Nutrition & Food Technology Research
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Jan-Mar 2023

Malnutrition and other dietary-related complications are likely to increase in young people due to the worsening effects of COVID-19 control measures on food security. Adolescent girls are vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies due to menarche and other physiological developments. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the household food insecurity and nutritional status of adolescent girls in Ikwuano districts, Nigeria, Post COVID-19.

A cross-sectional study was carried out in 388 households having at least one female adolescent. Household food insecurity was assessed using interviewer-administered household food insecurity access scale. Anthropometric measurements were collected using standard procedures. Body mass index for age was considered in assessing nutritional status of the adolescent girls. Associations between the household food insecurity access scale and anthropometric measures of the nutritional status were investigated.

Results indicated that more than half of the households (77.06%) experienced degrees of food insecurity (e.g. mild, 26.80%; moderate, 36.59% and severe, 13.66%). Underweight within the adolescent girls was 21.65%, whereas overweight and obesity were 15.96 and 10.05%, respectively. Although no strong associations (R = 0.053, p = 0.459) were recorded between the household food insecurity access scale and all the anthropometric measurements, most malnourished female adolescents (60.7%) where from moderately and severely food insecure households.

Increased food insecurity and emerging cases of nutritional abnormalities in this study could be true reflections of COVID-19 effects on food security. This study recommends to formulate appropriate intervention programs to improve food security and nutrition status of adolescent girls in the study area.

The aim of this study was to assess protection mechanisms against Escherichia coli by analyzing aggregation, adherence, antagonistic activity and safety characteristics of potentially probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus B103.

Potentially probiotic L. acidophilus B103 has been investigated in various aspects. Studied key characteristics included its pH and bile resistance, cell surface hydrophobicity and aggregation, cholesterol removal ability, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and adhesion ability to Caco-2 cell monolayers. Antagonistic activity of the strain was assessed by adhesion competition on E. coli via competition, inhibition and replacement assays. Moreover, safety characteristics were investigated through DNase, hemolytic activity, biogenic amine production and antibiotic susceptibility assays.

L. acidophilus B103 included high stability to acidic pH (2.5 and 4.5), simulated gastric and intestinal juices and bile salt concentrations (up to 5% w/v). Moreover, L. acidophilus B103 showed relatively high hydrophobicity (51.79%), auto-aggregation (42.38%), co-aggregation (34.48%), cholesterol removal (46.27%) and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities (51.36%). Competition, replacement and inhibition anti-adhesion assays of the strain against E. coli were 52.13, 25.20 and 46.40%, respectively. Furthermore, L. acidophilus B103 adhered to simulated epithelial cells with a capacity of 11.85%. Neither DNase nor hemolytic activity was observed in the bacterial strain and the strain was highly sensitive to ciprofloxacin.

Based on the results, safety assessments and its food origin, L. acidophilus B103 demonstrates potential for use in the food industry. It can serve as starter culture, co-culture and bio-protective agent, effectively enhancing safety and quality of the food products.

Effects of edible coatings, including sodium alginate (Alg), pullulan (Pul) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with bitter orange peel extract (BOE), on the chemical, microbial and texture qualities of chicken fillets during storage in refrigerator was investigated.

Samples treated with biopolymer coatings with BOE included significantly lower free fatty acids, peroxide value, total volatile basic nitrogen content and microbial count during cold storage, compared to fillets treated with pure BOE, biopolymer composites (no BOE) and controls.

Effectiveness of the coatings on bacterial population was as follows Alg/Pul/BOE > Pul/CMC/BOE > Alg/CMC/BOE > BOE > Alg/Pul > Alg/CMC > Pul/CMC > control. Coating fillet samples with pure BEO showed greater inhibitory activities against microbial spoilage, compared with composite coatings with no extracts.

Treatment efficiency as of antimicrobial agents and maintenance of physicochemical characteristics were as follows Alg/Pul/BOE > Pul/CMC/BOE > Alg/CMC/BOE. Based on the current findings, these composite coatings can be promising options to improve the quality of fresh foods during shelf-life.

The term "probiotic," which is relatively novel and means "for life," is typically used to refer to bacteria that include positive effects on humans and animals. In this study, probiotic characteristics of Limosilactobacillus fermentum IMAU70160, isolated from local yogurt were investigated.

In this study, molecular identification of a strain isolated from local yogurt was carried out by 16S rRNA gene analysis using 27FYM and 1492R universal primers. Probiotic potential of L. fermentum IMAU70160 was carried out.

Strain was resistant to low pH, bile salts and simulated gastrointestinal conditions. The strain cell surface hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation, co-aggregation, adhesion capacity, anti-adhesion effect, antioxidant activity and cholesterol removal ability were 44.49, 33.29, 20.11, 10.30, 19.16–42.40, 48.40 and 43.20%, respectively. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the most sensitive and the most resistant bacterial species to cell-free supernatant (CFS) of L. fermentum IMAU70160, respectively. The two aCFS and nCFS were capable of inhibiting growth of pathogens. In general, aCFS included a greater antimicrobial activity than that nCFS did. Similar results were observed in the modified double-layer method. It showed no hemolytic or DNase activity and was unable to generate biogenic amines. The strain was greatly sensitive to imipenem (22.10 mm), chloramphenicol (22.80 mm), nitrofurantoin (24.50 mm) and ciprofloxacin (28.20 mm) with inhibition zones.

Further studies are needed to verify biological and functional characteristics of L. fermentum IMAU70160-loaded food products.

World health organization has identified unhealthy eating behaviors as one of the modifiable behavioral risk factors. Since sugar, salt, saturated and total fats, and trans-fatty acids are consumed much more than recommended, substantial decreases in these components as dietary risk factors are urgently needed. The study reviewed evidence on possible dietary risk decrease strategies to describe prevention programs.

In this study, SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge (ISI), EMBASE, PubMed, Google/Google Scholar, ProQuest, and Cochrane databases were searched from inception through 16 November 2022 to find policies that decreased consumption of dietary risk factors. Two researchers independently screened, appraised, and extracted the retrieved papers. Due to heterogeneity, only descriptive analyses were carried out.

Four studies were included in the review. Three studies focused on decreasing sodium/salt and one on decreasing trans-fatty acids in industrial foods. Studies used various indicators and methods to indicate their achievements. The overall results based on the selected indicators demonstrated the projects' relative success in decreasing risk factors of foods.

Despite achievements in decreasing dietary risk factors in industrial foods, there is still a long way to go. Since various indicators show various aspects of the achievements, sufficient considerations in preparing sensitive and specific indicators are warranted.