Review on the role and recommendation for dietary fibers in Childhood constipation

The plant material in the diet that is resistant to enzymatic digestion is defined as “dietary fibre”. The primary ingredients that are classified as dietary fibres are cellulose, hemicellulose, pectic substances, gums, mucilages and lignin etc. Dietary fibre naturally exist in foods that are consumed daily viz.,cereals, fruits, vegetables and nuts. The diets with high content of fibre have shown benefits in multiple areas and systems in maintaining a mileu’-interior. Processing of foods leads to various changes in physical, chemical, enzymatic and thermal treatments, which may affect the composition of total fiber present in the diet.Fibres included in the diet leads to various changes in the qualitative aspects of the food that is processed. Favourable outcomes have been reported in various commodities such as cereals,bread,yoghurt and beverages. The importance and the uses of fibres in diet is an area of constant interest which needs to be explored further and our paper reviews and explains the relation between dietary fibres and their benefits, primarily in children [1]

Physicochemical parameters of grape pomace subject to grape processing technology applied

This article presents experimental data on physicochemical parameters (humidity, density, bulk density, effective viscosity) of grape pomace of various white and red grape varieties, subject to the processing technology applied. It was established that pomace humidity varies across a wide range of values, subject to the grape variety, grape processing technology and pressure equipment. A study of Chardonnay pomace was used to note the influence of pressure equipment and processing technology upon pomace humidity. The values of density and bulk density had a strong invert correlation with the humidity index. With increase of humidity, the values of density and bulk density lowered both for white and red pomace. It was shown that the value of effective viscosity of pomace of white grape varieties varied from 8.8 (Chardonnay) to 12.8 (Gewürztraminer) Pa·s; that of red grape varieties varied from 13.2 (Pinot Noir) to 15.8 (Saperavi, fermented pomace) Pa·s. Such variation may have been related to the varietal peculiarities of grapes, pomace humidity, and concentrations of high-molecular compounds. The highest total of phenolic compounds was observed in extracts of fermented Saperavi pomace. The total of pectic substances in grape pomace varied from 5.5 to 7.2% of dry weight for the white grape varieties, and from 4.4 to 5.9% for the red grapes. As for the concentrations of pectic substances, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc pomace were distinguished among the white grapes, and fermented Cabernet Sauvignon pomace – among the red grapes.

Asymmetric Amination of meso-Epoxide with Vegetable Powder as a Low-Toxicity Catalyst

This paper describes the scope and limitation of substrates subjected to asymmetric amination with epoxides catalyzed by a soluble soybean polysaccharide (Soyafibe S-DN), which we recently discovered from the reaction of 1,2-epoxycyclohexane with cyclopropylamine. Various meso-epoxides reacted with various amines afforded the corresponding products with good enantiomeric selectivity. Since it was found that pectin was found to have a catalytic ability after screening commercially available polysaccharides, we studied 33 different vegetable powders having pectic substances, and we found that many vegetable powders showed catalytic ability. These results should guide in using vegetable components as low-toxic catalysts for the production of pharmaceuticals.

Impactul parazitar: nematoda Ditylenchus destructor–tuberculi de cartofi infestaţi în primele faze de ditilenhoză

There are presented data about morpho-physiological changes, as well as physiologico biochemicals, which appear in the tissue of potato tubers infested with Ditylenchus destructor (phases 2, 3 ditylenchose). The obtained data confirms that, D. destructor in the nutrition process eliminates in parallel celulosolitic and pectolytic enzymes, which cause complete maceration of the pectocellulosic membranes of the infected potato cell, as well as the parenchymal cortical tissue in which predominantly cellulose and pectic substances , dominating being cellulose. The results of the biochemical analyzes revealed that, at this stage in the parasite tissue there is a diminishing of the dry mass quantity, and the increase of the quantity of water. It is important to mention that in the plasmalemma mechanically traumatized by the nematode stiletto, the main intracellular inclusions of the potato tuber - the starch granules - were kept without change. Subsequently, when plasmalemma is destroyed, the granules diffuse into the nematode suspension.

SECONDARY PLANT RESOURCES AS PROSPECTIVE UNCONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF PECTIС SUBSTANCES

The secondary raw materials have been studied as sources of pectic substances necessary for the endo-ecological protection of the organism in the globally deteriorating living conditions of modern humans. The article reveals the significance and long-term benefits of such sources of pectic substances as fruit and seed coats, which are obtained in considerable quantities as a secondary raw material during the implementation of the technological process, and often do not find rational use. Research has been carried out on new prospective sources of pectin substances – secondary resources of processing soybean Glycine max (L.) Merrill, sainfoin Onobrýchis arenária, rapeseed Brassica napus L. oleifera, Sarepta mustard Brassica juncea (L.) Czern, and black mustard Brassica nigra (L.) W.D.J. Koch, castor bean Ricinus communis L., sunflower Helianthus annuus L. Fruit and seed coats of these plant species have been studied. The prospects of their secondary resources for pectin production have been shown. The assessment of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the pectic substances of the objects under study, as well as their fractional composition and analytical indicators, make it possible to characterize the potential functional, technological and therapeutic properties of pectin preparations. It has been indicated that in the polyuronid component (fraction of galacturonic acid), all the studied samples of surface tissues of soybean, mustard, sainfoin, sunflower, one rape variety meet international requirements for food pectin (52.87–73.22%), and one of them, the pectin from seed coat of the Valenta variety, meets the requirements for pectins for medical purposes (75.83%). Pectic substances of soybean, mustard, castor bean varieties are characterized by a high degree of esterification (62.37–76.88%) in contrast to the varieties of sainfoin and sunflower (45.29–55.15%). According to the degree of esterification, rape varieties are close to low-esterified pectiс substances – 59.34–61.48%. The prospects of using seed and fruit membranes as an unconventional secondary plant raw material to improve the environmental performance of production and to obtain a valuable therapeutic-and-prophylactic food ingredient have been substantiated.

Spectroscopic and Structural Analyses of Opuntia Robusta Mucilage and Its Potential as an Edible Coating

Mucilage extracted from the parenchymatous and chlorenchymatous tissues of Opuntia robusta were obtained using water or ethanol as the extraction solvent. The changes in the different tissues by using different extraction solvents were evaluated via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy; in addition, the effect of mucilage coating on the various quality characteristics of tomato (Lycopersicum sculentum) was evaluated. The SEM results showed that the mucilage extracted from the parenchyma had a higher aggregation level that the mucilage extracted from the chlorenchyma. The presence of three characteristic bands of pectic substances in the FT-IR spectra between 1050 and 1120 cm−1 indicated that the mucilage extracted from the parenchymatous tissue had a higher content of pectic compounds than the mucilage extracted from the chlorenchymatous tissue. It was also observed in the Raman spectra that the level of pectic substances in the mucilage extracted from the parenchymatous was higher than that in the mucilage extracted from the chlorenchymatous tissue. The mucilage extracted from the parenchymatous tissue was more effective as an edible coating than the mucilage extracted from the chlorenchymatous tissue. Tomatoes covered with mucilage showed significantly enhanced firmness and reduced weight loss. The uncoated tomatoes showed higher lycopene content than the coated tomatoes on the 21st day. This study showed that the Opuntia robusta tissue and extraction solvent influence mucilage characteristics and that Opuntia robusta mucilage is a promising edible coating.