Comparative Studies of Biostimulation and Phytoremediation in the Mitigation of Crude Oil Toxicity in Tropical Soil

Comparative studies of biostimulation using local materials and phytoremediation in the mitigation of crude toxicity on tropical soil of the Niger-Delta of Nigeria were carried out. 5% pollution level of crude oil were done alongside the control. Remediation treatments were done after one week of pollution using the following materials: Batch A : 20g of NPK 15:15:15; batch B: 50g of poultry dung; batch C: 5 seeds of Vigna unguiculata grown on the polluted soil (phytoremediation); batch D: control (pollution but no remediation); and batch E: doublecontrol (no pollution and no remediation treatment). Soil analyses result indicated that the different remediation treatments have potentials to ameliorate crude oil toxicity at different degrees because of their ability to increase the nutrient content and decrease the total hydrocarbon content of the soil. There was no statistical difference in the soilpH, Zinc and Copper contents between and within treatments throughout the study period. Highest crude oil biodegradation and improvement in nutrient content of the soil were observed in NPK 15:15:15 and phytoremediation treatments indicating that these are good remedial treatment options in the mitigation of crude oil toxicit

Persistence of anticancer activity in berry extracts after simulated gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated at the population level with a protective effect against colorectal cancer. Phenolic compounds, especially abundant in berries, are of interest due to their putative anticancer activity. After consumption, however, phenolic compounds are subject to digestive conditions within the gastrointestinal tract that alter their structures and potentially their function. However, the majority of phenolic compounds are not efficiently absorbed in the small intestine and a substantial portion pass into the colon. We characterized berry extracts (raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants) produced by in vitro-simulated upper intestinal tract digestion and subsequent fecal fermentation. These extracts and selected individual colonic metabolites were then evaluated for their putative anticancer activities using in vitro models of colorectal cancer, representing the key stages of initiation, promotion and invasion. Over a physiologically-relevant dose range (0–50 µg/ml gallic acid equivalents), the digested and fermented extracts demonstrated significant anti-genotoxic, anti-mutagenic and anti-invasive activity on colonocytes. This work indicates that phenolic compounds from berries undergo considerable structural modifications during their passage through the gastrointestinal tract but their breakdown products and metabolites retain biological activity and can modulate cellular processes associated with colon cancer

Transformasi Pendidikan Abad 21 untuk Mengembangkan Pendidikan Dasar Bermutu dan Berkarakter

Transformasi Pendidikan Abad 21 untuk Mengembangkan Pendidikan Dasar Bermutu dan Berkarakte

Optimization of xylanase production by filamentous fungi in solid state fermentation and scale-up to horizontal tube bioreactor

Five microorganisms, namely Aspergillus niger CECT 2700, A. niger CECT 2915, A. niger CECT 2088, Aspergillus terreus CECT 2808, and Rhizopus stolonifer CECT 2344, were grown on corncob to produce cell wall polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, mainly xylanases, by solid-state fermentation (SSF). A. niger CECT 2700 produced the highest amount of xylanases of 504±7 U/g dry corncob (dcc) after 3 days of fermentation. The optimization of the culture broth (5.0 g/L NaNO3, 1.3 g/L (NH4)2SO4, 4.5 g/L KH2PO4, and 3 g/L yeast extract) and operational conditions (5 g of bed loading, using an initial substrate to moistening medium of 1:3.6 (w/v)) allowed increasing the predicted maximal xylanase activity up to 2,452.7 U/g dcc. However, different pretreatments of materials, including destarching, autoclaving, microwave, and alkaline treatments, were detrimental. Finally, the process was successfully established in a laboratory-scale horizontal tube biore- actor, achieving the highest xylanase activity (2,926 U/g dcc) at a flow rate of 0.2 L/min. The result showed an overall 5.8-fold increase in xylanase activity after optimization of culture media, operational conditions, and scale-up.We are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the financial support of this work (project CTQ2011-28967), which has partial financial support from the FEDER funds of the European Union; to the Leonardo da Vinci Programme for founding the stay of Felisbela Oliveira in Vigo University; to MAEC-AECID (Spanish Government) for the financial support for Perez-Bibbins, B. and to Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for Perez-Rodriguez's FPU; and to Solla E. and Mendez J. (CACTI-University of Vigo) for their excellent technical assistance in microscopy