Food and Health
Volume:4 Issue: 2, Spring 2021

The aim of this research was to determine the effect of selenium forms (sodium selenate and sodium selenite) at (2, 4, 8, and 16 mg/l) levels on the phytochemical attributes of Echium amoenum (Vipers bugloss) as factorial randomized complete block design. Selenium sources were added in four steps: 2 true leaves stage, 10 leaves, 2 weeks, and 1 week before flowering. The traits were evaluated in different stages of flowering (beginning, full flowering, and end of flowering). Results showed that selenium sources significantly affected the qualitative characteristics of the E. amoenum. The highest photosynthetic pigments were obtained by 4 mg/l sodium selenite at beginning of flowering. When the plants were sprayed with 4 mg/l sodium selenate and harvested at beginning of flowering, higher total alkaloid contents in leaves and petals were observed compared to the other treatments. When the plants were sprayed with 8 mg/l sodium selenate and harvested at end of flowering, higher total phenols and flavonoids contents, soluble sugars content were observed compared to the other treatments. Moreover, foliar application of selenium sources significantly increased the content of this element in the petals. Sodium selenate was more effective than sodium selenite in increasing the content of this element. Generally, the results showed selenium sources significantly improved phytochemical properties of E. amoenum.

Signs and marks in packaging have an important role in marketing and identification of the products. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the inclusion of this information and its compliance with the criteria established by the Food and Drug Administration to identify errors and frauds. In this descriptive-analytical study, 272 samples of dairy products were selected, and their labels were photographed, then the information investigated with documents in Food and Drug Administration and the general guidelines of food and beverages. Finally, data were analyzed with SPSS software and chi-square tests. Based on the results of this study, it was found that in general, 4%, 7%, 1.1%, 11%, 8.4%, 25% and 18% of the products presented in Tehran were respectively. The defects did not have the weight net, license number, production date and expiration of the product and the ingredients (same percentage), batch number, storage conditions, instructions for preparation, and the requirements and health recommendations. In nutritional claims, most claims were related to fat, salt and fiber and 7.7% of the products contained claims for health. 45.2% of the samples have descriptive statements, that 18.15% were unauthorized. 14% of the samples lack traffic lights nutrition and 39% did not have a nutrition facts table. Also, 9.9% of the samples were illegible and were not read clearly. Food labels are a tool for measuring the health of products and will have a significant role in reducing NCD. This study reveals the more rigorous monitoring of food labels.

Doogh is considered a good carrier for the transfer of nutritious compounds, and also olive leaf is one of the nutritional requirements of experts, which can be used to enrich food products to improve human health and prevent or reduce disease. The effect of adding olive leaves before and after fermentation on pH, acidity, corrosive microorganisms, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, and sensory evaluation of the samples were evaluated. The enriched specimens were examined in the refrigerator during the 21-day storage time. The results showed that all samples enriched with different concentrations of olive leaves were acceptable and lower concentrations of treatments had more favorable sensory properties and at higher concentrations due to bitter taste and taste, the herb was diminished from sample acceptance. The number of L. bulgaricus colonies were significantly decreased during the maintenance period. The amount of this bacterium on the first day was the highest and did not have a significant effect on the Lactobacillus colonies by increasing the concentration of olive leaves. The survival of S. thermophilus in the enriched samples were not significantly different from that of the control sample and were not affected by the time and concentration of the olive leaves. Also, the addition of them in both the pre- and post-fermentation process did not have a significant effect in the number of L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus colonies. The addition of olive leaf did not affect the viability and growth of starter microorganisms and was similar to the control sample. The microbial condition of the sample was examined for the presence of corrosive and pathogenic microorganisms during the storage of 21 days in a refrigerator. The addition of olive leaves before and after the process did not affect the microbial status of the sample.

One sixth of the diseases in all countries of the world are found to be caused by malnutrition and improper food selection at different times and under various conditions. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of interventions based on the protection motivation theory on healthy eating behaviors in a systematic way. All articles were systematically retrieved from information sources, including Persian databases of Iran-Medex and SID as well as English databases as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The keywords were as follows: healthy eating behavior, protection motivation theory, behavior, healthy nutrition and intervention. In the first search, 247 articles were obtained. After reviewing them in terms of the inclusion criteria, 8 articles were included in this study. The duration of the intervention was between 1 week and 24 months and the nutritional behaviors of the individuals were studied during this period. Lectures, questions and answers, the use of telephone calls and paper educational messages, and food were often used in the context of information transfer. The results indicate the effectiveness of protection motivation theory on improving the nutritional behaviors of individuals. The results of the previous intervention studies indicated that the greater the perceived barriers to protective behavior, the less motivated a person in performing protective behaviors. A positive and statistically significant correlation was also found between self-efficacy and protection motivation in the investigated studies

The species of Arctium lappa L. roots and Polygonum aviculare L. grass have various therapeutic properties in traditional medicine in East Asian countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of three methods of extracting extracts by ultrasonic bath, maceration, and soxhlet to determine phenolic compounds of Arctium lappa L. roots and Polygonum aviculare L. grass using water and 50% ethanol and the evaluation of extraction efficiency of their extract. The results showed that in the ultrasonic bath extraction method, ethanolic extract of Arctium lappa L. root had the highest content of phenolic compounds (976 mg equivalent to Gallic acid per gram of dry sample), and the highest extraction efficiency in this method was related to Polygonum aviculare L. grass when using both solvents (14%). In the maceration extraction method, the ethanolic extract of Arctium lappa L. root showed the highest content of phenolic compounds (976 mg equivalent to Gallic acid per gram of dry sample), and the highest extraction efficiency in this method was related to the Polygonum aviculare L. grass extracted with water (12%). Also, in the Soxhlet extraction method, ethanolic extract of Arctium lappa L. root showed the highest content of phenolic compounds (578 mg equivalent of gallic acid per gram of dry sample), and the highest extraction efficiency in this method was related to the Polygonum aviculare L. grass extracted with ethanol (18/16%). The content of extraction of bioactive compounds based on the type of solvent, the method, and the type of plant used were significantly different from each other and 50% ethanol solvent was the best solvent for extracting the desired compounds. Arctium lappa L. roots also had the highest phenolic composition and extraction by maceration, soxhlet, and ultrasonic bath methods had the most significant effect on the extraction of phenolic compounds, respectively.

In this research, nitrite was partially replaced with different concentrations of Berberis vulgaris and Rosmarinus officinalis (0, 30, 60, 90 mg/kg) extracts in the unfermented sausage. Samples were kept at refrigerator temperature and physicochemical and organoleptic evaluations of treatments were performed. The findings showed an increase in moisture and ash content and a decrease in fat and protein content, and IC50 by increasing the storage time. The highest level of antioxidant activity was reported for treatment with 90 mg/kg R. officinalis extract. As for sensory properties, 60 mg/kg treatment showed the highest sensory score after the control sample; however, 30 mg/kg treatment had the highest score in terms of consistency after the control sample. It can be concluded that 60 mg/kg R. officinalis extract has a better potential to improve the qualitative characteristics of unfermented sausage and it can be a proper substitute for decreasing the nitrite in sausage formulations.