NLP-BASED FOOD SUGGESTIONS SYSTEM – SMART HOMES

With advanced AI, every industry is growing at rocket speed, while the smart home industry has not reached the next-generation level. A home can only be called a real smart home, when it is completely smart and understand what the residents want, and provide service in a timely manner. The residents should live in the house as if they are leaving in a motel while the house itself takes care of itself and give extra benefits to residents like providing food suggestions to the residents for everyday meals based on their taste, culture, weather, type of their food diet, their interest to try new recipes etc. Our system is an NLP Bert model-based similarity prediction model. The system ranks the recipes based on the similarity of the words and context. Recipes have similar ingredients and procedures are considered similar recipes. Overall, the system creates the top K number of recipes based n the number of days' history of eating habits and removes products that are similar to the recent m number of days to make sure the suggestions are not quite repetitive ( here m<<<<n)

Antimicrobial Activity of Nanoencapsulated Essential Oils of Tasmannia lanceolata, Backhousia citriodora and Syzygium anisatum against Weak-Acid Resistant Zygosaccharomyces bailii in Clear Apple Juice

The anti-yeast activity of oil-in-water encapsulated nanoemulsion containing individual or a combination of the three essential oils of Tasmanian pepper leaf (Tasmannia lanceolata), lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora), and anise myrtle (Syzygium anisatum) against weak-acid resistant Zygosaccharomyces bailii in clear apple juice was investigated. The effectiveness of the shelf-life extension of Z. bailii-spiked (1 × 103 CFU/mL) clear apple juice was evaluated and compared between natural (essential oils) and synthetic (sodium benzoate) antimicrobial agents. Essential oils showed an immediate reduction in the Z. bailii cell population at day-0 and exerted a fungicidal activity at day-4 of storage, with no further noticeable growth at the end of the experiment (day-28). At lower concentrations, Tasmanian pepper leaf oil of 0.0025% had >6 log CFU/mL at day-12 of storage. For lemon myrtle essential oils, the yeast population reached >6 log CFU/mL at day-24 and day-20 for concentrations of 0.02% and 0.01%, respectively. The fungicidal activity of Tasmanian pepper leaf oil reduced from 0.005% to 0.0025% v/v when mixed at a ratio of 1:1 with anise myrtle oil. The results of the present study suggest that these three native Australian herbs have the potential to be used in the beverage industry by controlling Zygosaccharomyces bailii in clear apple juice products. View Full-Tex

Formulation, characterization, and stability of food grade oil-in-water nanoemulsions of essential oils of Tasmannia lanceolata, Backhousia citriodora and Syzygium anisatum

Oil-in-water nanoemulsions were formulated using sunflower oil mixed with each of the essential oils of Tasmannia lanceolata (Tasmanian pepper leaf [TPL]), Backhousia citriodora (lemon myrtle [LM]) and Syzygium anisatum (anise myrtle [AM]) and stabilized with Tween 80 using ultrasonication. An oil-surfactant ratio of 3:1 was found to produce the lowest emulsion droplet sizes of 96.6 nm for LM, 122.2 nm for AM and 131.8 nm for TPL. Increase in surfactant concentration above 10r resulted in larger droplet sizes, 165.8–2,647.2 nm for LM (radius, r =.82), 153.7–2,573.5 nm for AM (r =.93) and 157.4–2,621.6 nm for TPL (r =.83). Sonication for 3 min produced smaller droplet size; however, sonication for 9 min resulted in increase of droplet size by 1.48, 1.43 and 1.47 times for oils of LM (r =.82), AM (r =.93) and TPL (r =.83), respectively. A positive correlation was found between sonication amplitude (20–50%) and droplet size for nanoemulsions of LM (r =.93), AM (r =.98) and TPL (r =.95). TPL and LM nanoemulsions showed broad- spectrum antimicrobial activities against yeasts and bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) against weak-acid resistant yeasts were between 0.001–0.003 and 0.002–0.007 mg/ml for nanoemulsion of TPL and between 0.003–0.014 mg/ml and 0.005–0.027 for nanoemulsion of LM, respectively. The stability and antimicrobial activity of TPL and LM essential oil nanoemulsions confirm their potential for application as food preservatives especially in beverage products that are commonly spoiled by weak-acid resistant yeasts. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Food Safety published by Wiley Periodicals LLC

Betalain rich functional extract with reduced salts and nitrate content from red beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) using membrane separation technology

An initial laboratory-scale evaluation of separation characteristics of membranes with nominal molecular weight cut-offs (NMWCO) ranging from 30 kD down to 0.5 kD indicated effective separation of betalains in the 0.5 kD region. Subsequent pilot-level trials using 1 kD, loose reverse osmosis (LRO) and reverse osmosis (RO) spiral-wound membranes showed LRO membrane to be very efficient with up to 96% salt and 47% other dissolved solids removed while retaining majority of the pigment (∼98%) in the betalain rich extract (BRE). The total betalain content in the BRE increased up to 46%, the highest recovery reported so far at pilot scale level. Interestingly, more than 95% of the nitrates were removed from the BRE after the three diafiltrations. These studies indicate that membrane technology is the most efficient technique to produce BRE with highly reduced amounts of salts and nitrate content

Investigating the Efficacy of Tasmannia lanceolata Extract in Inactivating Fungi and Prolonging the Shelf Life of Date Fruit

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the world’s oldest cultivated plants. Post-harvest losses of date palm due to fungal contamination reached up to 50% of the total production. This study aimed to investigate the potential of the extract of Tasmanian pepper leaf (TPL) and the non-thermal treatment of photosensitization mediated by curcumin in reducing the fungal contamination and enhancing the shelf life of date palm. In the in vivo storage study, the dates were treated with three different concentrations of TPL extract 12.5, 25, and 50 µg/mL and stored at 30 °C. The findings obtained for the treatment with TPL extract exhibited potent antifungal activity against most of the tested fungi, where minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum fungicidal concentrations (MFCs) were < 25 µg/mL for polygodial, the bioactive compound in TPL. The shelf life of date palm treated by 50 µg/mL polygodial was extended up to 21 days, thrice as much as the untreated controls. In contrast, a lower concentration of TPL extract (25 µg/mL polygodial) revealed up to a 15-day shelf life extension compared to untreated dates (7 days). The results obtained from the study suggested that using TPL extracts against pathogenic and spoilage fungi occurring in fresh date fruits is a promising treatment for the shelf life extension of fresh date fruits at room temperatur

Clinicopathological Study of Mucormycosis in Post Covid Patients, an Epidemic in Pandemic

Mucormycosis is an angio-invasive disease caused by saprophytic fungi of the order Mucorales. Mucormycosis has been established and recognized as a complication of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mucormycosis, well known as "black fungus" is creating an epidemic within a global pandemic. The use of different dose regimens, prominent steroids, and multiple comorbidities like Diabetes Mellitus and post-COVID could predispose to mucormycosis. The aim of the study was to study the increase in cases and morphological features of mucormycosis infection in hospitalized post-COVID patients. This prospective study was done for four months, from May 1st, 2021, to August 31st, 2021. All the suspected cases of mucormycosis specimens sent to the Department of Pathology, J.J.M. Medical College, Davangere, for histopathological diagnosis were considered. For microscopic examination, the collected samples were fixed in 10% formalin solution, processed, and stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin. Periodic Acid-Schiff special staining was done. Thirty cases of mucormycosis were collected from patients who had recovered from COVID-19. Mean age 63±12 (37-80) years with Male:Female ratio being 1.3:1. The mean duration between diagnosis of COVID-19 and development of symptoms of mucor was 23.5±10 (7–60) days. Rhino-orbital mucormycosis was the most typical presentation. Out of 30 cases, 28 cases (93.3%) were Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, and 2 cases (6.6%)were nondiabetic. All patients received corticosteroids for the treatment of COVID-19. Trinity of COVID -19, Diabetes Mellitus, and Corticosteroid treatment was significant for the rise in mucormycosis cases. Mucormycosis is an invasive fungal infection and had seen a sudden surge during the second wave of COVID-19. In our study, most patients had a history of diabetes, and corticosteroid therapy with rhino-orbital mucormycosis was the most typical presentation. As the severity of the necrosis increases, the presence of fungal hyphae also increases, which leads to extensive destruction of tissue. Extra vigilance in immunosuppressed patients helps in reducing the morbidity and mortality due to mucormycosis in Post COVID era