Studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of aging on the physico‐chemical, thermal, cooking and textural properties of milled rice obtained from two rice cultivars (Basmati‐370 and Sharbati). The physicochemical properties like amylose content, liquification number decreased while the free fatty acid content increased with aging. Basmati‐370 milled rice had higher cooking time and elongation ratio which subsequently increased with aging in both the cultivars. Water uptake and gruel solids loss also decreased significantly with the aging of the milled rice from both the cultivars. Sharbati milled rice showed higher transition temperatures, enthalpy of gelatinization and peak height index than Basmati‐370 rice cultivar when determined by Differential Scanning Calorimeter. All these thermal parameters decreased with the aging of milled rice from both the cultivars. Textural properties such as packability, hardness, cohesiveness, extrudability and chewiness of cooked rice were measured using Instron Universal Testing Machine by back extrusion test. Basmati‐370 cooked rice had higher packability, hardness, cohesiveness, extrudability and chewiness value as compared to Sharbati cooked rice. The values for all textural parameters in both the cultivars increased during aging, however, the increases were greater in Basmati‐370 rice.

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Introduction: The mainstay of therapy for patients suffering from beta thalassemia major is regular blood transfusion and chelation therapy due to constraints in bone marrow transplantation. The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) in multitransfused patients of thalassemia major and to determine the association with relation to the number of blood transfusions received. Material and Methods: This study was conducted in Department of Microbiology on 126 β-thalassemia major patients registered for regular blood transfusions at Thalassemia Day Care Centre attached to Department of Pediatrics, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab from January to July 2018. The patient's serum samples were screened for TTIs i.e. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Seropositivity screening for HBV and HCV was done by rapid Immunochromatographic test and confirmed by enzymelinked immunosorbent assays. (ELISA) while for HIV as per NACO guidelines. Results: Out of 126 patients, 14.28% (18/126) were seroreactive for TTIs. Of these sero-reactive patients, 13.4% (17/126) were positive for anti-HCV antibody, 0.79% (1/126) positive for HBsAg and none (0) for anti HIV antibody. Of the anti-HCV reactive cases, 70.5% (12 out of 17) were >12years of age, 58.8% (10 out of 17) had received more than 250 transfusions, and 23.5% (4 out of 17) had received transfusions between 100 to 250. Anti-HCV seroreactivity was thus found to increase with the age and increase in the number of transfusions received. Conclusion: It is concluded that HCV is the most prevalent TTI in multi-transfused children with thalassemia major and stringent pre-transfusion screening of blood for anti-HCV must be introduced in blood centers. HBV vaccination should also be done before the start of transfusion regimen or as soon as possible after diagnosis of thalassemia.

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