The traditional medical methods, especially the use of medicinal plants still play a major role in the developing countries. The history of the use of herbal medicine may be as old as the history of mankind. Many of the herbs and spices used by humans as food which yields useful medicinal compounds. Annona muricata L. leaves are traditionally used to treat diabetes. People have been consuming raw leaves of Annona muricata L. to control blood glucose levels. The acetone, methanol, hot water and successive water leaf extracts of Annona muricata L. were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening of various plant constituents. The antioxidant potential of the Annona muricata L. leaves was established by total flavonoid content, FRAP assay, ABTS assay, Metal chelating activity, Phosphomolybdenum assay, Assay of superoxide radical scavenging activity, Free radical scavenging activity on DPPH along with the determination of total phenolic and tannin contents in the Annona muricata L. leaves extracts. This study aim is to evaluate bioactive constituents and invitro antioxidant activity of acetone, methanol, hot water and successive water extracts of Annona muricata L. leaf. Preliminary analysis revealed that all the four extracts responded positively for alkaloid, flavonoid, carbohydrate, glycosides, saponins, tannin, phytosterol and phenolics. The present study explored that Annona muricata L. shows efficient antioxidant activity and could act as safe and cost-effective with potential biological applications.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) biodegradation potential of the five basidiomycetes' fungal monocultures and their cocultures was compared with that of a Pseudomonas isolate recovered from oil-spilled soil. As utilization of hydrocarbons by the microorganisms is associated with biosurfactant production, the level of biosurfactant production and its composition by the selected microorganisms was also investigated. The Pseudomonas isolate showed higher ability to degrade three of the five PAHs but the isolate did not produce biosurfactant higher than C. versicolor and P. ostreatus. Among the PAHs, the most effective biodegradation of PAH--pyrene (42%)--was obtained with the fungus C. versicolor. Cocultures involving the fungi and Pseudomonas could not significantly degrade the selected PAHs compounds above that degraded by the most efficient monoculture. A slight increase in pyrene degradation was observed in cocultures of C. versicolor and F. palustris (93.7% pyrene). The crude biosurfactant was biochemically characterized as a multicomponent surfactant consisting of protein and polysaccharides. The PAH biodegradation potential of the basidiomycetes fungi positively correlated with their potential to express ligninolytic enzymes such as lignin peroxidase (Lip), manganese peroxidase (Mnp), and laccase. The present study utilized in silico method such as protein-ligand docking using the FRED in Open Eye software as a tool to assess the level of ligninolytic enzymes and PAHs interactions. The in silico analysis using FRED revealed that of the five PAHs, maximum interaction occurred between pyrene and all the three ligninolytic enzymes. The results of the in silico analysis corroborated with our experimental results showing that pyrene was degraded to the maximum extent by species such as C. versicolor and P. ostreatus.

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Background: In recent years, nanotechnology research is emerging as cutting edge technology interdisciplinary with physics, chemistry, biology, material science and medicine. AuNPs and AgNPs are an important class of nanomaterial for a wide range of biomedical applications. Synthesis of AuNPs and AgNPs through biological route is preferred due to its environment-friendly and economic aspects. Mushrooms have been known for their nutritional values and used as medicines by humans for ages. In modern terms, they can be considered as functional foods which can provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients. The present study demonstrates an eco-friendly and low-cost method of biosynthesis of AuNPs and AgNPs using basidiomycetes mushroom fungal strains. Materials and Methods:The antioxidant potential of the basidiomycetes mushroom fungal strains was analysed by total flavonoid content, FRAP assay, ABTS assay, Metal chelating activity, Phosphomolybdenum assay, Assay of superoxide radical scavenging activity, Free radical scavenging activity on DPPH along with the determination of total phenolic and tannin contents in the mushroom mycelial extracts. Results: The synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were confirmed by

Please cite this article as: Pothiraj C., Arun A., Eyini M. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cassava waste for ethanol production. The efficiency of enzymatic and microbial saccharification of cassava waste for ethanol production was investigated and the effective parameters were optimized. The mixture of amylase and amyloglucosidase (AMG) resulted in a significantly higher rate of saccharification (79.6%) than the amylase alone (68.7%). Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) yielded 6.2 g L -1 ethanol representing 64.5% of the theoretical yield. Saccharification and fermentation using pure and cocultures of fungal isolates including Rhizopus stolonifer, Aspergillus terreus, Saccharomyces diastaticus and Zymomonas mobilis revealed that the co-culture system involving S. diastaticus and Z. mobilis was highly suitable for the bio-conversion of cassava waste into ethanol, resulting in 20.4 g L -1 in 36 h (91.3% of the theoretical yield).

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