The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad, recently conducted a study on 14 fresh fruits and 120-130 foods so as to compile a database on the antioxidant activity on most commonly consumed foods in India.

The study was conducted on most commonly consumed fresh fruits in India such as guava, pine-apple, Indian plum, mango (ripe), apple, chiku, watermelon, custard apple, grapes (green), orange, papaya (ripe), pomegranate, sweet lime and banana.

"This was the first-of-its kind research carried and interestingly, out of 14 fresh fruits, we found that mango and guava were rich in antioxidants," Dr Sreeramulu, scientist, endocrinology and metabolism division, NIN, Hyderabad, informed FnB News in a telephonic talk.

Ramulu said that the data available on most commonly consumed foods and fresh fruits were scanty on antioxidant activity (AOA) that had also received less attention so far in the country, hence it was pertinent to determine the AOA in such foods.

He said that the findings were quite interesting as the research indicated that fruits which were rich sources of nutrition and that were rich in antioxidants helped scavenge the free radicals that destroy tissues.

In the study, guava came in at the top with antioxidant activity ranging from as high as 496 mg/100 gm to as low as 22 mg/100 gm in pineapple. He further said that antioxidants play a crucial role in preventing cellular damage which was the most common reason for ageing, cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Initially for the study, three samples of each variety of fresh fruit were purchased from each of the three local markets, pooled and considered as a single sample of that market. Total quantity of each pooled sample was 250-300 gm. Adequate care was then taken to avoid unripe, damaged and overripe fruits.

Fruits purchased from the market were cleaned and edible portions were cut into small pieces and extracted with acidified aqueous methanol. Briefly, edible portions of total sample were powdered in a domestic blender where fresh fruits were directly taken into polytron homogeniser and extracted. Extraction and analysis of antioxidant activity and total phenolic content was done separately in three market samples.
Ramulu mentioned that epidemiological studies suggest that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of degenerative diseases and that the current lifestyle caused overproduction of free radicals and reactive oxygen species.
Therefore, natural antioxidants protect from oxidative stress and associated diseases and play an important role in healthcare whereby, plant foods were the primary source of natural antioxidants. Fruits and vegetables are important dietary sources of antioxidant polyphenols to humans.

"As compared to fresh fruits, polyphenolic content and AOA of dryfruits are expected to be high due to their low moisture content with increased shelf life. In recent times, natural antioxidants have attracted considerable interest among nutritionists, food manufacturers and consumers because of their presumed safety and potential therapeutic value," he pointed out.

The number of people falling ill with tuberculosis has declined for the first time, according to the World Health Organization.

New figures show the global death toll has also fallen, to its lowest level in a decade, with major headway made in China, Brazil, Kenya and Tanzania.

But the WHO warns that a lack of funds threatens progress, especially in relation to multi-drug resistant TB.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said there was no cause for complacency.

According to the WHO, the figures represent a significant milestone in the battle against a disease that infects one third of the world's population, although only a small proportion become sick as a result.

The number of people who died from tuberculosis peaked at 1.8 million people in 2003; by 2010 this had declined to 1.4 million.
Challenges ahead

Spectacular progress was made in China, said the WHO, where the death rate fell by almost 80% between 1990 and 2010. In Kenya and Tanzania there has also been a substantial decline in the last decade after a peak linked to the HIV epidemic.

"This is major progress. But it is no cause for complacency," the UN Secretary-General said in a statement.

"Too many millions still develop TB each year, and too many die. I urge serious and sustained support for TB prevention and care, especially for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people."

Money is the key to the current progress, said the WHO, particularly domestic funding in larger countries like Brazil.

But the organisation warned that substantial challenges lie ahead, with a projected gap in funding of $1bn for 2012.

Another problem is the multi-drug resistant form of the disease.

A new rapid test is revolutionising diagnosis but there is a concern that only a small percentage of the people diagnosed with multi-drug resistant TB are receiving treatment.

Researchers say thinness inherited by children

Children whose parents are thin are three times more likely to be slim than children whose parents are overweight, a British study suggests.

Children and teens who are apparently healthy can be categorized as underweight in developed countries, and parents are often concerned about how to feed a son or daughter who is thin. Researchers at University College London did the first known study to investigate how thinness might be transmitted between generations.Researchers at University College London did the first known study to investigate how thinness might be transmitted between generations. Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters

But low weight may simply represent the low end of the healthy distribution of weight.

To find out more, researchers at University College London did the first known study to investigate how thinness might be transmitted between generations.

The study in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine showed a strong family influence on pediatric thinness, based on the results of a health survey from 2001-06 that measured heights and weights of 7,000 families.

Lead author Dr. Katriina Whitaker of UCL Epidemiology & Public Health and her co-authors found:

When both parents were in the thinner half of the healthy weight range, the chance of the child being thin was 16.2 per cent.
7.8 per cent when both parents were in the upper half of the healthy weight range.
5.3 per cent with two overweight parents.
2.5 per cent for children with two obese parents.

About 5.7 per cent or 402 of the 7,078 children and teenagers in the study were categorized as thin according to the International Obesity Task Force.

The study suggests children of thinner parents are likely to be genetically predisposed to have a lower body weight.

'As long as thinner infants stay on track ... and especially if their parents are thin, there may be no cause for concern regarding the weight of those children and adolescents and no need for parents to change their feeding practices,' the study's authors concluded.

This study was funded by a grant from Cancer Research UK.

As many as 72 percent of sexually active young people in India have had sex with new partners without any protection, reported the Press Trust of India quoting an international survey as saying Monday.

At least 40 percent of the youth polled in India say they had problems accessing contraceptives when they needed, while 36 percent said they knew a close friend or family member who has had an unplanned pregnancy, said the report.

Also, nearly a one-third got wrong information about contraception from friends, according to the survey, which was conducted in April-May this year and focused on the issue of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections by 11 international NGOs.

This was the third such survey, the people covered were in the age bracket 15-35.

A new study has found that women who smoke heavily may experience more chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Researchers at the University of Kentucky surveyed more than 6,000 Kentucky women over age 18 on their smoking habits and symptoms of chronic pain.

They found that women who smoke, or were former smokers, had a greater chance of reporting at least one chronic pain syndrome.

Syndromes included in the analysis were fibromyalgia, sciatica, chronic neck pain, chronic back pain, joint pain, chronic head pain, nerve problems, and pain all over the body.

Former smokers showed a 20 percent increase, occasional smokers showed a 68 percent increase, and in daily smokers the odds more than doubled (104 percent).

In addition, daily smoking was associated more strongly with chronic pain than older age, lower educational attainment, obesity, or living in an Appalachian county.

"This study shows a strong relationship between heavy smoking and chronic pain in women," said co-author Dr. David Mannino, a pulmonary physician in the UK College of Public Health.

"There's a definite connection, but the direction of it is uncertain," he added.

The findings have been published in the journal of Pain.