Patchouli in fragrances-incense stick production from patchouli spent charge powder

 Incense sticks are popularly known as the fragrance ambassador of India.  The burning of incense in religious and social activities has been practiced in India since early times.  Patchouli is an aromatic and medicinal plant and is grown for its essential oil.  Patchouli essential oil has greater demand and finds extensive application in flavour, perfumery, cosmetic, food and beverage industry and pharmaceutical industries.  In our present study the residual essential oil content of patchouli spent charge was studied under various methods, i.e. shade, tray and sun drying, after steam distillation extraction of patchouli essential oil.  The residual essential oil content of shade dried spent charge was 0.5% - 0.7%.  So, the ground shade dried patchouli spent charge was used in incense sticks manufacture.  Ten different types of incense sticks were produced by blending the patchouli spent charge powder at various levels along with other traditional ingredients; and it made us clear that patchouli spent charge powder can replace wood powder up to 5% - 10% level which is currently used at 15% level.  Various physical quality parameters of different patchouli spent charge based incense sticks were studied which eventually indicated that incense sticks from spent charge powder were much acceptable at present scenario.  Keywords: patchouli, spent charge powder, wood powder, incense sticks 

Mineralization of Acephate, a Recalcitrant Organophosphate Insecticide Is Initiated by a Pseudomonad in Environmental Samples

An aerobic bacterium capable of breaking down the pesticide acephate (O,S-dimethyl acetyl phosphoramidothioic acid) was isolated from activated sludge collected from a pesticide manufacturing facility. A phylogenetic tree based on the 16 S rRNA gene sequence determined that the isolate lies within the Pseudomonads. The isolate was able to grow in the presence of acephate at concentrations up to 80 mM, with maximum growth at 40 mM. HPLC and LC-MS/MS analysis of spent medium from growth experiments and a resting cell assay detected the accumulation of methamidophos and acetate, suggesting initial hydrolysis of the amide linkage found between these two moieties. As expected, the rapid decline in acephate was coincident with the accumulation of methamidophos. Methamidophos concentrations were maintained over a period of days, without evidence of further metabolism or cell growth by the cultures. Considering this limitation, strains such as described in this work can promote the first step of acephate mineralization in soil microbial communities

An overview of the utilisation of microalgae biomass derived from nutrient recycling of wet market wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater

Microalgae have high nutritional values for aquatic organisms compared to fish meal, because microalgae cells are rich in proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. However, the high cost for the commercial production of microalgae biomass using fresh water or artificial media limits its use as fish feed. Few studies have investigated the potential of wet market wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater for the production of microalgae biomass. Hence, this study aims to highlight the potential of these types of wastewater as an alternative superior medium for microalgae biomass as they contain high levels of nutrients required for microalgae growth. This paper focuses on the benefits of microalgae biomass produced during the phycore-mediation of wet market wastewater and slaughterhouse wastewater as fish feed. The extraction techniques for lipids and proteins as well as the studies conducted on the use of microalgae biomass as fish feed were reviewed. The results showed that microalgae biomass can be used as fish feed due to feed utilisation efficiency, physiological activity, increased resistance for several diseases, improved stress response, and improved protein retention

Development of Electronic actuation system for Shape Memory Alloy

Shape memory alloy (SMA) is being widely used to implement smart concepts such as shape control and vibration suppression of aerospace structures. Shape memory alloy wires while undergoing phase transformation from martensite state to austenite state produce large strains. While doing so they serve as actuators and generate large forces when constrained while recovering their pre-defined shape, imparting this force to the structural component on which they are mounted which results in its movement. While designing the electronic system to energise an aerospace structure with shape memory alloy based actuators the amount of current and time for which this current is passed through the shape memory alloy wire are important considerations. It is equally important to design very efficient and miniature power sources (constant voltage as well as constant current) and control system to achieve fine and steady positioning of the structural component. This paper discusses different issues involved, as well as design and development of the electronics and control system for actuating and controlling a typical aerospace structural component with SMA actuators

Development of electronic actuation system for shape-memory-alloy-based aerospace structures

Shape memory alloy (SMA) is being widely used to implement smart concepts such as shape control and vibration suppression of aerospace structures. Shape memory alloy wires while undergoing phase transformation from martensite state to austenite state produce large strains. While doing so they serve as actuators and generate large forces when constrained while recovering their pre-defined shape, imparting this force to the structural component on which they are mounted which results in its movement. While designing the electronic system to energize an aerospace structure with shape memory alloy based actuators the amount of current and time for which this current is passed through the shape memory alloy wire are important considerations. It is equally important to design very efficient and miniature power sources (constant voltage as well as constant current) and control system to achieve fine and steady positioning of the structural component. This paper discusses different issues involved, as well as design and development of the electronics and control system for actuating and controlling a typical aerospace structural component with SMA actuators