The trillions of microbes that constitute the human gut microbiome play a crucial role in digestive health, immune response regulation, and psychological wellness. Maintaining gut microbiota is essential as metabolic diseases are associated with it. Functional food ingredients potentially improving gut health include prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics, and postbiotics (PPSPs). While probiotics are living bacteria that provide health advantages when ingested sufficiently, prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates that support good gut bacteria. Synbiotics work together to improve immunity and intestinal health by combining probiotics and prebiotics. Postbiotics have also demonstrated numerous health advantages, such as bioactive molecules created during probiotic fermentation. According to a recent study, PPSPs can regulate the synthesis of metabolites, improve the integrity of the intestinal barrier, and change the gut microbiota composition to control metabolic illnesses. Additionally, the use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) highlights the potential for restoring gut health through microbiota modulation, reinforcing the benefits of PPSPs in enhancing overall well-being. Research has shown that PPSPs provide several health benefits, such as improved immunological function, alleviation of symptoms associated with irritable bowel disease (IBD), decreased severity of allergies, and antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. Despite encouraging results, many unanswered questions remain about the scope of PPSPs’ health advantages. Extensive research is required to fully realize the potential of these functional food components in enhancing human health and well-being. Effective therapeutic and prophylactic measures require further investigation into the roles of PPSPs, specifically their immune-system-modulating, cholesterol-lowering, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory characteristics.

Date seeds, a by-product of the pitted-date industry, are often discarded as waste. This study investigated the interaction between date seed powder and starch at different concentrations (0, 1, 5, 10, and 20 g/25 g composite) and temperatures (40 °C and 70 °C). The results revealed that the hygroscopicity of date seed powder (9.94 g/100 g) was lower than starch (13.39 g/100 g), and its water absorption (75.8%) was also lower than starch (88.3%), leading to a reduced absorbance capacity in composites. However, the solubility increased with a higher date seed content due to its greater solubility (17.8 g/L) compared to starch (1.6 g/L). A morphological analysis showed rough, agglomerated particles in date seed powder, while starch had smooth, spherical shapes. This study also found that the composites formed larger particles at 40 °C and porous structures at 70 °C. Crystallinity decreased from 41.6% to 12.8% (40 °C) and from 24.0% to 11.3% (70 °C). A thermal analysis revealed three endothermic peaks (glass transitions and solid melting), with an additional oil-melting peak in high-seed samples. FTIR spectra showed changes in peak intensities and locations upon seed incorporation. Overall, these findings revealed that, the incorporation of date seed powder–starch composites into bakery formulations offers a promising strategy for developing fiber-enriched products, positioning them as functional ingredients with added nutritional value.

Measurement of water activity and moisture sorption isotherms of foods and biomaterials are important to determine the state of water. In this work, a dynamic temperature-humidity (DTH) controlled chamber was used to measure water sorption isotherm and compared with the conventional isopiestic method. Temperature and relative humidity of DTH chamber can be controlled in the range of -15 to 100°C and 0 to 98%, respectively; thus, measurement of water activity at any point can be measured within the above ranges. The DTH chamber method showed high reproducibility as compared with the conventional isopiestic method when measured isotherms of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulase were compared at 30°C. Finally, isotherm data of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulase were generated in the temperature range of 10-90°C using DTH chamber, and these were modelled by BET and GAB equations. The model parameters were correlated with the temperature.