Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi or Reishi) is known as a bitter mushroom with remarkable health benefits. The active constituents found in mushrooms include polysaccharides, dietary fibers, oligosaccharides, triterpenoids, peptides and proteins, alcohols and phenols, mineral elements (such as zinc, copper, iodine, selenium, and iron), vitamins, and amino acids. The bioactive components found in the G. lucidum mushroom have numerous health properties to treat diseased conditions such as hepatopathy, chronic hepatitis, nephritis, hypertension, hyperlipemia, arthritis, neurasthenia, insomnia, bronchitis, asthma, gastric ulcers, atherosclerosis, leukopenia, diabetes, anorexia, and cancer. In spite of the voluminous literature available, G. lucidum is used mostly as an immune enhancer and a health supplement, not therapeutically. This review discusses the therapeutic potential of G. luidum to attract the scientific community to consider its therapeutic application where it can be worth pursuing.

Parthenium hysterophorus an annual herbaceous weed, is known for its vigorous growth and as a causative agent for contact dermatitis, hay fever and diarrhea in humans and systemic toxicity in livestock. However, in spite of all the problems associated with this weed, it has been reported to have pharmacological activities. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of Parthenium hysterophorus leaf extracts for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles and their antimicrobial properties. Nanoparticles were extracted with the help of aqueous, methanolic and ethanolic solutions of P. hysterophorus leaves. Since a higher yield of nanoparticles was observed when synthesised using aqueous extract therefore these were used in further experiments. Synthesised nanoparticles were characterised using UV-Vis spectroscopy with maximum absorbance peak at 400 nm. SEM and TEM analysis revealed that the particles were spherical and cylindrical in shape with average particle size ranging from 16-45 nm. The chemical group association and elemental composition of nanoparticles was analysed using FTIR and SEM-EDX. Green synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles were evaluated for antimicrobial activities against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Zinc nanoparticles exhibited maximum zone of inhibition against Enterobacter aerogenes (36 mm) while least activity was seen against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis.

The global increase in petroleum prices and the growing concern about the harmful effects of petroleum based plastics has led to a shift from a petroleum based economy to a natural feedstock based economy. One of the major outcomes of this economy shift is the global acceptance of biobased plastics such as Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) as a replacement for traditional plastics. Even though PHAs have been described as useful polymers due to their intrinsic biodegradability and biocompatibility, the high price has limited their application significantly. The raw material cost has been known to contribute significantly to the manufacturing cost of PHA. Production of PHAs using agro-industrial residues offers an alternative use of low-cost feedstock to produce materials with appropriate physicochemical properties to be used in a broad range of applications. Therefore, much research has been carried out using renewable cheap raw materials such as molasses, lignocellulosic wastes, sewage, industrial by-products, whey etc. to replace the expensive commercial medium, which should reduce the overall production cost. This review highlights various microorganisms, substrates and fermentation strategies used for economical production of PHA.

Unrestricted and reckless use of antibiotics has resulted in their accumulation in environment. This, in turn, has led to the emergence of multiple drug-resistant microbes. The present study focuses on degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP) by an edible white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. Effect of CIP was determined on radial growth and biomass of P. ostreatus. Titrimetric and spectrophotometric assays were carried out to assess the degrading potential of P. ostreatus towards CIP. It was found that CIP has a stimulatory effect on growth and enzyme activity of P. ostreatus. Maximum enzyme (glucanase, ligninases, laccase) production was observed at the highest concentration of CIP (500 ppm). Antibiotic degradation of about 68.8, 94.25 and 91.34% was estimated after 14 days of incubation at 500 ppm CIP using Titrimetric, Indigo carmine and Methyl orange assay, respectively. Degradation of CIP was further validated by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and microbiological analysis. HPLC analysis revealed 95.07% degradation while microbiological test also exhibited a decreased antimicrobial activity of degraded products against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study wherein P. ostreatus was used for the degradation of ciprofloxacin.

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