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Farmers in rural areas of almost all the districts of Bangladesh cultivate different varieties of edible plant karela to satisfy nutritional requirements. Herein, we report on the characteristics of seed oils and nutrients and mineral contents of seeds from three varieties of karela. Most of the physicochemical characteristics were significantly (P < 0.05) affected with the samples tested. Seed oils of all varieties displayed a higher degree of unsaturation and in GLC reported herein, only five fatty acids were identified. The profiles of fatty acid composition were not wholly similar in all varieties in which unsaturated fatty acids represented more than 72%, α-eleostearic acid having been detected in the amount of 50.36-53.22%. Acylglycerol classes were estimated to be monoacylglycerols (1.18-2.01%), diacylglycerols (1.83-2.98%), and triacylglycerols (91.11-93.03%) whereas lipid classes included neutral lipids (86.83-91.09%), glycolipids (4.37-7.43%), and phospholipids (3.22-4.62%). Of the major energy producing nutrients, all varieties contained large amounts of lipid (33.93-36.21%) and protein (18.23-21.36%), and potentially useful amounts of calcium (383.45-440.96 µg/g), iron (41.10-45.03 µg/g), and other essential minerals. The nutrient information presented in this report should stimulate the local public health authorities in Bangladesh to consider the question of recommending the vegetable karela to be consumed by adults and children alike in Bangladesh, including pregnant women and others with higher than normal nutritional requirements.

Lignocellulosic biomass is widely grown in many agricultural-based countries. These are typically incinerated or discarded in open spaces, which further may cause severe health and environmental problems. Hence, the proper utilization and conversion of different parts of lignocellulosic biomasses (e.g., corn wastes derived leave, cob, stalk, and husk) into value-added materials could be a promising way of protecting both health and environments. In addition, they have high-potential for myriads applications (e.g., pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles, and so on). In this context, herein, we isolated holocellulose (a mixture of alpha α, beta β, and gamma γ cellulose) from corn waste, and then it was converted into carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Subsequently, the prepared CMC was evaluated successfully to be used as a pharmaceutical excipient. Different characterization tools were employed for structural, morphological, and thermal properties of the extracted holocellulose and synthesized CMC. Results showed that the highest yield of CMC was obtained 187.5% along with the highest degree of substitution (DS i.e., 1.83) in a single stage (i.e., size reduction technique) with the lowest particle size of holocellulose (100 µm). This happened due to the use of a single stage instead of multiple stages. Finally, extracted CMC was successfully used as a pharmaceutical excipient with promising results compared to commercially available pharmaceutical-grade CMC.

ABSTRACT. Studies on the physico-chemical characteristics of seed oils of Mesua ferrea collected from different districts of Bangladesh revealed specific gravity (0.9287-09312), refractive index (1.4690-1.4739), solidification point [-4.0-(-4 .031) and polenske number (0.7891-0.8401). Glyceride classes were estimated to be monoglycerides (1.05-1.35 %), diglycerides (2.12-2.32 %) and triglycerides (87.65-89.50 %) whereas total lipid extracts were fractionated into neutral lipid (89.83-92.18 %), glycolipid (3.65-4.15 %) and phospholipid (1.98-2.68 %). Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids present in the oils were separated and amounted to be (27.40-29.11 %) and (65.85-68.31 %), respectively, depending upon the areas from where the seeds were collected. GLC analysis of the oil indicated the presence of palmitic acid (10.87%), linoleic acid (13.68%), oleic acid (55.93%) and stearic acid (14.19%) as major fatty acids in the oil. In addition, myristic acid (2.13%) and arachidic acid (2.921%) were also present in minor amount. In biochemical analysis, Mesua ferrea seeds contained total lipid (66.91-70.23 g %), moisture (4.02-5.05 g %), ash (1.46-1.50 g %), total protein (6.99-7.19 g %), water soluble protein (2.98-3.11 g %), starch (5.51-5.85 g %), crude fiber (1.22-1.98 g %), carbohydrate (15.88-18.68 g %) and energy value (700.55-724.15 kcal/100 g), while its leaves contained total lipid (2.32-2.44 g %), moisture (65.12-72.19 g %), ash (2.60-2.71 g %), total protein (4.23-4.85 g %), water soluble protein (1.47-2.01 g %), starch (3.06-3.27 g %), crude fiber (3.12-3.29 g %), carbohydrate (14.82-22.30 g %) and energy value (100.24-128.40 kcal/100 g ). The present investigations demonstrate that the results vary to some extent but not significantly enough with the locations from where samples were collected.