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Exploring unconventional protein sources can be an alternative strategy to meet the deficiency. The seeds of Chirabilva (Holoptelea integrifolia Roxb., Family- Ulmaceae) are eaten raw by the ethnic communities of Southeast Asian countries. The present study assessed the chemical, nutritional, and biological potential of the seeds (HIS) and pericarp (HISP) of H. integrifolia. The seeds contain mainly fixed and very few essential oils. The fixed oil of HIS is composed primarily of unsaturated oleic (47%) and saturated palmitic (37%) acids. The HIS are exceptional due to a high content of lipid (50%), protein (24%), carbohydrates (19%), fiber (4%), and anti-nutritional components within permissible limits. The high content (in mg/Kg) of phosphorus (6000), magnesium (422), Calcium (279), and essential nutrients (Ni, Co, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, and Cr) in the range of (0.04-6.69) were observed. The moderate anti-oxidant potential of HISP was evident in single electron transfer in-vitro assays. Moreover, HISP extract and HIS solvent-extracted fixed oil showed anti-inflammatory action in lipopolysaccharide-induced HaCaT cells by significantly attenuating pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α) without causing cytotoxicity. Results support de-oiled HIS cake as an alternative source of a high-protein diet and its oil with anti-inflammatory attributes for topical applications.

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Trace metals are naturally occurring metals found in very small concentrations in the environment. In the context of fish flesh, metals such as copper, calcium, potassium, sodium, zinc, iron, and manganese are absorbed by fish and play vital roles in various physiological functions. However, if these metals exceed the recommended limits set by WHO/FAO, they are termed 'toxic metals' due to their harmful impacts on both the fish and its consumers. Therefore, the present study aims to analyze the levels of protein, lipids, and certain metals-Aluminum (Al), Sodium (Na), Zinc (Zn), Titanium (Ti), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca) in three commercially important marine fishes i.e. Rastrelliger kanagurta, Sardinella abella, and Otolithes ruber. The study also aims to assess their potential impact on human health. The macro-Kjeldhal method and Soxhlet apparatus were used to estimate protein and lipid contents, while atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) was used to estimate trace metals found in fishes. The study found that these fish species are valuable sources of protein, lipids, and certain essential minerals. The protein content (CP) in these three species ranged from 63.35 to 86.57%, while lipid content was from 21.05 to 23.86%. The overall results of the trace metal concentrations analyzed in the present study revealed that Aluminum (Al), Sodium (Na), Zinc (Zn), Titanium (Ti), Copper (Cu), Potassium (K), and Calcium (Ca) were found in low concentration or traces and also within suitable ranges as set by WHO/FAO. However, Iron (Fe) was absent in all three species. Moreover, both copper and potassium were found in all three species, while Zinc was present in Rastrelliger kanagurta and Sardinella abella, calcium in Sardinella abella, and sodium in Otolithes ruber only. Titanium was recorded for the first time in S. abella. However, the total health risk assessment associated with these fish food consumption was measured by THQ and TTHQ and found to be less than 1, which shows no potential risk related to trace metals found in these fishes on human health upon their consumption. In conclusion, these commercially important marine fish species were found valuable sources of protein, lipids, and essential trace minerals that are necessary for human health. Thus, the current study provides useful information for the local population to make informed decisions about their daily diets and highlights the importance of sustainable fishing practices to maintain these valuable marine resources by periodical monitoring of their ecosystem.

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BACKGROUND: Although research shows that children from households with low incomes have diet quality that is better during the school year vs the summer, very little research exists around the nutritional quality of summer meals available to children through the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) summer meals programs. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the extent to which summer meals contributed to meeting the daily nutritional goals from the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) for 9- to 13-year-olds. The current study also analyzed the types of food offered and the top food sources of energy and nutrients in summer lunches. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study analyzed a nationally representative sample of summer meal sites participating in the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) or the Seamless Summer Option (SSO). SETTING: Weekly lunch menus were obtained from 731 summer meal sites operating in the summer of 2018 (SFSP sites: n = 578; SSO sites: n = 153). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures included the most frequently offered foods in the major food groups. The energy and nutrient content of lunches offered were estimated and compared with the daily nutritional goals provided by the 2015-2020 DGAs for 9- to 13-year-olds. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Menu data were entered into USDA's SurveyNet and linked to the USDA's Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies 2015-2016. Foods were classified into major and minor food groups from the USDA's School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study. The energy and nutrient values were compared with the daily nutritional goals provided by the DGAs for children ages 9 to 13 years. RESULTS: Summer lunches provided substantial contributions toward the daily goals for energy and nutrients for 9- to 13-year-olds. SSO programs provided significantly more vegetables than SFSP programs (P < 0.05) and contained significantly higher amounts of vitamins A (P < 0.05), C (P < 0.05), and iron (P < 0.05). Sodium amounts were below the daily limit for 9- to 13-year-olds across both program types. CONCLUSIONS: Although SSO lunches offered more vegetables than SFSP lunches, lunches served in both SSO and SFSP contributed substantially toward the daily goals for energy and nutrients.

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Objective@#This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional adequacy and compliance with cardiovascular disease (CVD) guidelines in therapeutic diets implemented in four hospitals in General Santos City, Philippines. @*Methods@#The study employed a cross-sectional study and analyzed the one-day therapeutic menus of four hospitals using the Philippine Food Composition Table and the United States Department of Agriculture nutrient database. The nutrient contents calculated in this study were compared among hospitals and benchmarked against the Philippine Dietary Reference Intakes (PDRI) and CVD-specific guidelines, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC). The nutrient adequacy ratios (NARs) and the corresponding mean (SD) values were used to interpret the data.

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Background: Dietary monitoring is critical to maintaining human health. Social media platforms are widely used for daily recording and communication for individuals' diets and activities. The textual content shared on social media offers valuable resources for dietary monitoring. Objective: This study aims to describe the development of iFood, an applet providing personal dietary monitoring based on social media content, and validate its usability, which will enable efficient personal dietary monitoring. Methods: The process of the development and validation of iFood is divided into four steps: Diet datasets construction, diet record and analysis, diet monitoring applet design, and diet monitoring applet usability assessment. The diet datasets were constructed with the data collected from Weibo, Meishijie, and diet guidelines, which will be used as the basic knowledge for further model training in the phase of diet record and analysis. Then, the friendly user interface was designed to link users with backend functions. Finally, the applet was deployed as a WeChat applet and 10 users from the Beijing Union Medical College have been recruited to validate the usability of iFood. Results: Three dietary datasets, including User Visual-Textual Dataset, Dietary Information Expansion Dataset, and Diet Recipe Dataset have been constructed. The performance of 4 models for recognizing diet and fusing unimodality data was 40.43%(dictionary-based model), 18.45%(rule-based model), 59.95%(Inception-ResNet-v2), and 51.38% (K-nearest neighbor), respectively. Furthermore, we have designed a user-friendly interface for the iFood applet and conducted a usability assessment, which resulted in an above-average usability score. Conclusions: iFood is effective for managing individual dietary behaviors through its seamless integration with social media data. This study suggests that future products could utilize social media data to promote healthy lifestyles.

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OBJECTIVE: To nutritionally analyse lunches provided for 3-4-year-old children attending school nurseries. Energy and nutrient content are compared with nutrient frameworks underpinning voluntary guidelines for early years settings (EYS) and mandatory standards for infant schools (4-7-year-olds). DESIGN: A cross-sectional study, recording all main meals, vegetarian meals, jacket potato options, sandwich options and all desserts and accompaniments provided over 5 consecutive days in each school. Two portions of each meal were collected each day and weighed. Recipe and portion weight data were entered into nutrient analysis software. SETTING: School nurseries where lunch was provided by the school. SUBJECTS: Nine schools, providing a total of 161 meals. RESULTS: Lunches contained more energy (1881 kJ/450 kcal), fat (15·5 g), free sugars (10·5 g) and Na (424 mg) than suggested by the nutrient framework for EYS. Carbohydrate (60·6 g), protein (16·8 g), fibre (6·7 g), Fe (2·4 mg), Zn (2·0 mg), Ca (202 mg), vitamin A (304 µg) and vitamin C (19 mg) also exceeded minimum recommendations. Compared with a revised nutrient framework for infant schools, energy was within range, whilst saturated fat, free sugars and Na were above maximum recommendations for this age group, and Zn was below. Sandwich meals were lower in vitamin C (P < 0·001-P = 0·05) and Fe (P = 0·012-P = 0·017) and higher in Na (P < 0·001-P = 0·003) and Ca (P < 0·001-P = 0·05). CONCLUSION: Lunches provided for children attending school nurseries are more in line with the framework for 4-7-year-olds. Free sugars, saturated fat and Na are areas of concern consistent with previous studies. Protein is three times more than recommended. Large portions of cakes and biscuits contribute to excess energy provision.

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Sanitation systems involving onsite storage of faecal matter cause excreta to undergo transformation and primary treatment in-situ. However, little is known about the transformation pathway followed by fresh faeces while contained in situ. The current paper investigated this transformation under ambient conditions during a 16-week in-situ-storage period. Moisture content, drying kinetics, rheological, physicochemical, and thermal properties were analysed to determine the effects of ageing. The faeces experienced dehydration, mainly affecting moisture-dependent characteristics. Moisture content decreased from 79%wt to 26%wt, and water activity of 0.67, which corresponds mainly to the removal of interstitial bound water, reducing mass by 72%. The decreasing moisture content expectantly reduced drying ability, flowability and thermal properties (heat capacity and thermal conductivity). During this period, negligible biodegradation was recorded (volatile solids reduced by 3%), resulting in consistent chemical oxygen demand, particle size, carbon content and calorific values. Ammonium and nitrates decreased, but total nitrogen remained unchanged. Therefore, ageing affects nitrogen chemical forms and not nutrient composition. The findings demonstrate the benefits of source separation and in particular ventilated storage as a passive way to pre-treat and recover resources from faecal material.

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Several materials have been characterized using proximal sensors, but still incipient efforts have been driven to plant tissues. Eucalyptus spp. cultivation in Brazil covers approximately 7.47 million hectares, requiring faster methods to assess plant nutritional status. This study applies portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry to (i) distinguish Eucalyptus clones using pre-processed pXRF data; and (ii) predict the contents of eleven nutrients in the leaves of Eucalyptus (B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, N, P, S, and Zn) aiming to accelerate the diagnosis of nutrient deficiency. Nine hundred and twenty samples of Eucalyptus leaves were collected, oven-dried, ground, and analyzed using acid-digestion (conventional method) and using pXRF. Six machine learning algorithms were trained with 70% of pXRF data to model conventional results and the remaining 30% were used to validate the models using root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The principal component analysis clearly distinguished developmental stages based on pXRF data. Nine nutrients were accurately predicted, including N (not detected using pXRF spectrometry). Results for B and Mg were less satisfactory. This method can substantially accelerate decision-making and reduce costs for Eucalyptus foliar analysis, constituting an ecofriendly approach which should be tested for other crops.

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The high decline in liquid milk consumption in Western countries has been compensated by the increased consumption of processed dairy products and the rapidly increasing number of new plant-based beverages constantly introduced in the market, advertised as milk substitutes and placed on shelves near milk products. To provide better understanding about the nutritional value of these drinks compared with cow's milk, 27 plant-based drinks of 8 different species and two milk samples were purchased from two big retailers in Switzerland, and their composition regarding protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin, and mineral contents and residue load [glyphosate, aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), and arsenic] was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Energy and nutrient intakes were calculated and compared with the dietary reference values for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (D-A-CH). In addition, the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) was calculated to estimate the quality of the proteins. Milk contained more energy; fat; carbohydrate; vitamins C, B2, B12, and A; biotin; pantothenic acid; calcium; phosphorus; and iodine than most plant-based drinks. Soy drinks provided slightly more protein and markedly more vitamins B1 and B6, folic acid, and vitamins E and D2 (with supplemented vitamin D2) and K1, magnesium, manganese, iron, and copper than milk and the other plant-based drinks. However, with the exception of cow's milk and soy drinks, which had > 3% protein, most milk alternatives contained ≤ 1% protein; therefore, they cannot be considered good protein sources. In regard to protein quality, milk was outstanding compared with all plant-based drinks and exhibited higher calculated DIAASs. Our results show that the analyzed plant-based drinks are not real alternatives to milk in terms of nutrient composition, even if the actual fortification is taken into account. Improved fortification is still an issue and can be optimized using the most bioavailable and soluble derivatives. Complete replacement of milk with plant-based drinks without adjusting the overall diet can lead to deficiencies of certain important nutrients in the long term.

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Sewage sludge (SS) is rich in nutrient elements such as phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and potassium (K), and therefore a candidate material for use in agriculture. But high content of heavy metals (HMs) can be a major obstacle to its further utilization. Therefore, an appropriate HM removal technology is required before its land application. In this study, an innovative biodegradable agent (citric acid, FeCl3, ammonium hydroxide, tetrasodium iminodisuccinate (IDS), and tea saponin) assisted electrokinetic treatment (EK) was performed to investigate the HM removal efficiency (RHMs) and nutrient transportation. Citric acid, IDS, and FeCl3-assisted EK showed a preferable average RHMs (Rave) reduction of 52.74-59.23%, with low energy consumption. After treatment, the content of Hg (0.51 mg kg-1), Ni (13.23 mg kg-1), and Pb (26.45 mg kg-1) elements met the criteria of national risk control standard, in all cases. Following the treatment, most HMs in SS had a reduced potential to be absorbed by plants or be leached into water systems. Risk assessment indicated that the Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) value of HMs has decreased by 0.28-2.40, and the risk of Pb (Igeo=-0.74) reduced to unpolluted potential. Meanwhile, no excessive nutrient loss in SS occurred as a result of the treatment, on the contrary, there was a slight increase in P content (18.17 mg g-1). These results indicate that agent-assisted EK treatment could be an environmentally-friendly method for RHMs and nutrient element recovery from SS, opening new opportunities for sustainable SS recycling and its inclusion into circular economy concepts.

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This paper presents an autonomous robotic system, an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), for in-field soil sampling and analysis of nitrates. Compared to standard methods of soil analysis it has several advantages: each sample is individually analyzed compared to average sample analysis in standard methods; each sample is georeferenced, providing a map for precision base fertilizing; the process is fully autonomous; samples are analyzed in real-time, approximately 30 min per sample; and lightweight for less soil compaction. The robotic system has several modules: commercial robotic platform, anchoring module, sampling module, sample preparation module, sample analysis module, and communication module. The system is augmented with an in-house developed cloud-based platform. This platform uses satellite images, and an artificial intelligence (AI) proprietary algorithm to divide the target field into representative zones for sampling, thus, reducing and optimizing the number and locations of the samples. Based on this, a task is created for the robot to automatically sample at those locations. The user is provided with an in-house developed smartphone app enabling overview and monitoring of the task, changing the positions, removing and adding of the sampling points. The results of the measurements are uploaded to the cloud for further analysis and the creation of prescription maps for variable rate base fertilization.

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The evaluation of the quality of commercial diets is a topic of interest to dog owners and veterinarians. The aims of the study were to determine proximate analysis, metabolizable energy and some amino acids in dry dog diets for different ages, divided into three groups G1 (low price, grains included), G2 (medium price, grains included) and G3 (high price, grain-free). The hypothesis was tested that there are significant differences in the analysed values between dry dog diets from different price categories and between grain-free and grain-containing diets. Furthermore, the analysed values were compared with AAFCO and FEDIAF recommendations and with label values guaranteed by manufacturers to see whether there are any deviations. We analysed 60 samples of complete dry dog diets purchased in the Czech Republic, using the standard AOAC methods of proximate analysis. Metabolizable energy was calculated using the NRC equation, and 30 samples were analysed for selected amino acids. The results showed that there are significant differences in protein and amino acid contents between grain-free (G3) and grain-containing (G1,2) dog diets. G3 diets had significantly (p < 0.01) higher crude protein and essential amino acid contents. No significant differences were found between grain-containing diets G1 and G2. The results may indicate a higher proportion of animal components and a lower content of carbohydrates in G3 diets. Most of the tested dog diets met the AAFCO and FEDIAF recommendations. There were only a few deviations in threonine in G1 and G2 diets for growing dogs.

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Few studies have examined the dietary intake of low-income pregnant women participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The aim of this study was to assess the dietary quality of WIC-enrolled pregnant women and examine associations with maternal characteristics, nutrition knowledge, and key health indicators. Fifty-one WIC-enrolled pregnant women completed two sets of 3-day food records. Food records were analyzed for nutrient content, and diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015. Since an HEI score of less than 60 is indicative of the need to improve dietary quality, participants' HEI scores were divided into two categories: <60 and ≥60. The total mean HEI score of the cohort based on analysis of the first set of food records was 59.1 ± 12.5 (range 37.1-89.2), while the mean score for the second 3 days of food records was 56.8 ± 12.7 (range 30.0-89.0). The majority of participants did not consume the minimum recommended servings of whole vegetables. Those in the <60 HEI category consumed on average less than 50% of the recommended servings of whole fruits and whole grains. The diets of the majority of participants were high in saturated fat and sodium. More than one-third did not meet the recommendations for folate and iron intake, while less than half met the RDA for vitamin D. Choline intake was insufficient based on analysis of the first 3 days of food records. Our results indicate that the dietary quality of WIC-enrolled pregnant women requires improvement.

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The objective of this study was to determine the adsorbent potential of rice husk and its modified form for phosphate and nitrate removal from synthetic and swine-farm wastewater. The mechanism of adsorption as well as the potential of phosphate-/nitrate- adsorbed rice husk as nutrient rich residue was also investigated. Two-step modification of RH (using base-washing (BW) and chemical modification (CM) was conducted to compare the phosphate and nitrate removal. The effects of several factors (pH, sorbent dosage, contact time, initial concentration, and coexistence of both ions) were investigated to gain insight into the adsorption rate, behavior, and mechanism of the modified RH regarding phosphate and nitrate removal. The results of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the modification was successful by crosslinking with the amine group of the chemical agent. Fitting the adsorption kinetic data of phosphate showed physical adsorption, intraparticle diffusion, and chemisorption, whereas for nitrate, the data indicated mainly chemisorption. Fitting the adsorption isotherm data of phosphate and nitrate together showed adsorption on a monolayer coating of anions on the homogeneous sorbent's surface. The maximum phosphate and nitrate adsorption capacities were 6.94 and 2.46 mg/g, respectively, for a single adsorbate and 11.14 and 1.76 mg/g, respectively, for the binary solution. In real swine wastewater, removal efficiencies of phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, sulfate, and ammonia were 83.8%, 65.0%, >45.0%, 36.6%, and 2.6%, respectively, indicating that the modified RH would be effective for phosphate and nitrate removal from real wastewater. Finally, nutrient analysis of the phosphate- and nitrate-sorbed RH showed increases in nitrogen and phosphorus, which would be beneficial for further use of the RH as nutrient or fertilizer after adsorption.

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The development of portable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with smartphone cloud-based chemometrics has increased the power of these devices to provide real-time in-situ crop nutrient analysis. This capability provides the opportunity to address nutrient deficiencies early to optimise yield. The agriculture sector currently relies on results delivered via laboratory analysis. This involves the collection and preparation of leaf or soil samples during the growing season that are time-consuming and costly. This delays farmers from addressing deficiencies by several weeks which impacts yield potential; hence, requires a faster solution. This study evaluated the feasibility of using NIRS in estimating different macro- and micronutrients in cotton leaf tissues, assessing the accuracy of a portable handheld NIR spectrometer (wavelength range of 1,350-2,500 nm). This study first evaluated the ability of NIRS to predict leaf nutrient levels using dried and ground cotton leaf samples. The results showed the high accuracy of NIRS in predicting essential macronutrients (0.76 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.98 for N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S) and most micronutrients (0.64 ≤ R 2 ≤ 0.81 for Fe, Mn, Cu, Mo, B, Cl and Na). The results showed that the handheld NIR spectrometer is a practical option to accurately measure leaf nutrient concentrations. This research then assessed the possibility of applying NIRS on fresh leaves for potential in-field applications. NIRS was more accurate in estimating cotton leaf nutrients when applied on dried and ground leaf samples. However, the application of NIRS on fresh leaves was still quite accurate. Using fresh leaves, the prediction accuracy was reduced by 19% for macronutrients and 11% for micronutrients, compared to dried and ground samples. This study provides further evidence on the efficacy of using NIRS for field estimations of cotton nutrients in combination with a nutrient decision support tool, with an accuracy of 87.3% for macronutrients and 86.6% for micronutrients. This application would allow farmers to manage nutrients proactively to avoid yield penalties or environmental impacts.

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Recipe use impacts eating habits, yet there is limited research investigating the nutritional quality of recipes. Supermarket recipe magazines command large readerships, with over 4 million readers for each of the two major Australian supermarket publications. Assessing the nutrient content of featured recipes is therefore of public health interest. The nutrient content of 312 main-meal recipes from Coles®Magazine and Woolworths Fresh® were analyzed and compared against a traffic-light system for classifying nutrients of concern in chronic disease. Nutrient content was compared across recipe type (standard, advertorial and celebrity) and between recipes with and without health or nutrient claims. Overall compliance with the traffic-light criteria was low, with less than half of recipes meeting the target. Advertorial recipes had a higher energy (p = 0.001), saturated fat (p = 0.045) and sodium (p ≤ 0.001) content per serve, and per 100 g for sodium (p ≤ 0.001) compared to standard and celebrity recipes. Recipes with claims had greater compliance to the nutrient criteria (p < 0.001) compared to those without. These findings support previous research highlighting the poor nutritional quality of published recipes from a variety of sources.

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Introduction: Food insecurity is a growing concern among college students and is especially prevalent in rural areas. Food pantries often serve as a resource to food insecure individuals yet, their policies, standards, and nutritional quality vary due to the unpredictability of food donations. Purpose: To examine the nutritional quality of food items and adherence of best practices at local food pantries accessible to college students near a university in rural Appalachia. Methods: Three food pantries in North Carolina were selected due to their proximity to a local, rural university. Food items were analyzed for nutrient and food group content and compared to national recommended standards for a moderately active 20-year-old male student. Food pantry environments were analyzed using the Healthy Food Pantry Assessment Tool (HFPAT). Results: All pantries scored in acceptable ranges (39, 59, and 60) on the HFPAT. Food pantries provided 38% of total daily calories and below recommended daily levels for vitamin C (27%), vitamin D (5%), potassium (29%), and calcium (38%), but above recommended levels for sugar (220%), and trans-fat (342%). When all the food from food pantries were combined, they still did not meet food group recommendations, providing: 25% fruit, 50% vegetable, 9% grain, 15% protein, and 20% dairy servings over a 14-day period. Implications: In general, students who rely on food pantries as their sole source of food do not reach recommend levels for nutrients or food groups. Interventions, programs, and/or policies which increase the healthfulness of food pantry items are warranted to improve the quality of food available to food insecure college students.

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In this work, a high integrated water detection system comprised a miniaturized and high precision homemade colorimeter, a microfluidic analysis module and a wireless module was reported. A reagent reaction based on the ammonium molybdate spectrophotometric method was recorded for the estimation of phosphate in natural water. A laser self-modulating module of 880 nm was used as the radiation source. A microfluidic chip was employed to fit the colorimeter with an optimized micro flow path for low liquid consumption and high precision detection. The wireless module consisted of two parts, using ZigBee and GSM modules to realize short and remote displaying and controlling. Applying a novel optimized algorithm, a wide linear response was obtained ranging from 0.02 up to 9.5 mg L-1. The optimization of colorimeterare mainly in the core detection part, allowing an improvement of the detection limit, achieving a result of 0.009 mg L-1. A low reagent consumption of 0.004 mg ascorbic acid and 0.011 mg ammonium molybdate for per determination was attained. Experimental results have also shown that the system could maintain good stability among broad room temperature changing from 17 °C to 35 °C with less energy consumption. The miniaturized colorimeter-based water detection system opens new avenue for operating in remote distance to get high precision measurements of phosphate in natural water.

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For nearly 20years, the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP) has expanded and improved the quantity and quality of data in US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) food composition databases (FCDB) through the collection and analysis of nationally representative food samples. NFNAP employs statistically valid sampling plans, the Key Foods approach to identify and prioritize foods and nutrients, comprehensive quality control protocols, and analytical oversight to generate new and updated analytical data for food components. NFNAP has allowed the Nutrient Data Laboratory to keep up with the dynamic US food supply and emerging scientific research. Recently generated results for nationally representative food samples show marked changes compared to previous database values for selected nutrients. Monitoring changes in the composition of foods is critical in keeping FCDB up-to-date, so that they remain a vital tool in assessing the nutrient intake of national populations, as well as for providing dietary advice.

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We investigated the nutritional characteristics of salted radish roots (takuan-zuke) prepared using different methods: takuan-zuke based on sun-drying (hoshi) or salt-pressing (shio-oshi) dehydration, different salt-aging temperatures, and salting with rice bran. We examined differences in nutritional substances in salted radish using chromatographic analysis, bioassay methods, and multivariate analysis. We previously reported that the amount of γ-aminobutyrate in takuan-zuke was increased by both dehydration treatments. In the present study, we observed that sucrose and proline were increased by sun-drying treatment, while little change occurred with salt-pressing treatment. Branched-chain amino acids were increased by both treatments. Interestingly, free fatty acids increased with salt-aging duration, irrespective of the dehydration method. Addition of rice bran to long salt-aging treatment increased the levels of niacin, glutamate, and acetate. Metabolite concentrations were higher in hoshi takuan-zuke than shio-oshi takuan-zuke. Our comprehensive analysis reveals effects of specific manufacturing conditions on beneficial components of takuan-zuke.

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