Armghan Shahzad

Physicochemical Characteristics, Functional Properties, and Nutritional Benefits of Peanut Oil: A Review

The legume Arachis hypogaea, commonly known as peanut or groundnut, is a very important food crop throughout the tropics and subtropics. Peanut is one of the most widely used legumes due to its nutrition and taste, and it occupies a rank of major oilseed crop in the world. It has been recognized as a functional food due to its role in a health promoting effect. Peanut oil contains a well-balanced fatty acid and antioxidant profile that provide protection against harmful substances especially free radicals. This paper gives an overview of scientific literature available on phytochemical and functional properties of peanut oil. Owing to its unique organoleptic properties associated with its cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory properties, peanut oil has found, recently, its place on the highly competitive international edible oil market.

Molecular identification and characterization of Pseudomonas sp. NCCP-407 for phenol degradation isolated from industrial waste

Phenol is a toxic pollutant found in effluent of numerous industries and its elimination is a foremost challenge. The utilization of bacteria plays a crucial role in phenol bioremediation. For isolation of phenol degrading bacteria, sample was collected from industrial waste and enriched in mineral salt medium (MSM) contained 300 mg/L phenol. The strain was identified based on 16S rRNA gene analysis as Pseudomonas species and the phylogenetic analysis affiliated the strain with Pseudomonas monteilii (AF064458) as the most closely related species. Phenol tolerance of the strain in MSM supplemented with various concentrations of phenol indicates that the strain NCCP-407 can grow best at 750 mg L−1 phenol. The strain showed complete degradation of 750 mg L−1 phenol in 56 hours when supplement as a sole source of carbon and energy with the average degradation rate of 28 mg L−1h−1. The doubling time was recorded approximately as 12.49 h−1. The present study suggests that this strain is efficient in phenol degradation and can be used in treatment of wastewater containing phenol.

Allelic variation at loci controlling stripe rust resistance in spring wheat.

1Department of Plant Genomics & Biotechnology, PARC Institute of Advanced Studies in Agriculture, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan 2National Institute for Genomics & Advanced Biotechnology, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan 3Present Address: Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada 4Crop Diseases Research Program, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan