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At present, due to shortage of water resources, especially in arid and semiarid areas of the world such as Iran, exploitation of groundwater resources with suitable quality for drinking is of high importance. In this regard, contamination of groundwater resources to heavy metals, especially arsenic, is one of the most important hazards that threaten human health. The present study aims to develop an approach for presenting the groundwater quality of Sirjan city in Kerman Province, based on modern tools of spatial zoning in the GIS environment and a fuzzy approach of evaluating drinking water in accordance with the standards of world health organization (WHO). For this purpose, qualitative data related to 22 exploitation wells recorded during 2002 to 2017 were used. In addition, fuzzy aggregate maps were prepared in two scenarios by neglecting and considering arsenic presence in groundwater resources. The results showed a decrease in groundwater quality over time. More specifically, neglecting the presence of arsenic, in 2002, all drinking wells in the area were located in an excellent zone, while in 2017 a number of operation wells were located in the good and medium zone. Also, the final map, considering the presence of arsenic as a limiting factor of drinking water, indicated that parts of the southern regions of the plain would be the best place to dig wells for drinking water. Therefore, the use of new methods can contribute significantly to the usage of groundwater aquifers and provide a good view of the aquifer water quality.

Accurate forecasting of groundwater levels is of primary importance for the sustainable management of water resources, particularly in semi-arid regions that continuously face high agricultural and industrial water demands. This study attempts to model the groundwater level dynamics at the Gozar-Abbas-Ali piezometric well in the northern Kerman aquifer, located in Iran, using time series techniques. The fit and validation of three stochastic models were tested in this study: the autoregressive (AR), the autoregressive moving average (ARMA), and the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models. Among these models, ARIMA (5,2,5) was found as the most suitable for prediction accuracy. The trend analysis indicated a continued decline in the groundwater levels, mainly attributable to excessive extraction for agricultural use during the period of 2002 to 2010. Conversely, a decrease in agricultural land, traced through NDVI analysis on remote sensing data, led to the transient slowing down of groundwater depletion from 2010 to 2018, coinciding with the discharge of treated wastewater for artificial recharge. Since 2018, groundwater depletion had resumed more speedily due to water being diverted for large-scale industrial purposes, exacerbating the stress on the aquifer. The integration of regression between ARIMA-predicted groundwater levels and NDVI-derived land-use forecasts predicts further decline from cultivated land from 57.34% of the study area in 2002 to 23.71% in 2026 and to 9.63% in 2036. This observation highlights the intertwined relationship between agricultural expansion, industrial water demand, and groundwater sustainability, warranting the immediate need for integrated water management in arid and semi-arid regions.

A total of 50 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolates from Iranian traditional dairy products (Motal and Lighvan cheeses, and artisanal yogurt) were screened for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production. Firstly, a rapid colorimetric test was performed to evaluate the glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activity among the LAB isolates examined. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was then performed on selected strains to identify isolates with high/moderate GABA producing capacity, and a GABase micro-titer plate assay was employed to quantify GABA. Finally, two Lactococcus ( Lac. ) lactis strains were selected for GABA production optimization via Response Surface Methodology (RSM) following Central Composite Design (CCD). Forty-one out of the 50 isolates showed GAD activity according to the colorimetric assay. Eight isolates displayed strong GAD activity, while nine showed no activity; low to moderate GAD activity was scored for all other isolates. GABA production was confirmed by TLC in all isolates with high GAD activity and in four selected among isoaltes with moderate activity. Among the Lactococcus strains tested, Lac. lactis 311 and Lac. lactis 491 were the strongest GABA producers with amounts of 3.3 and 1.26 mM, respectively. These two strains were subjected to GABA production optimization applying RSM and CCD on three key variables: Monosodium glutamate concentration (MSG) (between 25 and 150 mM), incubation temperature (between 25 and 37 °C), and pH (between 4.0 and 5.0). Optimal conditions for GABA production by Lac. lactis 311 and Lac. lactis 491 of temperature, pH and MSG concentration were, respectively, 35.4 and 30 °C, pH 4.5 and 4.6, and MSG concentration of 89 and 147.4 mM, respectively. Under the above conditions, the amount of GABA produced by Lac. lactis 311 and Lac. lactis 491 was 0.395 and 0.179 mg/mL, respectively. These strains and the optimal culture conditions determined in this study could be used for the biotechnological production of GABA or applied in food fermentations for the development of naturally GABA-enriched foods.

In this study, the antimicrobial effect of exopolysaccharide (EPS) extracted from Enterococcus strains [ E. durans K48 (MT437,248), E. faecium R114 (MT437,249) and E. faecium T52 (MT437,250)] isolated from Kishk was applied against some foodborne pathogenic bacteria using well diffusion and microdilution methods. The antioxidant activity of EPS was also evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method. The cytotoxicity effect of EPS on human Gingival Fibroblast (HGF) cell line was also assessed. The results obtained by antimicrobial test showed that the most resistant bacteria to the examined EPS was Listeria monocytogenes , and the most susceptible were Staphylococcus aureus and E. faecalis . The results showed that the DPPH inhibitory percentage of EPS (25 mg/mL) from E. durans K48, E. faecium R114, and E. faecium T52 was 53%, 58% and 64%, respectively. EPS from E. faecium T52 displayed the highest reducing power, but statistically, there was no significant difference between the reducing power of EPS T52 and EPS R114 (P ≥ 0.05). The lowest toxicity percentage of EPS k48, EPS T52, and EPS R114 on normal human cell line at a concentration of 0.2 mg/mL was 10%, 15%, and 13%, respectively, which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The obtained results in the present study indicate that EPS from the examined LAB strains with no in vitro cytotoxicity can be a potential source of natural antioxidant and antibacterial agent to be used in food and pharmaceutical industries.