The preliminary results suggest promising antimicrobial properties of C. mangga and C. aeruginosa, which may be useful for food preservation, pharmaceutical treatment and natural therapies.

This is first report on the isolation of antifungal substances through bioassay-guided assay from A. paniculata. Our finding justifies the use of A. paniculata in folk medicines for the treatment of fungal skin infections.

Problem statement: Chronic disease-causing bacteria of medical importance have developed resistance to antibiotics, hence, necessitating distinct and constant need for safe and efficient therapeutic agents. Plants are considered potent candidate for this aim. A way out of reducing antibiotic resistance and adverse effects on host is the employment of antibiotic resistance inhibitors of plant origin. Approach: About 5 kg pulverized Andrographis paniculata whole plant was macerated with MeOH at room temperature to get 305 g freeze dried MeOH extract. The bioautography of MeOH extract using Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis as indicator organisms revealed the presence of two potent antibacterial compounds. MeOH extract was further fractionated and purified by silica gel column chromatography which led to the isolation of a diterpene lactone and an entlabdane diterpene glycoside upon crystallization with absolute ethanol. Results: Two antibacterial compounds viz., 3-O-β-D-glucosyl-14-deoxyandrographolide and 14-deoxyandrographolide were successfully isolated and characterized. Their structures were exclusively elucidated through spectroscopic methods (UV, IR, ¹H- and ¹³C NMR). Conclusion: A. paniculata possesses antibacterial activity and could be potential source of a new class of antibiotics that might be useful for infectious disease chemotherapy and control

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Cocoa pod (Theobroma cacao L.) hydrolysate was hydrolyzed into glucose using hydrochloric, sulphuric and nitric acids, respectively. The concentration of each acid was set at 0.25 M, 0.50 M, 0.75 M, 1.00 M and 1.25 M. They were treated under two different temperatures and time at 75˚C and 90˚C for 2 h and 4 h, respectively. The results showed that hydrolysis in 1.00 M of hydrochloric acid at 75˚C for 4 h had produced the highest glucose content of 30.7% w/v compared to all others acids treated under similar conditions. The pod's hydolysate was then fermented in batch culture using Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 48 h at 30˚C. A maximum ethanol production of 17.3%v/v was achieved after 26 h of fermentation time.