Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment

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A mechanistic approach for the thermal reaction of strontium oxalate with uranyl oxalate using TG technique

Arora Charu, Sharma Asmita, Soni Sanju and Naik Yeshwant

Page No. 1-9

Kinetics of thermal reaction between Strontium oxalate and uranyl oxalate has been studied using thermogravimetric technique. For this purpose, oxalates of uranium and strontium were synthesized and characterized separately by XRD, IR, TGA/DTA. Both the oxalates were mixed in 1:1 molar ratio and mechanism and kinetics of solid-state reaction between these compounds were proposed. It is found that mechanism of decomposition of strontium oxalate was altered in the presence of uranyl oxalate.

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High Quality Activated Carbon from Local Agriculture by-products: An innovative low-cost base treatment process

Habib Mohamed A. and Alhamzani Abdulrahman G.

Page No. 10-15

The present work has been devoted to utilize the rich carbon agriculture by-product of palm trees that are widely available from local data fruits tree farms and to formulate an effective low cost activated carbon LCAC. The pods of the palm trees have been selected as a precursor for activated carbon formulation. Thermogravimetric analysis TGA of the pods' tissues shows that they possess a rich carbon store. The possibility of formulating low cost activated carbon via basic treatment side to side finding the optimal conditions of formulating high adsorption capacity activated carbon has been studied. The results showed that the impregnation activated carbon with potassium hydroxide gives efficient adsorption capacity. The physico-chemical character of the prepared activated carbon shows great adsorption capacity and the optimal condition has been observed at impregnation ratio 2:1 (w/w, KOH: Activated carbon) in great adsorption capacity. Activated temperature and activation time were: 800 – 900o C and 1.0 – 1.5 hours respectively. The morphology surface of the formulated samples has been tested by SEM Scanning electron microscope. It shows the development of fine and regular porosity during carbonization ensuring high the adsorption capacity. The study offers effective low-cost impurities and dye removal activated carbon for the industrial waste stream from abundant by-product achieving economic and environmental benefits.

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Kinetic Study of Dyes Degradation by Aspergillus niger in Submerged Fermentation

Husain Shoaa Muzaffar, Nigam Mohit, Singh Lalit Kumar and Awasthi Garima

Page No. 16-24

Dye degradation is the necessity of an industry to reduce polluted effluents released in the environment. The malachite green, fast green and basic fuchsin dyes are the major pollutants causing hazardous impacts on the environment. These dyes are mainly used as a colouring agent in food industry and for staining in laboratories. Dyes are hard to remove as they tend to disperse and become difficult to eradicate or reduce their level from effluents. The major problem of dyes degradation is due to its extremely variable composition. The motive of present work is to degrade dyes and produce valuable industrial product by isolated Aspergillus niger in submerged fermentation. The three different concentrations (100 ppm, 300 ppm and 500 ppm) of each dye were used for degradation study. The maximum 100% colour degradation was observed in 100 ppm malachite green within 24 hrs. The maximum dye degradation in supernatant after centrifugation was 55.83% and 42.26% in basic fuchsin and fast green for 100 ppm concentration respectively.

Laccase enzyme was produced during the biodegradation of dyes and the highest laccase activity was found to be 42.91 U in FG5 at 48 hrs. The laccase activity was promising in all the concentration of different dyes. The maximum % yield of laccase was 170.75% in FG3, 89.66% in MG1 and 128.38% in BF3 after filtration and centrifugation of fermented broth. The % yield of laccase enzyme was in the range 39.03% to 121.30% in other concentrations of different dyes. The studies were carried out for 144 hrs at the interval of 24 hrs, the best colour degradation as well as the laccase activity was observed maximum in 24 to 48 hrs. The study showed that Aspergillus niger effectively degraded dyes and produced laccase enzyme even at the higher concentration (500 ppm) of dyes. The importance of the work is to biologically treat dyes present in the environment coming from the industry as well as to produce valuable products during this process.

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Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated PVdF-co-HFP composite nanofiber membranes based on titanium dioxide and geothermal silica

Khairurizal F.I., Juliandri, Nasir M. and Rahayu I.

Page No. 25-30

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell is a promising and environmentally friendly alternative fuel cell. Nanofiber proton exchange membrane with the addition of composite would increase the performance of PEM. The purpose of this research is to synthesize composite nanofiber membranes by electrospinning methods from PVdF-co-HFP blended with different ratio silica Dieng’s geothermal waste/TiO2 as nanocomposite for PEM fuel cell application. Sulfonation was added to increase hydrophilicity. Characterization studies such as FT-IR, SEM EDX, proton conductivity and TG were performed for synthesized proton conducting polymer electrolytes. The nanofibers in the membranes were stacked in layers to produce fully interconnected pores that resulted in high porosity. The average diameter of nanofibers was rarely affected.

FTIR results indicated that composite nanofiber membranes were successfully sulfonated by absorption at wavenumbers of 1608, 1100 and 3390 cm-1 for the stretching of asymmetric, symmetric S=O and O-H from –SO3H. The incorporation of SG/TiO2 into the nanofiber membrane improved proton conductivity and thermal stability. The maximum proton conductivity value was found to be 4.88x10-3 S.cm-1 for 7 wt% ratio SG/TiO2 1:3. Thermal stability of the system was studied by TG analysis. The best thermal stability obtained at ratio SG/TiO2 is 3:1.

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Synthesis and characterization of surfactant aided copolymerization of aniline and 3-aminobenzoic acid with silver nanoparticle dispersion

Mahudeswaran A., Vivekanandan J. and Vijayanand P.S.

Page No. 31-35

A novel copolymer comprising of aniline and 3-aminobenzoic acid units has been synthesized in presence of anionic surfactant such as dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid with silver nanoparticle dispersion at different concentration of monomeric units. The synthesized copolymer composites are subjected to various characterization techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, morphological and electrical conductivity studies. The prepared copolymer composites are found to be soluble in common organic solvents like DMSO, NMP, THF and DMF.

The UV-visible spectra show two major electronic transitions at 358 nm and 594 nm. FT-IR spectra confirm the formation of the benzenoid ring and quinonoid ring of the copolymer system. X-ray diffraction pattern reveals amorphous nature of the copolymer. SEM image reveals a large number of agglomerated granular structures. The electrical conductivity of the copolymer varies from 5.5 x 10-5 to 3.26 x 10-8 S/cm along with the increase in 3-aminobenzoic acid content in the feed. Since the material possesses good solubility and remarkable electrical conductivity, these semiconducting polymeric materials can be used in the field of optoelectronics.

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Chemometric assisted improved RP-HPLC method for the determination of olanzapine in pharmaceutical formulation

Mahalingam Swamivelmanickam, Ramalingam Suresh and Sivagnanam Sivakrishnan

Page No. 36-45

This research study describes the development, optimization and validation of an improved HPLC method with the aid of chemometric tools for the determination of olanzapine in bulk drug and formulations. Chemometric tool, central composite design and Derringer’s desirability function were successfully employed to understand the sensitivity of the chromatographic factors on the separation of the analytes and simultaneously optimize of resolution and analysis time. The significant factors were optimized by applying central composite design and surface response methodology.

The objective responses, resolution and the analysis time were then simultaneously optimized by applying Derringer's desirability function. The optimized condition resulted in a very short analysis time of 3.41 minutes. The method was validated and the validation study supported the selection of the assay conditions by confirming that the assay was specific, accurate, linear, precise, and robust. The improved HPLC method is used for the determination of olanzapine in bulk drug and formulation.

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Non-specific immune system effect of water extract of Averrhoa bilimbi leaves

Suci Nar Vikasari, Afifah Bambang Sutjiatmo, Sri Wahyuningsih and Kennanti Ramadona Fauzi

Page No. 46-50

An immunomodulator is used to repair the immune system and sometimes it is used as adjuvant therapy. Averrhoa bilimbi is used for the treatment of cough, inflammation, fever and rheumatism. This study is conducted to evaluate non-specific immune system effect of water extract of A.bilimbi leaves on the male Swiss Webster mice. The extract of A.bilimbi leaves is made in boiled water. The extract is given per oral at doses of 9.88, 19.77 and 39.54 mg/kg BW, Zymosan A 10 mg/kg BW (IP) and methylprednisolone 2 mg/kg BW (IP) is used as a reference. Seven days after the extract is given, hematological profile, immunomodulatory effect, the ratio of organ per body weight and histopathology of organs were evaluated.

The parameter of the hematological profile was leucocyte and it differentiated (lymphocyte, mid-sized cell and granulocyte), erythrocyte, hemoglobin, hematocrit and platelet. The immunomodulatory effect was tested using carbon clearance methods and the parameter was the phagocytic index. The result showed that the extract increased leucocyte and it differentiated, erythrocyte and platelet compared to control group. Phagocytic index (K) of the extract at dose 19.77 and 39.54 mg/kg BW was 1.30 and 1.12. The extract at dose 39.54 mg/kg BW increased the ratio of organ liver, spleen and kidney. It can be concluded that the water extract of A.bilimbi affected the non-specific immune system and is considered as an immunostimulant agent.

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Removal of Copper in Aqueous Systems using Fly ash-based Zeolites: Synthesis, adsorption and regeneration studies

Varandani Sonia and Prabhu Pradnya

Page No. 51-67

The adsorption of copper ions in aqueous solutions was researched on two zeolites (FAZ and FBZ) synthesized from raw fly ash (RFA). The zeolite FAZ was obtained by calcination of RFA followed by an acidic treatment. The acidic treated calcified fly ash was subjected to sodium aluminate reaction in tandem with base treatment. FBZ was obtained from RFA with just a basic hydrothermal reaction without any further treatment. The zeolites were characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR spectroscopy. The modification of raw fly ash into zeolite altered the ratio of Si:Al. The amount of copper adsorbed per gram of zeolites and estimation of removal efficiency of synthesized zeolites were carried out using batch equilibrium technique. The effect of pH, mass of zeolites and concentration of copper on adsorption capacity was investigated to optimize the adsorption process. It was found that the moderate acidic condition (pH 3.0 to 5.00) had significant impact on adsorption and copper removal was greater than 95% at low concentration and low dose of the adsorbent.

Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms studied for best fitting of adsorption equilibrium data and it was found that maximum adsorption capacity of FAZ and FBZ was 84.38 mg/gm and 84.03 mg/gm respectively. The effect of time and temperature was studied to determine adsorption rate and thermodynamic parameters adsorption processes. The adsorption process with FAZ was exothermic in nature and endothermic with FBZ zeolite. Though the zeolites could be regenerated by combustion at 550o C for 3 hours, the efficiency of the recycled zeolites dropped from nearly 99.8% to about 5.0 %.

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Synthesis and Characterization of Silica from Clay via a Mineral Sol

Idriss Mahamat Yaya, Guillaume Nimbona, Ech-chahad Abdellah and Arkhis Mohammed

Page No. 68-72

This work reports the synthesis of an amorphous silica from an acid-water-residue mixture. This residue, dissolved completely at room temperature in acid-water mixture to form a sol. It is a suspension of solid particles in a liquid. The transformation of sol into silica gel is carried out at a temperature of 80 ° C. The study of the porosity of silica by the nitrogen adsorption technique has shown that the silica is mesoporous; it has a total pore volume of 0.405 cm3/g and a specific surface area of 619.48 m²/g. The analyses of XRD, FTIR, TEM and SEM-EDX show the structure, morphology and composition of the synthesized silica.

The objective of this work is to synthesize the silica gel starting from clay as adsorbent in the field of environmental remediation and in the field of materials coating with thin layers.

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Synthesis, Spectral, Physiological studies and application of metal complexes of a ligand 1,1’-(5,5’-(1E,1’E)-1,1’-(propane-1,3-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene) bis (ethane-1-yl-1-ylidene) bis(2,4-dihydroxy-5,1-phenylene) diethanone (PDEDPD) prepared from 1,2-diaminopropane and 4,6-diacetylresorcinol

Rao Venkateshwar P., Ammanni S. and Amreen Khairunnisa

Page No. 73-81

Using 1,2- diaminopropane and 4,6-diacetyl resorcinol, a novel ligand 1,1’-(5,5’-(1E,1’E)-1,1’-(propane-1,3-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene) bis (ethane-1-yl-1-ylidene) bis (2,4-dihydroxy-5,1-phenylene) diethanone (PDEDPD) is prepared in this work. The synthesized ligand is subjected to formation of metal complexes with various metals like Cu (II), Mn (II), Fe (III), VO (IV), Co (II), Ni (II) and Cd (II). Physico-chemical characterization of the synthesized complexes was carried out by IR, NMR, Mass, Electronic and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. Physical parameters and magnetic properties of complex were also analyzed.

Geometry of the complexes was investigated with molecular modeling. As an application, biological activity like anti-fungal and anti-bacterial was studied with Aspergillusterreus and Staphylococcus Aureus strains. Each complex showed varied activity. Overall, in this work, a novel ligand and its metal complexes were synthesized, characterized and explored for anti-microbial activity.

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The effect of carbon coating on the electrical conductivity of LiFeGdPO4 Cathode

Rahayu I., Putri W.Y., Ernawati E., Anggraeni A., Bahti H. and Noviyanti A.R.

Page No. 82-84

The LiFePO4 cathode is interesting to study because it has a high theoretical capacity (170 mAh g-1), high average voltage (3.4 V), non-toxic and excellent structural stability. However, LiFePO4 has low electrical conductivity, 10-9-10-10 S cm-1 which can inhibit its application as lithium-ion battery cathode material and it needs improvement. An approach that can be done to improve LiFePO4 electrical conductivity is carbon coating and metal ion doping. The purpose of this research is to identify the effect of carbon coating on the characteristics of LiFeGdPO4 and to obtain the optimum % weight of carbon as coating material that can increase the electrical conductivity LiFeGdPO4.

The carbothermal reduction method is used in synthesis and then characterized by SEM-EDS, XRD. Calculate the value of electrical conductivity with four-point probe. The results show that the effect of carbon coating can increase the value of electrical conductivity LiFeGdPO4. The LiFeGdPO4/C 5% showed the optimum carbon with the value of electrical conductivity as 7.38 x 10-6 S cm-1.

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Nyctanthes arbor-tristis mediated synthesis of novel chitosan coated gold nanoparticles: their stability and anti-bacterial activities

Kumari Kumkum, Hembram Krushna C., Kandha Laxman, Kumar Rahul and Bindhani B.K.

Page No. 85-91

In this present study, we report an eco-friendly green methodology for synthesis of gold nanoparticles using the leaf extracts of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis plant commonly known as jasmine and nanoparticles were coated using chitosan (CS) named as N-CS-AuNPs. The effect of CS concentration on the N-AuNPs was studied along with their post-synthetic stability against varying pH value and long-term storage. Synthesized nanoparticles were not aggregated and can remain for an extended period of time at room temperature which suggests the high stability of nanoparticles. N-CS-AuNPs formation was monitored by using UV-Visible spectrophotometer.

The size distribution and poly-dispersity nature were studied using Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Transmission electron microscope (TEM). Nanoparticles were mostly spherical with an average particle size between 45 and 60 nm with the crystalline structure. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed the crystalline nature of the nanoparticles and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study showed the functional groups involved in reduction process for formation of gold nanoparticles. The effects of N-CS-AuNPs were tested using Staphylococcus pyogenes and Escherichia coli and it showed antibacterial activities against these microorganisms.

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Ultrasonic Studies on Molecular Interaction and their excess properties of Ternary Liquid Mixtures of 2-Bromoanisole and 1- Pentanol in n-Hexane at Different Temperatures 303, 308 and 313K at Fixed frequency at 2MHz

J. Edward Jeyakumar, S. Chidambara Vinayagam, J. Senthil Murugan and P.S. Syed Ibrahim

Page No. 92-99

The experimental values of ultrasonic velocity (U), density (ρ) and viscosity (η) have been measured for the ternary liquid mixtures containing 2-Bromoanisole and 1-Pentanol in n-Hexane at different temperatures 303K, 308K and 313K at a fixed frequency of 2MHz. Using the experimental data of velocity, density and viscosity, various acoustical parameters like adiabatic compressibility, free volume, internal pressure, acoustical impedance and free length have been calculated and also their excess values are computed. All these parameters and their excess values have been discussed to throw light on intermolecular interactions between the components of ternary mixtures.

The result is interpreted in terms of molecular interaction such as dipole-dipole interaction through hydrogen bonding between the components of the ternary mixture. The dependence of excess properties of mixture composition was compared and discussed in terms of intermolecular interaction and other factors.

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Antibacterial properties of usnic acid against vibriosis

Eri Bachtiar, Elvira Hermawati, Lia D. Juliawaty and Yana M. Syah

Page No. 100-101

Shrimp is an economically important animal which is exposed to any kind of bacterial infection such as vibriosis. In this short report, ten Indonesian traditional plant extracts were tested against two Vibrio bacteria (V. alginolitycus and V. harveyi) resulting in Usnea sp. as the promising plant to contain antibacterial agents.

Usnic acid was then isolated as the main component of the aceton extract of Usnea sp. Using zone inhibition method, this compound gave a moderate activity against V. harveyi, but not against V. alginolitycus and V. parahemolyticus.

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Effects of pH and Temperature on Biological Hydrogen Production using Mixed Wastewater by Dark Fermentation in a continuous stirred Tank Reactor

Caliamourthy Anantharaj, Veeraraghavan Arutchelvan and Natarajan Ashok Kumar

Page No. 102-106

The fermentation process was evaluated for bio-hydrogen production and wastewater treatment using (CSTR) Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor with mixed wastewater as a substrate with a working volume of 16.34 L in the presence of mixed anaerobic sludge. Subsequently inoculating with pre-heat treated anaerobic digested sludge and the reactor primarily runs with the Organic Loading Rate of 2.47, 3.33 and 2.6 kg COD/m3.d and HRT varies from 24h, 16h, 12h and 8h. The temperature differed from 35°C, 55°C and 70°C with constant agitation rate of 60 rpm; the CSTR reactor attained stable fermentation after 20 days of continuous operations. When the OLR further increased to maximum 25.09, 29.115 and 29.87 kg COD/m3.d on the 60th day of operation, fermentation dominant micro flora was enhanced.

The results revealed that the maximum hydrogen production, effluent pH, VFA/Alkalinity ratio, COD removal percentage and VSS are (4161, 2608 and 1577 ml/d), (5.9, 5.8 and 5.9), (0.3, 0.4 and 1.0), (83%, 67% and 50%) and (7.5, 6.28 and 5.64 g/l) achieved at HRT 8h for temperature 35°C, 55°C and 12h HRT for 70oC. Finally, SEM analysis of the Anaerobic Sludge Granules was examined for Microbial Biomass population in the CSTR. The experimental results illustrated to facilitate that the CSTR reactor had better microbial activity and operation stability which shows the way to high substrate utilization rate and hydrogen production capability.

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Optimisation and evaluation of 2,2,4-Trimethyl-1,2-Dihydroquinoline (TMQ) and Alkyl Derivative of P-Phenylene Diamine (6PPD) and characterisation of Rubber Valcanisates

Shetye Sugandha S. and Ambare Satish N.

Page No. 107-117

Natural and synthetic rubbers are widely used for various applications because of their unusual properties such as high elasticity, extensibility, resiliency. Natural rubber and synthetic rubbers have an unsaturation in their repeating unit of polymer chain. Due to this they get degraded by influence of heat, light, oxygen, ozone, fatigue, metal ions poisons and flexing. Antioxidants are mainly amine derivatives such as 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (TMQ) and they function by reacting with oxides or broken polymer chain ends caused by reaction with oxygen. They therefore prevent the propagation of oxidative degradation, enabling the retention of the physical properties of the elastomer. Used polymers are generally disposed to the environments or in some case are being recycled. Therefore, optimization of additives is required for the performance of the characteristic properties of the rubber and to control the release of various additives to the environment.

The present work is focused on studying the effect of concentration of 1,2-dihydro-2,2,4-trimethylquinoline (TMQ) with alkyl derivative of p-Phenylene diamine on the physical and mechanical properties of natural rubber like tensile strength, fatigue to failure and ozone resistant capacity. Concentration of TMQ was varied from 0 to 2.5 phr to study the optimization rubber characteristic.

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Kinetics and thermal deactivation process of oil extraction from safflower seeds variety PBNS-12

Singhal Gauri, Bhagyawant Sameer Suresh, Singh Priyanka and Srivastava Nidhi

Page No. 118-121

Safflower oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and thus known to control blood sugar and heart disease. Safflower seeds also contain some antinutritional factors (ANFs) which limit its uses. Temperature based pre-treatment techniques are generally being used to eliminate these ANFs, to reduce the oil degrading enzyme activity and to improve the oil quality. However, physiochemical properties like free energy enthalpy and entropy of oilseeds usually change with variation in time and temperature.

In the current study, the effect of temperature in the form of boiling pretreatment on deactivation process of safflower oil using variable temperature (318 to 358 K) and extraction time (5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes) is determined. The optimum extraction of oil was achieved at 318 K while ∆H, ∆G and ∆S (-2638.69 Jmol-1, -3597.35 Jmol-1 and 3.06 Jmol-1K-1 respectively) were calculated to determine when oil deactivation started. In conclusion, we can say that pre-heating (Boiling treatment) of safflower seeds might be in favor of decrease or destroy the activity of oil degrading enzymes as thermal deactivation of safflower oil started at an optimum temperature under the influence of heat pretreatment.

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Five 7-amino-4-methyl-2(1H)-quinolone derivatives and their antibacterial and antifungal evaluation

Hanhan Dianhar, Yana M. Syah and Didin Mujahidin

Page No. 122-124

Quinolin-2(1H)-one derivatives have been found in nature particularly in the species of Rutaceae. Some of them are known as bioactive compounds. In this research, five 2(1H)-quinolone derivatives, namely 7-amino-4-methyl-2(1H)-quinolone (1), N-4-methyl-7((3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl)amino)quinolin -2(1H)-one (2), 7-(bis-(3-methylbut-2-en-1-yl) amino)-4-methylquinolin-2(1H)-one (3), N-(4-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinolin-7-yl)acetamide (4), N-(4-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinolin-7-yl) benzamide (5) have been described. Structures of the synthetic compounds were determined by NMR, UV and mass spectral data.

Antibacterial and antifungal evaluation of the synthetic compounds 1-5 showed that these compounds were inactive as antibacterial, but active against C. albicans. Thus, 7-amino-4-methyl-2(1H)-quinolone derivatives 1-5 can be developed further as antifungal agents.

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Isolation and molecular identification of pesticide (fipronil) degrading bacteria from mangrove soil

Sayi D.S., Vinod Kumar K., Jijitha P., Sachithanandam V. and Narayanan J.K.

Page No. 125-128

Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide belonging to phenyl pyrazole group, an extensively used insecticide causing serious problem in the environment. Fipronil degrades slowly and persists for longer duration in soil and causes serious health hazards to surrounding biodiversity. Microbial bioremediation has been found promising against such persisting insecticides for enhancing the degradation process.

The present study was carried out for the identification of geographically adaptive fipronil degrading bacteria from Mangrove soil ecosystem of Ashtamudi lake (Ramsar site in India) polluted by neighboring industries and agricultural field. Isolation of fipronil degrading bacteria was carried out on a medium containing 1% fipronil as a carbon source. One of the isolates (SNCK-4) was identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae by 16S rRNA gene sequencing method. Existence of such microbial community can break the pesticide biomagnification process and restrict its entry to food web. Thus, water bodies in mangrove ecosystem can be considered as natural refineries. Further investigation is needed to explore the biotechnological role of this bacterium in terms of degradation of fipronil in polluted mangrove ecosystem.

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Effect of Organic Doping TiO2 Nanoparticles on Catalase and Peroxidase Activity and New Cancer Treatment Approach

Asmaa J.AL-Lamei, Zahraa K. Al-Hassani, Muna Ali Shaker and Salmaa Abdul-Radah

Page No. 129-135

This study describes the synthesis of organic compound doping TiO2 nanoparticles by sol-gel technique. By spectral techniques, particle size was found around 73.34 nm at 90ᵒC.The nanoparticles are characterized by XRD, SEM, AFM and FTIR. The inhibition effect of doping nanoparticles on Catalase and Peroxidase is also studied. Damage in DNA is responsible for cancer formation and progression. This study used different concentration of doping NPs.

The inhibition effect of doping nanoparticles on catalase and enzymes is also studied by using different concentration of doping NPs. It is found that the activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes increases with decrease in nanoparticles concentrations and decreases in inhibition percentage. Kinetic properties of catalase and peroxidase activities are revealed by doping NPs non-competitive type of inhibitors and peroxidase activity competitive inhibitors. Titanium nanoparticles showed a high significant percentage of inhibition.

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Antibacterial activity of extract and two secondary metabolite compounds from the leaves of Hydrangea macrophylla

Dewi Meliati Agustini, Elvira Hermawati, Sopi Widianingsih, Yenny Febriani Yun and Ferina Rengganis

Page No. 136-139

This research aims to obtain antibacterial compound from leaves of Hydrangea macrophylla. The isolation stage started with the extraction by using n-hexane and methanol. Then the methanol extract was separated by Vacuum Liquid Chromatography (VLC) method and was purified by Radial Chromatography which was guided by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) method. Two secondary metabolites were isolated i.e. (-)-hydrangenol and thunberginol A. Their chemical structures have been determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence.

The antibacterial assay was performed by microdilution method against bacteria pathogenic: Salmonella thypi, Shigella dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aureginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. On antibacterial test both compound were found as mostly weak antibacterials.

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Astaxanthin extraction from shrimp shell wastes and its potential as a gold-fish feed

Habibi Nazima and Al Salameen Fadila

Page No. 140-145

Shrimp shells are important and natural source of bioactive astaxanthin. In the present study we report an eco-friendly method of astaxanthin extraction in coconut oil and its utilization as a feed for gold-fish. Shrimp shell wastes (head and carapace) were collected from India (three States) and Kuwait. Dried powder of shell waste was added to coconut oil and boiled at 90±2°C. Supernatant containing astaxanthin was filtered and estimated spectrophotometrically at 487nm.

Significantly different (p=0.00) amounts of astaxanthin were recovered from Kuwaiti (34.21 µg/g of dry waste) and Indian (32.86 µg/g of dry waste) samples. Feed composed of the extract (100gms gelatin + 10ml oil extract (ca.5.0µg astaxanthin) + 5 g readymade fish food) was prepared and fed to gold-fishes for a period of two months. Feed supplemented with oil extract produced no harmful effect on the gold fishes.

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Eco-friendly polymers: Potential alternatives to synthetic polymers for packaging applications

Manisha, Jagadish R.S. and Nandini K.E.

Page No. 146-154

Increased production and accumulation of synthetic plastics is causing serious environmental problems, thus prompting researchers to explore and develop biodegradable films and coatings with improved properties as cheaper alternative to synthetic plastic. Biopolymers used for preparation of films should be renewable, abundant and of low-cost. These polymers should form films and coatings with good barrier properties against the transport of gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. On the other hand, tensile strength and percentage of elongation are desirable mechanical properties to maintain the integrity of packed food. Tensile strength values exhibited by polysaccharide-based films vary from each other, but some of them show almost similar values to synthetic polymers.

Researchers are studying combinations of polysaccharides with other materials to improve both barrier and mechanical properties in order to obtain biopolymers that could replace synthetic polymers. Along with this, functional polymers with better antimicrobial properties such as chitosan are also being studied by many scientists throughout the world as a better alternative. This review summarizes the advances in biodegradable polymeric films and coatings for food packaging applications.

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