Physicochemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of Yeast Extract Powder After the Biofield Energy Treatment

What is it about?

Yeast extract powder (YE powder) is particularly used in culture media for the cultivation of microorganisms found in milk or other dairy products. The present study was intended to explore the influence of biofield energy treatment on the physicochemical and spectral properties of YE powder. The study was accomplished in two groups; first group was remained as control, while another was subjected to Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment and termed as the treated group. Afterward, both the samples were evaluated using several analytical techniques. The X-ray diffractometry (XRD) study showed the halo patterns of XRD peaks in both the samples. This indicated the amorphous nature of the samples. The particle size study revealed the 4.77% and 26.28% increase d50 (in the average particle size) and d99 (particle size below that 99% particles are present), respectively of treated YE powder with respect to the control. The surface area analysis showed the 14.06% increase in the specific surface area of treated sample with respect to the control. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis exhibited the 41.64% increase in the melting temperature of treated YE powder sample as compared to the control. The TGA/DTG analysis exhibited the increase in Tonset (onset temperature of thermal degradation) by 7.51% and 12.45% in first and second step of thermal degradation, respectively in the treated sample as compared to the control. Furthermore, the Tmax (maximum thermal degradation temperature) was increased by 4.16% and 24.79% in first and second step of thermal degradation, respectively in the treated sample with respect to the control. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) study revealed the changes in the wavenumber of functional groups such as C-H (stretching) from 2895→2883 cm-1 and 2815→2831 cm-1, respectively; C-N from 1230→1242 cm-1; and C-O stretching from 1062-1147 cm-1→1072-1149 cm-1 of treated YE powder sample as compared to the control. The UV-vis spectroscopy showed the similar patterns of absorbance maxima (λmax) in both the control and treated samples. Therefore, the analytical results suggested the considerable impact of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment on physicochemical and spectral properties of YE powder. The increase in Tonset and Tmax after the biofield treatment suggests that the treated YE powder might be more effective in culture medium than the control YE powder.

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Why is it important?

Yeast extract powder (YE powder) is the common name used for several forms of processed yeast products [1]. It is prepared from selected strain of Saccharomyces under precise condition, in order to retain all the nutritive values, vitamins (especially B complex), amino acids, and growth factors [2, 3]. It is used as food additive, flavoring agent, or as nutrient in culture media for the cultivation of microorganisms, which encounter in milk or other dairy products. It is also used along with beef extract or in place of beef extract in the growth medium [4, 5]. The yeast extracts and fermented foods contain mainly glutamic acid, which in solution form with sodium ion is equivalent to the monosodium glutamate [6]. Owing to numerous controversies associated to monosodium glutamate, the food manufacturers write yeast extract on food packaging label instead of monosodium glutamate [7]. Sterilization of culture medium plays a significant role on its quality. Sterilization by autoclaving is the common technique during the preparation of culture medium [8]. However, the extreme heat treatment of complex culture media may result in demolition of the nutrients either by chemical reactions among the components or by direct thermal degradation [9]. Hence, a technique is required that can improve the overall stability of the YE powder. Recently, the energy therapies have been reported for beneficial effects in the several fields throughout the world. Biofield energy treatment is one of the energy therapy that been a crucial part of shamanic and other healing practices for as long as existed human societies [10, 11]. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) defines the biofield therapies as manipulation of various energy fields (measurable or putative) to affect the health. Practices based on putative energy fields include qi gong, reiki, therapeutic touch, and healing touch [12]. Similarly, the biofield energy treatment is also a putative energy therapy that has been recently reported in several fields for its usefulness [13-15]. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanisms of the energy medicine such as healer interventions, electromagnetic therapies, bioelectromagnetics, biophoton emission, bioelectromagnetic information, etc. [16]. According to the theory of consciousness and theory of physical resonance, the healer’s intent to heal, that may interact with the physical realm [16, 17]; and according to physical resonance theory, the energy can be exchanged between the energy fields of healer and patient [18]. Thus, the human can harness the energy from universe and transfer it to the object (living or non-living). Mr. Mahendra Kumar Trivedi is the well-known practitioner of biofield energy treatment (The Trivedi Effect®) that has been studied in the several fields including the microbiology research [13], biotechnology research [14], agricultural science research [15], etc. Additionally, The Trivedi Effect® has been also reported to alter the various properties such as particle size, surface area, crystallite size, thermal and spectral properties of organic compounds [19] and organic products [20]. Therefore, based on the outstanding impact of biofield energy treatment in several areas, the present study was aimed to explore the effect of biofield energy treatment on the physicochemical and spectral properties of YE powder. The treated YE powder was analyzed using various analytical techniques such as X-ray diffractometry (XRD), particle size analysis, surface area analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis/derivative thermogravimetry (TGA/DTG), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and UV-vis spectroscopy.