Evaluation of crude oil biodegradation using mixed fungal cultures.

The use of potent fungal mixed cultures is a promising technique for the biodegradation of crude oil. Four isolates of fungi, namely, Alternaria alternata (AA-1), Aspergillus flavus (AF-3), Aspergillus terreus (AT-7), and Trichoderma harzianum (TH-5), were isolated from date palm soil in Saudi Arabia. The mixed fungal of the four isolates have a powerful tool for biodegradation up to 73.6% of crude oil (1%, w/v) in 14 days. The fungal consortium no. 15 containing the four isolates (1:1:1:1) performed significantly better as a biodegradation agent than other consortium in a variety of environmental factors containing crude oil concentration, incubation temperature, initial pH, biodegradation time and the salinity of the medium. The fungal consortium showed better performance in the biodegradation of normal alkanes (n-alkanes) than that of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); the biodegradation efficiency of normal alkanes of the fungal consortium (67.1%) was clearly high than that of the PAHs (56.8%).

Silver nanoparticles biosynthesis using Saussurea costus root aqueous extract and catalytic degradation efficacy of safranin dye.

Nanobiotechnology is a fast growing field in which instruments are created by nano size particles of approximately 1 to 100 nm (1 to 100 nm) of the scale of nanometers. Nanoparticles today have potential implications for life sciences and human health applications. In this research, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were successfully synthesized using Saussurea costus root aqueous extract and AgNPs have been characterized by the use of UV-Vis, Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM), and Electromicroscopy of transmission (TEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDXs). The highest number of particles are in the 5 to 15 nm range. AgNPs have been added in saffron dye solution for degradation dye biosynthesizing, and product analysis using UV/vision spectrophotometer, FTIR and HPLC has been performed. Green-summed AgNPs effectively degraded the color, with UV/VIS spectrophotometers, around 84.6 percent at 72 h of exposure time. The decrease in tested dye and presence of multiple new highs in the samples treated with different retention times (Rt) 2.30, 6.10 and 12.24 min, is positive for the biodegradation compared to the untreated dye with single high at 10.31 min, respectively. This green chemistry is very advantageous for AgNPs biosynthesis, for example, cost-effectiveness and usability for medicinal, pharmaceutical and extensive industrial applications. Furthermore, the bio-recovery unit for plant extracts provides a greater ease of handling, compared to micro-organisms.