Fruits and vegetables are important components of a healthy diet. They are rich sources of vitamins and minerals, dietary fibre and a host of beneficial non-nutrient substances including plant sterols, flavonoids and other antioxidants. It has been reported that reduced intake of fruits and vegetables may increase the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Chili pepper, is a common and important spice used to enhance taste and nutrition. Over the years, reports have shown its potential as antioxidant and an anti-obesity agent. Obesity is a serious health concern as it may initiate other common chronic diseases. Due to the side effects of synthetic antioxidants and anti-obesity drugs, scientists are now focusing on natural products which produce similar effects to synthetic chemicals. This up-to-date review addresses this research gap and presents, in an accessible format, the nutritional, antioxidant and anti-obesity properties of different chili peppers. This review article serves as a reference guide for use of chili peppers as anti-obesity agents.

The determination of rice grain quality (RGQ) parameters is important because it is the benchmark of rice breeding success to meet up the consumers’ demand. RGQ includes milling, storage, cooking, eating, nutrition, and market quality of rice grain. Furthermore, demand for high-quality rice has increased globally and is expected to continue to rise due to consumer preferences. However, global consumer demand, culture, and demographic variances determine acceptable RGQ attributes. For example, European consumers prefer long-grain, nonaromatic rice, whereas Middle Eastern consumers prefer long-grain, well-milled rice with a strong aroma. To improve the rice quality, RGQ analysis is the best way; besides we need to understand the genetic mechanism of the several grain quality quantitative trait loci (QTLs) actions. A better understanding of these QTLs can be tremendously useful in the development of novel RGQ varieties. This review is intended to study major RGQ parameters and their assessment tools. This study is focusing on the limitations and prospects of QTLs to improve RGQ.

The determination of mineral concentrations in rice grain samples is crucial for analyzing their nutritional content. Most mineral content analysis techniques depend on inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry and are often complicated, expensive, time-consuming, and laborious. Recently, the handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer has been randomly used in earth sciences; however, it is hardly practiced in quantifying mineral content in rice samples. In this research, the reliability of XRF results was compared with that of the ICP-OES to determine zinc (Zn) concentration in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Approximately 200 dehusked rice samples and four known high-Zn samples were analyzed using both XRF and ICP-OES techniques. The concentrations of Zn were recorded using the XRF technique and then correlated with the ICP-OES results. The results indicated a high positive relationship between two methods, with R² = 0.83, p = 0.000, and the Pearson correlation value of 0.91 at the level of 0.05. This work demonstrates the potential of XRF as a reliable and low-cost as well as an alternative technique to ICP-OES methods for determining Zn content in rice as it allows the analysis of a greater number of samples in a short period at a considerably low price.