Eutech ph 700

The “TA-XT plus texture analyzer” (“Stable Micro system, Godalming, UK”) was used to perform the TBF-INopt gel texture analysis based on several criteria including “hardness”, “adhesiveness”, “work of cohesion”, and “cohesiveness”. The research was done by putting TBF-INopt gel in a glass beaker and compressing it (50 mL). The probe travelled a distance of 10,000 mm at a “test speed of 2.0 mm/s”. The probe was brought back using the “post-test speed of 2.0 mm/s”. On contact with the gel, the upper probe met the automatic “trigger force of 10.0 g”. The programme “Texture Exponent 32” was utilised to analyse the force necessary to separate the probe from the gel. The pH was measured using a digital pH metre after dissolving one gram of gel in 100 millilitres of distilled water to determine the pH (“Eutech pH 700 Eutech Instruments, Singapore”) [28 (link)].

TBN-CSNP-loaded P407 gel was evaluated for organoleptic properties. The organoleptic evaluation was conducted by observing the color, clarity, phase separation, and formation of precipitates visually.
The pH was determined by dissolving 1 g of gel in 100 mL of distilled water and evaluated for pH using a digital pH meter (Eutech pH 700 Eutech Instruments, Singapore) [30 (link)].

Drinking water samples from 20 different bottled water companies were purchased from Japanese supermarkets. The water sources were distributed across the country of Japan (Figure 2), which gives a wider geographical distribution to capture any potential effects of variability of the underlying geology of the regions. To increase representativeness, multiple bottles were purchased for each bottled water company and combined into a single sample. All water samples originated from natural mineral water sources.
To determine the chemical characteristics of the bottled water, pH and water hardness were evaluated using a pH meter (Eutech pH 700, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) and by determining the contents of magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca) by ICP–MS (ELAN 9000, Perkin Elmer, Germany), respectively. The water hardness (CaCO₃ content) was calculated using Equation (1).

According to WHO guidelines [23 ], waters are classified on the basis of their hardness into soft (CaCO₃ < 60), moderately hard (60 < CaCO₃ < 120), hard (120 < CaCO₃ < 180) and very hard (CaCO₃ > 180).