Measurement of phase synchrony of coupled segmentation clocks

The temporal behavior of segmentation clock oscillations shows phase synchrony via mean field like coupling of delta protein restricting to nearest neighbors only, in a configuration of cells arranged in a regular three dimensional array. We found the increase of amplitudes of oscillating dynamical variables of the cells as the activation rate of delta-notch signaling is increased, however, the frequencies of oscillations are decreased correspondingly. Our results show the phase transition from desynchronized to synchronized behavior by identifying three regimes, namely, desynchronized, transition and synchronized regimes supported by various qualitative and quantitative measurements.     

Post-Harvest Preservation of Whole Kinnow Fruit Using Betel Leaf Extract Coating

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences - The present study aimed at preserving Kinnow using betel leaf (Piper betle L.) extract. The purpose was to...     

Sulfur free radical reactivity with curcumin as reference for evaluating antioxidant properties of medicinal zingiberales.

Rhizome extracts of some members of the medicinal Zingiberales are widely used in dietary intake as well as in the traditional system of medicine. Curcumin, the chrome orange-yellow coloring compound present in turmeric rhizomes, has long been known to possess antioxidant property. Crude methanol extracts of the rhizomes of 11 species--Alpinia allughas, A. galanga, Curcuma amada, C. caesia, C. leucorrhiza, Hedychium coronarium, H. coccineum, H. flavescens, Kaempferia galanga, Zingiber cassumunar, and Z. officinale--were evaluated for their antioxidant properties using sulfur free radical reactivity with curcumin as a reference indicator. Sulfur free radicals (GS.) are generated by irradiating 15 mM glutathione (GSH) solution using a 5100 Ci cobalt-60 gamma irradiator. As reference indicator for the reactivity with sulfur free radicals, we used the depletion of pure curcumin sample in vitro as determined by a simple spectrophotometric method. The addition of the supernatant from crude rhizome extracts to the reaction mixture significantly decreased the depletion of curcumin, indicating that these crude extracts possessed antioxidant properties. The relative curcumin protection by different crude extracts against GS. showed that Z. cassumunar gave the highest degree of radioprotection. Our results reveal the potential medicinal use of rhizomes of medicinal Zingiberales as dietary agents.     

Development of Quick Cooking Rice: Application of Salts and Enzyme Pretreatments

Quick cooking rice (QCR) samples were prepared by pretreating the rice with different salts (calcium chloride, sodium chloride, acetic acid and sodium citrate at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 %) and pancreatin enzyme solutions, followed by hydrothermal treatment and drying. The effect of these pretreatments was studied on various quality parameters of QCR samples viz. amylose content, grain elongation ratio during cooking, optimum cooking time (OCT) and rehydration ratio (RR); pasting characteristics, colour quality and sensory attributes. The whiteness index (WI) of QCR samples ranged from 87.9 to 91.8 as compared to untreated (89.56) i.e. raw rice. The amylose content decreased due to the pretreatments of rice with salts and enzyme in soaking solution, which ranged from 24.18 to 25.35 % in pretreated samples as compared to 31.18 % in raw rice. The minimum RR (1.57) was observed for QCR pretreated with acetic acid while other salts and enzyme pretreatments showed only a little change in the RR. Solid loss in QCR samples was less than untreated rice. The OCT of different QCR samples ranged from 4.88 to 7.41 min as compared to 19.22 min for untreated rice. Overall sensory acceptability for calcium chloride pretreated QCR was maximum (7.42) than other pretreatments. In view of maximum sensory acceptability, higher WI, lower cooking time and solid loss in cooking water; soaking of rice in 0.5 % calcium chloride solution followed by hydrothermal treatment and drying may be considered for production of QCR.