Mushrooms are well-known functional foods due to the presence of a huge quantity of nutraceutical components. These are well recognized for their nutritional importance such as high protein, low fat, and low energy contents. These are rich in minerals such as iron, phosphorus, as well as in vitamins like riboflavin, thiamine, ergosterol, niacin, and ascorbic acid. They also contain bioactive constituents like secondary metabolites (terpenoids, acids, alkaloids, sesquiterpenes, polyphenolic compounds, lactones, sterols, nucleotide analogues, vitamins, and metal chelating agents) and polysaccharides chiefly β-glucans and glycoproteins. Due to the occurrence of biologically active substances, mushrooms can serve as hepatoprotective, immune-potentiating, anti-cancer, anti-viral, and hypocholesterolemic agents. They have great potential to prevent cardiovascular diseases due to their low fat and high fiber contents, as well as being foremost sources of natural antioxidants useful in reducing oxidative damages. However, mushrooms remained underutilized, despite their wide nutritional and bioactive potential. Novel green techniques are being explored for the extraction of bioactive components from edible mushrooms. The current review is intended to deliberate the nutraceutical potential of mushrooms, therapeutic properties, bioactive compounds, health benefits, and processing aspects of edible mushrooms for maintenance, and promotion of a healthy lifestyle.

Based on the availability of many nutrients, Moringa oleifera tree leaves have been widely employed as nutrients and nutraceuticals in recent years. The leaves contain a small amount of anti-nutritional factors and are abundant in innumerable bioactive compounds. Recently, in several in vivo and in vitro investigations, moringa leaves’ bioactive components and functionality are highlighted. Moringa leaves provide several health advantages, including anti-diabetic, antibacterial, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. The high content of phytochemicals, carotenoids, and glucosinolates is responsible for the majority of these activities as reported in the literature. Furthermore, there is growing interest in using moringa as a value-added ingredient in the development of functional foods. Despite substantial study into identifying and measuring these beneficial components from moringa leaves, bioaccessibility and bioavailability studies are lacking. This review emphasizes recent scientific evidence on the dietary and bioactive profiles of moringa leaves, bioavailability, health benefits, and applications in various food products. This study highlights new scientific data on the moringa leaves containing nutrient and bioactive profiles, bioavailability, health benefits, and uses in various food items. Moringa has been extensively used as a health-promoting food additive because of its potent protection against various diseases and the widespread presence of environmental toxins. More research is needed for utilization as well as to study medicinal effects and bioaccesibility of these leaves for development of various drugs and functional foods.

Extensive and erratic use of pesticides leads to bioaccumulation of pesticides in soil, food and waterbodies. Exposure to pesticides is associated with a number of serious diseases, including cancer, birth defects, pregnancy, and many other adverse health effects. Therefore, to protect human health simple and rapid methodologies for monitoring the presence of pesticides in food products are urgently required. Recently, nanoparticles-based colorimetric assays have received great attention for simple and efficient monitoring of pesticide residues. Localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is an important property of metal nanoparticles displaying strong colours in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, where they aggregate and display distinct linear and non-linear optical properties. A well-designed chemical interaction between the surface of nanoparticles and analytes can result in incremental optical changes (red to blue for AuNPs and bright yellow to red-brown for Ag NPs), allowing naked-eye detection of pesticides. These approaches are rapid, cost-effective and used for on-site detection. Furthermore, the sensitivity and selectivity of such assays have been greatly improved through functionalization and modification of nanoparticles. Therefore, in this study, we summarised and explained the recent applications of surface-modified nanoparticles for the detection of residual pesticides.