Health benefits and products of Citrus medica .

The present review explores the nutritional, phytochemical and pharmacological potential as well as diverse food usages of Syzygium cumini .

The growing demand for reducing chemical inputs in agriculture and increased resistance to insecticides have provided great impetus to the development of alternative forms of insect-pest control. Myco-biocontrol offers an attractive alternative to the use of chemical pesticides. Myco-biocontrol agents are naturally occurring organisms which are perceived as less damaging to the environment. Their mode of action appears little complex which makes it highly unlikely that resistance could be developed to a biopesticide. Past research has shown some promise of the use of fungi as a selective pesticide. The current paper updates us about the recent progress in the field of myco-biocontrol of insect pests and their possible mechanism of action to further enhance our understanding about the biological control of insect pests.

Polysaccharides, an important class of biological polymers, are effectively bioactive, non-toxic, hydrophilic, biodegradable and offer a wide diversity in structure and properties. These can be easily modified chemically and biochemically to enhance the bioadhesion with biological tissues, better stability and can able to improve bioavailability of drugs. Most of the chemotherapeutic drugs have a narrow therapeutic index, slow drug delivery systems and poor water solubility that usually proves toxic to human bodies. The inherent biocompatibility of these biopolymers have shown enhancement of solubility of some chemotherapeutic drugs which also leads to the preparation of nanomaterials for the delivery of antibiotics, anticancer, proteins, peptides and nucleic acids using several routes of administration. Recently, synthesis and research on polysaccharides based nanomaterials have gained enormous attention as one of the most applicable resources in nanomedicine area. This review article will provide a specific emphasis on polysaccharides as natural biomaterials for targeted anticancer drug delivery system.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the advanced technologies and approaches for utilization of waste generated in dairy industry. Whey is highly contaminated, with a high organic load around 100,000 mg O₂/L COD (chemical oxygen demand), and is not used for further processing. The waste generated in different food industries can be utilized in different value addition product with the help of advanced technology.Design/methodology/approach: Major well-known bibliometric information sources are the Web of Science, Scopus, Mendeley and Google Scholar. Several keywords like nutrition value of whey, whey utilization, whey valorization, whey technologies, whey beverages, fruit-based whey beverage, carbonated beverage, probiotic or alcoholic beverages, herbal beverage, fermented beverage and current scenarios were chosen to obtain a large range of papers to be analyzed. A final inventory of 126 scientific sources was made after sorting and classifying them according to different criteria based on topic, academic field country of origin and year of publication.Findings: The comprehensive review of different literature, data sources and research papers seeks to find and discuss various sustainable solutions to this huge waste generated from milk industry. The sustainable use of whey for production and conversion in different types of products can uplift the bio-based economy of industries and thereof national/international economy. The recent upsurge in consumer interest for health-promoting products has opened up new vistas for whey beverages and other whey products research and development.Originality/value: The paper draws out different sustainable characteristics and technology of whey products available in market, as well as potential products to be launched in the market. Interestingly, over the past few years, dairy industries have applied various technologies to process cheese whey and are in search of new products which can be prepared from the by-product. This review discusses on the recent research development of whey valorization with particular reference to technologies used in the addition to their commercial availability and a way forward.