Vitamin D status in pregnant women and their newborns in a tertiary care hospital

Background: In the recent years there has been an increased understanding of the role that vitamin D plays in regulation of cell growth, calcium absorption and immunity and its impact on the developing fetus and maternal health is of significant concern. This study aims at evaluating the Vitamin D status in pregnant women and their newborns.Methods: A cross sectional study was done on 100 pregnant females according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. At the time of delivery, maternal blood was collected, and newborn samples were taken from newborn side of umbilical cord and sent for analysis.Results: The prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency has been found to be 85% of pregnant females and 91% of the newborns. Only 5% of pregnant females and 1% of the newborns showed Vitamin D sufficiency. Maternal and newborn vitamin D levels show a positive correlation. Mean maternal and newborn Vitamin D levels were found to be 16.78±7.04 ng/mL and 11.29±5.75 ng/ml.Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among pregnant women in north India. Low maternal vitamin D levels lead to vitamin D deficiency in the newborns also

Effect of osmo air drying method on nutritional quality of peach (Prunus persica (l) batsch.) cultivars during storage

The present investigation was carried out with the objective to develop value added products and to assess the quality parameters of osmo air dried peach slices. The peach slices were dried by osmo air drying method. Dehydrated peach (Prunus persica (L) Batsch.) slices prepared were stored under ambient conditions in polythenepacks and subjected to physico-chemical analysis at 45 days interval for a period of 135 days. The highest total sugars were observed in Flordasun 58.28 % and reducing sugars (39.35 %) in Shan-e-Punjab. The maximum acidity (1.84 %) in Shan-e-Punjab, ash content (4.43 %) in Early Grand were recorded. The maximum ascorbic acid content of 11.94 mg/100g was found in Shan-e-Punjab. During storage, an increasing trend was observed in total sugars (54.27-56.76%) and reducing sugars (38.08-39.38%), whereas, acidity (1.85-1.74), ascorbic acid (11.75-9.81mg/100g) , and ash content showed decreasing trend. It is thus concluded that Early Grand, Flordasun and Shan-e-Punjab, cultivars of peach can be suitably used for preparation of dehydrated peach product using osmo air drying methods