A tri-enzyme digestion procedure using chicken pancreas conjugase, a-amylase, and Pronase® was evaluated to determine Its usefulness In the microbiological quantitation of total folate In foods. Folate values obtained by traditional conjugase digestion were compared to those obtained by the tri-enzyme method for 12 food products that represent diverse matrixes. The tri-enzyme treatment Increased measurable folate from most foods when compared to levels found after conjugase digestion. Largest Increases were noted for tuna fish (51%) and yogurt (33%) after tri-enzyme digestion. For the 12 foods, a mean increase of 19% In measurable folate was obtained with tri-enzyme treatment. The study shows that traditional conjugase treatment does not completely free folate from complex food matrixes before microbiological analysis. Further, as other Investigations have suggested, current accepted methods for folate analysis may be underestimating folate levels In foods

Fish skin is a byproduct part and can be converted into value added product like gelatin. The objective of this research was to produce gelatin from two freshwater fish skins i.e. Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and determine the physicochemical characteristics of the obtained gelatin. The physicochemical properties, free amino acids, protein content, pH, viscosity, colour, melting point, clarity, water holing capacity (WHC) and fat binding capacity (FBC), were studied and compared to the commercial bovine gelatin. Nile perch gelatin presented (87.24%) protein content which was resembles to bovine gelatin (88.18%). The viscosity (6.02 cP) of Nile tilapia extracted gelatin was also comparable to the bovine gelatin (6.77 cp). Results showed that the lightness of Nile tilapia gelatin (37.07) was greater than that of bovine gelatin (31.75). Regarding to the WHC, of Nile perch gelatin was higher by 3-fold (687.97%) than bovine gelatin (225.17%). While the Nile tilapia presented 1.4-fold (637.18%) higher than that found in bovine gelatin. Based on obtained results, it could be recomended that fish gelatin could be considered an excellent alternative to mammalian gelatin because of its functional properties similarity with commercial bovine gelatin.

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An Ion pairing reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method developed for multivitamin supplements and premlxes was applied to the simultaneous determination of thiamine, riboflavin, and pyridoxine In perchloric acid extracts of milkand soy-based Infant formulas. The method uses m-hydroxy benzoic acid as Internal standard and a mobile phase consisting of water, acetonltrile, hexanesulfonlc acid sodium salt, and ammonium hydroxide solution, adjusted to pH 3.6 with phosphoric acid. The column Is a 15 cm x 3.9 mm id Nova Pak C18. Limits of detection were 0.15 μg/mL for thiamine and 0.09 μg/mL for riboflavin by UV detection at 254 nm, and 0.010 μg/mL for pyridoxine by fluorescence detection. Mean percent recoveries based on triplicate determinations were 102 ± 1.8,102 ± 3.3, and 101 ± 3.1 for thiamine, riboflavin, and pyridoxine, respectively. The results compared favorably with the AOAC methods for thiamine, riboflavin, and pyridoxine.

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