There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

Removal of synthetic dyes from wastewaters: a review.

Both lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities were determined using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORACFL) assay with fluorescein as the fluorescent probe and 2,2‘-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride as a peroxyl radical generator on over 100 different kinds of foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, dried fruits, spices, cereals, infant, and other foods. Most of the foods were collected from four different regions and during two different seasons in U.S. markets. Total phenolics of each sample were also measured using the Folin−Ciocalteu reagent. Hydrophilic ORACFL values (H-ORACFL) ranged from 0.87 to 2641 μmol of Trolox equivalents (TE)/g among all of the foods, whereas lipophilic ORACFL values (L-ORACFL) ranged from 0.07 to 1611 μmol of TE/g. Generally, L-ORACFL values were <10% of the H-ORACFL values except for a very few samples. Total antioxidant capacity was calculated by combining L-ORACFL and H-ORACFL. Differences of ORACFL values in fruits and vegetables from different...

https://faculty.missouri.edu/~glaserr/3700s14/Antioxidant_WuJAgFoodChem5240262004.pdf

Lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities of common foods in the United States

Medicinal plants and antimicrobial activity.

Bacterial biosorbents and biosorption

Antimicrobial activity of spices

Anethum graveolens Linn., Foeniculum vulgare Mill. and Trachyspermum ammi L. are widely used traditional medicinal plants to treat various ailments. To provide a scientific basis to traditional uses of these plants, their aqueous and organic seed extracts, as well as isolated phytoconstituents were evaluated for their antibacterial potential. Antibacterial activity of aqueous and organic seed extracts was assessed using agar diffusion assay, minimum inhibitory concentration and viable cell count studies; and their antibacterial effect was compared with some standard antibiotics. The presence of major phytoconstituents was detected qualitatively and quantitatively. The isolated phytoconstituents were subjected to disc diffusion assay to ascertain their antibacterial effect. Hot water and acetone seed extracts showed considerably good antibacterial activity against all the bacteria except Klebsiella pneumoniae and one strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Minimum inhibitory concentration for aqueous and acetone seed extracts ranged from 20–80 mg/ml and 5–15 mg/ml respectively. Viable cell count studies revealed the bactericidal nature of the seed extracts. Statistical analysis proved the better/equal efficacy of some of these seed extracts as compared to standard antibiotics. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of 2.80 – 4.23% alkaloids, 8.58 – 15.06% flavonoids, 19.71 – 27.77% tannins, 0.55–0.70% saponins and cardiac glycosides. Antibacterial efficacy shown by these plants provides a scientific basis and thus, validates their traditional uses as homemade remedies. Isolation and purification of different phytochemicals may further yield significant antibacterial agents.

/pdf/antibacterial-and-phytochemical-screening-of-anethum-iid4r301ea.pdf

Antibacterial and phytochemical screening of Anethum graveolens, Foeniculum vulgare and Trachyspermum ammi

Lignin is amorphous in nature, lacks stereoregularity, and is not susceptible to hydrolytic attack. Despite its resistant nature, it is however degraded by various microorganisms, particularly, white-rot fungi. Such fungi are capable of extracellular production of lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, and laccase, the three major enzymes associated with ligninolysis. Though all white-rot fungi do not produce all the three enzymes, laccase occupies an important place in ligninolysis. Laccase belongs to a diverse group of enzymes called oxidoreductases and is also known as benzenediol: oxygen oxidoreductase. They have low substrate specificity. The copper-containing enzyme laccase has been detected in a variety of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, plants, and insects. Mostly, these are extracellular proteins, although intracellular laccases have also been detected in some fungi and insects. Fungal laccases are believed to play a variety of roles, such as, morphogenesis, pathogenesis, and lignin degradation. As an oxidase, laccase is used in many agricultural, industrial, and medicinal applications. Current investigations are focused on laccase-based biooxidation, biotransformation, biosensor, and enzymatic synthesis of organic compounds. By enhancing laccase production using different physiochemical parameters, better understanding of the mechanism for the reactions of interest, and optimizing the catalytic activity of laccase, it can be used in a better way in diverse fields of biotechnology.

Ligninolytic fungal laccases and their biotechnological applications

Aqueous extracts of ten medicinal plants were examined for their antibacterial potential against some reference strains of human pathogenic bacteria. Anethum graveolens, Elettaria cardamomum, Foeniculum vulgare, Trachyspermum ammi and Viola odorata were found to be better/equally effective compared to standard antibiotics. V. odorata was the most effective antibacterial with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 1 to 2%. The results provide a scientific basis for the centuries-old usage of aqueous extracts of these medicinal plants.

Daljit Singh Arora

Papers

Antimicrobial activity of spices

Antibacterial and phytochemical screening of Anethum graveolens, Foeniculum vulgare and Trachyspermum ammi

Ligninolytic fungal laccases and their biotechnological applications

Antibacterial activity of some Indian medicinal plants

Involvement of lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase and laccase in degradation and selective ligninolysis of wheat straw