Plant-derived functional foods are gaining considerable attention due to their safety and therapeutic potentials. Research on plant-based functional foods presents several challenges ranges from hypercholesterolemia to cancer prevention. In last decade, special attention has been paid to edible plants and especially their phytochemicals. Today, there is an increasing interest in their bioactivities provided by these phytochemicals. Polyphenols are the most numerous and widely distributed group of bioactive molecules. Polyphenols have two general classes, one is flavonoids and other is phenolic acids. Among these, flavonoids are further divided into flavones, flavononse, flavonols, flavanols, isoflavones, and phenolic acids are generally classified into hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids. Fruit peel is one of the dense sources for flavonoids and their content may vary from species to species and due to exposure of light. Polyphenols have wide range of molecules and different set of biological activities that are mainly attributed to their structure. Investigations have revealed that polyphenols play a key role to prevent various diseases, like hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and cancer insurgence. The current review article summarizes the literature pertaining to polyphenols and its allied health benefits.

Objective: Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 severity. This multi-center randomized clinical trial aims to determine the effects of 5000 IU versus 1000 IU daily oral vitamin D3 supplementation in the recovery of symptoms and other clinical parameters among mild to moderate COVID-19 patients with sub-optimal vitamin D status. Study Design and Setting: A total of 69 reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) SARS-CoV-2 positive adults who were hospitalized for mild to moderate COVID-19 disease were allocated to receive once daily for 2 weeks either 5000 IU oral vitamin D3 (n = 36, 21 males; 15 females) or 1000 IU oral vitamin D3 (standard control) (n = 33, 13 males; 20 females). Anthropometrics were measured and blood samples were taken pre- and post-supplementation. Fasting blood glucose, lipids, serum 25(OH)D, and inflammatory markers were measured. COVID-19 symptoms were noted on admission and monitored until full recovery. Results: Vitamin D supplementation for 2 weeks caused a significant increase in serum 25(OH)D levels in the 5000 IU group only (adjusted p = 0.003). Within-group comparisons also showed a significant decrease in BMI and IL-6 levels overtime in both groups (p-values < 0.05) but was not clinically significant in between-group comparisons. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis revealed that the 5000 IU group had a significantly shorter time to recovery (days) than the 1000 IU group in resolving cough, even after adjusting for age, sex, baseline BMI, and D-dimer (6.2 ± 0.8 versus 9.1 ± 0.8; p = 0.039), and ageusia (loss of taste) (11.4 ± 1.0 versus 16.9 ± 1.7; p = 0.035). Conclusion: A 5000 IU daily oral vitamin D3 supplementation for 2 weeks reduces the time to recovery for cough and gustatory sensory loss among patients with sub-optimal vitamin D status and mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. The use of 5000 IU vitamin D3 as an adjuvant therapy for COVID-19 patients with suboptimal vitamin D status, even for a short duration, is recommended.

Improved awareness regarding diet and health linkages has motivated researchers to give more attention to the health perspectives of individual foods. During the previous two decades, the global dairy industry diverted its interest from simple processing of commodities to the value addition. A significant income is being earned in the dairy industry from specialty proteins. Pakistan ranked 3^rd in milk production worldwide and different milking animals e.g. cow, buffalo, goat and camel should be studied for their potential for generating new health-promoting diets and nutraceuticals foods. Bioactive proteins and peptides from having abundant applications including an antimicrobial food additive, dietary supplements, functional foods and nutraceuticals. Proteins from milk have a balanced composition of amino acids promising novel functional products. These also enhance the consistency and sensorial characteristics of various dairy products. Amongst, lactoferrin reveal bacteriostatic as well as bactericidal bustle against a variety of microorganisms. It binds iron thus depriving it required for growth like L. monocytogenes, Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Shigella dysenteriae and Bacillus subtilis. Lactoferrin executes as an alternative to antibiotics. It acts as a natural antimicrobial for bio preservation ranging from dairy, meat, seafood, beverages, bakery products, acne care, infant formulas, extending shelf life, ensuring safety and improving health by acting against life-threatening diseases like cancer, hepatitis, respiratory infections, and foodborne diseases in infants, children and adults etc. In the nutshell, the current review discusses the importance and safety perspectives of lactoferrin in the food industry as well as the health sector.

Lignans are a group of phytonutrients which are widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Flaxseed is the richest source of providing lignan precursor such as secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG). This article reviews the studies relevant to experimental models in animals and humans demonstrating the possible nutraceutical actions of SDG to prevent and alleviate lifestyle-related diseases. A local and international web-based literature review for this project was carried out to provide information relating to the study. The major key word “SDG” was selected to gather information using the electronic databases pertaining to the current state of flaxseed lignans composition, bioactive compounds, metabolism and to find out their role in terms of chemopreventive action. The extraction methods vary from simple to complex depending on separation, fractionation, identification and detection of the analytes. The majority of studies demonstrate that SDG interferes with the development of different types of diseases like cardiovascular, diabetic, lupus nephritis, bone, kidney, menopause, reproduction, mental stress, immunity, atherosclerosis, hemopoietic, liver necrosis and urinary disorders due to its various biological properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, antiobesity, antihypolipidemic and neuroprotective effects. Moreover, SDG has a defending mediator against various cancers by modulating multiple cell signaling pathways. As discussed in this review, SDG has shown therapeutic potential against a number of human diseases and can be recommended for discerning consumers.

The main aim of this study was the characterization of coriander essential oil. The major volatile compounds in coriander seed essential oil were linalool, γ-terpinene, α-pinene, camphor, decanal geranyl acetate, limonene, geraniol, camphene, and D-limonene, while the major volatile compounds identified in coriander leaves essential oil were (E)-2-decenal, linalool, (E)-2-dodecenal, (E)-2-tetradecenal, 2-decen-1-ol, (E)-2-undecenal, dodecanal, (E)-2-tridecenal, (E)-2-hexadecenal, pentadecenal, and α-pinene. The essential oil from coriander seeds showed significant radical scavenging activity (66.48 ± 0.80%) at a concentration of 500 μg in comparison with essential oil of coriander leaves (56.73 ± 1.82%). Methanol extracts of both seed and leaves showed the significant radical scavenging activity (64.40 ± 0.81%) and (72.19 ± 0.64%) at 500 μg/mL, respectively, in comparison with the n-hexane extracts, which were (52.67 ± 2.05%) and (60.80 ± 1.01%), respectively, at a concentration of 500 μg/mL. Reducing power results showed that at a concentration from 100–500 μg, coriander seed essential oil gave the absorbance (0.734 ± 1.146), while coriander leaves essential oil gave the absorbance (0.815 ± 1.274). While in non-volatile extracts, the maximum value reached 0.796 ± 0.01 for methanol extract of coriander leaves and for seeds is 0.593 ± 0.04, while the maximum value for n-hexane extract of coriander seeds was 0.624 ± 0.01 and leaves was 0.734 ± 0.04 at a concentration of 500 μg/mL. Our study suggested that coriander seeds and leaves may be used as a potential source of food flavoring and antioxidants.