Field experiments were conducted at Coimbatore, India to study the effect of three levels of drought (severe, moderate and no drought) during the formative phase (60–150 days after planting; DAP) of sugarcane on the tillering, the conversion of shoots to millable canes, cane attributes and the quality of different classes of shoots in four sugarcane cultivars (Co 8021, Co 419, Co 8208 and Co 6304)_the different classes of shoots studied were: mother shoots (which emerged 0–30 DAP), early tillers (30–60 DAP), mid‐season tillers (60–150 DAP) and late tillers (150 DAP). The results indicated that drought during the formative phase reduced the total number of shoots and their conversion to millable canes at harvest. Drought also reduced the cane length, number of inter‐nodes and single cane weight of different classes of shootsand the subsequent total cane yield. Irrespective of drought treatments, Co 8021, a high‐tillering, thick‐stalked cultivar, gave the highest cane yield despiteits higher shoot mortality, while Co 8208, a low‐tillering, thin‐stalked cultivar, gave the lowest cane yield despite its lower shoot mortality. Thus a moderate level of shoot mortality is clearly necessary to obtain higher millable canes and subsequently higher cane yield. Mother shoots and early tillers together contributed most of the total number of millable canes (84.5 %) and of the total cane yield at harvest (86.2 %). The contribution of late tillers to the number of millable canes and cane yield was, however, negligible, especially in cultivars Co 6304 and Co 8208. There was a gradual reduction in stalk attributes such as cane length, number of internodes, single cane weight and commercial cane sugar percentage as the physiological age of shoots decreased. This study emphasizes the need for a cultivar with the optimal characteristics of early tillering (like Co 8021 and Co 6304) and maximum conversion to millable canes (like Co 8208) and provides information relevant to breeders making decisions on crossing programmes to produce improved cultivars for drought conditions.

The ability of the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis to utilize glycerol as the carbon source was investigated. In this work, we report on some physiological parameters that characterize the adaptive response of Spirulina platensis for the utilization of glycerol as the carbon source. A marked decrease was observed in the pigments Chlorophyll a (Chl a) and phycocyanin content of Spirulina platensis grown on glycerol medium when compared to the control. The lipid content in the glycerol-grown groups was comparable with the control, but variations were observed in the fatty acid profile of the total lipid mainly in the level of monoenes and polyenes. There was an increase in the gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) in the Neutral lipid (NL) fraction.

Physico-chemical properties of Eucheuma, such as soluble solids (27.5+/-0.02%), water holding capacity (17.7+/-0.08g/g) and oil holding capacity (2.14+/-0.07g/g) were estimated as measures of its functionality. Eucheuma powder was used as an ingredient in the preparation of fish cutlet. Dried Eucheuma powder was added at levels of 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15% and physicochemical characteristics of fish cutlet were studied. Sensory evaluation showed that use of Eucheuma significantly (P

This study investigated the technical feasibility of using the tobacco stems biomass (TSB), as a low‐cost novel adsorbent for removal of methylene blue (MB) from water. TSB was characterized by pH zero‐point‐charge (pHZPC) and FTIR analysis. Batch adsorption studies were performed to evaluate process variables, kinetics and equilibrium of MB adsorption. Results showed that MB removal was higher at pH values >pHZPC of adsorbent, and for particle size <0.5 mm. The adsorption kinetics followed pseudo‐second order (k2 = 0.008 to 0.001 g mg−1 min−1), with intraparticle diffusion as one of the rate limiting steps. The Langmuir isotherm with maximum capacity of 169.5 mg g−1 was statistically found a best fit model. A single stage batch adsorber was designed and quantity of TSB required for treating 1000‐10,000 L of stained water was determined. The results imply that the TSB with could be a promising alternative adsorbent for remediation of cationic dye bearing wastewater. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 1005–1012, 2017