Review Papers

101

Emission of methane from rice fields — a review











N Jain, H Pathak, S Mitra & A Bhatia

Methane (CH₄) with its current concentration of 1.72 ppmV in the atmosphere accounts for 15 per cent of the enhanced greenhouse effect. The atmospheric concentration of CH₄ is increasing 0.3 per cent/y. Lowland rice soil is considered to be one of the major contributors of atmospheric methane. Various soil, climate, and management factors control methanogenesis, the geochemical process that occurs in all anaerobic environments in which organic matter undergoes decomposition, resulting in the formation of CH₄. Methane formed in soil escapes to the atmosphere through vascular transport, ebullition or diffusion. Emission of CH₄ from rice fields can be reduced by: (i) Midseason drainage instead of continuous flooding, (ii) Use of cultivars with low emission potential, (iii) Use of low C:N organic manure, and (iv) Direct establishment of rice crop like dry direct seeded rice.

116

Possible industrial applications of genus Solanum in twenty-first century — a review





Mohd Amir & Shikha Kumar

Various chemical constituents isolated from different species of Solanum include alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, sterols, saponins, and their glycosides. Notable biological activities reported from the various species are anti-oxidant activity of S. tuberosum and S. lyratum, anti-fertility of S. xanthocarpum, anti-ulcerogenic activity of S. nigrum, anti-neoplastic activity of S. nigrum, S. dulcamara, S. capsicastrum, S. trilobatu, S. lyratum and S. indicum, hepatoprotective activity of S. lyratum, S. capsicastrum, S. nigrum, S. indicum, and S. inacum.

125

Morphological, anatomical and chemical characteristics of Leucaena leucocephala and its impact on pulp and paper making properties
















R S Malik, Dharm Dutt, C H Tyagi, A K Jindal & L K Lakharia

Anatomical, morphological, and chemical studies of L. leucocephala show that can sustain an adequate supply of raw materials for the pulp and paper industry. With some drawbacks, like the presence of Ca or Mg oxalates L. leucocephala has porous wood structures, longer fibre than that of other hard woods, high holocellulose and a-cellulose and low lignin content with xylan type hemicellulose. Anatomy, morphology, and proximate chemical analysis of L. leucocephala are directly reflected to good quality and quantity of pulp, shorter cooking cycle and chemical dosing.

134

Effect of drilling fluid waste disposal on Owaza region of the Niger delta: an assessment of nitrate and sulphate ions on base metal leaching






















J Soji Adeyinka, U R Iselema & M K Oghenojoboh

Drilling fluid waste (DFW) disposal and its effect on mineral leaching is assessed to determine the long-term effect of waste drilling fluid disposal in Owaza area of Niger Delta. Both metal ions, nitrate, sulphate and their combined effect are evaluated to determine, both immediate and long-term effect of DFW and predict safe period. Both steady state and the unsteady state show no immediate negative effect but the cumulative effect of the unsteady state (NO₃, SO₄) on alkali metals is observed to pose a serious danger on a long-term basis. The nitrate-sulphate  load ratio was high in February 1999, for the entire study zone (0.14 – 0.46mgL). Nitrate concentration affected cadmium deposition in all the study zones; (0.04 0 0.12mgL), while sulphate concentration affected iron deposition in all the study zone (0.2 – 0.61) leading to cation deposition beyond the WHO regulation for both Fe; (0.1mgL) and cadmium (0.01mgL).

142

Modelling for identification of stiffness parameters of multistorey frame structure from dynamic data




















S Chakraverty

The paper deals with the procedure which systematically modifies and identifies the structural parameters, viz. the column stiffness of multistorey structures by using the prior known estimates of the parameters and the corresponding vibration characteristics. For having the accuracy of the identified parameters, an iteration algorithm with the identification procedure is proposed till the parameters converge. Various examples demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the identification process. The effects of a range of experimental (hypothetical) data on the identified structural parameters for two storeyed frame structures are investigated as an illustration.

149

Peroxyformic acid pulping of palm leaves

























A M A Nada, H Abou-Yousef & S Kamel

Pulping of palm leaves with Milox pulping process involving three stages (peroxyformic, formic, peroxyformic) is investigated. The effect of time, H₂O₂ concentration, and temperature on the pulping process is studied. Also the effect of presence of HCl on the pulping process is studied. Comparison between the pulping rate of soda, soda-AQ kraft and Milox processes is carried out. The chemical and mechanical properties of the produced pulp from different pulping processes are examined. Increase in temperature with low concentration of H₂O₂ and HCl is found to improve the Milox pulping process.

156

Impact of Indian and imported coal on Indian thermal power plants






A Chandra & H Chandra

Energy efficiency and environment analysis is performed for coal based thermal power plants situated in Delhi for Indian and imported coal from Australia and America. In this study, it is found that it is better to use imported coal in Indian thermal power plants, with advantages like, less amount of coal feed, low CO₂ emission, and less amount of particulate generation. The effect of per cent excess air on particulate generated and collection efficiency of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is also analyzed, and it is found that as the particulate generated (before discharge) is less for imported coal, one may use less efficient ESP in thermal power plants.

163

Evaluation of Samaar Morr (Juncus acutus) plant as raw material for paper making













 

Essam S A El-Sayed

The potential use of Samaar morr (Juncus acutus) plant as fibrous material is papermaking is evaluated. The chemical analysis and fibre characteristics of this plant are determined for better understanding of its behaviour in papermaking. Samaar morr stalks are subjected to sulphur-free three-stage (peroxyformic acid, formic acid, peroxyformic acid) Milox process. Some conventional pulping experiments such as, soda, soda-antraquinon (S-AQ), kraft and kraft-AQ pulping in addition to two- and one-stage peroxyformic acid pulping are also carried out for comparison with the three-stage peroxyformic acid pulping method. It is found that the pulping with Milox process produces pulp with good properties compared to the pulp produced from the other methods. The physical and optical properties of different pulps are also examined. The behavior of Milox samara morr pulp towards bleaching with alkaline hydrogen peroxide is investigated in the presence and absence of formic acid. The results show that the final brightness about 81.5 per cent ISO could be achieved after 3 per cent peroxide in two bleaching steps with formic acid treatment between two steps.

172

New reagent for determination of trace levels of nitrite in environmental samples








































M C Somasekhara Reddy

A local industrial product, an intermediate dye, disodium salt 4,4-diaminostilbene-2,2-disulphonic acid is introduced as a new reagent for a selective and sensitive spectrophotometric determination method of trace levels of nitrite in environmental samples like, water and soil. The method is based on the tetraazo coupling reaction of disodium salt of 4,4-diaminostilbene-2,2-disulphonic acid with a coupling agent of 2-naphthol. The stable water soluble pink azo dye formed under aqueous alkaline condition has an adsorption maximum at 520 nm. The reaction is fast. The dye formed is stable for more than 48 h. Beer’s law is obeyed between 0.04-1.6 ppm of nitrite in a final volume of 25 mL. The molar extinction coefficient of the color system is 3.0 ´ 10⁴ L/mole/cm. Sandal sensitivity 1.5335 ´ 10^-3 ppm/cm². The relative standard deviation is 2.1 per cent for 10 determinations at 10 ppm level. The method is applied to the determination of nitrite in water and soil and the results are compared with the results obtained from the standard method.

177

Evaluation of a thermal process for bottled watermelon juice




U Ghosh & H Gangopadhyay

Process time is determined based on heat inactivation of pectin methyl esterase (PME) commonly occurring heat resistant enzyme present in watermelon juice. The thermal inactivation time (TIT) of PME was 1 min at 203°F with a z value of 19. The value is equivalent to 14.2. The process time required to achieve as F value at 203°F was 26 min for bottled watermelon juice.

181

Characterisation of sapindosides in Sapindus mukorosii saponin (reetha saponin) and quantitative determination of sapindoside B





















D Saxena, R Pal, A K Dwivedi & S Singh

High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method as well as high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method combined with ES-MS are developed and validated for fingerprinting (profiling) Sapindus saponin and quantitative determination of Sapindoside B in bulk drug samples of Sapindus saponin and its formulation Consap cream. The separation of saponins using TLC is achieved on precoated silica gel plates using chloroform: methanol: water as mobile phase. Detection of the spots is done at the 630 nm. The identification of saponins is done by LC-MS; using Electro Spray Ionisation [ESI] technique. The HPLC method involves chromatography of the saponins on reverse phase (C-18) column, using acetonitrile-water gradient as mobile phase. The detection is done by UV-visible detector at a wavelength of 215 nm. Calibration graphs are found to be linear over the range 11mg-220 mg in HPTLC and 30 mg/mL-200 mg/mL in HPLC method. The methods developed are being used for the analysis of the bulk drug samples and consap cream samples.

Report

187

Eighth international congress plant
pathology–solving problems in the real world — a report

J K Johri

Book Reviews

193

·         The joyful organization — understanding organizational health, diseases and joy
       Reviewer: Bharvi Dutt

·         Management by consciousness
       Reviewer: Jayanshu B Gandhi

Sci-Tech Update

196

·         Plastic chips boost organic electronics

·         New method of selectivity oxidizing terpenes

·         Superior catalysts for synthesis gas and Fischer-Tropsch reactions

·         Alternative RNA splicing based drug developed

·         IUPAC nomenclature for element of atomic number 110

·         Magneto-mechanical cantilaser developed

·         Sustainable agriculture system