OPTIMIZATION OF POMEGRANATE PEEL EXTRACTS FOR THE BIOCONVERSION OF THE ELLAGITANNINS TO ELLAGIC ACID USING ASPERGILLUS NIGER, RHIZOPUS ORYZAE AND MIXED CULTURE

Objective: The present study is aimed at optimization of concentration of substrate (pomegranate peel extract) for the production of Ellagic acid using Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus oryzae. Methods: Test organisms were isolated and identified using standard microbiological techniques. Collected pomegranate peels were dried, grained and used as the substrate for solid-state fermentation. Prepared spore suspension of the test organisms was inoculated and incubated at room temperature. At regular intervals of 24 h, samples were drawn and subjected to analysis of reducing sugar, soluble proteins, hydrolysable tannins and production of extracellular tannase using standard methods. Results: The results of the present investigation demonstrated the optimum substrate concentration for the active conversion of ellagitannins to ellagic was 15g of A. niger, 20g for R. oryzae and 15g for mixed culture. Conclusion: From the current work, it was concluded that solid-state bioprocessing of fruit substrates and fruit wastes using fungi has shown to enrich phenolic antioxidants and improve phytochemical consistency

STANDARDIZATION AND APPLICATION OF PCR TARGETING CHLORELLA SPECIES ISOLATED FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES

Objective: Identification of Chlorella species from the environment through 18s ribosomal RNA sequencing. This study was aimed to design primer targeting Chlorella and other closely related algal species targeting 18s ribosomal RNA, ITS1 region. Methods: Sanger sequencing was carried out for the identification of algae up to the genus and species level using an in-house designed primer and optimized PCR conditions. Results: Out of 2 algae samples identified phenotypically, one isolate identified as Chlorella vulgaris and other one identified as Chlorella sorokiniana based on the results of Basic Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). Conclusion: To conclude, this study provided primers with PCR conditions to characterize algal samples through molecular identification with 100% accuracy than the phenotypic method