Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Analysis of Some Oil Plants Found in Bihar, India: A Comparative Study

Today’s developmental world needs large amount of energy. Due to the limited fossil fuel source, there is need of some alternate fuel sources among which biodiesel from vegetable oil widely practiced. There is an increasing interest in India to search for suitable low cost alternative fuels that are Eco friendly. Biodiesel is a renewable, biodegradable and non toxic fuel. In this paper an attempt has been made to study and compare the oil percentage and Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) components of three non edible oil seed plants abundantly found in Bihar, India. Oil from the seed kernel was extracted by solvent extraction technique through Soxhlet apparatus using n-hexane as solvent. Percentage oil content for Jetropha, Mahua and Castor are found around 76 %, 41% and 33% respectively. Further extracted oil were analysed by GC-MS for their FAME components. Palmitic, linoleic, oleic are most common fatty acid found among three.

Trace impurities in test stimuli can seriously compromise chemosensory studies

The discovery of olfactory receptors and major technological advances have greatly accelerated our understanding of chemosensory mechanisms. However, some of this rapid progress may be compromised by inadequate knowledge or characterization of the purity of chemical stimuli used to challenge olfactory or other chemoreceptors when mapping their response profiles. Here, we provide strong evidence that the presence of trace impurities in test stimuli can completely obscure true ligand-receptor relationships. DmOR7a, an olfactory receptor of the vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster) has been reported to respond to several long-chain aliphatic ligands such as a putative Drosophila pheromone, the pheromone of the silkworm moth Bombyx mori, and a common fatty acid, linoleic acid. By contrast, we show that DmOR7a responds with high sensitivity to volatile impurities and degradation products present in minute quantities in authentic standards of those compounds, but not to the standards themselves. Responses to impurities can easily go unnoticed due to two main factors. First, the sensitivity of receptors to key ligands may be greater than that of analytical chemistry instruments used to check sample purity. Second, the concentration of highly volatile impurities in an odour puff may be orders of magnitude higher than the main component of a sample, due to the large differences in vapour pressures between the impurities and the main component. Issues concerning impurities are not limited to studies on olfaction that use odour puffs to characterize receptor-ligand interactions, but may affect all studies on chemosensation, from molecular biology and in-silico predictions to behaviour. Purity, which is crucial in receptor-ligand studies, is always implied, but rarely checked rigorously. To avoid misinterpretations, a proper account of all compounds present in test stimuli and an unequivocal confirmation of ligand affinity should accompany chemosensory studies.

Genetic and chemical diversity in seeds of cactus mandacaru (Cereus sp.) from two edaphoclimatic regions contrasting

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the chemical, physiological and genetic differences in seeds of cactus of the Cereus genus (mandacaru) cultivated in the Northeast (Picos, State of Piauí) and Southern (Maringá, State of Paraná) regions of Brazil. Over a period of eight days, temperatures of 25°C and 30°C were equally efficient for the germination of all the seeds. Oleic acid (C18:1) was the most common fatty acid found in the seeds collected in the Southern (41%) and Northeast (45.5%) regions. The analysis of lipases indicated that seeds from Maringá have high mean observed and expected heterozygosities and that seeds from Picos have a higher number of alleles per loci. Therefore, the seeds of mandacaru from the semiarid region of Northeast as well as the seeds from the South (the two contrasting regions of Brazil) are promising with regards to the preservation of the biodiversity in the genome of mandacaru. The low genetic identity between mandacaru seeds from Maringá and Picos at Lipase-5 locus analysis (I = 0.77) suggests that the mandacaru plants from Maringá and Picos may correspond to two species: C. peruvianus and C. jamacaru, respectively.

Medelamine C, A New ω-Hydroxy Alkylamine Derivative from Endophytic Streptomyces sp. YIM 66142

A new alkylamine derivative and a common fatty acid were isolated from Streptomyces sp. YIM 66142. On the basis of spectral data, including HRMS, NMR and 2D NMR, their structures were determined as medelamine C (1) and isomyristic acid (2). The ω-hydroxyl group in structure 1 is rare in a natural alkylamine. The possible biosynthetic pathway in the genus Streptomyces from isomyristic acid (2) to medelamines is proposed. Compound 1 showed no obvious cytotoxicity against HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, SW480 cell lines. The ω-hydroxyl and the acetyl at NH in compound 1 decreased its cytotoxicity in comparison with that of medelamine.

Marivita geojedonensis sp. nov., isolated from seawater

A Gram-negative-staining, non-motile, non-spore-forming, aerobic and rod-shaped bacterial strain, DPG-138T, was isolated from seawater on the southern coast in Korea. Strain DPG-138T grew optimally at 30 °C and in the presence of 2–3 % (w/v) NaCl. A neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain DPG-138T fell within the cluster comprising the type strains of four species of the genus Marivita (sequence similarity values of 97.8–98.2 %). The DNA G+C content was 59.9 mol%. The predominant ubiquinone of strain DPG-138T was Q-10, typical for the genus Marivita . The cellular fatty acid profiles of strain DPG-138T and type strains of four species of the genus Marivita were similar with C18 : 1ω7c as the most common fatty acid. The major polar lipids in strain DPG-138T were phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and one unidentified aminolipid. Differential phenotypic properties and genetic distinctiveness of strain DPG-138T demonstrated that this strain is distinguishable from all four recognized species of the genus Marivita . On the basis of the data presented, strain DPG-138T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Marivita , for which the name Marivita geojedonensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is DPG-138T ( = KCTC 23882T = CCUG 62112T).

Synthesis and Application of α-Chloro Oleic Acid Monoester Floating Collector

Novel floatation collector for phosphate ore, α-chloro oleic acid monoester of tartaric acid, was synthesized by steps of chlorination, acylation, esterification with oleic acid as raw material. The flotation properties for a low-grade collophanite in Hubei were evaluated. Result showed that novel collector had better performance than common fatty acid collector by less dosage. Its further application and promotion is significant for reducing the mineral processing cost of low-grade phosphate rocks.

Extractives in bark of different conifer species growing in Pakistan

The amount and composition of lipophilic and hydrophilic extractives, including proanthocyanidins, has been analysed as a first screening in the bark of six Pakistani coniferous tree species, namely Pinus wallichiana, Pinus roxburghii, Pinus gerardiana, Abies pindrow, Taxus fuana and Cedrus deodara. The predominant lipophilic extractives were common fatty and resin acids, fatty alcohols and sterols. In all bark samples, short-chain fatty acids were more abundant than long-chain fatty acids. Generally, the amount of free fatty acids was also larger than the amount of triglycerides. Oleic acid was the most common fatty acid, except in C. deodara, where lignoceric acid dominated. The largest amounts of fatty acids and fatty alcohols were found in P. wallichiana and P. gerardiana. P. gerardiana contained an exceptionally large amount of resin acids, approximately 3% of the bark weight, compared to the other species. The amount of free sterols was approximately at the same level or larger than the amount of steryl esters in most samples. In addition to proanthocyanidins, different known lignans, stilbenes, ferulates and flavonoids were generally predominant amongst the hydrophilic extractives. Resveratrol glycoside was abundant in P. wallichiana, while C. deodara and P. gerardiana contained large amounts of lignans and lignan derivatives. All bark extracts contained large amounts of proanthocyanidin-related catechin and its derivatives. Furthermore, C. deodara and P. roxburghii contained quite large amounts of taxifolin. In particular, P. wallichiana and A. pindrow are potential rich sources of proanthocyanidins, representing approximately 16% and 5% of the bark weight, respectively.