Comparative Study of Heavy Metals in Dried and Fluid Milk in Peshawar by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry

Various essential and toxic heavy metals (Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni) contents in various types of dried (infant formula and powdered) and fluid (fresh and processed) cow milk were assessed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The milk samples were collected from local markets of different parts of Peshawar city, Pakistan. Heavy metal concentrations varied significantly depending upon the type of milk. The heavy metal concentrations in most of the samples were within normal and permissible ranges. It was observed that the samples contained considerable amounts of calcium, while magnesium levels were well above the required levels. The results also revealed that copper levels were slightly lower than the permissible limits. The concentration of zinc in dried milk samples was greater than the values for the liquid milk types. Infant milk formulae had higher iron levels as compared to other milk samples because of the added constituents. Significant differences were observed in the mean values of manganese and cadmium in different types of milk. The toxic metals were within the acceptable limits and did not show significant levels leading to toxicity

Effects of probiotic on the intestinal morphology with special reference to the growth of broilers.

The probiotic (Protexin)® increases the growth rate in broilers. It must interfere with the intestinal cell morphology and absorption. The intestinal epithelium is one of the most rapidly renewed tissues in the body and is renewed by a process of continuous cell division. This study was carried out with an aim to establish a link between the use of probiotic doses, growth rate, and intestinal cell proliferation by measuring the length and weight of the intestine and intestinal crypt cell proliferation (CCP) of broiler chicks. The results revealed significant increase in intestinal CCP but no effect was observed on the intestinal weight and length. The increase in CCP has also no significant influence towards growth factor. The increased weight gain in this study is associated with more feed consumption which is observed with Protexin® dose 1.0 g / 10 kg of feed. Furthermore, feed consumption reduced beyond this dose may lead to reduced weight gain

Daphne mucronata-mediated phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and their novel biological applications, compatibility and toxicity studies

This contribution reports the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous leaf extracts of D. mucronata and their diverse applications. Synthesized AgNPs were characterized using diverse techniques, i.e. UV, XRD, EDS, SEM, TEM, FTIR and TGA/DTA. These techniques confirmed the authenticity of the synthesized nanoparticles. The bimodulated AgNPs revealed the highest radical scavenging potential, i.e. 86.4% relative to plant extract at 600 μg/ml. Escherichia coli was found to be the most susceptible strain to AgNPs. Growth of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was also inhibited. Hemolytic activity revealed negligible hemolysis, indicating the biocompatible nature of biomodulated AgNPs. Furthermore, no mutagenic properties were shown by the biogenic AgNPs. Synthesized nanoparticles possessed promising insecticidal potential and had no phytotoxic activity. No haemagglutination was observed for biogenic AgNPs

Fungi as chemical industries and genetic engineering for the production of biologically active secondary metabolites

Fungi is somewhere in between the micro and macro organisms which is a good source of producing biologically active secondary metabolites. Fungi have been used as tool for producing different types of secondary metabolites by providing different nutrients at different laboratory conditions. The fungi have been engineered for the desired secondary metabolites by using different laboratory techniques, for example, homologous and heterologous expressions. This review reported how the fungi are used as chemical industry for the production of secondary metabolites and how they are engineered in laboratory for the production of desirable metabolites; also the biosynthetic pathways of the bio-organic-molecules were reported

Herbicidal activity of pure compound isolated from rhizosphere inhabiting <i>Aspergillus flavus</i>

<p>In the quest for bioactive natural products of fungal origin, <i>Aspergillus flavus</i> was isolated from rhizosphere of <i>Mentha piperita</i> using Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and Czapec Yeast Broth (CYB) nutrient media for metabolites production. In total, three different metabolites were purified using HPLC/LCMS and the structures were established using 500 Varian NMR experiments. Further the isolated metabolites in different concentrations (10, 100, 1000 μg/mL) were tested for herbicidal activity using Completely Randomized design (CRD) against the seeds of <i>Silybum marianum</i> and <i>Avena fatua</i> which are major threats to wheat crop in Pakistan. Among the isolated metabolites, one compound was found active against the test weed species whose activity is reported in the present work. The chemical name of the compound is 2-(1, 4-dihydroxybutan-2-yl)-1, 3-dihydroxy-6, 8-dimethoxyanthracene-9, 10(4a<i>H</i>, 9a<i>H</i>)-dione with mass of 388. Results showed that all seeds germinated in control treatment; however, with the metabolite treated, the growth was retarded to different levels in all parts of the weeds. At a dose of 1000 μg/mL of the pure compound, 100% seeds of <i>S. marianum</i> and 60% seeds of <i>A. fatua</i> were inhibited. Interestingly, the pure compound exhibited less inhibition of 10% towards the seeds of common wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i>).</p