Water soluble gums also known as hydrocolloids are increasingly finding applications in the pharmaceutical and food industry due to their versatile functional properties. They possess considerable use in food and pharmaceutical industries as emulsifying, thickening and gelling agents. In the present investigation a heteropolysaccharide galactomannan was extracted from Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) seeds by an aqueous method, characterized for its compositional analysis (mannose: galactose ratio), physicochemical and functional properties (solubility), and mechanical properties. The extracted gum was derivatized to form its carboxymethyl derivative and the method of its derivatization was optimized by varying the reaction parameters. The native and derivatized gum was characterized by FTIR, XRD, DSC, NMR, SEM and elemental analysis, etc. The yield of Leucaena leucocephala galactomannan (LLG) was found to be 20% (w/w). The optimized parameters for carboxymethylation reaction (degree of substitution 0.805) were found to be 6.0g NaOH, 10.0g MCA, at 60°C for 4h. The physicochemical and functional characteristics of native and derivatized gum suggest its potential role in food and pharmaceutical industries.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2016.07.046 | DOI Listing |
Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala L.) is a leguminous species often referred to as the "miracle tree," it provides numerous ecosystem services and exhibits robust ecological characteristics. However, the infection caused by phytopathogenic fungi is poorly understood in Subabul.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Environ Manage
January 2025
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi County, Taiwan. Electronic address:
Serpentine soils are characterized by high concentrations of heavy metals (HMs) and limited essential nutrients with remarkable endemic plant diversity, yet the mechanisms enabling plant adaptation to thrive in such harsh environments remain largely unknown. Full-length 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, coupled with physiological and functional assays, was used to explore root-associated bacterial community composition and their metabolic and ecological functions. The results revealed that serpentine plant species exhibited significantly higher metal transfer factor values compared to non-serpentine plant species, particularly evident in Bidens pilosa, Miscanthus floridulus, and Leucaena leucocephala.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFToxicon
December 2024
Department of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, S.P., Brazil; Institute of Environmental, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (ICAQF-UNIFESP), Diadema, S.P., Brazil. Electronic address:
L-Mimosine is the main active component of the plant Leucaena leucocephala. Due to its metal-chelating mechanism, it interacts with various metabolic pathways in living organisms, making it a potential pharmacological target, although it also leads to toxicity. The present study aimed to investigate the transplacental passage of L-mimosine and its effects on embryofetal development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants (Basel)
November 2024
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro No. 8701, Morelia 58190, Michoacán, Mexico.
Wild edible trees (WETs) play an important role in the diet of many rural communities. Therefore, research on their use and management is important to support both food sovereignty and local conservation of biocultural resources. We evaluated the different uses of WETs by the community of Zacualpan, Colima, in western Mexico, through 32 semi-structured interviews registering the species richness, plant parts consumed, and non-food uses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
November 2024
Amity Institute of Environmental Sciences, Amity University, Noida, India.
Maize is one of the important cereal crops grown in rainfed regions of northwestern Himalayas, however, persistent use of chemical fertilizers coupled with poor soil nutrients and water holding capacity due to coarse textured soils poses serious threat to sustaining maize yield and soil health. To address these bottlenecks, a long-term experiment with application of organic manures and mineral fertilizer provides insights to quantify changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), crop yield and rain water use efficiency (RWUE) in rainfed area having low water use efficiency. A twelve years field experiment was conducted under dry sub-humid Inceptisols in northern India to study the potential impacts of organic and mineral fertilization on maize (Zea mays L.
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