No abstract

The present study was aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of spirulina supplement and selected yogasanas on quality of life of children with HIV infection. Two hundred children with HIV infection aged between 5 and 18 years belong to both sexes participated in the study hundred children were chosen for both experimental and control groups. Commercially available and ISO certified spirulina food supplement was used in the study. Selected yogasnas such as tadasana (standing pose), trikonasana (triangle pose), padmasana (lotus pose), vajrasana, yogamudra and shavasana (corpse pose) were practiced by the participants under supervision of experts. The domains of quality of life scores also showed a significant change in all comparisons of pretest and posttests of experimental group with the control group and between the experimental and control group of both parent reported scores and self reported scores except the self reported psychosocial summary scores in post test II. The interventions that the spirulina supplement and selected yogasanas would have had a significant impact on the physiological parameters and the quality of life of children with HIV infection/AIDS.

Iron deficiency anemia is a widespread nutritional problem. Children are particularly vulnerable due to poor maternal iron status and inadequate diet. Since iron plays a vital role in neurological development, its deficiency in early life can lead to altered cognition and motor development. Severe iron deficiency during infancy can affect the major processes such as myelination, development of neurotransmitter pathways, neural metabolism and neural plasticity. The present review intends to provide information on the various effects of iron deficiency during different stages of life cycle. Clinical trials conducted on both humans and animals have established that infants who suffer iron deficiency during the early years of life are known to be under risk for experiencing the long lasting effect of early iron deficiency in future years also. Follow-up studies conducted on infants showed that the anemic children continued to exhibit lower cognitive development compared to their non-anemic counterparts and also had difficulty in the development of motor control tasks. Hence, there is a need to identify and correct iron deficiency anemia during the early years of life to prevent possible future complications.

Barnyard millet is one of the hardest millet. The grains can be used as food and can be cooked similar to rice. The carbohydrate content is low and slowly digestible. This property makes the barnyard millet a natural designer food. The objective of the present investigation was to develop barnyard millet based products and to determine their nutrient composition. A total of seven products using barnyard millet, viz., fruit cake, paddu, instant dosa, puliyogare, gulab jamun, nutri bar and maddurvada were developed. Three of the above products were analysed for nutritional composition, while for remaining the nutritional value was computed for developing a nutrient database. All the prepared products were subjected to sensory analysis by 30 untrained panel members for evaluating the acceptability. Sensory analysis of all millet incorporated products showed that they were acceptable in comparison to control products prepared with traditional cereals. Nutritional composition of millet-based products was similar to control products for macronutrients and showed a higher content of micronutrients. Maddurvada was a baked product with a lesser fat content than the commercial fried product. Puliyogare prepared using only millet was found to be highly acceptable and was nutritionally superior. The sensory parameter of instant dosa prepared with millet was also acceptable. The study showed that preparation of various traditional products using barnyard millet did not affect the sensory parameters; hence, its use can be promoted for health benefits.

The present study was designed to investigate the flavor potentiating effect of an additive, Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG) for an Indian fried product namely ‘<em>Poori</em>’ prepared with spices. Poories were prepared with three levels of MSG, 50, 75 and 100mg/100g of flour. Four spices namely, chili, omum, pepper and cumin were used for addition to poories either singly or in combination. All products were evaluated for sensory acceptability by 40 semi-trained panel using scoring and free choice profiling. Data were analyzed using suitable statistical tests. Results indicated that MSG improved the acceptability of basic product. Spice added products also received high scores demonstrating the flavor enhancing effect of MSG. The scores were significantly higher for products with mixture of spices indicating synergism between spices and MSG. In conclusion, MSG can be used to improve the flavor profile of poories.