Antioxidant Properties and the Preservative Effect of Whole Radish Extract on Quality of Deccan Mahseer (Tor khudree) Steaks during Chilled Storage

ABSTRACT

The effect of dip treatment with solvent-free whole radish extract (WRE) on quality characteristics of Deccan mahseer steaks was evaluated during the chilled storage. In-vitro antioxidant activities of the extract were evaluated based on total phenolic and flavonoid contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and metal chelating ability prior to the dip treatment. The quality parameters, including total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine nitrogen (TMA-N), and free fatty acid (FFA), were significantly (p < .05) reduced in WRE treated steaks compared to the control (CT) steaks. WRE treatment of fish steaks significantly controlled the lipid oxidation parameters of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and peroxide value (PV). Total plate count (TPC) of CT sample was higher than the treated sample and remained within the limit of 7 log₁₀ cfu/g at the end of storage. As per the sensory analysis, shelf life of Deccan mahseer was determined to be 15 days for WRE treated steaks and 9 days for control steaks during chill storage. Based on the results, it can be concluded that WRE treatment can limit the progress of fish spoilage bacteria in fish steaks and can be used as a substitute for synthetic additives.     

Antimicrobial activity of bioactive compounds and leaf extracts in Jatropha tanjorensis

Objectives

Jatropha tanjorensis was investigated scientifically to generate evidence for the efficacies reported in traditional systems and the results are given here.

Methods

Different concentrations of the solvent extracts of leaves and four isolated compounds were tested against human pathogenic microorganisms such as gram-positive bacteria of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, gram-negative bacteria of Aeromonas hydrophila, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella paratyphi A, Vibrio alcaligenes, Vibrio cholerae and fungi of Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton rubrum by agar-well diffusion and disk diffusion methods.

Results

In agar-well diffusion method, maximum activity was recorded in a concentration-dependent manner. The extracts recorded activity against bacteria such as 17–26, 15–25 and 13–24 mm to methanol extract and 15–24, 14–23 and 12–22 mm to chloroform extract at 50, 25 and 12.5 mg/ml respectively and fungi such as 9–15 mm to A. fumigatus and 5–16 mm to T. rubrum. Maximum activity was 30–46, 27–43 and 17–40 mm to friedelin and 23–46, 28–44 and 18–41 mm to R (+) 4-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinone against bacteria and 12–37, 8–34 and 31–33 mm to friedelin and 12–40, 11–35 and 10–33 mm to R (+) 4-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinone against fungi at 10, 5 and 2.5 mg respectively.

Conclusions

The present study concludes that friedelin, β-amyrin, stigmasterol and R (+) 4-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinone present in the methanol extract could be responsible for the broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and provide scientific evidence.     

Ethyl p-methoxycinnamate isolated from a traditional anti-tuberculosis medicinal herb inhibits drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in vitro

Many plants are used in Ayurveda for the treatment of tuberculosis. Our aim was to examine if these plants possess any specific molecule that inhibits Mycobacterium tuberculosis. One of them, Kaempferia galanga, yielded an anti-TB molecule, ethyl p-methoxycinnamate (EPMC). By resazurin microtitre assay (REMA), EPMC was shown to inhibit M. tuberculosis H37Ra, H37Rv, drug susceptible and multidrug resistant (MDR) clinical isolates (MIC 0.242-0.485 mM). No cross resistance was observed to any standard anti-TB drugs in the MDR strains. The compound did not inhibit any prototype bacteria tested. EPMC seems to be a potential anti-TB lead molecule.     

Effect of Organic Manure and Crop Residue Based Long-Term Nutrient Management Systems on Soil Quality Changes under Sole Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) and Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) – Finger Millet Rotation in Rainfed Alfisol

A long-term experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of integrated use of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients on soil quality and its relation to finger millet yield under two predominant crop rotations viz., groundnut–finger millet and finger millet monocropping in hot moist semiarid rainfed Alfisol soils in South India. Two experiments were laid out separately for each cropping system in a randomized complete block design with five treatments individually with FYM and maize residue-based combinations viz., Control (T1), FYM @ 10t ha ^?1 or Maize residue (MR) @ 5t ha ^?1 (T2), farm yard manure (FYM) @ 10t ha ^?1 or Maize residue (MR) @ 5t ha ^?1 + 50% RDF (Recommended Fertiliser Dose) N, P₂O₅ &; K₂O (T3), FYM @ 10t ha ^?1 or Maize residue (MR) @ 5t ha ^?1 + 100% RDF N,P₂O₅ &; K₂O (T4), Recommended N, P₂O₅ &; K₂O (T5). Thus, four sets of nutrient management systems were evaluated. The results showed that farm yard manure or maize residue application in combination with recommended dose of fertilizer significantly improved the soil physical, chemical, and biological properties compared to control and application of inorganic fertilizers alone. Based on evaluation of 19 soil quality parameters under each of the four nutrient management systems, the common key soil quality indicators emerged out were: organic C (OC), available nitrogen (N), available sulfur (S), and mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates. A significant correlation between the finger millet yield and the relative soil quality indices (RSQI) indicates the importance of soil quality in these semiarid Alfisol soils. The results and the methodology adopted in the present study could be of importance in improving the soil quality not only for the region of the study, but also in other identical soils and cropping systems across the world.     

iRhom2 regulation of TACE controls TNF-mediated protection against Listeria and responses to LPS

Innate immune responses are vital for pathogen defense but can result in septic shock when excessive. A key mediator of septic shock is tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), which is shed from the plasma membrane after cleavage by the TNFα convertase (TACE). We report that the rhomboid family member iRhom2 interacted with TACE and regulated TNFα shedding. iRhom2 was critical for TACE maturation and trafficking to the cell surface in hematopoietic cells. Gene-targeted iRhom2-deficient mice showed reduced serum TNFα in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and could survive a lethal LPS dose. Furthermore, iRhom2-deficient mice failed to control the replication of Listeria monocytogenes. Our study has identified iRhom2 as a regulator of innate immunity that may be an important target for modulating sepsis and pathogen defense.     

Modeling Variability of Alfisols Fertility Parameters in Micro-Watersheds of Harve,Chamarajanagara District in Semi-Arid,India

Assessment of soil-fertility of a sub-watershed is pre-requisite for efficient rainfed agriculture. Soil survey was conducted in Harve sub-watershed (Kumachahalli-1,Kumachahalli-2,KG Hundi,Kengaki,Bettadapura,Sagade micro-watersheds) to assess soil homogeneity. Based on analysis of soil-fertility data, pH had lowest, while manganese (Kumachahalli-1), magnesium (Kumachahalli-2,KG Hundi,Sagade), zinc (Kengaki), copper (Bettadapura) had highest variation. Principal component (PC) analysis indicated that 5 PCs explained 66.96% (Sagade)–74.08% (Kumachahalli-2) variance. Comparison of P₁ and P₂ indicated zinc (Kengaki), copper (Bettadapura), nitrogen, carbon (Kumachahalli-1); while P₁ and P₃ indicated carbon (Sagade), magnesium, calcium (Kumachahalli-2); P₂ and P₃ indicated carbon (Kengaki) as important with loading >0.70. Comparison of variation with P₁ indicated pH (all locations), potassium (KG Hundi,Kengaki,Kumachahalli-2), electrical conductivity (Kumachahalli-2), carbon (Sagade); P₂ indicated carbon, nitrogen (Kumachahalli-1); P₃ indicated carbon (Kengaki), zinc (Sagade), calcium (Kumachahalli-2) as important. Kumachahalli-2 was superior with maximum soil homogeneity. The findings are useful for developing soil test-based fertilizer doses for crops under Alfisols.     

Drying Kinetics and Quality Characteristics of Indian Mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) in Solar–Electrical Hybrid Dryer

The aim of the study was to investigate the drying kinetics and quality characteristics of Indian mackerel dried under solar–electrical hybrid dryer (S-EHD). Fresh Indian mackerel fishes (Rastrelliger kanagurta) were cleaned, cut into butterfly fillets, and salted overnight using a dry salting method (salt-to-fish ratio, 1:3). The salted mackerel was dried in a S-EHD at the air temperature of 45–55°C, relative humidity of 47–62%, and air velocity of 0.60–0.80 m/s. Open sun drying (OSD) of salted Indian mackerel was conducted to compare with S-EHD. The moisture content of the salted mackerel (61.5% w.b.) was reduced to 31.8% (w.b.) under S-EHD and 30.25% (w.b) under OSD in 8 and 32 h, respectively. The drying rate curve showed that mackerel drying occurred under falling-rate drying period in both the drying methods. A drying efficiency of 23.81% was observed for salted Indian mackerel drying under S-EHD. Diffusion approach and two-term models were selected to accurately predict the drying behavior of mackerel under S-EHD and OSD, respectively. Total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), trimethylamine, and thiobarbituric acid analysis of dried samples revealed that the mackerel dried under S-EHD was better than OSD. In the sensory analysis, samples dried under S-EHD recorded highest overall acceptability score.     

Tissue culture and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agrobacterium</Emphasis>-mediated genetic transformation studies in four commercially important indica rice cultivars

This research was undertaken to find an efficient tissue culture system and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation method for recalcitrant indica rice cultivars. For this, mature seeds of commercially important indica rice varieties, ASD16, ADT43, IR 64, and Pusa Basmati were cultured on MS and N6 medium supplemented with 2 mg l^-1 2, 4-D + 30 g l^-1 sucrose. The calli grown in N6 medium showed better friability and embryogenic response. Out of the four varieties tested, ASD16 and IR64 showed better callusing and embryogenic capacity as compared to ADT43 and Pusa Basmati. For genetic transformation studies, embryogenic calli of all the cultivars were co-cultivated with the Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA 4404 harboring the binary vector pCambia 1305.1 with GUS gene. GUS assay was performed for the putative transformed calli and its activity was found to be qualitatively higher in ASD16 and IR64 than the other two varieties. The best responsive ASD16 transformed calli was regenerated and the putative transgenic lines were regenerated. ASD16 transformed calli were confirmed by GUS assay. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of both GUS and HPT genes in ASD16 transgenic lines.     

Comparative sequence analysis of poxvirus A32 gene encoded ATPase protein and carboxyl terminal heterogeneity of Indian orf viruses

Thirteen orf virus (ORFV) isolates from natural outbreaks in sheep and goats belonging to different geographical regions of India were analysed on the basis of ORF108 (a homologue of poxviral A32 gene), which is known to encode for ATPase and involved in virion DNA packaging. Comparative sequence analysis of ATPase proteins revealed highly conserved N-terminal region with five different motifs [Walker A, Walker B, A32L specific motifs (III and IV) and a novel AYDG (motif-V)] among all poxviruses and divergent carboxyl terminus with either single or double RGD sequences among all Indian ORFV isolates. A homology model and secondary structure predictions of N-terminal region of ORFV A32 revealed that most of the poxviruses including ORFV ATPase protein belong to a distinct clade of the HerA/FtsK super family of DNA packaging proteins. Despite differences in host cell specificity and poxvirus infections among animals, DNA packaging motor domain of poxviruses presumed to share remarkable similarities as indicated by the presence of conserved ATPase motifs in the present investigation. The study also indicated the circulation of heterogeneous strains of ORFV in India and possibilities of differentiation of ORFV strains based on C-terminal heterogeneity.     

Rheology and microscopic topology of entangled polymeric liquids

The viscoelastic properties of high molecular weight polymeric liquids are dominated by topological constraints on a molecular scale. In a manner similar to that of entangled ropes, polymer chains can slide past but not through each other. Tube models of polymer dynamics and rheology are based on the idea that entanglements confine a chain to small fluctuations around a primitive path that follows the coarse-grained chain contour. Here we provide a microscopic foundation for these highly successful phenomenological models. We analyze the topological state of polymeric liquids in terms of primitive paths and obtain parameter-free, quantitative predictions for the plateau modulus, which agree with experiment for all major classes of synthetic polymers.