Present study aimed to evaluate natural colorant removal efficiency of carbon derived from biomass of the ‘golden fibre’. The study indicated that derived carbon is capable of removing various natural pigments namely, chlorophylls, lycopenes, carotemoids and xanthophylls from important vegetable crops like spinach and tomato, and commercial crops like tea and chewing tobacco, respectively. Therefore, such kind of carbon can be used for removing natural pigments from various samples and hold application potential for industrial applications including refineries, testing laboratories etc
Minor forest products have been a source of livelihood of millions of forest dwellers in India and other developing and third world countries. The seeds of Buchanania lanzan (Chironji) - a tree species belonging to the family Anacardiacae are commercially very useful for rural tribal people in various parts of India. The seeds/kernels of the plant yield fatty oil which is a substitute for olive and almond oils and widely used in confectionery as well as in the Indigenenous Medicine System (IMS). Due to unsustainable extraction of the seeds natural regeneration of Chironji has become a major issue among environmentalists and field biologists during the last few decades. The species listed in the Red Data Book of IUCN as a vulnerable medicinal plant species. The present article deals with the assessment of the nutritive/economic value of Chironji and regeneration techniques which might be helpful in the conservation and enhancement of this valuable species. The study reveals that the species have great nutritive values having indigenous and industrial significance. Vegetative propagation has shown good results compared to direct seed sowing. The conservation of the species can be promoted by adopting better regeneration techniques and creating awareness among primary collectors and suggesting appropriate scientific harvesting practices.
Botanical pesticides obtained naturally from plant-based compounds are found to be an effective alternative to conventional pesticides. Annona squamosa Linn. (Custard apple) is a potential medicinal plant (Family: Annonaceae) with diversified medicinal and pesticidal use, cultivated in all tropical and subtropical countries including India. Apart from being consumed as fruit, traditionally it is used in herbal medicines because of itsanti-microbial, cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-tumor,insecticidal, anthelmintic activities and so on. The phytochemical investigations showed that these extracts contain acetogenins, the major secondary metabolite that probably confer their biological insecticidal proprieties. More than 400 annonaceous acetogenins have been discovered so far including their isomers. They are basically a series of C-35/C-37 natural products derived from C-32/ C-34 fatty acids that are combined with a 2-propanol unit and kill the target organism by ATP deprivation. Only two botanical insecticides have been commercialized till now based on the extracts of A. squamosa that contain squamocin as active ingredient. This review will be definitely helpful for the scientists as well as the researchers dealing with Annona squamosa to know its chemistry and proper applications, as the plant appears to be highly valuable due to its medicinal and pesticidal properties.
The Indian food basket is diversifying in favour of high value food commodities like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, poultry products and fish products from staple food such as rice, wheat and coarse cereals since the nineties of the 20th century. This raises a challenge to Indian agriculture. On the other hand, dominance of chemical based mono-cropping results soil erosion, water contamination, pesticides poisoning, land degradation through water logging and soil salinity, depletion of bio-diversity, etc. This again raises another challenge to Indian agriculture. Organic farming system may generate such situation to address both the challenges mentioned above. So, attempt has been taken to find out the performance of organic farming, addressing the crop diversification at different level of farm sizes along with different crop growing seasons in West Bengal. To measure the extent and nature of crop diversification, Herfindahl Index (H.I.) and Modified Entropy Index (M.E.I.) have been worked out. The result showed that maximum crop diversification occurred in sub-marginal farms and small farms under inorganic and organic farming system, respectively. On the other hand, rabi season exhibited prominent crop diversification in both inorganic and organic farms due to comparative advantages of residual moisture availability in soil. The estimation highlighted that crop diversification facilitated higher cropping intensity followed by higher net farm income of small and marginal households in West Bengal. The analysis concluded that availability of market and price premium influenced more diversion of area towards vegetables, in organic farms.
An experiment was conducted during 2013 at the Horticultural Biotechnology Laboratory, KNK College of Horticulture, Mandsaur, RVSKVV, Gwalior (MP). The highest percentage of aseptic culture (83.54%) of explants were recorded with 0.5% bavistin in combination with 0.2% HgCl2 when diverse explants were exposed for 30 minutes. followed by application of 0.5% bavistin in combination with 0.1% HgCl2 (78.76%), while higher survival percentage (74.32%) of explants were evidenced with 0.5% bavistin in combination with 0.1% HgCl2 with exposure time 30 minutes. Combination of 0.5% bavistin with 0.1% HgCl2 exposed for the 30 minutes supported higher percentage of aseptic culture (78.76%) as well as survival of explants (74.13%) so that, this concentration and combination was used for surface sterilization of explants of gerbera during present investigation. The maximum callus was recorded on culture medium MS3D (35.09%), MS3N (33.83%) and MS2D (33.02%) with at par performance. Remaining culture media had low callus forming ability including MS5T (18.87%) that has significantly minimum counts. Maximum callus induction were recorded from cultured mature embryo on nutrients media MS3ip (35.06%) closely followed by a group of four nutrients media viz: MS2ip (29.95%), MSip (29.75%), MS.5ip (29.93%) and MS.2ip (29.12%). different culture media combination, inoculation media MS2N.5ip (55.22%), MS3N.5ip (53.17%) and MSN5ip (45.01%) were proved remarkably superior for shoots proliferating efficiency. Nutrients media MS5D.5Kn (3.05%) and MS4D.5KN (4.81%) was found low responding in this regard. Nutrient media MS2N (2.14cm), MSN (2.03cm) and MS2D (1.95) had produced shoot of higher length.
Water is one of the most indispensable resource and the elixir of life. Ground water is one of the major source of drinking water in India and therefore, it plays a vital role in human health. Generally, ground water is extracted through hand pump in Saharsa district (The Kosi megafan, The North Bihar Plains). Geogenic and anthropogenic activities are the two factors responsible for the quality degradation of ground water. Excessive ground water extraction for agriculture, industries and domestic utilization, made it liable to deterioration. Keeping these considerations, a study was conducted to evaluate the physio-chemical properties viz., pH, EC, turbidity, hardness, alkalinity, TDS, chloride, fluoride, nitrate, sulphate and iron of water samples obtained from the 10 blocks namely Sattarkatiya, Saurbazar, Kahra, Pattarghat, Navhatta, BanmaIthari, Salkhua, Mahishi, Simri-Bakhtiyarpur and Sonbarsa and the urban region (city part) of Saharsa district, Bihar. Among the various parameters, iron and fluoride content in some locations were found surpassing the permissible limit. The parameters were analyzed and compared with the standards values as prescribed by American Public Health Association (APHA), World Health Organization (WHO), Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). General recommendation as the permissible limits for iron is 0.3-1 mg/L and fluoride is 1.0-1.5 mg/L. However, status of iron and fluoride in the study area were found in the range of 0.3-4.1 mg/L and 0.2-1.5 mg/L respectively, which shows that there is a requirement of holistic approach to improve the quality of ground water.
Biomasses are one of the most important renewable carbon-negative alternative sources of energy. Biomass energy is one of the best alternatives to be used as a substitute for fossil fuels. Biomass functions as a sort of natural battery for storing solar energy. Biomass derived energies are clean because biomass contains low N and S contents compared to the fossil fuels. Further, use of biomass energy is a ‘no-net’ carbon emission process. Hence, use of biomass energy offers a win-win situation. In this paper, we tried to emphasize the present and future scenario of biomass-based energy with a special emphasis on Indian perspective. The available technologies, government policies and already existing market have been discussed in this review. Biomass energy holds the key of possibility to light every household which have no access to power. Biomass energy is the one of the best way to a sustainable energy system of the future.
Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), called as ‘the queen of oilseeds’, is an annual flowering plant of Pedaliaceae family. Sesame has one of the highest oil contents of any seed, which is known for properties of good health consists of a plethora of nutrients viz., proteins, carbohydrates, antioxidants, lignans, essential amino and fatty acids, and other micronutrients. With a rich and nutty flavour, it is a common ingredient in cuisines across the world. India is the largest producer of sesame. Benefits of this enigmatic crop include properties of anticancer, antioxidative, anti-immuno regulation and anti-hypersensitivity. Covering wide agro ecological regions of the world, different varieties of sesame seeds are available. They are seen growing in different parts of the world, where India being one of the major producers. The oil from this seed can be extracted by simple processes of solvent extraction and expelling or advanced supercritical extraction. Sesame which is considered as an extremely beneficial medicine has inherent power to cure many diseases. Sesame has a ray of health benefits in lowering cholesterol, controlling blood pressure, dermatological disease management and many more areas. Even in the industries, sesame oil can be utilized as biodiesel and other uses. Despite having tremendous potential, sesame remain under-estimated due to certain constraints which must be properly identified and solved for better exploitation of this wonderful oil seed. This review gives an overall impact about sesame, properties and its role in various sections.
Vol. 7, No. 1, June 2020