Antioxidant and structure-activity relationships of five tetraoxygenated xanthones from Swertia minor (Griscb.) Knobl

Antioxidant activity-guided fractionations of chloroform extract of Swertia minor yielded five known tetraoxygenated xanthones (1-5), of which compound 3 was isolated for the first time from plant sources. Compounds 1-5 were identified with the aid of extensive NMR spectroscopic studies. A relationship between the structural features of 1-5 and their antioxidant activity was also determined. Among these bioactive isolates (1-5), compound 4 exhibited strong scavenging effect in DPPH (IC(50)?=?10.31?μg?mL(-1)), FRAP (8536.32?±?34.1?Mmol Fe (II)?g(-1)) and metal chelating (17.2?±?0.88?mg?EDTA?g(-1)) assays. Compound 5 was potently active in secondary antioxidant assay (i.e. binding to metal ions strongly); however, its primary antioxidant capacity was found to be feeble.     

A simple solvent collection technique for a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction of parabens from aqueous samples using low‐density organic solvent

A simple technique for the collection of an extraction solvent lighter than water after dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection was developed for the determination of four paraben preservatives in aqueous samples. After the extraction procedure, low‐density organic solvent together with some little aqueous phase was separated by using a disposable glass Pasteur pipette. Next, the flow of the aqueous phase was stopped by successive dipping the capillary tip of the pipette into anhydrous Na₂SO₄. The upper organic layer was then removed simply with a microsyringe and injected into the high‐performance liquid chromatography system. Experimental parameters that affect the extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under optimal extraction conditions, the extraction recoveries ranged from 25 to 86%. Good linearity with coefficients with the square of correlation coefficients ranging from 0.9984 to 0.9998 was observed in the concentration range of 0.001–0.5 μg/mL. The relative standard deviations ranged from 4.1 to 9.3% (n = 5) for all compounds. The limits of detection ranged from 0.021 to 0.046 ng/mL. The method was successfully applied for the determination of parabens in tap water and fruit juice samples and good recoveries (61–108%) were achieved for spiked samples.     

Spectrophotometric study of stability constants of cimetidine–Ni(II) complex at different temperatures

Cimetidine, a histamine H₂-receptor, has a structure which enables it to act as a chelating agent. The formation of nickel(II) complex with cimetidine has been studied spectrophotometrically at an absorption maximum of 622 nm at different temperatures. The data show that nickel(II) and cimetidine combine in the molar ratio of 1:2. The stability constants of the complex were calculated to be 1.40–2.4 × 10⁸ by continuous variation method and 1.24–2.4 × 10⁸ by mole ratio method at 25 and 40 °C, respectively. The immediately formed complex shows stability with respect to time and temperature.     

Xylanase Production by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium canescens</Emphasis> on Soya Oil Cake in Solid-State Fermentation

There is an increasing interest for the organic residues from various sectors of agriculture and industries over the past few decades. Their application in the field of fermentation technology has resulted in the production of bulk chemicals and value-added products such as amino acid, enzymes, mushroom, organic acids, single-cell protein, biologically active secondary metabolites, etc. (Ramachandran et al., Bioresource Technology 98:2000–2009, 2007). In this work, the production of extracellular xylanase by the fungus Penicillium canescens was investigated in solid-state fermentation using five agro-industrial substrates (soya oil cake, soya meal, wheat bran, whole wheat bran, and pulp beet). The best substrate was the soya oil cake. In order to optimize the production, the most effective cultivation conditions were investigated in Erlenmeyer flasks and in plastic bags with 5 and 100 g of soya oil cake, respectively. The initial moisture content, initial pH, and temperature of the culture affected the xylanase synthesis. The optimal fermentation medium was composed by soya oil cake crushed to 5 mm supplemented with 3% and 4% (w/w) of casein peptone and Na₂HPO₄.2H₂O. After 7 days of incubation at 30 °C and under 80% of initial moisture, a xylanase production level of 18,895 ± 778 U/g (Erlenmeyer flasks) and 9,300 ± 589 U/g (plastic bags) was reached. The partially purified enzyme recovered by ammonium sulfate fractionation was completely stable at freezing and refrigeration temperatures up to 6 months and reasonably stable at room temperature for more than 3 months.     

Layered zincoarsenate templated by N,N,N′,N′‐tetra­methyl­ethyl­ene‐di­amine mol­ecules

The title compound, N,N,N′,N′‐tetra­methyl­ethyl­enedi­ammon­ium di­aqua­(arsenate)­(hydrogen arsenate)­dizinc(II), (C₆H₁₈N₂)_0.5[Zn₂(AsO₄)(HAsO₄)(H₂O)₂], is a new zincoarsenate obtained by hydro­thermal synthesis. The structure consists of infinite two‐dimensional anionic layers alternating with planes containing centrosymmetric organic diprotonated template N,N,N′,N′‐tetra­methyl­ethyl­enedi­ammonium cations, [H₃N­C₆H₁₂NH₃]²⁺. The latter are interconnected to the framework through hydrogen bonds.     

Mössbauer effect study of Ni1−xCuxMnyFe2−yO4 system

The Mössbauer effect technique has been employed for the study of magnetic properties of spinel series Ni_1?xCu_xMn_yFe_2?yO₄ with 0.0≤x≤1.0, and y=0.6. The substitution of Mn³⁺ and Cu²⁺ ions results in a slight decrease of the hyperfine field at B‐ as well as A‐sites. The area ratio of Fe³⁺ ions at the A‐ and B‐site at 77 K indicates that Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Mn³⁺ ions occupy the octahedral sites in an evidence for complete inverse spinel in this system. The temperature dependence of the hyperfine parameters has been studied for composition with x=0.5 where Nèel point T_N and Debye temperature θ_D are found to be 650 and 679 K, respectively. The temperature dependence of the sublattice magnetization σ(T) obeys a one‐third‐power law in the range 0.5N<0.99.