Browsing by Author "Carvalho, Isabel S."
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- Antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of sulfated polysaccharides from five different edible seaweedsPublication . Arunkumar, K.; Rathinam, Raja; Kumar, V. B. Sameer; Joseph, Ashna; Shilpa, T.; Carvalho, Isabel S.In recent times, there has been a growing interest in the exploration of antioxidants and global trend toward the usage of seaweeds in the food industries. The low molecular weight up to 14 kDa sulfated polysaccharides of seaweeds (Portieria hornemannii, Spyridia hypnoides, Asparagopsis taxiformis, Centroceras clavulatum and Padina pavonica) were evaluated for in vitro antioxidant activities and cytotoxic assay using HeLa cell line and also characterized by FTIR. The high yield (7.74% alga dry wt.) of sulfated polysaccharide was observed in P. hornemannii followed by S. hypnoides (0.69%), C. clavulaum (0.55%) and A. taxiformis (0.17%). In the brown seaweed P. pavonica, the sulfated polysaccharide yield was 2.07%. High amount of sulfate was recorded in the polysaccharide of A. taxiformis followed by C. clavulaum, P. pavonica, S. hypnoides and P. hornemannii as indicative for bioactivity. The FTIR spectroscopic analysis supports the sulfated polysaccharides of S. hypnoides, C. clavulatum and A. taxiformis are similar to agar polymer whereas the spectral characteristics of P. hornemannii have similarities to carrageenan. The higher DPPH activity and reducing power were recorded in the polysaccharide of brown seaweed P. pavonica than the red seaweeds as follows: DPPH activities: S. hypnoides > A. taxiformis > C. clavulatum > P. hornimanii; Reducing power: A. taxiformis > P. hornimanii > S. hypnoides > C. clavulatum. The polysaccharide fractions contain up to 14 kDa from red seaweeds P. hornemannii and S. hypnoides followed by brown seaweed P. pavonica exhibit cytotoxic activity in HeLa cancer cell line (and are similar to structural properties of carrageenan extracted from P. hornemannii). The low molecular weight agar like polymer of S. hypnoides and alginate like brown seaweed P. pavonica showing better in vitro antioxidant activities that are capable of exhibiting cytotoxicity against HeLa cell line can be taken up further in-depth investigation for nutraceutical study.
- Application of an adaptive neuro_fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) in the modeling of rapeseeds' oil extractionPublication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Gharekhani, Mehdi; Ganje, Mohammad; Farzaneh, Farahnaz; Rashidzadeh, Shilan; Carvalho, Isabel S.In the present study, the temperature and moisture content of the output seeds of the cooking pot were considered as inputs or independent variables and the insoluble fine partial content of the extracted oil, moisture content of the extracted oil and obtained meals, as well as the oil content of the achieved meals and acidity value of the extracted oil were considered as responses and were designed. Three different activation functions, including Gaussian membership and triangular as well as trapezoidal were applied and studied. The trapezoidal function with a 3-3 membership function for the three output variables including insoluble fine partials of oil, oil acidity and moisture content of the meals as well as the triangle membership function with 2-2 and 3-3 functions, respectively, for moisture content of the extracted oil and the oil content of the obtained meals were evaluated and detected as optimized models in the current study. The above mentioned models demonstrated higher correlation coefficients (R-2) between the experimental and predicted values and the lowest root mean squared errors, confirming the adaptability of the applied models in the present study. Practical applicationsToday, because of the high demand for crops for extensive application in the human diet, increases in the efficiency of the processing are attracting much more attention. In this regard, discovering and detection of the optimized conditions for processing with the minimum wastes looks very important and economic. Therefore, the uses of predictive methods in different food processes have been considered appropriate tools for improving of the efficiency of the processes as well as the enhancement of the quality of the produced products. In this respect, the ANFIS design as a novel predictive analytic tool, along with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), are applied extensively. Thus regarding the above mentioned content, ANFIS design was applied to predict and optimize some of the selected physico-chemical properties of the extracted oil through the extraction process. Therefore prediction of the optimized conditions of oil extraction could improve the quality of the extracted oil and performance of the extraction process with the minimum wastes during short and logical extraction time.
- Assessment of microbial diversity and enumeration of metal tolerant autochthonous bacteria from tailings of magnesite and bauxite minesPublication . Narayanan, Mathiyazhagan; Devarajan, Natarajan; He, Zhixia; Kandasamy, Sabariswaran; Ashokkumar, Veeramuthu; Rathinam, Raja; Carvalho, Isabel S.The magnesite and bauxite mines are a major source for some minerals and metals. The tailings of these magnesite and bauxite mines contains massive amount of Mn. (3221.2 +/- 6.51 & 7102.8.4 +/- 10.24), Cd (40.95 +/- 2.12 & 892.86 +/- 8.48), Zn (951.08 +/- 4.31 &724.12 +/- 3.18), and Pb (425.8 +/- 5.21 & 812.13 +/- 9.19 mg Kg(-1)) with alkaline and acid pH respectively. In the microbial diversity analysis, the results 8 (Thiobacillus thiooxidans, Leptospirillum ferrooxidans, Acetobacter methanolicus, T. intermedius, Bacillus cereus, Sulfobacillus acidophilus, Methylobacterium sp, and Thiobacillus ferooxidans) and 12 (Serratia marcescens, Metalogenium symbioticum 1, Metallogenium symbioticum 2, Bacillus alcalophilus, Aminobacter sp, Naumaniella neustonica, Staphylococcus aureus 1, Methylbacillus sp, Pandoraea sputorum, Acenetobacter sp, S. aureus 2, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria species were isolated from bauxite and magnesite mine tailings. The fungus such as Rhizopus arrhizus, Mucor sp, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium sp were obtained in both acid and alkaline environment. Among this microbial diversity, P. sputorum and B. cereus (identified through 16S rDNA sequencing) were shown better resistance to these four metals for up to 250 mg L-1. The bacterial diversity indexes, concludes that there was least diverse among the three sites. The evenness/equitability index also conform lower level of variation among these sites. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Current strategies and prospects in algae for remediation and biofuels: an overviewPublication . Kandasamy, Sabariswaran; Narayanan, Mathiyazhagan; He, Zhixia; Liu, Guanglong; Ramakrishnan, Muthusamy; Thangavel, Palaniswamy; Pugazhendhi, Arivalagan; Raja, Rathinam; Carvalho, Isabel S.Phycoremediation is an environmentally sustainable method that utilizes macro and microalgae to remediate polluted land and water. Phycoremediation consists of two elements: the microbial niche around the algae and the second by the algae itself, which absorb and degrade the toxic pollutants into less or non-toxic components. The advanced gene cloning technology on algae could improve gene efficiency and produce the active xenobiotic degrading enzyme. As a result, remedial rates have improved, allowing large areas of contaminated sites to be addressed in the process of large-scale application. Many organizations worldwide are already focusing on this bioremediation element, special attention on algae to replace the costly physical or chemical remediation methods. Thus, this review reported the Scenedesmus sp. algae used in the polluted tannery site, and the maximum removal was observed in Pb: 75-98% and Zn: 65-98%. Scenedesmus obliquus illustrated the significant Fe3+ (100%) removal applied in the polluted soil. Moreover, since nuclear and chloroplast transformations are important in commercial applications, C. reinhardtii remains the most effective transgenic algae applied for pollutant deduction. It was discovered that Chlorella, Chlamydomonas, and Scenedesmus sp. had the highest pollutant removal efficacy in medicine polluted sites. Furthermore, Kirchneriella sp. and Enteromorpha clathrate were observed to have the largest algal oil yield than other algal species.
- Effect of exogenous salicylic acid on growth parameters, gas exchange, and photosynthetic yields in salt-stressed Vicia faba l. plantsPublication . Anaya, F.; Fghire, R.; Lamnai, K.; Loutfi, K.; Wahbi, S.; Carvalho, Isabel S.This study aimed to evaluate the potential effect of salicylic acid (SA) on the photosynthetic performance of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) plants under salt stress conditions. For this purpose, two salinity levels (0 and 120 mM) combined with two concentrations of SA (0 and 0.5 mM) were applied. Results showed that salt stress decreases the growth and gas exchange parameters (P-N, C-i, g(s), and T-r). Chlorophyll fluorescence imaging parameters showed a decrease in the effective photochemical quantum yield of PSII (YPII), photochemical quenching (qP), and electron transport rate (ETR), while the regulated (Y(NPQ) and unregulated dissipation energy Y(NO)) were increased under stress conditions. However, exogenous SA application under salt stress decreases the non-regulated dissipation and improves photosynthetic performance (Y(PSII), ETR, qP, and Y(NPQ)), growth, and gas exchange parameters. Consequently, SA application had a beneficial effect on the faba bean tolerance to salt stress and can be recommended for field application with low concentration.
- Evaluation of proximate composition, antioxidant properties, and phylogenetic analysis of two edible seaweedsPublication . Rathinam, Raja; Hemaiswarya, Shanmugam; Sridhar, Sekaran; Alagarsamy, Arun; Ganesan, Venkatesan; Elumalai, Sanniyasi; Carvalho, Isabel S.The present study was evaluated for the proximate composition (moisture, carbohydrate, protein, and lipid contents) of two seaweedsGracilaria corticata(Rhodophyceaen) andHalimeda opuntia(Chlorophycean). Phylogenetic analysis based on the SSU (small subunit) rRNA ascertained their molecular identification. The results showed that the carbohydrate (5.72 +/- 0.05 g/100 g), protein (42.38 +/- 0.08 g/100 g), and total lipids (10.09 +/- 0.06 g/100 g) are elevated inG. corticatawhen compared toH. opuntia. H. opuntiahad a protein content of 3.51 +/- 0.072 g/100 g and higher moisture content (95 +/- 0.45 g/100 g). The methanolic extracts ofG. corticataandH. opuntiawere used to examine the antioxidants (viz. TPC, TFC, DPPH, and FRAP) and antidiabetic (alpha-glucosidase) properties. The antioxidant results of the methanolic extract ofG.corticataexhibited a higher amount of phenolic compounds (13.37 +/- 0.01 mg GAE/g dry wt.) compared toH. opuntia. But in the case of flavonoids,H.opuntiacontained a slightly higher amount of quercetin equivalent 9.56 +/- 0.26 mg/g dry wt. In FRAP,H.opuntiashowed an elevated level (62.02 mg TE/g dry wt). DPPH scavenging activity in the seaweed extracts were recorded in the following order:H.opuntiaandG.corticata. The amino acid content ofH.opuntiawas 0.097 +/- 0.56 (mg/g) and 0.086 +/- 0.42 (mg/g) was recorded inG.corticata. [GRAPHICS.]
- Identification of Predominant Phytochemical Compounds and Cytotoxic Activity of Wild Olive Leaves (Olea europaea L. ssp sylvestris) Harvested in South PortugalPublication . Makowska-Was, Justyna; Galanty, Agnieszka; Gdula-Argasinska, Joanna; Tyszka-Czochara, Malgorzata; Szewczyk, Agnieszka; Nunes, Ricardo; Carvalho, Isabel S.; Michalik, Marta; Pasko, PawelThis study has been aimed at providing a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of selected phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, oleuropein, fatty acids profile, and volatile oil compounds, present in wild olive leaves harvested in Portugal, as well as at determining their antioxidant and cytotoxic potential against human melanoma HTB-140 and WM793, prostate cancer DU-145 and PC-3, hepatocellular carcinoma Hep G2 cell lines, as well as normal human skin fibroblasts BJ and prostate epithelial cells PNT2. Gallic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic, vanillic acids, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, luteolin 7-O-glucoside, and rutin were identified in olive leaves. The amount of oleuropein was equal to 22.64 g/kg dry weight. (E)-Anethole (32.35%), fenchone (11.89%), and (Z)-3-nonen-1-ol (8%) were found to be the main constituents of the oil volatile fraction, whereas palmitic, oleic, and alpha-linolenic acid were determined to be dominating fatty acids. Olive leaves methanol extract was observed to exerted a significant, selective cytotoxic effect on DU-145 and PC-3 cell lines. Except the essential oil composition, evaluated wild olive leaves, with regard to their quantitative and qualitative composition, do not substantially differ from the leaves of other cultivars grown for industrial purposes and they reveal considerable antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. Thus, the wild species may prove to be suitable for use in traditional medicine as cancer chemoprevention.
- Isolation and characterization of two novel plasmids pCYM01 and pCYM02 of Cylindrospermum stagnalePublication . Ganesan, Venkatesan; Raja, Rathinam; Hemaiswarya, Shanmugam; Carvalho, Isabel S.; Anand, NarayanaswamyCyanobacteria play a vital role in supplying nitrogen into the soil and aquatic ecosystem. It has an extra chromosomal DNA, whose role is not yet defined well. Isolation and characterization of extra chromosomal DNA in cyanobacteria might help to understand its survival mechanism. Cylindrospermum stagnale isolated (and deposited in NRMCF 3001) from soil showed presence of four plasmids namely pCYLM01, pCYLM02, pCYLM03, and pCYLM04. The following plasmids pCYLM01 and pCYLM02 were subjected to restriction digestion using HindIII restriction enzyme and cloned into pBlueScriptSK(-) vector. The sequence of pCYLM01 contained 4 potential open reading frames (ORFs) that have amino acids in the range of 59-299. Among them, ORF1 shows high sequence homology to the bacterial replication initiator family protein as evident from BLASTP analysis. The analysis of 4359 bp plasmid pCYLM02 sequence revealed 7 ORFs which are longer than 50 amino acids in length. The ORF2 of pCYLM02 has 243 amino acids and is represented in the plasmid sequence from 3045 to 3776 bp. The ORF3 of pCYLM02 corresponds to the plasmid sequence from 2323 to 2976 and codes for a putative protein of 217 amino acids long. A number of small ORFs below 50 bp were also found in the sequence analysis.
- Modelling of microwave assisted extraction (MAE) of Anthocyanins (TMA)Publication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Carvalho, Isabel S.Box Behnken design was applied to study the effects of the selected independent variables on the responses. The obtained results presented that the quadratic modes of all independent variables on total monomeric anthocyanin parameter as well as the quadratic modes of microwave irradiation time and solvent/sample proportion on total antioxidant activity parameter have negative and significant effects. Moreover the interactive effect between microwave power and solvent/sample proportion was detected negatively significant (P < 0.05) on total antioxidant activity parameter. The maximum value for total monomeric anthocyanins (273.284 (mg L-1)) was obtained when solvent/sample proportion and microwave power were 30.321 (mL g(-1)) and 464.876 W respectively, with 114.28 s microwave irradiation time. Considerable desirability value (0.878) was obtained at this point. Meanwhile, the optimised status (maximum value) for total antioxidant activity parameter (369.734 (mg (AAE) g(-1) (dw))) was recorded at the following conditions: 34.807 (mL g(-1)) for solvent/sample proportion, with microwave power of 300 W within 107.339 s microwave irradiation time. Desirability value was obtained 0.952 at the optimum point. Obtaining the higher correlation coefficient (R-2) between the experimental and predicted values of the responses confirmed once again the validity (reliability) of the predicted model and fitness of the selected design in the current study.
- Modelling of the Selected Physical Properties of the Fava Bean with Various Moisture Contents UsingFuzzy Logic DesignPublication . Farzaneh, Vahid; Ghodsvali, Alireza; Bakhshabadi, Hamid; Ganje, Mohammad; Dolatabadi, Zahra; Carvalho, Isabel S.The current paper indicates the systematic determination of the optimal conditions for the selected physical properties of the fava bean. The effects of varying moisture content of the Barkat fava bean grown in Golestan, Iran, in the range of 9.3-31.3% (Input) on the 15 selected physical properties of the crop, including geometric values as such length; width; thickness; arithmetic and geometric mean diameter; sphericity index surface and the area of the image; gravity and frictional parameters like the weight of 1000 seeds; true density; bulk density; volume and porosity as well as friction (filling and vacating angle stability) as the outputs were predicted. Afterwards, a model relying on fuzzy logic for the prediction of the 15 outputs had been presented. To build the model, training and testing using experimental results from the Barkat fava bean were conducted. The data used as the input of the fuzzy logic model are arranged in a format of one input parameter that covers the percentage of the moisture contents of the beans. In relation to the varying moisture content (input), the outcomes (15 physical parameters) were predicted. The correlation coefficients obtained between the experimental and predicted outputs as well as the Mean Standard Deviation indicated the competence of fuzzy logic design in predicting the selected physical properties of fava bean seeds. Practical ApplicationToday, because of the high demand for crops to be used extensively in the human diet, enhancements in the efficiency of the processing are getting more attention. In this way, finding and/or the determination of the optimal conditions for processing with minimum waste looks very substantial. Therefore, the use of prediction methods in food processing is considered to be a tool for improving the efficiency and the quality of the produced products. In this regard, the fuzzy logic design as a novel prediction tool, along with response surface methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), are applied extensively. Therefore Fuzzy Logic Design is optimized to predict the some of the selected physical properties of fava bean, as a function of seed's moisture content. Therefore predicting the behavior of this crop against different moisture contents can improve the quality and performance of the products with the minimum wastes during very short time.(c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc