Anti-hyperglycemic activity of an aqueous extract from flower buds of Cleistocalyx operculatus (Roxb.) Merr and Perry.
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A screening of 5 plants used for making drinks in Vietnam revealed a Cleistocalyx operculatus (Roxb.) Merr and Perry flower bud extract to have the highest inhibitory activity against the alpha-glucosidase enzyme. The anti-hyperglycemic effects of an aqueous extract from flower buds of Cleistocalyx operculatus (CO), a commonly used material for drink preparation in Vietnam, were therefore investigated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, the CO extract inhibited the rat-intestinal maltase and sucrase activities, with IC50 values of 0.70 and 0.47 mg/ml, respectively. These values are lower than those for a guava leaf extract (GE; IC50 0.97 and 1.28 mg/ml, respectively). Postprandial blood glucose testing of normal mice and STZ-induced diabetic rats by maltose loading (2 g/kg body weight (bw)) showed that the blood glucose reduction with CO (500 mg/kg bw) was slightly less than that with acarbose (25 mg/kg bw) but was more potent than that with GE (500 mg/kg bw). In an 8-week experiment, the blood glucose level of STZ diabetic rats treated with 500 mg of CO/kg bw/day was markedly decreased in comparison with that of non-treated diabetic rats. Consequently, CO is considered to be a promising material for preventing and treating diabetes. (+info)
Development of karanja oil based offset printing ink in comparison with linseed oil.
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The conventional offset lithographic printing ink is mainly based on linseed oil. But in recent years, due to stiff competition from synthetic substitutes mainly from petroleum products, the crop production shrinks down to an unsustainable level, which increases the price of linseed oil. Though soyabean oil has replaced a major portion of linseed oil, it is also necessary to develop alternate cost effective vegetable oils for printing ink industry. The present study aims to evaluate the performance of karanja oil (Pongamia glabra) as an alternative of linseed oil in the formulation of offset printing ink because karanja oil is easily available in rural India. Physical properties of raw karanja oil are measured and compared with that of alkali refined linseed oil. Rosin modified phenolic resin based varnishes were made with linseed oil as well as with karanja oil and their properties are compared. Sheetfed offset inks of process colour yellow and cyan is chosen to evaluate the effect of karanja oil in ink properties. In conclusion, karanja oil can be accepted as an alternate vegetable oil source with its noticeable effect on print and post print properties with slower drying time on paper. However, the colour and odour of the oil will restrict its usage on offset inks. (+info)
Transesterification of triglycerides by dried biomass of Aspergillus sp.
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Fungus isolate, Aspergillus sp. (RBD01), which was isolated from biocontaminated clarified butter was evaluated for its potential to transesterify used edible and non-edible oils for generation of alkyl esters, when used as biocatalyst as dry biomass. The work aimed at determining the potential of dry biomass of Aspergillus sp. (RBD01) to transesterify used cottonseed oil and non-edible oils viz., jatropha and karanj under various culture conditions. A conversion of oil (cotton seed) to ethyl ester to the extent of 84% was obtained at reaction temperature of 35 degrees C, with 20% biomass and step-wise addition of ethanol at 1:5 molar ratio (oil to ethanol), within total reaction time of 36 h. Under similar conditions, transesterification of Jatropha and Karanj oils resulted in only 75 and 78.2% ethyl ester. Further, with reference to the effect of frying on transesterification, increase in frying time decreased the extent of transesterification from 84% to 30%. (+info)