Toxic Metals and Metalloids in Hassawi Brown Rice: Fate during Cooking and Associated Health Risks.

Rice has been a dietary staple for centuries, providing vital nutrients to the human body. Brown rice is well known for its nutrient-dense food profile. However, owing to multiple causes (anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic), it can also be a potential source of toxic heavy metals in the diet. Brown Hassawi rice samples were collected from the Al-Ahsa region and analyzed for its content of toxic metals. The results reveal that all the tested metals varied significantly in the brown rice samples, while As and Pb in all three samples exceeded their respective maximum allowable limits (MALs), followed by Cd, which nearly approached the MAL in two samples out of three. Brown rice samples were cooked in rice:water systems, viz., low rice:water ratios (1:2.5, 1:3.5) and high rice:water ratios (1:5, 1:6), along with soaking as a pre-treatment. Soaking was unproductive in removing the heavy metals from the rice, whereas cooking dissipated all metals from the rice, except for Cd, which was statistically non-significant. The high-water cooking of the rice was more effective in the dissipation of metals from the rice as compared to low-water cooking conditions. Through the consumption of rice, the estimated daily intake (EDI) of heavy metals is 162 g per person per day for As, which is above the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) regardless of cooking circumstances. The hazard risk index (HRI) also highlighted the fact that As can be a potential health hazard to rice consumers in the Al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia. These results indicate the potential health risks caused by the consumption of this rice by humans. Regular monitoring is recommended to manage and control elevated concentrations and related health hazards as a result of the use of Hassawi rice contaminated by the accumulation of metals and metalloids.

Dietary intake assessment of pyrethroid residues from okra and eggplant grown in peri-urban areas of Punjab, Pakistan.

This study was designed to assess the gradual increase in the use of insecticides on vegetables and to familiarize the consumers regarding the insecticide residues. The purpose of this research work was to highlight the detrimental effects of pyrethroids (bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, fenvalerate, lambda-cyhalothrin, and permethrin) compare with dietary intake assessment of eggplant and okra grown in peri-urban environment. In this manner, a total of 180 (n = 60 × 3) samples of eggplant (Solanum melongena) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) were procured from the peri-urban farming system of Faisalabad, Multan, and Gujranwala to assess the pyrethroid residues along with their dietary intake assessment. The procured vegetables were quantified for pyrethroid residues by using gas chromatography (GC) equipped with an electron capture detector (ECD). Outcomes of this study revealed that for okra samples, the highest residues of bifenthrin (1.25 mg kg-1) were found in Gujranwala then Multan (1.5 mg kg-1) and Faisalabad (1.04 mg kg-1), whereas in eggplant, the highest residues were recorded for bifenthrin from Faisalabad (1.33 mg kg-1) and Gujranwala (0.78 mg kg-1). In Multan, the highest residues for cyfluthrin (1.18 mg kg-1) were reported in eggplant. Out of all analyzed samples for pyrethroid residues, 32% samples contained detectable residues and 6% samples exceeded their maximum residual limits (MRLs) established by the European Union (EU). Dietary intake assessment (mg kg-1 day-1) was calculated as per their maximum permissible intake (MPI) values, i.e., bifenthrin (1.28), cyfluthrin (1.28), cypermethrin (3.20), deltamethrin (0.64), fenvalerate (1.28), lambda-cyhalothrin (0.064), and permethrin (3.20) respectively. Conclusively, residues from the Multan region were greater than those from Gujranwala and Faisalabad showing excessive application of pyrethroids. Overall results revealed that although some samples exceeded MRLs in selected areas, their safe consumption limit was found.

Hepatoprotective effects of red beetroot-based beverages against CCl4 -induced hepatic stress in Sprague Dawley rats.

Red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) is considered important to improve hepatic health but its use is primarily limited to fresh salads in Pakistan. This study was aimed at exploring prophylactic role of red beetroot-based beverages against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 )-induced hepatic stress. Purposely, red beetroot-based beverages (8 ml/kg b.w. per day) were administered to normal and hepatotoxicity-induced rats for 8 weeks. The biochemical analyses revealed significantly higher levels of superoxide dismutase (25%-28%), catalase (21%-24%), and hepatic enzymes (15%-19%) alongside reduced lipid peroxidation (27%-32%) in liver tissues of hepatotoxicity-induced rats treated with beetroot-based beverages compared to control. Similarly, hepatic injury was reduced by 19%-26% as indicated by concentrations of serum hepatic health biomarkers. Moreover, histological architecture of hepatocytes also portrayed promising effects of beetroot-based beverages to preserve hepatocellular portfolio. It was concluded that red beetroot-based beverages considerably assuage negative impacts of hepatic stress. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Functional foods and nutraceuticals are considered vital in controlling the oxidative stress-mediated metabolic disorders as safer alternatives to pharmaceutical agents. The current research explored the protective effects of red beetroot-based beverages which can be utilized as an effective approach to prevent liver injuries. Also, the outcomes of this research endorsed the defensive role of these beverages against oxidative stress-induced hepatic stress, so dietary supplementation of such products can be synchronized in clinical practices to alleviate oxidative stress. However, there is a need to further explore the safety aspects of such products in their long-term usage before implementing this module in humans for disease prevention/cure.

Nephroprotective effects of red beetroot-based beverages against gentamicin-induced renal stress.

The objective of this study was to assess the nephroprotective effects of red beetroot-based beverages to ameliorate gentamicin-induced renal stress. For the purpose, normal and nephrotoxicity-induced Sprague Dawley rats were pretreated with beetroot-based beverages (8 ml/kg per day) for 8 weeks. In nephrotoxicity-induced rats, renal stress was induced by administration of gentamicin at 85 mg/kg b.w. per day during the last week of the trial. Afterward, overnight-fasted rats were sacrificed, and their sera and kidneys were analyzed for renal health biomarkers which revealed ameliorative effect of red beet beverages. Particularly, the antioxidant enzymes in renal tissues and serum proteins were significantly improved, whereas lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide, urea and creatinine levels were momentously reduced in nephrotoxicity-induced rats. Furthermore, histological assessment indicated better renal portfolio in the rats treated with beet beverages. The findings suggested that red beetroot-based beverages promisingly ameliorate negative impacts of gentamicin-induced nephritic stress. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: High rates of morbidity arising from metabolic disorders have shifted the trends toward use of functional foods and nutraceuticals as a safer approach to avoid such ailments. This research checked the nephroprotective effect of beetroot-based beverages instead of extracts of red beetroot. The findings of this research support the use of red beetroot-based beverages as a promising approach to alleviate renal stress. Furthermore, dietary supplementation of functional products and nutraceutics derived from beetroot may be synchronized in clinical practices in future after sufficient research to avoid the onset of various degenerative disorders originating from oxidative/nitrosative stress. Before employing this dietary model to humans, further investigation is necessitated to observe safety in long-term administration of such products. Besides, therapeutic dietary modules can also be devised for already suffering individuals to manage the severity of the disease and help improving health.

Assessing and Reporting Household Chemicals as a Novel Tool to Mitigate Pesticide Residues in Spinach (Spinacia oleracea).

Non-selective use of pesticide to increase productivity leaves residues on crops. These pesticides after consumption have a detrimental effect on human health and their intake can lead to various diseases such as kidney damage, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, circulatory and reproductive problems. The recent study was designed to assess the effects of household processing treatments such as acidic solutions (acidic acid and citric acid), alkaline solutions (sodium chloride and sodium carbonate) and biological solutions (radish, ginger, garlic, and lemon extracts) were evaluated for their efficiency for removal of pesticides in spinach by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results showed that pesticide residues were sharply reduced when spinach was exposed to washing treatments. The results showed that the greatest reduction of deltamethrin, cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos and endosulfan with 10% acetic acid was (79.68 ± 0.81%), (89.99 ± 0.12%), (94.21 ± 0.02%) and (70.32 ± 0.25%), respectively of tested washing solutions. The acidic solutions were more effective than alkaline and biological extracts in the removal of pesticide residues. The average reduction in various washing solutions ranged from 10.21 to 79.68%, 22.60 to 89.48%, 22.95 to 94-21% and 11.24-70.32% for the removal of deltamethrin, cypermethrin, chlorpyrifos, and endosulfan, respectively.

Development and characterization of cross-linked enzyme aggregates of thermotolerant alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis.

An alkaline protease was produced by B. licheniformis with 132.43±3.4U/mL activity in LSF which was further enhanced by optimizing culture conditions. The optimum enzyme activity (148.9±4.1U/mL) was harvested at pH7.5; temperature, 40°C and inoculum, 1.5mL after 48h incubation. Alkaline protease was immobilization by forming cross linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) and the processes of CLEAs formation was also optimized. The protease CLEAs developed using 80% ammonium sulfate, 65mM glutaraldehyde and 0.11mM BSA showed best activity recovery (39.76%). Free protease and CLEAs were characterized and compared. It was observed that CLEAs of protease exhibited broad pH range with best activity at pH10. The immobilized protease was also thermo-tolerant with optimum activity at 65°C temperature. The Vmax and Km of protease-CLEAs were 125.5U/mL and 18.97µM, respectively as compared to 104.9U/mL and 29µM, respectively for free protease. It was concluded that immobilized enzyme in the form of CLEAs is a valuable catalyst for potential industrial applications.

Evaluation of various soaking agents as a novel tool for pesticide residues mitigation from cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis).

The increasing use of pesticides for boosting the yield of agricultural crops also impart toxic residues which ultimately extend to numerous physiological disorders upon consumption. The present study was designed as an effort to assess the reduction potential of various chemical solutions and to minimize the pesticide residues in cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis). The samples were soaked in various solutions along with tap water to mitigate pesticide residues. Afterwards, the extracted supernatant was passed through column containing anhydrous sodium sulfate trailed by activated carbon for clean-up. Eluents were first evaporated and then completely dried under gentle stream of Nitrogen. Finally, the residues were determined using gas chromatography equipped with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). Results revealed the highest reduction of endosulfan, bifenthrin and cypermethrin residues with acetic acid (10 %) was 1.133 ± 0.007 (41 %), 0.870 ± 0.022 (60 %) and 0.403 ± 0.003 (75 %), respectively among the tested solutions. However, simple tap water treatment also resulted in 0.990 ± 0.02 (12 %), 1.323 ± 0.015 (14 %) and 1.274 ± 0.002 (21 %) elimination of endosulfan, bifenthrin and cypermethrin residues, respectively. Moreover, among various solutions, acetic acid depicted maximum reduction potential followed by citric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium chloride and sodium carbonate solutions. The percent reduction by various solutions ranged from 12 to 41, 14 to 60 and 21 to 75 % for the elimination of endosulfan, bifenthrin and cypermethrin residues, respectively.

The impact of seasonal variation on organochlorine pesticide residues in buffalo and cow milk of selected dairy farms from Faisalabad region.

Two hundred milk samples from 20 randomly selected dairy farms were screened for the incidence of organochlorine pesticide residues to evaluate the safety of milk in Faisalabad region. The results revealed that overall buffalo milk samples in winter (85 %) and in summer (78 %) were more contaminated as compared to cow milk samples 83 and 75 % in respective seasons. The residues of cyhalothrin were found only in summer season in milk of both species. Permethrin residues were detected at higher levels than perfinofos while DDT and methamedophos were found undetectable. The mean levels of permethrin were 0.042 and 0.033 mg kg-1in buffalo milk samples and 0.045 and 0.043 mg kg-1 in cow milk in winter and summer season, respectively. Perfinofos residues were found to be the least contaminated pesticides with mean values of 0.0006 and 0.0013 mg kg-1, respectively in winter season, and 0.004 and 0.0025 mg kg-1 in summer season. All analysed pesticide residues in milk samples in both seasons were below the maximum residual limit (MRL) values as described by European Union (EU) but milk samples contaminated with α, ß-endosulfan and endosulphate exceeded their respective Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) established MRLs both in winter and summer.

Assessment of different washing treatments to mitigate imidacloprid and acetamaprid residues in spinach.

BACKGROUND: Agricultural crops treated with pesticides retain toxic residues that can cause various health disorders upon consumption. The present research project was designed to assess pesticide residues in contaminated spinach (Spinacia oleracea). The efficiency of chemical solutions (acetic acid, citric acid, hydrogen peroxide, sodium chloride and sodium carbonate) of different concentrations (% w/v) along with tap water for the dissolution of pesticide residues in spinach was studied. After various dipping treatments (T0 -T22 ) of treated spinach, imidacloprid and acetamaprid residues were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: Among the solutions tested, the highest reductions in imidacloprid and acetamaprid residues respectively were 0.92 ± 0.04 mg kg(-1) (83%) and 1.42 ± 0.53 mg kg(-1) (87%) in treatment T6 (10% acetic acid), followed by 0.79 ± 0.01 mg kg(-1) (69%) and 0.86 ± 0.05 mg kg(-1) (71%) in treatment T11 (10% citric acid), while the lowest were 0.30 ± 0.02 mg kg(-1) (27%) and 0.35 ± 0.02 mg kg(-1) (29%) in treatment T20 (4% sodium carbonate). Moreover, treatment T1 (tap water) caused 0.27 ± 0.00 mg kg(-1) (23%) and 0.38 ± 05 mg kg(-1) (27%) elimination of imidacloprid and acetamaprid residues respectively. CONCLUSION: From these findings it is inferred that acetic acid and citric acid washing treatments can be used along with tap water to minimize pesticide residues in treated vegetables. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

A question mark on iron deficiency in 185 million people of Pakistan: its outcomes and prevention.

Micronutrient deficiency especially the iron deficiency is the bane of our lives, affecting all strata of society. Unfortunately, the women during pregnancy, adolescence, and children are under this curse particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. It is one of the biggest reasons of complications during pregnancy and malnourished children under five years of age. Maternal death, still-births, and underweight births are most common consequences of iron deficiency and these outbreaks as iron-deficiency anemia in Pakistan. Disastrous nature of iron deficiency requires an urgent call to eradicate it. Hence, the solution should not be frail comparing with the huge economic loss and other incompatibilities. Flour fortification, supplementation, dietary diversification, and especially maternal education are possible solutions for combating this micronutrient deficiency.

A question mark on zinc deficiency in 185 million people in Pakistan--possible way out.

This paper reviews research published in recent years concerning the effects of zinc deficiency, its consequences, and possible solutions. Zinc is an essential trace element necessary for over 300 zinc metalloenzymes and required for normal nucleic acid, protein, and membrane metabolism. Zinc deficiency is one of the ten biggest factors contributing to burden of disease in developing countries. Populations in South Asia, South East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa are at greatest risk of zinc deficiency. Zinc intakes are inadequate for about a third of the population and stunting affects 40% of preschool children. In Pakistan, zinc deficiency is an emerging health problem as about 20.6% children are found in the levels of zinc, below 60 µg/dL. Signs and symptoms caused by zinc deficiency are poor appetite, weight loss, and poor growth in childhood, delayed healing of wounds, taste abnormalities, and mental lethargy. As body stores of zinc decline, these symptoms worsen and are accompanied by diarrhea, recurrent infection, and dermatitis. Daily zinc requirements for an adult are 12-16 mg/day. Iron, calcium and phytates inhibit the absorption of zinc therefore simultaneous administration should not be prescribed. Zinc deficiency and its effects are well known but the ways it can help in treatment of different diseases is yet to be discovered. Improving zinc intakes through dietary improvements is a complex task that requires considerable time and effort. The use of zinc supplements, dietary modification, and fortifying foods with zinc are the best techniques to combat its deficiency.

Aflatoxins: biosynthesis, occurrence, toxicity, and remedies.

Food contagion with aflatoxins is the modern concern and has received a great awareness during the last few decades. The intermittent incidence of these toxins in agricultural commodities has negative role on the economy of the affected regions where harvest and postharvest techniques for the prevention of mold growth, are seldom practiced. Aflatoxins are difuranocoumarin derivatives produced by a polyketide pathway by the fungus Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus via polyketide pathway which are highly hepatotoxic, hepatocarcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic in nature and contaminate a wide variety of important agricultural commodities before, during, and after harvest in various environmental conditions. The production of aflatoxins in innate substrates depends upon the various factors, that is, type of substrate, fungal species, moisture contents of the substrate, minerals, humidity, temperature, and physical damage of the kernels. These toxins cause several ailments such as cancer, hepatitis, mutation abnormalities, and reproduction disorders. Minimization and inactivation of aflatoxins contaminants through proper crop management at farm level and with physical, chemical, and biological techniques are the limelight of the article.

Black pepper and health claims: a comprehensive treatise.

For millennia, spices have been an integral part of human diets and commerce. Recently, the widespread recognition of diet-health linkages bolsters their dietary importance. The bioactive components present in them are of considerable significance owing to their therapeutic potential against various ailments. They provide physiological benefits or prevent chronic ailment in addition to the fundamental nutrition and often included in the category of functional foods. Black pepper (Piper Nigrum L.) is an important healthy food owing to its antioxidant, antimicrobial potential and gastro-protective modules. Black pepper, with piperine as an active ingredient, holds rich phytochemistry that also includes volatile oil, oleoresins, and alkaloids. More recently, cell-culture studies and animal modeling predicted the role of black pepper against number of maladies. The free-radical scavenging activity of black pepper and its active ingredients might be helpful in chemoprevention and controlling progression of tumor growth. Additionally, the key alkaloid components of Piper Nigrum, that is, piperine assist in cognitive brain functioning, boost nutrient's absorption and improve gastrointestinal functionality. In this comprehensive treatise, efforts are made to elucidate the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, gastro-protective, and antidepressant activities of black pepper. Moreover, the synergistic interaction of black pepper with different drugs and nutrients is the limelight of the manuscript. However, the aforementioned health-promoting benefits associated with black pepper are proven in animal modeling. Thus, there is a need to conduct controlled randomized trials in human subjects, cohort studies, and meta-analyses. Such future studies would be helpful in recommending its application in diet-based regimens to prevent various ailments.

Nutritional and functional evaluation of wheat flour cookies supplemented with gram flour.

Protein-enriched cookies were prepared by supplementing gram flour into wheat flour at levels of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% and analysed for physicochemical properties. The protein quality of the cookies was assessed by feeding gram flour-supplemented cookies to albino rats for 10 days. The supplementation resulted in a significant increase in protein, fat, crude fibre and ash contents of the cookies. The thickness and spread factor of cookies differ significantly while non-significant effect was observed in the width of the cookies. The protein efficiency ratio, net protein utilization, biological value and true digestibility differed significantly among diets containing cookies with gram flour fed to rats. Cookies with 30% substitution of straight grade flour and gram flour produced acceptable cookies as compared to control. The cookies containing 40-50% gram flour were best regarded as protein bioavailability for rats.

Prevalence of vitamin A deficiency in South Asia: causes, outcomes, and possible remedies.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) has been recognized as a public-health issue in developing countries. Economic constraints, sociocultural limitations, insufficient dietary intake, and poor absorption leading to depleted vitamin A stores in the body have been regarded as potential determinants of the prevalence of VAD in South Asian developing countries. VAD is exacerbated by lack of education, poor sanitation, absence of new legislation and enforcement of existing food laws, and week monitoring and surveillance system. Several recent estimates confirmed higher morbidly and mortality rate among children and pregnant and non-pregnant women of childbearing age. Xerophthalmia is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness with its earliest manifestations as night blindness and Bitot's spots, followed by blinding keratomalacia, all of which are the ocular manifestations of VAD. Children need additional vitamin A because they do not consume enough in their normal diet. There are three general ways for improving vitamin A status: supplementation, fortification, and dietary diversification. These approaches have not solved the problem in South Asian countries to the desired extent because of poor governmental support and supervision of vitamin A supplementation twice a year. An extensive review of the extant literature was carried out, and the data under various sections were identified by using a computerized bibliographic search via PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. All abstracts and full-text articles were examined, and the most relevant articles were selected for screening and inclusion in this review. Conclusively, high prevalence of VAD in South Asian developing countries leads to increased morbidity and mortality among infants, children, and pregnant women. Therefore, stem efforts are needed to address this issue of public-health significance at local and international level in lower- and middle-income countries of South Asia.

Glycoalkaloids (α-chaconine and α-solanine) contents of selected Pakistani potato cultivars and their dietary intake assessment.

Glycoalkaloids (α-solanine and α-chaconine) are naturally occurring toxic compounds in potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum L.) that cause acute intoxication in humans after their consumption. Present research was conducted to evaluate α-chaconine, α-solanine, and total glycoalkaloids (TGAs) contents in the peel and flesh portions by high-performance liquid chromatography method in selected Pakistani potato cultivars. The α-solanine content varies 45.98 ± 1.63 to 2742.60 ± 92.97 mg/100 g of dry weight (DW) in peel and from 4.01 ± 0.14 to 2466.56 ± 87.21 mg/100 g of DW in flesh. Similarly, α-chaconine content varied from 4.42 ± 0.16 to 6818.40 ± 211.07 mg/100 g of DW in potato peel and from 3.94 ± 0.14 to 475.33 ± 16.81 mg/100 g DW in flesh portion. The TGA concentration varied from 177.20 ± 6.26 to 5449.90 ± 192.68 mg/100 g of DW in peel and from 3.08 ± 0.11 to 14.69 ± 0.52 mg/100 g of DW in flesh portion of all the potato cultivars tested. All the potato cultivars contained lower concentration of TGA than the limits recommended as safe, except 2 cultivars, that is FD8-3 (2539.18 ± 89.77 mg/100 g of DW) and Cardinal (506.16 ± 17.90 mg/kg). The dietary intake assessment of potato cultivars revealed that Cardinal, FD 35-36, FD 8-3, and FD 3-9 contained higher amount of TGA in whole potato, although FD 8-3 only possessed higher content of TGA (154.93 ± 7.75) in its flesh portion rendering it unfit for human consumption. Practical Application: This paper was based on the research conducted on toxic compounds present in all possible potato cultivars in Pakistan. Actually, we quantify the toxic compounds (glycoalkaloids) of potato cultivars through HPLC and their dietary assessment. This paper revealed safety assessment and their application in food industries especially potato processing.

Effect of multiple fortification on the bioavailability of minerals in wheat meal bread.

Bioavailability of calcium, iron and zinc as calcium carbonate (CaCO3), ferrous sulfate (FeSO4) and zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) @ 1,000, 40 and 20 mg kg(-1) respectively from fortified bread of 72% extraction straight grade flour was assessed. Fortified bread diets were fed to 64 female Sprague-Dawley Albino rats for a period of 28 days. The retention of Ca, Fe and Zn was measured in plasma, femur and liver tissues of rats. The results showed that the feed intake and live body weight of the experimental animals increased significantly with the time period. The Ca levels in plasma and liver did not change significantly while in femur, Ca retention changed significantly with changing type of the fortificants. Similarly, the results for percent apparent absorption (AA) of Ca also remained unchanged (P < 0.05). The Fe and Zn levels were significantly higher in the plasma, liver and femur of rats fed Fe and Zn fortified bread. Interaction of Ca, Fe and Zn resulted in their decreased bioavailability. However Ca, Fe and Zn absorption was higher in the rats fed triple fortified diet compared with those fed unfortified bread diet. This negative interaction did not appear to be great enough to discourage multiple fortification of flour to address minerals malnutrition in the vulnerable groups.