Increasing Shelf Life of Eggplant

An edible natural wax coating improves the shelf life of vegetables that may help reduce the use of harmful petroleum based oil and improve its quality during storage and transport, claim scientists at the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi in their recent study.

India produces about 7.5 million metric tons of eggplant. It is generally transported in moist gunny bags during long distance transport but it suffers from reduced shelf life, loss of weight, skin color and glossiness, and its quality. Traders use petroleum based oil to increase its shelf life and make it attractive but this malpractice makes eggplant harmful for human consumption. This calls for safer technology or products to maintain its freshness and quality for a long time.

Coating fruits and vegetables with an edible material that could provide a barrier to moisture, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water would delay ripening and preserve texture and flavor for longer periods. A natural product called carnauba wax that is derived from the Brazilian palm tree (Copernica cerifera), which has been in use to delay ripening of pears, has now been tested for its efficacy in eggplant.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi tested carnauba wax coating in eggplant for improving its weight, firmness, skin color, moisture content, and phenolic content or antioxidant activity during storage. They compared its efficacy with Niprofersh, a commercially available formulation used to enhance the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. They washed the eggplants once with tap water, disinfected with sodium hypochlorite bleach for 5 minutes, washed 3-4 times with distilled water and applied carnauba wax formulation.

The efficacy of carnauba wax was similar to Niprofresh during 2 days and significantly better during longer storage of 4 days. Carnauba wax prevented shrinking and increased moisture retention up to 12 days of storage. It did not prevent degradation of phenolic compounds or antioxidant potential that was attributed to enzyme activity. Scientists claim, “This treatment can ideally be adopted for enhancing storage life of highly perishable vegetables like eggplant to restrict using unhygienic practices by the farmers and traders”.

Using edible carnauba wax for coating eggplant can help enhance shelf life and may reduce the use of petroleum-based oil by farmers and traders. It could also be tested to improve shelf life and quality of other fruits and vegetables during transport and storage.

Reference: Food Science and Technology 74: 420-426.

For Vigyan Prasar- Indian Science News and Features Service

Published Invention Intelligence January-February 2017 Page 46. 

Microdiamonds likely to be present at the Indo-Myanmar Border

A new study suggests that the Nagaland-Manipur area lying in the Indo-Myanmar range could be a potential source of microdiamonds, after scientists found manganilmenite- a manganese titanium mineral ore, for the first time in this area.

Manganilmenite is an indicator of diamonds. The scientists found Manganilmenite (a manganese-containing mineral ore of titanium) in three of the five samples taken for the study. This is the first time that this mineral has been found in India.  Manganilmenite of a similar composition, which is low in Magnesium Oxide, was earlier found in some diamonds from Brazil and Guaniamo, Venezuela. Although the presence of Manganilmenite is accepted to be a potential indicator of diamonds, it isn’t a guarantee.

In a recent report published in the January issue of the journal Current Science, scientists have found Manganilmenite in Pokphur area. This place is near the Nagaland-Manipur border in the Indo-Myanmar ranges of North East India.

Based on the study results, the researchers suggest that this area may be a home to diamonds. “All circumstantial evidences, namely, favorable geological situation, occurrence of low-Magnesium manganilmenite, and highly reducing environment with metallic alloys, suggest that the ophiolitic rocks of Indo-Myanmar ranges could host microdiamonds”, say authors Bibhuranjan Nayak from CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar (earlier- CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur), and Franz Michael Meyer affiliated to Institute for Mineralogy and Economic Geology, Germany and German-Mongolian Institute of Resource Technology, Mongolia.

Microdiamonds have been found in Luobusa (Tibet) and Myitkyina (Myanmar), which also fall in the Indo-Myanmar range, like Pokphur. Since the geologic conditions of formation of rocks in Pokphur are similar to those in Tibet and Myanmar, the possibility of occurrence of microdiamonds in Pokphur cannot be ruled out. This study can lead to a search for microdiamonds in this area in the coming future.

Reference: Current Science 112 (1): 155-160.

For Vigyan Prasar- Indian Science News and Features Service

New method to detect adulterated turmeric

A new method to detect Chromium VI contamination in adulterated turmeric powder has been developed by researchers at the Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, in their recent study.

Chromium VI is toxic to humans and is a potent carcinogen, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Therefore, it is important to confirm that foods are free from Chromium VI contamination before they are consumed.

The scientists collected samples of commercially available turmeric powder from local markets of Raipur. These samples were deliberately contaminated or spiked with adulterants to determine the sensitivity of the newly developed test.

Current methods to detect Chromium VI contamination in foods use large amount of solvents, and show poor reproducibility. The new method is based on cloud point extraction (a process to concentrate Chromium VI by heating the sample with surfactants like TritonX), and combining it with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (that uses heat rays to determine the chemical structure of substances). The method detects Chromium VI in concentrations as low as 5 microgram per milliliter of food samples.

The new method is simple, sensitive, cheaper, and environmental-friendly, as it does not use of toxic solvents. “The method is suitable in terms of environmentally benign, economically low cost, use of very reduced amount of chemicals and trace level determination of Chromium VI in food matrix”, claim scientists.

The method can also be used to detect chromium VI contamination in other complex foods in the future, say scientists.

Reference: Food Chemistry 221: 47-53.

Salidroside to Treat Dengue

A natural compound called salidroside can be used to reduce dengue virus infection, claim scientists from the Defense Research and Development Organization, Delhi in their recent study published in the journal Archives of Virology.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection with symptoms that range from mild flu to fatal hemorrhage and shock syndrome. As per the WHO 2002 report, an estimated 50 million people are infected from dengue annually worldwide. 

Dengue virus or DENV has four known serotypes, DENV 1-4, of which DENV2 may be fatal, if not managed properly. To date, there is no cure or licensed drug available for dengue. Hydrating the patient by fluids, and providing drugs such as acetaminophen relieve the symptoms but do not kill the virus. Hence, scientists are continuously searching for and screening anti-dengue viral compounds, both natural and synthetic.

Scientists at the Defense Research and Development Organization, Delhi have tested Salidroside- a compound initially isolated from the plant Rhodiola rosea commonly known as golden root, for its anti-dengue virus properties. 

Salidroside was found to be non-toxic to two cell lines, human monocyte cell line and green monkey kidney cell line. The researchers found that cultured cell lines and blood cells from healthy volunteers showed lower viral infection when treated with 166μM salidroside for 48 hours. 

The authors provide evidence that salidroside treatment reduces inflammation that could limit the spread and symptoms of viral infection. Salidroside also increased the expression of a pattern recognition receptor RIG-1 that mediates downstream cytokine and interferon signaling that could help elicit an immune response.

The authors claim, “…(their study) showed that salidroside has potent anti-dengue-virus activity”, however, it needs to be validated with patient samples, in animal model and clinical studies to establish its pharmacological relevance. 

Reference: Archives of Virology 161 (12): 3331-3344.

New Anticancer Substance found from a Fungus

A new anticancer substance has been identified from a western Himalayan plant-inhabiting fungus that is as efficient as potent anticancer drugs, claim scientists at the Thapar University, Patiala in their recent study.

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Taxol is called a million dollar anticancer drug because it is used for treating a variety of tumors including breast, ovarian, lung, bladder, prostate, melanoma, esophageal, and recently for Kaposi's sarcoma. It is derived from the plant Taxas baccata that is a slow growing western Himalayan conifer. It is also home to many endophytic fungi that share a mutual relationship with the Taxus tree, in return for shelter, the fungi provide compounds called secondary metabolites that protect the tree from biotic and abiotic stresses. Endophytic fungi are hence, hunted for and used to derive natural substances with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties.

Recently, researchers at the Thapar University, Patiala, Punjab isolated and identified a fungus called Fusarium tricinctum from the bark of Taxus baccata tree and tested its anticancer and antioxidant properties. The crude fungal extract at a concentration of 350ug ml^-1 inhibited the growth of two cancer cell lines namely breast and cervical, as efficiently as paclitaxel that is a known potent anticancer drug. It also inhibited the production of an inflammatory cytokine- TNF-α by blood cells, a phenomenon that is known to increase during cancer. In addition to its anticancer properties, it also scavenged free radicals as efficiently as ascorbic acid when used at concentration of 1mg ml^-1 in culture conditions. Free radical scavenging is important in diseases such as Alzheimers, Diabetes and cancer, where free radicals accelerate the pace of damage. The scientists claim, “… (Their) study results suggest that F. tricinctum has the potential to be used for therapeutic purposes because of its antiproliferative and antioxidant potential”.

Natural compounds for treating cancer are sought after because they are less harmful and toxic than chemically synthesized drugs that cause adverse effects during chemotherapy. More such compounds need to be deciphered and clinically tested to manage and cure cancer.

Reference: Indian J of Microbiology 56 (4): 433-438.

Demonetization Will Force Indians to Go Online

You could now go shopping without credit card or cash and pay by scanning your thumb impression onto a machine, and approving the transaction on your phone. This is the future of demonetization, said Pamela Kumar, Vice President, Cloud Computing Innovation Council of India, Bangalore, in her speech at the Indian Science Congress in Tirupati, held in the first week of January this year.

Digital India initiative of the Government of India aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The vision, however, faces many challenges. The mindset of the common man is not open to accepting new technologies that are both rapid and disruptive to the existing market. Most technologies are last mile solutions that are not designed according to the Indian needs or infrastructure. The problem is exaggerated by the fact that the public, decision makers, and government offices have limited technological knowhow.

“We need a Mangalyaan version of data centers in India, not the NASA version”, said Pamela Kumar, Vice President, CCIC urging the industry and decision makers to set up cost efficient data centers that are suited to Indian needs and are crucial for national digital development.

It will be wonderful to walk out of our homes without a wallet, and a worry that it would be stolen or lost, and that’s impressive!