The effect of developmental and environmental factors on secondary metabolites in medicinal plants.

AIMS Probiotic milk-based formulations were spray-dried with various combinations of prebiotic substances in an effort to generate synbiotic powder products. METHODS AND RESULTS To examine the effect of growth phase and inclusion of a prebiotic substance in the feed media on probiotic viability during spray-drying, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG was spray-dried in lag, early log and stationary phases of growth in reconstituted skim milk (RSM) (20% w/v) or RSM (10% w/v), polydextrose (PD) (10% w/v) mixture at an outlet temperature of 85-90 degrees C. Stationary phase cultures survived best (31-50%) in both feed media and were the most stable during powder storage at 4-37 degrees C over 8 weeks, with 30-140-fold reductions in cell viability at 37 degrees C in RSM and PD/RSM powders, respectively. Stationary phase Lact. rhamnosus GG was subsequently spray-dried in the presence of the prebiotic inulin in the feed media, composed of RSM (10% w/v) and inulin (10% w/v), and survival following spray-drying was of the order 7.1-43%, while viability losses of 20,000-90,000-fold occurred in these powders after 8 weeks' storage at 37 degrees C. Survival of the Lactobacillus culture after spray-drying in powders produced using PD (20% w/v) or inulin (20% w/v) as the feed media was only 0.011-0.45%. To compare different probiotic lactobacilli during spray-drying, stationary phase Lact. rhamnosus E800 and Lact. salivarius UCC 500 were spray-dried using the same parameters as for Lact. rhamnosus GG in either RSM (20% w/v) or RSM (10% w/v) and PD (10% w/v). Lact. rhamnosus E800 experienced approx. 25-41% survival, yielding powders containing approximately 10(9) CFU g(-1), while Lact. salivarius UCC 500 performed poorly, experiencing over 99% loss in viability during spray-drying in both feed media. In addition to the superior survival of Lact. rhamnosus GG after spray-drying, both strains experienced higher viability losses (570-700-fold) during storage at 37 degrees C over 8 weeks compared with Lact. rhamnosus GG. CONCLUSIONS Stationary phase cultures were most suitable for the spray-drying process, while lag phase was most susceptible. The presence of the prebiotics PD and inulin did not enhance viability during spray-drying or powder storage. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY High viability (approximately 10(9) CFU g(-1)) powders containing probiotic lactobacilli in combination with prebiotics were developed, which may be useful as functional food ingredients for the manufacture of probiotic foods.

Comparative survival of probiotic lactobacilli spray dried in the presence of prebiotic substances

Impact of various factors responsible for fluctuation in plant secondary metabolites

Fish intestinal mucosal surfaces comprise of a complex and dynamic community of microorganisms, which play important roles within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Of the bacteria colonising the GI tract, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), are generally considered as favourable bacteria due to their abilities to stimulating host GI development, digestive function, maintaining mucosal tolerance, stimulating immune response and provide protection towards bacterial pathogens. In early finfish studies culture-dependent methods were used to enumerate bacterial population levels within the GI tract; members of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus, Streptococcus and Carnobacterium genera were isolated. However, due to limitations by using culture media, techniques such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis (TTGE), 16S rRNA clone libraries, and MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA genes have been used during the last decade. These investigations have revealed the presence of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus, Streptococcus, Carnobacterium, Weissella and Pediococcus as indigenous species. In the GI tract of warm water fish species, members of the genera Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus, Weissella and Pediococcus have commonly been identified, however, Carnobacterium are rarely identified. Numerous strains of LAB isolated from finfish are capable of producing antibacterial substances against different potential fish pathogenic bacteria as well as human pathogens. In addition, many LAB have the ability to inhibit growth of closely related bacteria including strains of carnobacteria, lactobacilli, lactococci, leuconostoc and pediococci. LAB are revealed be the most promising bacterial genera as probiotic in aquaculture. During the decade increasing number of research attempts are performed on evaluation of probiotic properties of different genus and species of LAB. Except limited contradictory reports, most of administered strains showed beneficial effects on growth performance, reproductive performance, immune responses and disease resistance of finfish. This eventually led to industrial scale up and introduction LAB-based commercial probiotics. Pathogenic LAB such as members of the genera Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Carnobacterium and Lactococcus have been detected from ascites, kidney, liver, heart and spleen of several finfish species. These pathogenic bacteria will be addressed in present review which includes their impacts on finfish aquaculture, possible routes for treatment.

/pdf/lactic-acid-bacteria-in-finfish-an-update-3qweype57t.pdf

Lactic Acid Bacteria in Finfish—An Update

Banana (Musa spp) from peel to pulp: ethnopharmacology, source of bioactive compounds and its relevance for human health.

Biotic and abiotic stresses exert a considerable influence on the production of several secondary metabolites in plants; water stress is one of the most important abiotic stress factors. This study was carried out to elucidate the effect of drought stress on growth, physiology and secondary metabolite production in desi ajwain (Trachyspermum ammi L.). Plants were grown in pots and three drought levels (100%, 80% and 60%) of field capacity were created. The experiment was laid out in complete randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. Data on growth, physiological and biochemical parameters were recorded and analyzed statistically. Physiological parameters like transpiration rate and stomatal conductance decreased significantly with increasing water stress levels, but internal CO2 concentration increased. The photosynthetic rate showed non-significant reduction from 100% field capacity to 80% field capacity but increased at 60% field capacity. Growth parameters including plant height, herb fresh and dry weights were reduced significantly with increasing stress levels, while total phenolic contents and chlorophyll contents increased under water stress conditions. These results suggest that cultivation of medicinal plants like desi ajwain under drought stress could enhance the production of secondary metabolites.

Water stress mediated changes in growth, physiology and secondary metabolites of desi ajwain (trachyspermum ammi l.)

This study investigated the potential of moringa leaf extract (MLE) in seed priming for vigour enhancement of spring maize sown at low temperature (12 ± 1°C). The efficacy of MLE priming (3% w/v) was compared with other priming agents: kinetin (0.5% w/v), KCl (2% w/v) and hydropriming, each for 18 hours in hybrid maize cv. Pioneer-6525. Non-primed seeds were used as the control. Priming with MLE was the most effective in improving germination rate and subsequent seedling growth. This increased seedling performance was the result of reduced time to 50% germination (T50) and mean germination time (MGT), and higher final germination percentage (FGP), germination index (GI) and germination energy (GE). Similarly improved seedling growth following seed priming with MLE or kinetin was due to enhanced root and shoot lengths, the ratio of root:shoot length and maximum seedling fresh and dry weights compared with control seeds. Enhanced seedling maize performance by priming with MLE was attributed to improved chlorophyll content, amylase activity and total sugar contents under cool conditions.

Priming with moringa leaf extract reduces imbibitional chilling injury in spring maize

Fish eco-genotoxicology: Comet and micronucleus assay in fish erythrocytes as in situ biomarker of freshwater pollution.

Over the past few years, active research on algorithm development for the optimal operations of home energy management systems (HEMSs) has been performed. The objective is to compute optimized schedules for shiftable home appliances. This is based on the demand response (DR) synergized with renewable energy sources and energy storage system optimal dispatch (DRSREOD). An improved algorithm for a DRSREOD-based HEMS is proposed in this paper. This heuristic-based algorithm considers DR, photovoltaic availability, the state of charge and charge/discharge rates of the storage battery and the sharing-based parallel operation of more than one power source to supply the required load. The HEMS problem has been solved to minimize the cost of energy ( $CE$ ) and time-based discomfort ( $TBD$ ) with conflicting tradeoffs. The mixed scheduling of appliances (delayed scheduling for some appliances and advanced scheduling for others) is introduced to improve the $CE$ and $TBD$ performance parameters. An inclining block rate scheme is also incorporated to reduce the peak load. A set of optimized tradeoffs between $CE$ and $TBD$ has been computed to address multi-objectivity using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) with Pareto optimization (PO) to perform the tradeoff analysis and to enable consumers to select the most feasible solution. Due to the rapid increase in demand for electricity, developing countries are facing large-scale load shedding (LS). An innovative algorithm is also proposed for the optimal sizing of a dispatchable generator (DG) that can supply the DRSREOD-based HEMS during LS hours to ensure an uninterrupted supply of power. The proposed MOGA/PO-based algorithm enables consumers to select a DG of the optimal size from among a number of optimal choices based on tradeoffs between the DG size, $CE$ , and $TBD$ .

An Innovative Heuristic Algorithm for IoT-Enabled Smart Homes for Developing Countries

An attempt has been made to develop filter design criteria that can be adopted for nonuniform particle sizes of different gradation for both cohesionless bases and filter material. It is a deviation from the existing empirical approaches of filter design, which mostly rely upon the ratios of certain particle sizes of the filter and base materials. This concept explains the behavior of filters more clearly and the practical validity of this concept has been amply demonstrated by a number of tests on various base-filter combinations. The results of the laboratory investigations were found comparable with the theoretical predictions. Based on the logical configuration of the filter mass and experimental observations, a procedure for the design of filter has been developed. For this purpose an empirical equation has been established for estimating the design controlling size d* on the basis of the base gradation. This d* is a guiding size for design of the filter mass and depends on the packing pattern of nonuniform particle sizes. Results of this investigation have been found to be consistent with the results of some earlier investigations.

Bilal Hussain

Papers

Water stress mediated changes in growth, physiology and secondary metabolites of desi ajwain (trachyspermum ammi l.)

Priming with moringa leaf extract reduces imbibitional chilling injury in spring maize

Fish eco-genotoxicology: Comet and micronucleus assay in fish erythrocytes as in situ biomarker of freshwater pollution.

An Innovative Heuristic Algorithm for IoT-Enabled Smart Homes for Developing Countries

Filter Design Criteria for Graded Cohesionless Bases