Anitha Pius

Biological activities of curcuminoids, other biomolecules from turmeric and their derivatives – A review

In recent years, several drugs have been developed deriving from traditional products and current drug research is actively investigating the possible therapeutic roles of many Ayruvedic and Traditional Indian medicinal therapies. Among those being investigated is Turmeric. Its most important active ingredient is curcuminoids. Curcuminoids are phenolic compounds commonly used as a spice, pigment and additive also utilized as a therapeutic agent used in several foods. Comprehensive research over the last century has revealed several important functions of curcuminoids. Various preclinical cell culture and animals studies suggest that curcuminoids have extensive biological activity as an antioxidant, neuroprotective, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-acidogenic, radioprotective and arthritis. Different clinical trials also suggest a potential therapeutic role for curcuminoids in numerous chronic diseases such as colon cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases. The aim of this review is to summarize the chemistry, analog, metal complex, formulations of curcuminoids and their biological activities.

Evaluation of groundwater quality in and around Peenya industrial area of Bangalore, South India using GIS techniques

Groundwater resource forms a significant component of the urban water supply. Declining groundwater levels in Bangalore Urban District is generally due to continuous overexploitation during the last two decades or more. There is a tremendous increase in demand in the city for good quality groundwater resource. The present study monitors the groundwater quality using geographic information system (GIS) techniques for a part of Bangalore metropolis. Thematic maps for the study area are prepared by visual interpretation of SOI toposheets on 1:50,000 scale using MapInfo software. Physicochemical analysis data of the groundwater samples collected at predetermined locations form the attribute database for the study, based on which spatial distribution maps of major water quality parameters are prepared using MapInfo GIS software. Water quality index was then calculated by considering the following water quality parameters—pH, total dissolved solids, total hardness, calcium hardness, magnesium hardness, alkalinity, chloride, nitrate and sulphate to find the suitability of water for drinking purpose. The water quality index for these samples ranged from 49 to 502. The high value of water quality index reveals that most of the study area is highly contaminated due to excessive concentration of one or more water quality parameters and that the groundwater needs pretreatment before consumption.

Bioavailability of calcium and its absorption inhibitors in raw and cooked green leafy vegetables commonly consumed in India--an in vitro study.

The objectives of this research were to assess the bioavailability of calcium using equilibrium dialysis after simulated gastric digestion method in 20 commonly consumed green leafy vegetables (GLVs) from the typical Indian diet, provide data on the content of calcium absorption inhibitors, like oxalate, phytate, tannin and dietary fibres, and evaluate the inhibitory effect of these compounds on calcium bioavailability in raw and cooked GLVs. Cooking did not affect significantly calcium bioavailability in any GLVs. Sesbania grandiflora had a very high content of total oxalates, tannins and dietary fibers, which reduced calcium bioavailability. Calcium content was determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy, oxalate by titrimetry, phytate and tannin by colorimetric and dietary fibres by an enzymatic gravimetric method. Chenopodium album, Alternanthera philoxeroides and Centella asiatica, with lower total calcium content, had nearly twice as much bioavailable calcium than other GLVs, because of low fibres, oxalate, phytate and tannin content.

Chitin nanowhisker (ChNW)-functionalized electrospun PVDF membrane for enhanced removal of Indigo carmine

In this study, an active functional adsorbent membrane developed by combining both hydrophilic bio polymer filler such as chitin nanowhiskers (ChNW) which contains two functional groups and a hydrophobic polymer matrix such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) using electrospinning technique. Here ChNW were successfully extracted by excluding proteins and mineral and well characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM and TEM. The optimized combination of PVDF/ChNW (15%:1%) membrane was fabricated and well characterized using SEM, water contact angle and FTIR spectroscopy. There was a remarkable difference in contact angle observed for PVDF/ChNW (22.72°) compared to neat PVDF (93.1°) membrane. Ultimately the membrane used for indigo carmine (IC) adsorption and an enhanced removal efficiency (88.9%) and adsorption capacity (72.6mgg-1) were observed compared to neat PVDF. In the future, the overall idea can make leads to various applications such as proteins, virus and hormones adsorption from the contaminated sources.

Influence of microwaves on the leaching kinetics of uraninite from a low grade ore in dilute sulfuric acid

This paper describes a study on microwave assisted leaching of uranium from a low-grade ore of Indian origin. The host rock for uranium mineralization is chlorite-biotite-muscovite-quartzo-feldspathic schist. The dominant presence of siliceous minerals determined leaching of uranium values in sulfuric acid medium under oxidizing conditions. Process parametric studies like the effect of sulfuric acid concentration (0.12-0.50M), redox potential (400-500mV), particle size (600-300μm) and temperature (35°-95°C) indicated that microwave assisted leaching is more efficient in terms of overall uranium dissolution, kinetics and provide relatively less impurities (Si, Al, Mg and Fe) in the leach liquor compared to conventional conductive leaching. The kinetics of leaching followed shrinking core model with product layer diffusion as controlling mechanism.

Facile synthesis of chitin nanocrystals decorated on 3D cellulose aerogels as a new multi-functional material for waste water treatment with enhanced anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties

We report the fabrication and application of multi-functional hybrid bio-aerogels based on cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and chitin nanocrystals (CNCs) developed through an environmentally friendly freeze-drying process. Herein, an organic non-solvent approach such as acid hydrolysis was used to extract CNFs and CNCs from corn husks and shrimp shells respectively followed by characterisation using IR spectroscopy and electron microscopy. The usual wire-like and a rare semi-square morphology was detected for the CNFs and CNCs respectively during electron microscopic analysis. Aerogels with two different quantities of CNCs on the CNFs were prepared (AR1 and AR2) and compared with reference to the neat CNF aerogel (neat AR). Interestingly, for AR2, under an electron microscope, a maple seed like morphology was observed compared to the neat AR and AR1. Their ability in water treatment was determined by conducting adsorption experiments using methylene blue and Rhodamine 6G, and it was found that AR2 had an enhanced removal percentage and adsorption capacity. To address their economic viability, we conducted several rounds of studies and evaluated the reusability of AR2. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the aerogels were studied using a disc diffusion method against four bacterial species, including S. aureus, E. coli, S. typhimurium and B. cereus, and the best conditions for the determination of minimal inhibitory concentration were carefully discussed. The prepared material having a higher CNC content (AR2) shows multi-functional behaviour and from further studies it is anticipated that they may be produced on an industrial scale for commercial applications in the future.

Removal of Selected Basic Dyes using Activated Carbon from Tannery Wastes

Activated carbon prepared from tannery leather waste (TLW-AC) has been studied for its efficiency of removal of basic dyes, namely rhodamine B (RB), methylene blue (MB), and malachite green (MG) from aqueous solutions. Factors influencing dye adsorption such as the concentration of dye, pH, contact time, and temperature were investigated. The adsorption was found to be strongly dependent on the pH and temperature. The maximum sorption capacity of RB was obtained at pH 3 and for MB and MG was obtained at pH 11. Various thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS° were calculated. The kinetic studies reveal that the adsorption process follows the pseudo second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium data have been well-described by the Langmuir and Freundlich models, and the data fitted well in both model equations. The study revealed that wastes from leather industry is an economically viable option for dye removal.

Influence of Oxalate, Phytate, Tannin, Dietary Fiber, and Cooking on Calcium Bioavailability of Commonly Consumed Cereals and Millets in India

The objectives of this research were to study the bioavailable calcium from widely used cereals and millets by an in vitro method and to provide data on the role of calcium inhibitors. The average total calcium content of the analyzed raw cereals and millets ranged from 10.2 to 324.6 mg/100 g (the lowest and highest values correspond to maize and finger millet, respectively), whereas the rest of the raw cereals and millets had calcium content in the range of 26.3–50.4 mg/100 g, except for rice samples (10.4 mg/100 g). Soluble percentage of calcium is the highest in maize (45.1%), and dialyzable calcium percentage is the highest in wheat (34.9%). The cooking process did not significantly affect calcium bioavailability and the contents of phytate and tannin. However, cooking reduced the oxalate content, and in the case of dietary fiber significant increase was observed. The order of oxalate content in the cereals and millets studied was found to be pearl millet > finger millet > wheat > maize > sorghum > ri...

New insight of hybrid membrane to degrade Congo red and Reactive yellow under sunlight

A study was carried out to investigate the degradation of organic contaminants (Congo red and Reactive yellow - 105) using cellulose acetate - polystyrene (CA-PS) membrane with and without ZnO impregnation. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), electron dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), atomic force microscope (AFM) and thermogravimeric analysis (TG-DTA) analysis were carried out to characterize bare and ZnO impregnated CA-PS membranes. Membrane efficiency was also tested for pure water flux and antifouling performance. The modified membrane showed almost 85% water flux recovery. Blending of ZnO nanoparticles to CA-PS matrix could decrease membrane fouling and increase permeation quality of the membrane with above 90% of photocatalytic degradation efficiency for dyes. The rate of degradation of dyes was observed using UV-Vis spectrometer. Reusability of CA-PS-ZnO membrane was studied and no significant change was noted in the degradation efficiency until fourth cycle. Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model well describes the photo degradation capacity and the degradation of dyes CR and RY - 105 exhibited pseudo-first order kinetics. The regression coefficient (R) of CR and RY - 105 found to be 0.99. The novelty of the prepared CA-PS-ZnO membrane is that it has better efficiency and high thermal stability than our previously reported material. Therefore, ZnO impregnated CA-PS membrane had proved to be an innovative alternative for the degradation of CR and RY - 105 dyes.

Sequential Determination of Free Acidity and Plutonium Concentration in the Dissolver Solution of Fast-Breeder Reactor Spent Fuels in a Single Aliquot.

A simple potentiometric method for determining the free acidity without complexation in the presence of hydrolysable metal ions and sequentially determining the plutonium concentration by a direct spectrophotometric method using a single aliquot was developed. Interference from the major fission products, which are susceptible to hydrolysis at lower acidities, had been investigated in the free acidity measurement. This method is applicable for determining the free acidity over a wide range of nitric acid concentrations as well as the plutonium concentration in the irradiated fuel solution prior to solvent extraction. Since no complexing agent is introduced during the measurement of the free acidity, the purification step is eliminated during the plutonium estimation, and the resultant analytical waste is free from corrosive chemicals and any complexing agent. Hence, uranium and plutonium can be easily recovered from analytical waste by the conventional solvent extraction method. The error involved in determining the free acidity and plutonium is within ±1% and thus this method is superior to the complexation method for routine analysis of plant samples and is also amenable for remote analysis.