Ravi Kant Agrawal

Quality evaluation of mutton nuggets incorporated with optimized level of flaxseed flour

Purpose Flaxseed is considered as a source of functional ingredients because it contains alpha-linolenic acid and high amount of dietary fiber which provides potential health benefits. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the effect of flaxseed flour on the quality of mutton nuggets. Design/methodology/approach Mutton nuggets were incorporated with three different levels of hydrated flaxseed flour (1:1), namely, 4, 8 and 12 per cent to optimize the level of incorporation. Detailed profile analysis was carried out to study various physico-chemical parameters, texture profile analysis and color values in the product with optimum level and compared with control product. Findings There was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in sensory attributes of product with 4 and 8 per cent level of incorporation except for binding; however, significantly lower (p < 0.01) scores were observed for 12 per cent incorporation level. On the basis of sensory scores, 8 per cent level of incorporation was adjudged as optimum. Incorporation of flaxseed flour resulted in significantly lower (p < 0.01) moisture content, but higher (p < 0.01) fat and dietary fiber content. Texture profile analysis showed increased hardness of the product but resulted in decreased springiness and chewiness parameters. Incorporation of flaxseed flour significantly increased (p < 0.01) redness and yellowness of the product which improved overall acceptability. Originality/value The research work is original.

Proteomic Characterization of Lytic Bacteriophages of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Sewage Affluent of India

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive bacterium that causes a variety of diseases, including bovine mastitis, which has severe economic consequences. Standard antibiotic treatment results in selection of resistant strains, leading to need for an alternative treatment such as bacteriophage therapy. Present study describes isolation and characterization of a staphylococcal phage from sewage samples. S. aureus isolates obtained from microbial type culture collection (MTCC), Chandigarh, India, were used to screen staphylococcal phages. A phage designated as ΦMSP was isolated from sewage samples by soft agar overlay method. It produced clear plaques on tryptone soya agar overlaid with S. aureus. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the phage had an icosahedral symmetry. It had 5 major proteins and possessed a peptidoglycan hydrolase corresponding to 70 kDa. ΦMSP infection induced 26 proteins to be uniquely expressed in S. aureus. This phage can be proposed as a candidate phage to treat staphylococcal infections.

Antimicrobial Activity of Methanolic Extract and Ether Extract ofAgeratum conyzoides

Ageratum conyzoides, a weed prevalent in India, is known for its several therapeutic uses to control infections. In the present study we compared the antimicrobial potential of its ether extract and methanolic extract with ciprofloxacin on 294 strains of Gram positive bacteria (GPBs), 575 strains of Gram negative bacteria (GNBs), 15 yeast and 5 mould strains of clinical and nonclinical origin belonging to 49 genera and more than 155 species using disc diffusion assay. The microbial strains in the study were isolated from samples of abiotic (41) and biotic (101) environment, foods (81), clinically sick (441), dead (108) and healthy (75) animals and human beings, and 42 were reference strains. The study revealed that there was no appreciable difference in antimicrobial activity of ether extract (ACEE) or methanolic extract (ACME) of A. conyzoides. A total of 214 (24.1%) strains were sensitive to ACME while of the 697 strains tested for ciprofloxacin 551 (79.1%) were sensitive. Sensitivity to ACME among 294 GPBs (44.9%) was significantly (p<0.0001) higher than among 575 strains of GNBs (12.4%). There was no significant difference among GPBs and GNBs for ciprofloxacin (one of the most commonly used antibiotics in India) sensitivity, but oxidase negative GNBs (385) as well as GPBs (238) were about two times more commonly sensitive to ciprofloxacin than 190 oxidase positive GNBs (p = 0.001) and 56 oxidase positive GPBs (p, 0.03), respectively. For ACME oxidase positive strains had 2.4 times more odds (p < 0.0001) in their favour of being sensitive to ACME (53.4%) than oxidase negative strains (18.6%). The most sensitive strains to ACME belonged to oxidase positive GPBs (62.5%) followed by oxidase negative GPBs (40.8%), oxidase positive GNBs (27.4%) and oxidase negative GNBs (4.9%). All Aeromonas, Alcaligenes, Klebsiella, and Proteus species strains were resistant to ACME irrespective of source of isolation or association with illness. In contrast, majority of the strains of Burkholderia (76.9%), Bacillus (66.7%) and Brucella (53.8%) species were sensitive to ACME. The study revealed that A. conyzoides might be containing useful antimicrobial component(s) more active against oxidase positive potentially pathogenic strains often associated with systemic and deadly infections in animals as well as in humans.

Molecular detection of avian oncogenic viruses from apparently healthy chickens

Neoplastic infections due to oncogenic viruses are one of the major causes of economic problems faced by the poultry industry worldwide and the present study was undertaken in order to establish the prevalence of single or multiple avian oncogenic and associated virus infections in apparently healthy chicken. Mareks disease virus (MDV), reticuloendotheliosis virus (REV) and avian leukosis virus (ALV) could be detected from 9.23%, 95.38% and 93.85% cases, respectively by PCR applied on DNA extracted from blood of apparently healthy chickens. Mixed infection of MDV+REV+ALV and REV+ALV could be detected from 9.23% and 89.23% cases, respectively, indicating that multiple infections of two or more oncoviruses in the same birds was more common than the single virus infection and REV was recorded as the most prevalent oncogenic virus infection in poultry.

Cloning, Expression and Characterisation of Recombinant Outer Membrane Protein 16 from Brucella spp.

Brucellosis is a disease caused by Brucella sp which is an aerobic, non-spore forming, non-motile gram negative coccobacillus. It is a National Institute of Health category B bioterror threat agent that causes incapacitating zoonosis. It is an emerging zoonosis, and an economically important infection of humans and livestock with a worldwide distribution. Medical defence against the bioterror threat posed by Brucella would be strengthened by development of a vaccine and improved diagnostic tests. Central to advancement of these goals is the discovery of bacterial constituents that are immunogenic or antigenic for humans and animals. Outer membrane proteins are particularly attractive for this purpose. In the present study, recombinant outer membrane protein 16 was expressed from Brucella abortus using prokaryotic expression vector and was characterized immunologically. The recombinant protein was purified and characterized immunologically by western blotting so that it can be used for development of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay or can be evaluated as vaccine candidate, in future.