ICAPS 2022

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    A study on consumer preference for instant food products and the development of a pumpkin- and canistel-based instant pudding powder mix
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) De Silva, W. S. A.; Pathiraje, P. M. H. D.; Peiris, T. U. S.
    Consumer preferences are changing from time to time. Therefore, this study was conducted among working and non-working women in the Ratnapura district to identify current consumer preferences for instant food products and pumpkin-based food products. The results of this study revealed that convenience in preparation is the main reason for purchasing instant foods. However, many consumers believe that instant foods are not healthy. According to this survey, occupation, working hours per day, and the average income of the family influence, consumer preference towards instant food products. There were significant differences among occupation (X2 = 47.5, P = 0.011), working hours per day (X2 = 3.74, P = 0.019) and average income of the family (X2 = 24.52, P = 0.001). The majority of the respondents (202) preferred to see plant-based instant foods in the local market. Additionally, many respondents (80.6%) stated that the available pudding/pudding mixes at the local market are not good for health, mainly due to less nutrients, high sugar content and too much added artificial ingredients. Therefore, this study will be useful to the manufacturers of instant foods to understand the preferences of modern consumers to enhance sales. Furthermore, this study revealed that the consumption of pumpkin and availability of pumpkin-based products in the local market are low although the post-harvest loss of pumpkin is high in Sri Lanka. Many respondents (64.5%) stated that they do not like much for the taste of pumpkin although, majority of the respondents (64.2%) were aware of the nutritional value of pumpkin. However, many respondents (83.9%) preferred to purchase new pumpkin-based food products. Therefore, pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)- and canistel (Pouteria campechiana) -based instant pudding mix fortified with pumpkin and chia seeds was also developed in this study. This novel, cost effective, and convenient pudding mix was found to be a good source of β-carotene (7.34 mg/100 g) and fibre (4.89%). Four pudding formulae were prepared with different proportions of ingredients. A sensory evaluation was conducted to evaluate consumer acceptance for colour, texture, taste, aroma, appearance, overall acceptability and purchasing intention using a nine-point hedonic scale. The sensory attributes of the best treatment were compared with a local commercial pudding mix. The formula with 37% pumpkin powder and 25% canistel powder was significantly different from other treatments and showed the highest mean scores for all sensory attributes. Additionally, the sensory attributes of the new pudding mix were similar to the compared locally available pudding mix except for colour and aroma. Therefore, this study revealed that there is a potential to develop a tasty, nutritionally rich, and microbiologically safe pudding mix from pumpkin and canistel.
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    Development of a pomegranate based jelly
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Senanayake, P. U. A.; Ranaweera, K. K. D. S.
    Jelly is a semi solid preserved mixture of fruit juice and sugar. Chemical and artificial ingredients were used for preparation of jelly products and it has a major health related concern. Hence, this study was aimed to develop a value added product using pomegranate which is a popular functional fruit. A pomegranate based jelly was prepared using different concentration of pomegranate juice and Gracilaria seaweeds and constant concentration of Hibiscus, sugar and citric acid as a health promoting product. Four samples of jelly were prepared, and 1st part of the sensory evaluation was done using a non-trained panel of thirty members, and the best sample was selected based on the sensory evaluation. The second part of the sensory evaluation was done comparing the selected sample with a control sample Proximate and physicochemical properties were analysed by using AOAC methods. Data were analysed with MINITAB-19 version at 0.01 significance levels. The proximate analysis of jelly sample was done to determine moisture content, protein content, fat content, ash content, total sugar content, pH value and titratable acidity. The proximate analysis of sample PJ002 revealed 43.66% moisture content, 8.36% protein content, 0% fat content, 0.38% ash content, 90.33% total sugar content, 3.07 pH value and 3.03 titratable acidity. Hence, the sample number PJ002 has the overall best acceptance. The comparison of all microbial parameters (coliform, yeast, mould and total plate count) with the SLS standards for four weeks were below the SLS standards. Hence pomegranate based jelly product has a prolonged shelf life of four weeks under refrigerator conditions below 40c. Finally, based on the sensory, Proximate and microbial analysis, it can be concluded that pomegranate based jelly can be proposed as a product having consumer acceptability.
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    Nutritional information and healthiness of ready-to-eat/cooked packaged food products available for children in Sri Lanka and attitudes of parents living in Western province toward purchasing
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Grero, K. M. U.; Pathiraje, P. M. H. D.; Herath, T.
    As a result of drastic changes in dietary habits and lifestyles, overweight and obesity among schoolchildren in Sri Lanka have more than doubled in the last decade. Research show that a substantial percentage of urban schoolchildren tend to consume excessive amounts of processed foods on daily basis. Children’s food purchases and choices are primarily depend on parents/guardians. Thus, the present study is carried out to assess the nutritional content and healthfulness of ready-to-eat (RTE) and ready-to-cook (RTC) packaged foods available in Sri Lankan supermarkets, and parental attitudes toward purchasing them. The Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) for Sri Lanka was used to evaluate RTE/RTC foods and nonalcoholic beverages as they are more likely to be part of a healthy or less healthy diet based on the nutritional information on the package. In total, 192 products were collected and categorized into highly consuming five broad food categories; (i) ready-to-eat cereal, fine bakery wares, and confectionery products (ii) ready to eat savouries (iii) sugary beverages (iv) milk and dairy products and (v) prepared/ready-to-cook foods, to collect nutritional information. Among collected food products, 29 (15%) products were unable to evaluate due to incomplete nutritional labelling while all the tested food products were unable to be recognized as healthier for marketing. Moreover, among 26 (13.54%) products that carried health and nutrition-related claims, 19 (73.7%) were recognized as less healthy, while others were unable to evaluate due to the absence of nutritional information. A descriptive research design was used to identify the factors influencing parents’ purchasing behaviour towards RTE/RTC food products. Using an online questionnaire, a sample size of 151 parents/guardians living in Western province who had one or more children, between the ages of 3-13 were selected using a stratified random sampling method. Results of the multiple regression model analysis revealed that the monthly household income, children’s influence/preference, and commercial aspects are positively influenced (p<0.05) by the parent’s purchasing behaviour. Even though, parents’ opinion was negatively influenced (p<0.05) the parent’s purchasing behaviour toward RTE/RTC food products. The findings suggest that effective policies should be implemented to increase the relative availability of healthier ready-to-eat packaged foods, as well as to improve the provision of nutritional labelling.
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    Development of ash gourd (Benincasa hispida) and banana (Musaceae) pseudo-stem sauce
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Thathsarani, M. L. P.; Jayawardena, J. A. E. C.; Edirisinghe, U. A. S. K.
    Ash gourd (Benincasa hispida), an underutilized fruit that has the potential to develop value-added products due to its high medicinal and nutritional value. In addition, banana central core, a biological waste of banana production is also known to have therapeutic properties. However, consumption of pseudo-stem is not commonly observed. Therefore, this study was aimed to develop a value-added sauce based product, from ash gourd and banana pseudo stem. Freshly prepared ash gourd pulp (AG) and, banana pseudo-stem pulp (BS) were mixed in different ratios to obtain three different blended sauces: F1 (AG: 50%, BS: 30%), F2 (AG: 60%, BS: 20%) and, F3 (AG: 70%, BS: 10%). Prepared sauce samples were analyzed for sensory attributes (colour, odour, texture, taste and, overall acceptability) using 30-semi-trained panelists and hedonic scale. Blended sauce F2 was more accepted than other two formulas with respect to all tested sensory attributes. Therefore, F2 formula was selected for physiochemical analysis and, stored at refrigerated (4°C) condition for microbial evaluation for six weeks. The results of physicochemical properties evaluation revealed, 100 g of F2 formula contains 2.51± 0.15 g of protein, 0.72 ± 0.09 g of fat, 2.21 ± 0.04 g of fiber and, 2.08 ± 0.05 g of ash. pH, brix value and Titratable acidity were recorded as 4.25, 26° & 0.84%, respectively. At weekly intervals, samples were tested for microbial growth. Up to six weeks of storage, total colony count was below the acceptable CFU value for sauce. However, microbial growth was gradually increased and, reached 100 CFU/g at the sixth week, making the sauce unacceptable and unsafe for consumption. Thus, the developed ash gourd and banana pseudo-stem sauce formula F2 can be stored under the refrigerated condition at least up to six weeks.
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    Mapping of well water and soil parameters in a selected Grama Niladhari division of Gampaha district
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Pathirana, H. P. K. V. T.; De Silva, R. C. L.
    This study intends to fill an essential knowledge gap in the field of environmental information in Sri Lanka, by providing a reliable data bank supporting the information of existing chemical species of two important components, well water and soil. Further, this study would provide reference information for future work and aid in explaining the changes that would occur due to the changes in chemical composition of the environment. Thalawathuhenpita North Grama Niladhari division was selected as the initial site of study and sampling was done from 23 locations, where two representative samples of each soil and well water were collected from each site. All chemicals, instruments and glassware used were from recognized chemical supply companies. This study investigates several important well water quality parameters such as pH determined by a pH meter, well water hardness and Calcium content using complexometric titrations, nitrate content using a spectrometric analysis, Iron content using a colorimetric analysis, and soil quality parameters such as active pH using a pH meter, water-soluble and exchangeable cations (Na+, K+) using a flame photometer and water-soluble and exchangeable Ca2+ using complexometric titration, organic matter content using a redox titration, iron content and nitrate content were determined similar to well water analysis. The readings were duplicated and reported as means ± standard deviation, and contour maps were produced using Surfer ® (Golden Software, LLC). Maps depict the scope of variation of the determined parameters within the selected area and highlight that it is crucial to monitor the environmental resources chemically in a regular manner to address the environmental problems that may occur in the future. The mapping of the entire country on a fixed and frequent basis will give environmentalists, scientists and policymakers information about a given environment and thus make monitoring and policy making of an area easy.
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    Isolation and characterization of cellulose nanocrystals from cotton balls by using sulfuric acid hydrolysis
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Samarawickrama, K. G. R.; Wijayapala, U. G. S.; Fernando, C. A. N.
    Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) is a nanoscale material isolated by removing the amorphous regions in cellulose fibres by employing the acid hydrolysis method. In this study, CNCs from the cotton balls were isolated by acid hydrolysis using sulfuric acid. The cotton balls are made from 100% premium pre-treated and high-quality cotton fibres. The sulfuric acid hydrolysis process was performed with 64% (w/w) sulfuric acid and combined using a liquor ratio of 1:20 with cotton fibres while being subjected to strong magnetic stirring, which was carried out at 50oC for 60 minutes. The CNCs have been characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The isolated CNCs have needle-shaped particles with a 6.35 nm average diameter and a length of 108.8 nm on average. The FTIR spectrum showed the functional groups of the isolated CNCs from cotton balls. The crystalline configuration of the cellulose nanocrystal can be seen in the ensuing XRD diffraction pattern.
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    Computational assessment of novel derivatives of gingerol as potential anti Alzheimer agents
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Disanayaka, D. M. I. M.; Dahanayake, J. N.
    Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is commonly used as a spice and folk medicine, which helps to prevent heart diseases, high blood pressure and lung diseases. Gingerols, zingiberene, shogaols and monoterpenes are the principal components of the extract of ginger. Gingerol is known to provide protective effects against Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD is a neurodegenerative disease, resulting in loss of cognitive activity and memory and impaired signalling among brain cells. There are only a few approved drugs available for AD. Since developing synthetic chemicals as drugs is a challenging task, many pharmaceutical companies are now focused on the development of plant-derived drugs. Therefore, discovering natural products with medicinal properties for AD as lead compounds can be considered as an important task. There are five main proteins involved in AD: Amyloid precursor protein (APP), Tau protein, Amyloid β-protein (Aβ), Alzheimer's Beta A fibrils (Aβ - fibrils) and Acetylcholine esterase (AChE). In this study, the effects of 6-gingerol eight gingerol derivatives on those five main proteins highly associated with AD were considered to investigate anti-Alzheimer activities. Donepezil which is commonly used as a clinical drug in Alzheimer was considered as a reference compound. Initially, energy minimized structures of 6-gingerol, and its derivatives were obtained using molecular mechanical calculations. Docking studies were carried out for the 6-gingerol and suggested derivatives with AD related proteins. Through docking studies, secondary interactions with target proteins and amino acid residues in binding pockets were identified. The binding affinities of derivatives with proteins were compared with the binding affinity of the parent molecule (6-gingerol). According to the results, the parent molecule and studied derivatives have good binding affinities with Acetylcholinesterase. Therefore, further studies of molecular dynamic (MD) simulation studies were performed for the Acetylcholinesterase-ligand complexes for 50 ns using the CHARMM36 force field. The trajectories obtained from MD simulations were used to calculate the radius of gyration (Rg), root mean square deviation (RMSD) and root mean square fluctuation (RMSF). According to the Rg and RMSD results, the studied protein-ligand complexes were stable throughout the simulation time. Further, RMSF results of derivatives were compared with the results of 6-gingerol parent molecule, in order to investigate the higher binding affinities of the derivatives. The stability of the complexes is an essential feature which can provide information about the lifetime of the complex. Therefore, the ligand bound to the proteins can act as an inhibitor and inhibit the specific function of that protein. Since Rg and RMSD results showed the stability of the protein-ligand complexes, it can be stated that the studied gingerol derivatives have the ability to inhibit AChE. Therefore, the MD analysis results, along with docking results, indicated that the studied gingerol derivatives have the potential to act as promising anti-Alzheimer agents.
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    Preliminary studies of antibacterial and antifungal properties of typical Sri Lankan curry powder
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Weerarathne, H. K.; Kadigamuwa, C. C.
    Curry powder is a mixture of ground spices that are typically used to enhance flavour, aroma, colour, and consistency in curries. The common Sri Lankan curry powder consists of coriander seeds (Coriandrum sativum L.), cumin seeds (Cuminum cyminum), fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), cinnamon sticks (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) as main five ingredients. Mostly, these ingredients are used according to a suitable ratio (coriander: cumin: fennel: cinnamon: curry leaves, 16: 8: 4: 2: 1, respectively) in the mixture. This study evaluates antibacterial activity of common Sri Lankan curry powder against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae and antifungal activity of common Sri Lankan curry powder against Candida albicans and Aspergillus welwitschiae. The agar disk diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial effect of curry powder and each of the spices in curry powder individually on microbial growth of S. aureus, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae bacterial strains. Aqueous extracts of the spices were used for the study. Similarly, the agar disk diffusion method was done for both C. albicans and A. welwitschiae and the spore germination inhibition analysis was done for A. welwitschiae to determine the antifungal activity. Bacterial strains with different OD600 values (E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and C. albicans, with OD600 values of 0.3, 0.4, 0.2, and 0.4, respectively) were used in the agar disk diffusion method. Distilled water was used as the negative control for both bacterial and fungal strains. Amoxicillin was used as the positive control for all bacterial strains and carbendazim was used as the positive control for fungal strains. The spore suspension of A. welwitschiae was used for spore germination inhibition analysis. A. welwitschiae growth was observed through phase contrast microscope with distilled water as the negative control and curry powder mixture as the test sample. It was observed that coriander showed antibacterial activity against E. coli (0.7 0 cm) and K. pneumoniae (0.7 0 cm). Cinnamon showed antibacterial activity against E. coli (0.8 0.1 cm) and K. pneumoniae (0.7 0 cm). Curry leaves showed antibacterial activity against E. coli (0.7 0.1 cm) and S. aureus (0.7 0 cm). Cumin showed antibacterial activity against K. pneumoniae (0.7 0 cm). Fennel did not show antibacterial activity for any test strains studied. The curry powder mixture showed antibacterial activity against E. coli (0.7 0.1 cm) and K. pneumoniae (0.7 0.1 cm). Cinnamon (0.7 0.1 cm), curry leaves (0.8 0.1 cm), and curry powder mixture (0.7 0.1 cm) showed antifungal activity against C. albicans. There was no antifungal activity against A. welwitschiae in both the agar disk diffusion and slide culture method by curry powder mixture. Cinnamon was found to be the most effective spice against tested microorganisms. The weakest antimicrobial activity was displayed by the fennel. From the results obtained in this study, it could be concluded that even though laboratory-prepared, unroasted curry powder mixture has antibacterial and antifungal activity, it is less effective than its individual unroasted ingredients, which gave better inhibition results.
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    Larvicidal effect of extracellular extracts of Trichoderma longibrachiatum and Trichoderma viride against Aedes aegypti
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Tharaka, W. G. H.; Perera, S. A. D. S.; Amarasinghe, L. D.; Wickramarachchi, S.
    Aedes aegypti is a potential vector for transmitting dreadful diseases such as yellow fever, ZIKA, dengue and chikungunya, leading to global health problems. However, there is no warranted controlling method for these diseases other than controlling the vector. Apart from destroying breeding sites, use of larvicides is also important in larval control of the vector. Synthetic chemical insecticides, which dominate mosquito control programmes, are hazardous and exert unwarranted toxicity on non-targeted organisms, and lead to develop physiological resistance in target insects. Therefore, environmentally friendly, fungal mediated insecticides have been a priority at present. In current study, larvicidal effect of extra cellular fungal extracts of Trichoderma longibrachiatum and Trichoderma viride against 3rd instar larvae of Ae. aegypti was investigated. The fungi were grown in Richard’s broth medium containing glucose, agar, potassium nitrate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, magnesium sulphate and ferric chloride. Eighteen different test concentrations of extracellular fungal filtrates, in a range from 0.625gL-1to 175gL-1, were prepared and batches of 25 number of laboratory reared 3rd instar larvae of Ae. aegypti were exposed to each test concentration separately with three replicates. Control bioassays were conducted with distilled water and larval mortality was recorded after 24 and 48 hour exposure periods. Results revealed that extracellular extracts of T. viride exhibited high larvicidal activity against Ae. aegypti larvae compared to the larvicidal activity of T. longibrachiatum. LC50 values for 3rd instar larvae of Ae. aegypti at 24 hours to the extracellular extracts of T. viride and T. longibrachiatum were 99.92 gL-1 and 114.98 gL-1respectively whereas LC50 values at 48 hours of exposure to the extracellular extracts of T. viride and T. longibrachiatum were 92.46 gL-1 and 108.71 gL-1 respectively. This study concludes that extracellular fungal extracts of T. longibrachiatum and T. viride can act as potential larvicides against Ae. aegypti and they can be used as alternatives for hazardous synthetic insecticides.
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    Identification of geographical origin using selected elements in tea produced in different tea regions of Sri Lanka
    (Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Alwis, M. D. N.; Amarakoon, A. M. T.
    Tea, derived from the leaves and buds of the shrub Camellia sinensis, is one of the world's most popular beverages owing to its unique flavour, aroma, and therapeutic properties. Due to the tendency for heavy metal accumulation in the plant, processed tea needs to be analyzed frequently to ensure its adherence to maximum limits in international standards. However, recent data is not available on the metal content in Ceylon tea. Ceylon Tea grown in certain geographical areas in Sri Lanka has also gained great popularity in the global tea market mainly due to its unique taste characteristics. As a result, identifying the geographical region of production for Ceylon tea is important to ensure its authenticity as well. Therefore, this preliminary investigation aimed to determine the content of twenty-seven elements and build a simple model that could be used to distinguish the geographical origin of Ceylon tea using processed tea leaves. Four samples each were selected from factories in all seven tea growing regions of Sri Lanka except from Nuwaraeliya (3 samples) and Kandy (2 samples) and analyzed using Microwave digestion and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Statistical evaluation was conducted with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson’s correlation, and cluster analysis with a dendrogram using Minitab 19 software package. A relatively high number of elements; Be, U, Ag, Ga, Tl, Li, Cs, Cd, As, and V were found within the range of 0.01-1.0 (mg/kg) and only Co, Pb, Ni, and Cr were in the range of 1.0 – 10.0 (mg/kg). Se, Sr, Ba, Rb, and Cu were in the range of 10.0 – 100.0 (mg/kg). Metals such as Zn, In, Fe, and Mn were detected in concentrations below 1000.0 mg/kg. And above 1000.0 mg/kg were the elements Al, Mg, Sn, and K. These results revealed that other than Pb, the content of all other metals was below the maximum limits recommended by the Sri Lanka Tea Board. Furthermore, in cluster analysis, Tl, In, Ga, Ag, Cs, and U mainly contributed to the variability across regions. Therefore, based on the limited number of samples analyzed, there is a possibility to use those six elements to identify the region of production. However, this needs further confirmation considering a greater number of samples and the heterogeneity of metal content in the soil in corresponding tea-growing regions to provide a broader understanding of the correlation between levels of the metals in tea leaves and its native soil.