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This paper aims to study the application of high-tolerance and flexible indigenous bacteria and fungi, along with the co-metabolism in recycled paper and cardboard mill (RPCM) wastewater treatment (WWT).

The molecular characterization of isolated indigenous bacteria and fungi was performed by 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene sequencing, respectively. Glucose was used as a cometabolic substrate to enhance the bioremediation process.

The highest removal efficiency was achieved for both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color [78% COD and 45% color removal by Pseudomonas aeruginosa RW-2 (MZ603673), as well as approximately 70% COD and 48% color removal by Geotrichum candidum RW-4 (ON024394)]. The corresponding percentages were higher in comparison with the efficiency obtained from the oxidation ditch unit in the full-scale RPCM WWT plant.

Indigenous P. aeruginosa RW-2 and G. candidum RW-4 demonstrated effective capability in RPCM WWT despite the highly toxic and low biodegradable nature, especially with the assistance of glucose.

The Indian diet is rich in all the essential nutrients required for the well-being of human life. Probiotics have always been part of our traditional diet but microbiota of traditional fermented foods has not been explored. This study aims to analyse various traditional Indian fermented products for their probiotic nature.

Fermented indigenous products such as kanji, vegetable pickles and curd were prepared under controlled conditions and stored at ambient temperatures for shelf life studies. During the shelf life study, pH, titratable acidity and Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count were estimated.

LAB counts ranged between 106 and 108 cfu/g in all the products, reflective of the probiotic nature of the products. Growth was observed even at low pH of 2.77 in product such as lemon chilli and ginger pickle. The 16S RNA-based sequencing technique was used for the identification of probiotic organisms present in the product. Enterococcus lactis, enterococcus durans, bacillus subtilis and lactobacillus plantarum were detected in the products.

These observations emphasise the need to undertake in-depth analysis of the viability of LAB in these fermented Indian foods for improving their nutritional properties. A need exists to explore and popularise more indigenous fermented products as probiotics.

India has a very rich and diverse food culture which differs from one region to other. This is because of difference in climatic conditions which has led to variety of food products. There are many products prepared locally and are not studied scientifically. This study aimed to explore these products for the presence of LAB which could have a probiotic potential.

Petroleum hydrocarbons are naturally occurring flammable fossil fuels used as conventional energy sources. It has carcinogenic, mutagenic properties and is considered a hazardous pollutant. Soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons adversely affects the properties of soil. This paper aim to remove pollutants from the environment is an urgent need of the hour to maintain the proper functioning of soil ecosystems.

The ability of micro-organisms to degrade petroleum hydrocarbons makes it possible to use these microorganisms to clean the environment from petroleum pollution. For preparing this review, research papers and review articles related to petroleum hydrocarbons degradation by micro-organisms were collected from journals and various search engines.

Various physical and chemical methods are used for remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons contaminants. However, these methods have several disadvantages. This paper will discuss a novel understanding of petroleum hydrocarbons degradation and how micro-organisms help in petroleum-contaminated soil restoration. Bioremediation is recognized as the most environment-friendly technique for remediation. The research studies demonstrated that bacterial consortium have high biodegradation rate of petroleum hydrocarbons ranging from 83% to 89%.

Proper management of petroleum hydrocarbons pollutants from the environment is necessary because of their toxicity effects on human and environmental health.

This paper discussed novel mechanisms adopted by bacteria for biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons, aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation pathways, genes and enzymes involved in petroleum hydrocarbons biodegradation.

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a gram-negative predatory bacterium which can potentially inhibit microbiologically influenced corrosion by preying on sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). However, no researches about the inhibition are reported according to the authors’ knowledge. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the Inhibition effect of B. bacteriovorus on the corrosion of X70 pipeline steel induced by SRB.

The effect of B. bacteriovorus on the growth of SRB was studied by measuring the optical density at 600 nm (OD600) and sulfate concentration in culture medium. X70 pipeline steel was used as the test material to investigate the anti-corrosion effect of B. bacteriovorus on SRB by conducting electrochemical analysis (including Tafel polarization curves and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy) and weight loss measurement.

B. bacteriovorus could inhibit the growth of SRB in culture medium by its predation on SRB, which led to decrease of OD600 value and increase of sulfate concentration. The results of electrochemical analysis indicated that B. bacteriovorus had positive inhibition efficiencies on SRB-induced corrosion of X70 pipeline steel. Moreover, corrosion rate of X70 pipeline steel was declined from 19.17 to 3.75 mg·dm-2·day-1 by the presence of B. bacteriovorus.

This is the first report about using B. bacteriovorus to inhibit the corrosion induced by SRB. Compared to other anti-corrosion methods, the microbial inhibition methods exhibit more considerable application value due to its low cost, high efficiency and non-pollution.

Recent societal interest in healthful foods has led to the development of functional dairy products that basically provide health benefits in addition to their fundamental nutrients. Yoghurt being most popular fermented milk product due to its healthy image can be an excellent carrier for probiotics. Functional properties of yoghurt can be enhanced with the inclusion of functional ingredients such as probiotics and its conjugate application with prebiotics may be advantageous as it favors probiotic growth. Nutritional and medicinal value of honey coupled with presence of oligosaccharides has projected honey as a functional additive in yoghurt.

Attempt has been made to review the literature on the biochemical activities of yoghurt cultures and probiotics in presence of honey. Both review and research papers related to biochemical activities and functional properties of yoghurt cultures and probiotics in presence of honey and their health benefits published in diverse journals under Pub Med and Science Direct have been considered. Keywords used for data search included functional foods, yoghurt, probiotic, health benefits, honey, etc.

Functional properties of yoghurt can be further enhanced with the inclusion of probiotic cultures and honey. Honey can be safely used in association with different probiotic cultures during yoghurt manufacture for augmenting functional properties of yoghurt to extend health benefits. Honey may not be equally a suitable matrix for all yoghurt cultures or probiotic cultures.

Reviewed literature indicated that limited research on animal or human feeding trials with honey containing yoghurt has been done. Clinical trials with honey containing yoghurt are emerging prior to its marketing as functional food.

Application of honey as a functional additive during the manufacture of probiotic yoghurt is suggested to extend the functional properties of normal yoghurt.

This paper aims to investigate the physical, chemical and physicochemical characteristics of rice husk on alkaline treatment.

Rice husk (RM) was alkaline treated to produce soluble (SR) and insoluble residues (IR). Each fraction was characterized and soluble fraction was used to produce nanofibres using electrospinning method.

Alkaline treatment was effective in isolating insoluble dietary fibre rich IR from the other interfering substances such as soluble dietary fibre, protein and lipids that originally present in RM and leached into SR. The problem of silica induced toxicity and indigestibility of rice husk was overcome by alkaline treatment. Alkaline treatment altered the inherent mineral content (calcium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, zinc) of rice husk, and increased physicochemical properties such as emulsification ability and stability, water holding ability, mineral binding capacity (calcium, copper, iron, zinc), and antioxidant activity. SR had been successfully electrospun into nanofibres with the addition of polyvinyl alcohol.

The paper investigated the characteristic of rice husk (RM and IR) for the development of functional foods, pharmaceutical products and new bioactives delivery system at the expense of reducing environmental liability.

The research aims to study the feasibility and acceptability trials of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) substituted popular Indian foods.

Four Indian food items namely chapati, thepla, dhokla and patra were prepared. Wheat flour in chapati and thepla was substituted with FOS at four levels, i.e. 3 g, 5 g, 8 g and 10 g. Bengal gram in dhokla and patra was substituted with FOS at 3 levels, i.e. 5, 8 and 10 g. Ten semi‐trained panel members evaluated the recipes in triplicates using ten point numerical scoring test and difference test.

A significant reduction in all organoleptic attributes of chapati and thepla (p<0.001) was observed with the increase in level of substitution up to 10 g. A non‐significant increase in all the attributes was observed with the increase in level of FOS substitution in patra. For chapatis the most affected attribute were chewability, breakability and overall acceptability. For thepla there was 8.13 percent reduction in the overall acceptability. Dhokla and patra were acceptable at all the three levels of substitution. Using difference test a significant difference (p<0.05, p<0.01) was observed in the color and taste of chapatti. For thepla significant difference was observed in the organoleptic attributes like color and overall acceptability. However, no significant difference was noticed for dhokla and patra substituted with FOS.

The present study has opened a new avenue for preparation of commonly consumed FOS incorporated Indian food products.

This is original research which can benefit general and specific population.

The study aimed at developing the bioremediation model of Lapindo mud through multisymbiotic organism.

The research was conducted using completely randomized design. The model plants chosen in this research were soybean. The interaction pattern during the treatment was used to develop the bioremediation model based on the parameters.

The results showed that there was an effect of the type of organism on the parameters, namely: the growth of plant (biomass, height, length of root, and number of leaves), the biomass of root nodules, the percentage of mycorrhizal infection, the content of water, nitrogen, phosphorus, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). There was a pattern of multisymbiotic interaction between each organism and roles of each symbiont in that interaction. Therefore, the plants were capable of surviving in the environment of Sidoarjo Lapindo mud. This pattern can be named as the bioremediation model proposed, which is the analogy of tripartite symbiosis between plants, mycorrhizae, and Rhizobium but also adding plant growth bacteria such as phosphate-solubilizing bacteria and hydrocarbon degradation bacteria. The implementation of this model can be used to treat oil-contaminated soil in order to be used as a plant growth medium.

Phytoremediation is a new and promising approach to remove contaminants in the environment but using plants alone for remediation confronts many limitations. Therefore, the application of plant-growth-promoting rhizobia (PGPR) has been extended to remediate contaminated soils in association with plants (Zhuang et al., 2007). The development of the model will use the analogy of tripartite symbiosis between plants, mycorrhizae, and Rhizobium. The developed model will be based on the interaction pattern on each parameters obtained. Bioremediation is chosen because it is considered an effective technique to transform toxic components into less toxic products without disrupting the surrounding environment. Besides, bioremediation is cheaper and environment-friendly because it utilizes microorganisms to clean pollutants from the environment (Nugroho, 2006).

This study aims to study the distribution characteristics of antibiotic resistance in direct-eating food and analysis of Citrobacter freundii genome and pathogenicity. Residual antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment severely threaten human health and the ecological environment. The diseases caused by foodborne pathogenic bacteria are increasing daily, and the enhancement of antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteria poses many difficulties in the treatment of disease.

In this study, six fresh fruits and vegetable samples were selected for isolation and identification of culturable bacteria and analysis of antibiotic resistance. The whole genome of Citrobacter freundii isolated from cucumber was sequenced and analyzed by Oxford Nanopore sequencing.

The results show that 270 strains of bacteria were identified in 6 samples. From 12 samples of direct food, 2 kinds of probiotics and 10 kinds of opportunistic pathogens were screened. The proportion of Citrobacter freundii screened from cucumber was significantly higher than that from other samples, and it showed resistance to a variety of antibiotics. Whole genome sequencing showed that Citrobacter freundii was composed of a circular chromosome containing signal peptides, transmembrane proteins and transporters that could induce antibiotic efflux, indicating that Citrobacter freundii had strong adaptability to the environment. The detection of genes encoding carbohydrate active enzymes is more beneficial to the growth and reproduction of Citrobacter freundii in crops. A total of 29 kinds of ARGs were detected in Citrobacter freundii, mainly conferring resistance to fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, carbapenem, cephalosporins and macrolides. The main mechanisms are the change in antibiotic targets and efflux pumps, the change in cell permeability and the inactivation of antibiotics and the detection of virulence factors and ARGs, further indicating the serious risk to human health.

The detection of genomic islands and prophages increases the risk of horizontal transfer of virulence factors and ARGs, which spreads the drug resistance of bacteria and pathogenic bacteria more widely.

To prepare semi‐synthetic oils satisfying the classification API SF/CC and SAE 10W30 from mineral base oils derived from high paraffinic petroleum, synthetic alkylbenzenes base oils, and suitable additives.

The mixtures of base mineral oils of deep hydro‐isomerization derived from high‐paraffinic petroleum (viscosity at 100°C is 12.5 cSt) and the mixtures of the synthetic alkyl aromatics oils with the naphthenic components (viscosity at 100°C of 8.0 cSt) were used as base oil. viscosity‐temperature properties, pour points, and flash points were modified by mixing of suitable additives. Octan M‐1, Octan M‐2, Octan M‐3, and Octan M‐4 oils were obtained by application of suitable additives into the prepared base oils B‐C. In order to get the SAE 10W30 requirements the viscous additive was added (0.4‐0.6 mass percent) to prepared base oils. For obtaining the API/SF/CC grade oils, package additive (Hitec 9229) additive was added (4.7 mass percent) to the mixture. The oil (Octan M‐1) was tested in the engine of Mercedes‐Benz model 230 car and positive results over 20,000 km running.

It was observed that, viscosities and pour points change linearly as the mass percent of alkylbenzenes the in the base oil mixture is changed. This realizes the possibility of the creation of semi‐synthetic motor oil of desired properties in the case of lack of other low‐viscosity synthetic component such as poly‐á‐olefins, diester and polyester oil. The obtained oils are useful for service in relatively mild climatic conditions (average temperature of the winter period −15 to −30°C).

The obtained oils cannot fully satisfy the requirements of the engines by pour point and low‐temperature characteristics in the absence of additives.

Because of complexity of obtained mixture, it was impossible to study the structure and composition of the obtained products by modern techniques such as high field NMR spectroscopy.

Details practical information on preparation of four semi‐synthetic oils satisfying the classification API SF/CC are reported.