Anthocyanins extraction from purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) : the effect of pH values on natural color

Anthocyanins are widely used in the food industry as safe natural colorants thanks to their benefits, attractive colors and safety for consumption. The first objective of this study was to evaluate anthocyanins extraction from Vietnam purple sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) for use as food coloring. Different extraction temperatures of solvent ethanol (40 - 70%), duration of extraction (40 - 80 min), temperature extraction (30 - 70°C) and liquid-solid ratios (4:1 - 8:1 mL/g) were selected in order to extract purple sweet potato. Second, this study examines the anthocyanin color behavior at various pH levels in aqueous solutions levels ranging from 1.0 to 14.0. At low pH (acidic conditions), anthocyanins are stable and gives a red color. Meanwhile, increasing the pH value of anthocyanin will change the color from red to pink, violet, blue, green and yellow. This variation suggested that anthocyanin could be utilized as a possible pH color indicator in commercial packaging industry and agriculture

Preparation and determination of total anthocyanins extraction from the skin of vigna cylindrica skeels (Dolichos catjang Burm. f)

Because of antioxidative potential, anthocyanins become more and more popular in various fields including food products and pharmaceutical industries. The extraction technique has a great effect on the quality of natural color. Seed coat color is an essential part of customer choices for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp). The experimental study was conducted to determine the effect of different extracting parameters such as duration of extraction, different extraction of temperature (20 - 90oC), duration of extraction (30 - 90 min) and solid-liquid ratios (2:1 - 10:1 mL/g) and solvent concentration (H2O : Ethanol) were selected in order to extract anthocyanin from Vigna cylindrica Skeels. The highest anthocyanin content of 205.58 mg/L was collected at 50% enathol, the solid/liquid ratio 6:1 (mL/g), extraction time 60 (min), and temperature 60 (oC). The results showed that different extraction media can significantly affected the anthocyanins content of the valuable source Vigna cylindrica Skeels extracts

Pharmacist-Led Interventions to Reduce Drug-Related Problems in Prescribing for Pediatric Outpatients in a Developing Country:A Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a pharmacist-led intervention’s effectiveness in reducing drug-related problems (DRPs ) related to prescriptions for pediatric outpatients. METHODS We conducted a randomized controlled trial. We recruited and randomly assigned 31 physicians to control or intervention groups. We collected 775 prescriptions (375 from the control group and 400 from the intervention group) at the start. For 3 weeks, intervention physicians received additional information and meetings with pharmacists in addition to the usual practices of the hospital. We then collected prescriptions at the end of the study. We classified DRPs, based on reliable references (Supplemental Table S1) at baseline and endpoint (a week after the intervention). The primary outcome was the proportion of prescriptions with DRPs, and secondary outcomes were the proportions of prescriptions with specific DRP types. RESULTS The influence of the intervention on general DRPs and specific DRPs was the study’s main finding. The pharmacist-led intervention helped reduce the prescriptions with DRPs proportion in the intervention group to 41.0%, compared with 49.3% in the control group (p &lt; 0.05). The DRPs proportion related to the timing of administration relative to meals, unlike the other DRP types, increased in the control group (from 31.7% to 34.9%) and decreased in the intervention group (from 31.3% to 25.3%), with a significant difference between the 2 groups at endpoint (p &lt; 0.01). Patients aged &gt;2 to ≤6 years (OR, 1.871; 95% CI, 1.340–2.613) and receiving ≥5 drugs (OR, 5.037; 95% CI, 2.472–10.261) were at greater risk of experiencing DRPs related to prescribing. CONCLUSIONS A pharmacist-led intervention improved DRP occurrence related to physicians’ prescribing. Pharmacists could be involved in in-depth research with physicians in the prescribing process to provide tailored interventions.</p

Determination of Caffeine, Chlorogenic Acid, Total Phenolic Contents, and Antioxidant Capacities for Arabica and Robusta Coffee from Vietnam

In Vietnam, the cultivation and production of coffee have been expanding over the past few decades and are known as an important part of the national economy. However, the scientific data regarding the internal compositions of coffee have still been limited, especially the changes during the processing, typically the roasting period. The present study aimed to demonstrate an insight into the variations in chlorogenic acid, caffeine, total phenolic contents (TPCs), and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacities for two common coffee species, that is, Robusta and Arabica, and three roasting levels, that is, light, medium, and dark. Generally, Robusta coffee performed higher chlorogenic acid, caffeine, and TPCs, resulting in dominant antioxidant capacities compared to Arabica. High Pearson correlation coefficients (calculated by SPSS) were found for most pairs of parameters, r > 0.80. Regarding roasting levels, a descending order was highlighted for most analytical parameters: light > medium > dark. Two parallel processes in the roasting period were revealed by observing the antioxidant capacities, that is, thermal degradation and formation of other antioxidants by the Maillard reaction. Principal component analysis (SIMCA-P 11) was attempted to discriminate the available coffee samples by their species and roasting levels, indicating proper classification (the cumulative variance is 95.3%).</p

Medication Adherence in Vietnamese Patients with Cardiovascular and Endocrine&ndash;Metabolic Diseases

(1) Background: COVID-19 has significantly affected the quality of life and the medication adherence of patients with chronic diseases. Attitudes towards the disease and preventive measures are the things that need to be considered for patient adherence to medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to evaluate the rate and compare the medication adherence and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medication adherence in Vietnamese patients with cardiovascular and endocrine&ndash;metabolic diseases. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on outpatients having chronic diseases such as cardiovascular or/and endocrine&ndash;metabolic diseases in some southern provinces in Vietnam. In each group of patients, medication adherence was measured and assessed with the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS), adjusted and validated in Vietnam. In addition, the study also investigated attitudes and practices to prevent COVID-19. (3) Results: Out of 1444 patients in our study, the level of adherence was recorded in 867 cases, accounting for 61.1%. The group of patients with only cardiovascular disease and patients with only endocrine&ndash;metabolic disease had relatively similar compliance rates of 62 and 61.1%, respectively. The leading cause of non-adherence to treatment in all three groups of patients in the study, as assessed by the GMAS, was non-adherence due to financial constraints. Our study showed that 71.6% of patients felt anxious when going to the hospital for a medical examination. However, only 53.7% identified the COVID-19 pandemic as obstructing treatment follow-up visits. The research results showed that the COVID-19 epidemic influences the patient&rsquo;s psychology with regard to re-examination and treatment adherence, with p coefficients of 0.003 and &lt;0.001, respectively. (4) Conclusion: Medication adherence rates in two disease groups are close, and financial constraint is the fundamental reason for medication non-adherence. Regulatory agencies must take care of people&rsquo;s welfare to improve adherence in the epidemic context