The Politics of Common Sense? Pointers for Pakistan’s Political Economy

There has been little academic research on Pakistan’s political economy for some decades now. Analysis of transition, structural transformations and their resulting impact on the formation of social classes have been missing. Zaidi1 correctly notes that “Akhtar’s is amongst the very few, and most recent contribution that provides a substantive understanding of Pakistan’s political economy”. Some of the key questions, not answered completely or avoided all together in Akhtar’s book, especially those that relate to the subject of religious class/or Islamization and the notion of secularism and secularist elite, have been raised by Akbar S Zaidi in his brilliant review of Akhtar’s book. The present review focuses on more substantive theoretical and empirical issues raised by Akhtar’s class analysis of Pakistan’s political economy. Framed

Evaluation of Nutraceutical Potential of Ajwa Dates

Dates (Phoenix dactylifera L.) have important role in human health, due to its high nutritional and economic values. The study was planned to explore the nutraceutical potential of ajwa date flesh and pits in comparison to local varieties in four different phases. 1) Proximate analysis and mineral profile 2) Extraction and characterization of polyphenols 3) Biological evaluation of date extracts against lipo-protein profile and induced renal cancer 4) Development of chocolate date bar. In first phase, results indicated that among all date flesh parts, ajwa variety was high in moisture (22.8 %), ash (3.22 %) while zaidy variety has highest amounts of glucose (54.5%), fructose (52.03%), maltose (22.5%), and galactose (12 .2%) contents while in pits, ajwa variety have highest amounts of crude fat (7.8%), crude fiber (43%), TDF (33.9%), IDF (10.6), and SDF (12.5%) in comparison with other varieties (Aseel and zaidy). Similarly, Date flesh was found better source of mineral as compared to pits whereas potassium was richly found in both parts. In second phase, Results indicated that ajwa pits have highest amount of TPC (3932.3 mg GAE/100g), TFC (2956.2 mg QEC/100g) DPPH (96.3%) and ABTS (86.2%) activity respectively) in 90% ethanol. In 3rd phase, results revealed that ajwa pits among all date varieties and parts significantly reduces total protein, total cholesterol, total triglycerides and LDL levels and increases HDL levels in both genders of mice. Whereas ajwa pits were also found to increase CAT, GPx and SOD levels. In 4th phase, ajwa flesh and pits extracts were optimized at different levels for utilizing in chocolate date bar and their effects on sensory parameters. Results revealed that 10% level of ajwa flesh and 15% level of ajwa pit are optimized levels that can be utilized for preparation of date chocolate bars. These nutraceutical ingredients will also provide benefits to the common consumer and the industry to improve the nutritional quality of the foods and health of the people thereafter.