Murali Gopal

Central Plantation Crops Research Institute | CPCRI · Department of Microbiology

https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1k87r_L4UnpDG3

Introduction Coconut testa, a by-product of the coconut processing industry, is currently underutilised. This study aimed to extract a coconut testa-based food colourant using various organic solvents and physical methods, and to utilise this colourant in food product preparation. Methods Different organic solvents, along with various time and tem...

Coconut inflorescence sap, commonly known as neera, is a phloem sap obtained from adult coconut palms. Traditional methods of tapping coconut spadix result in a fermented, oyster-white colored sap with a significant amount of ethanol. However, the introduction of the Coco-sap chiller allows the extraction of unfermented inflorescence sap suitable f...

Coconut sugar is derived from the concentration of inflorescence sap (also known as neera or Kalparasa®) collected by tapping the unopened coconut spadix. The original sap contains around 15% sucrose, which is concentrated by heating it to 90–95 °C until it forms crystalline or amorphous sugar. The resulting coconut sugar is brown in color and typi...

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), the perennial tree crop, has a productive lifespan of six to seven decades. During its life cycle, soil plays a crucial role in sustaining its productivity, by providing the necessary physico-chemical and biological soil quality attributes for its sustenance. Soil health is the foundation for sustainable coconut product...

The co-evolution of microorganisms with multi cellular mega-organisms and the influence of the microbiome on the health of larger partners is a trending area in current research. The ratio of bacterial cells to human cells is an ongoing study in the field of human health. From 10 : 1, bacteria to human cell ratio, to 1 : 1 is the current informatio...

High potassium (K)-demanding plantation crops are grown in laterite soils of the humid tropics of India; these soils generally contain low to medium K content. Nano-fertilizers offer an excellent alternative to conventional fertilizers as they release nutrients slowly for a longer period, enhancing their use efficiency. In this study, nano-zeolite...

Cocoa pod husks (CPH) generated from cocoa gardens, after separation of beans from cocoa pods, were converted to biochar through pyrolysis. Though biochar itself is a source of many vital nutrients, it has got high capacity for nutrient sorption, much more than natural organic matter, by some estimates even 10 to 100 times. In soils, phosphorus exi...

The study aimed to optimize the process parameters for the production of virgin coconut oil (VCO) by exploring the use of aerobic fermented neera (coconut inflorescence sap) at different concentrations (ranging from 5% to 25%). Fermented neera can be prepared from fresh neera without incurring additional expenses, presenting a potential advantage o...

Virgin coconut oil (VCO) is renowned for its numerous health benefits and widespread culinary applications. Fermentation is one of the simplest cold press methods used for the production of VCO. However, the longer fermentation time affects the scale ability and VCO quality. To enhance its production process and improve overall product quality, thi...

Identification of a specific fungus in coconut suspension culture which mimics the suspension cell clumps

Owing to the demand for the consumption of healthy extrudates, this study explored the infusion of neera (coconut inflorescence sap) honey in rice flour, corn flour and coconut milk residue blend-based extrudates. Neera honey, the concentrated coconut inflorescence sap, has numerous nutrients and a natural source of essential vitamins. Hence, the p...

The soils of Lakshadweep Islands are formed as a result of the fragmentation of coral limestone, that is carbonate-rich, with neutral pH, but poor in plant nutrients. Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) is the main crop cultivated, supporting the life and livelihood of the islanders. No external fertilizer application or major plant protection measure...

A range of plantation crops, viz., coconut palm, areca-nut palm, oil palm, cashew, cocoa, coffee, rubber and spices are cultivated in the tropical coastal agro-ecosystem to meet the needs of food, oil, beverage, industrial raw materials and fiber. Predominantly grown in small and marginal holdings, the sustainability of these crops is confronted wi...

A total of 20 bacteria including seven fluorescent Pseudomonas spp. and 13 Bacillus spp., out of 483 previously isolated bacteria from rhizosphere and roots of healthy and high yielding coconut palms from major coconut growing States in India, were tested for their growth promotion efficacy on West Coast Tall variety coconut seedlings. Firstly, the...

Among the several plantation crops cultivated, residues of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.), particularly cocoa pod husk, is reported to be rich in potassium being a significant sink tissue for this important cation. The cocoa pod husk left as wastes in farm after extraction of the cocoa beans provide enabling micro-environment for pathogenic fungi su...

The phloem sap tapped from unopened inflorescence (spadix) of coconut palm using a novel collecting device, “coco-sap chiller,” has been branded Kalparasa ® (henceforth as Kalparasa in the text) to distinguish its properties not found in sap harvested by traditional methods. To know its hitherto unidentified microbiome profile, we employed high-thr...

Aim: Isolation, screening and characterization of beneficial rhizosphere bacteria associated with healthy (field-resistant) coconut palms in root (wilt) disease endemic hotspot areas of Kerala. Methodology: One hundred and ten rhizobacterial isolates associated with healthy coconut palms of root (wilt) diseased tract of Kerala were isolated and scr...

The study on fermentation kinetics of the coconut inflorescence sap is important to understand its shelf life at different storage conditions and to develop suitable value-added products. The coconut inflorescence sap collected by using an in-house developed coco-sap chiller device is called Kalparasa. The fermentation characteristics of Kalparasa...

As the demand for concrete increases in the construction industry, it puts stress on nature due to the extraction of resources. The coarse aggregate is the component, which occupies around ¾th volume in concrete. The use of recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) is not very common due to the presence of porous old mortar attached around the surface of th...

Coconut inflorescence sap is a phloem sap collected from the unopened coconut spadix. A new ‘coco-sap chiller method’ (CSCM) is developed to collect fresh and unfermented sap devoid of extraneous matter. A study was conducted to identify and compare the nutrients present in the sap collected by CSCM and the sap collected by traditional method (TM)...

Lignin-rich recalcitrant biomass residues of coconut palms viz. (i) mature coconut husk, (ii) tender (immature or green) coconut husk (iii) coconut leaf petiole and (iv) coir-pith were successfully pyrolysed using a simple charring kiln into carbon-rich, black, light weight and porous biochars. High alkalinity and good ash content made them fit for...

Quick recycling of recalcitrant coconut palm biomass residues to biochars via pyrolysis and their use as soil amendment with coconut leaf vermicompost

The process to recycle lignin-rich coconut leaves, produced in abundance from coconut gardens, to vermicompost, using a local isolate of Eudrilus sp. is an important value-addition technology from ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute helping coconut farmers and entrepreneurs to enhance their economic returns. Vermicompost is produced in...

While the race to manage threat of climate change to agriculture is being countered by cutting-edge technological advances, winning it will require returning the ‘carbonobiome’ i.e., organic carbon + microbiome back to the soils. The target of ‘4 per 1000’ increment to soil carbon stocks is seen as the best alternative to curb the CO2 concentration...

A simple method for mass-multiplication of microbial inoculants is reported which can empower small and marginal farmers, or group of farmers, to mass-multiply by themselves plant-beneficial microbial inoculants of bacterial [plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) such as Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp. etc.; free-living nitrogen-fixers like B...

The plant-microbiome symbiotic association will need to be taken advantage of for feeding the burgeoning millions in the face of climatic perturbations and environmental deterioration. Since the plants select their microbiome from the soils on which they grow, soils, therefore, remain the key source of microbiome for sustainable food production. Bu...

Root (wilt) is a very serious disease of coconut in Kerala caused by phytoplasma. Lack of preventive measures for this phytoplasmal disease demands management strategies involving multidisciplinary approaches. Managing the disease using rhizobacteria is one such strategy. Rhizosphere soil bacteria exert their beneficial role on host plants by mecha...

Cultivation of baby corn as a component crop in coconut interspaces yields agro-residues in the form of baby corn stover after harvesting of cobs. The baby corn stover could be successfully converted to quality vermicompost using coconut leaf degrading epigeic earthworm, Eudrilus sp., available at CPCRI, Kasaragod. The baby corn stover vermicompost...

Combining PGPR and biocontrol agents that are compatible with each other is a strategic approach to enhance plant growth and development, control plant diseases and pests. A screening study was carried out to evaluate the compatibility of eight PGPR isolated from the rhizosphere and endorhizosphere of coconut (Pseudomonas putida KnSF208, Bacillus l...

Elite strains of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria were proficiently selected based on the strategic screening approaches.These included in vitrotesting for plant growth promotion attributes, seedling bioassay under controlled and under greenhouse conditions. Atotal of 483 morphologically distinct bacteria [156 rhizosphere fluorescent Pseudomona...

To understand bacterial community dynamics during the vermicomposting of lignin-rich coconut leaves using an indigenous isolate of an epigeic earthworm, Eudrilus sp., we employed amplicon-based pyrosequencing of the V1 to V3 region of the 16S rRNA genes. Total community DNA was isolated from two separate vermicomposting tanks in triplicate at four...

The data contains following tables and figures : Table S1. Performance of the sequence analysis pipeline for the control sequences Table S2. Diversity indices for the vermicompost and earthworm gut bacterial communities based on the entire dataset Table S3. Distribution table for the most abundant OTUs that were only detected in either one or two s...

Single composite file containing the Mothur group information (*.groups) and QIIME mapping information (*.txt)

Highlights • PGPR, Bacillus megaterium from coconut and Pseudomonas putida from cocoa, assessed in vegetable crops • PGPR with vermicompost application increased the yield of chilli and tomato • PGPR with vermicompost improved rhizosphere nutrient, microbial and soil enzyme properties • PGPR isolated from perennial crops were found cross-compatible...

“No plant is an island too…” Plants, though sessile, have developed a unique strategy to counter biotic and abiotic stresses by symbiotically co-evolving with microorganisms and tapping into their genome for this purpose. Soil is the bank of microbial diversity from which a plant selectively sources its microbiome to suit its needs. Besides soil, s...

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), Bacillus megaterium TSB16 isolated from coconut and Pseudomonas putida KDSF23 from cocoa, were tested for cross-compatibility with vegetable crops in combination with coconut leaf vermicompost (CLV). The treatments included CLV @10 t/ha (T1), B. megaterium + CLV @ 6 kg /ha and 10 t/ha, respectively (T2),...

Circular economy aims to re-introduce wastes and energies from a system back into it via inputs in a different form. This model can make the system sustainable. Coconut is a unique plantation crop grown with large inter-space in order to avoid overlapping of its wide canopy and laterally spreading roots. The interspaces can be beneficially farmed w...

In coconut-based cropping/ farming systems, component crops along with main crop, continually add plant residues to the soil which undergo organic recycling and thus, leads to alterations in composition of rhizosphere, thereby, promoting growth and population of beneficial microorganisms. Inclusion of livestock enterprises also creates a favourable...

Pulverization of coconut leaves including its woody petiole base improves the recycling efficiency of vermicomposting unit by 20-25% compared to using chopped coconut leaves minus the woody petiole base. The vermicompost produced by this method has better physico-chemical and microbiological properties which will be suitable for acid soils. The met...

Degree of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) association and its diversity were investigated in the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) cultivated in crop mixed system under rain-fed condition in a highly productive humid tropical zone in Malappuram district of Kerala, India. Forty AM species belonging to ten genera viz. Acaulospora, Claroideoglomus, Dentisc...