Small cylinders were filled to a depth of 20 cm with Ludas sand to which different organic wastes, viz. sewage sludge, press mud, green manure and farmyard manure had been added up to a maximal rate equivalent to 827, 1043, 1370 and 542 t/ha. The cylinders were set in the ground and kept moist. At the end of 308 days' equilibration period, the samples were used for measuring soil water retention, saturated hydraulic conductivity as well as the horizontal infiltration with 0.01 M CaCl2 and alcohol. An apparent advancing contact angle was calculated from the last two measurements. The incorporation of all the organic wastes caused an appreciable increase in the amount of water retained at a given pressure potential. Increase in available water was caused by the application of sewage sludge and press mud only. Hydraulic conductivity, penetration coefficient and cumulative horizontal infiltration decreased markedly with additions of these materials. The maximum decrease in hydraulic conductivity was in case of press mud (93%), whereas the maximum decrease in penetration coefficient was in case of farmyard manure (81%). The contact angle, which plays an important role in penetration of water into porous materials, increased more in conventional organic manures (green manure and farmyard manure) than in municipal and industrial wastes (sewage sludge and press mud).

No abstract

Bioactive components of fruit and vegetables play an important role in scavenging free radicals and protect the body from degenerative diseases. A kinetic study was conducted to quantify the losses occurring in bioactive components, antioxidant activity and changes in colour and firmness of four commonly used vegetables (beetroot, green pea, eggplant and green pepper) during heat treatment (70-90 °C). The study revealed that logistic model can predict the variation in bioactive components and antioxidant activity with higher R and lower root mean square error (RMSE) as compared to first order model due to logarithmic reduction in these properties in the beginning of the process itself. However zero and first order kinetic models were found suitable to predict the changes occurring in colour and firmness respectively during blanching. , value, activation energy (E), activation enthalpy and entropy were calculated for all measured parameters for selected vegetables in the temperature range of 70-90 °C. These finding would be useful in designing thermal processes and related calculations for these vegetables.

The methanol extracts of the aerial parts of Hypericum mysorense and Hypericum patulum were tested for in vitro cytotoxicity on HEp-2, RD and Vero cell lines and antitumour activity using DLA and HEp-2 cell lines. The cell viability and morphological changes were assessed. Of these extracts, Hypericum patulum (stem) extract showed strong cytotoxicity against all the cell lines used. The CTC50 of the Hypericum patulum (stem) extract was 1.71 microg/mL for HEp-2, 1.53 microg/mL for RD and 2.23 microg/mL for Vero cell lines. The Hypericum patulum (leaves) and Hypericum mysorense (aerial parts) extracts showed moderate cytotoxicity and Hypericum patulum (aerial parts) extract did not show any cytotoxicity up to 1,000 microg/mL concentration. In the clonogenic assay, no colony formation was observed at a concentration of 300 micro g/mL and above for Hypericum mysorense (aerial parts), 400 microg/mL and above for Hypericum patulum (leaves) and 500 microg/mL and above for Hypericum patulum (stem) extracts. In the short term antitumour studies using DLA cells, 50% viability was observed in the concentration range 100-200 microg/mL for Hypericum patulum (leaves and stem) and 200-400 microg/mL for Hypericum mysorense (aerial) extract. In the long term antitumour activity using the HEp-2 cell line, no colony formation was observed over a concentration of 1.6 microg/mL for the Hypericum patulum (stem) extract.

No abstract