Biodiesel synthesis from Styrax officinalis L. seed oil as a novel and potential non-edible feedstock: A parametric optimization study through the Taguchi technique

Integrated biohydrogen production via lignocellulosic waste: Opportunity, challenges & future prospects.

This study has been carried out with the aim of enhancing the production of bacoside A in plant cultures of Bacopa monnieri through the process of elicitation. Optimisation of suitable concentrations of plant growth regulators and harvest time has been accomplished for the highest biomass production and bacoside A accumulation. Plant cultures were elicited with methyl jasmonate (MJ) and salicylic acid (SA) separately and in combinations in different concentrations for a period of 1–4 weeks. Three weeks of elicitation with 50 µM MJ or 50 µM SA produced about two and threefold higher quantity of bacoside A respectively when compared to unelicited controls. Highest accumulation was noticed in a combination of 25 µM MJ + 25 µM SA treated for 3 weeks duration. It has produced about 59.18 mg/g DW (dry weight) of bacoside A3 (3.5-fold higher), 95.30 mg/g DW of Bacopaside II (5.2-fold higher), 46.11 mg/g DW of Jujubogenin isomer of Bacopasaponin C (4.8-fold higher) and 68.16 mg/g DW of Bacopasaponin C (5.9-fold higher), altogether accounting for the production of 269.71 mg/g DW (almost fivefold higher) of bacoside A. Hence the protocol formulated provides an efficient alternative for mass production of whole plants with increased metabolite content.

Methyl jasmonate and salicylic acid synergism enhances bacoside A content in shoot cultures of Bacopa monnieri (L.)

Waste recycling is one of the key aspects in current day studies to boost the country’s circular economy. Recycling wood from construction and demolished structures and combining it with plastics forms wood-polymer composites (WPC) which have a very wide scope of usage. Such recycled composites have very low environmental impact in terms of abiotic potential, global warming potential, and greenhouse potential. Processing of WPCs can be easily done with predetermined strength values that correspond to its end application. Yet, the usage of conventional polymer composite manufacturing techniques such as injection molding and extrusion has very limited scope. Many rheological characterization techniques are being followed to evaluate the influence of formulation and process parameters over the quality of final WPCs. It will be very much interesting to carry out a review on the material formulation of WPCs and additives used. Manufacturing of wood composites can also be made by using bio-based adhesives such as lignin, tannin, and so on. Nuances in complete replacement of synthetic adhesives as bio-based adhesives are also discussed by various researchers which can be done only by complete understanding of formulating factors of bio-based adhesives. Wood composites play a significant role in many non-structural and structural applications such as construction, floorings, windows, and door panels. The current review focuses on the processing of WPCs along with additives such as wood flour and various properties of WPCs such as mechanical, structural, and morphological properties. Applications of wood-based composites in various sectors such as automotive, marine, defense, and structural applications are also highlighted in this review.

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A Critical Review on Wood-Based Polymer Composites: Processing, Properties, and Prospects

Bacopa monnieri (L.), a highly endangered miracle medicinal herb with global interest, is one of the popular ancient Indian ayurvedic plants. With ever increasing demand for Bacopa based formulations in pharmaceutical industries, there is a need to preserve the stocks of the plant through biotechnological approaches. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting approach was applied to analyze the genetic stability of 19 different B.monnieri plants randomly selected after micropropagation, regrowth from alginate encapsulated uninodal cuttings (before and after storage at 4°C) and hardening with the mother plant (wild type). 16 arbitrary decamer primers amplified a total of 334 reproducible distinct DNA fragments ranging from 180 to 1,500 bp, of which 262 (78.4%) were monomorphic and the rest (21.5%) were polymorphic with an average of 20.8 bands per primer. The extent of polymorphism was low to moderate. Primers OPAK 14, OPM 15 and OPD 13 generated 69, 46 and 42% polymorphic patterns. Primers OPA 04, OPU 13 and OPD 08 generated 100% monomorphic pattern. Similarity matrix based on Jaccard’s coefficient revealed that pair wise values between the wild type and its analyzed plants ranged from 0.00 to 0.92 and among the micropropagated, synthetic seed derived and hardened plants, the range of genetic distance is from 0.67 to 0.92. Unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages cluster analysis resulted in one loose group of the wild type with three subgroups. The present study paves the way for the identification and maintenance of genetically uniform B. monnieri plants micropropagated in the lab, plants regrown from synthetic seeds and hardened in the field.

RAPD based genetic stability analysis among micropropagated, synthetic seed derived and hardened plants of Bacopa monnieri (L.): a threatened Indian medicinal herb

Properties of pervious concrete – A state of the art review

In biodiesel production process, not all fatty acid chains are turned into alkyl esters (biodiesel). This phenomenon reduces the biodiesel quality and yield significantly. Therefore, optimization of biodiesel production process is very much essential to attain maximum yield. In this work, biodiesel production from raw Pungamia oil was optimized by using Taguchi’s method. The L9 orthogonal array was used to optimize the maximum yield of biodiesel production. The parameters like stirrer speed, concentration of NaOH catalyst, and reaction time for producing maximum yield of methyl esters from raw Pungamia oil is reported. In this analysis, signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are employed to identify and quantify the maximum yield. The analysis revealed that 550 rpm stirrer speed, 15 g of NaOH catalyst, and 80 min reaction time are the optimum parameters for methyl esters of biodiesel production from raw Pungamia oil.

Optimization of biodiesel production from Pungamia oil by Taguchi's technique

The global scenario turned towards converging their focus on sustainability owing to its adverse response in the climatic conditions, else unlike other planets earth may go unbefitting to live. The major contributor in for this worsening scenario of the climatic condition is polluting the atmosphere by various ways. In addition to this, the major polluting factor around the globe is vehicle and industrial waste which is contaminating the environment on hourly basis. The derived outcome of this issue is to cut the pollutants of the fuel mixing with atmospheric air and when this is either stopped or reduced, it saves the mother earth from pollution. The biofuel derived from wastes based catalysts is considered to be a better alternative and such biofuels have lesser environmental hazards when compared with conventional fossil fuels. So, the review in this article narrows down to waste catalyst derived biofuel along with their performance which contributes in the self-sustenance of biodiesel production. The article flow through the path of progress of biofuel and about the destination of its progress in near future which is discussed along with the patent landscape analysis. Scope of the article can be clearly understood from the facts revealed from the patent analysis. So, the first segment discusses about the ways to derive the biofuel from the agriculture waste, biomasses, gasification as well as from the microalgae. Focus of this review has also been given for the description of various natural sources used to derive catalysts, performance of the catalysts used for biodiesel production in terms of its efficiency and the challenges associated with the use of natural sources as catalysts for biodiesel production.

Catalyst derived from wastes for biofuel production: a critical review and patent landscape analysis

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R. Saravanakumar

Papers

Properties of pervious concrete – A state of the art review

Optimization of biodiesel production from Pungamia oil by Taguchi's technique

Catalyst derived from wastes for biofuel production: a critical review and patent landscape analysis

Benzyl amino purine and adenine sulphate induced rapid multiple shoot and root induction from nodal explants of Brahmi [ Bacopa monnieri (Linn.)Penn.]

Effect of Nano-Silica in high performance concrete