Central Tuber Crops Research Institute

About: Central Tuber Crops Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Starch & Fermentation. The organization has 475 authors who have published 587 publications receiving 10285 citations.

Water sorption kinetics of superabsorbent hydrogels of saponified cassava starch-graft-poly(acrylamide)

Abstract: Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are hydrophilic polymeric networks that can absorb, swell and retain large quantity of water and other physiological fluids. In this paper, the water sorption pattern and kinetics of cassava starch based SAP hydrogels were studied under different conditions of swelling such as soaking duration, pH, presence of salts, and particle size of the hydrogel. The kinetics was studied using Voigt-based viscoelastic model to determine the rate parameter and the swelling rate (SR). It was noted that under all conditions, the water sorption followed a second order kinetics. The absorbency was directly proportional to the rate of swelling. But when the sample was allowed to swell in aqueous solutions of CaCl2 and AlCl3, the absorbency as well as the SR was irregular. The particle size also had significant effect on water absorption by the SAP and the polymer with smaller particles showed more absorption than those with larger particle size. The solvent induced phase transition of the superabsorbent hydrogel was also studied.

Extracellular α-Amylase Production by Bacillus brevis MTCC 7521

Abstract: Alpha amylases have various applications in food processing industries, for example, baking, brewing and distillery industries. Studies of the Ca2+ independent α-amylase production were carried out by a strain of Bacillus brevis MTCC 7521 isolated from a brick kiln soil. The optimum temperature, pH and incubation period for amylase production were 50°C, 6.0 and 36 h, respectively. The enzyme secretion was at par in the presence of any of the carbon sources (soluble starch, cassava starch and cassava flour). B. brevis produced more amylase in presence of beef extract as nitrogen source in comparison to other organic nitrogen sources (peptone, yeast extract and casein) and asparagine, potassium nitrate, ammonium sulphate, ammonium nitrate and urea reduced the enzyme activity. The addition of Ca2+ (10–40 mM) or surfactants (Tween 20, Tween 40, Tween 60, Tween 80, and sodium lauryl sulphate at 0.02% concentration) in culture medium did not result in further improvement in the enzyme production. The purified e...

Cassava starch‐poly(vinyl alcohol) nanocomposites for the controlled delivery of curcumin in cancer prevention and treatment

Abstract: Curcumin, a natural yellow pigment with a wide spectrum of bioactivities, was incorporated in nanocomposite films of cassava starch with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) for achieving sustained release properties which improves its potential for use in cancer treatment The ultra structure of the films was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the formation of nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis The curcumin incorporation in the films was confirmed by Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy (FTIR) The swelling capacity and erosion of the films were also recorded It was observed that pH of the medium and storage conditions greatly affected the release of curcumin from the polymer matrices The release behaviour of curcumin from starch-PVA matrices was studied and the kinetics behind the curcumin release was fitted to Higuchi model The mechanism obtained from Korsemeyer-Peppas equation was a combination of diffusion and erosion controlled Cytotoxicity study of the incorporated curcumin was carried out with normal as well as cancer cells and the results showed that it was non-toxic to normal cells and it also showed anticancer potential The cell viability (%) in the case of cancer cells was lower for nanocomposite incorporated curcumin than pure curcumin which indicates higher anti cancer potential of the former The size of curcumin was reduced in the nanocomposites as evidenced from TEM and SEM analysis results, which might have resulted in its greater cell availability and resultant higher anticancer activity

Rheological and thermal properties of saponified cassava starch‐g‐poly(acrylamide) superabsorbent polymers varying in grafting parameters and absorbency

Abstract: Cassava starch-graft-poly(acrylamide) superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) with varying absorbencies were synthesized. Weight average molecular weight (Mw) of the hydrolyzed starch-graft-copolymers ranged from 1.6 × 106 to 2.8 × 106 g/mol, the largest being shown by the sample with highest percentage grafting. The storage (G′) and loss modulus (G″) of hydrogels were determined as a function of frequency. G″ was larger than G′ for the hydrogels with higher absorbencies and exhibited a liquid-like behavior. However, hydrogels with lower absorbencies showed a reverse viscoelastic behavior. The viscosity of hydrogels determined using a Brookfield viscometer at different shear rates was found to be larger for the hydrogels with higher absorbencies. The melting temperature (Tm) and enthalpy change of fusion (ΔHf) of the SAPs ranged from 149.7 to 177.7°C and 65 to 494.9 J/g, respectively and showed a positive correlation with grafting parameters and Mw. Heavy metal ion removal capacity of hydrogel followed the order Cu2+ > Pb2+ > Zn2+. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40368.