Determination of authenticity of Palmyrah toddy using chemical tests

Palmyrah toddy is one of the alcoholic drinks prepared by the fermentation of sweet sap of Palmyrah tree (<i>Borassus flabellifer</i>). There are, however, some adulterated toddy samples available in the local market. This study was focused to identify the authenticity of Palmyrah toddy using chemical tests. Chloral hydrate and starch were only present in artificial toddy samples and they had higher alcohol contents (5.5 - 6.2 % v/v), turbidity (2025-2511 NTU) and yeast count (20.8 x 10<sup>6</sup> - 25.2 x 10<sup>6</sup> cells/mL) than the genuine toddy samples (3.9- 4.2 % v/v), (798 - 1023 NTU) and (15.9 x 10<sup>6</sup> - 16.5 x 10<sup>6</sup> cells/mL) respectively, while there is no significant difference between genuine and artificial toddy in °Brix, acidity and conductivity. Results reveal that the total phenol content of genuine toddy samples were in the range of 815.9-861.8 ppm while artificial toddy samples were 388.2-412.6 ppm. Nearly 50% lower total phenol content in artificial toddy than in genuine toddy. Sulfated ash contents of genuine toddy samples were found to be in the range of 0.45 to 0.52 g/100 mL and artificial toddy showed higher range from 0.05 to 0.10 g/100 mL compared to genuine toddy. This study reveals that total phenol content, sulfated ash and qualitative tests are the most reliable to distinguish artificial toddy samples

Photocatalytic transfer of aqueous nitrogen into ammonia using nickel-titanium-layered double hydroxide.

The development of solar-driven transfer of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia is one of the green and sustainable strategies in industrial ammonia production. Nickel-titanium-layered double hydroxide (NiTi-LDH) was synthesised using the soft-chemical process for atmospheric nitrogen fixation application under photocatalysis in an aqueous system. NiTi-LDH was investigated using advanced characterisation techniques and confirmed the potential oxygen vacancies and/or surface defects owing to better photocatalytic activity under the solar spectrum. It also exhibited a bandgap of 2.8 eV that revealed its promising visible-light catalytic activities. A maximum of 33.52 µmol L-1 aqueous NH3 was obtained by continuous nitrogen (99.9% purity) supply into the photoreactor under an LED light source. Atmospheric nitrogen supply (≈78%) yielded 14.67 µmol L-1 aqueous NH3 within 60 min but gradually reduced to 3.6 µmol L-1 at 330 min. Interestingly, in weak acidic pH, 20.90 µmol L-1 NH3 was produced compared to 11.51 µmol L-1 NH3 in basic pH. The application of NiTi-LDH for visible-light harvesting capability and photoreduction of atmospheric N2 into NH3 thereby opens a new horizon of eco-friendly NH3 production using natural sunlight as alternative driving energy