Production of red beetroot juice by different methods: Kinetics of microbial growth, sugar consumption, and acid production.

As a fermentation method, the utilisation of starter culture is a common practice in industrial manufacturing, although spontaneous methods have been employed since ancient times. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different production methods on red beetroot juice (RBJ). For this purpose, as a starter culture, the probiotic Lactibasillus paracasei (Lc. paracasei) was inoculated into the RBJ samples after pasteurization. Also, the growth of cells, acid production, and substrate utilisation were monitored throughout the fermentation process of RBJ under two different methods of fermentation. The samples produced by the addition of Lc. paracasei demonstrated a slightly lower decrease in pH values in comparison to the samples obtained by the spontaneous method. The concentration of lactic acid (LA) and acetic acid (AA) at the end of fermentation reveals that Lc. paracasei exhibits a greater capacity for both LA and AA generation compared to the spontaneous method. The ratios of LA and AA molar concentrations of RBJ were determined to be 1.7 and 3.6 for the samples produced by adding Lc. paracasei and the spontaneous method, respectively. The samples produced by adding Lc. paracasei exhibited a greater consumption of sucrose. Both fermentation methods provide LAB counts exceeding 8 log CFU/mL at the end of fermentation. Time demonstrated a significant correlation with LA and AA in the method by adding Lc. paracasei (r = 0.942 and 0.745), respectively (p < 0.01). In both methods, it was demonstrated that while sucrose content decreased during the fermentation period, fructose and glucose content remained constant (p < 0.05).

A comparative study of electrical and conventional pre-treatments for quality assessment of hot air dried green bell pepper.

In this study, the effect of pretreatments (hot water blanching, microwave blanching and ohmic heating) on drying kinetics and quality characteristics of green bell pepper dried at 60, 70 and 80 °C was investigated. Four mathematical models were fitted to experimental data and Logarithmic model was found to be the best for all the samples. Rehydration ability of only ohmic heating pretreated peppers was higher than untreated ones. Total polyphenol (TP) content and antioxidant capacity (AC) of dried peppers varied between 3.21-5.08 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g dry matter (DM) and 1037.57-2407.40 mmol AAE/100 g DM, respectively. The content of ascorbic acid (AA) in dried samples was in the range of 187.25-722.55 µg/g DM. The bioaccessibility of TP after in-vitro digestion varied from 79.44 to 97.73%. Losses of chlorophyll a and b were very high in all samples compared to fresh ones but the most in control samples.

Is Fat Deposition of Renal Sinus a Concomitant Finding to Fatty Liver Disease? The First Study Regarding the Relationship Between Kidney and Liver Fat Content with Non-Contrast Computed Tomography.

INTRODUCTION: It has been established that abnormal fat deposits are associated with fat deposition in other abdominal regions and linked to obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, vascular and metabolic diseases. This study aimed to determine whether there was a relationship between fat deposition of the renal (i.e., kidney) sinus (FRS) and fatty liver disease (FLD) in a sample of adults. The authors hypothesized that FRS could be a diagnostic finding associated with Hepatosteatosis (HS) in a sample of younger patients. This study was the first apparent investigation of this possible phenomenon. METHODS: A convenience sample of 92 adult patients of which 19 (20.7%) were females and 73 (79.3%) were males, and with a mean age of 30.19 (SD = 6.00) were included. The authors calculated Hounsfield Units (HU) (i.e., relative quantitative measurement of radio density) of patients' livers and spleens on non-contrast computed tomography (CT). Liver and spleen differences < 10 HU were considered steatosis (FLD). The authors stratified sample patients into two analytic subgroups according to the presence of FLD or not and compared them based on their FRS widths. RESULTS: In the FLD subgroup (N = 48), the difference of HU values between liver and spleen was -5.19 (SD = 11.32), with a range of -38 - 8 HU, while, in the non-steatosis subgroup (N = 44), the mean difference was 16.36 (SD = 3.90), range of 11 - 26 HU. The average diameter of FRS width was 12.5 mm in those patients with steatosis (FLD subgroup) although 9.3 mm in non-FLD patients. (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, FRS may be able to be used by radiologists as an ancillary method in the detection of hepatic steatosis in younger adults. The effectiveness of premedical processes (e.g., exercise and diet modification) can also be increased by non-radiologists after detection of lower-grade HS.

Changes in olfactory bulbus volume and olfactory sulcus depth in the chronic period after COVID-19 infection.

BACKGROUND: Although there are a limited number of studies investigating the changes in olfactory bulb volume (OBV) and olfactory sulcus depth (OSD) values in the acute and subacute periods after COVID-19 infection, there are no studies conducted in the chronic period. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to reveal the changes in OBV and OSD after COVID-19 in the chronic period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 83 people were included in our study, including 42 normal healthy individuals (control group) and 41 patients with COVID-19 infection (10-12 months after infection). RESULTS: The COVID-19 group included 41 patients with the mean age 40.27 ± 14.5 years and the control group included 42 individuals with the mean age 40.27 ± 14.4. The mean OBV was 67.97 ± 14.27 mm3 in the COVID-19 group and 94.21 ± 7.56 mm3 in the control group. The mean OSD was 7.98 ± 0.37 mm in the COVID-19 group and 8.82 ± 0.74 mm in the control group. Left, right, and mean OBVs and OSD were significantly lower in patients with COVID- 19 than the control individuals (all p < .05). CONCLUSION: Our findings show that COVID-19 infection causes a significant decrease in the OBV and OSD measurements in the chronic period.

Relationship of bladder dysfunction with upper urinary tract deterioration in cerebral palsy.

Although lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) has been previously documented by clinical observations and urodynamic tests, its correlation with upper urinary tract deterioration (UUTD) has not been demonstrated. This paper documents symptoms and urodynamic findings of LUTD and their relationship with UUTD in 33 children with CP. By sonography, 4 of these children were found to have UUTD. Age was found to correlate with UUTD, but gender difference and mental or motor functions did not. When comparing urinary symptoms with UUTD, incontinence (n = 31) did not correlate, but on the other hand symptoms of detrusor sphincter dyssynergia (interrupted voiding, urinary retention, hesitancy; n = 5) and culture proven febrile urinary tract infections (n = 4) did. Abnormal urodynamics findings were not diagnostic. We conclude that, apart from incontinence, dysfunctional voiding symptoms and febrile urinary tract infections are valuable indicators of UUTD.

Effect of extraction conditions on measured total polyphenol contents and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of black tea.

Black tea was extracted for 2, 8 and 18 h with absolute acetone, N,N-dimethyl-formamide (DMF), ethanol and methanol and their 50% aqueous solutions. The extracts were screened for total polyphenol contents, antioxidant and antibacterial activities. The polyphenol content of the extracts was found to be in the range of 0.44-114.01 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight tea, depending on the solvent used and the length of the extraction process. In general, aqueous acetone or DMF extracts displayed the highest polyphenol contents and antioxidant activity, while absolute acetone was the least efficient solvent. Antioxidant activities of tea extracts tested using the reducing power and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) radical methods ranged from 0.09 to 1.18 and from 2.60 to 95.42 %, respectively, depending on the extraction conditions and the antioxidant activities correlated well with the polyphenol concentrations. Aqueous solvent black tea extracts also possessed antibacterial activity, depending on the solvent used and bacterial species tested. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most sensitive to all tea extracts, except for the methanol extract. Tea extracts were not effective against Y. enterocolitica, L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7.