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Spirulina evaluated as a source of vitamin B12 through the modulation of vitamin B12 deficiency mediated physiological and biochemical changes in experimental animals. The B12 deficient male weanling Wistar rats were fed with Spirulina‐supplemented diet for 10 weeks. An increase in urinary methylmalonic acid (22.70 ± 4.08 µmol/moles of creatinine) and plasma homocysteine (16.55 ± 0.48 µmol/L) levels in the B12 deficient group was observed, while these were equal to control in the Spirulina fed group (8.71 ± 0.48 µmol/mol of creatinine and 6.88 ± 1.18 µmol/L, respectively). The vitamin B12 levels in serum (874.27 ± 89.69), plasma (615.53 ± 26.5 pg/ml), kidney (10.19 ± 1.066 ng/g), and liver tissues (6.37 ± 0.62 ng/g) in the Spirulina fed group were similar to control. Severe atrophic changes in the testes and altered tissue architecture in lung and spleen as seen in the B12 deficient group were normalized in the Spirulina fed group. The study validates that Spirulina can improve the vitamin B12 status. Practical applications The present study showed that the supplementation of Spirulina in the diet of vitamin B12 deficient rats leads to the normalization of vitamin B12 deficiency‐induced circulatory and functional biomarkers along with biochemical and histological changes. Vegetarian sources for vitamin B12 are limited and the results presented here provide scientific validation for the use of Spirulina as a potential vegetarian source of bioavailable vitamin B12.

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Certain variety of plants such as vegetables, spices and seaweed are abundantly being grown in high altitude area of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Therefore, four different vegetables, spices and seaweed were taken from that particular cold region viz., finger millet, nori seaweed, pepper corn, bean along with edible higher fungi, mushroom have been selected based on the higher consumption of people of Northeast India for the proximate analysis, mineral, antioxidant and its potentials and vitamin contents. The nutritional studies conducted on the plant foods and fungi, mushroom in Northeast is spares with very few reports are available. For this reason, this study was undertaken to determine the macro and micro nutrients and antioxidant potential of these plant foods. Common bean showed higher percentage of protein with 35.09 per cent and fat percentage of the finger millet is higher (9.20 %) as compared to other varieties from other regions (1-1.5 %). Higher crude fibre was assessed in mushroom with 47.77 per cent followed with pepper corn (38.42 %), bean with 30.98 per cent, and finger millet (5.14 %). Calcium was higher in finger millet with 225.0 mg per 100g whereas iron content was higher in mushroom with 652.0 mg followed with beans (543.0 mg), pepper corn (408.0 mg per 100 g). Higher amount of polyphenols observed in finger millet with 8.71 µg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/mg and highest total flavonoids in pepper corn with 48.19 µg rutin (RU) equivalent per gram of dried extract. Likewise, highest FRAP in finger millet noticed with 72.0 µg of FeSO4 equivalent/mg and reducing power (ascorbic acid equivalent/mg) in mushroom (244.0) and pepper corn (242.0). All samples had higher metal chelating activity at IC 50 between 86.65-83.38. Similarly, higher amount of vit B 6 was noted in pepper corn with 197.0 mg while lowest in seaweed with 1.76 mg/100gm, respectively.