Abstract Cheese has become an important food item that may provide great nutritional benefits to consumers all over the world. Rennet is the most important milk coagulant obtained from calf stomach but nowadays due to lesser availability of ruminant stomach, higher rennet prices, religious concerns (Islamism; Halal / Haram) or the ban of recombinant calf rennet has given rise to the need for other substitutes than rennet. The present study was conducted to develop vegetative extracts of Citrus aurantium flowers, fig, pineapple, and melon extract as vegetative coagulants as an economical, easily available and halal source and their evaluation on basis of pH, dry matter protein content, milk clotting, and proteolytic activities potential in comparison with rennet and acid. The protein contents of CAFE, fig latex and bromelain were much greater than melon extract. The trend in milk clotting activity (MCA), proteolytic activity (PA) and MCA/PA ratio was rennet > acid > bromelain ˃ CAFE ˃ fig latex> melon extract. ORAC assay for antioxidant potential of extracts showed the following trend: fig latex 592 µM (TE)>CAFE 566 µM (TE)>bromelain 130 µM (TE)> melon extract 120 µM (TE) using Trolox as standard. These plant extracts proved a better substitute for animal rennet in the cheese industry.

Abstract To explore the protective effect of sesame seed oil (SSO) extracted from Til-06 sesame variety in Sprague-Dawley male rats against the management of hypercholesterolemia, the current two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, oil was taken out from the sesame seeds (Til-06) and physicochemical analysis was carried out to find out the content of oil following by the evaluation of the quality attributes of extracted oil. In the second phase, efficacy was carried out to check the hyperlipidemic activity of sesame seed oil. Randomly distributed twenty (20) rats into 5 different groups with four (04) rats in each group and for 60 days fed as follow; the first group was fed on a basal diet, while the other groups were fed with 2, 4, 6 and 8% SSO plus basal diet. Blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the study for biochemical study i.e. lipid profile which includes high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and antioxidant status. Findings of the present study indicate that the oral administration of SSO significantly (P < 0.05) improved the antioxidant status with lower TC, LDL-C, TG, VLDL-C, and higher HDL-C values of hypercholesterolemic rats.