Vishal Kumar’s research while affiliated with Banaras Hindu University and other places

Agriculture and Food Science Book series aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to publish their experiences and research results on all aspects of Agriculture and Food Science. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Agriculture and Food Science. High quality research contributions describing original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in all areas of Agriculture and Food Science are cordially invited for publication.

Oral problems are becoming a worldwide issue causing serious economic and health burdens that in turn reduces quality of life. Alongside, the personal consequences of these implications impose a great burden on both healthcare and families. Due to the ample nutrition and therapeutic abilities of honey, it has a great potential to be used as a sweet solution in the prevention and curing of oral diseases. Moreover, it exerts biological properties, namely, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancerous and antiseptic. Therefore, honey’s potent multidisciplinary characteristics in oral health are being explored by scientists and researchers. In addition, till now there is no such synthetic compound reported to show all these properties. The overview of this chapter begins with a brief description of the oral microbiome and its potent effects. Furthermore, there is mention of honey’s application in the mitigation and amelioration of several oral issues including gingivitis, malodour, oral cancer, mouth ulcers, herpes labialis, cold sores, oral wounds, radiation-induced oral mucositis and xerostomia. However, despite the extensive utilization of honey, there is still need for more conclusive clinical trials to know about the effectiveness and efficacy of honey in oral healthcare.

Currently, the demand for functional food items that impart health benefits has been rising. Blackberry (Syzygium cumini L.) fruit has high anthocyanin content and other functional attributes. However, this seasonal fruit is highly perishable, and a large proportion of it goes unharvested and wasted worldwide. Spray drying of the fruit pulp can impart improved shelf life, ensuring long-term availability for consumers to exploit its health benefits. The storage quality varies according to the type of packaging material and the storage environment. Therefore, in this study, the shelf life span of the spray-dried Syzygium cumini L. pulp powder (SSCPP) was investigated during 6 months of storage under three types of packaging materials (i.e., polystyrene, metalized polyester, and 4-ply laminates) in a low-temperature environmental (LTE) and at ambient environmental conditions. The physicochemical stability of bioactive principles (TPC and TAC), microbial counts, and color components were analyzed at 0, 2, 4, and 6 months of storage. There was a significant gradual loss of dispersibility and solubility with an increase in flowability, bulk density, and wettability during the entire storage period for all three packaging materials. The TSS, pH, TPC, TAC, and microbial counts decreased in the SSCPP both at ambient and LTE conditions during the study. Among all the packaging materials, the 4-ply laminate was found to be the most appropriate and safe for storage of spray-dried SCPP at LTE conditions.

Human milk is considered the most valuable form of nutrition for infants for their growth, development and function. So far, there are still some cases where feeding human milk is not feasible. As a result, the market for infant formula is widely increasing, and formula feeding become an alternative or substitute for breastfeeding. The nutritional value of the formula can be improved by adding functional bioactive compounds like probiotics, prebiotics, human milk oligosaccharides, vitamins, minerals, taurine, inositol, osteopontin, lactoferrin, gangliosides, carnitine etc. For processing of infant formula, diverse thermal and non-thermal technologies have been employed. Infant formula can be either in powdered form, which requires reconstitution with water or in ready-to-feed liquid form, among which powder form is readily available, shelf-stable and vastly marketed. Infants’ gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem and the nutrient composition of infant formula is recognized to have a lasting effect on it. Likewise, the gut microbiota establishment closely parallels with host immune development and growth. Therefore, it must be contemplated as an important factor for consideration while developing formulas. In this review, we have focused on the formulation and manufacturing of safe and nutritious infant formula equivalent to human milk or aligning with the infant’s needs and its ultimate impact on infants’ gut microbiota.