High prevalence of long-term olfactory dysfunction confirmed by olfactory testing after a community COVID-19 outbreak

Purpose The prevalence of long-term olfactory and gustatory dysfunction in participants suffering from sudden chemosensory loss due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unknown. Furthermore, evaluations of the reliability of participants’ self-reporting of olfactory function (SOF) and gustatory function (SGF) using extended objective psychophysical testing are missing. Methods In this population-based cohort study in a PCR-tested community in Thuringia, Germany, olfactory function was extensively examined 4 months after a COVID-19 outbreak using the “Sniffin Sticks” test battery to determine the TDIa score, i.e., the sum of results obtained for threshold, discrimination, and identification scores averaged for both nasal sides. Gustatory function was assessed using the three-drop test resulting in the gustatory composite score (CSg). The data were compared with SOF and SGF. Results Of 43 adult convalescents (median age: 68 years; 58% female) after SARS-CoV‑2 infection, 18 participants (42%) had olfactory complaints due to SOF, one participant (2%) complained of taste disturbance due to SGF. The TDIa was 22.0 ± 5.9. Normosmia, hyposmia, and anosmia were seen in 17, 18, and eight participants, respectively. TDIa correlated with SOF (rs = −0.434, p = 0.004); CSg was 23.5 ± 2.7. Normogeusia and hypogeusia were objectified in 39 and four participants, respectively. The prevalence of long-term olfactory dysfunction and gustatory dysfunction in the study group was 60.5 and 9.3%, respectively. Conclusion The SOF was reliable, especially for participants who felt a sudden chemosensory dysfunction during the outbreak. At 4 months after SARS-CoV‑2 infection, a high proportion of participants were dysosmic, whereas nearly all of them had normal taste function.

Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) with Probiotic Potential from Dengke Naniura

Dengke Naniura is a traditional food from Sumatera Utara, Indonesia, that is produced through fermenting process, and this food is believed to contain high probiotics. The objective of the current research is to determine the potential of LAB as a probiotic that has been obtained from Dengke Naniura. Dengke Naniura was traditionally prepared from Cyprinus carpio. Four LABs have been successfully isolated from Dengke Naniura, such as D7DA3, D7B3, D7DBF and D7DN3. Those four LAB isolates were identified as Lactobacillus sp. This result has been confirmed by the non-spore forming bacterium, non-motile, and Gram-positive. Also, it has been supported by biochemical test, for the example Voges Proskauer, catalase test, Methyl Red test, and carbohydrate fermentation. Several tests have been performed for determining the properties of the isolated LABs as probiotic, for the example: physiological properties, acid and bile tolerance and antimicrobial activities. As a probiotic, the fermentation profile of the isolated LAB was evaluated, including titratable acidity, pH, and organoleptic test. The all four isolates show the ability to survive in the MRS broth medium at pH 2 and 3. At the pH 3, the isolates of D7B3 show the highest ability to survive; it is about 100%, after 2 hours of incubation time. This data is followed by D7DBF4 with value 90 and 24% at pH 3 and 2, respectively. Otherwise, the isolate of D7DN3 and D7DA3 shows the lowest value, it is about 55-58% and 52-58% at pH 3 and 2, respectively. The fermented milk has been successfully made from LAB that has been isolated from Dengke Naniura. The fermented milk prepared using D7DA3 and D7DN3 has consistence and odor as similar as yoghurt, otherwise the isolate of D7DB3 and D7DBF4 produced fermented milk that is too thick. The fermented milk prepared from these isolates, D7DA3, D7DBF4 and D7DN3 has a normal taste. The better taste has been obtained in the fermented milk that was prepared using D7B3 isolate. The fermented milk prepared using LAB and obtained from Dengke Naniura has titratable acidity of 0.92-1.15% with pH 4.03-4.60.

Effect of homogenization speed on the stability of the mayonnaise from catfish belly and red palm mixture oil

This study aimed to determine the effect of homogenization speed on the stability of mayonnaise from catfish belly and red palm mixture oil. This study used a non-factorial complete randomized design (CRD) with five treatments and three replications. The treatments were homogenization speed by using a hand mixer, namely: K1= scale 1 (658 rpm), K2= scale 2 (728 rpm), K3= scale 3 (845 rpm), K4= scale 4 (936 rpm), and K5= scale 5 (1.028 rpm). Data were analyzed statistically using analysis of variance and followed by Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) at the 5% level. The results of the analysis showed that the homogenization speed significantly affected the stability of the mayonnaise on the viscosity, creaming index on the 10th day of storage, and stability of the emulsion by centrifugation on the 5th and 10th days of storage. The homogenization speed also affected the sensory descriptive of the mayonnaise on the viscosity. The best treatment was K5 (1.028 rpm) with 22.470 mPa.s viscosity, 100% creaming index on the 10th day of storage, 100% emulsion stability on the 5th day of storage, and 98,67% on the 10th day of storage. The mayonnaise was very yellow in color, normal taste, and thick.

PENGARUH LAMA FERMENTASI OLEH Bacillus subtilis TERHADAP KARAKTERISTIK SERE KEDELE

This research aims to find out the effect of soybean fermentation time by Bacillus subtilis to produce sere kedele with the best characteristics. This research used completely randomized design (CRD) with one treatment factor of the fermentation time with 5 period of fermentation time (12, 18, 24, 30 and 36h). Each treatment was repeated 3 times, resulted 15 experimental units. The data were then analyzed with Analysis of Variance method and if the treatment had an effect on the variable, followed by the Duncan test. The result show that fermentation times had significant effect to moisture, ash, protein, fat, carbohydrate, crude fiber content, total acid, pH value, the number microbes, hedonic test for taste, scoring test for taste and overall acceptance of sere kedele. Fermented by B. subtilis for 12h resulted in the best characteristic under the following criteria : 58.05% moisture content, 2.39% ash content, 15.79% protein content, 14.39% fat contetnt, 9,38% carbohydrate content, 6.1 pH value, 0.11% total acid, 9.59log cfu/g the number microbes, color, flavour, texture liked, normal taste with sour taste and overall acceptance liked. Keyword : soybean, sere kedele, Bacillus subtilis, fermentation, traditional food .

Nerve regeneration-induced recovery of quinine avoidance after complete gustatory deafferentation of the tongue

The concentration-dependent decrease in quinine licking by rats is substantially attenuated by combined bilateral transection of the chorda tympani (CT) and glossopharyngeal (GL) nerves, but transection of either nerve alone produces marginal impairments at most. Here we tested whether regeneration of one or both of these nerves after combined transection would result in recovery of taste avoidance. Water-restricted rats were presented with a series of brief-access (5 s) taste trials (water and 0.003–3.0 mM quinine-HCl) in a 5-day test block of 40-min sessions both before nerve transection and starting 75–77 days after transection. Licking avoidance returned to presurgical levels when both nerves were allowed to regenerate. When only the GL was allowed to regenerate, performance did not differ from that of sham-transected animals. This suggests that even after considerable gustatory deafferentation, regeneration has the capacity to restore normal taste-guided behavior. Surprisingly, when only the CT was allowed to regenerate, avoidance behavior was severely impaired and was not different from that of rats in which regeneration of both nerves was prevented. Taking into account prior findings, it appears that the absence of the GL in the presence of an intact CT is fundamentally different from the absence of the GL in the presence of a regenerated CT with respect to some taste functions. This represents the first reported instance to our knowledge in which the capacity of a regenerated nerve to maintain taste-guided behavior was distinctly different from that of an intact nerve in a rodent model.

Terbinafine-Associated Taste Disturbance with Normal Taste Threshold Scores

The medical literature reveals numerous reports of transient taste disturbance associated with the use of oral terbinafine. A review of these reports, however, fails to confirm taste disturbances by formal taste testing. In this article, a case of long-standing taste dysfunction in a patient who exhibited normal formal taste thresholds is described. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 91(10): 540-541, 2001)