Antioxidant, Antiglycation Potentials and Total Phenolic Content of Scoparia dulcis Decoction

Long term diabetes mellitus increases the risk of many micro and macro vascular diabetic complications and oxidative stress, due to formation of excessive amounts of free radicals. Non enzymatic protein glycation is the key molecular basis of the above complications observed in diabetic individuals. The current tendency to use herbal treatments in diabetes mellitus is mainly due to the therapeutic efficacy, safety, low cost and minimal adverse effects. Among the many herbs used, the decoction prepared using the whole plant of Scoparia dulcis is a frequently used traditional medicine in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.Since no data are available on the antiglycation potential of the decoction of S. dulcis plant this study focused on determining the antiglycation potential, DPPH and ABTS antioxidant potentials and total phenolic content of the S. dulcis decoction.The commercially available dried S. dulcis and three other fresh samples collected from three different areas were used for the study. The DPPH and ABTS antioxidant potentials of the samples were in the range of 450-540 μg mL-1 and 549-615 TEAC mmol g-1 respectively. Antiglycation potentials of the four samples were in the range of 131-230 μg mL-1 and total phenolic contents were 160-186 mg/GAE/g. The results of the study prove the effectiveness of the use of S. dulcis plant in traditional medicine for diabetes.Keywords: S. dulcis, decoction, antiglycation, antioxidant, phenolic contents, traditional medicin

Development of a ripple Ice cream using sour sop (Annona muricata L.)

Sour sop (Annona muricata L.) is an underutilized fruit crop in some countries like Sri Lanka although in some other countries like Mexico, Venezuela and Peru, it is being cultivated in at commercial levels and is used to develop comminute products. The awareness on this fruit and its functional properties among Sri Lankan consumers is very low, especially in urban areas, but it grows in several areas up to 460 m elevations. Today studies have been initiated on Soursop as it is found to have medicinal and therapeutic values. A study was carried out to develop Soursop based ice cream for commercial applications. Therefore, a Soursop ripple ice cream was developed, using soursop as a new fruit to the food processing industry as well as a new choice for consumers. The present study involved the selection of good quality fruits, preparing soursop puree and preserving it and preparing a fruit sauce for the ice cream. Moreover the product was subjected to several sensory evaluations, chemical analyses, microbiological assessments and storage. Significant amount of crude fibre 0.13 (%w/w) is obtained for the ripple ice cream. This ripple ice cream was successful in acceptability and keeping quality. Good melting quality with acceptable definite melting was obtained for the ice cream. The ice cream satisfied the SLS standards Ice cream (SLS 223:1989). This study was expected to popularize the sour sop as a potential ingredient for manufacturing value added products. The fruit content is about 20% in this ice cream product

Determination of Macronutrient Compositions in Selected, Frequently Consumed Leafy Vegetables, Prepared According to Common Culinary Methods in Sri Lanka

Information regarding realistic macronutrient gains by consuming cooked Sri Lankan leafy vegetables are rare. Some available information often overestimates available carbohydrate contents and under-estimates dietary fibre contents, as a result of not using in-vitro digestion models prior to proximate analysis. In aim to address this issue, nine most frequently consumed leafy vegetables types in Sri Lanka were cooked and analysed for their moisture, digestible carbohydrate, protein, fat, soluble fibre and insoluble fibre contents. All vegetables were prepared in most frequently practiced culinary methods by the local community such as salads, tempered with oils, or as curries/gravies. Dry weights of all macronutrients were determined using six replicates to maximize the accuracy of results.Majority of the leafy vegetable types selected elicited substantial amounts of dietary fibre. The highest content of insoluble dietary fibre was present in Centella asiatica (centella) leaves salad (51.0±3.4%), whereas highest percentage of soluble dietary fibre was in Heracleum sphondylium (hogweed) leaves prepared as a curry (16.4±1.7%). H. sphondylium curry (20.7±1.3%) and Sesbania grandiflora (Hummingbird) leaves salad (20.7±0.9%) resulted in greatest amounts of digestible carbohydrates.The highest fat content (12.6±0.5%) was in Ipomoea aquatic (water spinach) since it was tempered with coconut oil as it is the mostly practiced local culinary method for Ipomoea. Spinacia oleracea (spinach) curry elicited the highest protein content (4.8±0.9%) among all leafy vegetables.Keywords: Dietary fibre, leafy vegetables, digestible carbohydrates, Centella asiatica, Heracleum sphondylium, Sesbania grandiflor

Free radical Scavenging Activity and Phenolic content of decoctions of some medicinal plants

Free radicals are normally generated in substantial amounts in the body; excessive amounts cause oxidative damage through chain reactions forming disorders like diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. In diabetic conditions, a non enzymatic reaction occurs with proteins and reducing sugars forming glycated protein named Amadori products. Further rearrangement, oxidation and reduction of Amadori products leads to form Advanced Glycated End products which causing spontaneous damage to proteins in physiological system leading various complications like Nephropathy, Neuropathy ,Retinopathy and this process accompanying the formation of free radicals. In this process oxidation plays an important role to form Advanced Glycated End Products. Therefore antioxidants are highly important in prevention or slowing the glycation reaction. Humans have evolved a complex antioxidant system, but this may not be sufficient to maintain optimal cellular functions in diabetic conditions. Medicinal plants usually contain different phenolic compounds having antioxidant properties. Therefore, a study was carried out to examine the in vitro free radical scavenging activity and total phenolic content of the decoctions of plants, Cassia auriculata (Ranawara, flower) Phyllanthus emblica (Nelli, fruit) and Scoparia dulcis (Walkottamalli, whole plant) which are used in the treatment for diabetics. Three fresh samples from each plant collected from different areas where they are grown and commercial dried sample from the traditional market was selected to prepare the decoctions and compared phenolic contents and antioxidant activity. The total phenolic content of each extract was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and evaluation of free radical scavenging activity was assessed using DPPH assay and ABTS assay. Decoctions of the commercial samples of P. emblica showed the highest total phenolic content as 625 mgGAE/g and C auriculata and S dulcis showed 459 and 131 mgGAE/g respectively. Samples dried under laboratory conditions of C.auriculata had total phenolic content from 226 – 287 mgGAE/g, P.emblica from 479 -517 mgGAE/g and S dulcis from 167 – 186 mgGAE/g. The highest DPPH antioxidant activity showed the commercial sample of P. emblica as 27 μg/ml and other samples dried under laboratory conditions were in the range of 41 – 49 μg/ml. No significant difference between the DPPH activity of C. auriculata commercial sample and other samples dried in the dehydrator and were in the range of 248 -309 μg/ml while S. dulcis all the samples showed DPPH antioxidant activity from 437 – 540 μg/ml. The reference standard, Butylated Hydroxy Toluene showed 20 μg/ml. ABTS antioxidant activity was high in all commercial samples of C.auriculata, P.emblica and S. dulcis and were as 648,625 and 615 mmol/g while other samples dried using the dehydrator showed 313 – 536 mmol/g,479 -517 mmol/g and 549-550 mmol/g respectively.Key words: Antioxidant properties, Glycation, Diabetes, DPPH assay, ABTS assa

Preliminary Study of Mineral Constituents in Selected Cultivars of Root and Tuber Crops in Sri Lanka

A study was done to determine the levels of minerals (Calcium, Magnesium, Iron,Potassium and Zinc) in three different cultivars of yams (D. alata and D. esculenta),Xanthosoma sp and four different cultivars of sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas Lam) fromdifferent regions in Sri Lanka. Yams (Rajala, Hingurala and Kukulala), Xanthosoma sp(Kiriala) and sweet potatoes (Swp3, Swp4, Swp5 and Swp7) were prepared for analysis 2– 3 days after harvesting. Flour samples were subjected to ashing using AOAC (1980)method and mineral constituents were analysed using Atomic AbsorptionSpectrophotometer (AAS). Variation in mineral constituents on dry weight basis wereanalysed using ANOVA, Tukey‟s HSD test (p< 0.05) Minitab. All three cultivars ofyams had significant levels (p< 0.05) of Calcium and Iron and high level of Magnesiumwas observed in Kiriala (45.27± 0.31 mg 100g-1). A significantly high level of Iron andPotassium (p<0.05) was observed in Rajala and Sweet potatoes respectively. Swp5cultivar contained a comparatively high amount of Calcium and Magnesium while Swp3and Swp7 contained a high level of iron (p<0.05). Comparatively high level of Zinc waspresent in Hingurala, Swp3 and Swp7 cultivars.Key words: Dioscorea , Ipomea batatas, minerals, Xanthosoma s

Incorporation of natural antioxidants extracted from strawberry, cinnamon, beetroot, and ginger; into virgin coconut oil for expansion of its shelf life

Lipid oxidation significantly deteriorates the quality of edible oils and further leads to changes in flavour, storage properties, and overall nutritional value. Phenolic phytochemicals of strawberry (S), beetroot (B), cinnamon (C), and ginger (G) were extracted into ethanol using the reflux method and evaluated for their total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant potential. These phytochemicals were then incorporated into virgin coconut oil (VCO) as individual antioxidants and combinations, to expand its shelf life and mitigate the negative effects of oxidation. The antioxidant fortified VCO subjected to accelerated oxidation was assessed under the parameters of peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid value (FFA), conjugated dienes (CD), conjugated trienes (CT), and Thiobarbituric acid related substances assay (TBARS) value with comparison to control (VCO), gallic acid, Vitamin E, and BHT. The TPC of strawberry, cinnamon, beetroot, and ginger were 198.00 ± 1.41, 135.00 ± 1.41, 55.00 ± 1.41, and 151.51 ± 0.071 mg GAE/g respectively and their antioxidant potential ranged in the order of S> B> C> G based on their IC50 DPPH value. The PV of (VCO, and VCOGC), VCOSG, VCOSCBG, and VCOBHT have reached the rancid PV of 30–40 meq/Kg range in 12, 24, 48, and 72 h respectively. The FFA of control, VCOVit.E, and VCOBHT was higher than that of VCOGC, VCOSG, and VCOSGBC, after 72 h. The CD and CT values increased with time, similar to PV with storage time. Nevertheless, the combinations SB (1:1) and SGBC (1:1:1:1) at 1500 ppm could be used as natural antioxidant and might be explored to prevent the oxidation of vegetable oils. Therefore, the combination could be used as preservative ingredients in the oil-based food industries

Development of spicy flavored virgin coconut oil by incorporating a mixture of spices oleoresins

Lipid oxidation is a major cause of deterioration in the quality of cooking oils. Degradation of unsaturated fatty acids in oils directly leads to changes in nutritional value, flavor, and storage properties. Oleoresins of ginger, garlic, nutmeg, pepper, cloves, and cinnamon were extracted and incorporated into virgin coconut oil (VCO) to overcome adverse effects of lipid oxidation and changes occurrence on physicochemical properties, thermal stability, shelf life, antioxidant activity, total phenolics and sensory evaluation were conducted against same properties of VCO. Lipid oxidation was assessed in terms of free fatty acid (FFA) value and peroxide value (PV). For the comparison purpose, another oil sample was prepared by incorporating vitamin E too. Results revealed that both PV and FFA of VCO and spicy flavored oil (SFO) samples after one-week storage period were 1.93 ± 0.01 and 1.62 ± 0.02 mEq/kg and 0.36 ± 0.01 and 0.24 ± 0.01 (%) respectively. Saponification value (SV), iodine value (IV), smoke point, flashpoint, viscosity, and the specific gravity of SFO were increased and there was no significant difference in moisture content and insoluble impurities in SFO and VCO. The highest phenolic content and DPPH free radical scavenging activity were found in SFO. The thermal stability of SFO was better than VCO. Both oleoresins and vitamin E incorporated samples showed the same pattern of increment of FFA and PV during storage; however, those increments were slower than VCO. SFO was highly accepted by the sensory panelists in terms of color, aroma, taste, texture, and overall acceptability

Improving the clinical-care pathway of an Ayurvedic hospital: a teaching case for developing process improvement capabilities

<i>Business Process Management</i> (BPM) is a topic that has received immense attention in information systems research and practice. While its adoption has been increasing rapidly, many companies struggle to find BPM professionals with the appropriate skills hence BPM education has been an area of increasing interest as well. One big challenge for BPM education is the lack of teaching resources. Appropriately written BPM teaching cases derived from real life case scenarios has been recognised as a valuable means to address this gap. Yet, teaching cases that are rich in context dedicated to BPM are still scarce. This teaching case, specifically developed for Business Process Improvement education purposes, is designed as a rich resource to address this gap. Teaching notes with an extensive set of multimedia ancillary material are also available to instructors upon request. This case study is based on a real-life patient care process of a national Ayurvedic Hospital in Sri Lanka. With its position as the leading national institute for Ayurvedic research and teaching, the Hospital has the potential to make striding impacts with Ayurvedic innovations both nationally and globally. This narrative describes the current patient care process in detail, challenging students to analyse the current process and derive justifiable high impact creative/innovative recommendations that are feasible to the case’s context and improve business processes at the Hospital