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Background Medicinal herbs are used for the treatment of different ailments since antiquity. Different parts of Anethum sowa L. is used in folk medicine as a carminative for the treatment of flatulence, colic and hiccups of infants and children, antioxidant, antimicrobial and antispasmodic agent. The aim of our present study is to evaluate the chemical composition of the essential oil, proximate and elemental composition, amino acid, fatty acid profile and thermal behaviour of its root part as well as different pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity of the root essential oil. Methods The air-dried roots of Anethum sowa L. were subjected to hydro-distillation to yield the essential oil. The antioxidant activity of the essential oil was studied by DPPH radical scavenging activity. The antimicrobial activity was tested against four Gram-positive, six Gram-negative bacteria and four fungi species. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Minimum bacterial concentration (MBC) for each examined microorganism were determined using the micro-dilution method. The LC50 value of the oil was also evaluated by brine shrimp lethality assay. The subsequent proximate analysis was also done by AOAC methods. The elemental analysis of the root powder was analysed by ICP-MS, AAS and FP system. The fatty acid was extracted by hot and cold extraction method and the analyses were carried out by GC. The amino acid profile was done by the amino acid analyzer. The DTA, DTG and TG of the root powder were taken by the thermogravimetric analyzer. Results A total of 24 constituents was identified and quantified in the essential oil and its water extract portion by GC and GC-MS. Apiol (81.99 and 74.779%) was found the highest phenylpropanoid constituent followed by m-diaminobenzene (10.446 and 8.778%) in the essential oil and aqueous extract portion. On the other hand, β-butyrolactone (5.13%) and isobutyl acetone (3.73%) were found in the major constituents in the water extract part. The IC50 value of the essential oil was found to be 3.07 mg/mL by DPPH radical assay methods. The LC50 value of the brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay of the essential oil was observed at 0.81 μg/mL. The essential oil showed better activity on Gram-negative bacteria than Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. The proximate composition showed that root contained 5.29% ash, 2.01% protein, 54.09% crude fibre, 0.15% essential oil and 1.14% fatty oil for hot extract and 0.23% for cold extract on the dried basis. The palmitic (33.81 & 31.58%) and linoleic acid (30.03 & 23.79%) were the major saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in the cold and hot extracted root powder respectively. Ca (23,600 mg/kg), Mg (7620.33 mg/kg) and K (1286.15 mg/kg) were the most predominant elements followed by Ni (1187.30 mg/kg), Se (913.79 mg/kg), Li (317.84 mg/kg), Na (288.72 mg/kg) and Fe (206.88 mg/kg). The toxic elements were found to be within the permissible limit. Glutamic acid (19.37%), glycine (14.53%) and lysine (17.08%) were found as the major amino acids. The decomposition rates were obtained by TG, DTG and DTA curve of the powder sample at various temperature ranges. Conclusions The results demonstrated that the root part of Anethum sowa L. is a rich source of mineral elements, essential amino acid and fatty acids. The essential oil is the highly potential as bioactive oil for pharmaceuticals and medical applications, possessing antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. The thermal analysis suggested as a simple, effective and rapid method to characterize the Anethum sowa L. species as well as to assess for herbal formulation.

Pimpinella anisum L. seeds of the two cultivars were assessed for their nutritional quality and safety assessment through proximate, chemical and pharmacological studies. The proximate composition along with rich mineral elements as well as minor level of toxic elements indicated the good quality of seeds. The GC–MS analyses of hydro distilled volatile oils of two cultivars contained 16 constituents. The main constituents in BSRC (Bangladesh Spice Research Centre) seeds were trans -anethole (83.67%), fenchone (5.29%) and 1,2-diisopropenylcyclobutane (6.31%) whereas, trans -anethole (69.94%), fenchone (11.184%) and d -limonene (13.007%) were the main constituents in local market seeds. The IC 50 values of DPPH antioxidant activity showed at 48.71 and 52.48 mg/mL, in BSRC and local market seeds cultivars essential oils respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oils showed moderate activity in both cultivars against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. Both oils had some similarity in physiochemical properties and antimicrobial activity. The brine shrimp cytotoxic activity of the essential oils exhibited weaker activity than the standard drug at 3.06 and 2.86 μg/mL (IC 50 ) in BSRC and local market seed cultivars respectively. The present investigation demonstrated good nutritional quality with rich bioactive phytoconstituents as well as low level of toxic elements of anise seeds. The research findings can open up a new possibility for exportation of indigenously cultivated spices as well as recommendations for food and pharmaceutical industries.

Crude press muds a sugar industry waste were collected from four sugar mills of Bangladesh. Crude press mud as well as its water soluble and water insoluble portion and extracted wax were studied for its proximate analysis, physico-chemical properties, elemental and wax composition. The proximate analysis of crude press mud showed the presence of moisture (67.95–76.53), nitrogen (1.63–2.29), ash (19.28–30.76), sugar (12.10–13.29) and crude wax (6.70–11.01). Acid value (26.95–27.68), saponification value (102.59–103.01) and iodine value (6.72–6.82) were also studied of the extracted wax. The GLC analysis showed linolenic (45.54%), oleic (27.28%) and palmitic acid (23.59%) were the predominant acids in the crude wax. The XRF spectrometric analysis of the elemental composition showed the presence of Ca (21.30–29.97%), Si (9.53–9.94%), P (8.40–9.52%), S (3.77–7.36%) and K (2.51–4.08%) in crude press mud, Ca (19.83–31.93%), K (8.76–13.52%), S (7.93–16.02%) and Mg (4.14–7.75%) in water soluble portion press mud and Ca (21.77–30.68%), K (1.62–3.41%), S (3.49–7.09%), P (9.0–11.31%), Al (2.40–2.93) and Si (10.50–10.54%) in water in-soluble portion press mud. The Fourier transform infrared analysis, Thermo gravimetric, Derivative thermo gravimetric and differential thermal analysis of press mud were also carried out. These analyses may find the suitability to enrich the micronutrients in restoring the soil composition and also find possibility to use in agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture based industries. Moreover, press mud wax may have an alternative use of carnauba wax.

Traditional preparations from plant sources are widely used almost everywhere in the world to treat this disease. [...]alternative strategies to the current modern pharmacotherapy of diabetes mellitus are urgently needed (WHO 2002), because of the inability of existing modern therapies to control all the pathological aspects of the disorder, as well as the enormous cost and poor availability of modern therapies to many rural populations in developing countries. Effect on Blood Glucose Levels of Rats when the Ripe Seed and Leaf Extracts were Fed Simultaneously with Glucose The rats were kept fasting overnight (at least 12 h), without free access of water, before testing the blood glucose level.

The essential oil of Zingiber officinale Rosc. was extracted from China and Bangladeshi varieties and yielded 0.21% and 0.23 % by hydro-distillation method on fresh weight basis respectively. Fifteen compounds were identified and quantified by GC-MS. The major constituents of China and Bangladeshi ginger essential oils were zingiberene 38.10 % and 41.49%, β-phellandrene 12.0% and 9.92%, α-citral 11.48% and 9.76 %, α-curcumene 9.22% and 11.58%, camphene 5.94% and 4.60% , β-bisabolene 4.39% and 5.0% respectively. The IC50 (DPPH method ) values were found 61.18 µg/mL and 56.71 µg/mL with the highest inhibition of 78.49 % and 80.77% and the LC50 values in the brine shrimp lethality cytotoxicity bioassay were found 0.4842 µg/mL and 0.7151 µg/mL in China and Bangladeshi ginger essential oil respectively. Both the essential oils showed significant activities against some gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi. The proximate composition of the China and Bangladeshi variety showed the ash (7.12±0.151, 8.15±0.18%), protein (5.47±0.19, 6.60±0.16%), crude fibre (4.32±0.10, 4.61±0.12%), carbohydrate (16..06±0.35, 18.38±0.41) and food energy (70.50±0.89, 81.74±1.01 kcal/100g.) respectively. The elemental compositions of the both varieties were found rich in Ca, Mg, Fe, Al, Se, Na and K. These results indicate the quality composition of the two varieties may find interest in spice and culinary industries as well as in medicinal preparation.

Industrial effluent containing textile dyes is regarded as a major environmental concern in the present world. Crystal Violet is one of the vital textile dyes of the triphenylmethane group; it is widely used in textile industry and known for its mutagenic and mitotic poisoning nature. Bioremediation, especially through bacteria, is becoming an emerging and important sector in effluent treatment. This study aimed to isolate and identify Crystal Violet degrading bacteria from industrial effluents with potential use in bioremediation. The decolorizing activity of the bacteria was measured using a photo electric colorimeter after aerobic incubation in different time intervals of the isolates. Environmental parameters such as pH, temperature, initial dye concentration and inoculum size were optimized using mineral salt medium containing different concentration of Crystal Violet dye. Complete decolorizing efficiency was observed in a mineral salt medium containing up to 150 mg/l of Crystal Violet dye by 10% (v/v) inoculums of Enterobacter sp. CV–S1 tested under 72 h of shaking incubation at temperature 35 °C and pH 6.5. Newly identified bacteria Enterobacter sp. CV–S1, confirmed by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing, was found as a potential bioremediation biocatalyst in the aerobic degradation/de-colorization of Crystal Violet dye. The efficiency of degrading triphenylmethane dye by this isolate, minus the supply of extra carbon or nitrogen sources in the media, highlights the significance of larger-scale treatment of textile effluent.

Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery and a severe form of shigellosis. This dysentery is usually restricted to Shigella infection, but Salmonella enterica and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli strains are also known as this infection’s causative agents. The emergence of drug-resistant, bacillary dysentery-causing pathogens is a global burden, especially for developing countries with poor hygienic environments. This study aimed to isolate, identify, and determine the drug-resistant pattern of bacillary dysentery-causing pathogens from the stool samples of the Kushtia region in Bangladesh. Hence, biochemical tests, serotyping, molecular identification, and antibiotic profiling were performed to characterize the pathogens. Among one hundred fifty (150) stool samples, 18 enteric bacterial pathogens were isolated and identified, where 12 were Shigella strains, 5 were S. enterica sub spp. enterica strains and one was the E.coli strain. Among 12 Shigella isolates, 8 were Shigella flexneri 2a serotypes, and 4 were Shigella sonnei Phage-II serotypes. Except for three Salmonella strains, all isolated strains were drug-resistant (83%), whereas 50% were multidrug-resistant (MDR), an alarming issue for public health. In antibiotic-wise analysis, the isolated pathogens showed the highest resistance against nalidixic acid (77.78%), followed by tetracycline (38.89%), kanamycin (38.89%), amoxicillin (27.78%), streptomycin (27.78%), cefepime (22.22%), ceftriaxone (22.22%), ampicillin (16.67%), ciprofloxacin (16.67%), and chloramphenicol (16.67%). The existence of MDR organisms that cause bacillary dysentery in the Kushtia area would warn the public to be more health conscious, and physicians would administer medications cautiously. The gradual growth of MDR pathogenic microorganisms needs immediate attention, and the discovery of effective medications must take precedence.

Water pollution from textile effluent is now one of the major issues all over the world. Malachite Green dye of the triphenylmethane group is a key component of textile effluents. This study aimed to isolate and identify potential Malachite Green dye degrading bacteria from textile effluents. Different growth and culture parameters such as temperature, pH, inoculum-size and dye concentration were optimized to perform the dye-degradation assay using different concentrations of Malachite Green dye in mineral salt medium. A photo-electric-colorimeter was used to measure the decolorizing activity of bacteria at different time intervals after aerobic incubation. Two competent bacterial strains of Enterobacter spp. (CV S1 and CM S1) were isolated from textile effluents showing potential degradation efficiency against Malachite Green dye. The RAPD analysis and 16S rRNA sequencing confirmed the genetical difference of the isolated strains Enterobacter sp. CV S1 and Enterobacter sp. CM S1. The two bacterial strains CV-S1 and CM-S1 showed complete Malachite Green dye degradation up to 15 mg/l under shaking condition with 5% (v/v) inoculums at pH 6.50 and temperature 35 degree C within 72 and 144 hours respectively. These findings indicate that the two potential bacterial strains can be used in large scale treatment of textile effluents in the future.