Seventeen wine yeasts isolated from fermenting cashew apple juice were screened for ethanol and sugar tolerance. Two species of Saccharomyces comprising of three strains of S. cerevisiae and one S. uvarum showed measurable growth in medium containing 9% (v/v) ethanol. They were equally sugartolerant having good growth in medium containing 25% (w/v) glucose. Two of the strains (S. cerevisiae) were found to posses higher invertase activities than the remaining two. Further search for industrially useful yeasts in tropical fruits is suggested.

The need for a reduction in drug resistance led to the investigation of Argemone Mexicana L. as an agent against Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, Candida stellatoidea and Candida torulopsis, using well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentrations methods. The sensitivity of Bacillus Subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus to the essential oils of both the aerial and root parts were determined. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was resistant to the essential oil from both the aerial and root part of the plant. C. torulopsis, C. stellatoidea and C. albicans were susceptible to the essential oils from the aerial and root part of the plant. The minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging between 3.75mg/ml and 4.0mg/ml were recorded for Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae by the aerial and the root extracts, but P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were not susceptible to the aerial and root extracts. The observed inhibition of selected bacteria and fungi by oils of Physalis angulata makes it a promising antimicrobial agent. This study justifies its uses for treatment of sores, cuts, intestinal and digestive problems and some skin-diseases often reported in folkloric medicine.

No abstract

SummaryThe nutrient analyses of cashew apple juice was carried out and its ability to support the growth of the wine yeast strain NCYC 125 and three other locally isolated ethanol-tolerant yeast strains were investigated. The cashew apple juice contains 7.8% reducing sugars, 4.4% brix, 0.039% total nitrogen 0.455% ash and pH of 3.8. The cashew apple juice was supplemented with yeast extract, urea and KH,PO,. Growth of the four ethanol-tolerant yeast strains in supplemented and unsupplemented cashew apple juice were compared. Each nutrient used for supplementation supported the ethanoltolerant yeast differently. The wine yeast NCYC 125 had its highest biomass concentration of 13.78 g/L in medium supplemented with yeast extract, while strain Y271 had 13.49 g/L in medium supplemented with urea. Other yeast strains Y276 and Y279 had 10.93 g/L and 9.79 g/L respectively in media supplemented with combination of all nutrients used for supplementation. Based on the level of sugar, crude protein, trace metal constituents and its ability to support the growth of the yeasts the use of cashew apple juice as feed-stock for single cell protein (SCP) and for wine production is suggested.

The results of this study demonstrate that the active components of coconut oil had protective effects against the toxic effects induced by TMP-SMX administration, especially in the liver of rats.