Age‐related loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength or sarcopenia is attributed to the high level of oxidative stress and inadequate nutritional intake. The imbalance in oxidative status with increased production of free radicals results in damage to the DNA which leads to cell dysfunction. This study aimed to determine the effect of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) on muscle performance and bone integrity in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. SD rats aged three (young), nine (adult), and twenty‐one (old) months old were treated with either distilled water or ginger extract at a concentration of 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) daily for 3 months via oral gavage. Muscle performance was assessed at 0, 1, 2, and 3 months of treatment by measuring muscle strength, muscle function, and bone integrity while DNA damage was determined by comet assay. Muscle cell histology was analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Young and adult ginger‐treated rats showed a significant improvement in muscle strength after 3 months of supplementation. Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) were increased while fat free mass (FMM) was decreased after 3 months of ginger supplementation in young rats but not changed in adult and old ginger supplemented groups. Interestingly, supplementation of ginger for 3 months to the old rats decreased the level of damaged DNA. Histological findings showed reduction in the size of muscle fibre and fascicles with heterogenous morphology of the muscle fibres indicating sarcopenia was evident in old rats. Treatment with ginger extract improved the histological changes even though there was evidence of cellular infiltration (mild inflammation) and dilated blood vessels. In conclusion, Z. officinale Roscoe prevents DNA damage and improves muscle performance and bone integrity in SD rats indicating its potential in alleviating oxidative stress in ageing and thus delaying sarcopenia progression.

In the present study, peel pectin jellies (PPJ) were isolated from banana peel Musa acuminata Colla (AAA, cv ‘Berangan’) varieties using water bath extraction; five jellies were produced, namely, PPJ_68%, PPJ_70%, PPJ_71%, PPJ_72%, and PPJ_76%. The effect of sugar content on the rheology of the PPJ and commercial fruit jelly was conducted at 25°C within 0.05–100 s⁻¹ shear rate. Flow behaviour was evaluated on the test dispersions while frequency sweeps (E_a) to obtain the viscoelastic (G’ and G”) were performed on the jellies. PPJ dispersion showed shear thinning flow behaviour, a good fit to the Casson model. Sugar concentration does not affect Casson parameters (K_c, K_oc, ɳ_ca, and σ_oc). Frequency sweep decreased as viscosity increased which revealed high dependence for both G’ and G”. Tan δ for PPJ was more than unity which showed that jelly has less elastic properties. PPJ with the lowest sugar concentration, PPJ_68%, conducted at a high shear rate showed it was compatible with validation of the Cox–Merz rule.

(1) Background: Muscle loss is associated with frailty and a reduction in physical strength and performance, which is caused by increased oxidative stress. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a potential herb that can be used to reduce the level of oxidative stress. This study aimed to determine the effect of ginger on the expression of metabolites and their metabolic pathways in the myoblast cells to elucidate the mechanism involved and its pharmacological properties in promoting myoblast differentiation. (2) Methods: The myoblast cells were cultured into three stages (young, pre-senescent and senescent). At each stage, the myoblasts were treated with different concentrations of ginger extract. Then, metabolomic analysis was performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS/MS). (3) Results: Nine metabolites were decreased in both the pre-senescent and senescent control groups as compared to the young control group. For the young ginger-treated group, 8-shogaol and valine were upregulated, whereas adipic acid and bis (4-ethyl benzylidene) sorbitol were decreased. In the pre-senescent ginger-treated group, the niacinamide was upregulated, while carnitine and creatine were downregulated. Ginger treatment in the senescent group caused a significant upregulation in 8-shogaol, octadecanamide and uracil. (4) Conclusions: Ginger extract has the potential as a pharmacological agent to reduce muscle loss in skeletal muscle by triggering changes in some metabolites and their pathways that could promote muscle regeneration in ageing.

Functional food promotes specific health benefits and lowers the risk of acquiring health problems. Probiotics, prebiotics, and omega-3 fatty acids were added to functional food to enhance the nutritional value of the food itself. Yogurt is one of the examples of widely produced probiotic products. Concerns arise due to reduced fibre in refined food, leading to an increased risk of colon cancer and gastrointestinal diseases. Fruit-based yogurts with artificial additives were developed to cater to consumer preferences but were found to give negative health effects. To address this, yogurt with natural fibre sources like roselle and pineapple fibres was formulated, providing health-promoting components, flavor, and color without resorting to artificial additives. Current work focused on physicochemical properties and sensory evaluation of yogurt formulated with roselle and pineapple fibres. The concentration of roselle and pineapple fibres added were varied and their effect on the physicochemical properties of yogurt namely pH, viscosity, antioxidant activity, and syneresis were investigated. The evaluation was conducted at four different storage periods, which were on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days of yogurt storage. A sensory evaluation was also tested. The pH of formulated yogurt decreased as the concentration of roselle, and pineapple fibre increased. The highest viscosity was recorded for yogurt formulated with 8% pineapple fibre. Yogurt enriched with 8% roselle fibre demonstrated a superior antioxidant content. For sensory evaluation, yogurt with 4% pineapple fibre received the highest score regarding overall acceptability. The incorporation of roselle and pineapple fibre into yogurts formulation can be an alternative method in adding dietary fibres to the dairy products.

Zingiber zerumbet (Z. zerumbet) or locally called ‘lempoyang’ is one of the ginger species extensively cultivated and utilized in the Southeast Asia region. In order to extract valuable ingredients from Z. zerumbet, a green and non-toxic extraction process is implemented namely subcritical water extraction (SWE). Modeling and optimization of SWE of Z. zerumbet are performed using the central composite design (CCD) by 20 runs with 6 repetitions at the center point. The independent variables investigated in this research are temperature (130-170°C), time of extraction (20-40 minutes) and solid to solvent ratio (20-40 ml/g) that focused to identify the optimized process parameters for zerumbone concentration, antioxidant activity, and yield of extracts. All independent variables researched were analyzed to be significant as the p-value for zerumbone concentration, antioxidant activity and yield are 0.0001, which are less than 0.05 for a model to be significant. The optimum process parameters for all responses of Z. zerumbet extract are at 170°C, 20 minutes and 20 ml/g. This optimum condition was validated and the correlation between predicted and experimental values was within 95% which indicated the range of variables selected was valid. Thus, the outcome from this research may be beneficial on subcritical water extraction of ginger species especially Z. zerumbet.

Zingiber zerumbet (Z. zerumbet) is recognized for decades for its usability as spice and condiment in food flavoring as well as having high medicinal properties. Up to date, there are limited literature on evaluation of the effects of multiple variables in details especially in pilot-scale subcritical water extraction (SWE) of Z. zerumbet. The aim for this study is to implement the fractional factorial design with five variables which are temperature (100-170°C), time (10-40 minutes), pressure (10-20 bar), particle size (0.89-3.56 mm) and solvent to solid ratio (20-40 ml/g) in SWE of Z. zerumbet. Analysis of variance for all responses stated that temperature, time, particle size and solvent to solid ratio are significant variables. Temperature is the most significant factor for zerumbone concentration and antioxidant activity with a p-value of <0.0001 and 0.0002, respectively. The solvent to solid ratio was the most significant factor for the yield of extraction with a p-value of 0.0002. Time and particle size were significant towards all responses, however pressure was not significant on zerumbone concentration and yield. Thus, the fractional factorial design could give a broad overview in selecting the significant variables for further optimization in SWE from the findings.