An agar-liquefying Acinetobacter species capable of utilizing agar as sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from soil samples and the culture conditions were standardized for the maximal production of extracellular agarase. The bacterium was capable of liquefying an agar-plate within 3 days of incubation and produced extracellular agarase within a short period of time (16-18 h) when grown in defined mineral salts medium. Bacterium grew in the pH range 4.0-9.0, optimal at pH 7.0; temperature 25-40°C and optimal at 37°C. The agarase secreted by the Acinetobacter strain was inducible by agar and not repressed by other simple sugars when supplemented along with agar in the medium. The bacterium did not require NaCl for growth or production of agarase. The bacterium did not utilize other polysaccharides like j-carrageenan, alginate, cellulose, and CMC. The activity staining of partially purified agarase preparations after native-PAGE and SDS PAGE revealed the presence of a single zone of clearance corresponding to the molecular weight 100 kDa, suggesting that it is a monomer. Neoagarobiose was the end product of agarose hydrolysis by this enzyme. The agarase was an endo-type glycosidase and belongs to Group-III b-agarase family.

An agar-degrading bacterium capable of utilizing agar as sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from sea water by enrichment culture technique. The bacterium was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the culture conditions were standardized for the maximal production of extracellular agarases. The bacterium grew in the pH range 5.0-11.0, optimal between pH 7.0 and 8.0; temperature between 25°C and 37°C, optimal at 30°C and sodium chloride concentration 0-8% and optimal at 2% respectively. The agarases secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa AG LSL-11 were inducible by agar and not by any other simple sugars tested. Maximal agarase production was observed at pH 8.0, and temperature 30°C. The bacterium had no requirement for NaCl for both growth and production of agarases. The bacterium did not utilize other polysaccharides like j-carrageenan, alginate, cellulose and CMC. The activity staining of partially purified agarase preparation after native-PAGE revealed the presence of three different agarases, agarase LSL-11a, LSL-11b and LSL-11c, whose molecular weights were estimated to be 76, 64 and 46 kDa respectively.

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18Five mung bean cultivars varying in seed coat color were analysed for polyphenol content. The 19 effect of soaking and germination on the polyphenol content and polyphenol oxidase activity was 20 investigated. The level of total polyphenols was found to be in the range of 310-340 mg/100 g in 21 whole seeds. Soaking reduced the total polyphenols whereas, germination for 48 hrs increased 22 total polyphenol content by 41-76%. The HTs, CTs and HTs/CTs index increased with increase 23 Downloaded by [University Library Utrecht] at 16:56 17 September 2013 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2in period of germination. The total and percent CTs content slightly decreased while HTs 1 increased during germination. Maximum polyphenol oxidase activity of 102-108 Units was 2 observed in 24 hrs germinated seeds. There was no significant correlation found between the 3 polyphenolic content and PPO activity in germinating mung bean seeds. These findings 4 demonstrated that the mung beans are fair sources of polyphenols, thus having great potential as 5 a source of natural antioxidants. 6