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.

Detection and Identification of Dasheen mosaic virus Infecting Colocasia esculenta in India.

Abstract: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction of the infected leaf samples of Colocasia esculenta plants showing severe whitish feathery symptoms were carried out using Potyvirus group specific primers, resulting in an amplicon of 327 bp, encoding the core region of the coat protein gene. Sequencing and BLAST analysis showed that the virus is distinct, closely related to Dasheen mosaic virus (DsMV). Sequence analysis revealed 86 and 96% identity at the nucleotide and amino acid level respectively with the DsMV isolate SY1(accession Number AJ628756). This is the first molecular level characterisation of the DsMV infecting C. esculenta in India.

Purification, characterization and application of thermostable amylopullulanase from Streptomyces erumpens MTCC 7317 under submerged fermentation

Abstract: An amylopullulanase (AP) enzyme has a wide range of applications in the food processing and distillery industries, including the conversion of starch to sugars and the production of conversion syrups (maltose and fructose syrups). The aim of our study was to determine the culture parameters for optimum production of AP by Streptomyces erumpens MTCC 7317. We found that a temperature of 50°C, a pH of 7.0 and an incubation period of 48 h achieved optimal enzyme activity (222.5 units of α-amylase and 69.5 units of pullulanase). The use of soluble starch and beef extract as sources of carbon and nitrogen, respectively, resulted in a higher enzyme production than when other carbon (carboxy methyl cellulose, pectin and pullulan) and nitrogen (yeast extract, peptone, casein, ammonium chloride, etc.) sources were used. The purified enzyme (by ammonium sulphate precipitation) had a molecular mass 45.0 kDa, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This band was found to have both amylase and pullulanase activities, as confirmed by thin layer chromatography. As the major end products of the starch digest were maltose and, albeit at a lower amount, glucose, we suggest that this enzyme can be considered to be an AP. The AP of S. erumpens was tested for its ability to liquify cassava bagasse and showed 74% conversion efficiency, which is approximately equal to that of Termamyl

Bemisia tabaci feeding induces pathogenesis-related proteins in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Abstract: Cassava (Manihot esculenta Cranzts) plants fed upon by whitefly Bemisia tabaci showed increased levels of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, such as beta-1, 3-glucanase, peroxidase and chitinase activities, as compared to uninfested plants. The enzymes increased in specific activities from 2 to 7 fold and protein content in leaf extracts decreased in whitefly-infested plants, compared to uninfested plants. Among the three PR proteins, B. tabaci feeding induced significantly higher beta-1, 3-glucanase activities, when compared with other two PR proteins. Study also discussed the possible application of PR proteins in whitefly control program.

Site-Specific Nutrient Management for Cassava in Southern India

Abstract: Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) yield in the major growing environments of India has been stagnating despite the development of high yielding varieties and increasing use of chemical fertilizers. On farm experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of site-specific nutrient management (SSNM). Field and crop specific NPK rates were calculated using quantitative evaluation of fertility of tropical soils (QUEFTS) model. The average 2-yr yield advantage of SSNM over farmer fertilizer practice (FFP) was 7 Mg ha–¹. The N agronomic efficiency increase of SSNM over FFP was 32 kg kg–¹, the N recovery efficiency of SSNM was 0.14 kg kg–¹ greater than that of FFP and the N physiological efficiency of SSNM was 54 kg kg–¹ greater than that of FFP, whereas the partial factor productivity of SSNM was 148 kg less than that of FFP. Use of SSNM led to a reduction of fertilizer costs by an average of US$10 ha–¹ crop–¹ and an increase in gross return above fertilizer costs by $254 ha–¹ crop–¹ compared with FFP. Zone NPK recommendation maps and customized fertilizer blends were also developed. The results showed the potential of SSNM in significantly increasing yield and nutrient use efficiency of cassava. Future research is needed to validate the customized fertilizer blends and fine tune zone NPK recommendation maps which will help reduce the need for field specific modeling and intensive crop monitoring.

Optimization of synthesis and characterization of cassava starch-graft-poly(acrylonitrile) using response surface methodology

Abstract: Graft copolymerization of poly(acrylonitrile) onto cassava starch was carried out with potassium persulphate (PPS) as the free radical initiator using a response surface Box–Behnken design. Different levels of monomer concentration, initiator concentration, and temperature were used, and regression models were generated in terms of these factors, which can be used to predict the grafting level and efficiency at a given level of the factors. The grafted starches were characterized by FTIR, XRD, and SEM analyses and determination of %grafting (%G), N-content, thermal properties, water and saline solution retention, and rheological properties. Under the conditions used, %G was found to depend only on the temperature used for the reaction. The maximum %G of 120.1 was obtained for the sample synthesized under the following conditions: weight of AN = 0.753 mol/10 g starch, weight of PPS = 0.284 g and temperature = 55°C, and the grafting efficiency was 30.03%. The absorption bands at 2243 cm−1 for the nitrile group (CN) in the FTIR spectra of the products confirmed the grafting reaction. There was a decrease in crystallinity and disappearance of the granular structure after grafting of the starch. The melting temperatures of the graft copolymers determined by differential scanning calorimetry analysis were higher than that of the native starch. The grafted starches exhibited very high thermal stability as observed from the thermogravimetric analysis. The superabsorbent polymer prepared from the grafted starch by alkali saponification exhibited a maximum water absorbency of 636 g/g. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011