The strawberry has a very short postharvest life due to its fast softening and decomposition. The goal of this research is to see how well a starch-silver nanoparticle (St-AgNPs) coating affects the physical, chemical, and microbiological qualities of strawberries during postharvest life. Additionally, the effect of washing with running water on silver concentration in coated strawberry fruit was studied by an inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). Furthermore, the shelf-life period was calculated in relation to the temperature of storage. Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), UV-Visible, and Transmission Electron Microscopic (TEM) were used to investigate the structure of starch-silver materials, the size and shape of AgNPs, respectively. The AgNPs were spherical, with an average size range of 12.7 nm. The coated samples had the lowest weight loss, decay, and microbial counts as compared to the uncoated sample. They had higher total acidity and anthocyanin contents as well. The washing process led to the almost complete removal of silver particles by rates ranging from 98.86 to 99.10%. Finally, the coating maintained strawberry qualities and lengthened their shelf-life from 2 to 6 days at room storage and from 8 to 16 days in cold storage.

Nutritional supplements play a role in promoting human protein synthesis, fitness recovery, and mental health protection. Pollen is considered a natural food with excellent nutritional value. The use of bee-gathered pollen as a nutritional supplement is now widespread around the world, and it is appreciated for its healing qualities. However, depending on the floral species and the region of origin, pollen has a wide range of nutritional value. It was found that clover pollen had the highest protein content (31.4 g/100 g DM), while the lowest content was observed in maize pollen (21.3%). Eucalyptus pollen had the highest lipid amount (9.49 g/100 g DM), while clover pollen had the lowest content (7.46 g/100 g). Phytochemical analysis showed that eucalyptus pollen occupied the highest total antioxidant activity (67.02%), followed by clover (58.25%) then maize (52.18%), whereas clover pollen had the highest phenolic content (1165 mg GAE/100 gm), compared with the other pollen varieties (949.4 to 1073 mg-GAE/100 gm). The contents of branched-chain amino acids were 29, 33.3, and 38.4 mg/g for maize, eucalyptus, and clover respectively, representing 17.87, 18.44, and 16.53% of total amino acids. The contents of total essential amino acids (EAAs) were 61.8, 73.0, and 83.5 mg/g for maize, eucalyptus, and clover pollen, respectively. Only eucalyptus pollen ultimately met the minimum requirements of EAAs for adults. In contrast, the other two types of pollen contained at least 3-4 limiting amounts of the essential amino acids leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, and valine. In conclusion, pollen is a good, affordable source of nutrients that can be utilized as beneficial dietary supplements for human health.

Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) meat isn’t preferred by consumers in compared to other fish species meat, thus to enhance the use of catfish meat, ready to eat catfish fingers were prepared with some plants additives (amla and ginger powder). The mean objective of this study was to assess the impact of amla and ginger powder on catfish finger qualities in terms of physical, chemical, microbiological, and sensorial parameters under stored at a low temperature (5 ± 1 °C). The obtained results were compared with those of a control sample (basic formula) and a sample containing the synthetic antioxidant. During the storage period, the levels of pH, thiobarbituric acid, total volatile basic nitrogen, trimethylamine, total bacteria count, psychrophilic bacteria, molds and yeasts counts increased dramatically, although the values remained within acceptable ranges. The findings also revealed, that amla and ginger powder considerably (p < 0.05) reduced the changes in quality parameters, as well as there was a considerable increase in the quality parameter in all treated samples than in the control. Finally, amla and ginger powder can be a substitute for synthetic antioxidants and antimicrobials. These findings suggest that the powder of amla and ginger are suitable for use as a natural antioxidants and antimicrobials to extend the shelf-life of animal products.