Preparation and characterization of vitamin E/calcium/soy protein isolate nanoparticles for soybean milk beverage fortification.

Soybean milk is a rich plant-based source of protein, and phenolic compounds. This study compared the nutritional value of soybean milk, flour, soy protein isolate (SPI) and evaluated the impact of prepared vitamin E/calcium salt/soy protein isolate nanoparticles (ECSPI-NPs) on fortification of developed soybean milk formulations. Results indicated that soybean flour protein content was 40.50 g/100 g, that fulfills 81% of the daily requirement (DV%), the unsaturated fatty acids (USFs), oleic and linoleic content was 21.98 and 56.7%, respectively, of total fatty acids content. In soybean milk, essential amino acids, threonine, leucine, lysine achieved 92.70, 90.81, 77.42% of amino acid scores (AAS) requirement values respectively. Ferulic acid was the main phenolic compound in soybean flour, milk and SPI (508.74, 13.28, 491.78 µg/g). Due to the moisture content of soybean milk (88.50%) against (7.10%) in soybean flour, the latest showed higher nutrients concentrations. The prepared calcium (20 mM/10 g SPI) and vitamin E (100 mg/g SPI) nanoparticles (ECSPI-NPs) exhibited that they were effectively synthesized under transmission electron microscope (TEM), stability in the zeta sizer analysis and safety up to IC50 value (202 ug/mL) on vero cell line. ECSPI-NPs fortification (NECM) enhanced significantly phenolic content (149.49 mg/mL), taste (6.10), texture (6.70) and consumer overall acceptance (6.54). Obtained results encourage the application of the prepared ECSPI-NPs for further functional foods applications.

A Spotlight on the Egyptian Honeybee (Apis mellifera lamarckii).

Egypt has an ongoing long history with beekeeping, which started with the ancient Egyptians making various reliefs and inscriptions of beekeeping on their tombs and temples. The Egyptian honeybee (Apis mellifera lamarckii) is an authentic Egyptian honeybee subspecies utilized in apiculture. A. m. lamarckii is a distinct honeybee subspecies that has a particular body color, size, and high levels of hygienic behavior. Additionally, it has distinctive characteristics; including the presence of the half-queens, an excessive number of swarm cells, high adaptability to climatic conditions, good resistance to specific bee diseases, including the Varro disorder, and continuous breeding during the whole year despite low productivity, using very little propolis, and tending to abscond readily. This review discusses the history of beekeeping in Egypt and its current situation in addition to its morphology, genetic analysis, and distinctive characters, and the defensive behaviors of native A. m. lamarckii subspecies.

Assessment of the quality of bran and bran oil produced from some Egyptian rice varieties.

BACKGROUND: Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the leading food crops of the world, the staple food of over half the world's population. The bran, which is an important byproduct obtained during rice milling, constitutes about 1/10 of the weight of the rice grain. Rice bran is the outer brown layer including the rice germ that is removed during the milling process of brown grain. This milling byproduct is reported to be high in natural vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin E. OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to determine the chemical composition of bran and bran oil of 13 different rice varieties commonly produced in Egypt, to study the utilization of rice bran in bread production, and to assess the quality and acceptance of the rice bran edible oil produced. METHODS: Rice bran was produced from 13 Egyptian varieties of recently harvested rice as well as from paddy rice stored for 1 year. The extracted bran was immediately stabilized then subjected to chemical analysis (such as moisture content, protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, and ash) as well as trace and heavy metals determination (P, K, Na, Ca, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mg). Bread was produced by adding Giza172 rice bran at three different concentrations to wheat flour then subjected to chemical analysis, caloric content, and organoleptic examination. Bran oil was extracted from the different varieties of rice bran (recently harvested and stored) then subjected to chemical and organoleptic examinations as well as vitamin E and oryzanol determination. RESULTS: The percentage of rice bran of newly harvested Egyptian rice was 11.68% and was 10.97% in stored rice. The analysis showed mean values of 5.91 and 5.53% for moisture, 14.60 and 14.40% for crude protein, 14.83 and 15.20% for fat, 44.77 and 45.40% for carbohydrates, 6.55 and 7.06% for crude fiber, and 8.87 and 8.50% for ash for newly harvested and stored rice bran, respectively. Bread containing 15% rice bran showed the highest score percentages for organoleptic quality compared with the control (100% wheat flour). Rice bran oil showed higher scores of taste, smell, appearance, and texture than corn oil and sunflower oil. CONCLUSION: Rice bran contains high nutritional components as well as phytochemicals such as vitamin E (i.e. tocopherols and tocotrienols) and the γ-oryzanol fraction that have positive effects on human health. Storage of paddy rice before milling resulted in significant effect on all studied rice bran characters and rice bran oil characters under the present investigation except crude protein and carbohydrates characters. RECOMMENDATIONS: Substitution of wheat flour with rice bran by 15% in bread production to fortify the bread with vitamin E and to reduce the amount of imported flour is recommended.