**5. Conclusions**

obese individuals. Although no significant difference between groups were observed, daily steps increased, and time of TV viewing, dietary intake, body fat percentage, waist and hip circumference significantly decreased after both interventions. Only stepping during watching TV could be a feasible approach for improving obesity. In the modern world, walking in a break during work is effective for weight loss. Levine and Miller [42] investigated whether the change of work environment affect individuals' energy expenditure at workplace. The vertical workstation that allows obese workers to use a personal computer while walking on a treadmill was established. The mean energy expenditure while walking at workplace was 191 kcal per hour, which was significantly higher than energy expenditure while seated at work (72 kcal per hour). This amount of energy expenditure could be equal to a weight loss of 20–30 kg per year. Furthermore, they assessed the effect of using an office-place stepping device housed under a desk on workers' energy expenditure [43]. The mean increase of energy expenditure in obese office workers was 335 kcal per hour, which could be equal to a weight loss of 20 kg per year. Changing living environments to change sedentary behavior will increase NEAT and decrease body weight. Each NEAT is small; however, "Many a little makes a mickle." To increase NEAT should be effective for improving obesity (**Figure 1**). NEAT is intricately regulated by endocrine, genetic, and sociological factors [39]. Sarcolipin [44] and ventromedial hypothalamic melanocortin receptor [45] have been of current interest as new mediators of NEAT. Sarcolipin, which consists of 31 amino acids and is highly expressed in skeletal muscle, plays a role in energy expenditure. Sopariwala et al. [44] showed that sarcolipin overexpression mice are more resistant to fatigue and more physically active compared with wild type. This newly identified regulator may increase non-shivering thermogenesis in humans [45] and could be effective to increase energy expenditure and control weight gain in obese individuals [46]. The ventromedial hypothalamus also has an important role in regulating energy balance, and the brain melanocortin system not only decreases appetite but increases physical activity [45, 47]. Gavini et al. [48] showed that intra-ventromedial hypothalamus melanocortin receptor activation increased physical activity and induced the elevation of mRNA expression of mediators of energy expenditure such as uncoupling proteins, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor gamma coactivator 1-α, and AMP-activated protein kinase. Modulating melanocortin receptors in the ventromedial hypothalamus may contribute to increase of NEAT. Identifying such novel mechanisms to increase energy expenditure is expected to be applied in the treatment of obesity. Moreover, the significant associations of NEAT with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia have been identified [49–53]. NEAT intervention in addition to structured exercise prescription certainly improves obesity and metabolic diseases. To elucidate the effectiveness of NEAT for metabolic diseases, and further CVD, as well as obesity, well-designed longitudinal studies in humans are warranted. On the other hand, how to measure NEAT accurately under freeliving (accelerometry, doubly labeled water method, or a completely new method?) and how to intervene NEAT (recommendation or supervised program?) are still unknown. The development of measurement and intervention method of NEAT will be needed to conduct

140 Adiposity - Epidemiology and Treatment Modalities

such clinical studies.

Exercise interventions are essential for the management of obesity. However, exercise alone is not sufficient for long-term weight loss and improving CVD risk factors. Diet seems to be more effective for treating obesity than exercise. On the other hand, exercise improves cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle fitness, which leads to prevent sarcopenic obesity in the elderly. Exercise therapy should be performed in conjunction with diet therapy to improve obesity. Although a number of systematic reviews have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of exercise for obesity, small number of subjects, short duration, and the heterogeneity of exercise modes between clinical studies makes it difficult to conclude. The optimal intensity, frequency, and duration of exercise to improve obesity and its comorbidities are not fully elucidated. In addition, NEAT is the main determinant of variability in daily energy expenditure, which considerably contributes to weight change in humans. The current evidence regarding NEAT is limited, but NEAT plays an important role for treating obesity. To my knowledge, there are no clinical studies which include "NEAT only" interventions besides volitional physical activity to investigate the effects of NEAT on obesity and metabolic diseases. This is a challenge for the future.


*2.1. Black Pepper [Piper nigrum L.]—Origin, Types and Properties*

Black pepper [*Piper nigrum* L.] is one of the most popular and one of the oldest spices [9]. It comes from the Malabar Coast of south-western India from where its journey around the world began. It is grown in many countries, including India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. The great career of pepper began in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with the era of geographical discoveries. The spice is the dried seeds of this tropical evergreen plant. It occurs in several stages of harvesting as white, green and black pepper and differs in the degree of maturity and method of treatment.

Black pepper is obtained from unripe fruits by drying, most often in the sun, until the skin acquires a very dark color, almost black. Many factors influence the quality of black pepper (Figure 1). One of the factors affecting the quality of this spice is the variety of the plant. The Indian Spice Research Institute in India maintains the world's largest collection of over 2000 varieties [9]. Other factors shaping the quality of black pepper are details of production including, inter alia, conditions of growing, harvesting, threshing, drying, cleaning, storage and standardization. The quality of black pepper depends largely on the size of the corns, color, the content of light, damaged peppercorns, humidity, the presence of foreign bodies such as animal excrement, and the presence of insects. These factors are fundamentally determined by the practices of harvesting, processing and the treatment of peppercorns on plantations and the classification and storage procedures adopted by exporters. Another aspect of quality is the level of microbial contamination, which should not exceed the permissible limits [10]. The commercial quality of black pepper is determined by pre-treatment and treatment of grains after harvest. Most often, peppercorn is blanched and intensively dried, as a result of which it usually contains less than 10% water.

However, pepper drying is not always carried out in mechanical dryers. In India, a very popular method is the solarization of pepper, which involves drying pepper in the sun after blanching in hot water [11]. Pepper is grown in tropical conditions characterized by high temperature, high precipitation and humidity. Such conditions are favorable to the development of fungi, which leads to an increased occurrence of mycotoxins, especially in the absence of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) [12]. For additional protection of black pepper against mycotoxins, as well as for decontamination, gamma irradiation is used [13]. Increasingly, however, consumers are looking for organic or bio-based products. Such alternative cultivation methods include, for example, the combined use of *Rhizosphere* bacteria with endophytic bacteria, which inhibits root diseases and increases the productivity of black pepper. Organic cultivation, on the other hand, provides pepper without pesticide and herbicide residues [14–16]. Additional factors affecting the quality of pepper are climate change and economic and social factors. Research conducted by Karamawati et al. [17] shows that Indonesian farmers are switching from pepper to oil palms farming for this

reason, which brings higher profits and requires less work. The growing conditions and commercial quality of black pepper affect the sensory characteristics, which gives satisfaction to consumers. Unfortunately, the consumers are often disappointed with the quality of the spice when they discern the lack of information about the origin of the spice or the content does not correspond to the name of the product. To identify and study the authenticity of black pepper, very advanced research methods such as infrared spectroscopy with Fourier-transform using chemometry or metabolomic studies using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry must be used [18,19]. These methods are very expensive, time-consuming and require a huge commitment of forces and resources and very well-equipped research laboratories. Therefore, the study of authenticity and traceability seeks fast, non-destructive methods based on the analysis of various data using chemometry, which will shorten and accelerate the research at least at the initial stage of identification [20,21]. The sensory and health properties of black pepper arise from its composition. Black pepper (*Piper nigrum* L.) contains compounds that can be classified into three groups. The first group consists of compounds that determine the sharpness of black pepper, the second includes substances that determine its aroma, and the third group consists of other compounds such as: fiber, starch, polyphenols, mineral salts, lipids [22]. The compound, which determines the pungent aroma of black pepper is piperine, together with its analogues.

**Figure 1.** Factors influencing the black pepper (*Piper nigrum* L.) quality. *Source: own study*.

From its detection by Hans Christian Ørsted in 1819, 55 piperine analogues were identified in black pepper [23]. The essential oil of black pepper also has very rich composition. It contains terpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and their oxidized forms in the amount of 1–3%. Its composition is influenced by geographical origin and respective production process. A very important ingredient of black pepper is oleoresin, derived by extraction in the amount of 6–13%. It consists of 15–20% of essential oil and 35–55% piperine [24–26]. For the consumer, the quality of spice is determined by its seasoning properties (the smell and taste giving and improving in different dishes). The health properties of black pepper and piperine are presented on Figure 2 and in Table 1.

**Figure 2.** Health properties of black pepper and piperine. *Source: own study*.

*Source: own study.*


Contents

#### **Preface XI**

Chapter 1 **Potentials of Selected Tropical Crops and Manure as Sources of Biofuels 1**  Babajide A. Adelekan

**X** Contents

Preface

subject.

working in the field.

There is a great challenge for the management of waste, especially in generating clean energy that will decrease the burden of environmental pollution, with the fields of both science and technology working in unison to develop new ways of utilizing and extending it's shelf-life by developing alternative uses. Until now, there have been a lot of publications dealing with solid waste management, but there are still very few documents that can provide information regarding the use of this waste as a raw material. In the last few years, research has been focused on the transformation of waste into a useful product has made considerable progress. In developing countries, due to imbalance of demand and supply of energy, mainly in rural areas, choosing a source that fulfills the requirements has become essential, and they can use waste as other raw materials. Biogas, which is mainly generated from organic waste, is useful for them. In this context, a book on "Biogas", in which the emphasis is made on the chemistry of each step involved in biogas generation along with engineering principles and practices, is introduced. Each chapter of the book carries valuable and updated information from basics to apex, helping readers to understand more precisely. Different concepts have been covered to expand the views of the readers about the

This publication will be very helpful to academics, researchers, NGOs and others

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI),

**Dr. Sunil Kumar**

India

Kolkata Zonal Laboratory I-8, Kolkata,