It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, September 15, 2025
100 days later, US federal workers navigate post-Musk wreckage
Elon Musk, former the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), holds a chainsaw, a symbol of cost-cutting, as he speaks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2025 - Copyright AFP Adrian DENNIS Alex PIGMAN
Roughly 100 days after Elon Musk’s dramatic departure from the Trump White House, federal workers are still grappling with the lasting damage from his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The consequences of this unprecedented assault on the federal bureaucracy are expected to reverberate for years.
From his modest office in the executive building adjacent to the White House, Musk orchestrated an aggressive takeover of major government branches.
His strategy was surgical yet devastating: deploy small teams of tech experts to systematically dismantle and disrupt the nation’s more than 2 million-strong civil service.
The shock-and-awe campaign succeeded beyond expectations.
According to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan Washington-based NGO, nearly 200,000 civil servants have left the federal workforce so far.
For many of these workers — including numerous military veterans — the experience proved profoundly traumatic, with decades-long careers abruptly terminated and their life’s work dismissed as meaningless waste.
Following Musk’s very public falling-out with President Trump this spring, DOGE has been largely dismantled.
“Not much” remains of the original operation, explained Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service.
“It’s a little bit like Godzilla having flattened the city and left,” Stier told AFP. “Godzilla is gone, but there’s still a flattened city.”
– ‘Unfixable’ –
Musk himself now declares the US government “basically unfixable,” having concluded that lawmakers from both parties will resist spending cuts that could alienate voters and donors.
Most of DOGE’s leadership followed Musk’s exit, including Steve Davis, Musk’s trusted lieutenant who led the teams that infiltrated government offices and computer systems to implement budget cuts.
However, some operatives remain embedded throughout the federal government, working as regular employees while continuing to exert influence: making their activities harder to monitor.
“Don’t misunderstand the lack of the loud face that was Elon Musk to think they have disappeared,” warned one Pentagon worker, speaking anonymously to avoid retaliation. “DOGE is still alive and causing a ruckus.”
Several prominent Musk allies maintain significant positions.
Joe Gebbia, Airbnb co-founder and Tesla board member, now oversees the redesign of government websites.
Aram Moghaddassi serves as chief information officer at the Social Security Administration, though a whistleblower has accused his team of uploading a critical database to a vulnerable cloud server, potentially exposing hundreds of millions of Americans’ personal information to hackers.
Brad Smith, a health startup investor, initially left DOGE after implementing sweeping cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (now led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), but has returned to oversee global health initiatives at the State Department.
Scott Kupor, former managing partner at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, now heads the US Office of Personnel Management — the federal government’s massive human resources operation. His former boss, Marc Andreessen, remains highly influential within the White House.
Other Musk loyalists occupy more junior positions throughout the government.
In a bizarre development, Edward Coristine — who gained media attention under the nickname “Big Balls” — took a regular government job and helped trigger Trump’s decision to deploy the National Guard to patrol Washington’s streets after Coristine was assaulted in the capital.
– Who is DOGE? –
These changes have complicated DOGE’s very definition. “The question of, how do you define DOGE? Who is DOGE? has gotten a lot more complicated,” observed Faith Williams, director of the effective and accountable government program at the Project on Government Oversight.
Officially, Amy Gleeson, a health tech sector veteran, now leads the department as acting chief, but her White House influence is minimal. Federal workers report that DOGE’s mission has effectively been transferred to Russell Vought, a fierce opponent of government who now controls the powerful Office of Management and Budget.
For civil liberties advocate Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, these developments are “extremely worrisome” because DOGE’s work now operates “behind a curtain” and away from public scrutiny.
This hidden operation includes acts of incompetence and questionable decision-making, as reported by whistleblowers and disillusioned employees who have left government to expose wrongdoing.
“My bet is that for every whistleblower you see, there’s some very large multiple of bad things that have happened, which we don’t know about,” Stier warned.
The federal workforce meanwhile must continue to navigate this transformed landscape, dealing with skeleton crews and knowledge gaps while what is left of DOGE operates largely out of public view.
Dry eyes affect over half the general population, yet only a fifth receive diagnosis and treatment
European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
Copenhagen, Denmark: Dry eyes can cause significant discomfort, and the symptoms become more common as we age. However, until now, it was unclear what proportion of the population suffered from the condition, with estimates ranging from 5-50%.
In fact, research presented today (Monday) at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) [1], found that more than half of the general population in the USA and Europe experience dry eyes, yet only 20% of European patients and 17% of US patients were diagnosed, and they can wait years for professional help.
Dr Piotr Wozniak, refractive surgeon and dry eye specialist at Optegra Eye Clinics in Warsaw, Poland, and a lecturer and clinical instructor at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, told the Congress: “Results from our studies reveal a substantial group of patients suffering without help. The European questionnaire explored why people don’t seek treatment. Many see dry eye as a normal part of ageing and something to endure. As a medical doctor, I find this particularly concerning because a simple eye drop could offer significant relief – but many people aren’t even asking for help.”
Dr Wozniak presented findings from a survey of 2,003 adults in the US conducted in April 2024, and from an ongoing, international arm of the study conducted by Bausch and Lomb with over 5,000 adults in the UK, France, Germany, Poland, and Saudi Arabia: the ‘Needs Unmet in Dry Eye: Symptoms, Treatment and Severity’ (NESTS) study. In June 2025, the NESTS international arm surveyed 2,580 adults in the general population and 2,572 dry eye sufferers [2].
“In the NESTS study, we found that 58% of the general population reported experiencing dry eye symptoms, yet only one in five have received a formal diagnosis from a healthcare provider,” he said. “The large size of this study makes these results robust.
“The study explored the patient journey in detail. What stood out was that up to one-third of patients had experienced symptoms for more than five years before seeking professional help. NESTS also found that around half of sufferers experience symptoms every single day. The delay in seeking treatment is concerning, especially since dry eye is a progressive disease and early intervention can prevent a vicious cycle of inflammation.”
Other results from NESTS showed that 60% of dry eye sufferers waited at least four months before seeking help and 20% waited more than a year before talking to health care provider about their symptoms. Many sufferers stopped driving at night (17%), no longer wore makeup (14.8%), or reduced their use of heat or air conditioning (15.2%) due to their uncontrolled dry eye symptoms. One in three sufferers (34%) reported that their symptoms had worsened in the past year and only 9% said there had been an improvement.
Lubricating eye drops were the first and most common treatment, chosen either by the patient or by an eye or health care provider. Yet only 25% believed their current treatment was specifically tailored to their needs.
Dr Wozniak said: “NESTS also examined patient-provider interactions, revealing national differences. For example, in France fewer than half of dry eye sufferers had planned follow-up visits, while in Saudi Arabia, the majority, 84%, were proactively followed up by their providers.”
In the US study, eye dryness frequently affected 50% of survey respondents, and 80% experienced symptoms such as fatigue, itchy or watery eyes, but only 17% had a diagnosis from an eye care provider. Between 35-75% of people were very or extremely bothered by dry eyes, with reading, using electronic devices or driving being the most common activities to be disrupted; 70% lacked knowledge of treatment options; 40% were unaware that untreated dry eyes can cause other eye problems and vision loss; only about 25% visited an eye care provider every two years or more frequently; 67% of people with dry eyes waited six months or more to see an eye care provider, and 31% waited two or more years.
Dr Wozniak said: “These findings highlight the widespread impact of dry eye disease on quality of life, showing a large number of people suffering silently.
“We need to educate patients and the public on the causes, consequences and treatment options for dry eyes, as well as the importance of regular eye checks. In addition, we must support healthcare professionals in distinguishing between different types of dry eye and matching treatments appropriately. One person’s ‘dry eye’ can be very different from another’s.”
Diagnosis of dry eye often involves a combination of patient-reported symptoms, medical history and clinical tests. However, some patients are diagnosed only on the basis of symptoms and a standard eye examination, for instance with a microscope. Specific diagnostic tools include looking at the time it takes for a dry spot to appear on the cornea after a blink, using dye to stain the surface of the eye, measuring the concentrations of salts and other particles in tears, or an assessment of the Meibomian gland, which is responsible for producing the oily part of tears.
Left untreated, dry eyes can be very uncomfortable, can cause inflammation and a condition called blepharitis when eyelids become sore and inflamed. Symptoms include a sandy or gritty feeling, soreness, uncomfortable and painful eyes, itching or burning sensation, short-term blurred vision, and watery eyes. Dry eyes are more common in people over the age of 50 because the glands that make tears, particularly the oily component, become less effective, causing the tears to dry up too quickly and the front of the eye to become dry and irritated. The condition may also affect the outcome of nearly every ophthalmological surgery, including cataract and refractive procedures, making its diagnosis and management important, even before surgery takes place.
Dry, dusty, windy and cold conditions can also make eyes feel dry, as can air-conditioning, central heating, smoking and certain medical conditions such as autoimmune diseases and hormonal conditions.
ESCRS President, Dr Filomena Ribeiro, who is Head of the Ophthalmology Department at Hospital da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal, was not involved in the research. She commented: “These findings reveal the true extent of dry eye disease in the general population. It is concerning that such a small proportion of sufferers seek help for the condition, especially as it can make a real difference to the outcomes of ophthalmological surgery and also to their quality of life. Eye and health care professionals need to discuss this with patients when they see them and encourage people to have regular eye care checks.”
(ends)
[1] ESCRS25-PP-3336, ‘Dry eye symptoms, severity, treatment and unmet needs: an analysis of the United States of America and a multinational snapshot’, by Piotr Wozniak et al. Poster session: Ocular surface disease. 09:15-10:45 hrs CEST, Monday 15 September, https://pag.virtual-meeting.org/escrs/escrs2025/en-GB/pag/presentation/572147
[2] Data from the NESTS international arm became available after the abstract was submitted. Therefore, the information in this release represents the most up-to-date data that will be presented to the Congress.
Method of Research
Survey
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Dry eye symptoms, severity, treatment and unmet needs: an analysis of the United States of America and a multinational snapshot’
Article Publication Date
15-Sep-2025
Could we use eye drops instead of reading glasses as we age?
European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
Copenhagen, Denmark: Everybody develops presbyopia as they age – a difficulty in focusing on near objects and text – and often have to resort to reading glasses. However, the solution might be as simple as using special eye drops two or three times a day.
A retrospective study of 766 patients presented today (Sunday) at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) [1], found that the majority could read an extra two, three or more lines on the eye chart used for testing near visual acuity (the Jaeger chart) after using specially formulated eye drops. This improvement was sustained for up to two years.
Dr Giovanna Benozzi, director of the Center for Advanced Research for Presbyopia, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said: “We conducted this research due to the significant unmet medical need in presbyopia management. Current solutions such as reading glasses or surgical interventions have limitations, including inconvenience, social discomfort, and potential risks or complications. There is a group of presbyopia patients who have limited options besides spectacles, and who are not candidates for surgery; these are our primary focus of interest. We sought to provide robust clinical evidence supporting an innovative pharmacological solution to offer patients a non-invasive, convenient and effective alternative.”
The eye drops, developed by Dr Benozzi’s father, the late Dr Jorge Benozzi of the same centre, contain a combination of two active agents: pilocarpine, a drug that constricts the pupils and contracts the ciliary muscle, which is a muscle controlling the eye’s accommodation for seeing objects at varying distances, and diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that reduces inflammation and the discomfort that pilocarpine often causes.
Patients administered the eye drops twice a day, usually on waking and again approximately six hours later, with an optional third dose if symptoms recurred or additional visual comfort was needed. The group of patients (373 women and 393 men, with an average age of 55) were divided into three groups to receive one of three eye drop formulations. Each formulation had a fixed dose of diclofenac but concentrations of pilocarpine were 1%, 2% and 3%.
The researchers assessed the improvement in how well patients could read the Jaeger chart without reading glasses (uncorrected near visual acuity) one hour after the first administration of the drops, and they followed up the patients for two years.
Dr Benozzi told the Congress: “Our most significant result showed rapid and sustained improvements in near vision for all three concentrations. One hour after having the first drops, patients had an average improvement of 3.45 Jaeger lines. The treatment also improved focus at all distances.
“Impressively, 99% of 148 patients in the 1% pilocarpine group reached optimal near vision and were able to read two or more extra lines. Approximately 83% of all patients maintained good functional near vision at 12 months. Importantly, no significant adverse events like increased intraocular pressure or retinal detachment were observed.”
In the 2% group, 69% of 248 patients were able to read three or more extra lines on the Jaeger chart, and in the 3% group, 84% of 370 patients could read three or more extra lines.
The improvement in the patients’ vision was sustained for up to two years, with a median duration of 434 days. Adverse side effects were mild, with the most common being temporary dim vision, which occurred in 32% of cases, irritation when the drops were instilled (3.7%) and headache (3.8%). No patients discontinued the treatment.
Common adverse side effects of pilocarpine can also include eye redness, watery eyes, blurred vision, dim or dark vision, sensitivity to light or problems changing focus between objects, seeing flashes of light or “floaters” in vision, and, in rare cases, detached retinas.
Dr Benozzi continued: “Nearly all patients experienced positive improvements in near visual acuity, although the magnitude of the improvement depended on the status of their vision before treatment at baseline. Our study revealed that optimal pilocarpine concentrations could be individualised depending on the baseline severity of presbyopia as assessed by the initial Jaeger scores. Patients with less severe presbyopia responded best to 1% concentrations, while those with more advanced presbyopia required higher 2% or 3% concentrations to achieve significant visual improvement.”
She concluded: “These results suggest this combination therapy offers a safe, effective, and well-tolerated alternative to traditional presbyopia management. It significantly reduces dependence on reading glasses, providing a convenient, non-invasive option for patients, although these eye drops may not eliminate the need for glasses in all individuals.
“Importantly, this treatment is not intended to replace surgical interventions, but rather to serve as a valuable solution for patients who need safe, effective, and personalised alternatives and seek freedom from the inconvenience of eyewear. Eye care professionals now have an evidence-based pharmacological option that expands the spectrum of presbyopia care beyond glasses and surgery.”
Besides the group of patients in this study, Dr Benozzi has other patients who have received the treatment for more than ten years. Dr Benozzi plans further research to measure improvements in patients’ quality of life, and to explore the underlying physiological mechanisms of the eye drops.
Strengths of the study include the large number of patients included and the long follow-up time. It is the first systematic evaluation comparing three different pilocarpine concentrations in combination with diclofenac. A limitation is that it is a retrospective, single-centre study, which could limit the generalisability of the findings and introduce selection bias.
ESCRS President-Elect, Professor Burkhard Dick, chair of the ophthalmology department at the University Eye Hospital Bochum, Germany, was not involved in the research. He commented: “While surgery for age-related near vision loss has advanced, some patients are not candidates. The single-centre retrospective study by Dr Benozzi suggests that eye drops containing pilocarpine and diclofenac may improve near vision for up to two years, but the limited design means the results may not apply to everyone. Long-term pilocarpine use can sometimes cause side effects such as reduced night vision, dimmer vision in low light, eye strain, irritation and, in rare cases, retinal detachment, while prolonged topical NSAID use may pose corneal risks. Broader, long-term, multi-centre studies are needed to confirm safety and effectiveness before this treatment can be widely recommended.”
(ends)
[1] Abstract number: ESCRS25-FP-3944, ‘Dose-dependent efficacy and safety of pilocarpine-diclofenac eye drops for presbyopia: a real-world single-center study”, by Giovanna Benozzi et al. Free paper session on ‘Miscellaneous topics in cataract and refractive surgery’, 16:30-18:00 hrs CEST, Sunday 14 September, https://pag.virtual-meeting.org/escrs/escrs2025/en-GB/pag/presentation/570375
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Dose-dependent efficacy and safety of pilocarpine-diclofenac eye drops for presbyopia: a real-world single-center study
Article Publication Date
14-Sep-2025
School meals could drive economic growth and food system transformation
School meals, provided for free by governments around the world, could be used to curb global hunger and promote a sustainable global food system, finds a new study by UCL (University College London) researchers.
In a new report, “A Mission-Oriented Approach to School Meals: An opportunity for cross-departmental and multi-sector industrial strategy”, published by UCL Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose in collaboration with the UN World Food Programme, researchers looked at ways governments can use school meals procurement to encourage better farming practices, improve access to nutritious meals and increase local economic development. By examining case studies of Scotland, Sweden and Brazil, the team explored what has been done already to use school meals as an economic instrument, and what opportunities exist.
School meals are one of the most widespread social safety nets in the world, reaching an estimated 466 million children. With about US $84 billion (£62.2 billion) spent annually, they constitute a potentially powerful tool for governments to shape the economy and drive sustainable transformation across food systems.
The global food system, which is responsible for an estimated one-third of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), is the primary driver of biodiversity and ecosystem loss and a major contributor to land degradation and the global water crisis. Current school meals procurement often reinforces these problems.
The researchers call for school meal procurement to be redesigned to maximise public value by designing procurement strategies that provide nutritious meals, encourage sustainable farming and good production practices and increase participation from local producers. This would represent a general policy shift towards using public procurement to direct private sector behaviour towards public goals - from ‘fixing markets’ after the fact to proactively shaping markets.
Lead author, Professor Mariana Mazzucato (Founding Director, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose) said: “School meals are a tremendous opportunity for governments to use their purchasing power to promote the public good. By creating a market for school meals that are healthy, sustainable, tasty and accessible, well-designed food procurement can change the structure of local economies and lead to a more diverse, competitive, innovative and values-aligned supplier pool. This kind of mission-oriented industrial strategy should be seen as an investment, not a cost.” This work builds on Professor Mazzucato’s wider work on mission-oriented frameworks.
The report highlights lessons from Scotland’s school meals programme, which has sought to promote better health equality across the country since it was first established in 2007. Since then, it’s been expanded twice to include all students between primary school years one and five, with plans to further extend it to all primary school children.
While successful in tackling long-standing health and economic inequalities, the report goes on to say that the £238 million per year programme could do more to create market opportunities for local food producers and to promote Scotland’s net zero and other sustainability goals. The programme is administered separately by Scotland’s 32 local councils which manage their own food procurement and purchasing. With additional strategic coordination, including in the context of Scotland’s recently launched industrial strategy, the report finds that there’s significant potential for school meal policies to drive additional social, environmental and economic benefits.
Drawing on Sweden’s experience, the report points to the power of a mission-oriented approach to drive bottom-up innovation at the local level and the importance of engaging students in programme design. The country's innovation agency, Vinnova, worked with select municipalities and other government agencies to develop a series of prototypes aimed at achieving the mission of providing food to students that is healthy, sustainable and tasty. This example also has some limitations, however, again pointing to the importance of strong national level engagement and an integrated approach that connects school meals with broader food system transformation and industrial strategy agendas.
The team also looked at what has happened in Brazil. Brazil’s programme has evolved significantly since its inception in 1955, but now the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) or the National School Feeding Programme, is one of the world’s largest, serving over 50 million meals daily during the school year. It aims to combat child hunger, improve nutrition and education outcomes and create opportunities for family-run farms. Recently, it has also been highlighted as an instrument for achieving national industrial strategy goals related to food and nutrition security. Its operation is largely decentralised to the local level, but national requirements ensure that at least 30 percent of funds must be used to purchase food from family farmers and allows for more to be spent on food grown sustainably. These requirements have contributed to an increase in domestic food production, job creation, higher household incomes among participating producers, more diverse markets and wider adoption of sustainable practices.
Co-author Policy Fellow Sarah Doyle (UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose) said: “There is widespread agreement that school meals are good for kids. But until they are also understood as an opportunity for farmers and businesses, and for food system transformation, their potential won’t be met and they will continue to be underfunded. The global food system is failing to feed billions of people. It is also responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, is a major driver of ecological degradation and is facing declining productivity - challenges that will only intensify as the world’s population grows. As a tool of green industrial strategy, school meals procurement can create market opportunities that promote food system transformation and contribute to sustainable growth.”
This report was developed in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme.
Feeding blueberries to infants as one of their first solid foods may help strengthen their immune systems, reduce allergy symptoms and support healthy gut development, according to new research from the University of Colorado Anschutz.
To safely introduce blueberries to babies, the study authors recommend pureeing them for younger infants. For older babies and toddlers, blueberries should be mashed or cut into small pieces to eliminate choking hazards.
Published in NutrientsandFrontiers in Nutrition, the study is the first of its kind to rigorously test the effects of a specific food, blueberries, on infant health using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
“For parents beginning to wean their infants, it’s incredibly difficult to find solid, research-backed advice on what foods to introduce,” said senior author Minghua Tang, PhD, adjoint associate professor of pediatrics in the CU Anschutz School of Medicine’s Section of Nutrition. “This study is a critical first step in filling that gap by offering real data on how a specific food like blueberries can improve your infant’s health.”
The study followed 61 infants in the Denver area from five to 12 months of age. Each day, participants consumed either freeze-dried blueberry powder, or a placebo powder with no blueberries. Parents were free to feed their children as they normally would, simply adding the powder to their daily routine.
Researchers collected stool and blood samples every two months to monitor changes in the infants’ gut bacteria, immune system biomarkers and allergy-related outcomes. They also tracked growth and dietary habits.
Key findings include:
Improved allergy symptoms in infants who consumed blueberry powder (symptoms were pre-existing and not caused by blueberries).
Reduced inflammation and signs of a stronger immune response.
Positive shifts in gut microbiota, with changes considered beneficial for immune health.
“This research supports the idea that blueberries are not only safe for infants but also offer meaningful health benefits,” said Tang, who is also a researcher at the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) at CU Anschutz and Colorado State University. “Just a few blueberries a day could make a difference in supporting long-term health. We view infancy as a critical window of opportunity and what we introduce during this time can have lasting effects as children grow.”
The researchers believe it’s important to continue to explore what other early foods might help support healthy gut bacteria and a strong immune system as babies grow to ensure there’s better guidance in place for parents.
About the University of Colorado Anschutz
The University of Colorado Anschutz is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado – which see more than two million adult and pediatric patient visits yearly. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, CU Anschutz delivers life-changing treatments, patient care and professional training and conducts world-renowned research fueled by $910 million in annual research funding, including $757 million in sponsored awards and $153 million in philanthropic gifts.
A team of food scientists from Australia and Pakistan has discovered a natural way to significantly extend the shelf life of sugarcane juice, one of the world’s most popular, but highly perishable, beverages.
By adding microwave-dried extracts of mint and coriander to the juice in the production process, its shelf life can be extended from three days up to 14 days, researchers claim in a new paper published in Food Safety and Health.
Sugarcane juice is widely consumed in Southeast Asia, Africa and Brazil, and more recently in North America and parts of Europe, driven by a growing consumer interest in natural, unprocessed beverages with perceived health benefits.
However, it has a short shelf life due to its high sugar and water content, and rapid fermentation once it is exposed to air. Normally, synthetic preservatives are added to slow this process, but they are falling out of favour due to their carcinogenic links.
Lead researcher University of South Australia (UniSA) PhD candidate Zarnab Asif, who undertook this Masters research at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), says that mint and coriander are safe, natural alternatives.
“Not only are they natural antioxidants; they also extend the shelf life of sugarcane juice for up to a fortnight. This has huge implications for the global juice industry, particularly in tropical regions where sugarcane juice is often produced and sold fresh on the street,” Asif says.
“We have shown that natural antioxidants from mint and coriander, extracted using microwave drying, can slow microbial growth and prevent the juice from turning dark or developing off-flavours. This is a simple, low-cost solution for the juice and beverage industry.”
The research team tested both traditional methods of methanol extraction and a new microwave-assisted drying extraction method. By heating the leaves, microwaves release extracts containing antioxidants such as polyphenols, flavonoids and vitamin C more efficiently, while avoiding damage to heat-sensitive compounds.
Co-author Dr Tayyaba Alvi from Green International University in Lahore says that the microwave-derived mint extracts displayed antioxidant activity of 74%, higher than both methanol extracts and fresh leaves. Coriander extracts also performed strongly, though slightly less effective than mint.
“When added to sugarcane juice and refrigerated, the microwave extracts kept the juice fresh for two weeks, with minimal changes to colour or flavour,” according to Dr Alvi. “By contrast, juice treated with methanol extracts deteriorated within a few days.”
The research also supports growing consumer demands for natural products.
“People are becoming more cautious about synthetic additives, some of which are linked to health risks,” according to the principal investigator Dr Kashif Khan from UAF.
“Herbal extracts provide a safer, plant-based option that not only preserves juice, but may also add nutritional benefits,” Dr Khan says.
Microwave-assisted drying is also a more sustainable option than methanol extraction, requiring less time, solvent and energy than conventional methods, making it suitable for large-scale applications.
“Because this technology is simple and low cost, it could be adopted by small and medium-sized juice producers in developing countries.”
Future work will explore combining herbal extracts with other preservation methods, such as pasteurisation or innovative packaging, to further extend shelf life.
