and considered as a superfood in terms of various health benefits. E. ferox has the ability to be used in the development of different health, functional, and nutraceutical foods, which will open a new door for the food industry to combat with numerous diseases.

Mushrooms are rich in vitamin D, antioxidants, and phenolic compounds. Different processing techniques may be used to increase shelf life and reduce spoilage of mushrooms. The objective of this study was to determine total phytochemical and total antioxidant activity of extracts of five varieties (Portabella, White Button, White Beech, Oyster & Seafood) of mushrooms (fresh, oven dried & sautéed). The antioxidant activity was measured by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical solution (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), Trolox equivalence antioxidant capacity assay (TEAC), and nitric oxide radical scavenging activity (NORS). All samples were freeze-dried followed by preparation of methanol extracts. Oven dried and cooked Portabella, and Oyster Mushrooms had lower total phenolic (295.05 and 135.54 μg GAE/100g DW) compared to sautéed (417.49 μg GAE/100g DW) and raw (446.95 and 309.28 μg GAE/100g DW). Sautéed Portabella (111.97 μg C.E/100g DW) and Oyster samples had higher total flavonoid content compared to fresh (81.45 and 64.70 μg C.E/100g DW) and oven dried (72.38 and 66.45 μg C.E/100g DW) samples. Highest FRAP activity was observed in raw Portabella (3.94 mM Fe(II)/100g DW) and Oyster extracts (2.62 mM Fe(II)/100g DW) compared to sautéed samples (3.03mM Fe(II)/100g DW) with 1.3 times lower activity. Followed by 1.9 folds reduced FRAP activity in oven-dried Portabella (2.07mM Fe(II)/100g DW), and 1.69 folds' lower action in oven-dried Oyster (1.55mM Fe(II)/100g DW). All the Portabella treatments had 1-2.5 folds higher total phenolic, flavonoid content and FRAP activity compared to Oyster mushrooms. Future research will include using the extracts for the prevention of chronic disease studies. Data from this study will be helpful to determine the processing conditions which will maximize phytochemicals and antioxidants with implications in the development of functional food products.