Isolation, Identification and Screening of the Yeast Flora from Indian Cashew Apple for Sugar and Ethanol Tolerance

Cashew apple juice is rich in fermentable sugars, minerals and vitamins, which makes it a suitable substrate for production of alcoholic beverages. In the present research work, indigenous flora of cashew apple (Indian variety) was studied. Seven morphologically different strains of Candida spp. were identified and checked for their sugar and ethanol tolerance. All seven isolates were able to tolerate sugar concentrations up to 25% but varied in their ethanol tolerance. Based on the above results it can be concluded that a high sugar and ethanol tolerant Candida spp. could be used as starter culture for commercial production of alcoholic beverages from cashew apple

Effectiveness of pegylated erythropoietin in renal anaemia patients on dialysis-a multicentre, cross-sectional, observational outcome study

Background: Low dose of pegylated erythropoietin (PegEPO) is better than conventional erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs) in improving hyporesponsiveness and maintaining stable haemoglobin (Hb) levels in renal anaemic patients undergoing hemodialysis. This real-world study aimed to assess effectiveness and safety of low-dose PegEPO (30 µg/0.3 mL), administered at different time-points in renal anaemia patients on dialysis. Methods: HEMEPEG (HEMoglobin outcomE with PegEPO) was a multicentre, retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study of renal anaemia patients receiving PegEPO up to 3 months. The study assessed an increase in Hb, patients achieving Hb 10-12 g/dl, and Hb increase by ≥1 and ≥2 g/dl. Results: Data from 223 out of 273 patients from 19 Indian centers were analyzed. PegEPO was administered weekly to 132 patients (59.19%), with 38.64% being diabetic and 77.27% previously treated with ESAs. Ten day dosing was given to 91 patients (40.81%), including 46.15% diabetic patients and 72.53% previously treated with ESAs. A Significant (p<0.0001) increase in mean Hb levels from baseline to day 30, 60 and 90 were observed for both studied groups, with a target Hb of 10-12 g/dl achieved in 51.08% and 52.85% of patients in the respective groups after 3 months. An increase in Hb by ≥1 and ≥2 g/dl were observed in weekly (68.67% and 45.78%) and 10-day group (77.14% and 50.00%) patients, respectively. Conclusions: PegEPO (30 µg/0.3 mL) was effective treatment of renal anaemia and diabetic chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on dialysis when administered weekly or every 10 days over a 3-month treatment period

Development of bioprocess for high density cultivation yield of the probiotic Bacillus coagulans and its spores

Bacillus coagulans is a spore forming lactic acid bacterium. Spore forming bacteria, have been extensively studied and commercialized as probiotics. Probiotics are produced by fermentation technology. There is a limitation to biomass produced by conventional modes of fermentation. With the great demand generated by range of probiotic products, biomass is becoming very valuable for several pharmaceutical, dairy and probiotic companies. Thus, there is a need to develop high cell density cultivation processes for enhanced biomass accumulation. The bioprocess development was carried out in 6.6 L bench top lab scale fermentor. Four different cultivation strategies were employed to develop a bioprocess for higher growth and sporulation efficiencies of probiotic B. coagulans. Batch fermentation of B. coagulans yielded 18 g L-1 biomass (as against 8.0 g L-1 productivity in shake flask) with 60% spore efficiency. Fed-batch cultivation was carried out for glucose, which yielded 25 g L-1 of biomass. C/N ratio was very crucial in achieving higher spore titres. Maximum biomass yield recorded was 30 g L-1, corresponding to 3.8 × 1011 cells mL-1 with 81% of cells in sporulated stage. The yield represents increment of 85 times the productivity and 158 times the spore titres relative to the highest reported values for high density cultivation of B. coagulans

DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR IDENTIFICATION OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM BLUMEA ERIANTHA DC IN PLASMA.

Objective The present study was designed to develop a head space gas chromatography method using mass spectrometric detection for identification of essential oil constituents from Blumea eriantha DC in plasma. Methods The essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation using Clevenger type apparatus. The rabbit plasma samples were spiked with essential oil and were further analyzed using dynamic head-space sampling with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Results The analysis of plasma samples spiked with essential oil has revealed the selective absorption of some of the essential oil components. Conclusion Analytical method has been developed for identification of essential oil constituents in plasma which will be helpful in further in vivo pharmacokinetic studies of the essential oil. KEYWORDS Blumea eriantha DC, Dynamic Headspace Sampling, GC-MS, Plasma