Sheikh Nazrul Islam

The study was carried out to determine the womenempowerment,their role in household food security of the districts of Mymensingh division in Bangladesh. The study also emphasized to explore the influence of women empowerment status on household food security, food consumption pattern. A total of 200 women from four selected districts (Mymensingh, Sherpur,Netrokona,Jamalpur) were interviewed for the study.Most of the participants are of bangali (98%) ethnicity; and follower of Islam religion (95%). When the respondents were classified according to their occupation, most of them found to be housewives (77.3%). The study found an overall empowerment score of 42.61+13.31 (Mean+SD) in a range of 0-100. The study reveals that 41.8% of the households are severely food insecure, whereas 43.2% are moderately food insecure. It observed that, households with empowered women are more food secure than household with less empowered women (p=0.02). a positive relation was found for empowerment score with food consumption score (r=0.190). The study reveals empowerment of vulnerable women group is significantly associated with the food security and dietary consumption of the corresponding households. The study suggest further research to determine the cause-effect relationship of these factors, confounding factors that may influence the relationship and specific aspects of empowerment of women that effectively influence the food security, dietary consumption and nutrition profile at larger community

The study investigated the concentration of IgA, IgM and IgG in colostrum, transitional and mature milk and the effect of parity, age, BMI and family income on secreted immunoglobulin contents of human milk. Sequential samples of colostrum, transitional and mature milk were collected from 38 women. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assay was used to analyse the immunoglobulin concentrations. The study revealed that IgA was the dominant immunoglobulin and mean concentration in colostrum, transitional and mature milk was 5.92 ± 1.50 g/L, 3.85 ± 0.64 g/L and 3.72 ± 0.68 g/L, respectively. Both IgA and IgM levels of colostrum decreased significantly in both transitional (P = 0.000) and mature milk (P = 0.000), while the concentration of IgG rises significantly in them (colostrum vs. transitional milk, P = 0.000; and colostrum vs. mature milk P = 0.011). While maternal age, BMI and family income had no significant influence on the immunoglobulin levels at different stages of lactation, parity showed significant influence on IgG (P = 0.03) and IgM (P = 0.05) levels of transitional milk and IgA level of colostrum (P = 0.05). The findings suggest that immunoglobulin composition in breast milk is strongly associated with stage of lactation and is likely to be more susceptible to parity than BMI and socioeconomic characteristics.

Background: Polyphenolic compounds are known to provide health benefits and protect against degenerative chronic diseases. Utilization and identification of foods with a high content of these compounds are gaining greater attention nowadays. Objective: The present study reports the total phenolic content (TPC), polyphenolic composition and antioxidant activity (DPPH, FRAP and TEAC) of 10 commonly consumed leafy vegetables growing in Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: The samples were collected from different locations of Bangladesh and mixed together to ensure sample representativeness. Folin-Ciocalteu method was used for the analysis of TPC, and quantification of polyphenolic components was done by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC- DAD). Additionally, antioxidant activities of the selected vegetables were also analysed by utilizing DPPH, FRAP & TEAC. Results and Discussion: TPC ranged from 23.64 ± 1.20 to 45.59 ± 3.04 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g freeze-dried sample (fds). The polyphenolic spectrum ranged from 0.30 ± 0.02 to 647.42 ± 147.12 mg/100 g fds; quantity and spectrum of which varied in the vegetables. Among the studied vegetables, Centella asiatica contained the highest amount of TPC (45.59 ± 3.04 mg GAE/g fds) and also exhibited high antioxidant capacities, as documented by DPPH, FRAP and TEAC assays. Moreover, Principal component analysis (PCA) of investigated variables clearly separated Centella asiatica from other samples. Conclusion: Phenolic compounds being strong antioxidants reduce the risk of chronic diseases and the finding of this study would aware the people to take vegetables rich in phenolics. It would also fill up the data gap in the existing food composition table of Bangladesh.

Background: Phenolics and carotenoids are natural antioxidants, which provide health benefit and protect against degenerative chronic diseases. Utilization and identification of foods with high content of these received greater attention nowadays. Objective: The present study reports the total phenolics (TPC) and total carotenoids (TCC) contents of thirty-two selected unconventional vegetables growing in Bangladesh. In addition, they were also analyzed for their antioxidant potentials. Methods: Folin-Ciocalteu and acetone–petroleum ether extraction followed by spectrophotometric measurement were employed for TPC and TCC, respectively. The antioxidant capacities of the selected unconventional leafy vegetables were analyzed using DPPH and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays. Results: The results revealed that the TPC ranged from 82.41 mg GAE/100 g in Kiokro to 2711.05 mg GAE/100 g in Mrolapiong whereas the TCC values ranged from 43.05 µg/100 g in Fala to 12863.54 µg/100 g in Roktodrone. The study findings also revealed that the selected plant samples exhibited high antioxidant capacities. Mrolapiong demonstrated highest DPPH inhibition (91.31 %) and TEAC (485.55 μmol Trolox/g) value, than others. The antioxidant capacities were attributed to phenolic compounds as there exist a positive correlation between these two variables. Bioactive phytochemicals are widely distributed in these vegetables, although their amounts are varying among the different types of vegetables. Conclusion: The study results suggest that the vegetables analyzed may provide a possible source of dietary antioxidant and serve as material for functional foods. Therefore, their production and consumption must be encouraged in order to preserve biodiversity and prevent their extinction.