A review:Health benefits and physicochemical characteristics of blended vegetable oils

Oil blending is the method of choice used worldwide to improve oxidative stability and nutritional value.There is no such edible oil/fat that meets all the recommendations from the health point of view.The fatty acid composition of vegetable oils decides the fate of the oil.Pure single oil is unable to provide a balanced amount of fatty acids(FAs)required/recommended on a daily intake basis.Blending oils/fats is an appropriate procedure of physically mixing multiple oils in suitable proportions which may provide functional lipids with improved antioxidant potential and desirable physical and chemical properties.This review piled up the accessible data on the blending of diverse oils/fats in the combination of binary,ternary,quaternary,or other types of oils into a single blended oil.Blending can be found very convincing towards appropriate FA profile,enhancement in physicochemical characteristics,and augmented stability for the period of storage or when used as cooking/frying processes which could ultimately serve as an effectual dietary intervention towards the health protectiveness.

Adsorption and Leaching Potential of Imidacloprid Pesticide through Alluvial Soil

This study was aimed to assess the adsorption and leaching potential of imidacloprid pesticide in column and field soil. To visibly understand these actions and factors affecting them, the experiments were carried out under laboratory and field conditions. Adsorption study was divided into kinetic and equilibrium sections. The evaluation of kinetic data was done through pseudo first and second order models. It was found that kinetic adsorption of imidacloprid on soil followed pseudo second order with rate constant value of 4.333 mg/g/h. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were used to explain equilibrium adsorption, from these isotherms it was evaluated that Freundlich isotherm was obeyed well with adsorption capacity of 2.190 - 4.573 mol/g. Leaching study was performed in laboratory using column made of poly-vinyl chloride having 30 cm length. Known amount of imidacloprid pesticide was applied to column left for adsorption and then eluted with 500 mL water in five equal portions. These water portions and soil of column which was divided into three sections were analyzed by HPLC. The result revealed that the concentration of imidacloprid was decreased from 0.481 ppm in first portion of water to 0.327 ppm in last portion of water while 0.783 ppm in first section of column soil to 0.038 ppm in last section of column soil. In field the leaching power of imidacloprid was observed up to 60 cm depth, its concentration decreased with soil depth. It was 3.311 ppm in first portion of soil and 0.357 ppm in last portion of soil. The leaching potential of imidacloprid pesticide up to 60 cm soil depth was due to less organic matter, sandy texture, alkaline pH, and low cation exchange capacity.

Simultaneous Quantification of Ibuprofen and Paracetamol in Tablet Formulations Using Transmission Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

A very simple, non-destructive, inexpensive and green strategy was applied for the simultaneous determination of ibu-profen (IBP) and paracetamol (PC) using transmission Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in tablet formulations for routine quality control laboratories. For the determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), KBr pellets containing known amount of standards and samples were used for acquisition of the FTIR spectra. The partial least squares (PLS) calibration model was developed using the spectral region from 1781 - 1683 cm-1 for IBP and 1630 - 1530 cm-1 for PC. The excellent coefficients of determination (R2), 0.9999 and 0.9998 were achieved for IBP and PC, respectively. The accuracy of calibration model was also verified through root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) which was found to be 0.064. This work clearly shows the capability of transmission FTIR spectroscopy for assessment of exact quantity of API to control the quality of finished products as well as during processing in pharmaceutical industries without involvement of any solvent.

Monitoring of Pesticide Residues in Commonly Used Fruits in Hyderabad Region, Pakistan

A market based survey was carried out to evaluate the level of 26 pesticides in some commonly used fruits in Hyderabad region, Pakistan. Gas chromatography coupled with micro electron capture detector was used to assess the levels of pesticide residues. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was also applied for the confirmation of results. Out of total 131 analyzed samples, 53 (40%) were found contaminated with pesticide residues while only 3 (2%) samples were exceeded the MRLs of some pesticides. Chlorpyrifos and dieldrin were detected in almost all analyzed samples. Residues of chlorpyrifos (1256 μg/kg) and endosulfan sulfate (1236 μg/kg) were found higher in orange and apple samples, respectively. The findings of this study provided important data about contamination of pesticide residue in some fruits sold in Hyderabad, Pakistan, and recommended that monitoring studies should be expanded to other fruits grown in different agro climatic regions, which may serve as basis for future policy about the standards and quality control of pesticides.

Evaluation of Pesticide Residues in Human Blood Samples of Agro Professionals and Non-Agro Professionals

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pesticide residues in human blood samples of volunteers related to Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas districts, Pakistan. The volunteers of both districts were divided into four groups on the basis of their exposure period to pesticides i.e. Group A-5 to 9 years, Group B-10 to 14 years, Group C-15 to19 years and Group D-above 20 years. Out of total 188 volunteers, 145 volunteers (77.1%) were agro–professionals and 43 volun- teers (32.9%) were non–agro professionals. Chlorpyrifos, endosulfan, 1, 1, 1-trichloro-2, 2-bis (p-chorophenyl) ethane (p,p'-DDT) and parathion residues were detected in many samples. The predominant pesticides found in blood samples of both district volunteers were chlorpyrifos (with highest mean concentration of 0.37 mg kg-1 in the D group of Mirpurkhas) and endosulfan (with highest mean concentration of 0.30 mg kg-1 in the D group of Hyderabad). The quantity of pesticide residues detected in some blood samples of agro-professionals were found to be at the alarming level.

Microwave-assisted synthesis of L-cysteine-capped nickel nanoparticles for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

A simple and efficient microwave-assisted procedure for synthesis of L-cysteine-capped nickel nanoparticles(cyst-Ni NPs) in ethylene glycol solvent was demonstrated. The as-synthesised NPs were characterised by ultraviolet–visible(UV–Vis) spectrophotometer, Fourier transform infrared(FTIR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and X-ray diffractometry(XRD). The cyst-Ni NPs are proved to be excellent heterogeneous catalysts for the 100% reduction of 4-nitrophenol(4-NPh) in the presence of reductant(Na BH4)within reaction time of 40 s. In contrast, Raney nickel in similar sample environments shows only 25.5% reduction.The kinetic and energetic behaviours of cyst-Ni NPs were also studied, and the reduction reaction is determined to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics with a rate constant value of 0.115 s-1 and activation energy of 36.1 kJ·mol-1. In addition to its high catalytic competence, cyst-Ni NPs catalyst exhibits excellent recyclability with negligible catalytic poisoning.