Vanshika Handa’s research while affiliated with Lovely Professional University and other places

Horse gram being a rich source of protein, calcium, iron, molybdenum, etc helps in treating many diseased conditions including jaundice, gastrointestinal problems, piles and hemorrhagia. It also contains some anti-nutritional factors like tannins, phytic acid, trypsin inhibitor etc. Moreover, the poor cooking quality of this legume makes its use somewhat limited. Due to the pervasiveness of lactose intolerance all around the world, different alternatives of regular dairy milk are becoming popular. Taking this problem into account, an attempt has been made to extract the milk from soaked horse gram. Soaking is a technique which helps to diminish the anti-nutritional factors. In the present study, horse gram was soaked in water for 18 hours and a smooth paste was prepared. It was then diluted with water at varying dilutions (solid : liquid :: 1:4.64-1:11.36), heated at different temperatures (68.18-101.82 degree C) for variable time durations (4.7-55.23). The impact of different variables on the phytochemical (ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, total phenolics, tannins and oxalate content) and quality (yield, TSS, titratable acidity, protein content, reducing sugars, total sugars, starch content and overall acceptability) characteristics of the horse gram milk extract was analyzed. All the variables under study possessed a significant effect on all the responses either linear, quadratic or interactive terms which was further confirmed with the cluster analysis where no clear cut clustering was observed on the basis of any variable. It was revealed that the optimum conditions for the extraction of milk were 1:7.55 dilution, 77.05 degree C cooking temperature for 32.85 minutes having 0.96 desirability. The developed conditions can be used at pilot scale which will open a new door in non-dairy product industry.

Purpose The purpose of the review paper was to explore the sources of caffeine, its utilization in different food products, along with its impact on human health in terms of benefits and adverse effect. Design/methodology/approach The articles reviewed were selected based on the following key descriptors such as caffeine, sources, trends of consumption, utilization, benefits and adverse effects, regulation and labelling. Findings There are many physiological effects of caffeine on respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive and central nervous system. It has positive effect in reducing the risk of diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, liver injury and at the same time improves mood, psychomotor performance as well as immune response. On the other hand, the negative effects of caffeine include addiction, cancer, heart diseases, insomnia, gastrointestinal disturbances, intoxication etc. Since caffeine when taken in large amount is harmful, therefore as per the regulatory bodies, its concentration should not exceed the set limit and its presence needs to be listed on the label of that particular food product. In nutshell, it can be said that caffeine acts as a boon as well as bane because it possesses both beneficial and adverse effects. Originality/value This is a unique and comprehensive review that will provide a brief overview of sources, utilization, healthful as well as harmful effect of caffeine to the readers.

Horsegram is an underutilized pulse, traditionally used for treating various disorders like kidney stones, diabetes and joint pain. The present study was undertaken to optimize the soaking and germination conditions, to decrease the anti-nutritional factors and at the same time maintaining the nutritional properties of horsegram. Horsegram seeds were soaked for 6, 12 and 18 h followed by germination for 0, 24 and 48 h under different illumination conditions i.e., light and dark respectively. The soaked and germinated samples were dried in laboratory drier at 55 °C until constant moisture was achieved and was further analyzed for various quality attributes. Almost all the physicochemical and functional characteristics were significantly affected by both soaking and germination, whereas, germination done in light and dark conditions, exerted significant effect on the ascorbic acid content, total protein, total phenols, antioxidant activity and tannin content only. Based on the quality attributes, it was found that treatment having 18 h soaking and 48 h germination in the presence of light was the best where maximum decrease in the anti-nutritional factors was observed. Moreover, there was an increase in ascorbic acid, total protein content and a decrease in the anti-nutritional factors such as oxalate and tannin content. Thus, it is concluded that 18 h soaking and 48 h germination in the presence of light can be considered as the optimum conditions to increase the nutritional content of horsegram flour, which can further be utilized for the preparation of different value-added food products.