Phyto-Distribution of Alien Invasive Species in the Campus of Pune University by Using GPS Mapping and their Interaction

The invasive plant species hamper crops, human activities and become part of dynamic ecosystems, which grow in varied habitats and harsh ecological conditions and often invade the new ecosystems. The campus of Pune University is highly rich in phytodiversity of native and invasive weeds, which interact with each other. The invasive weeds like Cassia uniflora Mill. non Spreng, Alternanthera tenella Colla., Synedrella nodiflora (L) Gaertn, S. vialis Gray and native weed species like Achyranthes are showing dominance in the campus. The GPS mapping indicated that C. uniflora, S. nodiflora, . tenella, Blainvillea acmella, Euphorbia geniculata, Triumfetta rhomboidea and C. obtusifolia were dominant and occasionally forming pure stands in the campus reducing the phytodiversity of natives by substitution. The results on weed-weed interactions indicated that major associations were between Cassia and Achyranthes, Cassia and Bidens . Synedrella population was forming monothickets. The studies on weed-weed associations and interactions at all the sites indicated that native plants were substituted by the encroachment of invasive weeds due to negative interactions. The negative influence of Cassia and Synedrella was prominent through out the campus. The strong positive and negative associations of native and alien weeds in the university campus predicted changing Phytodiversity and ecosystem dynamics. The aggressive nature and invasiveness of C.uniflora and S.nodiflora was confirmed by their respective abundance such as 25.83 and 24.80 as compared to native weeds like Achyranthes (12.93). The investigation clearly proved the declining phytodiversityof native plant species in the university campus, which has perturbed the ecological balance through the release of allelochemicals / ecochemicals in the habitat. </jats:p

Studies on aerial parts of Artemisia pallens wall for phenol, flavonoid and evaluation of antioxidant activity

Herbs have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. According to recent investigations, they may help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, cardiovascular disease, and cancer due to antioxidant properties, which in turn can be attributed to the various phytoconstituents. With this intention, evaluation of antioxidant activity was performed. Methanol extract of aerial parts of Artemisia pallens Wall was screened for its antioxidant activity due to phenolic and flavonoid contents, by employing radical scavenging assays; 2,2 –diphenyl, 1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide. Ascorbic acid was used as a standard. Quantitative determination of phenols and flavonoids were carried out using spectrophotometric method. Total flavonoid content was determined as quercetin equivalent and total phenolic content was determined as pyrocatechol equivalent using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Plant produces more phenolic compounds than flavonoids. IC50 value of methanol extract for DPPH free radical scavenging activity was found to be 292.7 μg, whereas for nitric oxide it was 204.61 μg. The result obtained in the present study indicates that the aerial parts of this plant are a rich source of natural antioxidant

Allelopathy: The Chemical Language of Plants

In Nature, the oldest method of communication between living systems is the chemical language. Plants, due to their lack of mobility, have developed the most sophisticated way of chemical communication. Despite that many examples involve this chemical communication process—allelopathy, there is still a lack of information about specific allelochemicals released into the environment, their purpose, as well as in-depth studies on the chemistry underground. These findings are critical to gain a better understanding of the role of these compounds and open up a wide range of possibilities and applications, especially in agriculture and phytomedicine. The most relevant aspects regarding the chemical language of plants, namely kind of allelochemicals, have been investigated, as well as their releasing mechanisms and their purpose will be described in this chapter

Batch and Continuous Ultrasonic Reactors for the Production of Methyl Esters from Vegetable Oils

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