Anuradha Jape

Molybdenum trioxide was used as a precursor for the deposition of thin films of varied concentrations onto the glass substrate by ultra-spray pyrolysis technique. Solutions of different concentrations viz. 0.05 M, 0.025 M, 0.0125 M were prepared and the substrate temperature varied to study the structural properties like XRD, UV-visible spectroscopy and FESEM of the MoO3 thin films. Being transition metal oxide molybdenum oxide (MoO3), exhibits fascinating chemical, structural, electrical and optical properties. The samples were prepared at different temperatures of 150, 250 and 350 ºC with the spray concentrations varying between 0.05 M, 0.025 M and 0.0125 M while the other spray operating parameters were fixed at their optimum values. X-ray diffraction technique was used to determine the crystalline size and nature of the films. For the substrate temperature 150 ºC, the films obtained are amorphous in nature while the films deposited at 250 and 350 ºC were found to be crystalline ...

Polyaniline (PANI) is useful for the adsorption of hazardous substances because of its multiple N-containing functional groups, high adsorption capacity, superior selectivity and chemical durability. Although it is cheap and easy to synthesize, PANI has low processability and mechanical strength, which can be overcome by preparing composites of PANI with biomass waste. Biomass waste is a rich source of useful biopolymers, judicious use of which can also solve the problem of biomass-waste management. Furthermore, biomass waste provides excellent support and possesses functional groups, which help to synergistically remove potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from wastewaters. Composites of PANI have shown tremendous potential in the removal of PTEs from wastewaters. More recently, the focus of studies have been on PANI-based inorganic composites. Considering the environmental impact of these materials, use of PANI-based biosorbents would be more economical, environmentally friendly and ...

The host E. coli and its phage were isolated from sewage water. The phage infected host, E coli cells were encapsulated in alginate at specific time interval of co-cultivation, beads were stored at different temperatures. Beads were solublised to release phages and stability of released phages was evaluated by performing plaque assay at monthly interval. The number of plaque forming units increased with time of co-cultivation and by 45mins of phage-host co-cultivation, count raised from 106 to 108 pfu/ml. The infected host cells were entrapped in calcium alginate at a stage when multiple copies of mature phage are ready within host cell, and well before commencement of cell lysis.

The marine yeasts, Candida tropicalis, Candida parasilopsis, Candida orthopsilosis, and Rhodotorula muciliginosa were isolated from sea waters of Konkan regions and were tested for their ability to grow on cornmeal and enrich it with Single cell protein (SCP) and Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The cornmeal was supplemented with either dextrose (10g%),malt powder(1g%), flaxoil (1g%), glycerol (4g%), whey (50%v/v) or sodium acetate (10g%), subjected to Solid State Fermentation (SSF). All the bioproducts, showed increase in total lipids and PUFA, especially with flaxseed meal supplement yielded PUFA≥50%. The marine yeasts under study successfully converted glycerol supplemented cornmeal, to a bioproduct containing gamalinolenic acid (GLA).The bioproduct formed using whey (50%) supplemented cornmeal by marine yeasts in SSF accumulated 11-18% protein and PUFA in the range of 44-48%. Candida tropicalis yielded highest protein, 18.9 % on media containing glycerol. The fermented corn m...

The host E. coli and its phage were isolated from sewage water. The phage infected host, E coli cells were encapsulated in alginate at specific time interval of co-cultivation, beads were stored at different temperatures. Beads were solublised to release phages and stability of released phages was evaluated by performing plaque assay at monthly interval. The number of plaque forming units increased with time of co-cultivation and by 45mins of phage-host co-cultivation, count raised from 10 to 10 pfu/ml. The infected host cells were entrapped in calcium alginate at a stage when multiple copies of mature phage are ready within host cell, and well before commencement of cell lysis.

The interest in screening new sources of fats and oils is continuously growing. Single cell oils (SCOs) accumulated by oleaginous marine yeasts and fungi have emerged as potential alternative feed stocks for biodiesel production. In addition to plants, microbial sources have gained importance as potential source of TAG and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in past few decades. Microbial lipids produced by marine microorganisms are more promising and have been reported to produce medicinally and nutritionally important fats. Oleaginous Yeasts are advantageous for lipid production over other sources, as they can accumulate oil up to 80% of their dry weight and their cultures can be easily scaled up. The typical oily yeast genera include Lipomyces, Cryptococcus, Yarrowia, Rhodotorula and Candida. These yeasts vary in the lipid content and can accumulate lipids up to 25% 70% of the biomass, also the lipid profile of these yeasts differ between the species (Athanasios et al., 2011). It...

Mushrooms are rich sources of nutraceuticals and are known for antioxidant, antitumor, antimicrobial properties. Flax, Linumusitatissimum, is a unique plant having a rich combination of fat, protein and dietary fibre, which constitute approximately 40%, 20% and 28% respectively. Flax oil is the richest source of ALA (50-60%), the parent compound of ώ-3 fatty acids. Soybean straw bed supplemented with flaxseed meal (10% to50% dry weight) was used as potential raw material to improve nutritional quality of mushrooms. The maximum protein content of 44.268g % was obtained in fruiting bodies produced when soybean straw was supplanted with 20% flax seed meal (on dry weight basis). Fatty acid profile analysis suggests that mushroom species could not bioconvert flax ALA into Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA).

The interest in screening new sources of essential fatty acids is continuously growing. Poly Unsaturated Fatty acids (PUFAs) play a key role in eukaryotic metabolism.  Marine microbes are competent organisms, some of which can accumulate large amounts of lipids and have been reported as promising source of medicinally and nutritionally important fats. Earlier studies indicate that amongst the oleaginous microorganisms yeasts are more promising in lipid accumulation than bacteria and microalgae. The present investigation was aimed to isolate oleaginous, PUFA producing marine yeasts. Yeasts were isolated from marine waters collected from Konkan coasts of India and maintained on Basal agar (BA) slants as well as 20% Glycerol stocks. Out of the 54 isolates, the fast growing 09 yeasts were selected and studied further for oleagenecity and PUFA production. These selected isolates were characterized for morphological, cultural, physiological properties and identified by sequencing of 18s r...