This study aimed to obtain an isolate of a mold that has well characteristic for production of citric acid from raw materials available locally by solid-state fermentation and determination of the optimum conditions for production .Fourteen mold isolates producing acid were obtained from different sources, involved decayed fruits and soils. These isolates were subjected to initial qualitative screening followed by secondary quantitative screening In secondary screening a method combined between the submerged fermentation and solid-state fermentation was followed using a piece of sponge saturated by nutrients required for growth and production of acid. It was found that the isolate of A7 was the highest producer for citric acid than any other isolates including three standard isolates obtained from the Laboratory of Biotechnology/ College of Agriculture. Morphological analysis under the light microscope and cultural characteristics on solid media showed that the isolate A7 belongs to Aspergillus niger. Different raw materials were used for the production of citric acid from this isolate by solid-state fermentation included sunflower waste, wheat bran, rice bran as well as ground corn. It was found that the latter was better than others,therefore it was used for optimization of production conditions of the acid. The optimum conditions were achieved on ground corn moistened with water at a ratio 1:0.75 with an initial pH 3 inoculated with 107 spores/ml during an incubation time of 3 days at 25 C0..The productivity of citric acid under these conditions was 20.8 gm/100 gm of the media. Supporting the media with 1% of yeast extract and adding 3% of methanol to moisten solution was found to increase the productivity to 23.0 g /100 g, while the effect of ethanol was limited. Citric acid produced in this study was detected quantitatively and qualitatively by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and it was found that the amount of citric acid produced after three days of incubation under optimum production conditions was ١٣٫٥٤ gm/ 100 gm of media. This value was less than that estimated by the chemical method using pyridine. It was also noted that, beside citric acid, there was another compound produced in visible quantity. Although this compound was not recognized in this study, it is thought to be any of organic acids of Kreb's cycle and this compound may be interact with citric acid when determined by pyridine. According to results of determination of citric acid by HPLC it can be said that the actual production of citric acid was as mentioned above (13.54 gm/ 100 gm) but not as estimated by the chemical method using pyridine
Several toxigenic cyanobacteria produce the cyanotoxin (microcystin). Being a health and environmental hazard, screening of water sources for the presence of microcystin is increasingly becoming a recommended environmental procedure in many countries of the world. This study was conducted to assess the ability of freshwater cyanobacterial species Westiellopsis prolifica to produce microcystins in Iraqi freshwaters via using molecular and immunological tools. The toxigenicity of W. prolifica was compared via laboratory experiments with other dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria isolated from the Tigris River: Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoc carneum, and Lyngbya sp. signifi
... Show MoreThis research was carried out to determine the impact of heat shock, electric shock and seeds in soaking nitrous acid mutagen solution on three cultivars of faba beans plant (Zaina, Aguadulce and Local) at the year 2012-2013. Factorial experiment was arranged in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates were used. The results showed that heat shock lead to early plants of 50% in flowering and an increase in the number of branches/plant and the number of seeds/pod compared to other treatments, whereas the seeds soaked in nitrous acid mutagen solution gave the highest plant height, leaf area index, number of pods/plant, seed weight, seed yield kg/ha, and did not differ significantly with treatment of electric shock in the
... Show MoreIntroduction: Diabetic foot infections are one of the most severe complications of diabetes. This study was aimed to determine the common bacterial isolates of diabetic foot infections and the in vitro antibiotic susceptibility then treatment.
Methods: A swab was taken from the foot ulcer, and the aerobic bacteria were isolated and identified by cultural, microscopic and biochemical test, then by api-20E system. After that their antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined. Then local and systemic treatment was used to treat the diabetic foot patients.
Results: Bacterial isolates belonging to twelve species were obtained from diabetic foot patients. Gram (-) bacteria were the predominant pathogens in the diabetic foot infection
In Indonesia, cattle feces (CF) and water hyacinth (WH) plants are abundant but have not been widely revealed. The use of microorganisms as decomposers in the fermentation process has not been widely applied, so researchers are interested in studying further. This study was to evaluate the effect of the combination of CF with WH on composting by applying white-rot fungal (WRF) (Ganoderma sp) microorganism as a decomposer. A number of six types of treatment compared to R1(ratio of CF:WH)(25%:75%)+WRF; R2(ratio of CF:WH)(50%:50%)+WRF; R3(ratio of CF:WH)(75%:25%)+WRF; R4(ratio of CF:WH)(25%:75%) without WRF; R5(ratio of CF:WH)(50%:50%) without WRF; R6(ratio of CF:WH)
... Show MoreThere are serious environmental problems in all countries of the world, due to the waste material such as crushed clay bricks (CCB) and in huge quantities resulting from the demolition of buildings. In order to reduce the effects of this problem as well as to preserve natural resources, it is possible to work on recycling (CCB) and to use it in the manufacture of environmentally friendly loaded building units by replacing percentages in coarse aggregate by volume. It can be used as a powder and replacing of percentages in cement by weight and study the effect on the physical and mechanical properties of the concrete and the masonry unit. Evaluation of its performance through workability, dry density, compressive strength, thermal conduct
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