ABSTRACT The antibacterial and antbiofilm activities of water extract of Calendula officinalis flowers against some of enteropathogenic bacteria was studied, also phytochemical screening and determination of antioxidant activity of the extract has been investigated. The results showed that the water extract of C. officinalis exhibited a good antibacterial activity against all pathogenic bacterial isolates (Salmonella, Shigella dysenteriae, Shigella flexneri, Shigella sonnei and E. coli) especially at concentration 100 µg/ml in contrast with the control cefotan antibiotic. S. sonnei was more sensitive to extract than other bacteria with highest inhibition zone (23 mm). The preliminary phytochemical tests results indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, glycosides and phenols, while tannins and reducing sugars absence in the extracts. Water extract (at concentration 100 µg/ml) caused 74.6% lipid peroxidation inhibition of linoleic acid emulsion, this activity was greater than other concentrations (25 and 50 µg/ml) and standard α-tocopherol (63%). Also, it was found that aqueous extracts decreased the adherent growth of bacteria on glass tubes. The results indicated that all isolates have the ability to form biofilms with different thickness degrees, the absorbance values were ranged between (1.04 - 1.68), the Salmonella isolate was the best isolate formed biofilm with highest absorbance value (1.68). On the other hand C. officinalis extract inhibited bacterial adhesion on polystyrene surface and consequently caused biofilms detachment and this revealed decreased in absorbance values of biofilms. These reported activities for C.officinalis flowers extract allow their listing as potential antibiofilm, antibacterial and antioxidant natural agents. This might suggest their use as therapeutic agents for treatment enteric infections.
The technology of subsurface soil water retention (SWRT) uses a polyethylene trough that is fixed under the root zone of the plant. It is a modern technology to increase the values of water use efficiency, plant productivity and saving irrigation water by applying as little irrigation water as possible. This study work aims at improving the crop yield and water use efficiency of a cucumber plant with less applied irrigation water by installing membrane trough below the soil surface. The field experiment was conducted in the Hawr Rajab District of Baghdad Governorate in Winter 2018 for testing various trickle irrigation systems. Two agricultural treatment plots were utilized in a greenhouse for the comparison. Plot T1 has used a subsurface t
... Show MoreThe technology of subsurface soil water retention (SWRT) uses a polyethylene trough that is fixed under the root zone of the plant. It is a modern technology to increase the values of water use efficiency, plant productivity and saving irrigation water by applying as little irrigation water as possible. This study work aims at improving the crop yield and water use efficiency of a cucumber plant with less applied irrigation water by installing membrane trough below the soil surface. The field experiment was conducted in the Hawr Rajab District of Baghdad Governorate in Winter 2018 for testing various trickle irrigation systems. Two agricultural treatment plots were utilized in a greenhouse for the compa
... Show MoreClimate and hydrological conditions in any hydrological basin are multi-combined reflection of natural factors of morphology and soil nature, as well as the changing in climate factors that affect directly on hydrological cycle. Water balance techniques are a means of solution of important theoretical and practical hydrological problems, while estimating the physical properties of water-bearing layers is an essential part of groundwater studies. One of the most effective ways of determining these properties is to conduct and analyze aquifer tests. The aim of this research is to compare groundwater recharge in Khan Al-Baghdadi area which located to northwest of Anbar governorate in the west of Iraq, depending on meteorological water balan
... Show MoreA new technique in cultivation by installing membrane sheet below the crop’s root zone was helped to save irrigation water in the root zone, less farm losses, increasing the field water use efficiency and water productivity. In this paper, the membrane sheet was installed below the root zone of zucchini during the summer growing season 2017 in open field. This research was carried out in a private field in Babil governorate at Sadat Al Hindiya Township reached 72 km from Baghdad. Surface trickle irrigation system was used for irrigation process. Two treatment plots were used, treatment plot T1 using membrane sheet and treatment plot T2 without using the membrane sheet. The applied irrigation water, time of
... Show MoreIn this study, a review of variety of processes that are used in the treatment produced water prior to reuse or to responsible disposal are presented with their environmental issues and economical benefits. Samples of produced water from five locations in Rumaila oilfield/in south of Iraq were taken and analyzed for their contents of brine, some heavy metals, total suspended solids and oil and grease. Moreover, two samples of water were treated using reverse osmosis technique which showed its ability to treat such contaminated water. The results showed that the environmental impact of produced water arises from its chemical composition; i.e., its salt content, its heavy metals, and hydrocarbon contents.
In the present study, an attempt has been to develop a new water quality index (WQI) method that depends on the Iraqi specifications for drinking water (IQS 417, 2009) to assess the validity of the Euphrates River for drinking by classifying the quality of the river water at different stations along its entire reach inside the Iraqi lands. The proposed classifications by this method are: Excellent, Good, Acceptable, Poor, and Very poor. Eight water quality parameters have been selected to represent the quality of the river water these are: Ion Hydrogen Concentration (pH), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Chloride (Cl), Sulphate (SO_4), Nitrate (NO_3), and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). The variation of the water quality parameters
... Show MoreHoney is one of the most products has been used as an antimicrobial agent since the ancient times. The potential antimicrobial activity of honey is arise from its physiochemical proprieties such as high osmotic pressure, low pH, in addition to other factors and enzymes that work as antimicrobial agents. All these components and characteristics of honey led to consider it as one of the most efficient, useful and natural antimicrobial agents. From this point of view, recent study aim to evaluate the antibacterial activity of bee honey on some common species of pathogenic bacteria. The study included some of both gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus spp.)
... Show MoreThe research aims to apply the novel forward osmosis (FO) process to recover pure water
from contaminated water. Phenol was used as organic substance in the feed solution, while sodium
chloride salt was used as draw solution. Membranes used in the FO process is the cellulose
triacetate (CTA) and polyamide (thin film composite (TFC)) membrane. Reverse osmosis process
was used to treatment the draw solution, the exterior from the forward osmosis process. In the FO
process the active layer of the membrane faces the feed solution and the porous support layer faces
the draw solution and this will show the effect of dilutive internal concentration polarization and
concentrative external concentration polarization.
In th
Eleven yoghurt samples were collected from local markets in Baghdad to isolate Lactobacillus buchneri. Only 3 isolates of L. buchneri were found and the isolate No. 3 was the most producer of bacteriocin. Bacteriocin was adsorbed 100% onto silicic acid at pH 6.0-7.0. Below or above these pH values, adsorption was decreased, ranging between 35 and 90%. Therefore, pH 6.0 was used for the purification procedure. The purification procedure including silicic acid adsorption/desorption and cation-exchange chromatography (CEC) resulted in a 11.11 fold increase in the final specific activity of pure bacteriocin (1176.47 Au/mg) compared to the culture supernatant which was 32.64 Au/mg. The molecular weight was determined to be about 3.4 kDa. The bac
... Show MoreIntroduction and Aim: Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides that have bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic activity against other bacteria. The aim of this study was to assess the antibacterial efficiency of Klebocin a K. pneumoniae bacteriocin, against biofilm formation by clinical isolates of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA. Materials and Methods: S. aureus isolated from clinical samples was identified according to vitek 2 system Antibiotic susceptibility test was performed according to disc diffusion method. Vitek 2 compact system was also used to detect MRSA strains. Agar well diffusion method was used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of klebocin from K. pneumoniae towards 11 strains of S. aureus by
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