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Kuini (Mangifera odorata) is known for its intense flavour, attractive colour, rich fibre content and antioxidant properties. However, its short shelf life (bruise within a week) limits the availability of this fruit. Hence, spray drying was proposed to transform this fruit into powder to increase its application. The maltodextrin concentration of 5–20% (w/w) and inlet temperatures of 140–180°C were applied to produce kuini powders. The effect of maltodextrin concentrations at constant inlet temperature (160°C) showed that a higher amount of maltodextrin (20% w/w) produced powder with a low water activity (0.16 ± 0.01 Aw), moisture content (2.16 ± 0.60%) and hygroscopicity (20.45 ± 0.60 g/100g) but the orange colour of the powder turned pale. The kuini powder was further spray dried at different inlet temperatures at constant optimal maltodextrin concentration (20% w/w). The kuini powder that was spray dried at 160°C had the optimal properties: low water activity (0.17 ± 0.01 Aw) and hygroscopicity (22.12 ± 0.09 g/100g) with high water solubility index, WSI (79.90 ± 1.85%) and wettability (279 ± 8 s), indicating the powder can be applied as a food ingredient with high solubility. The optimal spray-drying condition for the production of kuini powder was 20% (w/w) maltodextrin concentration at 160°C inlet temperature to have the highest yield of 43.08 ± 2.77%. Eventhough the reconstituted kuini powder had lower viscosity, colour and β-carotene content than kuini juice, this study showed the feasibility of production of kuini powder using spray drying operation which may broaden its application in the food industry.

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12 (BB-12) was microencapsulated using co-extrusion technology with chitosan coating and the incorporation of mannitol as prebiotic. Optimization of coating material chitosan concentration (0–0.5% w/v) and mannitol concentration (0–5% w/v) as prebiotic were performed to determine the formulation that produces beads with desired properties. The microencapsulation efficiency (MEE) of free and microencapsulated BB-12 (with and without mannitol) were determined. All forms of BB-12 further subjected to sequential digestion in simulated gastric juice (SGJ, pH 2.0) for 2 hours and simulated intestinal juice (SIJ, pH 7.5) for 3 hours. The results indicated that 0.4% (w/v) of chitosan coating and 3% (w/v) of mannitol were the optimum concentrations to produce microencapsulated BB-12 with the highest MEE of 89.15% and the average bead size of 805 µm. The BB-12 beads produced through co-extrusion were spherical with a smooth surface. Throughout the five hours sequential gastrointestinal digestion, both microencapsulated BB-12 with and without mannitol were able to maintain their viable cell count at least 106 CFU/g at the end of the incubation. The presence of prebiotic mannitol showed a significant protective effect on the microencapsulated BB-12 during gastrointestinal transit.

This study was carried out to compare the antioxidant and nutritional properties of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) sap with other natural sources of sugar such as sugar palm (Borassus flabellifer) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). Coconut sap and juice from sugar palm and sugarcane were analyzed for proximate composition, pH and total soluble solid (TSS), color, sugar profile, vitamin profile, antioxidant properties (total phenolic contents, DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS), and mineral content. The results indicated that coconut sap possesses high DPPH (23.42%), FRAP (2.09 mM/ml), and ABTS (21.85%) compared with the juices. Coconut sap also had high vitamin C (116.19 µg/ml) and ash (0.27%) contents, especially in potassium (960.87 mg/L) and sodium (183.21 mg/L) which also indicating high content of minerals. These properties showed that coconut sap could be served as a potential healthier sugar source compared with sugar palm and sugarcane juices., Coconut sap could be served as a potential healthier sugar source compared with sugar palm and sugarcane juices as it carries more minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins.

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) sugar is a more nutritious alternative sugar source as compared to sugar palm (Borassus flabellifer) and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.). This work was aimed to investigate the browning index (BI), vitamin profile and antioxidant properties of coconut sap sugar syrups, which were produced by different processing methods: rotary evaporation (RE), microwave evaporation (ME) and open-heat evaporation (OHE). The results obtained showed that coconut sugar syrup produced by RE-60 contained high antioxidant activities [DPPH (36.71%) and ABTS (34.84%), TPC (299.87 mg per 100 g sample) and FRAP (3.74 mm)]. These values were slightly lower than those of ME and OHE. Coconut sugar syrup (RE-60) also contained higher amounts of vitamin C (1587.27 mg L−1), vitamin B1 (97.44 mg L−1) and vitamin B3 (19.84 mg L−1) compared with those of ME and OHE coconut sugar syrups. RE-60 was the best method to produce coconut sugar syrup in a shorter time with lower browning index and higher vitamin contents.

Both SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV initially appeared in China and spread to other parts of the world. SARS-CoV-2 has generated a COVID-19 pandemic causing more than 6 million human deaths worldwide while the SARS outbreak quickly ended in six months with a global total of 774 reported deaths. One of the factors contributing to this stunning difference in the outcome between these two outbreaks is the inaccuracy of the RT-qPCR tests for SARS-CoV-2, which generated a large number of false-negative and false-positive test results that have misled patient management and public health policy-makers. This article presented Sanger sequencing evidence to show that the RT-PCR diagnostic protocol established in 2003 for SARS-CoV can in fact detect SARS-CoV-2 accurately due to the well-known nonspecific PCR amplification of DNAs with similar sequences. Using nested RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing to retest 50 patient samples collected in January, 2022 and sold as RT-qPCR positive reference confirmed 21 (42%) were false-positive. Although the other 29 positive isolates were categorized as Omicron variant by partial sequencing of the N gene, and the RBD and the NTD of the S gene, 9 (31%) showed focal to complete sequencing failure in the S gene segments due to multi-allelic SNPs. During the course of the study, an Omicron variant isolate containing a BA.1 NTD and a BA.2 RBD in its S gene was also detected. Routine partial S gene sequencing of all PCR-positive samples can timely discover multi-allelic SNPs and viral recombination in the circulating variants for investigation of their impacts on vaccine efficacies, therapeutics and diagnostics.

Bintangor oranges are a mandarin species that is abundant in vitamin C and beta-carotene. However, due to its short shelf life, the fresh fruit can be converted into powder form, which is comparatively more stable.This study compares the effects of spray drying, freeze drying, drum drying, vacuum oven drying, and convection oven drying on the physicochemical properties of Bintangor orange powder, including vitamin C and total carotenoid content. The physicochemical properties analyzed for the powders were color analysis, moisture content, water activity, hygroscopicity, degree of caking, wettability, flowability, water solubility index, and bulk density.Our results showed that freeze dried and convection oven dried powders retained their color so that the powder was the same as the original puree. All powders used in this showed an acceptable moisture content level, with a range of 2.11ndash;2.31%. Spray dried and drum dried powders had the lowest value of moisture content and water activity. Moreover, spray dried powders showed the lowest value in hygroscopicity and bulk density and took the shortest time to wet the powder. The highest solubility and flowability properties were 12.99%, 0.39 g/mL, 18.39 s, 96.08%, and 19.17deg;, respectively. However, the freeze drying method retained the highest value for both nutritional pigments of vitamin C and total carotenoid content, 18.31 mg/g and 91.32mu;g/g, respectively.Freeze drying is the most suitable drying method with favorable powder properties compared to spray drying, drum drying, vacuum oven drying and convection oven drying.

lsquo;Kedondongrsquo; fruit is regarded as an exotic fruit that is gaining popularity due to its deliciousness and pleasant flavour. However, this fruit has a short shelf life, leading to problems with postharvest loss. In order to prevent losses, the fruit could be produced as a value-added product. In this study, thelsquo;kedondongrsquo; fruit was preserved by drying into powder using different drying methods.The kedondong powder was dried using five methods: convection oven drying, vacuum drying, spray drying, drum drying and freeze drying. The physical properties, flowability and DPPH radical scavenging ability of dried kedondong powder were examined.Spray-dried powder provided the significantly (ple; 0.05) highest process yield, which was 54.93%. All the powder produced had a low moisture content (3.03 to 5.66%) and water activity (0.19ndash;0.37). Visually, whitish and fine powders were observed on spray-dried and freeze-dried samples, while convection oven-dried and vacuum-dried powder appeared yellowish and coarse. The pH of the reconstituted powders varied from 2.71 to 2.83, where drum-dried powder was the most acidic. Spray-dried powder showed the highest wettability and shortest dissolution time, which was 172.65 s and 10.55 s, respectively. With the exception of drum-dried powder, all the dried powders were classified as non-caking powders. The bulk and tapped density of the powders ranged from 0.32 to 0.70 g/mL and 0.38 to 0.86 g/mL, respectively. Vacuum-dried powder had very good flowability, convection oven-dried and drum-dried powder had good flowability, while spray-dried and drum-dried powder had fair flowability. Antioxidant assay showed that freeze-dried powder exhibited the highest free radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 701.29mu;g/mL).This study indicates that spray-dried kedondong powder has great potential in the food industry due to its high process yield and better powder quality. Meanwhile, freeze drying best preserved the antioxidant properties of the powder, which could potentially be used as a functional ingredient as a result. This study is important for the fruit processing industry as it offers an alternative for the farmer to produce kedondong fruit powder because the fruit has a short shelf life. Converting the fruit into powder can diversify the resulting produce into different applications, such as fruit juice, beverages, jam and other food products.