Nivedita Sharma

• PhD
• Professor and Head of Department at Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry

Nowadays, traditional food/ethnic foods have vanished from the diet of majority of young people. There is a need to preserve endangered and rarely used fermented food items to maintain the good health of future generations. Therefore, there is a scope for food industry to make an effort to explore nutrient rich sources out of these rarely used food...

The study demonstrates the potential of forestry waste from Himachal Pradesh in biofuel production and biocontrol applications. Various forestry biomass were pretreated, yielding increased lignin and holocellulose content. The pretreated residues were used for nanoparticle synthesis and bioethanol production, with Bacillus strains producing cellula...

Fermentation of reducing sugars to produce bioethanol is one of the pathways to produce biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass. In the present work, enzymatic hydrolysis was performed on pine needle biomass to disrupt and break down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars, as a prerequisite step to produce bioethanol. A mixture of different inhouse...

Lignin, a byproduct of lignocellulosic biomass treatments, enhances bio-refinery economics through nanoparticle synthesis applications. This study used lignin derived from agricultural waste via the organosolv method as a capping agent for zinc oxide nanoparticle (L-ZnO NP) synthesis. Characterized by NMR, UV-Vis, FESEM, and HRTEM, the nanoparticle...

Probiotic enriched functional fruit bar was prepared by using stone fruits (i.e. apricot and plum) of Mid Himalayan belt. Purpose of this study is to determine the survival of potential probiotic isolates in fruit bar and to study physico-chemical and sensorial properties of the product along with nutritional profile as well as microbial safety. Pr...

Probiotic soya ice cream was prepared by using food grade bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei S1(MF443873) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus KC6 (MF443875). Bacteria have been encapsulated in milk and sodium alginate beads to improve their viability in soya ice -cream. Viable cell number of entrapped probiotic isolates was observed with calcium chloride con...

A potential substitute for a sustainable and long-term energy source is bioethanol. Although converting lignocellulose to bioethanol may be more economical, eco-friendly, and effective, it would still require extensive process-development and improvement to make biofuel economically feasible. An essential stage in the production of bioethanol is th...

A potential substitute for a sustainable and long-term energy source is bioethanol. Although converting lignocellulose to bioethanol may be more economical, eco-friendly, and effective, it would still require extensive process-development and improvement to make biofuel economically feasible. An essential stage in the production of bioethanol is th...

The prevalence of Meloidogyneincognita, a severe root-knot nematode, is alarmingly high in the production of ginger—a main cash crop of Himachal Pradesh, a Himalayan state of India. In order to control this through natural means, the nematicidal potential of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) against M.incognita was analyzed. This is an ef...

Bacteriocin producing strain Brevibacillus laterosporus TK3, was isolated from 'Tatwakhar'- a flour prepared from seeds of Indian Horse Chestnut (Aesculus indica). Bacterial strain Brevibacillus laterosporus TK3 identified by morphological, biochemical techniques followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The 16S rRNA sequence of bacteriocin producer wa...

The current need of the food industry is to develop a safe packaging system that maintains the quality of food and prevents its spoilage. Food safety techniques improvised using functional nanoparticles minimize the chances of spoilage by maintaining moisture stability, mechanical strength, and durability and ensuring product safety. In the present...

In the present study, pine needles waste was used as the cost-effective carbon source for hydrolytic enzymes production by a potential fungal strain Trichoderma sp. R4 for the further purification process. The culture filtrate was subsequently partially purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation at 40% saturation level of laccase, 40% CMCase, 60% F...

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have gained a lot of attention with the advent of nanotechnology because of their unique features. The environmentally friendly synthesis of ZnO NPs from lignin would encourage the use of lignin generated as a challenging by-product mainly in paper and biofuel industries. The current study is about the production...

The present work focusses on development of a safe, inexpensive, and more accessible source for biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. Four different in-house probiotic isolates, i.e., Lactobacillus pentosus S6, Lactobacillus plantarum F22, Lactobacillus crustorum F11, and Lactobacillus paraplantarum KM1 isolated from different food sources, were us...

The goal of this study was to use bacteriocin from a probiotic strain of Lactobacillus pentosus S6 (KU92122) to synthesize innovative strong silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to analyze the synthesized nanoparticles, and the maximum absorbance was found to be approximately 450 nm. AgNPs produced were spherical in shape, w...

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) may be synthesized using a variety of processes, each with its own set of drawbacks. Chemical treatments are hazardous and unstable, whereas physical approaches are expensive and inefficient. Researchers have recently discovered a novel technique for manufacturing AgNPs that involves the utilization of plant and microo...

Foliar application of humic acid along with bio-inoculants in 4-years old inarched guava cv. Lalit in meadow orcharding system was carried out. Foliar application of humic acid @ 30 and 60 mL/L at bud burst to flowering stage and bio-inoculants (Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) @ 10 mL/plant + Azotobacter chroococcum @ 10 g/plant, and PGPR @...

Apple tea wine having phytochemical potential of tea and apple, is an option to improve quality characteristics of wine. However, quality of wine is greatly dependent on different initial variables which need to be optimized before preparation of any wine with desirable quality characteristics. Therefore, present study was conducted to investigate...

Bacteriocin mediated biopreservation of plum pulp and ready to serve drink preparation

Nature of anti nutritional factors in food and their remediation

ABSTRACT The present investigation was conducted on guava cv. Lalit spaced at 2 m � 1.5 m in meadow plant-soil interface during two consecutive rainy sea�sons of 2017 and 2018. Foliar application of humic acid was carried out at bud burst stage in two different levels i.e. 30 ml/L (HA30) and 60 ml/L (HA60), bio-inoculants were applied to the rhizos...

In the present study, two hyper hydrolytic enzyme producer mutant strains i.e. B.stratosphericus N12 (M) and B. altitudinis Kd1 (M)have been used for enzyme production which exhibited an appreciable increase i.e. 160.49% in cellulase and 105.80% in xylanase activities over their respective wild strains. The already optimized conditions of OFAT were...

Lactic acid bacteria have recently caught the attention of scientific researchers. These food associated organisms and transient inhabitant of human gut has potential to curb down the growth of spoilage and disease causing microbes due to its ability to produce bacteriocin, lactic acid, acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide etc. Bacteriocins are biologica...

The present work focusses on development of a safe, inexpensive, and more accessible source for biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. Four different in-house probiotic isolates i.e., Lactobacillus pentosus S6, Lactobacillus plantarum F22, Lactobacillus crustorum F11 and Lactobacillus paraplantarum KM1 isolated from different food sources, were used...

Cross-conjugated mesomeric betaine (CCMB) has been defined as the dipolar species in which positive and negative charges are exclusively restricted to different parts of the molecule. In contrast to indolizine which undergoes [8+2] cycloaddition with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD), its 1-aza analogue, namely imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine reacts wi...

Human milk is considered a lifeline for the neonates; which is why breast feeding is highly recommended and promoted all over the world. Colostrum, the very first mother after child birth, is medically proven to be essential for the wellbeing of the new born. Mother's milk has endless protective benefits for babies besides providing basic nutrition...

Xylan is the most abundant and principal type of hemicellulose. It is a linear polymer of β-D xylopyranosyl units linked by (1-4) glycosidic bonds. Xylanases are most predominantly present in plant cell walls and are produced by different kinds of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, protozoans and some yeast. Cellulase-free xylanases are important...

Industrial attention towards cellulase and xylanase hyper production has consistently increased over the years, due to its potential use in several biotechnological applications such as use in clarification of juices, wine industries, poultry diets, animal feed, production of ethanol and application in biofuel. The present study was concerned with...

Lignocellulosic biomass which is rich in cellulose and hemicellulose can be used in submerged fermentation for the production of industrially important enzyme i.e., cellulase. The present work deals with standardization of pretreatments of forestry waste for enhancing the suitability of this abundant waste for cellulase production. Among different...

The present study projects the baseline work for bio-conversion of pine needles to second generation bio-fuel, which deals mainly with screening, molecular identification and optimization of process parameters for cellulase and xylanase production. In total, 89 hydrolytic enzymes producing isolates were isolated from the soils and ten potential enz...

In the present study, probiotic enriched nutritional malt beverage has been prepared from kodo millet grains collected from different districts of Himachal Pradesh, India. Malt beverage was prepared in four sets by adding different combinations of in-house probiotic cultures i.e. Set A with Pediococcus acidilactici L1, Set B with Lactobacillus plan...

Background Microbial origin polysaccharides have gained popularity due to lesser toxicity, better degradability and selectivity as compared to their synthetic counterparts and can be used as emulsifier, stabilizer, thickener, texturizer, flocculating and gelling agent. Here main emphasis on exopolysaccharide production from potential lactic acid ba...

Algae and biofuel

In the present investigation the biopreservative effect of bacteriocin of Brevibacillus laterosporus TK3 was investigated in raw chicken. Bacteriocin producing strain has been isolated from “Tatwakhar”- a flour prepared from seeds of Indian Horse Chestnut (Aesculus indica). Bacteriocin of Brevibacillus laterosporus TK3 showed strong antagonism agai...

Food safety is a growing public health concern of both in the developing, and developed nations. The consumption of chemically preserved foods raises the concern among the consumer for naturally produced antimicrobial agents. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made for the preparation of apricot RTS and apricot plum with bacterioci...

Freshly prepared apple tea wine (a combination of tea extract and apple juice) is having yeasty and dull flavour, which needs to be improved to increase the acceptability of this product. Therefore, an attempt has been made for artificial ageing of apple tea wine using different wood chips to improve its physico-chemical, sensory and antimicrobial...

Biosurfactants have biological origin that are widely known as surface active agents. Different classes of biosurfactant has high importance in both the biotechnological and microbiological arena. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Candida sp. are important classes of microorganisms that are highly investigated for the production of rham...

Lipases are ubiquitous in nature and high demanded industrial catalysts. In the present study, the cultural conditions of extracellular lipase production from a bacterial strain Paenibacillus polymyxa G7 were statistically optimized by using Plackett-Burman design under submerged fermentation conditions. Maximum enzyme activity was noted in a mediu...

In the present study a successful attempt has been made to formulate a variety of functional breads that combine unique taste and nutritional balance. The strategic approach for the production of light and healthy bread by replacing harmful chemical improves with respective optimized doses of lipase of P. polymyxa G7 in order to enhance product qua...

The tandem Cope rearrangement and [2 + 2] cycloaddition of cis-1,2-diethynyl-1,2-dihydroxycyclopropane and its mono-hetero analogues have been investigated at the B3LYP/6-31+G* level. The presence of the hydroxy group lowers the activation enthalpies for the Cope rearrangement, whereas activation enthalpies for the [2 + 2] cycloaddition are raised...

A novel thermoalkalophilic α-amylase producing bacterial strain Bacillus sonorensis GV2 |KJ775811.1| was isolated from mushroom compost. The purification of α-amylase was performed through different chromatography techniques. After purification with SDS-PAGE and Sephadex G-75 gel filtration, the molecular weight of monomeric α-amylase was found to...

The article's abstract is no available.

In the present study, sensorial, microbiological and physicochemical difference of three sets of curd were studied, as well as the changes taking place during storage at 4°C for 7 days. The 1st set of curd was produced with curd starter culture and exopolysaccharide (EPS) producing from lactic acid bacterial strain i.e. Lactobacillus paraplantaru...

A good number of 2-phosphaindolizines, i.e. 1,3-azaphospholo[1,5-a]pyridines could be prepared from two synthetic methods, namely [4 + 1] cyclocondensation and via 1,5-electrocyclization. These compounds incorporate several functionalities, which subsequently react with appropriate reagents to make a wide variety of organophosphorus compounds inclu...

Food waste is simply disposed off in land fillings/incinerators worldwide without making much use of it. However this food waste is rich in many nutrients and by employing suitable technology, it can be converted to value added products like biofuel. This type of food waste management not only resolves the serious pollution problem but also helps t...

Fermentation of carbohydrates to produce bioethanol is one of the pathways to produce biofuels from microalgae. In the present work, enzymatic pre-treatment was performed on microalgal species to disrupt and break down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars, as a prerequisite step to produce bioethanol. A mixture of different in house enzymes (ce...

The optimization of agitation rate, aeration timing, substrate concentration for ethanol production from fresh water Rhizoclonium sp. algal biomass of Trans Himalayas by Saccharomyces cerevisiae was designed using an L9 (3 4) orthogonal array design. The results showed that the optimum condition for ethanol fermentation were A2B3C2 corresponding to...

This study is a first of its own kind for isolation of multiple enzyme producers from biomass of Rhizoclonium sp. algae collected from different sites of Himachal Pradesh. One of the isolated 19 strains, the isolate P6 exhibited zones of hydrolysis for cellulase, xylanase and amylase activity indicating its potential for multiple enzyme production....

Degradation of pine needles by white rot fungi

These days the shortage of petrochemicals and environmental pollution are two major challenges, which need to be overcome by our society. As limited petroleum resources have become increasingly depleted, shortage of petroleum oil as well as rise in gasoline prices have become crucial factors in restricting the global economy. Therefore use of biofu...

In the present investigation, an effort has been made to prepare functionally enriched multigrain bread. The multigrain grain bread was composed of wheat and germinated kodo millet seeds (multigrain flour) in different ratios (30:70, 40:60, 50:50, 60:40 and 70:30). Among these, 50:50 ratio was standardized for further studies. Two sets are formulat...

Background: The tremendous need of lipase for varied applications in biotechnology increases its economical value in food and allied industries. Patents suggest that lipase has an impressive number of applications viz. enhancements of flavor in food products (Cheese, butter, alcoholic beverages, milk chocolate and diet control food stuffs), deterge...

Purified bacteriocin produced from Brevibacillus borstelensis AG1 isolated from Marcha a local wine starter herbal cake, was used to enhance the shelf life of tomato paste. Preservative effect of purified bacteriocin was studied for nine days in tomato paste inoculated with food borne pathogens and was compared to commercial biopreservative – nisin...

Algae are a class of photosynthetic organisms found in both marine and freshwaters habitats. As these organisms have a short doubling time, they are considered among fastest growing creatures. They have different pathways to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide and to efficiently utilize the nutrients to convert it into biomass. In few years, a focus has...

Present study was carried out to classify a bacteriocin producer bacterial isolate, Lactobacillus brevis UN under the category of probiotics. L. brevis UN isolated from "Dhulliachar" which is a powdered mixture of seeds of Cucurbita pepo and Sesamum indicum consumed by the people of North East region of India as a condiment of food. Isolate was ide...

Lipase production bacterial isolate was isolated from soil of service station and identified as Bacillus methylotrophicus PS3 by 16SrRNA with accession number |LN999829.1|. Lipase enzyme was purified by sequential methods of ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-100 gel column chromatography. The molecular weight of purified enzyme was 31.4...

One of the most significant groups of probiotic organisms are the lactic acid bacteria, withrnfermentative, biopreservative and various health benefits. Most important criterion during probioticrnselection is the adhesion to the luminal epithelium to colonize the gastrointestinal tract of a human andrnto provide health benefits and safety against G...

Present study was carried out to evaluate a new bacterial strain, Lactobacillus plantarum F22 as probiotic strain. L. plantarum F22 was isolated from a traditional inoculum called ‘Phab’ which is used for the preparation of a traditional beverage chhang of Lahaul and Spiti of Himachal Pradesh. The isolate was identified by conventional and molecula...

An abundant amount of agricultural/horticultural waste were generated from agricultural and industrial processing. However, such wastes usually have a composition rich in sugars, minerals and proteins, and therefore, they should not be considered "wastes" but raw materials for other industrial processes. The purpose of the present work was to optim...

Compost a nutrient rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner is a product of humification of organic matter. Compost formation is aided by combination of living organisms including bacteria, fungi and worms which transform lignocellulosic waste into humic like substances. Interest in microorganisms responsible for degrading compost has increased...

Fermentation” is employed in the production of foods through the application of microorganisms or their enzymes. Such foods are an intricate part of the diet of people all over the world, and it is the diversity of the raw materials used as substrates, the methods of preparation, and the sensory qualities of the finished products that contribute to...