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Effects of various culture conditions on lovastatin production were investigated in Aspergillus terreus(KM017963) grown under solid state fermentation with wheat bran. Lovastatin production was influenced by various physical factors such as pH, temperature, and nutritional factors such as carbon, nitrogen, metal ions/salts etc. Our study established that an initial pH of 6.0, growth temperature of 28 °C–30 °C, inoculum size of 108 spores/mL as the optimal physiological culture conditions for maximal production of lovastatin by A. terreus(KM017963). The carbon sources, glucose or dextrin when supplemented at 3% (w/w) enhanced lovastatin production by five fold when supplemented as individual component in wheat bran. Addition of metal salts such as CuSO4(8%), FeSO4(8%), CaCl2(10%), NaCl (6%) and MgSO4(6%) enhanced the production by five fold. Supplementation with nitrogen sources, amino acids, hydrocarbons, surfactants and amino acids did not have any profound effect on lovastatin production.

A novel approach was carried out to develop and validate a rapid, specific, accurate and precise reverse phase ultra performance liquid chromatographic (UPLC) method for the simultaneous separation and quantification of secnidazole, fluconazole and azithromycin in pharmaceutical dosage forms. The developed analytical method is superior in technology to conventional HPLC with respect to time, resolution, solvent consumption and cost of analysis. Elution time for the separation was 10 min and ultra violet detection was carried out at 210 nm. Efficient separation was achieved on BEH C18 sub-2-μm UPLC column using 0.002 M Na2HPO4 and acetonitrile as organic solvent in a gradient program. Benzophenone was used as internal standard. Resolutions between secnidazole, fluconazole and azithromycin were found to be more than 4.8. The calibration graphs were linear for secnidazole, fluconazole, benzophenone and azithromycin. The method showed excellent recoveries for all dosage forms. The test solution was found to be stable in diluent for 72 h when stored in the refrigerator between 2 to 8 °C. The proposed UPLC method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision, specificity and robustness and can be used for the simultaneous estimation of secnidazole, fluconazole and azithromycin in tablet dosage forms available as a combi kit.