Abstract:Pleurotus sajor-caju (Fr.) Singer was cultivated on selected agro wastes viz. cotton stalks, groundnut haulms, soybean straw, pigeon pea stalks and leaves and wheat straw, alone or in combinations. Cotton stalks, pigeon pea stalks and wheat straw alone or in combination were found to be more suitable than groundnut haulms and soybean straw for the cultivation. Organic supplements such as groundnut oilseed cake, gram powder and rice bran not only affected growth parameters but also increased yields. Thus bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass by P. sajor-caju offers a promising way to convert low quality biomass into an improved human food.

The antibacterial activity of acetone, hexane, dichloromethane leaf extract of five Terminalia species (Terminalia alata Heyne ex Roth., Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wt. and Am., Terminalia bellerica (Gaertn.) Roxb., Terminalia catappa L. and Terminalia chebula Retz.) were tested by Agar-well-diffusion method against human pathogens E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. The Rf values and relative activities of separated compounds were tested. Hexane and dichloromethane extracts have shown more antibacterial components than the acetone extract indicating the non-polar character of the antibacterial compounds. The non-polar character of the antibacterial compounds was confirmed from the Rf values. It indicated that the antibacterial activity was not due to tannins. Terminalia catappa found to possess the compounds which are more antibacterial. Terminalia arjuna and T. catappa plants were found most promising for isolating antibacterial compounds.

Cell cultures of Psoralea corylifolia L. were established from the leaf disk derived callus. The effect of different biotic elicitors prepared from the fungal extract (Aspergillus niger and Penicillium notatum), yeast extract and chitosan with different concentrations was studied. The increased synthesis of psoralen in 16-day old cell cultures under 16 h of light and 8 h of dark period was studied. Elicitation of psoralen in A. niger elicitor treated cells was found 9-fold higher over control cells. Treating the cells with P. notatum, yeast extract and chitosan elicitors lead to four to seven-fold higher psoralen accumulation over control cells. The extract of A. niger at 1.0% v/v increased the significant accumulation of psoralen (9850 μg/g DCW) in the cultured cells. Our study clearly shows that all the elicitors had the potential to increase the accumulation of psoralen but the A. niger elicitor at 1.0% v/v induced maximum accumulation.

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Banana is major cash crop of this region generating vast agricultural waste after harvest. The agrowaste including dried leaves and psuedostem after harvest was used as substrate for the release of sugars. Saccharification of banana agro waste by cellulases of Trichoderma lignorum was investigated. The steam treated agro-waste yielded 1.34 mg/ml of reducing sugars after 24 hr. The size of substrate affected saccharification where the smaller size (<120 µ) yield more sugars. Maximum sugars were released at pH 6.0 whereas 40°C was the optimum temperature. Thus, under these conditions the agro waste left behind for natural degradation can be utilized affectively to yield fermentable sugars which can be converted into other substances like alcohol.