Hexavalent chromium bioreduction by chromium-resistant sporulating bacteria isolated from tannery effluent

The main polluting source of heavy metal contamination of water is the leather tanning industry, which uses chrome powder and discharges it into the nearby ecosystem. In this investigation, chromium-resistant bacterial strains were isolated and characterized from tannery effluent. Based on morphological and biochemical characterization, the predominant sporulating Bacillus sp. was isolated and identified as Bacillus subtilis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Chromium degradation by the bacterial strain was evaluated using the flask culture method at three different concentrations (300, 600, and 900 µg/ml) of Cr (VI), and the reduction potential of the isolated bacterium was analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. A maximum reduction of approximately 78% was found at 24 hrs of incubation at pH 7 and at a constant temperature of 30°C. More than 50% of the Cr(VI) was decreased in 24 hours when the Cr(VI) concentration varied from 300 to 900 g/ml. FTIR analysis showed the involvement of hydroxyl and amine groups in chromium adsorption. As an outcome, this strain could be a promising bioagent for the environmentally friendly elimination of toxic Cr(VI) from polluted environments

Clitoria ternatea L.Fabaceae

Clitoria albiflora Mattei; Clitoria bracteata Poir.; Clitoria mearnsii De Wild.; Clitoria philippensis Perr.; Clitoria spectabilis Salisb.; Clitoria tanganicensis Micheli; Clitoria ternatea f. fasciculata Fantz; Clitoria ternatea var. major Paxton; Clitoria ternatea var. pleniflora Fantz; Clitoria ternatensium Crantz; Clitoria zanzibarensis Vatke; Deguelia javanica (Miq.) Taub.; Derris javanica Miq.; Lathyrus spectabilis Forssk.; Nauchea bracteata Dupuis ex Descourt.; Nauchea ternatea (L.) Descourt.; Phaseolus clitorius Noronha; Pterocarpus javanicus (Miq.) Kuntze; Ternatea indica J.St.-Hil.; Ternatea ternatea (L.) Kuntze; Ternatea vulgaris Kunth (POWO 2019

Household, community, sub-national and country-level predictors of primary cooking fuel switching in nine countries from the PURE study

Introduction. Switchingfrom polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal)to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions.While studies have evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse community settings, is not well understood. Methods.We examined longitudinal survey data from 24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study.We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a median of 10 years offollow up (∼2005–2015).We used hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households(12 369)reported changing their primary cookingfuels between baseline andfollow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582) switchedfrom polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene)to clean (gas, electricity)fuels, 26% (3109)switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164)switched from clean to polluting fuels and 3% (522)switched between different clean fuels

IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL AND TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT OF BARLERIA LONGIFLORA LEAF EXTRACTS

Objective: The aim of this present study is to estimate the antioxidant potential found in the leaves of Barleria longiflora that belongs to the family Acanthacea. Methods: Antioxidant activity of six different solvent extracts system of B. longiflora leaves was assayed for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical activity, scavenging of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ferric reducing antioxidant activity, metal chelating ability assay, and total reducing ability. Total phenolic content of the extracts was determined by Folin–Ciocalteu method. Results: The radical scavenging activity was evaluated by DPPH of ethanol extract at concentration of 100 μg/mg was found to be 56.5% followed by methanol 48.4%, whereas maximum scavenging of H2O2 was observed in ethanol 83.4% followed by chloroform 70.8%. Ethanolic extract of B. longiflora leaves showed the highest value in ferric reducing antioxidant power assay 74.8%, metal chelating activity 61.6%, and total reducing ability 0.76±0.02 when compared to the standard ascorbic acid. Conclusion: The results suggest that the antioxidant potential of the ethanol extract has the highest activity in compared to other five extracts of B. longiflora leaves

OPTIMIZATION OF FERMENTATION CONDITIONS FOR RED PIGMENT PRODUCTION FROM ASPERGILLUS FLAVUS UNDER SUBMERGED CULTIVATION AND ANALYSE ITS ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES

Aspergillus flavus endophytic fungi was isolated from Ocimum sanctum, produced red pigment. A culture medium composition was established for the production of red pigment, optimum medium composition and environmental conditions were investigated in submerged flask cultures. The optimum carbon, nitrogen sources were determined to be 20g/L of [glucose, sucrose, dextrose] and 5g/L of [ammonium nitrate(NH4NO3), yeast, peptone]. The optimal temperatures [250C,300C 370C] and pH [pH-4.5,5,5.5,6.5] for pigment production in submerged fermentation. Under these conditions peak biomass concentration was 10.7gL -1 in NH4NO3 containing medium in a 15-days culture. The highest volumetric productivity of red pigment was obtained in a batch culture (300C, initial pH-6.5) with a defined medium of the following composition (gL-1 ): dextrose(20) yeast(5). The biomass specific productivity of red pigment was analyzed in extracellular pigment. Extracellular pigment shows maximum absorbance at 750nm. Pigment was characterized with FT-IR shows strong peak at 3421.283nm of phenol group and HPLC resembles 62.978% at the retention time of 9.426. Their antioxidative activities were also estimated by an indication of DPPH, SO, NO and protein content also analyzed. The cytotoxicity of pigment analyzed using Hep-2 cell line and the IC50 value shows 50% inhibition at the concentration of 20µg/ml. Keywords: A.flavus, mycopigment, submerged culture, antioxidant