This study was conducted to investigate the effect of boiling and roasting treatments on the phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of pod shells of two Sudanese peanut cultivars, Sodari and Ghabiash. The samples were subjected to a boiling process (1:5 w/v; 20 g/100 mL) at 100 °C for 45 min and a roasting treatment at 180 °C for 30 min. Results revealed that both cultivars are rich in phenolic compounds with high antioxidant activity in their shell. The boiling and dry roasting treatments significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity of the peanut shell for both peanut cultivars. The shells of Ghabiash peanut cultivar exhibited higher bioactive properties than the shells of Sodari cultivar, in which these properties were highly improved by roasting and boiling treatments. In general, peanut shells can serve as an important underutilized by-product, particularly after roasting treatment, for potential applications in food formulations.

Fresh dates of the Barhi cultivar at the Khalal maturity stage are well known for their pleasant taste, crispy texture, and bright yellow color. One of the primary technical challenges is preserving the initial high-quality fresh Khalal Barhi dates and extending their shelf life for the longest possible period after harvesting and during the marketing process. Resolving this problem would permit the export of high-quality fresh Saudi dates to international markets. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a pulsed electric field as a novel non-thermal postharvest processing technology for preserving the nutritional, microbiological, and physical quality of Barhi dates during storage at different temperatures and durations. To accomplish this goal, a five-factor mixed-level central composite rotating design (CCRD) with a response surface methodology (RSM) model was used to define the best PEF processing conditions and subsequent storage environments. The influence of independent factors, PEF intensity (10, 20, 30, and 40 kV/cm), PEF exposure time (40, 80, 120, and 160 ms), PEF numbers (50, 100, 150, and 200 pulses), storage temperature (1 °C, 5 °C, 15 °C, and 25 °C), and storage time (1 day, 6 days, 11 days, 16 days, and 21 days), on the total soluble solids, firmness, total color changes, total viable count, total phenolic content, DPPH antiradical activity, fructose, and glucose were assessed. The results indicated the optimal conditions of PEF treatment and subsequently storage conditions for conserving the quality and elongating the storability of fresh Barhi dates were: 10.3 kV/cm PEF intensity; 46.73 ms PEF duration; number of PEF, is 169.9 pulses; 18.7 °C storage temperature; and 21 days’ storage time. At the aforementioned optimal conditions, the values of total soluble solids (TSS), firmness, ΔE, total viable count (TVC), total phenolic content (TPC), DPPH antiradical activity, glucose, and fructose were 41.44%, 62.47 newton, 0.1, 0.098 log CFU/g, 1.29 mg GAE/g, 65.95%, 3.45, and 3.44, respectively. These values were comparable to the predicted values (Desirability value = 1), indicating that the applied RSM models were ideal for optimizing the PEF and storage conditions for preserving the quality and prolonging the fresh Barhi dates’ shelf life. Overall, the ideal PEF treatment and storage conditions for sustaining the quality characteristics of Barhi dates during an extended storage time were identified in this study.

Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao, a red seaweed widely cultivated for carrageenan polysaccharide, is also a potential source of the valuable pigment phycoerythrin (PE). Therefore, this study aims to extract phycoerythrin from K. alvarezii, evaluate its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities, and identify its biomedical potential for future therapeutic applications. The protein content of phycoerythrin pigment extracted from K. alvarezii was found to be 69.84% and showed excellent antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella oxytoca and Proteus mirabilis, with a minimum inhibition zone of 11 mm. It showed significant in vitro antioxidant activity, as analyzed using total antioxidant, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, reducing power, DPPH, and ABTS assays. Further, the pigment exhibited potent cytotoxicity against a human lung cancer cell line, with an IC₅₀ value of 131.7 µg mL⁻¹. Furthermore, increasing concentration of phycoerythrin pigment decreased the cell proliferation and induced apoptosis, as confirmed by Annexin V/PI staining. Comprehensive characterization using FT-IR, HPLC, and GC-MS analysis revealed the nature of pigment and functional groups, highlighting its potential for biomedical applications. The molecular docking of K. alvarezii-derived compounds revealed significant binding affinities with 13 antibacterial target proteins. These results highlight the potential of K. alvarezii bioactive compounds as promising antibacterial agents. The phycoerythrin extract from K. alvarezii demonstrated potent antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties, with significant cytotoxicity against lung cancer cells and confirmed apoptosis induction. Structural analysis revealed its bioactive composition, emphasizing its potential as a natural therapeutic agent. These findings support its potential application in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.

Effect of traditional fermentation on pH, titratable acidity, proteins, amino acids, and sugars contents of three local sorghum cultivars namely Hamra, Biadah and Shahla used in making khamir local bread were investigated. During 24 fermentations, the pH of fermented dough dropped sharply and this was coincided with increase in total acidity. Fermentation was found to cause no significant change in protein content of the cultivars. Amino acid analysis, revealed slight insignificant improvement in lysine, and leucine content but there was a slight decrease in valine, phenyl alanine and arginine content in fermented dough. Glucose, fructose and maltose content of the three sorghum cultivars increased considerably in the early stages of fermentation, followed by decrease towards the end of fermentation. Low amount of sucrose detected in the three cultivars and it was completely utilized after 8 hrs. of fermentation.