In Vitro Antibacterial Efficacy of Cymbopogon flexuosus Essential Oil against Aeromonas hydrophila of Fish Origin and in Silico Molecular Docking of the Essential Oil Components against DNA Gyrase-B and Their Drug-Likeness.

In aquaculture, diseases caused by the Aeromonads with high antibiotic resistance are among the most common and troublesome diseases. Application of herbs is emerging as a tool in controlling these diseases. Plant extracts besides disease control, favor various physiological activities in fish. In this study, essential oil of Cymbopogon flexuosus (Poaceae family) was studied in vitro for its antibacterial efficacy against two oxytetracycline (OTC) resistant and one sensitive strains of Aeromonas hydrophila. The oil was found rich (86.93 %) in oxygenated terpenoids containing 74.15 % of citral. The oil exhibited dose dependent growth inhibition of the bacteria. Mean MIC value of the oil against the sensitive strain was recorded as 2.0 mg mL-1 whereas MBC value was recorded as 4.0 mg mL-1 . The oil was found effective against the OTC resistant isolates with the MIC and MBC values ranging from 2.67-3.33 and 4.0-6.67 mg mL-1 , respectively. In silico molecular docking of the essential oil components against DNA gyrase-B, a vital macromolecule in bacterial cell, was carried out to computationally asses the efficacy of the oil against the bacteria. Some of the components of the essential oil strongly bonded with the enzyme to inhibit its efficacy. Binding energy of some components of the oil was comparable to that of the conventional antibiotic, OTC. The identified phytochemicals exhibited favorable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties and satisfied the rule of five (Ro5).

Geochemical distribution and forms of phosphorus in the surface sediment of Netravathi-Gurupur estuary, southwestern coast of India.

Estuaries are the most productive transition ecosystem and phosphorus (P) plays an important role in these ecosystems. Therefore, in the present study, sequential extraction method was used to determine the abundance of five sediment P fractions (calcium (Ca-P), Iron (FeP), aluminum (AlP), exchangeable (Ex-P) and organic (OrgP) bound P) in Netravathi-Gurupur estuary, India. Total phosphorus (TP) content varied from 435-810 mg/kg (non-monsoon) and 258-699 mg/kg (monsoon). Inorganic P was dominant part. Different P fractions followed similar order (Fe-P > Ca-P > Al-P > Org-P > Ex-P) with respect to seasons. FeP was dominant fraction, indicating probable anthropogenic stress. Sediment may act as source of P as bioavailable P constituted 40-69.2 % of TP. Molar ratio of OC to Org-P in sediment indicated terrestrial sources of organic matter. However, the estimated phosphorus pollution index were lower than one except a few cases indicating less ecological risk with respect to sedimentary TP load.

Phosphorus fractions in the sediment of a tropical reservoir, India: Implications for pollution source identification and eutrophication.

Eutrophication level in lakes and reservoirs depends on both internal and external phosphorus (P) load. Characterization of sediment P fractionation and identifying the P pollution sources are important for assessing the bio-availability of P and the dominant P source, for effectively controlling the water pollution. For determining the availability and sources of sediment P and eutrophication status, spatio-temporal variation in different P fractionation of sediment of hyper-eutrophic Krishnagiri reservoir, Tamil Nadu, India, was investigated. Sediment average total P (TP) content ranged from 4.62 to 5.64 g/kg. Main phosphorus form was the inorganic P (IP), and it makes up to 73.4-87.7% of TP. Among the different P fraction, viz. calcium bound (Ca-P), iron bound (Fe-P), aluminium bound (Al-P), exchangeable (Ex-P) and Organic-P (Org-P), Ca-P was the dominating fraction in both IP and TP. Trend of IP fraction was as follows: Ca-P > Fe-P > Al-P > Ex-P in pre-monsoon season, Fe-P > Ca-P > Al-P > Ex-P in monsoon and Ca-P > Al-P > Fe-P > Ex-P in post-monsoon. Overall the trend was as follows Ca-P > Fe-P > Al-P > Org-P > Ex-P. Bio-available-P (BAP) fractions ranged from 35.2 to 64.0% of TP, indicating its comparative higher value. Pearson's correlation matrix revealed that there was strong correlation among the different P fractions. Factor analysis indicates that different fractions of P were the dominating factor than the other sediment parameters. The observed variation in sediment P fractionation indicate the differences in source and characterization of P which is very helpful for implementation of effective management practices in controlling pollution that arises due to phosphorus in this hyper-eutrophic reservoir.

Repurposing distillation waste biomass and low-value mineral resources through biochar-mineral-complex for sustainable production of high-value medicinal plants and soil quality improvement.

High cost of synthetic fertilizers and their hazardous effects catapult the exploration of alternative nutrient formulations and soil amendments. This study aimed to synthesize a novel biochar-mineral-complex (BMC), and evaluate its nutrient supplying and soil improvement performances. In a hydrothermal reaction, the BMC was prepared using a biochar derived from distillation waste of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and farmyard manure, for the first time via fortification with low-grade rock phosphate and waste mica. The BMC showed improved physico-chemical properties and nutrient availability than the pristine biochar. When applied to a deeply weathered acidic soil, the BMC significantly (P < 0.05) improved the herbage and bioactive compound (sennoside) yields of a medicinal plant (senna; Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) compared to the pristine biochar, farmyard manure, vermicompost, and chemical fertilizers. The BMC also improved the soil quality by increasing nutrient and carbon contents, and microbial activities. Soil quality improvement facilitated greater nutrient uptake in senna plants under BMC compared to the pristine biochar, and conventional organic and chemical fertilizer treatments. This study thus encourages the development of BMC formulations not only to overcome the limitation of sole biochar application to soils, but also to phaseout chemical fertilizers in agriculture. Moreover, BMC could bestow resilience and sustainability to crop production via value-added recycling of waste biomass and low-grade mineral resources.

Detection of pesticides in popular medicinal herbs: a modified QuEChERS and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based approach.

Although a lot of work has been conducted in the pesticide residues analysis in food matrices but the quality determination (with respect to major contaminants such as pesticide residues) in medicinal plant matrices has a long way to go. Hence a study was conducted to determine pesticide residues in four medicinal herbs, which are highly traded commodities in international market. Samples were extracted and cleaned up by modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) approach and analyzed by gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The method was subjected to thorough validation procedure in-terms of accuracy, precision, limits of quantification (LOQ), matrix effect, linearity and uncertainty analysis. The mean recoveries for most of the pesticides were in the range of 70-120% with RSD <20% and measurement uncertainties were less than 20% for all the compounds at spiking level of 0.5 mg kg-1 in all the matrices. The limits of quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.01 to 0.069 mg kg-1. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine pesticide residues in 52 commercial market samples obtained from different locations in India.

Validation of a QuEChERS-based gas chromatographic method for analysis of pesticide residues in Cassia angustifolia (senna).

A simple multi-residue method based on modified QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe) approach was established for the determination of 17 organochlorine (OC), 15 organophosphorous (OP) and 7 synthetic pyrethroid (SP) pesticides in an economically important medicinal plant of India, Senna (Cassia angustifolia), by gas chromatography coupled to electron capture and flame thermionic detectors (GC/ECD/FTD) and confirmation of residues was done on gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The developed method was validated by testing the following parameters: linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), matrix effect, accuracy-precision and measurement uncertainty; the validation study clearly demonstrated the suitability of the method for its intended application. All pesticides showed good linearity in the range 0.01-1.0 µg mL(-1) for OCs and OPs and 0.05-2.5 µg mL(-1) for SPs with correlation coefficients higher than 0.98. The method gave good recoveries for most of the pesticides (70-120%) with intra-day and inter-day precision < 20% in most of the cases. The limits of detection varied from 0.003 to 0.03 mg kg(-1), and the LOQs were determined as 0.01-0.049 mg kg(-1). The expanded uncertainties were <30%, which was distinctively less than a maximum default value of ±50%. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine pesticide residues in 12 commercial market samples obtained from different locations in India.