Probiotics isolation from non-dairy sources has currently drawn researchers' attention across the globe. The potential isolate SOR9 isolated from citrus plant leaves during our study has exhibited negative hemolytic activity. It is tolerant to low pH condition, different bile salt concentration and gastric juices including lysozyme, pepsin, and pancreatin. It has also demonstrated a robust auto-aggregating phenotype (71.47%) and a high degree of hydrophobicity (17.39%) as indicated by microbial adherence to methanol and weak biofilm formation. Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the strain SOR9 showed 100% homology to Curtobacterium sp., (100%) (GenBank accession no. ON795170). Through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the strain SOR9 showed 100% homology (concerning antioxidant activity and total phenol content) has indicated that after 4 weeks of storage at 4 o C there is a significant increase in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate antioxidant activity and total phenolic content in fortified juice. After storage of 4 weeks, the probiotic microbial community was also observed to be >6 logs CFU/mL. Our study has distinguished that pomegranate juice fortified with Curtobacterium sp. SOR9 produces an excellent functional beverage besides developing novel and promising probiotic products.

Streptococcus mutans plays a major role in biofilm formation and pathogenic bacterial adhesion. Here we investigated the abilities of our isolates from diverse conventional sources to characterize the beneficial bacteria for inhibition of S. mutans. Enterobacter cloacae PS‐74, a beneficial bacteria isolated from yoghurt, is gram negative, rod shaped, and resistant to acid, bile salt, and amylase. PS‐74 cell‐free supernatants (CFS) demonstrated highest zone of inhibition of 29 ± 1.7 mm. Further, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of CFS PS‐74 was recorded to be 10 μL and its minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) value was found to be 15μL which led to 99.9% log reduction of S. mutans. Moreover, the biofilm formation was reduced by 84.91% at MIC15 of CFS PS‐74 which alleviate the dental caries formation by S. mutans. This is the first report on E. cloacae PS‐74, which was studied for its probiotic properties to inhibit S. mutans MTCC‐890 due to the production of organic acids and employed in oral treatment.

Health and environmental consequences are unavoidable when it comes to management of hospital waste (HW) disposables. In order to eradicate the HW, this study isolated a novel fungus SPF21 from a hospital dumping yard to degrade Polypropylene (PP). We measured the attributes of PP inoculated with fungus using mass loss, Fourier trans‐form infrared (FTIR), contact angle (CA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The weight of PP exposed to SPF21 was reduced by 25% in 90 days. The SEM images reveal that there are pores all over the sample surface; they alsocaused voids during the biodegradation of PP. FTIR analysis indicates that the spectra of treated mask pieces show the absence of peak at 1746 cm−1 and the appearance of a new peak at 1643 cm−1. A period of 90‐day exposure to the fungal isolate SPF21 reduced the CA of PP by 44.8% when compared to the nonexposed PP samples, suggesting that the surface of PP turned more hydrophilic after exposure. Moreover, our study on PP degradation by the fungus Ascotricha sinuosa SPF21 appears to be promising from the perspective of environmental, health, and economic hazards. Our results indicate that biodegradation greatly facilitates fungus deposition and changes PP film morphology and hydrophilicity.

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