Inclusion of Baobab ( L.) Fruit Powder Enhances the Mineral Composition and Antioxidative Potential of Processed Tigernut () Beverages.

The functional beverage market has recently increased due to the health benefits in addition to their nutritional and thirst-quenching functions. Tigernut is an economic crop with reported health benefits. This study evaluates the antioxidative potential of processed tigernut extracts fortified with baobab fruit pulp powder.

Assessment of nutritional quality, glycaemic index, antidiabetic and sensory properties of plantain ()-based functional dough meals.

Nutrition transition to high energy-dense foods has been implicated as the major causes of diet related diseases. Plantain-based dough meals supplemented with soybean cake and cassava fibre were developed by combining them in different proportions using response surface methodology. The flour blends were analyzed for the nutritional composition while the glycaemic index, antidiabetic potentials and protein digestibility of the dough meals were determined in wistar rats.

Changes in Nutrient Composition, Antioxidant Properties, and Enzymes Activities of Snake Tomato (Trichosanthes cucumerina) during Ripening.

Snake tomato (Trichosanthes cucumerina) has been cultivated and used as a replacement for Lycopersicum esculentum in many Asian and African diets. Matured T. cucumerina fruits were harvested at different ripening stages and separated into coats and pulps for analyses to determine their suitability for use in culinary.

Effect of germination and fermentation on the proximate composition and functional properties of full-fat and defatted cucumeropsis mannii seed flours.

Germinated, fermented and raw Cucumeropsis mannii (melon) seeds were processed into flours. A portion of the flours were defatted using n-hexane; both the full fat and defatted flours were evaluated for proximate composition and functional properties. The proximate compositions of the full fat and defatted C.

Translocation and the alternative D-galacturonate pathway contribute to increasing the ascorbate level in ripening tomato fruits together with the D-mannose/L-galactose pathway.

The D-mannose/L-galactose pathway for the biosynthesis of vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid; AsA) has greatly improved the understanding of this indispensable compound in plants, where it plays multifunctional roles. However, it is yet to be proven whether the same pathway holds for all the different organs of plants, especially the fruit-bearing plants, at different stages of development. Micro-Tom was used here to elucidate the mechanisms of AsA accumulation and regulation in tomato fruits.

Expression analysis of the VTC2 and VTC5 genes encoding GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase, an enzyme involved in ascorbate biosynthesis, in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Arabidopsis thaliana contains two GDP-L-galactose phosphorylase genes, VTC2 and VTC5, which are critical for ascorbate (AsA) biosynthesis. We investigated the expression levels of both VTC2 and VTC5 genes in wild-type A. thaliana and the AsA deficient mutants during early seedling growth.