Investigating the relevance of Environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Saudi Arabia: towards energy efficiency and minimal carbon dioxide emission

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - The Saudi economy is driven by the energy sector which mainly derived from petroleum-based resources. Besides export, the Kingdom’s consumption...     

Liaison of phenolic acids and biological activity of escalating cultivars of Daucus carota

The objective of the present study was to analyze and compare the phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacities of new lines of Dacus carota. The selected cultivars showed high variation in the contents of total phenolics (30.26–65.39 mg/100 g FW) and total ascorbic acid (41.12–58.36 mg/100 g FW). Analysis on RP-HPLC revealed that hydroxycinnamic acids and its derivatives were major phenolic compounds present in D. carota extracts, whereas 5-caffeolquinic acid was a major hydroxycinnamic acid (ranged from 30.26 to 65.39 mg/100 g FW). DCP cultivar showed high total antioxidant capacity (77.69 mg/100 g), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging capacity (52.36 mg/100 g), superoxide radical scavenging capacity (53.69 mg/100 g), and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity (51.91 mg/100 g). A linear relationship was found between total phenolic acid contents and antioxidant capacity. Both phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacities varied significantly (ρ < 0.05) among cultivars. DCP cultivar was found to be a rich source of phenolics and ascorbic acid with high antioxidant activity.     

Optimisation of processing variables affecting the osmotic dehydration of pomegranate arils

For the optimisation of osmotic dehydration by response surface methodology, the experiments were conducted according to Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) with three variables at five levels. The low and high levels of the variables were 40 and 50 °C for osmotic solution temperature, 45 and 55°Bx for sucrose solution concentration, 60 and 100 min for duration of dipping in osmotic solution, respectively. The fruit to solution ratio was kept 1:4 (w/w) during all the experiments. Before dipping the arils in sucrose solution, the freezing of the whole pomegranate at ?18 °C was carried out to increase the permeability of the outer cellular layer of the arils. The arils were further convectively dehydrated at 60 °C air temperature up to final moisture content of 10% (wb) to make it a shelf stable product. The optimum conditions for osmotic solution concentration, temperature and process duration were 55°Bx, 40 °C and 100 min, respectively.     

Optimisation of osmotic dehydration of carrot cubes in sucrose-salt solutions using response surface methodology

Osmotic dehydration of carrot cubes in ternary solution of water, sucrose and sodium chloride at different solution concentrations, temperatures and process durations were analysed for water loss and solute gain during osmotic dehydration. The osmotically pre-treated carrot cubes were further dehydrated in a cabinet dryer at 65 °C and were then rehydrated in water at ambient temperature of water for 10–12 h and were analysed for rehydration ratio, shrinkage and overall acceptability after rehydration. The process was optimised for maximum water loss, rehydration ratio and overall acceptability of the rehydrated product, and for minimum solute gain and shrinkage of rehydrated product by response surface methodology. The optimum conditions of various process parameters are 50°B+10% w/v aqueous sodium chloride concentration, 46.5 °C solution temperature and 180 min process duration.