Enzymatic Detection of Heavy Metal Ions in Aqueous Solution from Vegetable Wastes by Immobilizing Pumpkin (Cucumis melo) Urease in Calcium Alginate Beads

Om Prakash,S. H. Hasan,Rajesh K. Pandey,Mahe Talat 한국생물공학회 2008 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.13 No.2

Enzyme urease is extracted from the discarded seeds of pumpkin. Urease was purified to apparent homogeneity (5.2 fold) by heat treatment at 48 ± 1℃ and gel filtration through Sephadex G-200. Effect of model metal ions on the activity of the homogeneous enzyme preparation (sp. activity 353 U/mg protein, A280/A260 = 1.12) of soluble as well as immobilized enzyme was investigated. The soluble and immobilized urease has been used for the quantitative estimation of general water pollution with heavy metal ions like Hg²+, Cu²+, Cd²+, and Co²+. The measurements of the urease residual activity have been carried out in tris-acetate buffer after pre-incubation of model metal salt. The inhibition was found to be biphasic with an initial rapid loss of activity and remainder in slow phase of 10~15 min. The immobilization was done in 3.5% alginate beads leading to 86% of entrapment. There was no leaching of the enzyme over a period of 15 days at 4℃. The beads were fairly stable up to 50℃ and exhibited activity even at -10℃. The inhibition by these ions was non-competitive and irreversible, hence could not be restored by dialysis. Based on the values of inhibition constant Ki the heavy-metal ions were found to inhibit urease in the following order Hg²+ > Cu²+ > Cd²+ > Co²+.

Controlled Release Chitosan Microspheres of Mirtazapine: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation

Om Prakash Ranjan,Gopal Venkatesh Shavi,Usha Yogendra Nayak,Karthik Arumugam,Ranjith Kumar Averineni,Pandey Sureshwar,Sreenivasa Reddy Meka 대한약학회 2011 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.34 No.11

The purpose of the study was to formulate and evaluate controlled release chitosan microspheres of mirtazapine (MTZ) to improve the bioavailability by altering the pharmacokinetic profiles of the drug. Chitosan microspheres were prepared to prolong the release of the drug into the systemic circulation. Microspheres were prepared by a single water in oil (w/o) emulsion technique varying the chitosan/drug ratio, stirring speed and concentration of the crosslinking agent (glutaraldehyde). Drug-polymer compatibility studies were carried out using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The microspheres were evaluated for encapsulation efficiency, particle size, surface morphology, swelling index, in vitro release, as well as erosion and in vivo studies in rats. The FT-IR and DSC studies revealed no interaction between drug and polymer. The encapsulation efficiency of different formulation varied from 53 ± 1.2% to 78 ± 1.5%. The mean particle size of the optimized formulation F-14 was 106.4 ± 0.5 μm. Surface morphology revealed that chitosan microspheres were discrete and spherical in shape with a porous surface. The release of MTZ from chitosan microspheres was rapid up to 4 h, and then it was continuously and slowly released up to 48 h. Optimized formulation (F-14) was found to be stable under accelerated storage conditions based on International Conference on Harmonisation guidelines. Pharmacokinetic studies revealed that the optimized formulation showed significant increases in systemic exposure (AUC = 177.70 ± 7.39 μg·h/mL), half-life (4.72 ± 0.46 h) and reduced clearance (0.009 ± 0.0001 L/h) compared to pure drug administration. Hence, the present study demonstrates that controlled release formulation of MTZ microspheres using chitosan can improve pharmacokinetic profiles of MTZ.

Influence of Blanching and Drying Air Temperature on Drying Kinetics of Banana Slices

Kumar Ravi,Pandey Om Prakash,Dhiman Sushil Kumar,Kumar Prashant 한국농업기계학회 2021 바이오시스템공학 Vol.46 No.4

Purpose Drying of agro products, analternative approach to truncate the post harvesting losses which is about 40%in case of banana as reported in literatures, is conducted for banana slicesusing tray dryer. The objective was to investigate the effect of blanching and dryingtemperature on drying kinetics of banana slices for which a comparative studyof the drying kinetics of the bananaslices under blanching and without blanching conditions was conducted. Methods The samples were made circularin shape with average diameter of 30mm and 2mm thickness. Drying was done atair velocity of 3ms-1 maintained at three different temperatures of60oC, 70oC and 80oC. Blanching of banana sliceswas done in an aqueous solution of citricacid for 1 minute. Results Comprison of blanching andwithout blancing samples was done based on drying kinetics, color, energy analysis, andcost analysis to optimize the drying conditions and reduce the process cost.Two thin layer drying models werefitted to the experimental data using nonlinear regression analysis and theresults were evaluated using statistical parameter. The significant effects ofdrying temperature, drying time and blanching on moisture content of bananaslices were analyzed by ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). Conclusions The blanchingtechnique was found as cost-effective dryingprocess as compared to the without blanching technique.

Phytochemical composition, in vitro bioactivity evaluation and in silico molecular docking study of fruit essential oils of Zanthoxylum armatum DC collected from Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India

Kabdal Tanuja,Karakoti Himani,Upadhyay Pringal,Kumar Ravendra,Prakash Om,Dhami Anamika,Latwal Mamta,Pandey Ganesh,Srivastava R.M.,Kumar Satya,Rawat D.S. 한국응용곤충학회 2023 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.26 No.2

The present research aimed to analyze the nematicidal and insecticidal activity of the essential oil obtained from the fruits of Zanthoxylum armatum collected from Gumma village of Dharchula and Chandak village of Pithor agarh. After extraction via hydro distillation, the essential oils were subjected to GC–MS for their compositional analysis. A total of 10 and 13 components were identified for the Dharchula and Pithoragarh collection respectively. Linalool (32.86 %) was the major component in collection from Dharchula whereas it was totally absent in that of collection from Pithoragarh which has trans-sabinene hydrate (11.7 %) as its major component. Essential oils were tested against Meloidogyne incognita for their nematicidal activity and inhibition of egg hatching in laboratory conditions. It was found that the activity of Z. armatum from Dharchula shows high mortality of Meloidogyne incognita and more inhibition to the egg hatching. When tested for insecticidal activity against Lipaphis erysimi, collection from Dharchula presented stronger activity compared to Pithoragarh collec tion as shown by their LC 50 values 0.006 and 0.165 µL/mL respectively after 36 hrs. The in silico PASS study and molecular docking study was conducted to screen the nematicidal and insecticidal potential of the major com ponents on acetylcholinesterase receptors. Results showed good binding affinities and attributed the strongest inhibitory effect to verbenone for the target protein.

Investigating water quality of an urban water body using ground and space observations

Kumar Manish,Kumar Mukesh,Denis Derrick Mario,Verma Om Prakash,Mahato Lakhan Lal,Pandey Kamal 대한공간정보학회 2021 Spatial Information Research Vol.29 No.6

Satellite based water quality monitoring and assessment is a thrust area of research. Present study focuses on use of space observations and ground data for assessment of spatial pattern in water quality parameters of an urban water body in Gorakhpur city of Uttar Pradesh, India. Water quality parameters namely, pH, Total Dissolved Solid, Turbidity, Total Hardness, Dissolved Oxygen and Biological Oxygen Demand were measured from the spatially distributed samples collected from the lake. Multiple linear regression models were developed using Landsat-8 OLI data and water quality sampling data to estimate the spatial patterns. It was observed that all the water quality parameters are significantly correlated with the radiance values of the Landsat-8 OLI sensor. Results of the regression model indicate a good agreement between the measured and estimated value of all the water quality parameters i.e., 82%, 70%, 90%, 66%, 84% and 79% respectively. Also, water quality maps when validated with lab tested value showed 71%, 62%, 71%, 55%, 75% and 86% accuracy. This study provides an effective and quick approach for mapping and planning of surface water (Lake) in urban areas with acceptable level of accuracy.