Xylitol is a white crystalline, amorphous sugar alcohol and low-calorie sweetener. Xylitol prevents demineralization of teeth and bones, otitis media infection, respiratory tract infections, inflammation and cancer progression. NADPH generated in xylitol metabolism aid in the treatment of glucose-6-phosphate deficiency-associated hemolytic anemia. Moreover, it has a negligible effect on blood glucose and plasma insulin levels due to its unique metabolism. Its diverse applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and polymer industries fueled its market growth and made it one of the top 12 bio-products. Recently, xylitol has also been used as a drug carrier due to its high permeability and non-toxic nature. However, it become a challenge to fulfil the rapidly increasing market demand of xylitol. Xylitol is present in fruit and vegetables, but at very low concentrations, which is not adequate to satisfy the consumer demand. With the passage of time, other methods including chemical catalysis, microbial and enzymatic biotransformation, have also been developed for its large-scale production. Nevertheless, large scale production still suffers from high cost of production. In this review, we summarize some alternative approaches and recent advancements that significantly improve the yield and lower the cost of production.

Edibles are the only source of nutrients and energy for humans. However, ingredients of edibles have undergone many physicochemical changes during preparation and storage. Aging, hydrolysis, oxidation, and rancidity are some of the major changes that not only change the native flavor, texture, and taste of food but also destroy the nutritive value and jeopardize public health. The major reasons for the production of harmful metabolites, chemicals, and toxins are poor processing, inappropriate storage, and microbial spoilage, which are lethal to consumers. In addition, the emergence of new pollutants has intensified the need for advanced and rapid food analysis techniques to detect such toxins. The issue with the detection of toxins in food samples is the nonvolatile nature and absence of detectable chromophores; hence, normal conventional techniques need additional derivatization. Mass spectrometry (MS) offers high sensitivity, selectivity, and capability to handle complex mixtures, making it an ideal analytical technique for the identification and quantification of food toxins. Recent technological advancements, such as high-resolution MS and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), have significantly improved sensitivity, enabling the detection of food toxins at ultralow levels. Moreover, the emergence of ambient ionization techniques has facilitated rapid in situ analysis of samples with lower time and resources. Despite numerous advantages, the widespread adoption of MS in routine food safety monitoring faces certain challenges such as instrument cost, complexity, data analysis, and standardization of methods. Nevertheless, the continuous advancements in MS-technology and its integration with complementary techniques hold promising prospects for revolutionizing food safety monitoring. This review discusses the application of MS in detecting various food toxins including mycotoxins, marine biotoxins, and plant-derived toxins. It also explores the implementation of untargeted approaches, such as metabolomics and proteomics, for the discovery of novel and emerging food toxins, enhancing our understanding of potential hazards in the food supply chain.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have gained much attention due to their unique physical, and chemical properties. Integration of phytochemicals in nanoformulation might have higher applicability in healthcare. Current work demonstrates the synthesis of green AgNPs withO. gratissimum(gr-AgNPs)O. tenuiflorum(te-AgNPs) andO. americanum(am-AgNPs) followed by an evaluation of their antimicrobial and anticancer properties. SEM analysis revealed spherical-shaped particles with average particle sizes of 69.0 ± 5 nm for te-AgNPs, 46.9 ± 9 nm for gr-AgNPs, and 58.5 ± 18.7 nm for am-AgNPs with a polydispersity index below 0.4. The synthesized am-AgNPs effectively inhibitedKlebsiella pneumonia,Escherichia coli,Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger,andCandida albicanswith 23 ± 1.58 mm, 20 ± 1.68 mm, 22 ± 1.80 mm, 26 ± 1.85 mm, and 22 ± 1.40 nm of zone of inhibition respectively.Synthesized AgNPs also induced apoptotic cell death in MCF-7 in concentration-dependent manner. IC₅₀values for am-AgNPs, te-AgNPs, and gr-AgNPs were 14.78 ± 0.89 µg, 18.04 ± 0.63 and 15.41 ± 0.37 µg respectively which suggested that am-AgNPs were the most effective against cancer. At higher dose size (20 µg) AgNPs were equally effective to commercial standard Doxorubicin (DOX). In comparison to te-AgNPs and gr-AgNPs, am-AgNPs have higher in vitro anticancer and antimicrobial effects. The work reportedOcimum americanumfor its anticancer properties with chemical profile (GCMS) and compared it with earlier reported species. The activity against microbial pathogens and selected cancer cells clearly depicted that these species have distinct variations in activity. The results have also emphasized on higher potential of biogenic silver nanoparticles in healthcare but before formulation of commercial products, detailed analysis is required with human and animal models.