Contents

The millets are called as nutricereals due to the availability of beneficial nutrients. The fermented millet gruels prepared from P. miliare, S. italica, P. scrobiculatum and E. frumantacea. and the millet gruels were analysed for the Short chain fatty acids (SCFA). The anticancer efficacy of the fermented millet gruels also investigated in vitro in the Human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7. P. miliare fermented gruel showed the acetic acid in the levels of 0.89 μM, lactic acid as 1.76 μM, propionic acid in the levels of 1.82 μM and butyric acids in the levels of 10.58 μM. The fermented S.italica gruel showed acetic, lactic and butyric acid levels of 1.12 μM, 2.41 μM and 42.85 μM respectively. The fermented P.scrobiculatum gruel showed the acetic acid of 1.04 μM, lactic acid of 0.89 μM, proponic acid of 2.26 μM and butyric acid of 3.09 μM. The fermented E. frumantacea also showed high levels of propionic acid (8.93 μM) and 2.7 μM of acetic acid. The anticancer efficacy also shown the S. italica fermented gruel have the high potential against the breast cancer cell line, MCF-7 compared to the other fermented millet gruel. It may be due to the high butyric acid content of the S. italica fermented gruel.

Nata produced by Gluconacetobacter xylinum is a pure form of cellulose without lignin and hemicelluloses unlike plant cellulose. The production of bacterial cellulose or nata is receiving great attention due to its wide range of application both in food and pharmaceutical industries. However, the yield is comparatively very low and the commercially used carbon sources such as glucose are relatively expensive. In this study, a pilot scale bacterial cellulose production was carried out in a 5 L capacity model jar fermentor using G. oboediens (sju-1) Acc. No. KF164613 in calcium alginate incorporated cashew apple juice (CAJ) medium. Fermentation kinetics of bacterial cellulose production was evaluated during the course of reaction. The population increase with a gradual decrease in pH was noticed up to 16th day of inoculation. Initially the population was 0.002 × 1011cfu mL-1, which increased to 13.24 and 25.21 × 1011 cfu mL-1 on 8th and 10th day, respectively. By 16th day of incubation, the population reached the maximum of 34.12 × 1011 cfu ml-1 and the pH of the medium dropped to 4.5. Bacterial cellulose produced per 100 g of the substrate (Yp/s) was 1.62 ± 0.01g, while it was found to be 1.30 ± 1.11g. 100g-1 of cells (Yp/x). With respect to total sugars, the initial concentration of 18.00 g.L-1 dropped to 16.14, 10.88 and 9.14 g.L-1 on 2nd, 6th and 8th day, respectively. On the 16th day when the population of bacterial cells was at the maximum, the total sugar content dropped drastically to 2.18 g L-1. Due to the incorporation of calcium alginate in medium, the yield of nata-de-cashew increased and the mass production was found to be easier compared to the flask culture. Hence, it is concluded that, addition of calcium alginate to CAJ medium under static condition, inoculated with G. oboediens (sju-1) NCBI GenBank Acc. No. KF164613 in a modified jar fermentor could increase the production of nata.

To control the over-acidification of fermented products has remained a challenging task for technologist and food processors. Standardization and optimal use of sodium benzoate and microwave treatment was carried out to control the fermentation of cauliflower pickle. The samples containing sodium benzoate at different concentrations S1 (350 ppm), S2 (450 ppm) and S3 (550 ppm) and the samples treated with microwave heat M1 (2.5 min), M2 (3.5 min) and M3 (4.5 min) for different time periods were compared with the control (C). The pH, titratable acidity (TA), texture and bacterial counts were periodically analyzed. The results showed that samples M2 and M3 showed significantly lower titratable acidity of 0.99 and 0.86, respectively and higher pH 4.76 and 4.33, respectively than the control (TA-1.45; pH- 3.70) throughout the 4 weeks of fermentation. Sample M1 showed better results for pH (4.84), acidity (0.96), texture (6.6) and overall acceptability (8.1) than other treated samples. Samples S1, S2 and S3 showed no significant difference to that of control. These results indicate that microwave treatment was able to arrest/slowdown fermentation of the pickle by inhibiting the growth of lactic acid bacteria (LABs), there by controlling the acid production.

Guava (Psidium gujava) is a popular tropical fruit, native to South America. Brazil is the top most producer of this fruit packed with promising chemical and biological features. Guava leaves are rich in phenolic compounds, isoflavonoids, gallic acid, catechin, epicathechin, rutin, naringenin, kaempferol. The pulp contains ascorbic acid, carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin). The seeds, skin and barks are rich in glycosides, carotenoids and phenolic compounds. Hepatoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, anti-cancer, antimicrobial, anti-hyperglycemic, analgesic, endothelial progenitor cells, anti-stomachache and anti-diarrheal are the biological properties which are reflected by different plant parts of Guava. Guava, inspite of having such promising features, has limitations for usage because of its highly perishable nature. So, many attempts have been taken for making food products using different parts of guava fruit with focus toward enhancing the shelf life also. The aim of this review is to discuss the physicochemical, phytochemical properties and recent functional foods made from guava fruits.