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In the current research the functional and value added macaroni was prepared with fortification of lentil, millet, and white rice flour as ingredients with wheat semolina. The proximate composition, physico-chemical analysis such as phenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of the raw materials were investigated. The cooking quality, color, and sensory properties of different macaroni blends were also estimated. The results showed that the lentil had significant (p < 0.05) higher amounts of nutritional compositions such as crude protein (25.38%) and crude fiber (12.47%). The maximum carbohydrate content (91.47%) was found in rice followed by durum wheat semolina (81.83%) respectively. The significantly (p < 0.05) higher phenolic content (12.51 mg/g), flavonoid content (10.32 mg/g), and antioxidant activity such as ABTS (6.59 Mmol TEACg−1), DPPH (4.69 Mmol TEACg−1) and FRAP (8.62 Mmol TEACg−1) were recorded in millets followed by lentil. The solubility decreased steadily from 3.25% in a blend (5) to 1.52% in control semolina flour. The swelling powder of macaroni was decreased with increasing proportion of lentils. The optimal cooking time was also increased with increasing proportion of lentils. The cooking time range was 5.28 min (control) to 7.12 min (blend 5). Therefore, it could be recommended that the use of a small amount of lentils at 10% and 20% are potential to obtaining macaroni with high consumer acceptability. Moreover, the macaroni blends from lentils at 30% blend (4) had medium acceptability.

This study focused on the quality, chemical composition, microbiological population, and sensory assessments of stored mackerel fish products such as bouillon and sauce during the cold storage (4 °C) condition throughout the 12 month of storage period. The fish contains appreciable amounts of moisture content (71.33 g/100 g), protein content (22.55 g/100 g) and fat content (4.60 g/100 g), whereas the ash content and carbohydrate was recorded 1.23 g/100 g, and 0.29 g/100 g respectively. The results of the present study showed that the proximate chemical compositions of storage of both products generally increased at the end of the storage period to reach 10.05 g/100 g for protein content, 61.29 g/100 g for carbohydrate, and 17.01 g/100 g for ash content in stock powder. Besides, the sauce has detected an increase in protein content (4.05 g/100 g), fat content (21.12 g/100 g), ash content (3.41 g/100 g) and carbohydrate (15.09 g/100 g) respectively. The counts of Fecal coliform bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus were less than 10 indicating the good hygienic quality of the developed products. The total aerobic plate counts were significantly (p < 0005) higher in mackerel fish sauce (3.0×102 CFU/g) compared to stock powder (1.5×102 CFU/g). Yeast counts were found higher in mackerel sauce (1.9×102 CFU/g) compared to mackerel stock powder (1.2×102 CFU/g) at the end of storage period. The sensory score was slightly reduced after the storage period. In mackerel fish sauce, the long storage period had adversely affected the appearance (8.25), color (8.75) and odor (8.45) of the product, whereas, it enhanced the taste 9.00, and did not affect the texture (8.75) and overall acceptability (8.70). Overall, scores of all sensory attributes of both products were high indicating the acceptability of these products by panellists. The date showed the benefits mackerel fish products and their availability after storage for 12 months.

The impact of boron’s pre-harvest treatments on the quality of early grapes cultivars “Perlette” and “King’s Ruby” under room and storage temperatures were explored. The vines were exhibited to foliar applications with 0, 0.20, 0.30, and 0.40% boron at 15 d break after spraying fruit till maturity. Foliage studies for photosynthesis activity, pre- and post-harvest, and overall analysis of fruits were performed each 7d intervals for 4 wk. A 0.30% boron enhanced the vines’ physicochemical properties of the photosynthesis activity. Meanwhile, boron was used to improve ascorbic acid, which improved the postharvest properties of grapevine while decreasing the repulsive phenolic content. Grape cv. “Perlette” and “King’s Ruby” delivered 31.12 and 33.65 percent more than the control, respectively, at 0.30 percent of boron. TSS were about 8.9 and 13.7% in cvs at the same period. ‘Perlette’ and Kings Ruby, compared with the untreated treatment. Grapes treated with 0.30% yielded (18.08 and 32.18%) and (27.25 and 18.65%) higher overall phenolic content and antioxidants in cvs. ‘Perlette and’ King’s Ruby’ respectively. After 28 days, 0.30 percent of the foliar treatment loses 56.06 and 49.88 percent of the sugar in the grapes, respectively. Grapes from ‘Perlette’ and ‘King’s Ruby,’ individually. Thus, in comparable semi-arid regions, the use of boron foliar treatment might be advised for increasing the postharvest life of grapes.

Some countries are experiencing an absolute shortage of maize production and supplies for domestic consumption, affecting the country’s overall food security situation. As a result, the government relies heavily on corn imports to compensate for the shortage of domestic supplies. This study was designed to assess current and future corn food security, the impact of agricultural price policies on corn consumers and producers, and the welfare impact of government interventions. We used secondary data on corn production, consumption and other related variables from 2000 to 2017. We applied a simulation model using Vensim software to predict the results for the next decade. In addition, an almost ideal demand model (AID) was used to assess various price elasticity across the international markets. To estimate the impact of government intervention (as opposed to nonintervention) on welfare gains, we used a partial equilibrium model. The results show that by 2030, Egypt’s dependence on maize imports will increase by 61.97%. Although domestic maize production and productivity are expected to increase in the future, maize food security will decline due to the high population growth in the country. The results of AID model show that the demand for corn in the Egyptian market is elastic. In addition, approximately 56% of corn imports come from Argentina, Brazil and the United States. The results of the partial equilibrium model show that the government has been imposing implicit taxes on corn producers and that they will be better off without government intervention. In addition, domestic corn production has a comparative advantage over imported corn. With government intervention, consumer surplus and producer losses and net economic losses are higher. These results indicate that the government should strive to increase domestic corn production while keeping intervention in the corn market to a minimum.