Annamalai University

About: Annamalai University is a education organization based out in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Lipid peroxidation & Antioxidant. The organization has 8098 authors who have published 10758 publications receiving 203872 citations.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using marine algae Caulerpa racemosa and their antibacterial activity against some human pathogens

Abstract: We present the synthesis and antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles using Caulerpa racemosa ,a marine algae. Fresh C. racemosa was collected from the Gulf of Mannar, Southeast coast of India. The seaweed extract was used for the synthesis of AgNO3 at room temperature. UV-visible spectrometry study revealed sur- face plasmon resonance at 413 nm. The characterization of silver nanoparticle was carried out using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). FT-IR measurements revealed the possible functional groups responsible for reduction and stabilization of the nanopar- ticles. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the particles were crystalline in nature with face-centered cubic geom- etry.TEM micrograph has shown the formation of silver nanoparticles with the size in the range of 5-25 nm. The synthesized AgNPs have shown the best antibacterial activity against human pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis. The above eco-friendly synthesis procedure of AgNPs could be easily scaled up in future for the industrial and therapeutic needs.

Antioxidant efficacy of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and piperine in rats with high fat diet induced oxidative stress

Abstract: The present study was aimed to explore the effect of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) on tissue lipid peroxidation, enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidants in rats fed a high-fat diet. Thirty male Wistar rats (95-115 g) were divided into 5 groups. They were fed standard pellet diet, high-fat diet (20% coconut oil, 2% cholesterol and 0.125% bile salts), high-fat diet plus black pepper (0.25 g or 0.5 g/kg body weight), high-fat diet plus piperine (0.02 g/kg body weight) for a period of 10 weeks. Significantly elevated levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), conjugated dienes (CD) and significantly lowered activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in the liver, heart, kidney, intestine and aorta were observed in rats fed the high fat diet as compared to the control rats. Simultaneous supplementation with black pepper or piperine lowered TBARS and CD levels and maintained SOD, CAT, GPx, GST, and GSH levels to near those of control rats. The data indicate that supplementation with black pepper or the active principle of black pepper, piperine, can reduce high-fat diet induced oxidative stress to the cells.

Lipase applications in food industry

Abstract: Lipases are the most pliable biocatalyst and bring about a wide range of bioconversion reactions, such as hydrolysis, interesterification, esterification, alcoholysis, acidolysis and aminolysis. Lipases can act on a variety of substrates including natural oils, synthetic triglycerides and esters of fatty acids. They are resistant to solvents and are exploited in a broad spectrum of biotechnological applications. Lipase catalyzed transesterification, hydrolysis and esterification are the important class of reactions for food technology applications in fats and oil industry, dairy industry, pharmaceuticals and bakery industry. Lipases are very peculiar as they hydrolyse fats into fatty acids and glycerol at the water-lipid interface and can reverse the reaction in non-aqueous media. Novel biotechnological applications, like biopolymer synthesis, biodiesel production, treatment of fat-containing waste effluents, enantiopure synthesis of pharmaceuticals and nutraceutical agents, have been established successfully. The present article extends the frontier of lipase technology towards food processing applications and discusses the important characteristics of lipases and its sources. Various methods of lipase immobilization for food technology applications, various assay methods for lipase, production of lipase by submerged and solid state fermentation strategies, and various purification methods available have been discussed in detail.