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- Author or Editor: A. Gupta x
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The results of a field study revealed that the application of fertilizers to the companion crop in a millet/legume intercropping system is essential to optimize the yield of the legume component. Supplying nutrients to the main crop alone tended to decrease the productivity of the companion crop, probably because of shading as a result of overgrowth of the main crop. The highest contents of N and P in the grain and straw of the intercrop were recorded with 100% of the recommended dose to both the component crops (M100I100). However, the uptake of nutrients was highest from the plots receiving 50 and 100% of the recommended dose to the main and companion crop, respectively (M50I100). Higher uptake was due to the fact that the yields increased to a greater extent than the nutrient concentrations.
Abstract
Sorption of Li+, Cs+ and Sr2+ on hydrous titanium oxide and magnetite as a function of pH in the presence and absence of 
-rays has been studied. pH-titrations of the irradiated hydrous oxides have also been carried out. It has been shown that the sorption characteristics of these oxides are not altered by -irradiation and the uptake of metal ions is governed by the equilibrium pH of the solution. Certain physical changes observed on irradiating of the hydrous oxide samples in water are discussed.
Abstract
The extraction behavior of uranium, thorium and lanthanides, represented by cerium and ytterbium, by Cyanex-923 has been investigated. The effect of different variables like the concentration of acids, metal ion and extractant, nature of diluent and temperature has been studied. A composition for the extracted U(VI) and Th(IV) species has been proposed. Based on the partition data some important binary and ternary separations involving the aforesaid metal ions have been achieved. The proposed procedure has been applied for the recovery of uranium, thorium and lanthanide fraction from monazite sand. The stability and regeneration capacity of the extractant have been evaluated.
Crop productivity is greatly influenced by various environmental stresses, of which insect herbivory-induced biotic stress assumes much significance. As a consequence of insect herbivory, a number of plant biochemical processes involved in the tolerance mechanism are affected. Different studies have demonstrated a diverse functional role of various plant oxidative enzymes in protecting plants against biotic stress induced by insect herbivory. Comprehensive profiling of stress-associated plant oxidative enzymes is most relevant to successful molecular breeding of stress-tolerant crop plants. Thus, better understanding of the biochemical basis of plant defense mechanisms is imperative, not only from a basic science perspective, but also for biotechnology-based pest control practice. In this review, we emphasize the potential role of various oxidative enzymes in plant defense against insect herbivory.
Grain and malt traits important for malting quality were studied on a set of 131 genotypes including two and six row types barley of indigenous and exotic origin grown at two locations for two seasons. Observations on seven grain and seven malt traits were recorded and malting was done with Phoenix® automatic micro-malting system. The correlation studies indicated that the hot water extract (HWE) is correlated with a number of grain (hectolitre weight, plump %, thin %, protein %, TGW and hull %) and malt (friability, homogeneity, wort viscosity, filtration rate and Kolbach Index) traits either positively or negatively. The multiple regression analysis indicated that hectolitre weight, TGW, hull content and malt friability can be used to predict HWE, the ultimately important trait with malting and brewing industry, in early generations of a breeding programme or for initial screening of germplasm accessions.
A high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method has been established for simple and rapid quantification of two secoiridoids, swertiamarin and amarogentin, in two Swertia species. HPTLC of secoiridoids was performed on precoated silica 60 F 254 plates with EtOAc-MeOH-H 2 O, 77 + 8 + 8 ( v/v ), as mobile phase. Densitometric determination of the secoiridoids was performed at λ = 235 nm in reflectance/absorbance mode. The method was validated for precision, repeatability, and accuracy. Average recovery of amarogentin and swertiamarin was 94.5 and 96.5%, respectively, showing that the reproducibility of the method was excellent. The method is simple, precise, specific, sensitive, and accurate and can be used for routine quality control of raw materials and herbal formulations.
Abstract
Amaranth is considered to be a part of “superfood”, however, due to multiple restricting properties, its functionality in the food industry is still not explored to its fullest. The present study investigated the effect of almond gum concentration (3–10 g), temperature (50–90 °C), and quantity of water (30–70 mL) on the functional properties of amaranth starch. A central composite rotatable design (CCRD) showed that the 6.9 g of almond gum, 64.43 mL of water, and temperature maintained at 90 °C, were the optimised conditions to attain 16.77 g g−1 of swelling power, 12.97% of solubility index, and 20.13% freeze-thaw stability. Moreover, the modified amaranth starch was further employed to develop pudding as a value-added product. The findings concluded that the developed pudding using modified amaranth starch exhibited enhanced sensorial attributes due to an increase in cohesiveness, chewiness, and resilience of starch gel.
Abstract
Brown rice was germinated for different times (12, 24, 36, and 48 h) at different temperatures (25, 30, and 35 °C) with the aim to improve the in vitro digestibility and antioxidant potential of the flour made from it. Results showed that increase in germination time and temperature increased in vitro digestibility of starch and protein during germination of brown rice owing to depolymerisation of starch and protein molecules by enzymatic activity. After germination under varying conditions, antioxidant activity increased from 50.19 to 95.58%, total phenolic and flavonoid contents from 0.88 to 2.02 mg GAE/g and 34.06–62.94 mg QE/100g, respectively. Germination at elevated temperature (35 °C) for prolonged time (48 h) also increased the reducing power by 60.49% and metal chelating activity by 114.50% as a result of structural breakdown of bound phenolics. Increased activity of hydrolytic enzymes with progress in the germination time and temperature also results in continuous reduction in the pasting properties and lightness values (L), while increasing a* and b* values of the flour of germinated brown rice. Tailored germination, therefore, can be offered as a tool to increase nutrient digestibility and bioactive potential of brown rice as compared to non-germinated brown rice, thus, producing naturally modified flour with enhanced functionality.
The present study reports the effects of pre-treatment with ferulic acid (FA) on antioxidant response of wheat seedlings. In comparison to hydropriming, 100 and 150 ppm of FA significantly enhanced seedling growth of wheat at 6th day after germination (DAG). However, 1000 ppm of FA led to reduction in seedling growth. Roots and shoots of wheat seedlings pre-treated with 100 ppm of FA showed significant upregulation of peroxidase (POX), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activities. Although catalase (CAT) remained unaffected in the roots, but showed about 2-fold increase in the shoots. Despite of low glutathione reductase (GR) and high polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities in the shoots and roots, respectively, ascorbic acid and total phenolic contents also increased at 6th DAG which may be due to the activation of their biosynthetic pathways in seedlings pre-treated with 100 ppm of FA. Proline content of wheat seedlings pre-treated with 100 ppm of FA remained unaffected. Results signify the role of FA pre-treatment in augmenting the antioxidant response of wheat and thereby suggest that at lower concentrations, it can be used for improving performance of wheat under various environmental constraints.
Summary
An online-hyphenated high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array-mass spectrometry (HPLC-PDA-MS) analytical method was developed for the simultaneous determination of six lignans of therapeutic importance in four Phyllanthus spp. (P. amarus, P. maderaspatensis, P. urinaria, and P. virgatus). HPLC with monolithic reverse phase silica column (4.6 × 100 mm) and simple isocratic elution of methanol-water mixed with dioxane facilitated the separation of lignans of diverse nature such as diarylbutyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, isomeric aryltetralin, and diarylbutane type for quantitative analysis. Targeted lignans viz. heliobuphthalmin lactone (1), virgatusin (2), hypophyllanthin (3), phyllanthin (4), nirtetralin (5), and niranthin (6) were confirmed unambiguously in four Phyllanthus species by their abundant molecular adduct ions, retention time, UV, and mass spectra as compared with those of reference compounds. Advantages and limitations of both detection techniques for qualitative (fingerprinting) and quantitative analysis of the above mentioned lignans in four Phyllanthus spp. are discussed. The method was validated following international guidelines. The described method can be utilized for assays and stability tests of P. amarus extracts as well as traditional Indian medicine based on Phyllanthus herb.
