Effect of different pasteurisation temperature on physicochemical properties, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity and microbiological qualities of reconstituted pomegranate juice (RPJ)

Reconstituted pomegranate juice (RPJ) was thermally treated with high-temperature pasteurisation (HTP) at 95°C and mild-temperature pasteurisation (MTP) at 80°C for 30 s respectively. As a comparison, the effect on physicochemical properties, including antioxidant activities and microbial inactivation was eavluated. Both MTP and HTP showed effective inactivation of microbial growth to negligible level with MTP taking almost half pasteurisation-time (-46.3%) as compared to HTP, indicating possible less energy usage. MTP and HTP treatment delivered insignificant difference in pH, titratable acidity, total soluble solids and colour changes (ΔE) based on Commission Internationale de l’Elcairage (CIE) colour system. A significantly higher CIE a values and reduction in L and b were obtained for MTP-juice indicating an increase in red tonalities due to increase in anthocyanin contents. As for antioxidant activity and extractability of bioactive compound, interestingly HTP delivered better results due to more phenols and anthocyanin were released during the heating, leading to further release of initially membrane‐bound phenols. These findings suggested that both HTP and MTP are able to meet the microbiological safety and comparable physicochemical qualities. Nonetheless, HTP has shown higher functional values due to higher extractability of antioxidant compounds

Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)

Kajian pelaksanaan program pendidikan spiritual terhadap anggota Angkatan Tentera Malaysia

Kekuatan organisasi ketenteraan boleh diukur menerusi tiga elemen penting iatu daya tembak (fire power), daya gerak (mobility power) dan daya juang (combat power). Aspek daya juang merangkumi aspek kesiagaan spiritual merupakan elemen asas yang perlu diperkukuhkan dalam diri setiap anggota tentera. Ia perlu berada pada tahap yang tinggi dan sentiasa bersedia mempertahankan kedaulatan negara. Kesiagaan insititusi ketenteraaan tidak hanya dinilai dari kelengkapan asset dan alatan canggih sematamata, malah yang terpenting ialah nilai kerohanian dalam diri setiap anggota tentera terutamanya dari sudut kesiagaan diri menggalas tanggungjawab dan amanah negara. Sehubungan itu Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (KAGAT) menerusi Dasar Pembinaan Mental dan Kerohanian Islam ATM (PMAT 9/91), yang meliputi pelbagai program aktivtiti kerohanian dan pendidikan Islam kepada seluruh warga ATM, telah melaksanakan program pendidikan spiritual terhadap anggota Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM). Fokus kajian adalah untuk membuat penilaian terhadap pelaksanaan program tersebut dari aspek perancangan,pelaksanaan dan juga pemantauan melalui perspektif anggota ATM. Metodologi kajian melibatkan pendekatan gabungan (mixedmethod) iaitu kaedah kualitatif dan kuantitatif telah digunapakai dan telah melibatkan seramai 1,137 orang responden. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapatnya hubungan yang rapat dari aspek faktor suasana, faedah, guru dan pendakwah (anggota KAGAT), dan juga sikap anggota terhadap program. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan aspek kekuatan spiritual mempunyai hubungan yang positif terhadap kesediaan dan kekuatan tempur anggota Angkatan Tentera Malaysia. Sesungguhnya pendidikan Islam serta usaha-usaha dakwah yang dilaksanakan oleh Kor Agama Angkatan Tentera perlu terus perkukuhkan agar tahap kesiagaan kerohanian anggota tentera dapat dipertingkatkan bagi memastikan anggota Angkatan Tentera Malaysia sentiasa memenuhi dua aspek utama daya juang (combat power) iaitu dari aspek fizikal dan juga spiritual (kerohanian) agar wujud insan tentera yang berkualiti dan cemerlang