Exploration of Breastfeeding Practices in India: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Breastfeeding is essential and a unique way of providing food to infants for development and healthy growth. Various breastfeeding practices are followed in different regions of India. Objective: This study aims to collect the information for practices related to prelacteal feed, early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, and weaning in India. Materials and Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Google Scholar, Clinical key, the Cochrane Library, and Science Direct databases to identify studies on practices related to the initiation of early breastfeeding, prelacteal feed, Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) practices, and weaning as outcomes. Quality assessment of each study was done by the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Results: Twenty-four studies were included in this systematic review. Seven studies reported an early initiation of breastfeeding within 1-6 hours of birth. Six studies reported various prelacteal foods given to infants, such as tea, boiled water, honey, sugar, jaggery, or glucose with plain water and diluted animal milk. Four studies stated that exclusive breastfeeding was a suboptimal practice, often continued for less than six months for reasons like working mothers (not enough time for breastfeeding), traditional beliefs, and inadequate milk output. Four studies explored the causes of early onset of weaning, and the most common reasons were initiation of supplementary feeding before six months, insufficient breastmilk, and lack of knowledge. Conclusion: Overall, the results of the individual studies indicate that unhealthy breastfeeding practices such as prelacteal feeding, suboptimal exclusive breastfeeding, and early initiation of weaning practices were prevalent and almost the same across India.

REVIEW OF PLANT-BASED MILK UTILIZATION AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANIMAL MILK

In general, milk is a white liquid secreted by animal’s mammary gland and contained lactose. Problems occured when some people have an allergy to lactose thus an alternative is created in the form of dairy products with plants as the basic ingredient. This study aims to determine the nutritional value and the advantage of plant-based milk on health and nutrition fulfillment so it can be used as a substitute of animal milk for people with lactose intolerance. In this study, the milk in plant-based milk refers to extracts of various plants. Plant-based milk has a distinctive odor depending on the plant-based ingredients used. In this article, the study was carried on the physical characteristics, nutritional values and benefits of plant-based milk consumption for health and a comparison with animal milk (cow’s milk) was also done. The literature indicated that nutritional value of plant-based milk is comparable to animal milk. Despite no observable physical differences between plant-based milk and animal milk, there was still a need for improvements in the way to add flavour to plant-based milk to attract consumer’s interest. Plant-based milk has its benefits for heart health due to its lack of cholesterol levels in it. There are five types of plant-based milk studied within the scope of this article; these are soy, almond, oat, mung beans, and cashew.

Awareness about Human Brucellosis in Healthcare Professional in India

Introduction: Human brucellosis is a widespread zoonosis of serious public health consequences. The infection is transmitted from animal to human through direct contact with infected animals or consumption of infected, unpasteurized animal milk. Being a disease with wide and non-specific clinical manifestations, a case of brucellosis can be detected only if the treating health care professional is aware of the disease and keeps a high rate of suspicion when dealing with suspected cases. We surveyed to find the extent of awareness about Human brucellosis in healthcare professionals in Gujarat, India. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare professionals from December 2020 to May 2021 using a self-administrated questionnaire. This study included healthcare professionals including AYUSH practicing in Gujarat. A validated questionnaire consisting of 23 items was administered to assess the knowledge of professionals toward suspecting, diagnosing, preventing, and managing a case of brucellosis. Both physical and Google forms were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program, IBM version 22. Results: Sixty-nine healthcare professionals responded to the questionnaire. The findings of the study showed overall good awareness about brucellosis with a higher rate of knowledge in allopathic healthcare professionals and nurses in comparison to AYUSH doctors. Nearly 50% of respondents did not know the treatment as well as the preventive potential of human brucellosis. Conclusion: The current study suggests a need for creating more awareness in the healthcare professional, particularly AYUSH practitioners about brucellosis for better management and prevention.

LC-MS/MS Determination of 21 Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Residues in Animal Milk and Muscles

The presented procedure combines experience from two LC-MS/MS methods previously developed by our team for NSAIDs determination in meat and milk. The novelty was a modification of sample preparation and combining LC-MS/MS method for milk and muscle. The clean-up procedure was investigated, leading to a change from SPE to dSPE with C18 bulk sorbent. Unlike most of the existing methods, chromatographic separation was achieved on a C8 chromatographic column. This method was developed and validated under European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. Recovery for milk samples values between 86.3% to 108%, with the coefficient of variation, varied from 5.51% to 16.2%. The recovery for muscle was calculated to be between 85.0% and 109%, and the coefficient of variation was—4.73% to 16.6%. The validation results prove that the method is suitable for confirmatory purposes in milk and muscle. Of 452 samples tested in 2019 and 2020, two have been identified as non-compliant.

Quality of Peanut (Arachis hypogeae L.) Kefir with Variation in Ragi Starter Concentration and Long Fermentation

One of the fermented milk products, namely kefir, is increasingly popular because it has many health benefits. Peanut juice has a high enough protein content that it can be used as a substitute for animal milk. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of peanut kefir with variations in the concentration of ragi tape inoculum and fermentation time. This research method used 3 variations in the concentration of tape yeast (1, 2 and 4%) and long fermentation time (24, 48 and 72 hours). The results showed that the highest total LAB was in 4% ragi tape inoculum with a fermentation time of 24 hours (4.4x108 cells/mL) and the lowest was in 4% tape yeast inoculum with a fermentation time of 72 hours (9.8x107 cells/mL) and total yeast between 1x104 cells/mL - 3x105 cells/mL) and alcohol produced <1%. Total acid obtained between 6% - 17.6%. The increase in total acid is proportional to the decrease in pH. The pH of the peanut kefir medium was between 3.44 - 4.12. Peanut kefir with tape yeast inoculum meets the standard requirements for fermented milk and can replace milk kefir.

Association of DGAT1 With Cattle, Buffalo, Goat, and Sheep Milk and Meat Production Traits

Milk fatty acids are essential for many dairy product productions, while intramuscular fat (IMF) is associated with the quality of meat. The triacylglycerols (TAGs) are the major components of IMF and milk fat. Therefore, understanding the polymorphisms and genes linked to fat synthesis is important for animal production. Identifying quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and genes associated with milk and meat production traits has been the objective of various mapping studies in the last decade. Consistently, the QTLs on chromosomes 14, 15, and 9 have been found to be associated with milk and meat production traits in cattle, goat, and buffalo and sheep, respectively. Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) gene has been reported on chromosomes 14, 15, and 9 in cattle, goat, and buffalo and sheep, respectively. Being a key role in fat metabolism and TAG synthesis, the DGAT1 has obtained considerable attention especially in animal milk production. In addition to milk production, DGAT1 has also been a subject of interest in animal meat production. Several polymorphisms have been documented in DGAT1 in various animal species including cattle, buffalo, goat, and sheep for their association with milk production traits. In addition, the DGAT1 has also been studied for their role in meat production traits in cattle, sheep, and goat. However, very limited studies have been conducted in cattle for association of DGAT1 with meat production traits in cattle. Moreover, not a single study reported the association of DGAT1 with meat production traits in buffalo; thus, further studies are warranted to fulfill this huge gap. Keeping in view the important role of DGAT1 in animal production, the current review article was designed to highlight the major development and new insights on DGAT1 effect on milk and meat production traits in cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goat. Moreover, we have also highlighted the possible future contributions of DGAT1 for the studied species.

The xanthine oxidase and its associated activities of the ovine milk and liver: distinctive in impact of in vivo molybdenum

Xanthine oxidase is molybdenum and iron-containing flavoprotein, catalyzing the final oxidation stage of purines and oxidative transformation of pterins and some aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes. Despite the importance of this enzyme, the distribution of xanthine oxidase in traditional household animal’s milk and tissues is unknown. Formerly, we have found most of the xanthine oxidase molecules in animal milk are inactive because of a lack of molybdenum. Ovine milk was processed by inserting in vivo molybdenum (tungsten) into drinking water. We gave opposite dates in the presence of tungsten too. Heating the milk of animals at 80 °C for 5 minutes in the presence of molybdenum and cysteine led to a sharp increase of xanthine oxidase and its associated – nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase activities. The change of xanthine oxidase and its associated activities were examined by spectrophotometry after treatment. It was established that metal ions added in drinking water for animals have an impact on enzyme activities. The activity is formed in the ovine liver even in the absence of exogenous molybdenum in drinking water. The associated activities of liver enzymes in the presence of molybdenum in drinking water had slightly increased. Tungsten-containing water led to the loss of all activities of liver xanthine oxidase. It is proposed that the liver contains a special protein involving in the incorporation of molybdenum (or tungsten) into xanthine oxidase molecule, however, the milk or mammary gland compounds lack this protein.

Pap, gruel, and panada

This chapter collects information on artificial infant feeding published before 1860, the date when commercial formula became available. There is extensive artefactual evidence from thousands of feeding vessels since the Bronze Age. Literature on the use of animal milk for infant feeding begins with Soranus in the 2nd century c.e. Literature evidence from the very first printed books in the 15th century proves that physicians, surgeons, midwives, and the laity were aware of the opportunities and risks of artificial infant feeding. Most 17th- to 19th-century books on infant care contained detailed recipes for one or several of the following infant foods: pap, a semi-solid food made of flour or breadcrumbs cooked in water with or without milk; gruel, a thin porridge resulting from boiling cereal in water or milk; and panada, a preparation of various cereals or bread cooked in broth. During the 18th century, the published opinion on artificial feeding evolved from health concern to moral ideology. This view ignored the social and economic pressures which forced many mothers to forego or shorten breastfeeding. Bottle feeding was common practice throughout history.

Measuring the Effect of Blockchain Extrinsic Cues on Consumers’ Perceived Flavor and Healthiness: A Cross-Country Analysis

Many studies in the related literature have proven that the perception of flavor and healthiness can be affected by both the product’s intrinsic and extrinsic cues. Package designs, brands, colors, labels and other visual elements exert and influence consumers’ expectations and guide them toward food decisions. With the increasing initiatives promoted within Europe in support of the adoption of blockchain technology in supply chains and agri-food contexts, in the coming years, packages will be used with additional product information certified with the technology itself. Cueing packages with blockchain-certified information could affect consumers in their overall flavor and health perceptions, similarly to that previously demonstrated with other extrinsic cues. In the present study, we analyzed a sample of 310 primary grocery shoppers from Germany, Italy and the UK, demonstrating the effectiveness of technology-certified information on the package of animal milk in influencing consumers’ flavor and health perceptions and exploring the differences and similarities across the three countries and milk categories.