Pineapple Leaf Phenols Attenuate DSS-Induced Colitis in Mice and Inhibit Inflammatory Damage by Targeting the NF-κB Pathway

Colitis is not fully curable, although currently, some treatment options are being adopted. In this study, we investigated the effects of pineapple leaf phenols (PLPs), natural phenol products from pineapple leaves, on DSS-induced colitis in mice. The results showed that PLPs dramatically decreased the inflammatory response by inhibiting NF-κB activation and the secretion of pro-inflammatory factors. Moreover, PLPs provided protection against DSS-induced acute colitis by maintaining epithelial integrity. Caffeic and P-coumaric acids had similar effects and could be the active components responsible for PLPs’ effect on colitis. These results indicate that the oral administration of PLPs might be considered as a therapeutic strategy in the treatment of patients with colitis. However, further research on clinical applications and the exact effect of PLPs on colitis is required.

Effect of Alkaline treatment on the characteristics of pineapple leaves fibre and PALF/PP biocomposite

Pineapple leaves fibre (PALF) is one of the natural fibre that has high potential to substitute non-renewable synthetic fibre in thermoplastic products. The PALF were alkali treated with different concentrations of NaOH. Untreated and alkali treated PALF were characterized using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to determine the thermal stability and surface morphology of the fibres respectively. Biocomposites were prepared by reinforced alkali treated and untreated PALF with polypropylene (PP) matrix. Tensile properties and water absorption analysis of PALF/PP biocomposites were studied. Biocomposite with 8 wt.% of alkali treated PALF express excellent thermal stability, with maximum degradation temperature at 270 ℃ which is a 7.17% improvement compared to untreated PALF. This biocomposite also had increased tensile strength (116 MPa) with 43% improvement compared to untreated PALF/PP (66 MPa) biocomposite and had lower water absorption at 6% compared to untreated biocomposite which at 21%. Hence, alkali treated PALF is able to improve the characteristic of PALF and increase the compatibility between fibre and polymer by reducing hemicellulose and lignin components.

Impact of the New Textile Policy and Textile Waste Management System in India and a Move towards Sustainable Management

Textile Industry is a very old and second most growing industry in India . It is also the second largest producer after China. Textile manufacturing process produces humongous amount of chemical toxic and utilizes excess amount of water which can serve a rural village for a year , Textile industry has contributed to climate change and air and water pollution ,today the world is adopting sustainable methods in textile sector to reduce their emission followed by Textile waste , India produces 1 million tonnes of textile waste per years where the household also amounts to good amount of it . Many of brands have to burn their product because of less sell and many because of over production which not only results in lost but also contributes to carbon footprints. Countries have started to utilize alternative textiles like pineapple leaves instead of cotton to reduce soil erosion , followed by man made fabric , use of plastic for making clothes. We need to introduce PPP model to collect waste and adjoin skill development programme and entrepreneurship for better sustainable economical growth and proper management. Keywords: Textile Industry, manufacturing, textile waste, carbon footprints, alternative textile, cotton, water pollution

Optimization of synthesis conditions for carboxymethyl cellulose from pineapple leaf waste using microwave-assisted heating and its application as a food thickener

Pineapple leaf waste, with its high cellulose content, can serve as alternative starting material for the production of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). In this study, synthesis conditions of CMC from pineapple leaves via the use of microwave heating were optimized. Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology were applied to schedule the experiments and to optimize the synthesis condition, respectively. Preparation of CMC was investigated by varying three factors, namely, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration, monochloroacetic acid (MCA) dose, and etherification time. The process of carboxymethylation was optimized to produce CMC with high degree of substitution (DS). Optimal condition for CMC synthesis was noted to be 50% (w/v) NaOH solution, 8 g of MCA/g cellulose, and etherification time of 16 min; such optimal condition resulted in the maximum DS of 0.78. Synthesized CMC was utilized as a thickener for liquid foods (water, orange juice, milk, and mushroom cream soup) where 2% (w/v) as-synthesized CMC increased the viscosity of the foods and changed their characteristics from thin to nectar-like liquids.

Optimization of synthesis conditions for carboxymethyl cellulose from pineapple leaf waste using microwave-assisted heating and its application as a food thickener

Pineapple leaf waste, with its high cellulose content, can serve as alternative starting material for the production of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). In this study, synthesis conditions of CMC from pineapple leaves via the use of microwave heating were optimized. Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology were applied to schedule the experiments and to optimize the synthesis condition, respectively. Preparation of CMC was investigated by varying three factors, namely, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration, monochloroacetic acid (MCA) dose, and etherification time. The process of carboxymethylation was optimized to produce CMC with high degree of substitution (DS). Optimal condition for CMC synthesis was noted to be 50% (w/v) NaOH solution, 8 g of MCA/g cellulose, and etherification time of 16 min; such optimal condition resulted in the maximum DS of 0.78. Synthesized CMC was utilized as a thickener for liquid foods (water, orange juice, milk, and mushroom cream soup) where 2% (w/v) as-synthesized CMC increased the viscosity of the foods and changed their characteristics from thin to nectar-like liquids.

Genomic and Phenotypic Biology of Novel Strains of Dickeya zeae Isolated From Pineapple and Taro in Hawaii: Insights Into Genome Plasticity, Pathogenicity, and Virulence Determinants

Dickeya zeae, a bacterial plant pathogen of the family Pectobacteriaceae, is responsible for a wide range of diseases on potato, maize, rice, banana, pineapple, taro, and ornamentals and significantly reduces crop production. D. zeae causes the soft rot of taro (Colocasia esculenta) and the heart rot of pineapple (Ananas comosus). In this study, we used Pacific Biosciences single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing to sequence two high-quality complete genomes of novel strains of D. zeae: PL65 (size: 4.74997 MB; depth: 701x; GC: 53.6%) and A5410 (size: 4.7792 MB; depth: 558x; GC: 53.5%) isolated from economically important Hawaiian crops, taro, and pineapple, respectively. Additional complete genomes of D. zeae representing three additional hosts (philodendron, rice, and banana) and other species used for a taxonomic comparison were retrieved from the NCBI GenBank genome database. Genomic analyses indicated the truncated type III and IV secretion systems (T3SS and T4SS) in the taro strain, which only harbored one and two genes of T3SS and T4SS, respectively, and showed high heterogeneity in the type VI secretion system (T6SS). Unlike strain EC1, which was isolated from rice and recently reclassified as D. oryzae, neither the genome PL65 nor A5410 harbors the zeamine biosynthesis gene cluster, which plays a key role in virulence of other Dickeya species. The percentages of average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) between the two genomes were 94.47 and 57.00, respectively. In this study, we compared the major virulence factors [plant cell wall-degrading extracellular enzymes and protease (Prt)] produced by D. zeae strains and evaluated the virulence on taro corms and pineapple leaves. Both strains produced Prts, pectate lyases (Pels), and cellulases but no significant quantitative differences were observed (p > 0.05) between the strains. All the strains produced symptoms on taro corms and pineapple leaves, but the strain PL65 produced symptoms more rapidly than others. Our study highlights the genetic constituents of pathogenicity determinants and genomic heterogeneity that will help to understand the virulence mechanisms and aggressiveness of this plant pathogen.

Synthesis of Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Composite Extracted from Pineapple Leaves

In this work, cellulose was extracted from pineapple leaves by basic hydrolysis and surface-modified by silane coupling agent (Si-69) for use as reinforcing agent in polylactic acid (PLA). The pineapple leaves were subjected to alkali and bleaching treatments to remove hemicellulose and lignin. The corresponding FTIR spectra reveals intensity peaks at 1727 cm-1 assigned to C=O stretching in hemicellulose, 1614 cm-1 and 1539 cm-1 from C=C stretching of lignin and 1241 cm-1 attributed to C-O stretching of lignin, all of which decreased following the chemical treatments to confirm the effective removal of hemicellulose and lignin. These results were consistent with fiber composition analysis where hemicellulose and lignin both favorably decreased from approximately 20% to 5.46% and 0.47%, respectively, after chemical treatments. However, cellulose content unfortunately also decreased with bleaching cycles despite improving the cellulose yield. The cellulose was effectively surface-modified by 5 wt% and 10 wt% of Si-69 as confirmed with C-O-Si stretching at 1240 cm-1 from FTIR. As a reinforcing filler to improve PLA performance, cellulose treated by Si-69 were infused into PLA matrix to obtain composite films by solvent casting. As expected, PLA modified with surface-modified cellulose showed the highest value of tensile strength of 21.75 Mpa among the reinforced filler samples and pure PLA, due to a strong adhesion at the interphase of PLA matrix and cellulose.