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Scutellaria species have been used in traditional and local medicine systems for many centuries in various parts of the world. About 400 species of the Scutellaria genus have been reported so far, mostly from northern hemisphere. Traditional application of Scutellaria species has been in practice for the treatment of inflammation, infections, jaundice, high blood pressure, and tumors in China, Japan, Korea, India, Nepal, and among South and North American countries. Flavonoids wogonin, baicalein, and baicalin extracted from Scutellaria lateriflora have exhibited anti-tumor properties in biomedical studies. Medicinal plants with commercial value are usually associated with indiscriminate over-collection, adulteration, and conservation issues. Over-collection may lead to biomass adulteration and the study of micromorphology may aid as an important tool for the identification of adulterants. Trichome diversity and morphology, stomatal arrangement, presence/absence of cuticle, and palisade cell ratio are important tools to assist taxonomy and in identifying adulterants. Various microscopic techniques have been used to develop a micromorphological catalog and its utility in identifying S. lateriflora samples.

Keywords: Adulteration, Herbal medicine, Microscopy, Trichomes

The lipophilic and hydrophilic (LAA and HAA) antioxidant activities, lycopene, ?-carotene and color values of four tomato cultivars (Rupali, Himsona, NDT, 1897) at different ripening stages (green, breaker, turner and ripe) were determined and their correlation with ascorbic acid, total phenolic, flavonoid, lycopene and ?-carotene content were studied. The stages of ripening significantly influenced the ?-carotene, lycopene and antioxidant activity. Beta carotene content increased until breaker and turner stages, decreasing afterwards. In contrast amount of lycopene accumulated through the ripening stages. The LAA followed the same pattern as lycopene and has good correlation with FRAP assay. The HAA of studied tomato cultivars were also significantly influenced by ripening stages, at the red ripe stage cultivar Rupali showed the highest amount of lycopene whereas cultivar Himsona showed highest total phenol, flavonoid, reducing power and ascorbic acid content.

Keywords: Lycopene; ?-carotene; Antioxidant; Tomato.

Onion is one of the most important vegetables used not only for food flavoring but also has many medicinal benefits like wound healing, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties because it comprises many bioactive, antioxidant and phenolic but its preservation is challenge for food researchers. So to prevent price hikes and increase the shelf life of onion, preservation is very important step. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the sun, tray, vacuum, and freeze-drying treatment on the nutritional, functional, and sensory properties of onion powders. Nutritional, color, texture, rheological, and rehydration ratio of freeze-dried onion powder were better than other drying processes. Volatile compounds retain in lyophilized onion powder, however, may be readily lost during other drying processes. Based on the microstructure analysis of onion powder, the freeze-dried powder was found intact and porous cell. There was no leak of solute concentration. So, it can be concluded that among all drying the methods, freeze-drying is considered best method to preserve onions and was well accepted by the panel.

Keyword: onion, drying, phytonutrient, pungency, SEM

The present investigation aimed to study the efficacy of different post-harvest treatments and packaging materials on improving the quality and shelf-life of winter season guava fruits. The fruits were subject to various treatments such as dipping in distilled water for 5 minutes, hot distilled water @ 48°C for 2 minutes, 2 % hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 4 minutes, crude lemon grass oil @ 6 ml per carton, neem seed oil @ 90 %, 45 % and 22.5 %, packing untreated fruits in unperforated brown paper bag, perforated white polythene bag @ 100 gauge and 200 gauge. The untreated fruits were taken as control. The fruits were stored at ambient storage conditions for 12 days. Fruits were analysed for various physico-chemical characteristics, viz., PLW, decay percentage, shelf life, TSS, acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing, non-reducing and total sugars at an interval of 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 days. The results revealed that perforated white polythene bag of 200 gauge was the most effective in reducing weight loss and decay as compared to other treatments. Total soluble solids, reducing sugars, total sugars and ascorbic acid content were higher in fruits stored in perforated white polythene bag of 200 gauge and it was also effective in extending the shelf -life of guava fruits to 9.33 days. Thus, it can be concluded that perforated white polythene bag of 200 gauge can be recommended for extending storage period of guava fruits.

Keywords: neem seed oil, physiological loss in weight (PLW), shelf-life, storage, white perforated polythene bag

The aim of this research was to provide a non-dairy probiotic drink to attend people that cannot eat dairy products due to lactose intolerance, dietary preferences such as vegetarians, or certain other health issues. While looking for an alternative carrier for probiotics, the suitability of carrot juice and beetroot juice for the production of probiotic food with L. acidophillus, L. casei and Bifidum longum was investigated. Proximate composition of probiotic juice revealed 26% increase in protein content and reduction of 17% in level of carbohydrates as compared to that in the fresh carrot and beetroot juice. The CCRD, RSM and statistical analysis revealed the optimum pH and optimum fermentation temperature for probiotic carrot and beet root juice production, 6.5 and 37°C, respectively. During the study of growth kinetics and physicochemical properties, gradual change in pH (-28%), acidity (+67%), and sugar concentration (-17%) was observed indicating the significant growth of probiotics and production of lactic acid by them. Besides, sensory analysis of fresh and probiotic carrot beetroot juice revealed 20% elevation in the overall acceptability of probiotic carrot beetroot juice over fresh juice. The data obtained from this study provide new insights into projection of fermented carrot beetroot juice as an appropriate media for the growth of probiotics.

Keywords: Carrot juice; Beetroot juice; Probiotic; Acid tolerance; Bile tolerance; Optimization

Consumers demand for high quality foods that are fresh tasting and nutritious have created considerable interest in the development of new food-processing techniques. Developments in non-thermal technologies have been advanced by both industry and academia in an attempt to meet the challenge of producing safe processed food of a high quality. These techniques may be adopted for liquid products like coconut sap, tender coconut water and mature coconut water to achieve sterility with extended shelf life. A diverse range of other food products has also been prepared from coconut that satisfies the human nutritional and health requirements. Value added products developed from coconut includes Beverage, Yoghurt, Jam, Jelly, Chips, Spread, Milk, Spray dried coconut milk powder, Coconut cream, Copra, Neera, Coconut chutney, Dehydrated coconut chutney, Nata-de-coco, Vinegar, Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) and VCO meal based products, etc.

Keywords: Coconut, Value addition, Preservation, Processing, Shelf life.

Ladakh is the biggest apricot producer in India with a total production of 15,789 tonnes. The region produced approximately 1,999 tonnes of dried apricot, making it the largest producer of dried apricot in the country. The total area under apricot cultivation is 2,303 ha. Apricots of Ladakh are known for their quality. Historically, the premium quality dried apricots were one of the main trading commodities with neighboring countries. However, the bulk of the apricot produced is consumed locally and only a small quantity is sold outside the region in dried form. The native apricot genotypes of Ladakh possess unique and important characteristics, such as high TSS content, late and extended flowering and fruit maturity, and white seed stone phenotype, which offer opportunity for Ladakh to emerge on the world map for apricot production. However, as of today, the popularity of Ladakhi apricots remains restricted to the region due to limited production, incidence of codling moth (Cydia pomonella) and lack of organized marketing system. Critical areas that need focused attention include promotion of premium quality cultivars especially Halman and Raktsey Karpo, plantation in orchard system, adoption of standard cultural practices, conservation of the rich genetic resource, organic certification, adoption of integrated post-harvest management, management of insect-pests, and establishment of marketing infrastructure.

Keywords: fruit; high altitude; Kargil; Leh; organic

Present study hypothesized that washing of button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) with aqueous solution of H2O2 retains their postharvest quality in terms of weight loss, maturity, color, flavor, taste, disease incidence and overall acceptability during storage. To test this hypothesis, fresh button mushrooms were washed with aqueous solution of H2O2 at different concentrations (3, 4 and 5%) for 2 minutes and stored under two temperature conditions namely; low (5°C) and room temperature (25-35°C). Results evidenced that washing treatments with different concentrations of H2O2 were found effective in retaining the quality of stored button mushrooms for extended period (4-14 days) when compared with unwashed button mushrooms (3 days). With the advancement in storage period, significant increase in weight loss, maturity index and microbial growth of button mushrooms was observed. Among all the treatments, washing with 5% H2O2 followed by storage at 5°C temperature was found to be the most effective in controlling the weight loss, maturity index, microbial growth and overall quality of button mushrooms for up to a period of 14 days.

Keywords: Button mushroom, hydrogen peroxide, washing treatments, storage, shelf-life