An extensive range of pigments including phycobiliproteins are present in algae. C-phycocyanin (C-PC), a phycobiliprotein, is one of the key pigments of Spirulina, a microalgae used in many countries as a dietary supplement. Algal pigments have massive commercial value as natural colorants in nutraceutical, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries, besides their health benefits. At present, increasing awareness of harmful effects of synthetic compounds and inclination of community towards the usage of natural products have led to the exploitation of microalgae as a source of natural pigments/colors. This review describes recent findings about the sources and production of C-PC, with emphasis on specific techniques for extraction and purification, along with potential industrial applications in diagnostics, foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries.

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Cannabis sativa, also known as Cannabis indica or Indian hemp, is an annual herb of the family Cannabinaceae. It has been used by humans throughout recorded history for its food, fiber and medicine. It is a native to Central Asia, and long cultivated in Asia, Europe and China. Plants yielding the drug seem to have been discovered in India, cultivated for medicinal purposes as early as 900 BC. Hindu devotees offered Cannabis to Shiva during religious ceremonies, and the herb continues to have a religious association in India. The medicinal use of Cannabis has very long history. However, the sociopolitical pressure led to decline the medicinal use of Cannabis. But despite its illegality, people have continued to obtain Cannabis in black market for self-medication. Together with coffee and tobacco, Cannabis is the most commonly used psychoactive drug worldwide, and it is the single most popular illegal drug. This review analyzes the diversity, botanical description, consumption and pharmacological studies along with medicinal uses of Cannabis among the human being throughout the world.

This paper assesses that new disposal technique should be adopted for the degradation of polymers and further research is required for the economical production of biodegradable plastics along with their enzymatic degradation.

Our daily life needs depend on plastics, as they are cheap and durable, so they become the most commonly used synthetic chemical products. But from an environmentalist's point of view, a major concern related to these plastics is their non-biodegradable nature. Driven by growing demand to search for sustainable solutions to dispose off generating huge volume of synthetic plastic wastes, shifted the mind of researcher towards the use of biodegradable plastics which can be completely disposed-off by microbial enzymatic degradation. These biodegradable plastics or "bioplastics" are also synthesized by microbes under certain stressed environmental conditions out of which poly(R-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is the most ubiquitous and best known representatives of polyhydroxyalkanoate family. The PHB is most intensively used for the innovative biomedical applications owing to suitable combination of biocompatibility, transport characteristics, and mechanical properties. These challenging aspects of PHB can be used for designing of novel medical devices, in tissue engineering, and for systematic sustained drug delivery. Lots of research reports on PHB degrading enzymes and their producing microorganisms including biochemical aspects are available but in scattered form. So this review highlighted all the relevant information of PHB and PHB-degrading enzymes starting with basic classification, synthesis, mechanism, and applications that are environment friendly and are of public interest.

Microbial proteases that occupy a pivotal position with respect to their commercial applications are most important hydrolytic enzymes and have been studied extensively since the advent of enzymology. Cold-adapted microorganisms are potential source of cold-active proteases and they have been isolated from the cold regions. Although there are many microbial sources available for producing proteases, only few are recognized as commercial producer. Cold-active proteases along with their producing microbes are of commercial value and find multiple applications in various industrial and biotechnological sectors such as additives in detergents, additives in food industries, environmental bioremediations, biotransformation and molecular biology applications. Therefore, cold-active proteases are the enzymes of choice for many biotechnologists, microbiologists, biochemists, environmentalists and biochemical engineers. In the present review, we discuss some novel sources along with recent developments in production and biotechnological applications of cold-active microbial proteases.

Pesticide spraying operation is associated with the increased risk of adverse health effects among sprayers who do not follow safe farm work practices. A study was conducted among pesticide sprayers in North India to evaluate the clinical and subclinical variations in their vital health parameters before and after the pesticide spraying season. Blood cholinesterase levels, pulmonary function test, nerve conduction velocity and self-reported symptoms were studied among 18 eligible and consenting male sprayers. Mean acetylcholinesterase activity was reduced by 55 % in the post-exposure assessment (P<0.001) as compared to pre-exposure levels. Mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s was 20 % lower in the post-exposure assessment as compared to the pre-exposure level (P<0.05). No significant change was observed in the motor and sensory nerve conduction velocity in the median nerve of sprayers before and after the spraying activity. Also, no significant variation was observed with respect to self-reported symptoms except weakness in arms and legs (P<0.05). The significant decline in lung function and acetylcholinesterase level after pesticide exposure reflects the strongly negative effect of exposure to pesticides during spraying activity. More longitudinal studies among pesticide sprayers must be undertaken to further substantiate the cause-effect relationship between pesticide exposure and its subclinical effects. There is a strong necessity to minimise the exposure through the use of personal protective equipment in pesticide sprayers.