Extraction of chitosan and its oligomers from shrimp shell waste, their characterization and antimicrobial effect.

Aim: The present study was performed to utilize the shrimp shell waste for chitin and chitosan production, characterization by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) technique and to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of chitosan oligomers produced by depolymerization of chitosan by nitrous acid.

Materials And Methods: Chitosan was extracted from the shrimp shell waste by the chemical method and characterized by FT-IR. Chitooligomers were produced by depolymerising chitosan using nitrous acid, and the chitooligomers were tested for antimicrobial effect against four gut pathogenic organisms, i.

Prebiotic inulin: Useful dietary adjuncts to manipulate the livestock gut microflora.

In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation on the relevance of gastrointestinal microflora in both ruminants and non-ruminants owing to revelation of their role in several physiological functions including digestion, nutrient utilization, pathogen exclusion, gastrointestinal development, immunity system, gut gene expression and quality of animal products. The ban imposed on the use of antibiotics and hormones in feed has compelled animal researchers in finding an alternative which could overcome the issues of conventional feed additives. Though the concept of prebiotic was evolved keeping in mind the gastrointestinal flora of human beings, presently animal researchers are exploring the efficiency of prebiotic (inulin) for modulating the gut ecosystem of both ruminants and non-ruminants.

Application of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) stalks as raw material for xylooligosaccharides production.

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) is a perennial plant widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of many countries. The present studies aimed to produce xylooligosaccharides (XOS) from pigeon pea stalks in order to do value addition. The chemical analysis of stalks revealed 18.

Enzymatic production of xylooligosaccharides from alkali solubilized xylan of natural grass (Sehima nervosum).

In this study, a process for producing XOS from Sehima nervosum grass was developed. The grass contains 28.1% hemicellulose.

A simple and efficient diffusion technique for assay of endo β-1,4-xylanase activity.

Endo-β-1, 4-xylanases is thought to be of great significance for several industries namely paper, pharmaceuticals, food, feed etc. in addition to better utilization of lignocellulosic biomass. The present investigation was aimed to develop an easy, simple and efficient assay technique for endo-β-1, 4-xylanases secreted by the aerobic fungi.