A. K. Beena

Cow’s milk allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction to bovine milk proteins and is immune-related. β-lactoglobulin, the primary allergenic protein found in milk, is a whey protein with a higher biological value than casein. The study aimed to develop a hypoallergenic fortified supplement, with hydrolysed whey proteins as a channel for iron fortification. A degree of hydrolysis (DH) of upto five per cent was selected for better functional properties. The allergenicity of eleven treatments including protein hydrolysates, iron complexed protein hydrolysates, at both 3% and 5% degree of hydrolysis and all complexes with added ascorbic acid were analyzed by direct ELISA based on the ability to bind the specific IgE antibody coated plates.The antibodies specific to the whey protein allergen β-lactoglobulin were used in the present study. Allergy studies revealed a reduction in the allergenicity of iron-complexed whey protein (23%) and iron-complexed hydrolysates (28.27–59%). Allergenicity was further reduced (53.59–60.63%) when protein hydrolysate was complexed with iron in the presence of ascorbic acid. Statistical analysis at 0.01level of significance (P value 0.001) revealed significant differences among all treatments. Graphical Abstract The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

The main objective of this study was to standardise the procedure for encapsulation of potentially probiotic breast milk isolate Pediococcus pentosaceus DM101 using sodium alginate by extrusion method. The encapsulation parameters were optimized by comparing the encapsulation efficiency obtained with varying concentration of sodium alginate (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%), calcium chloride (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2M) and gelling time (5, 10, 20 and 30 minutes). Encapsulation efficiency was ascertained by finding the survival percentage after exposing the encapsulated cells to acid stress (pH 2.0 for 3h). Encapsulation carried out using two per cent sodium alginate and 0.1M CaCl2 following 20 min gelling time was found to confer maximum protective effect. Encapsulation efficiency of alginate beads prepared under optimized conditions was found to be 81.37±2.44 per cent. The results endorse alginate encapsulation as a means to confer a protective shielding effect thereby facilitating effective probiotic delivery.

Calcium enriched herbal ice cream was developed using calcium gluconate (CG) as calcium source, Bacopa monniera whole plant extract (BME) is an herb containing saponins. Ice cream was prepared by incorporating CG and BME together. Preliminarily the range of CG and BME levels were fixed as 50–250 mg/100 mL and 10–50 mg/100 mL of ice cream mix respectively. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the levels of two ingredients (CG and BME). Central Composite Rotatable Design using two variables and five responses comprising of sensory attributes was used for computation of optimized solution. All the responses fitted well into quadratic equation with R² > 0.60. The optimum levels of CG and BME are 217.34 mg/100 mL and 10 mg/100 mL for preparation of experimental ice cream. RSM recommended with 87% acceptability for the optimum levels of CG and BME. Product is prepared with optimized solution and subjected to sensory evaluation.