BackgroundSaudi Arabia has passed through lifestyle changes toward unhealthy dietary patterns such as high fast food consumption. Adolescents and young adults, particularly girls, are the main groups exposed to and affected by these adverse eating behaviors.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the trends of fast food consumption among adolescent and young adult Saudi girls living in Riyadh, and to compare between them.DesignIn a cross-sectional survey, 127 adolescent Saudi girls (13–18 years) and 69 young adult Saudi girls (19–29 years) were randomly recruited to participate in this study. Weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference were measured using standardized methods. Twenty-four-hour diet recall and a face-to-face interview food questionnaire were performed.ResultsMost of the participants had adequate intake of protein, riboflavin, iron, and sodium, but exhibited low intake for several other nutrients. Among study participants, 95.4% consume restaurants’ fast food and 79.1% eat fast food at least once weekly. Burgers and carbonated soft drinks were the main kinds of fast food meals and beverages usually eaten by girls. Adolescent girls who usually ate large portion sizes of fast food had significantly higher mean waist circumference and hip circumference. Participants eat fast food primarily for enjoying the delicious taste, followed by convenience. Restaurants’ hygiene and safety standards were the main concern regarding fast food for 62.2% of girls. Finally, international restaurants were preferable by participants to buy fast food compared with local restaurants (70.9% vs. 29.1%).ConclusionOur findings provide evidence on the high prevalence of fast food consumption among Saudi girls, suggesting an urgent need for community-based nutrition interventions that consider the trends of fast food consumption and targeted eating behaviors of adolescent and young adult girls.

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The aim was to develop nutritious drinks using date nectar with the two most popular Saudi date cultivars (Khalas and Sukkari) and spirulina at different substitution rates. The date puree was prepared with different concentrations of pectin enzymes. The approximate composition, microbiological quality, sugars, vitamins, and minerals of date puree and spirulina, as well as the contaminants, physical properties, fatty acids, and phytopigments of spirulina were evaluated. Chemical composition and sensory properties of the developed date drinks were also assessed. The results showed that spirulina is safe, free from contaminants and heavy metals, and appeared to contain appreciable amounts of essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and phytopigments. The microbiological loads of date puree and spirulina were very low, and there were no pathogenic microbes were found. Spirulina contained higher amounts of total solids, ash, protein, minerals, fiber, fat, and vitamins, than date puree, indicating its suitability as a rich source of nutrients for food fortification. In both date types, treatment of puree with 400 ppm enzyme yielded nectar with higher scores in all sensory attributes, indicating that this is a suitable concentration to yield acceptable juice amounts. The substitution of date nectar with 10% spirulina gave the highest scores for sensory attributes; consequently, this concentration was used for the formulation of functional nectar from date nectar and spirulina. Incorporation of 10% spirulina in date nectars showed a significant increase in the contents of total solids, protein, essential amino acids, ash, fat, sugars, carotenoids, and chlorophyll in the date nectars, thereby improving its nutritional and health properties.

This study investigated the chemical composition (proximate composition, fatty acids, minerals, and phenolic compounds), antioxidant activity, and antimicrobial activity of galangal rhizomes. The rhizomes contain appreciable amounts of ash (5.38%), protein (5.86%), carbohydrate (81.13%), potassium (159.79 mg/kg), calcium (25.7 mg/kg), phosphorous (17.36 mg/kg), magnesium (15.57 mg/kg), iron (7.2 mg/kg) and manganese (3.82 mg/kg). Galangal rhizome oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids (91.8%), elaidic (67.82%), linoleic (22.56%), palmitic (5.18%), and stearic (2.26%) acids found as the main fatty acids in the oil. Galangal rhizome extract contains substantial amounts of total phenolic content (53.18 mg GAE/g), total flavonoid content (14.12 mg CE/g), gallic acid (160.04 mg/100 g), (+)-catechin (124.33 mg/100 g), quercetin (105.34 mg/100 g), catechol (100.18 mg/100 g), isorhamnetin (82.2 mg/100 g), trans-cinnamic acid (81.97 mg/100 g) and protocatechuic acid (71.46 mg/100 g). The extract of galangal rhizomes also possessed high antioxidant activity, as assessed by DPPH (77.76%), ABTS (8.66 mmol TE/g), and FRAP (3.99 mmol TE/g), as well as antimicrobial activity against ten Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. In conclusion, Galangal is a rich source of nutrients and phytochemicals and exhibits antioxidant and antimicrobial activities.

The large family of enzymes, known as polyphenols oxidases, includes laccase. Due to the inclusion of a copper atom in their catalytic core, laccases are frequently referred to as multi-copper oxidases. Laccases are versatile enzymes that can catalyze the oxidation of a wide range of phenolic and non-phenolic substances. In the current study, a local strain of Aspergillus niger was used for solid-state fermentation to produce fungal laccase, as well as purify and optimize laccase. The enzyme profile, which was acquired using guaiacol to measure enzyme activity, showed that after five days of incubation, wheat straw provided the highest level of laccase activity, or 2.551 U/mL. A technique called response surface methodology (RSM) was used to examine the effects of various conditions on the production of enzymes. The RSM results demonstrated that after five days of incubation, the enzyme activity was at its highest at 45 °C, pH 5.5, and 30% moisture level, inoculated with 2 mL mycelium. Through ammonium sulphate precipitation and dialysis, the enzyme was purified. Additionally, column chromatography was used to further purify laccase. The next step was enzyme characterization to evaluate how temperature and pH affected enzyme activity. At 45 °C and pH 5.5, the isolated enzyme produced its highest level of activity. The findings of the current study showed that A. niger is capable of producing laccase in an economical and environmentally friendly way. Due to its unique oxidative and catalytic features, this enzyme has received a lot of attention recently.