Asian Food Science Journal

Aims: The aim of the study was to elicit opinions and attitudes towards healthy eating and  physical activity in their schools and barriers towards the activities.

Study Design: Qualitative study.

Place and Duration of Study: Primary school settings in Brunei Darussalam. Duration of the study was January 2012 – January 2013. 

Methodology: Five focus groups of primary school students in years 4, 5, and 6 were conducted at 5 selected primary schools in Brunei Darussalam. The focus group session was between 30 minutes and 45 minutes duration and was divided into two separate sections: ‘healthy eating' and ‘physical activity'. Interviews were transcribed verbatim into a word document and names were removed to ensure confidentiality and anonymity. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected data.

Results: Thematic analysis of the focus group discussions with children produced the following three themes: ‘healthy eating and physical activity are important for a healthy and strong body free of disease’, ‘unhealthy foods make us fat, cause diabetes and are bad for teeth’ and ,physical activity mainly related to playing together in groups.’

Conclusion: The children have a good understanding of the detrimental effect of poor diet and inactivity on physical health, but, without a supportive environment, children are faced with a significant barrier in translating their knowledge into action. The students were keen to do more fun activities such as sports activities in the school but were hindered by the availability of time, equipment and safety within the school compound.

The temperature is one of the most used techniques to maintain fruit quality over long time storage and consequently the fruit respiratory metabolism is directly influenced. The combined use of CaCl₂ and hydrothermal treatment can be an important alternative to improve banana fruit quality and influences the ratio starch/sugar and consequently quality traits. Based on the hypothesis the calcium and hydrothermal works synergistically modulating banana primary metabolism and skin color changes. The starch content and chrome parameters were kept in higher values at 2% e 3% (w/v) of CaCl₂. However, the fruit storage at control condition have shown lower fresh weight loss (%), followed by total soluble solids and sugars content. In addition, our study showed that, fruit firmness, titratable acidity, skin brightness and hue angle were not significantly influenced by the treatments. In the same vein, banana fruits when treated only by hydrothermal treatment maintained better postharvest quality trait when compared to the fruits of the hydrothermal treatment associated with calcium chloride. The hydrothermal treatment when together with CaCl₂ cans influences in the banana fruit quality affecting skin color and primary metabolism such as sugar and starch content.

This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value, phytochemicals and functional properties of flour blends from unripe plantain, soybean and ginger. Fresh samples of unripe plantain, soybean and ginger were dried and milled to produce five flour blends.  Laboratory analyses of functional properties, phytochemicals and chemical proximate were determined according to standard procedures. Data generated were subjected to analysis of variance. The results showed that there were significant differences (P<0.05) among the samples. Sample showed higher carbohydrate content (84.21%) while the other flour blends had lower values with sample B (75.15%), C (68.71%), D (60.57%) and E (57.40%) in decreasing order. The protein content observed in the samples were; sample E (23.91%), D (22.53%), C (15.54%), B (11.81%) and sample A was the least (5.25%). The mineral analysis showed that flour blends B, C, D and E had higher values for all minerals determined except for sodium. The results obtained for functional properties of flour blends from sample B to E were higher in foaming capacity, solubility, water absorption and oil absorption capacity. The highest alkaloid content (6.43%) was observed in blend A and was followed by B (6.23%), C (5.99%), D (5.75%), and E (4.84mg/kg) in that decreasing order. From all indications, it was evidence that these flour blends sample had higher nutritional value, functional properties and lower amount of phytochemicals to cause any deleterious effects.

Study Design: A questionnaire survey was carried out on 25 eateries from 7 local government areas (LGAs) in Ibadan. Eateries and LGAs were selected by convenience purposive sampling. Four eateries at the most, comprising of standard and substandard types were selected from each of the LGAs. The questionnaire was designed to get information on the hygienic and sanitary condition involved in preparation of the ready to eat chicken meat.

Methodology: Questionnaires were administered to twenty-five eateries in seven LGAs in Ibadan. Data on food handling and preparation practices were obtained from questionnaire filled for each eatery by the representative.

Results: The results showed that most of the chickens were obtained frozen (84%) from cold food shops. Bore hole (88%) was the major source of water. Most (75%) of the prepared chicken were kept in heat regulated show cases.  Most of the respondents (91.3%) reported that they were not using the same chopping board for raw and ready to eat food items. Milton was used on utensils and chopping board by most (87.5%) of the respondents. All (100%) the respondents possessed licenses for operation. Majority (88%) of the respondents wore protective clothing while 96% of them always covered their hair. Septic tank latrines were means of disposal by nearly half (54.2%) of the respondents. There was no significant difference P >.05, in hygiene practices of the three classes.

Conclusion: Many eateries were supervised by well trained staff on food safety hygiene but in actual practice, hygienic standards were not thoroughly upheld.

The bioactive peptides produced by enzymatic hydrolysis, acid hydrolysis and fermentation approach have been identified and used widely in research. These methods are important in enhancement or prevention and management of chronic diseases that are ravaging the world such as type -2-diabetes, hypertension, oxidative stress, cancer, and obesity. Sources of bioactive peptides have been established ranging from plant to animal and marine foods that have pharmacological effects; however these effects are dependent on target cells and peptides structure and conformations.  Plants such as hemp and animal source such as milk among others validate the findings of In vitro and In-vivo studies and the efficiency of these bioactive peptides in the management of certain chronic diseases. This article reviews the literature on bioactive peptides with concern on food sources, production and bioactive peptides application in enhancement of health and management of hypertension, diabetes and oxidative stress.  Future research efforts on bioactive peptides should be directed towards elucidating specific sequenced bioactive peptides and their molecular mechanisms, through In-vivo and In-vitro studies for specific health condition in human using nutrigenomics and peptideomic approaches.