Date fruit is the ancient discovered and consumed fruit. Worldwide, Egypt is the largest producer of date. Besides its health benefits, many recent studies have proved its antioxidant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory effect. Currently, probiotic fermented fruit juices have a great attention especially for lactose intolerance patients. This study assessed the survival of two probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. sakei) in the date juice. Phenolics characterization was performed by HPLC. Anti-proliferative activity of fermented juice against Caco-2 and Hep-2 cell lines was also evaluated. Under cold storage, L. sakei was still live for 2 weeks at 1.8 x 10 7 CFU/mL. In contrast, L. acidophilus reduced from 5.2 x 10 6 CFU/mL to below the minimum value of probiotic products just after 1 week. L. sakie significantly multiplied the total phenols and antioxidant activity in the juice compared to the unfermented juice. Interestingly, probiotic date juice exhibited an antitumor activity against larynx cell lines (Hep-2) with no activity against Caco-2. Date juice was proved to be suitable for probiotic and as potential larynx anticancer juice. Therefore, the developed juice is recommended to contribute to the available probiotic foodstuffs.

Essential oils are widely used as botanical insecticides rather than chemically synthesized pesticides which led to catastrophic effects on humans, the environment, and eutrophication. Here, encapsulation of four essential oils Basilicum ocimum, Cuminum cyminum, Origanum marjorana, and Matricaria chamomilla were utilized in the presence of 3% v/v ethanol, as anti-insect against Aphis craccivora and compared to traditional insecticides dinotefuran and pymetrozine. Different tools were used to characterize the prepared nanoemulsion such as TEM, SEM, and Zeta potential analyzer. Besides, selected B. ocimum and C. cyminum were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass GC/mass spectrometry. The results reveal that nanoemulsion exhibited considerable toxic activities against laboratory and field strains of cowpea aphid. In the toxicity bioassay test of essential oils, moderate mortality was observed at 10,000 mg/L against aphid with lethal concentration that kills 50% of insects (LC50) values of basil 992 mg/L and marjoram 3162 mg/L. Else, nanoemulsion provided the highest mortality rate at 625 mg/L and the LC50 values of basil nanoemulsion (NE) 45 mg/L, and marjoram NE 188 mg/L in laboratory strains. The systemic effects of the tested substances acetylcholine esterase, alkaline phosphatase, β-esterases, glutathione S-transferase (GST), and mixed-function oxidase (MFO) enzymes on insects were found to be significantly decreased and increased when compared with control groups. Overall, these results highlight that the nanoemulsion is potential tools to control cowpea aphid and could be useful in developing integrated insect management in faba bean fields.

To produce a new probiotic-containing food product, potato chips, as the most preferred fast food, were chosen. Preferably, it should be preserved for a long period without oxidation. The presented study aimed to compare potato chips containing two lyophilized probiotic lactic acid bacteria (Bifidobacterium longum ATCC 15708 and Lactobacillus helveticus LH-B02) in order to retard lipid oxidation. Lyophilization of probiotics was carried out into two cryoprotective media—skim milk (SM) and gelatin/glycerol (GG) as lactose-free medium. Results revealed that GG and SM media were the most suitable for lyophilization of B. longum and L. helveticus, respectively. The lyophilized live cells were incorporated in potato chips, packed and their effect on oil oxidation was assessed. Results showed that the lyophilized B. longum in SM remained alive at 6.5 log CFU/g for 4 months at 30 °C. Interestingly, potato chip bags containing B. longum lyophilized in SM medium exhibited a decrease in peroxide value (PV) and acid value (AV) of the extracted oil by 40.13% and 25%, respectively, compared to the control bags. The created probiotic potato chips containing B. longum fulfill the criteria of the probiotic product besides the prime quality and sensory attributes.

No abstract

Globally, tea, coffee, soft and energy drinks are daily consumed as a source of caffeine. Energy drinks gained a great public and scientific issues, thus this study assessed the caffeine content in some caffeine-containing beverages. Given the increasing demand for newly formulated healthy drinks, the date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L. cv. Siwi) was used to develop a fruit-energy drink as an alternative for the energy drinks. Results displayed that the coffee addition even to 80 mg/250 mL, did not significantly altered the acidity of the final developed drink. It contained rapidly metabolized sugars of 27.86 g/250 mL without added sugar and was slightly neutral (pH = 6.04). The sensory assessment revealed that the added coffee (up to 320 mg/L) enhanced its aroma and taste but negatively affected the color. The high naturally occurring vitamins and minerals content and the gross energy; made this drink a super energy drink to fulfill the needs of athletes. Some of the tested local caffeine-containing beverages contained caffeine higher than those mentioned on the product label. On the other side, Turkish coffee brews contained 1.99-9.46 mg/g and the instant coffees had provided the highest ever caffeine (24.71 mg/g), such that their daily consumption should be alarmed.