Processing of coconut sap into sugar syrup using rotary evaporation, microwave and open-heat evaporation techniques

Background: Coconut sugar has a caramel color with a taste like brown sugar. It is commonly used as natural sweetener. However, coconut sugar has been produced from coconut sap using a traditional method that involves heating the sap at high temperature (>100 °C) in an open pan for a long period (3–5 h). This conventional method results in an over-cooked sugar, which leads to quality deterioration in terms of both its physical and chemical properties. The current study aimed to investigate the processing of coconut sap into sugar syrup using alternative processing techniques such as rotary vacuum evaporation (RE) and microwave evaporation (ME), comparing them with open-heat evaporation (OHE) technique. Results: Coconut sugar syrup produced by rotary evaporation at 60 °C and 250 mbar vacuum (RE-60) required the shortest production time (12.2 min) and the lowest processing temperature (54.8 °C) when compared with ME (13 min and 103.2 °C) and OHE (46.8 min and 101.6 °C). It also had a light brownish color with a higher L* value (35.17) than the ME (29.84) and OHE (23.84) methods. It was found to contain higher amounts of monosaccharides (fructose and glucose) and lower amounts of disaccharides (sucrose). Furthermore, the amount of energy required for RE-60 (0.35 kWh) was much less than for OHE (0.83 kWh). Conclusion: This study provided an alternative processing method for the sugar processing industry to produce coconut sugar using the rotary evaporation method at 60 °C under 250 mbar vacuum with better physicochemical qualities, shorter processing time, and minimum input energy

An Improved Method for High Quality Metagenomics DNA Extraction from Human and Environmental Samples

To explore the natural microbial community of any ecosystems by high-resolution molecular approaches including next generation sequencing, it is extremely important to develop a sensitive and reproducible DNA extraction method that facilitate isolation of microbial DNA of sufficient purity and quantity from culturable and uncultured microbial species living in that environment. Proper lysis of heterogeneous community microbial cells without damaging their genomes is a major challenge. In this study, we have developed an improved method for extraction of community DNA from different environmental and human origin samples. We introduced a combination of physical, chemical and mechanical lysis methods for proper lysis of microbial inhabitants. The community microbial DNA was precipitated by using salt and organic solvent. Both the quality and quantity of isolated DNA was compared with the existing methodologies and the supremacy of our method was confirmed. Maximum recovery of genomic DNA in the absence of substantial amount of impurities made the method convenient for nucleic acid extraction. The nucleic acids obtained using this method are suitable for different downstream applications. This improved method has been named as the THSTI method to depict the Institute where the method was developed

Effect of processing method on vitamin profile, antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) sugar syrup

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) sugar is a more nutritious alternative sugar source as compared to sugar palm (Borassus flabellifer) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). This work was aimed to investigate the browning index (BI), vitamin profile and antioxidant properties of coconut sap sugar syrups, which were produced by different processing methods: rotary evaporation (RE), microwave evaporation (ME) and open-heat evaporation (OHE). The results obtained showed that coconut sugar syrup produced by RE-60 contained high antioxidant activities [DPPH (36.71%) and ABTS (34.84%), TPC (299.87 mg per 100 g sample) and FRAP (3.74 mm)]. These values were slightly lower than those of ME and OHE. Coconut sugar syrup (RE-60) also contained higher amounts of vitamin C (1587.27 mg L−1), vitamin B1 (97.44 mg L−1) and vitamin B3 (19.84 mg L−1) compared with those of ME and OHE coconut sugar syrups. RE-60 was the best method to produce coconut sugar syrup in a shorter time with lower browning index and higher vitamin contents