Vitamin composition of ethnic foods commonly consumed in Europe.

Background: Vitamin analyses are particularly important for estimating dietary intakes, determining nutritional status and regulating food labelling. Due to the increased popularity of ethnic foods, the vitamin composition of these foods is required to ensure that national food databases are up-to-date.Objectives: The key objective of this study was to generate new and reliable data on the contents of fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A (all trans-retinol), D3 & E (α-tocopherol) and those that are water-soluble (vitamins B6, B12, C, biotin, folate, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, and thiamin) in ethnic foods commonly consumed in Europe.Design: Thirty commonly-consumed ethnic foods in Europe (from Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, and the UK) were analysed using harmonised methodologies for identification of representative foods, sampling, data scrutiny and documentation to generate reliable data. Analyses were carried out using International standard methods. Results: Certain vitamins were present in appreciable amounts: β-carotene in tayer leaves (7919µg/100g), thiamin in frik dry (0.24mg/100g), riboflavin in mbinzo worms (0.79mg/100g,) and niacin in commercial soy patty (17.5mg/100g). However, retinol, pantothenic acid, vitamins D and B12 were below detectable levels in the majority of the foods analysed.Conclusions: The majority of the foods contained most of the water-soluble vitamins but lacked fat-soluble vitamins. However, these preliminary data represent only a small number of foods per country and so no conclusions about vitamin imbalances can be drawn. Additional data are required on a much wider range of commonly-consumed ethnic foods to make firm conclusions about adequacy of diets

Effect of early tranexamic acid administration on mortality, hysterectomy, and other morbidities in women with post-partum haemorrhage (WOMAN): an international, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces deaths due to bleeding in trauma patients. We aimed to assess the effects of early administration of tranexamic acid on death, hysterectomy, and other relevant outcomes in women with post-partum haemorrhage. Methods In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women aged 16 years and older with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section from 193 hospitals in 21 countries. We randomly assigned women to receive either 1 g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If bleeding continued after 30 min, or stopped and restarted within 24 h of the first dose, a second dose of 1 g of tranexamic acid or placebo could be given. Patients were assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight numbered packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Participants, care givers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. We originally planned to enrol 15 000 women with a composite primary endpoint of death from all-causes or hysterectomy within 42 days of giving birth. However, during the trial it became apparent that the decision to conduct a hysterectomy was often made at the same time as randomisation. Although tranexamic acid could influence the risk of death in these cases, it could not affect the risk of hysterectomy. We therefore increased the sample size from 15 000 to 20 000 women in order to estimate the effect of tranexamic acid on the risk of death from post-partum haemorrhage. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ISRCTN76912190 (Dec 8, 2008); ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00872469; and PACTR201007000192283. Findings Between March, 2010, and April, 2016, 20 060 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (n=10 051) or placebo (n=10 009), of whom 10 036 and 9985, respectively, were included in the analysis. Death due to bleeding was significantly reduced in women given tranexamic acid (155 [1·5%] of 10 036 patients vs 191 [1·9%] of 9985 in the placebo group, risk ratio [RR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·65–1·00; p=0·045), especially in women given treatment within 3 h of giving birth (89 [1·2%] in the tranexamic acid group vs 127 [1·7%] in the placebo group, RR 0·69, 95% CI 0·52–0·91; p=0·008). All other causes of death did not differ significantly by group. Hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (358 [3·6%] patients in the tranexamic acid group vs 351 [3·5%] in the placebo group, RR 1·02, 95% CI 0·88–1·07; p=0·84). The composite primary endpoint of death from all causes or hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (534 [5·3%] deaths or hysterectomies in the tranexamic acid group vs 546 [5·5%] in the placebo group, RR 0·97, 95% CI 0·87-1·09; p=0·65). Adverse events (including thromboembolic events) did not differ significantly in the tranexamic acid versus placebo group. Interpretation Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding in women with post-partum haemorrhage with no adverse effects. When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset. Funding London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Pfizer, UK Department of Health, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Optimization of processing techniques to produce functional ingredient from cassava ( Manihot esculenta, Crantz)

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Optimization of processing techniques to produce functional ingredient from cassava ( Manihot esculenta, Crantz)

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Modeling and optimization of processing parameters of strips produced from blends of cassava and cowpea flour

Most Nigerian traditional foods have a low nutritional value, inconsistent sensory attributes, and short shelf life. Thus, upgrading becomes necessary for the technologies used in the processing, distributing, and storing of indigenous snack foods to improve the products' nutritional, sensory, and storage properties. A Box-Behnken (three-factor) response surface methodology was used to optimize the process. The effect of frying temperature (160 - 180°C), frying time (8 - 12 min) and percent cowpea flour (10 - 30%) on some attributes (moisture, fat, protein contents, texture, and color change) of cassava-cowpea strips fried snack. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and regression analysis. The moisture content ranged between 1.00% and 4.26%, fat content (8.41–11.94%), protein content (30.83–36.42%), texture (5.06–13.14 N) and color change (26.967–40.479). Frying temperature, frying time and % cowpea flour had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on moisture, fat, protein contents, texture and color change of cassava-cowpea strips. The processing conditions affected moisture, fat, protein, texture, and color change. Coefficients of determination, R2 were 0.87, 0.86, 0.79, 0.88 and 0.71, respectively. The best conditions for processing cassava-cowpea strips were 12 min frying time, 166.65 °C frying temperature, and 24.36% cowpea flour content. The desirability of optimization was 0.65. Therefore, composite flour from cassava and cowpea can be adopted or used to produce strips to prevent protein-energy malnutrition in the community