A 6-week healthy eating intervention with family engagement improves food knowledge and preferences but not dietary diversity among urban preschool children in Sri Lanka.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention (MCI) on children's dietary diversity and its impact pathway components of children's food knowledge and healthy food preferences.

Design: A 6-week cluster randomised controlled trial with a MCI consisting of child nutrition education plus family engagement through parental nutrition education, meal preparation and tasting was compared with two groups: single component intervention (SCI) of child nutrition education, and control, conducted during February to July 2018. Preschool centres were randomly assigned to one of the three arms.

Antioxidant, physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory properties of probiotic yoghurt incorporated with various species pulp.

In this study, antioxidant, chemical, microbiological, and sensory attributes changes taking place during the production of probiotic yoghurt using pulp of soursop (), sweetsop (), and custard apple () were evaluated. The products were stored at 4 °C for 28 d, during which time physicochemical properties and viability of probiotic bacteria and yoghurt starter cultures were evaluated weekly. Yoghurts prepared with fruit pulps displayed higher antioxidant activities on the first day of storage compared to the control.

Herbal beverages: Bioactive compounds and their role in disease risk reduction - A review.

There is a renewed interest in non-nutritive bioactive compounds of foods and beverages as 'lifespan nutrients' in the risk reduction of non-communicable diseases. Herbal beverages, consumed as part of a balanced diet, may improve the antioxidant status and enhance the overall health status. Herbal teas/beverages are rich sources of natural bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, coumarins, alkaloids, polyacetylenes, saponins and terpenoids, among others.

DNA scission and LDL cholesterol oxidation inhibition and antioxidant activities of ( flower extracts.

Phenolic compounds and other antioxidants have been implicated in protection against non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in which oxidative stress is a main contributor. The extracts of ( flower were examined for their phenolic content, free radical scavenging efficacy and inhibition of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol oxidation and DNA scission activities. The extracts of flowers were prepared using different solvent systems and their total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) determined.

Effect of polishing on glycemic index and antioxidant properties of red and white basmati rice.

Four different pigmented dark-red (red) and non-pigmented white basmati rice varieties were tested for their nutrient composition, glycemic index (GI), total phenolic content (TPC), total anthocyanin content (TAC) and antioxidant activity (AOA) at 10% and 100% polished levels. The red basmati had higher content of ash, protein, fat, TPC, TAC and AOA than white basmati. Red and white basmati varieties can be classified as low GI and medium GI rice, respectively.