Preparation of stabilized essential fatty acid enriched formulations from marine sources for use as nutraceuticals and aquafeed supplements

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in adequate amount are essential in the diet of marine finfish for larval and broodstock nutrition, and as nutraceutical supplements for human health because of the inability of the animal kingdom to synthesize de novo these fatty acids in adequate levels from precursor molecules. These fatty acids are widely available in a large variety of marine fish, and therefore, they are preferentially used as raw material to prepare PUFA concentrates. This work relates to screen low-value fish for essential PUFAs, especially n-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), concentrating these essential fatty acids by chemical and enzymatic process. This study further contemplated to develop n3 PUFA enriched formulation(s) comprising fatty acid concentrate and individual or combination of natural ingredients with potential antioxidant properties to form a stabilized form of concentrated PUFAs. The present study demonstrated that the marine pelagic fish Sardinella longiceps is a valuable source of EPA and DHA, for human diet, as well as the extraction of oil in view of commercial exploitation. The spatial and seasonal variation of this study indicated that oil sardine collected from the Southwest coasts during the monsoon season have superior quality with respect to their fatty acid profile, especially EPA and DHA. newlin

Inter-annual variability and seasonal dynamics in lipid signatures of Leiognathus splendens (Cuvier, 1829)

Seasonal variations (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon) of the lipid, fatty acid and total cholesterol profile in edible tissues of silver belly Leiognathus splendens collected from the south west (SW) and south east (SE) coasts of India over four years (2008-2011) were investigated in this study. The correlations between the fatty acid compositions with seasonal chlorophyll-a concentration of these years were also evaluated. The lipid levels showed pronounced seasonal fluctuations with the highest values occurring in the post-monsoon season and showed a good correlation with chlorophyll-a concentration. The lipid levels showed pronounced seasonal fluctuations with highest values occurring in post-monsoon season and showed strong correlation with chlorophyll-a concentration. Eicosapentaenoic acid correlated with chlorophyll-a concentration during monsoon in SW coast, and monsoon, post-monsoon in the SE coast. The correlation patterns of fatty acids with chlorophyll-a concentration were also studied. Similarly, the health indices such as atherogenic index, thrombogenicity index, total cholesterol, and hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio of Leiognathus splendens were found to be ideal, which contributed towards its parameters to be qualified as an ideal health food

Effect of Natural Additives on the Fatty Acid Signatures of Green Mussel Perna viridis L. in a Time-Dependent Accelerated Shelf Life Study

The present study identified the freeze-dried concentrate of green mussel to possess valuable nutritional properties with respect to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. The freeze-dried concentrate (C0) was stabilized with different ratios of naturally derived antioxidative oleoresins of Rosmarinus officinalis and Curcuma longa along with trace amounts of other natural additives to obtain four combinations (C1, C2, C3 and C4) and was subjected to accelerated shelf storage for 90 days (d90) to understand their role in retaining the desired nutritional composition. A threshold level of oleoresins of C. longa : R. officinalis (0.8:0.4%) was sufficient for optimum antioxidant activity, and further addition of endogenous antioxidants did have negative impacts on stability of the polyunsaturated fatty acid compositions of the green mussel concentrate. The combinations C2 and C4 effectively arrested the isomeric conversion of cis polyunsaturated fatty acids to their trans conformers at d0 and d90 than recorded in C0

Localized Advanced Hürthle Cell Carcinoma with Symptomatic Intrathoracic Goiter

Intrathoracic goiters are divided into two categories: primary and secondary. Intrathoracic goiters (IG) can cause upper airway obstruction. The presence of obstructive symptoms secondary to increased thyroid growth and tracheal compression is major indication for surgery; however, goiters do not always require immediate surgical attention. In addition, although some diagnostic tests indicate upper airway obstruction, many patients remain asymptomatic. Surgeries to remove IG are performed routinely however, they are not without risk. In some cases, intrathoracic goiters present as thyroid cancers. Very rare cancers such as Hürthle cell carcinoma (HCC) can create a challenge for the surgeon when surgical intervention is vital

Nutritional Composition of Edible Oysters (Crassostrea madrasensis L.) from the Southwest Coast of India

Nutritional composition of edible oysters (Crassostrea madrasensis) from the wild and cultured growth habitats from the southwest coast of India were evaluated over 4 years (2008–2011) during the premonsoon season. The important nutritional qualities of this species have been correlated with chlorophyll- a concentration, sea surface temperature, and phytoplankton density in their growth environments. The higher proportions of total polyunsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids in the edible oysters collected from the wild habitats were significantly correlated with chlorophylla concentration revealing the role of the phytoplanktons to contribute to the occurrence of these vital fatty acids. The ideal atherogenic index (AI); thrombogenicity index (TI); hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio (HH); and balanced quantities of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and low cholesterol contents qualified C. madrasensis as a potential health food

Inter Annual and Seasonal Dynamics in Amino Acid, Vitamin and Mineral Composition of Sardinella longiceps

Sardinella longiceps were studied for the spatial (south west (SW) and southeast (SE) coast of India), annual (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and seasonal (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon) variations of protein, amino acids, minerals and vitamins. The chlorophyll-a concentration and sea surface temperature of its habitats were taken into account to understand their effect on the nutrient signatures of oil sardine throughout the study period and locations. Mean protein content attained its maximum during pre-monsoon along both SW and SE coasts, with high proportions of essential amino acids. Essential to non-essential amino acid ratio, total aromatic (TArAA) and total sulfated amino acids (TSAA) recorded monsoon maxima along the study locations. Amino acid scores observed monsoon and post-monsoon maxima along the SW and SE coast, respectively. Minerals were significantly higher during monsoon along the SE coast (P<0.05). Significant seasonal variations in vitamin content were observed along the study locations with high vitamin A, D3 and C on SW coast and higher vitamin E and K in SE coast. The present study demonstrated Sardinella longiceps as a valuable source of the protein, amino acids, minerals and vitamins. A reasonably good ratio of essential to nonessential amino acids for oil sardines was recorded throughout different study period and locations, and therefore it can be concluded that this low-value species is an excellent source of good balanced proteins with high-biological value to be qualified as a preferred health food for human diet

Halophytes of Chenopodiaceae and Aizoaceae from South-East Coast of India as Potential Sources of Essential Nutrients and Antioxidants

In this study, we assessed the antioxidant efficacy and nutritional value of the halophytic plants in order to find possible sources for future novel antioxidants in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical formulations. The lyophilized samples of the five tropical halophytes (Chenopodiaceae and Aizoaceae), namely, Salicornia brachiata, Arthrocnemum indicum, Suaeda maritima, Suaeda monoica, and Sesuvium portulacastrum from the southeast coast of India were analyzed for total digestible protein, amino acid and fatty acid composition using spectrophotometric, HPLC and GC methods, respectively. The aqueous and ethyl acetate extracts of these samples were studied for its free radical scavenging activity using DPPH. radical scavenging assay and total phenolic content (mg GAE/g) using Folin–Ciocalteu method. Protein content of S. brachiata (4.6 g/100g) and S. maritima (4.0 g/100g) were higher than that of others. A good ratio of essential/ non-essential (E/NE) amino acids in all species (>1.0) indicated them as sources of well balanced and high-quality proteins. High DHA (1.33%) and EPA (1.26%) in S. maritima resulted in having a higher n-3:n-6 ratio (0.24) than in other halophytes (0.09-0.16). The PUFA/ SFA ratio was found to be significantly higher in S. brachiata (1.16) due to high 18:2n-6 (16.9%) and 18:3n-6 (21.9%) (p < 0.05), suggesting its ability to thrive under stress conditions, which was supported by the high phenolic contents (557 mg GAE/g) and antioxidant activity against DPPH radical (IC50 0.90 mg/mL) of its EtOAc extract. The presence of high titer of amino acids, fatty acids, nutritional antioxidants (phenolics) and free radical quenching potential of these underutilized species indicate their potential towards human health applications

Nutritional and Antioxidative Attributes of Green Mussel (Perna viridis L.) from the Southwestern Coast of India

The present study reports the biochemical composition of Perna viridis from the southwestern coast of India. A balanced essential to nonessential amino acid ratio (0.7:1.1) along with the optimum and balanced quantities of vitamins, mineral nutrients, and low cholesterol contents characterized P. viridis. The n-3/n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio of P. viridis was found to be 3.7:5.3 and therefore may serve as an alternative to balance the higher intake of n-6 fatty acids. High oxyradical scavenging capacity (24–32%) and total phenolics (2–5 mg GAE−1) suggest the nutraceutical potential of P. viridis

An integrated solar thermal and photovoltaic system

For the conversion of solar irradiation directly to electricity, Photovoltaic (PV) cells play an excellent role. Absorption of radiation beyond wave length 0.35 – 0.82 µm leads to a rise in temperature and the performance is significantly reduced as a result of temperature rise. Many attempts have been made to maintain the operating temperature of the PV cells as low as possible using both water and air cooling system fitted at the back of the panel. In this project, extensive indoor and outdoor tests have been performed to develop an integrated system to filter component of solar irradiation contributing to a temperature rise of the PV panel. For indoor tests, a Compact Source Iodide (CSI) lamp has been used to conduct experiments under controlled conditions. The outdoor test was conducted under the meteorological conditions of Singapore. The component of interest, which produces electricity, will be delivered to PV cells and, hence, there will no heating effect and performance degradation. A layer of water of about 15 mm can eliminate the components of the radiation not contributing to electricity generation. Also, absorbed radiation at the water filter enables to provide hot water