Ethnomedicinal practices of Kol tribes in Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Orissa, India

Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa is the most luxuriant forest and rich in medicinal plant resources. The forest area is dominated by a number of tribes such as Kol, Santal, Bhumij, Mankidias and Khadias who depends on the forest for their food to medicine. The present paper reports on ethnomedicinal uses of 32 potential medicinal plants belong to 24 families of medicinal plants used for ailment of various diseases like leucorrhoea, spermatorrhea, piles, sore throat, rheumatism, elephantiasis etc. by Kol tribe living in some villages situated in and around Similipal Biosphere Reserve.The botanical name, family name, vernacular name, parts used, method of preparation, usage, administration of the drugs are given

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Phosphate solubilization and acid phosphatase activity of Serratia sp. isolated from mangrove soil of Mahanadi river delta, Odisha, India

Phosphorus is an essential element for all life forms. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria are capable of converting phosphate into a bioavailable form through solubilization and mineralization processes. Hence in the present study a phosphate solubilizing bacterium, PSB-37, was isolated from mangrove soil of the Mahanadi river delta using NBRIP-agar and NBRIP-BPB broth containing tricalcium phosphate as the phosphate source. Based on phenotypic and molecular characterization, the strain was identified as Serratia sp. The maximum phosphate solubilizing activity of the strain was determined to be 44.84 μg/ml, accompanied by a decrease in pH of the growth medium from 7.0 to 3.15. During phosphate solubilization, various organic acids, such as malic acid (237 mg/l), lactic acid (599.5 mg/l) and acetic acid (5.0 mg/l) were also detected in the broth culture through HPLC analysis. Acid phosphatase activity was determined by performing p-nitrophenyl phosphate assay (pNPP) of the bacterial broth culture. Optimum acid phosphatase activity was observed at 48 h of incubation (76.808 U/ml), temperature of 45 °C (77.87 U/ml), an agitation rate of 100 rpm (80.40 U/ml), pH 5.0 (80.66 U/ml) and with glucose as a original carbon source (80.6 U/ml) and ammonium sulphate as a original nitrogen source (80.92 U/ml). Characterization of the partially purified acid phosphatase showed maximum activity at pH 5.0 (85.6 U/ml), temperature of 45 °C (97.87 U/ml) and substrate concentration of 2.5 mg/ml (92.7 U/ml). Hence the present phosphate solubilizing and acid phosphatase production activity of the bacterium may have probable use for future industrial, agricultural and biotechnological application

Optimization and characterization of chromium(VI) reduction in saline condition by moderately halophilic Vigribacillus sp isolated from mangrove soil of Bhitarkanika, India

A Gram-positive moderately halophilic Cr(VI) tolerant bacterial strain H4, isolated from saline mangrove soil, was identified as Vigribacillus sp. by biochemical characterization and 16S rRNA analysis. In LB medium, the strain could tolerate up to 1000 mg L−1 Cr(VI) concentra-tion and reduced 90.2 and 99.2% of 100 mg L−1 Cr(VI) under optimized set of condition within 70 h in absence and presence of 6 wt.% NaCl, respectively. The fitting of time course reduction data to an exponential rate equation yielded the Cr(VI) reduction rate constants in the range (0.69–5.56) × 10−2 h−1. Analyses of total chromium and bacterial cell associated with reduced product by AAS, SEM/EDS, TEM/SAED, FT-IR and UV–vis–DRS indicated the formation of about 35% of insoluble Cr(III) either as Cr(OH)3 precipitate in nanometric size or immobilized on the bacterial cell surface while the remaining 65% of reduced chromium was present as soluble Cr(III) in the growth medium. Powder XRD analysis revealed the amorphous nature of the precipitated Cr(OH)3. The high Cr(VI) reducing ability of the strain under saline condition suggests the Vigribacillus sp. as a new and efficient strain capable of remediating highly saline Cr(VI) polluted industrial effluent