Search

With aim to develop an efficient and ecofriendly approach for on-site treatment of sewage, a sub-surface flow constructed wetland (CW) has been developed by raising potential aquatic macrophytes; Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis, Colocasia esculenta, Polygonum hydropiper, Alternanthera sessilis and Pistia stratoites in gravel as medium. Sewage treatment potential of CW was evaluated by varying retention time at three different stages of plant growth and stabilization. After 6 months, monitoring of fully established CW indicated reduction of 90%, 65%, 78%, 84%, 76% and 86% of BOD, TSS, TDS, NO3-N, PO4-P and NH4-N, respectively in comparison to inlet after 36 h of retention time. Sewage treatment through CW also resulted in reduction of heavy metal contents. Thus, CW proved an effective method for treatment of wastewater and may be developed along river Ganga stretch as an alternative technology. Treated water may be drained into river to check further deterioration of Ganga water quality.

A novel PA Medium (PAM) for efficient screening of phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) was developed taking Serratia marcescens NBRI1213 as model organism. The defined National Botanical Research Institute's growth medium (NBRI) supplemented with 0.1% maltose, designed for quantitative estimation of phosphate accumulation was designated as PAM. Our work suggested usage of PAM for efficient qualitative screening and as a microbiological medium for preferential selection of PAOs on Petri-plates. For qualitative screening of PAOs, Toluidine blue-O dye (TBO) was supplemented in PAM, designated as PAM-TBO. Qualitative analysis of phosphate accumulated by various groups correlated well with grouping based upon quantitative analysis of PAOs, effect of carbon, nitrogen, salts, and phosphate accumulation-defective transposon mutants. For significantly increasing sample throughput, efficiency of screening PAOs was further enhanced by adaptation of PAM-TBO assay to microtiter plate based method. It is envisaged that usage of this medium will be salutary for quick screening of PAOs from environment.

Trichoderma harzianum NBRI-1055 was used, as fungal candidate to enhance the antioxidant activities of soybean matrix by modulating polyphenolic substances during solid-state fermentation. Trichoderma-fermented soybean (TFS) and unfermented soybean (UFS) products were extracted with water (W) and methanol (M). Total phenolic content of TFS-W and TFS-M extracts were significantly higher than that of UFS-W and UFS-M extracts. The effectiveness of extracts for total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, free radical scavenging activity, reducing power, lipid peroxidation, metal ions-chelation, hydroxyl and superoxide radicals scavenging properties in descending order was TSF-W>TSF-M>USF-M>UFS-W. TFS extracts demonstrated significant protection against oxidative DNA and protein damages caused by hydroxyl radicals. For the specific phenolics profile, HPLC analysis was performed, which showed that the TFS extracts were also higher in isoflavones, flavonoids and phenolic acids, suggesting that this strategy may help to enhance TFS as potential antioxidants for use in preparation of soy food products.