Geetanjali Kaushik

Antidiabetic potential of commonly consumed legumes: a review.

Over the last few decades, lifestyle changes have resulted in a drastic increase in the incidence of diabetes all over the world, especially in the developing countries. Oral hypoglycemic agents and insulin form the mainstay in controlling diabetes, but they have prominent side effects and fail to significantly alter the course of diabetic complications. Appropriate diet and exercise programs that form a part of lifestyle modifications have proven to be greatly effective in the management of this disease. Dietary therapy is showing a bright future in the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Legumes, owing to their high nutritive value, are increasingly being used in dietetic formulations in the treatment and prevention of diabetes on account of their antidiabetic potential. Given this background, this paper reviews the glucose- and lipid-lowering action possessed by various commonly consumed legumes through several animal and human studies. It is concluded that the various legumes not only have varying degrees of antidiabetic potential but are also beneficial in decreasing the risk factors for cardiovascular and renal disease.

Climate Change Impact on Forestry in India

Climate change represents a significant threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Climate change is expected to have also impacts on forest ecology. It is thus important to make assessments of possible impacts of climate change on forests in different regions to allow respective governments and communities to adapt. Climate change is projected to affect individual organisms, populations, species distributions and ecosystem composition and functions. This impact can be both direct by temperature increases, precipitation and sea level changes, and indirect, for instance by changing the intensity and frequency of wild fires. Processes such as habitat loss, modification and fragmentation and the spread of non-native species will result from the impacts of climate change. India has 14 major forest types classified based on climate and altitude. 72% of forests are tropical moist deciduous, dry deciduous and evergreen forests. The major scenario of climate change in India is deduced from greenhouse gas increase. This scenario forecasts a general increase in temperature and rainfall in all regions. This could result in increased productivity and shift forest type boundaries along altitudinal and rainfall gradients, with species migrating from lower to higher elevations and the drier forest types being transformed into moister types. Thus, climate change could cause irreversible damage to unique forest ecosystems and biodiversity, rendering several species extinct, locally and globally.

Agrowaste Materials as Composites for Biomedical Engineering

Presently steel and plastic are widely used in the manufacture of various products such as doors, false ceilings, toys, boxes for agricultural use, rims, and mobile panels. However, it is evident that both these materials are neither economical nor eco-friendly, and their presence poses serious impacts for the user and the environment. Efforts are underway for research and development in agro-waste fibers, which have shown immense potential as alternative to conventional man-made materials. Agro-waste fibers such as bagasse, rice husk, coconut, banana, and sisal fibers hold significant potential as “Natural Green Composite” due to their high strength, environment-friendly nature, low cost, availability, and G. Kaushik (*) · A. Chel MGM’s Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Mahatma Gandhi Mission, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India P. Singhal Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India

Methods of Pesticide Residues Reduction in Grains

Food is the basic necessity of life. However, over the last decade food quality and safety issues have caused a serious concern among the consumers on account of their direct impact on the human health. Unsafe food contaminated with pesticide residues poses serious risk to the health of consumers particularly in the developing countries where pesticides are inadvertently sprayed in high doses. Organic farming and other approaches are effective in dealing with pesticide contamination but would take significant time in being adopted worldwide. Therefore, simple as well as effective solution in the transient phase is offered by domestic processing techniques such as washing, cooking, milling, parboiling, storage, etc. It is concluded that a combination of processing techniques renders food grains safe for human consumption.

Pesticide residue dissipation upon storage in chickpea legume

Over the years, contamination of food commodities with harmful pesticide residues has led to serious concern due to health hazards and environmental implications. In this background, effect of pesticide residue dissipation on chickpea legume under simulated storage conditions was investigated. The dissipation pattern of chlorpyrifos and its metabolites under storage conditions for five months showed that the chlorpyrifos residues were four and five times (at the recommended and double recommended doses, respectively) above the MRL, highlighting the concern regarding safety of such stored grains for human consumption.

Viable Tailored Organic Fertilizer Alternatives From Waste Produced by Bio-Diesel Extraction Process and Tobacco Industry

Rapid depletion of conventional sources of energy and the growing environmental concern of their use warrant urgent attention to look for suitable energy alternatives. In this regard the seeds of Jatropha curcas, constituting 40–50% bio-crude oil are considered as one of the most promising alternatives for the production of bio-diesel. It is estimated that about 1.5 tons de-oiled cake is produced from seeds obtained from one hectare of plantation, utilized for bio-diesel extraction process. Being non-edible due to its toxic contents, cost effective safe disposal of this by-product can only be possible if there is a meaningful utilization. India’s tobacco industry is the second largest in the world after China, having vast area under tobacco cultivation. The wastes from tobacco industry lead to significant environmental pollution that has severe impacts on both flora and fauna. A few studies on this aspect have revealed that Jatropha and tobacco bio-wastes have potential to be used as organic fertilizers. The present study aims at developing appropriate bio-processes and formulation that utilize Jatropha seed cake and waste of tobacco industry as organic fertilizer for improving the growth of Chrysanthemum, a flower variety valued for its beauty and fragrance and having wide applications in cosmetic and perfumery products. Pot experiments were carried out by adding specific proportions of Jatropha de-oiled cake and tobacco waste to normal garden soil. The growth and morphological parameters of Chrysanthemum plants grown in pots prepared by the treated soil were monitored for 4–5 months and the results were recorded. The results have been encouraging as the treatments lead to a significant enhancement in flower growth as well as yield. 11.5% increase in number of buds per plant was recorded for treated soil as compared to the control soil. The number of flowers per plant also recorded an increase of 16% to 24% due to the effect of formulation applied to the soil. Similar trends were observed for other parameters like flower size, flower head size, flower weight and ray floret number. Through experimentation new composted organic fertilizer formulations, tailored to specific commercial crop has been developed. The research findings would enable these bio-wastes to be used as a viable alternative to the energy intensive chemical fertilizers for floriculture, thus contributing to the mitigation of global climate change. This addition in the value chain would improve the financial viability of bio-diesel extraction process. This new synergistic organic fertilizer formulation when used as an alternative to nitrogenous chemical fertilizers would also provide an opportunity to earn carbon credits which is estimated to be € 67904 millions/year.Copyright