Publications by authors named "Ponnuchamy M"

Senna ( Vahl.) is an important medicinal plant used in traditional and modern systems medicine to manage constipation. While various treatment strategies exist, there is growing interest in utilizing traditional herbal medicines like Indian Senna as a natural alternative.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this work, the phase inversion approach is used to synthesize a blended mixed matrix membrane from cellulose acetate polymer and sugarcane bagasse biochar. The experiments were carried out to estimate the extent of chlorpyrifos (CPS) pesticide removal. The results showed that the removal rate was more than 99% in making the filtered water suitable enough for domestic use.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxytetracycline Hydrochloride (OTC), a common antibiotic used to treat specific illnesses in humans and animals, is characterized by poor absorption into cells, low volatility, and high hydrophilicity. It is a potent contaminant that poses a serious threat to the ecosystem, particularly the aquatic sources. Adsorption onto natural adsorbents is one of the most successful, economical, and ecologically friendly ways to remove antibiotics from waste water.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rapid and effective methods for the detection of analytes such as water contaminants, food adulterants and biomolecules are essential for the protection of public health and environmental protection. Most of the currently established analytical techniques need sophisticated equipment, centralized testing facilities, costly operations, and trained personnel. Such limitations make them inaccessible to the general populace, particularly in regions with limited resources.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The laxative properties of senna are attributed to the presence of sennosides produced in the plant. The low production level of sennosides in the plant is an important impediment to their growing demand and utilization. Understanding biosynthetic pathways helps to engineer them in terms of enhanced production.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Management of hospital wastewater is a challenging task, particularly during the situations like coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The hospital effluent streams are likely to contain many known and unknown contaminants including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) along with a variety of pollutants arising from pharmaceuticals, life-style chemicals, drugs, radioactive species, and human excreta from the patients. The effluents are a mixed bag of contaminants with some of them capable of infecting through contact.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This review presents critical evaluation of the key parameters that affect the extraction of targeted components, giving due consideration to safety and environmental aspects. The crucial aspects of the extraction technologies along with protocols and process parameters for designing unit operations have been emphasized. The parameters like solvent usage, substrate type, concentration, particle size, temperature, quality and storage of extract as well as stability of extraction have been elaborately discussed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A simple and cost-effective paper-based microfluidic sensor has been developed to detect nitrite contamination in water, particularly near agricultural areas, which poses a risk to human health.
  • The sensor utilizes a punching machine for quick fabrication and a 3D printed platform for simultaneous sample testing, making it accessible without specialized equipment.
  • With smartphone-assisted colorimetric analysis, the sensor demonstrates reliable nitrite detection with a linear response and good reproducibility, showing high accuracy in real water samples compared to traditional spectrophotometry methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The advent of microfluidic systems has led to significant developments in lab-on-a-chip devices integrating several functions onto a single platform. Over the years, these miniature devices have become a promising tool for faster analytical testing, displaying high precision and efficiency. Nonetheless, most microfluidic systems are not commercially available.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Industrial contaminants such as dyes and intermediates are released into water bodies, making the water unfit for human use. At the same time large amounts of food wastes accumulate near the work places, residential complexes etc. polluting the air due to putrefaction.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This work describes the development of a miniaturized paper-based pH detection platform using natural dye extracted from red cabbage (Brassica oleracea). The easily available paper was used as a substrate and the requisite patterned zone was created with the aid of a punching machine. Experimental parameters were optimized to obtain the best signal readout.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is a growing demand for vegetal food having health benefits such as improving the immune system. This is due in particular to the presence of polyphenols present in small amounts in many fruits, vegetables and functional foods. Extracting polyphenols is challenging because extraction techniques should not alter food quality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Food wastage significantly affects public health, the environment, and the economy, driven by a growing population and decreasing natural resources, with losses occurring from harvesting to consumption.
  • The main causes of food waste include moisture content and microbial organisms, which can lead to spoilage, emphasizing the need for effective preservation techniques.
  • Advanced preservation methods, such as electrothermal, freezing, pulse electric field, ultrasound technology, ozone treatment, and nanotechnology, are explored for their ability to reduce pathogens and enhance the quality of perishable items like fruits, vegetables, beverages, and spices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Environmental considerations require disposal of the contaminants in a safe manner without causing any harm. Accordingly, the contaminants should be removed and recovered as value or disposed without any burden to the environment. In this context, natural biodegradable adsorbents could possibly be an answer as they get biodegraded along with the organic contaminants including phenol.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

De novo assembly of reads produced by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies offers a rapid approach to obtain expressed gene sequences for non-model organisms. Senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) is a drought-tolerant annual undershrub of Caesalpiniaceae, a subfamily of Fabaceae.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF