Sorption and thermodynamic properties of dry crystallized Palada payasam mix prepared using manual and mechanical stirring.

An attempt was made to develop mathematical models to describe the sorption behaviour and determine the thermodynamic properties of sorption of dry-crystallized Palada payasam mix at different water activities (between 0.113 and 0.973) and temperature ranging from 25 to 35 °C. Samples were prepared using both manual and mechanical mixing during the crystallization process and the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was recorded using the isopiestic technique to compare the sorption behaviour of both samples. The sorption isotherms were found to follow a J-shape-type III plot, with the sorption capacity decreasing with temperature. The isotherms also exhibited a typical temperature inversion of EMC at water activity > 0.70. The sorption data obtained was fitted to 12 mathematical models for sorption and the Guggenheim, Anderson and de Boer (GAB), Peleg and Iglesias and Chirife models were found to describe the data over the entire range of water activity with a good fit. The isosteric heat of sorption and spreading pressure were determined as a function of moisture content. Isosteric heat of the samples was computed and found to decrease from 51.75 to 47.16 kJ/mol for control (manually stirred) and 49.38 to 47.58 kJ/mol for experimental sample (mechanically stirred) for a range of moisture content up to 29% (d.b). The spreading pressures increased with increasing water activity but decreased with increasing temperature. No significant difference was observed between the sorption properties of the dry crystallized samples prepared using manually and mechanically stirring.

Application of image analysis technique to determine cleaning of ohmic heating system for milk.

Cleaning of equipment is one of the major areas of concern in food industry. Image analysis technique was used to assess the cleaning effectiveness and optimize the CIP protocol for ohmic heating setup. Process parameters selected for optimization of cleaning were caustic concentration (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5%), caustic temperature (70, 75, 80 and 85 °C), acid concentration (0.00, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75%), and acid temperature (40, 50, 60 and 70 °C). Time for caustic treatment was varied from 5 to 20 min at an interval of 5 min, while time acid treatment was kept at a constant of 10 min. Taguchi orthogonal array design was used generate different combinations of acid and alkali concentration and temperature. Images of ohmic heating plates were taken before and after the cleaning procedure. MATLAB program was developed to analyze and extract Gray-Level Co-occurrence (GLCM) matrix properties from the image. Optimized combination was selected based on the highest value of desirability factor among all the experimental set of trials. Treatment with 1.5% caustic concentration at 70 °C for 5 min followed by 0.5% nitric acid concentration at 60 °C was found optimum effective CIP of the heating plates used in ohmic heating setup. GLCM properties correlation, cluster prominence, cluster shade, entropy, homogeneity and inverse difference moment normalized were found suitable for analysis of cleaning effectiveness and optimization of the CIP protocol.

Safety Assessment of Ubiquinol Acetate: Subchronic Toxicity and Genotoxicity Studies.

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a lipid soluble, endogenous antioxidant present at highest levels in the heart followed by the kidney and liver. The reduced CoQ10 ubiquinol is well known for its chemical instability and low bioavailability. The present study was designed to synthesize ubiquinol acetate, which is more stable and biologically active, and further evaluate its safety and genotoxic potential. Synthesized ubiquinol acetate showed better stability than that of ubiquinol at the end of 3 months. In vitro genotoxicity studies (AMES test, in vitro micronucleus and chromosomal aberration) showed ubiquinol acetate as nongenotoxic with no clastogenic or aneugenic effects at high dose of 5000 and 62.5 µg/mL, respectively. In subchronic toxicity study, ubiquinol acetate was administered orally to Sprague Dawley rats at 150, 300, and 600 mg/kg/day for 90 days. No treatment related adverse effects were observed in males at 600 mg/kg/day; however, females showed treatment related increase in AST and ALT with small focal irregular white-yellow spots in liver on gross necropsy examination. Histopathological evaluation revealed hepatocellular necrosis in high dose females which was considered as adverse. Based on the results, the No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level (NOAEL) of ubiquinol acetate in males and females was determined as 600 and 300 mg/kg/day, respectively.

Control of matting temperature during pressing of Paneer and its effect on Paneer quality.

An attempt was made to design, fabricate and evaluate a heat exchanger for controlling the matting temperature of Paneer during pressing. Based on preliminary investigations, the range of process parameters to be evaluated during the pressing of Paneer was selected as: pressure (2, 3, and 4 kg/cm2), matting temperature (63, 66 and 69 °C) for pressing time of 8, 10 and 12 min. Experiments were designed in a central composite design for 20 runs and the Paneer was evaluated for its moisture content, hardness, springiness, chewiness, cohesiveness, bulk density, porosity and sensory attributes. It was observed that with increasing pressure and matting temperature, the hardness of the product increased; this corresponded with reduced moisture content and porosity of the product. The springiness of the samples correlated linearly with increasing matting temperature and pressing time. Increasing the pressure during pressing resulted in poorer sensory scores. The process conditions for pressing of Paneer under controlled matting conditions were optimised using Response Surface Methodology for moisture content, overall acceptability, hardness and springiness of the pressed product. It was observed that the moisture content of Paneer pressed under controlled matting temperature was marginally lower than the control Paneer, the overall acceptability for the experimental samples was higher with superior body and texture scores.

Experiences of orthopaedic cAMP in a mobile surgical unit (life line express) in central part of India.

We present our experience organizing an orthopaedic camp in rural part of India in a mobile surgical unit (Life Line Express) on a train. The camp was held for 15 days from 25th may to 10th June 2009. We performed deformity correction surgeries; corrective plaster castings and follow up the cases for the next six month. We assess the pros and cons of this orthopaedic camp on a train where minor and major procedures were carried out.

In vitro skin corrosion: Human skin model test - A validation study.

The present article is an attempt to validate the in vitro skin corrosion human skin model test as per the OECD test guidelines 431 as an alternative method for in vivo skin corrosion/irritation test. All over India, in vivo skin corrosion/irritation test is commonly used, rather than in vitro skin corrosion models. Hence, the present study was under taken with EpiSkinTM, SNC, Lyon, France to validate this in vitro model. Various corrosive and non corrosive chemicals with their known skin corrosive property were used to validate the study as specified under the guideline (OECD 431). The results obtained in this study were in accordance with the corrosive properties of the respective chemicals.

Evaluation of bivalves as bioindicators of metal pollution in freshwater.

The fresh water bivalves, Lamellidens corrianus, Lamellidens marginalis, and Indonaia caeruleus were exposed to chronic concentration of arsenic (0.1719 ppm), cadmium (0.1284 ppm), copper (0.033 ppm), lead (1.50 ppm), mercury (0.0443 ppm) and zinc (1.858 ppm) separately up to 30 days in laboratory. Dry weight of each animal was used to calculate metal concentrations (µg/g) and the metal body burden (µg/individual). It was observed that lead (1235.4 µg/g) and arsenic (37.9 µg/g) concentration were highest in Lamellidens corrianus, zinc (3,032.3 µg/g) was highest in Lamellidens marginalis, while mercury (5.87 µg/g), cadmium (142 µg/g) and copper (826.7 µg/g) was highest in Indonaia caeruleus.

Evaluation of Eye Irritation Potential of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Achyranthes aspera by In Vitro and In Vivo Method.

The present paper is an attempt to investigate the eye irritation potential of aqueous leaf extract of Achyranthes aspera by in vitro, Hen's Egg Chorioallantoic Membrane Test (HET-CAM) and in vivo acute eye irritation test in rabbits. The irritation score (IS) obtained after treatment of the extract on HET-CAM is 0.07 and that of in rabbits is 0.55, Which does not comes under either category 1 or 2 as per the harmonized integrated classification system. The aqueous extract of Achyranthes aspera showed no eye irritation properties both in vitro and in vivo methods when compared with negative control whereas positive controls showed eye irritation potential.