Life Sciences

Medicinal plant and traditional medicine play an important role in health care system of most developing countries. Conservation of threatened species of medicinal plant and their habitat and support for livelihood security through protection of medicinal plant. Traditional health care system is mainly dependent on medicinal plant collected from wild medicinal plant bio-diversity is being depleted due to man made natural calamity.

Water extract of green tea byproducts was examined as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in H2SO4 acid solution using the open circuit potential (Eoc) measurement, the polarization technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The Eoc measurement and polarization studies showed a strong corrosion inhibition of the extract. Eoc and the inhibition efficiency (H) were found to increase with increasing the extract quantity in the acid solution. The corrosion inhibition of the extract affected both anodic and cathodic reactions.

Rice is the staple food in Asia and is the single biggest user of fresh water Amudha et al., 2009). The declining availability of water threatens the traditional way of irrigated rice production and necessitates water use efficiency in rice production. Aerobic rice system is the cultivation of high yielding varieties in unpuddled, unsaturated soil (Bouman, 2001).

Biopesticides are mostly used to control fungal plant diseases because of their ecofriendly nature and their cost effectiveness. The present study focused on antifungal activity of solvent based plant extracts of common medicinal plants Azadirachta indica ,Tinospora cordifolia, Oscimum sanctum, Justicia adhatoda , Catharanthus roseus, Aegle marmelos, Aloe barbadensis, Tithonia diversifolia, Hyptis suaveolens and Pongamia pinnata were observed against soil borne phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum by modified poisoned food technique.

Twenty isolates of Fusarium oxysporum causing wilt of tomato were recorded for its cultural and morphological variations. The Fusarium oxysporum isolates Fs4 , Fs8 , Fs 11 , Fs12 , Fs14 , Fs15 , Fs16 , Fs17 , Fs19 , Fs20 having the radial colony growth between diameter of 86 mm to 90 mm were among the fast growing category whereas isolates Fs1 , Fs3 , Fs10 , Fs13 , Fs18 showed colony growth between 64 mm to 80 mm classified as medium growing and bellow 64 mm growth of isolates were recorded as slow growing.

Kanyakumari District consists of four taluksAgasteeswaram, Kalkulam, Thovalai and Vilavancode. People of this taluk traditionally are co-existing with their native environment and depend on plants and plant products for health and treatment of diseases. Jaundice is the commonest ailments affecting the citizens. An ethnobotanical survey of Plants used by the traditional healers for the treatment of Jaundice was conducted in the Thovalaitaluk. A total of 30 plants belonging to 29 genera and 21 families have been documented for their therapeutic use against jaundice.

The inclusion of Dalits in the Brahminical discourses adopted the strategy of “reformist – liberalism”. Having entered into it, Dalit literature has not merged into it, but has changed it. Through Dalit literature, the Dalit subaltern has now appeared in literature as a speaking subject but this subaltern’s speech is not interpellated by the dominant group’s voice, language, tone, style or tradition. Limbale moves on to compare Dalit literature with that of Black and feminist literatures. Implicit in every work of literature is a serious critique of the society within which it takes birth.

This paper investigated institutional factors influencing vegetable production in six small-scale vegetable projects in Alice town in the Nkonkobe Municipality of Eastern Cape of South Africa. Amidst worsening poverty in the wider society it was the intention to know how vegetable production can contribute to enhancing food security and if it is in a position to do so. Seeking some insights on effectiveness of the agrarian reforms on smallholder farmers in South Africa, the objectives of this study were to identify and explore institutional factors that influence vegetable production.

A study was undertaken by utilizing different levels of Paneer Whey(i.e. 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) for manufacturing of good quality Carrot Halwa. Grated carrot and a mixture of Ghee, Sugar, cardamom, and cashewnut were used as other ingredients. The quality of Halwa was highly influenced by Carrot and their concentration in whey. Whey greatly improved the shelf life of Carrot Halwa. The product was analyzed for organoleptic attributes (colour and appearance, body and texture, flavour and taste) by trained panelist using 9 point hedonic scale.

An investigation was carried out with an attempt to develop Peanut Paneer by partial addition of Peanut milk and skim milk. For control, (T0) Peanut milk was standardized to 6% fat and 9% SNF and treatment (T1) was standardized to a ratio of 50:50 (PM:SM),T2 60:40 (PM:SM) and T3 (70:30) (PM:SM).