Effects of feeding the herb Borreria latifolia on the meat quality of village chickens in Malaysia.

An experiment was carried out to estimate the meat quality characteristics of village chickens (Gallus gallus) fed diets supplemented with dry leaves of Borreria latifolia (BL) used as a potential antioxidant source in chicken feed. In this study, 252 sexed 9-week-old village chickens with mean live body weight of 1,525.4 g for males and 1,254.1 g for females were divided into 7 groups (each group 18 birds) for each sex represented in 2 experiments. The first experiment was to evaluate the antioxidant activity of BL and the effect on meat quality through a comparison with Rosmarinus officinalis (RO); hence, 3 groups were conducted and included: T1 (control), basal diet without supplementation; T2, basal diet with 1% of BL; T3, basal diet with 1% of RO. T2 and T3 significantly affect pH value, lipid oxidation, cooking loss, and overall acceptability compared to T1, while no significant difference was observed between the dietary groups in respect of drip loss, color, tenderness, fatty acid profile, and meat composition. Furthermore, a significant effect of sex on lipid oxidation, pH, yellowness, and fatty acid profile was observed. There was no significant effect of sex on WHC, tenderness, lightness, redness, and sensory evaluation. A significant influence of postmortem aging period was detected on lipid oxidation, pH, tenderness, cooking loss, and redness. The obtained result in this study revealed a significance in the interaction of herb by sex in pH parameter and between herb and sex, herb by aging period, sex by aging period, and the herb by sex by aging period interactions with regard to lipid oxidation test. The second experiment was to estimate the effect of 3 different levels of BL on meat quality. Four groups were provided and involved: T1 (control), basal diet without supplementation; T2, basal diet with 1.5% of BL; T3, basal diet with 2% of BL; and T4, basal diet with 2.5% of BL. The result of this study showed a significant effect (P < 0.05) of the dietary groups on redness value, sensory evaluation, and lipid oxidation. A significant effect of sex on fatty acid profile and lipid oxidation was detected in addition a significant effect of postmortem aging period on redness, pH, tenderness, cooking loss, and lipid oxidation was noticed. There was no significance in the interaction between herb and sex through pH test while a significance in the interaction between herb and sex, herb  × aging period, sex × aging period, and herb × sex × aging period interactions with regard to lipid oxidation was found. It can be concluded that dietary supplementation of BL improved oxidative stability and enhanced meat quality.

Oscillatory and steady shear rheology of gellan/dextran blends.

Oscillatory and steady shear rheology of gellan (G) and dextran (D) solution individually, and in blends (G/D ratio 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 w/v) with a total hydrocolloid concentration of 3 % (w/v) were studied at 25 °C. Individually, 1.5 % dextran and 1.5 % gellan in solution exhibited Newtonian and non-Newtonian behavior, respectively. A blend of equal proportion of dextran and gellan (G/D = 1:1) exhibits a distinct gel point (G' = G″), and further addition of dextran in the blend (G/D = 1:2 and 1:3) resulted predominating liquid-like (G″ > G') behavior. A plot of G' vs G″ distinctly showed the gradual transition of the blend. Shear stress (τ)-shear rate ([Formula: see text]) data fitted well the Herschel-Bulkley model. The G/D blend exhibited shear thinning behavior with flow behavior index less than unity. The Cox-Merz rule did not fit well for the complex shear viscosity (η*) and apparent viscosity (η) of the blend.

Tentative identification of volatile flavor compounds in commercial Budu, a Malaysian fish sauce, using GC-MS.

Budu is a famous Malaysian fish sauce, usually used as seasoning and condiment in cooking. Budu is produced by mixing fish and salt at certain ratio followed by fermentation for six months in closed tanks. In this study, four commercial brands of Budu were analyzed for their chemical properties (pH, salt content and volatile compounds). The pH of Budu samples ranged from 4.50-4.92, while the salt (NaCl) content ranged between 11.80% and 22.50% (w/v). For tentative identification of volatile flavor compounds in Budu, two GC columns have been used, DB-WAX and HP-5MS. A total of 44 volatile compounds have been detected and 16 were common for both columns. 3-Methyl-1-butanol, 2-methylbutanal, 3-methylbutanal, dimethyl disulfide, 3-(methylthio)-propanal, 3-methylbutanoic acid and benzaldehye have been identified as the aroma-active compounds in Budu due to their lower threshold values.

Prebiotic activity of polysaccharides extracted from Gigantochloa levis (Buluh beting) shoots.

Bamboo shoot crude polysaccharides (BSCP) extracted from the shoots of Gigantochloa levis gave about 3.27 ± 0.18% on dry basis and a very minute percentage of protein (0.02 ± 0.01%). The molecular weight of BSCP estimated by gel chromatography was found to be around 7.49 × 103 Da, while the molecular weights of purified fractions (F1 to F5) were around 1550.96, 1471.63, 1685.78, 1691.61 and 1551.67 Da, respectively. The FTIR spectrum of BSCP revealed the possibility that the extract contains ß-glucan, which can be considered a valuable compound for the medical and food industries. These relate to the resistance of BSCP towards artificial human gastric juice which is more than 99%. Prebiotic activity tested using BSCP as a carbon source showed significant increase in the growth of B. animalis ATCC 1053, B. longum BB 536 and L. acidophilus ATCC 4356 as compared to the use of FOS. Survivality of S. choleraesuis JCM 6977 was found to be slower in both BSCP and FOS. Study conducted reflects a good sign for the BSCP to be exploited as a promising prebiotic.