Perceived Usefulness of Banana Pseudostem Processing and Value Addition among Farmers in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu

This study has been carried out to assess the perceived usefulness of Banana Post Production Mechanisation among farmers in the western region of Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore district was selected because banana cultivating farmers are more in this region and two taluks namely Coimbatore and Mettupalayam were selected at random. From each taluk, 2-3 villages were selected on cluster basis. In each cluster, 15 respondents were selected for research intervention. Thus, in total, 60 respondents were selected for this study. Attributes of Mechanization had been employed through package of banana pseudostem processing equipment and banana rope making equipment among respondents, where the highest mean score was reported in Economic viability

Production of Phenylacetylcarbinol in a Stand Still Condition Using Two Phase System by Applying Yeast Cells Capable of Fermenting Dried Ephedra Extract and Molass as Biocatalysts

Microbial Biotransformation of benzaldehyde to L Phenylacetylcarbinol (L-PAC) as a key intermediate for L-ephedrine synthesis has been evaluated using immobilized Hansenula polymorpha. The cultivation of 10 ml Hansenula anomala inoculum for 48 h in the cultivation medium with glucose as a sole carbon source resulted in the highest ethanol concentration of 10.6 ± 0.53 g/l. This was followed by Hansenula polymorpha (4.06 ± 0.20 g/l) and Brettanomyces lambicus (2.94 ± 0.15 g/l), respectively. The cultivation using 100 ml dried Ephedra  extract and molass in 1:1 ratio as a sole carbon source showed that microbes with ability to consume glucose, fructose and sucrose released high level of ethanol (g/l) included Hansenula polymorpha (43.4 ± 4.0), (41.8 ± 1.2) and Hansenula anomala (38.1 ± 2.5). A biotransformation experiment was conducted using wet biomass of 3.06 g/l dry biomass equivalent from the medium with dried Ephedra extract and molass in 1:1 ratio as carbon source. After the two phase system was stood aside for 24 h, Hansenula polymorpha generated an overall R-phenylacetylcarbinol (PAC) concentration of 3.97 and 3.72 mM at 4 OC and 35OC which was followed by Hansenula polymorpha (3.04 and 3.73 mM), Brettanomyces lambicus (1.24 and 2.98 mM) as well as Hansenula anomala (0.86 and 0.07 mM)

Phytochemical based strategies for pathogen control and Antioxidant Capacities of Rauwolfia serpentina Extracts

Rauwolfia serpentina (Apocynaceae) is used among rural Indian communities to treat arthritis, skin cancer, burns, eczema, psoriasis, digestive problems, high blood pressure, sedative and diabetes, despite very little supporting scientific evidence. Due to increased interest by both the scientific community and industry regarding the medicinal uses of this plant species, we identified, quantified and compared the phytochemical contents and antioxidant capacities of extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina. Apart from extensively characterizing this medicinal plant with regards to its organic acid, polyphenols/phenolic acid, alcohol, aldehyde, ketone, alkane, pyrimidine, indole, alkaloid, phytosterol, fatty acid and dicarboxylic acid contents and antioxidant capacities, we describe a modified extraction procedure for the purpose of general phytochemical characterization, and compare this to a aqueous ethanol extraction technique. From the results it is clear that Rauwolfia serpentina contains a variety of compounds with confirmed antioxidant capacity and other putative health benefits relating to the prevention or treatment of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and hypertension. The results also indicate that separate extractions of the Leaf extracts, better serve for general phytochemical characterization purposes, hence justifying its use for biological in vivo efficacy studies