Biological Significance of Spicy Essential Oils

Spices are used as food additives since ancient times, as flavouring agents but also as natural food preservatives. Spice essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile substances, ordinarily terpenes, sesquiterpenes and oxygenated derivatives. They have been largely employed for their properties already observed in nature i.e., for their antibacterial, antifungal and insecticidal properties. At present, approximately 3000 essential oils are known, 300 of which are commercially important especially for pharmaceutical, agronomic, food, sainitary, cosmetic and perfume industries. It is important to develop a better understanding of their mode of action for new applications in human health, agriculture and environment. Some of them constitute effective alternatives or complements to synthetic compounds of chemical industry

Lightning generated sferics: diagnostics tools to study upper atmosphere

Atmospherics or sferics that originate from lightning discharges on propagating large distances in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide or in the dispersive regions of ionosphere and magnetosphere form dispersed sferics called tweeks and whistlers respectively. Tweeks are novel diagnostic tool to monitor the nighttime D-region ionosphere. In this paper the lightning sferics (tweeks) recorded at a low latitude station, Suva (18.2o S,178.3oE, geomag. lat. 22.2o S, L = 1.17)) Fiji, in the South Pacific region and Allahabad (geomag. lat. 16.490 N, L=1.09) in India, will be presented and shown how they could be used to probe the night time D-region of the ionosphere. The computed D-region electron density is then compared with the electron density profile obtained from International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2007 model. Typical records of whistlers observed in Fiji and in India are presented

Coronal Mass Ejection-driven Shocks and the Associated Sudden Commencements-sudden Impulses

Interplanetary (IP) shocks are mainly responsible for the sudden compression of the magnetosphere, causing storm sudden commencement (SC) and sudden impulses (SIs) which are detected by ground-based magnetometers. On the basis of the list of 222 IP shocks compiled by Gopalswamy et al., we have investigated the dependence of SC/SIs amplitudes on the speed of the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that drive the shocks near the Sun as well as in the interplanetary medium. We find that about 91% of the IP shocks were associated with SC/SIs. The average speed of the SC/SI-associated CMEs is 1015 km/s, which is almost a factor of 2 higher than the general CME speed. When the shocks were grouped according to their ability to produce type II radio burst in the interplanetary medium, we find that the radio-loud (RL) shocks produce a much larger SC/SI amplitude (average approx. 32 nT) compared to the radio-quiet (RQ) shocks (average approx. 19 nT). Clearly, RL shocks are more effective in producing SC/SIs than the RQ shocks. We also divided the IP shocks according to the type of IP counterpart of interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs): magnetic clouds (MCs) and nonmagnetic clouds. We find that the MC-associated shock speeds are better correlated with SC/SI amplitudes than those associated with non-MC ejecta. The SC/SI amplitudes are also higher for MCs than ejecta. Our results show that RL and RQ type of shocks are important parameters in producing the SC/SI amplitude

Rare observations of sprites and gravity waves supporting D, E, F-regions ionospheric coupling

We report rare simultaneous observations of columniform sprites and associated gravity waves (GWs) using the Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) camera and All-sky imager at Prayagraj (25.5° N, 81.9° E, geomag. lat. ~ 16.5° N), India. On 30 May 2014, a Mesoscale Convective System generated a group of sprites over the north horizon that reached the upper mesosphere. Just before this event, GWs (period ~ 14 min) were seen in OH broadband airglow (emission peak ~ 87 km) imaging that propagated in the direction of the sprite occurrence and dissipated in the background atmosphere thereby generating turbulence. About 9–14 min after the sprite event, another set of GWs (period ~ 11 min) was observed in OH imaging that arrived from the direction of the TLEs. At this site, we also record Very Low Frequency navigational transmitter signal JJI (22.2 kHz) from Japan. The amplitude of the JJI signal showed the presence of GWs with ~ 12.2 min periodicities and ~ 18 min period. The GWs of similar features were observed in the ionospheric Total Electron Content variations recorded at a nearby GPS site. The results presented here are important to understand the physical coupling of the troposphere with the lower and upper ionosphere through GWs

An overview on antioxidative potential of honey from different flora and geographical origins

Honey serves as a good source of natural antioxidants and hence it is free radical scavengers that either reduces the formation of or neutralize free radicals. Honey is a healthy foodstuff for better human health and nutrition. The composition and source of honey greatly indicates about its biochemical properties. The present paper is a review of studies on the antioxidant/radical scavenging capacity of various honeys of different flora and geographical origin using spectrophotometric tests: Folin-Ciocalteu assay for phenol content, ferric reducing antioxidant assay (FRAP assay) for total antioxidant activity, 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay for antiradical activity and florimetric method namely ORAC, oxygen reactive antioxidant capacity for the anti-lipoperoxidant activity. The phenolic and other compounds in honey are responsible for free-radical scavenging and antioxidant activity that produce beneficial effects in human health.

An overview on antioxidative potential of honey from different flora and geographical origins

9-19Honey serves as a good source of natural antioxidants and hence it is free radical scavengers that either reduces the formation of or neutralize free radicals. Honey is a healthy foodstuff for better human health and nutrition. The composition and source of honey greatly indicates about its biochemical properties. The present paper is a review of studies on the antioxidant/radical scavenging capacity of various honeys of different flora and geographical origin using spectrophotometric tests: Folin-Ciocalteu assay for phenol content, ferric reducing antioxidant assay (FRAP assay) for total antioxidant activity, 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay for antiradical activity and florimetric method namely ORAC, oxygen reactive antioxidant capacity for the anti-lipoperoxidant activity. The phenolic and other compounds in honey are responsible for free-radical scavenging and antioxidant activity that produce beneficial effects in human health

Genome Sequencing in Field Crops: Unlocking Agricultural Potential

Genome sequencing has revolutionized agriculture by providing crucial insights into the genetic make-up of field crops. This paper explores the importance of genome sequencing in unlocking the agricultural potential of various field crops. By sequencing the DNA of crops such as wheat, maize, rice, and soybean researchers are gain a comprehensive understanding of their genetic diversity, disease resistance and yield-enhancing traits. This knowledge enables the development of precision breeding strategies, leading to the creation of high-yielding, stress-tolerant and nutritionally enhanced crop varieties. In addition, genome sequencing is facilitating the identification of key genes involved in plant-microbe interactions and adaptation to environmental stressors. Such knowledge can inform sustainable agricultural practices, reduce chemical inputs and increase crop resilience in the face of climate change. This paper  highlights the transformative impact of genome sequencing on crop improvement, food security and global agricultural sustainability