Spice Power: Fighting Sweetmeat Bacteria with Natural Antimicrobials | InformativeBD

Most. Ferdousi Begum,  Md. Abdul Qayum Sarker, Md. Mozammel Hoque, Md. Showkat Hossain, and M. Firoz Alam, from the institute of Bangladesh. wrote a Research article about, Spice Power: Fighting Sweetmeat Bacteria with Natural Antimicrobials. Entitled, Evaluation of three commercial spices against pathogenic bacteria of traditional sweetmeat- rossomalai. This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB.  an open access scholarly research journal Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

The antibacterial activity of three spices extracts namely Syzygium aromaticum, Cuminum cyminum and Foeniculum vulgare were assessed against seven pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., Bacillus cereus, Klebsiella sp., Streptococcus sp., Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus sp. of Rossomalai. Among the spices, ethanol extract of S. aromaticum showed highest inhibition zone (15.8 mm) against E. coli. On the other hand, aqueous extract of F. vulgare seed demonstrated least activity against S. aureus. MIC and MBC value ranges from 25 to 200 mg ml-1 and 50 to 225 mg ml-1, respectively. The lowest MIC and MBC values were recorded against E. coli for ethanol extract of S. aromaticum inflorescence. On the basis of antimicrobial spectra S. aromaticum can be considered as an effective antimicrobial agent that can be used as a food preservative in commercial purpose.

Read more : Fire, Carbon Sequestration & Restoration in Northern Zagros Forests | InformativeBD

Introduction

Rossomalai is a traditional chhana based sweetmeat in Bangladesh. It is very nutritious on account of its fairly high protein, fat contain minerals, especially calcium and phosphorous and also few soluble vitamins particularly vitamin A and D (Alam et al., 2002) which are suitable for growth of microorganism. Recent U.S estimates indicate that about 76 million illnesses are attributed to food-borne disease and among them 30% are caused by bacteria, 3% by parasites, and 76% by viruses (Mead et al., 1999). Foods are the primary sources of many pathogenic microorganisms like E. coli. Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium botulinum, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella etc. These organisms commonly carried by the nose and the skin can easily be transferred to food through handling, which causes infectious diseases like nausea, vomiting, or fever. Incidence of food borne diseases is common in Bangladesh where public health and sanitation facilities are inadequate (Kabirullah, 2006). In developed countries food-borne pathogens are responsible for millions of cases of infectious gastrointestinal diseases each year, costing billions of dollars in medical care and lost productivity. Recently there has been increasing interest in discovering new natural antibacterial (Sagdic et al., 2003a) to control and treatment of various infectious diseases as chemically synthesized drugs have undesirable side effects. The growing concern about food safety has lead to the development of natural antimicrobials to control food borne pathogens. Some spices are commonly used as natural antimicrobial agents in foods. Addition of spices in foods not only imparts flavor and pungent stimuli but also provides antimicrobial property (Nevas et al., 2004). In herbal medicine, cumin seed are used as galactogogue, stimulant, carminative, stomachic, and antispasmodic. Moreover, cumin oil shows a high antifungal activity against various pathogenic fungi and effective high antibacterial activity (Li and Jiang, 2004). Syrup is made from fennel to treat babies with colic or painful teething and long term ingestion (Türkyilmaz et al., 2008). Although some researchers have studied the antibacterial activity of spices against several species of bacteria, such as E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, L. monocytogenes etc. and few serotypes of Salmonella i.e., S. typhimurum (Elgayyar et al., 2001), S. enteritidis (Tassou et al., 1995) and S. anatum (Swetwieathana et al., 1999). The antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activities of spices and their derivatives have been investigated by some researchers (De and Banerjee, 1999; Sagdic et al., 2003b; Sagdic, 2003). Therefore, the present investigation was carried out to screen of antibacterial potentiality of three spices extracts against pathogenic bacteria in Rossomalai through disc diffusion method for justification of their efficacy as food preservative.

Reference

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Alam MM, Rahaman SMR, Mannan AKMA, Shams-ud-Din M. 2002. Quality attributes of Rossomalai- a delicious indigenous milk product of Bangladesh. Pakistan Journal of Biological Science 5(6), 725-727. http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/pjbs.2002.725.727

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Gulluce M, Sokmen M, Deferera D, Agar G, Ozkan H, Kartal N, Polissiou M, Sokmen A, Sahin F. 2003. In vitro antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extracts of herbal parts and callus cultures of Satureja hortensis L. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 51, 3958-65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf0340308

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Iacobellis NS, LoCantore P, Capasso F, Senatore F. 2005. Antibacterial activity of Cuminum cyminum L. and Carum carvi L. essential oils. Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry 53, 57-61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf0487351

Kabirullah M. 2006. Food-borne disease /http://banglapedia.org/HT/F_0143. HTM. Cited 24 Feb 2009.

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Li R, Jiang ZT. 2004. Chemical composition of the essential oil of Cuminum cyminum L. from China. Flavour and Fragrance Journal 19, 311-313. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ffj.1302

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Nevas M, Korhonen AR, LindtrÖm M, Turkki P, Korkeala H. 2004. Antibacterial efficiency of finish spice essential oils against pathogenic and spoilage bacteria. Journal of Food Protection 67(1), 199-202.

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Sagdic O, Karahan AG, Ozcan M.  Ozcan G. 2003a. Effect  of  some  spices extracts on bacterial inhibition. Food Science and Technology International 9, 353-359.

Sagdic O, Kuscu A, Ozcan M. Ozcelik S. 2003b. Effect of Turkish spice extracts at various concentrations on the growth of E. coli 0157: H7. Journal of Food Protection 19, 473-480.

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Article source : Evaluation of three commercial spices against pathogenic bacteria of traditional sweetmeat-rossomalai  

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Fire, Carbon Sequestration & Restoration in Northern Zagros Forests | InformativeBD

Fateme Ardalan, Maziar Haidari, Khabat Janati, Jahedeh Tekyekha, Soma Amiri, and Azadeh Sajadi, from the institute of Iran. wrote a Research article about, Fire, Carbon Sequestration & Restoration in Northern Zagros Forests. Entitled, The review of fire condition in Zagros forest and estimate carbon sequestration of plantation by endemic species in Northern Zagros forest (Marivan Region: West of Iran). This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB. an open access scholarly research journal Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

Fire, as a natural ecological disturbance factor in forest, this project located Jashniabad village in the Marivan region, Northern Zagros forest, and western Iranian state of Kurdistan. To this project visited the forest and interviewed to Forest communities detected the major forest destruction in the study area. To afforestation of burned area used the native species (Quercus spp., Pistacia atlantica Desf, Amygdalus communis L, Cercis griffithii Boiss, Celtis tournefortii Lam, Romex sp. and Juglans regia L.) Two estimate of Carbon sequestration in the project of plantation in the first year used the sampling the in the seven plantation species. Seedlings were collected and their weights were measured by scales (gr carefully). For estimate the carbon sequestration used this formula (Carbon sequestration (kg) = 1.63× weight (kg)). The results of this study showed that the main forest destruction element in the Marivan and Zagros are fire, grazing, farm operation in forest, fuel wood and timber, mining, semi-parasite plant and non-wood forest production, but fire is a major element of forest destruction in the marivan region. Results showed that the quantity Carbon sequestration this (1 hectare) in the first year in one hectare is 97.3 kg. Overall results showed that the fire are a major element for forest destruction in the Marivan region and plantation by native and endemic species are suitable methods for rehabilitation of burned forest area, and one hectare of plantation absorbed the near 100 kg of carbon from air and soil. Authors suggestion to use the plantation by native and endemic species for rehabilitation of burned forest in Marivan and others region from Zagros forest.

Read more :  Nutrient Changesin Tetrapleura tetraptera Across Maturity Stages | InformativeBD 

Introduction 

With due attention to climate conditions of Iran that 65% area includes arid and semi-aired and degradation rapid of north and west, because of degradation of natural resources will cause to degradation agricultural lands and human environmental (Dastmalchi, 1998, Zabiholahii et al, 2012, Haidari et al, 2012, Haidari et al, 2013a and Askari et al, 2013a). Forests cover about 12 million ha in Iran (Forest and Rangeland Organization, 2002; Haidari et al, 2013b, Haidari et al, 2013c), including 5 million ha in the mountainous Zagros region. The major element of Zagros forest destruction include: fire, grazing, farm operation in forest, fuel wood and timber, mining, semi-parasite plant and non-wood forest production (Jazirei and Ebrahimi Rastaghi, 2003, Haidari et al, 2013d, Haidari et al, 2013e, Bazyar et al, 2013a, Parma and Shataei, 2013). Increasing population, low level of development and high dependence of local communities on forests for their primary livelihood needs, are the main reasons of this destruction. The lack of regeneration in these forests is a major concern (Fattahi 1994, Jazirei and Ebrahimi Rastaghi, 2003, Bazyar et al, 2013b, Rezaei et al, 2013, Askari et al, 2013c, Haidari et al, 2012b, Haidari et al, 2012c).

Fire review in Iran and Zagros region Recurrent fires have seen an enormous increase in frequency over the recent decades and they are the main disturbances to this ecosystem (Luis-Calabuig et al., 2000). Disturbances such as fire, windstorms, floods, and grazing play a role in the maintenance of species diversity that has become well recognized in ecological theory (Mackey and Currie, 2000). Effects of Fire on vegetation are usually the most obvious impacts of burning. Fire affects natural ecosystems by consuming plants, altering successional patterns, and changing vegetative resources such as timber, forage and wildlife habitats (DeBano et al, 1978). Burning alone can result in increased forb abundance (Wienk et al, 2004) grained abundance and under story species richness (Laughlin et al, 2004).

Many studies have been carried out on plant biodiversity indices in Iran and around the world. The zagros where fire occurs in 300-400 ha annually (Anonymous, 2002).

Author proclaimed that fire increased herbal species cover in burned area but did not effect on biodiversity indices in temperate forest of northeast of Iran (Atrakchaiee, 2000).

The researcher studied effect of fire on herbal layer biodiversity in a temperate forest of northern Iran and results showed the biodiversity indices and coverage percent of shade tolerant species in unburned area were higher then burned area (Banj Shafiei et al, 2006).

The researcher investigated on the preliminary results of post fire re sprouting of manna oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) in Zagros forests and results showed that post-fire re sprouting is positively related to the number of pre-fire sprouts and the fire intensity (Pourreza et al, 2009).

The researcher studied the effect of forest fire on diameter growth of beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and hornbeam (Carpinus betulus L.) and results showed that the surface fire didn’t effect on beech but hornbeam ring growth was increased significantly. The correlation within ring growth width and climatic data had been recognized before fire but there was no correlation with years after that. Thus, other factors excluding climate such as fire could be considered as the change reasons (Banj Shafiei et al, 2009).

The researcher studied the Fire influence on vegetation changes of Zagros mountainous rangelands and results showed that in burned sites density, cover percentage and forage production of perennial grasses significantly increased while, in contrast density and cover percentage of shrubs and annual grasses decreased. Percentage of bare soil increased in burned sites. The Species diversity reduced in initial years after burning but a gradual increase was observed at the end of study period (Fattahi and Tahmasebi, 2010).

The researcher studied the effect of fire on some soil chemical properties of oak forests in Marivan region and results showed significant effects of fire on most chemical attributes of surface soil including: pH, available phosphorous, electrical conductivity and available potassium increasing. The fire caused increasing of total nitrogen and cation exchangeable capacity in surface soil. All of chemical properties of subsurface soil were measured higher in burned area than control however; these differences were not significant, statistically (Hemmatboland et al, 2010).

Reference

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Banj Shafiei A, Akbarinia M, Jalali SG, Azizi P, Hosseini SM. 2006. Effect of Fire on Herbal Layer Biodiversity in a Temperate Forest of Northern Iran. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences 9(12), 2273-2277.

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Article source : The review of fire condition in Zagros forest and estimate carbon sequestration of plantation byendemic species in Northern Zagros forest (Marivan Region: West of Iran) 

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Nutrient Changes in Tetrapleura tetraptera Across Maturity Stages | InformativeBD

A.E. Irondi, K.K. Anokam, P.C. Chukwuma, J.K. Akintunde, and I.O. Nurain, from the institute of Nigeria. wrote a Research article about, Nutrient Changes in Tetrapleura tetraptera Across Maturity Stages. entitled, Variation in nutrients composition of Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit at two maturity stages. This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB. an open access scholarly research journal Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

Variation in the nutrients composition of the seed and pod of Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit was investigated at two maturity stages, namely, mature-green (MG) and ripe-brown (RB) stages. The proximate composition and food energy content on dry weight basis (DW) of the seed and pod varied significantly (P < 0.05) at the two maturity stages. MG seed (MGS) recorded the highest moisture content (6.87%); RB pod (RBP) had the highest carbohydrate (87.49 %), while RB seed (RBS) had the highest crude fat (14.46%), protein (28.72%), ash (5.59%) and food energy (424.60 cal/g). Starch, sugar, amylose and amylopectin also varied significantly (P < 0.05) in the seed and pod at the two maturity stages, such that MG pod (MGP) had the highest starch (48.19%); RBP had the highest sugar (31.71%) and amylopectin (99.90%), whereas MGS had the highest amylose contents (0.41%). There was also significant variation (P < 0.05) in the minerals levels (DW ) of the seed and pod, with RBS having the highest Ca (15508.67 mg/Kg), Mg (403.54 mg/Kg), P (1494.74 mg/Kg), Fe (22.65 mg/Kg), Zn (5.25 mg/Kg) and Mn (59.35 mg/Kg). RBP had the highest Na (201.64 mg/Kg), K (4314.34 mg/Kg) and Co (1.16 mg/Kg), while MGS recorded the highest Se (1.21 mg/Kg) and Cu (8.25 mg/Kg) contents. Although advancing maturity had effect on the levels of the various nutrients of both the seed and pod of T. tetraptera fruit, generally the seed could provide more nutrients than the pod at the two stages of maturity investigated.

Read more : Grain & Oil Yield Variability in Castor Bean Accessions Across Savannah Zones | InformativeBD 

Introduction

Nutrients both macro- and micro- play an important role in the maintenance of the body’s well-being and metabolism. A balanced intake of nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins) helps in maintaining good state of health. Dietary proteins functionally promote growth, and are needed for the synthesis of enzymes, hormones and antibodies (Cheesebrough, 1987). Carbohydrates and fats provide the energy need of the body for physical, physiological and metabolic activities. Minerals serve a wide variety of essential physiological functions, ranging from structural components of body tissues to essential components of many enzymes and other biologically important molecules (Flynn, 1992).

Fruits constitute a significant component of the human diet. Fruit tissues development and maturation is the final phase of floral development that is signaled by successful pollination (O’Neill, 1997). Ripening is known to affect both the physical and chemical attributes of fruits, imparting numerous quality and nutritional characteristics upon the fruits (Giovannoni, 2001). Ripening influences various critical aspects of mature fruit, including fiber content and composition, lipid metabolism, and the levels of vitamins and various antioxidants (Ronen et al., 1999). Factors such as climate, soil type and fertility, season, leaf-stem ratio, and physiology affect the nutrient composition of plants at different stages of maturity and development.

Tetrapleura tetraptera is a deciduous plant belonging to the mimosaceae family. It is generally found in the lowland forest of tropical Africa. In Nigeria, the tree begins flowering towards the end of February and is over in early April. The indehiscent pods are ripe from September to December, during which it is deciduous (Opabode et al., 2011). The fruits consist of a fleshy pulp with small, brownishblack seeds. The fruits are green when tender and dark brown when fully ripe, and possess both nutritional and medicinal values (Adetunji and Aladesanmi, 2006). When dry, the fruit has a pleasant aroma and hence is used as a seasoning spice in the Southern part of Nigeria (Essien et al., 1994; Aladesanmi, 2007). The dry fruit is also used in flavoring traditional pepper soup for breastfeeding mothers from the first day of delivery to prevent postpartum contractions, and to serve as a lactation aid (Nwaiwu et al., 1986, Ojewole and Adewunmi, 2004). In West Africa this plant is used in ethnomedicine for the treatment of several ailments such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, arthritis, asthma, epilepsy and schistomiasis (Ojewole and Adewunmi, 2004).

In view of the food and therapeutic uses of T. tetraptera fruit and the possible influence of maturity on its nutrients composition, this study was designed to evaluate the variation in the chemical composition and mineral content of the seed and pod of T. tetraptera fruit at two maturity stages.

Reference

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Article source : Variation in nutrients composition of Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit at two maturity stages  

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Grain & Oil Yield Variability in Castor Bean Accessions Across Savannah Zones | InformativeBD

T. L. Tchuenteu, C. Megueni, and Y. N. Njintang, from the institute of Cameroon. wrote a Research article about, Grain & Oil Yield Variability in Castor Bean Accessions Across Savannah Zones. Entitled, A study of the variability for grain and oil yield and yield related traits of castor beans accessions in two savannah agro-ecological zones of Cameroon. This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB.  an open access scholarly research journal Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

Field trials were carried out to investigate the seeds/oil yielding ability and yield related traits of three accessions of castor beans (Motso 1, Motso 2 and Ndoutourou) cultivated in the environmental conditions of the two agro-ecological zones of Northern Cameroon (Sudano-guinea zone and Sudano-sahelian zone). Planting was done following a randomized block design with 3 replications and three treatments (Castor bean accessions) in each of these study zones. The growing parameters, the seeds yield and oil yield were evaluated. Growing parameters and seeds and oil yields were significantly different (p<0.05) between castor bean accessions and the two study zones. Castor bean accessions adapted better in the Sudano-Guinea zone than the Sudano-sahelian zone. Irrespective of the growing zone, Ndoutourou accession possessed the highest seeds and oil yield, 4.09±0.004 and 4.28±0.02 t ha-1 respectively in Sudano-Guinea zone and Sudano-Sahelian zone) is more than those of Motso 1 and Motso 2 accessions. Motso 1 accession has the smallest seeds yield. It comes out from these results that Ndoutourou accession can be recommended to farmers of Northern Cameroon to be integrated into their agricultural systems.

Read more : Easy DNA Extraction Protocol for Ricinus communis Seeds | InformativeBD 

Introduction

Castor bean (Ricinus comminus L.) is an oleaginous (40-60% oil) cultivated for its seeds which yield viscous, pale and non-volatile yellow oil (Pina et al., 2005). The oil has many industrial applications notably it is used in the manufacture of paints, dyes, inks, waxes, varnishes, lubricants and brake fluids (Devendra and Raghavan, 1978; Ramos et al., 1984; Ogunniyi, 2006). The castor oil obtained by cold pressing of seeds is also used in household for soap production and as purgatives and laxatives (Weiss, 2000). Castor plant is cultivated industrially in many countries like India, China, Brazil, Madagascar (Pina et al., 2005). However India alone exports 0.73 Mt of castor seeds per year accounting to 60% of the total world production and therefore largely dominates the market. Despite the more and more increasing production, the demand for castor beans in the world market steadily increases (Sujatha et al., 2008), then given opportunity to improve and increase castor beans production. In this respect Reddy and Matcha (2010) suggested that castor bean crop can become a cash crop in modern agriculture. Studies have been initiated in this direction to introduce and study the adaptability of castor bean in different soil of several countries including USA (Baldwin and Cossar, 2009) and in Europe (Laureti and Marras, 1995; Koutroubas et al., 1999). Such study seems to be not undertaken under savannah climate, at the best of our knowledge. Yet, Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), a C3 plant has been dedicated to be native of tropical Africa (Baldwin and Cossar, 2009).

In the perspective to explore the feasibility of castor oil as an alternative cash crop in Cameroon, questions on the growing performance of available accessions in the savannah regions needs to assess. Castor plant has been demonstrated to growth well in little shade environments where there is soil rich in organic manure, well drained and possessing neutral pH (Weiss, 2000). Castor bean yield also depend on the latitude and management practices (Oplinger et al., 1990). The seed oil content depends on the genotype, but it is also affected by the environmental conditions, cultural practices and time of harvesting.

Koutroubas et al. (1999) investigated the adaptation and yield of 19 castor bean plants genotypes and observed that the plant height depend mainly on the genotype, the site and the year of the experimentation. High temperatures, above 35°C, and water stress during the flowering and oil formation can reduce the seed oil content (Weiss, 1983). One of the most important factors affecting the seeds oil content is the variety, and in this respect Ramos et al. (1984) surveyed 36 castor bean varieties in Brazil for oil and fatty acid composition and revealed a large variability of seed oil percentage ranging from 39.6% to 59.5%.

Castor bean cultivation is not popularized in subSaharan Africa. Recent investigation on castor beans available in Cameroon revealed the presence of some accessions in the sudano-guinea and sudano-sahelian savannah zones where they are used as fence (Tchobsala, 2008) and /or soil fertilisation (Azim, 2005). Tchobsala (2008) listed 16 accessions of castor bean in North Cameroon. Djonbada (2010) investigate the agronomics characteristics of these castor bean accessions in field in North Cameroon and 3 of them named Motso 1, Motso 2 and Ndoutourou were identified as the best seeds yielding accessions. The savannah area seems to be favorable to castor production; however no information exists on their performance under this climate since the environmental conditions are determinant factors conditioning their growth and seed yield. The agronomies characteristics and oil content of castor bean from other countries such as Brazil, Nigeria, India and China had been studied. The agronomic characteristics of these local castor bean accessions cultivated in field in Adamawa and Maroua regions (Cameroon), the seeds oil content from these areas, as well as the influence of these localities on these parameters are not known. The research question on this study concerned then the evaluation of the performance of 3 local accessions of castor beans in 2 agro-ecological savannah zones of Cameroon. In other words what are the height, the number of leaves, the survival rate and seedling emergence, number of bunches per plant and number of fruits per bunch and seed yield of the accessions since seeds and oil yields depend on these parameters (Koutroubas et al., 1999). The purpose of this work was to study the yielding ability, the yield related traits and the oil yield of three castor bean accessions (Motso 1, Motso 2 and Ndoutourou) cultivated in field in two agro ecological savannah zones, the SudanoGuinea zone and the Sudano-Sahelian zone. The importance and usefulness of this work follows from the fact that the castor bean accession that adapts best in two agro-ecological zones of Northern Cameroon and has a better oil yield will be popularized.

Reference

Azim K. 2005. The nematicidal and the fertilizing effect of argan, castro and neem cak. Availability, utilization and potential value. World Review of Animal Production 14 (4), 11–27.

Baldwin BS, Cossar RD. 2009. Castor yield in response to planting date at four locations in the south-central United States. Industrial Crops and Products, Volume 29, Issues 2–3, March 2009, 316-319.

Devendra C, Raghavan GV. 1978. Agricultural by-products in South East Asia: availability, utilization and potential value. World Review of Animal Production 14(4), 11–27.

Djonbada P. 2009. Caractérisation de quelque accessions de Ricinus communis (L.) de la zone cotonnière du Cameroun et propriétés physico-chimiques des huiles issues de leurs graines. Mémoire soutenu de Master, Département des Sciences Biologiques, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Ngaoundéré Cameroun, 34-48.

Koutroubas SD, Papakosta DK, Doitsinis A. 1999. Adaptation and yielding ability of castor plant (Ricinus communis L.) genotypes in a Meditarranean climate European Journal of Agronomy 11, 227-237.

Laureti D, Marras G. 1995. Irrigation of castor (Ricinus communis L.) in Italy. European Journal of Agronomy 4, 229-235.

Maroyi A. 2007. Ricinus communis L. In: van der vossen. H.AM. and Mkamilo. G.S. PROTA:14:vegetable oils/oléagineux. Wageningen. Pays Bas, 12.-18. 

Ogunniyi DS. 2006. Castor Oil: A vital industrial raw material. Bioresource Technology 97, 1086-1091. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2005.03.028 

Oplinger ES, Oelke EA, Kaminski AR, Combs SM, Doll JD, Schuler RT, 1990. Castor beans. Alternative Field Crops Manual, May 1990. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/castor.html.

Pina M, Severino LS, Beltrão NEM, Villeneuve P, Lago R. 2005. De nouvelles voies de valorisation pour redynamiser la filière ricin au Brésil. Cahiers Agricultures 14(1), 169-171.

Ramos LCD, Tango JS, Savi A, Leal NR. 1984. Variability for Oil and Fatty Acid Composition in Castor bean. Varieties. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society 61, 1841-1843.

Reddy KR, Matcha SK, 2010. Quantifying nitrogen effects on castor (Ricinus communis L.) development, growth and pathogensis. Industrial Crops and Products (In Press) 31, 185-191

Scholz V, Da Silva JN, 2008. Prospects and risks  of  the use of  castor  oil  as a  fuel. Biomass and Bioenergy 32, 95–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2007.08.004

Sujatha M, Reddy TP, Mahasi MJ. 2008. Role of biotechnological interventions in the improvement of castor (Ricinus communisL.) and Jatropha curcas L. Biotechnology Advances 26, 424-435.

Tchobsala, Amougou A, Abou AAN, Wey J, 2008. Inventaire des variétés de Ricinus comminus L. dans la zone cotonnière du Cameroun. In Biosciences and foods security.16ème conférence annuelle du Comité Camerounais des Biosciences, 81.

Tchuenteu TL, Megueni C, Tchobsala, Njintang YN. 2013. Effects of Intercropping Systems of Castor Bean, Maize and Common Bean on Their Growth and Seed Yield in the Soudano Guinea Zone of Cameroon. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology A & Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology B. Volume 3, Number 8B. Unpublished.

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Article source : A study of the variability for grain and oil yield and yield related traits of castor beans accessions in two savannah agro-ecological zones of Cameroon

 

 

 

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Easy DNA Extraction Protocol for Ricinus communis Seeds | InformativeBD

Ajmal Iqbal,  Waqar Ahmad,  Asaf Khan,  Murad Khan, and Mohammad Nisar, from the institute of Pakistan,. wrote a Research article about, Easy DNA Extraction Protocol for Ricinus communis Seeds. Entitled, User friendly DNA isolation protocol optimized for Ricinus communis L. seeds. This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB.  an open access scholarly research journal Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

A protocol was developed to isolate high quality genomic DNA from the seeds of Ricinus communis L. (caster) without using liquid nitrogen.The DNA extraction buffer used in this novel protocol constitutes SDS (1%), Tris (1.21%), NaCl (0.58%), EDTA (0.32%), 0.12% and β–Mercaptoethanol witha pH 8.5. In the protocol 0.09g of crushed seeds of caster bean, 600ul of DNA extraction buffer and and 500ul of phenol: chloroform: iso-amylalcohol with a ratio of 25:24:1 were used. The isolated DNA was amplified in Polymerase Chain Reaction using RAPD and SSR primer sets. The primer set successfully amplified the isolated DNA. Hence, the protocol is recommended as a user friendly novel protocol for DNA isolation from the castor beans seeds.

Read more :  Detecting & Quantifying Viruliferous vs. Non-Viruliferous Polymyxa betae | InformativeBD 

Introduction

Ricinus communis L., commonly known as caster bean, is a member of the spurge family,Euphorbiaceae (Smith 1986). Ricinus is indigenous to tropical Asia and Africa, but today it is cultivated for seed oil throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Seo, 2011). The annual production of caster bean throughout the world is 460,000 tones. In Pakistan it is grown on 3204 ha and its annual production is 2089 tones, the average seed yield of caster bean in Pakistan is 652 kg ha-1 . This seed yield of Pakistan is very low (Anonymous, 2006). Oil derived from the seeds of caster has several potentials in many industries like medicine, and cosmetics (Akande, 2012). Castor bean seed oil is highly valued in several sectors of the chemical industry and is considered a bioenergy and phytoremediation resource in the subtropics (Baldanzi et al. 2005). Castor plant has a great drought tolerance due to deep root system with the ability to explore the deeper layers of soil, which helps increase aeration, water retention and distribution in soil (Embrapa et al., 2006).

The Preliminary Phytochemical study of Ricinus communis revealed the presence of steroids, saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, and glycosides (Kang, et al., 1985). The leaves of the Ricinus communis contain flavonoids, tannins and phenol (Yadav RNS & Agarwala M. 2011; Ilavarasan et al., 2006).

The isolation of high-quality DNA is prerequisite for any molecular biology work because contaminants such as proteins, polyphenols and polysaccharides may interfere with enzymes, such as endonuclease (in blotting techniques) and Taq polymerase in Polymerase Chain Reaction (Ausubel et al., 1994). The phenols covalently bind to proteins and DNA, giving the DNA a brown colour and making it useless for most research applications (Katterman & Shattuck, 1983; Guillemaut & Drouard, 1992, Aljanabi et al., 1999). Polyphenol contamination of DNA makes it resistant to restriction enzymes (Katterman & Shattuck, 1983).

Several methods for extracting DNA for different plant are available (Doyle and Doyle et al., 1990;

Khanuja et al., 1999; Kumar et al., 2003 Islam et al., 2013). In Pakistan no work has been done on the extraction of DNA from Ricinus species. Therefore the aim of the present study is to develop simple DNA extraction protocol from the seeds of six different varieties of Ricinus communis without liquid nitrogen and for further genome characterization using RAPD and SSR primers.

Reference

Akande TO, Odunsi AA, Olabode OS, Ojediran TK. 2012. Physical and Nutrient Characterisation of Raw and Processed Castor (Ricinuscommunis L.) Seeds in Nigeria. World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 8, 89-95.

Aljanabi SM, Forget L, Dookun A. 1999. An improved and rapid protocol for the isolation of polysaccharide and polyphenol free sugarcane DNA. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 17, 1–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1007692929505

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Baldanzi  M,  Fambrini  M,  Pugliesi  C.  2005. Redesign  of  the  castor  bean  plant  body  plan  for optimal combine harvesting. Annals of Applied Biology 142, 299-306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7348.2003.tb00254.x

Barzegari A, Vahed SZ, Atashpaz S, Khani S, Omidi Y. 2010. Rapid and simple methodololgy for isolation of high quality genomic DNA from coniferous tissues (Taxus baccata). Molecular Biology Reporter 37, 833-837. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s1133-009-9634-z

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Doyle JJ, Doyle JL. 1990. Isolation of plant DNA from fresh tissue. Focus 12, 13-15.

Embrapa-Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria 2006. Cultivo da mamona. Embrapa-CNPA, Algodao, Campina Grande, Sistemas de Produçao 4-2.

Feijao, RDO. 1963. Rícino. ElucidarioFitologico, ed. InstitutoBotanico de Lisboa, 3, 111-112.

Guillemaut P, Drouard ML. 1992. Isolation of plant DNA: fast, inexpensive, and reliable method. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 10, 60–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2010.08.009

Ilavarasan  R,  Mallika  M,  Venkataraman  S. 2006. Anti-inflammatory and free radical scavenging activity of Ricinus communis root extract Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103, 478 – 480. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2005.07.029

Islam M, Ahmad H, Khan IA. 2013. An efficient protocol for DNA isolation from the genus Pyrus. International Journal of Biosciences 3, 122-127. http://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/3.4.122-127

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Katterman FRH, Shattuck VL. 1983. An effective method of DNA isolation from the mature leaves of Gossypium  species  that  contain  large  amounts  of phenolic terpenoids and tannins. Preparative Biochemistry 13, 347–359. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00327488308068177

Khanuja SPS, Shasany AK, Darokar MP, Kumar S. 1999. Rapid isolation of DNA from dry and fresh samples of plants producing large amounts of secondary metabolites and essential oils.Plant molecular biology Reporter 17, 1 – 7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1007528101452

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Purohit AR, Verma PU, Patel NJ. 2012. Rapid and Efficient Procedure for Isolation of High Yielding DNA from Castor (Ricinus communis L.). International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 2, 1–4.

Seo K, Lee G, Ma K, Hyun D, Park Y, Jung J, Lee S, Gwag J, Kim C, Lee M. 2011. Isolation and Characterization of 28 Polymorphic SSR Loci from Castor Bean (Ricinus communis L.). Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology 14, 97 – 103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12892-010-0107-7

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Article source : User friendly DNA isolation protocol optimized for Ricinus communis L. seeds 

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