Vishwas A Bapat

• PhD
• Senior Researcher at Shivaji University

The Fabaceae (Leguminosae) plant family contains several species of the Mucuna Adans. genus possessing therapeutic potential and growing widely in tropical and sub-tropical regions. In this research, we investigated the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of the extract from the Mucuna sanjappae Aitawade & S.R.Yadav seeds. Initially, we co...

Induced mutation is one of the techniques widely used in crop breeding for improvements in desirable traits. Creating variability through mutations is the most significant procedure to be carried out to improve crops. Rice is an important edible cereal and is the staple food for over half of the world’s population. Induced mutations have been exten...

Introduction and Aim: Cellular oxidative stress is responsible for various human diseases. Dietary antioxidant supplements from natural plants have good potential to reduce increased oxidative stress thus protecting from further medical complications. Genus Mucuna is well known for its promising health benefits. A common species of Mucuna, M. pruri...

Plants have long been exploited as a sustainable source of food, flavors, agrochemicals, colors, therapeutic proteins, bioactive compounds, and stem cell production. However, plant habitats are being briskly lost due to scores of environmental factors and human disturbances. This necessitates finding a viable alternative technology for the continuo...

Plants of family Clusiaceae are growing in semi-evergreen to evergreen, moist, tropical and lower montane forest mainly native to tropical regions, except Hypericum and Triadenum. Clusiaceae are known for producing a wide range of phytochemicals like isoprenylated xanthones, biflavonoids and anthraquinones. In the present work, water and methanol ex...

Large-scale production of natural plant products has become a necessity for a wide range of applications in human health and industry. In recent years, yeast has become a potential biotechnological and bioengineering platform for the production of industrially relevant biochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels which are often not easy to produce...

Removal of toxic and recalcitrant co-contaminant dyes and Cr(VI) has become a challenge in the textile industry. The present study attempts to resolve this uncharted problem of pollution by biotransformation and detoxification of Reactive blue HERD dye and Cr(VI) using aerobic bacterial granules (ABGs). The ABGs effectively decolorized 99.2% dye at...

The bioprocess methodology for the enhanced production of phytochemicals using plant cultures predominantly depends on the elicitors and precursors. The drug L-DOPA (anti-Parkinson's drug) (L-3, 4-dihydroxy-phenylalanine) has been chiefly isolated from the popular medicinal plant species Mucuna. The present study has been carried out to enhance the...

Food security relies on plant productivity and plant's resilience to climate change driven environmental stresses. Plants employ diverse adaptive mechanisms of stress-signalling pathways, antioxidant defense, osmotic adjustment, nutrient homeostasis, phytohormones. Over the last few decades, silicon has emerged as a beneficial element for enhancing...

Purpose - Kala Jirga and Ajara Ghansal are the non-basmati aromatic rice landraces having small grains and good cooking qualities. In spite of huge demand these landraces are cultivated in a few pockets of Kolhapur district of India due to micro-climate required for the development of aroma and grain quality. Both the varieties are late maturing (>...

Production of recombinant proteins is primarily established in cultures of mammalian, insect and bacterial cells. Concurrently, concept of using plants to produce high-value pharmaceuticals such as vaccines, antibodies, and dietary proteins have received worldwide attention. Newer technologies for plant transformation such as plastid engineering, a...

Plants are well known as storehouses of numerous products, which have been employed for numerous applications continuously since a very long time. However, excessive cutting of plants, industrialization, biotic and abiotic stresses have greatly reduced the plant productivity and these adverse factors have considerably influenced the wealth of plant...

Green nanotechnology is an ever-evolving field of research and development due to an environmentally friendly approach. The present study highlights the green synthesis using Pancratium parvum bulb extract for the biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles and enlightens its thorough characterization with biomedical applications. Here, the biogenic gold na...

The present study reports an optimized protocol for high frequency in vitro plant propagation through direct and indirect organogenesis, phytochemical accumulation, molecular profiling and antioxidant evaluation for micropropagated Swertia minor, a promising alternative to industrially important Swertia chirayita. Moreover, the study also aimed at...

Banana and plantains are one of the most important crops grown extensively in tropical and subtropical countries. It is grown in more than 130 countries in an area of 5.14 million hectares producing 114 million tonnes (http://www.fao.org/economic/est/est-commodities/bananas/bananafacts/en/#.W76y7WgzbIV). However, bananas are one of the least geneti...

This book collects comprehensive information on taxonomy, morphology, distribution, wood anatomy, wood properties and uses. It also discusses silvicultural aspects, agroforestry, pests and diseases, biotechnology, molecular studies, biosynthesis of oil, conservation, trade and commerce of Sandal wood. Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) is considered as...

ABSTRACT Ajara Ghansal is a local rice landrace (Oryza sativa L.) from Kolhapur and has aromatic grains as well as good cooking grain quality. For the induction of mutations, two chemical mutagens Ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) and Sodium Azide (SA) and one physical (gamma rays) radiation were used with three different concentrations and doses, resp...

Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease, which is common all over the world. Various aspect like damages of reactive oxygen species, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation-facilitated cell damages are included in the etiology of disease. Good-balanced nutrition is an important part involved in the body health maintenance and...

Clusiaceae is renowned for producing a wide range of phytochemicals like isoprenylated xanthones, biflavonoids and anthraquinones. Recently, focus on Shikimic Acid (SA) has increased since its appearance as a key precursor for the synthesis of drug against H5N1 virus. Present work quantifies shikimic acid from, different parts of clusiaceae species....

The current report focused on the biogenic synthesis of novel gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from Mucuna imbricata seed extract. The synthesis conditions were optimized for a higher yield of AuNPs with uniform size distribution. The Mucuna species has attracted a lot of attention recently because of its potential medicinal, agronomic, and nutritional b...

The plant Mucuna is an annual climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over fifteen meters in length. About 100-150 Mucuna species are found in the tropic and subtropic regions of both hemispheres of the earth. The genus Mucuna belongs to the family Leguminosae. It is commonly known as Kewanch, velvet bean, cowhage and kappikachhu and is found...

Objective: Pancratium L. (Amaryllidaceae J.St. Hil.) is a monocot genus with bulbous habitat and about 20 species worldwide have significant medicinal properties. The present envision aims to investigate the potential ability of Pancratium species for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition as a remedy for Alzheimer disease (AD). Different Pancratiu...

Bioconversion of recalcitrant keratinous biomass is one of the greatest ways to utilize products of feather hydrolysis and recycle them into bionetwork. Present study revealed 87% degradation of poultry feathers within 48 h in a constructed bioreactor using Chryseobacterium sp. RBT. The resulting feather hydrolysate (FH) was rich in soluble protein...

This Reference Work provides a comprehensive overview of bioactive compounds found in underutilized fruits and nuts around the world and it elucidates their pharmacological, biological and health effects. In this book, readers will learn about the potential applications of bioactive molecules presented in several underutilized fruits and nuts rich...

The present study aimed to investigate phytochemical composition, antioxidant potential and quantification of anticancer, hepatoprotective and antidiabetic compounds using RP-UFLC from eight Swertia species. Extracts were obtained and evaluated for total phenolics; flavonoids as well as antioxidant properties were assessed by DPPH and FRAP assays....

Swertia is a diverse genus of herbs belonging to the family Gentianaceae and comprising roughly 170 species distributed throughout the world, but is most diverse in temperate and subtropical regions and in montane tropics. In Bhutan, China, India, Japan, and Nepal, some Swertia species are recognized for their anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, activ...

Fruit trees are important as additional sources of revenue and are important diet supplements. Besides yielding edible fruits, there are several other useful products available from these fruit trees. However, despite their significance, these plants have not been researched thoroughly for their propagation, cultivation and molecular characterizati...

Swertia is used in Indian Ayurvedic herbal systems and in Tibetan folk medicines to cure fever. In this investigation, strategies have been developed to optimize an efficient method for the extraction and quantification of amarogentin from different Swertia species collected from Himalayan and Western Ghats regions of India. Diverse extraction meth...

Mucuna, a treasured leguminous genus is renowned for its high L-DOPA (L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) content which acts as an effective anti-Parkinson’s drug. Unfortunately, the immense medicinal properties of most Mucuna (M.) species are still remained unnoticed. Thus, in present study we have explored and compared various properties of neglected...

Genus Mucuna has tremendous value in the Indian Ayurveda, and the species have been used for the management of diseases including Parkinson’s disease. Unfortunately, species other than M. pruriens are neglected for scientific investigation. In the present study, quantification of anti-Parkinson’s drug l-DOPA content using HPLC from eighteen differe...

Mucuna sanjappae seeds are conventionally used as food and medicine in the Western Ghats of India. It possesses good nutritional value with higher level of anti-Parkinson's drug L-DOPA (10.81 g/100g). But, presence of anti-nutritional compounds hardens its preferential use as a food of choice. In the present study, the effect of various commonly us...

Objective: In the present investigation, the effect of different cooking processes on L-DOPA level, phenolics contents, in vitro protein (IVPD) and starch digestibility (IVSD), proximate composition with in vitro anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of Mucuna macrocarpa (MM) has been evaluated. Methods: The L-DOPA and major phenolics acids...

Tyrosinase catalyzes the oxidation of tyrosine to produce melanin. It is implicated in skin pigmentation, melanoma, and many other ocular inflammatory diseases. In the present article, the interaction of small molecules toward the enzyme fungal tyrosinase (MT) has been evaluated by various biophysical techniques, viz. SPR, UV absorption, fluorescen...

Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson (elephant foot yam) is a well-known vegetable tuber plant that belongs to medicinally important family Araceae. The present study reports on establishment of somatic embryogenesis using shoot apices as explants and assessment of genetic fidelity of regenerated plants using random amplified polymorphic...

The effect of Brassinolide on In vitro growth of sugarcane Co.86032 was investigated. Brassinolide had a conspicuous effect on growth and development of sugarcane multiple shoots. Experimental cultures were grown on medium containing increasing concentration of BL from 2 mg/L to 7 mg/L and the optimum concentration found was 5 mg/L. The shoots grow...

The bacterial strain Pseudomonas sp. SSA has capacity to produce extracellular melanin that sequesters heavy metals. The brown-black melanin pigment was observed in the culture liquid and mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The AgNPs were characterized using UV–visible, dynamic light scattering, energy dispersive X-ray, Fourier tran...

Objective To investigate L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-dopa, anti-Parkinson drug), anti-inflammatory activity, proximate nutritional composition and antioxidant potential of Mucuna macrocarpa (M. macrocarpa) beans. Methods l-dopa content was determined and quantified by high performance thin layer chromatography and reversed phase high-performa...

The lantern flowers (genus: Ceropegia L. — Apocynaceae) are among the most fascinating group of flowering plantswhich comprises of over 200 species of herbs and climbers. Although most of the species have appreciable importance as a source of edible tubers, ornamental flowers and implications in folk medicine, the conventional propagation technique...

It took several millennia to fully understand the scientific intricacies of the process through which grape juice is turned into wine. This yeast-driven fermentation process is still being perfected and advanced today. Motivated by ever-changing consumer preferences and the belief that the ‘best’ wine is yet to be made, numerous approaches are bein...

Environment and living organisms are often threatened by xenobiotic contaminants released into the environment from extensive anthropogenic activities. Some plants and plant-associated microbes have developed a massive arsenal of specialized tactics to combat xenobiotic pollutants, while other plants were unable to do so. However, transgenic approa...

Present work investigated an efficient method for extraction of swertiamarin and mangiferin from different species of genus Swertia. Various extraction methods like static extraction (SE), continuous shaking extraction (CSE), and ultrasonic extraction (USE) were evaluated for increasing recovery percentage of swertiamarin and mangiferin. The quanti...

Plastid DNA markers sequencing and DNA fingerprinting approaches were used and compared for resolving molecular phylogeny of closely related, previously unexplored Amorphophallus species of India. The utility of individual plastid markers namely rbcL, matK, trnH–psbA, trnLC–trnLD, their combined dataset and two fingerprinting techniques viz. RAPD a...

Production of recombinant proteins is primarily established in cultures of mammalian, insect, and bacterial cells. Concurrently, concept of using plants to produce high-value pharmaceuticals such as vaccines, antibodies and dietary proteins have received worldwide attention. Newer technologies for plant transformation such as plastid engineering, a...

Plant molecular farming is the production of recombinant pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical proteins of commercial importance utilizing plants as bioreactors. Research and development on plant-derived recombinant proteins have gained momentum in recent years. Advantages of employing plants as bioreactors for recombinant protein generation are man...

Banana is a climacteric fruit and has a very short postharvest life. Many varieties of banana fruits are ripened artificially by treating them with hydrocarbons. The current methods of postharvest management practices used for fruits are not enough to control the ripening in banana. Recent advances in recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineer...

Genus Mucuna which is native to China and Eastern India comprises of perennial climbing legume with long slender branches, trifoliate leaves and bear green or brown pod covered with soft or rigid hairs that cause intense irritation. The plants of this genus are agronomically and economically important and commercially cultivated in India, China and...

SYNOPSIS Toxic metal pollution of soils is a major environmental problem. This review chapter focuses on the progress achieved in the last years to remediate soils contaminated with heavy metals. Genetically modified plants for metal removal, use of microbes in phytoextraction, trees versus herbaceous species for metal hyperaccumulation as well as...

Rapid progress in molecular biology reveals the role of small-molecule nucleic acid-based players, which are involved in the regulation of genome organization and gene expression in complex organisms. Knocking down the expression of specific genes represents an interesting technique of therapy and a means of scrutinizing molecular functions. The us...

Chemical interactions between nanoparticles and biomolecules are vital for applying nanoparticles in medicine and life science. Development of sensitive, rapid, low-cost, and eco-friendly sensors for the detection of molecules acting as disease indicator is need of an hour. In the present investigation, a green trend for silver nanoparticle synthes...

A large amount of hazardous materials including heavy metals were released into the environment from natural and extensive anthropogenic activities, which cause soil, air, and water pollution and deterioration. At higher concentration, these metals exert toxic effects on plant and animal health including human. Among various traditional soil remedi...

Galanthamine, an isoquinoline alkaloid and the current drug of choice for treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer disease, is mainly obtained from Amaryllidaceae members. At present, the production of galanthamine from available natural plant sources is not sufficient to meet the demands of pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, overexploitation of...

Several tropical, subtropical and temperate fruits although they differ in shape, colour, taste and nutritive values, provide numerous health benefits. Some of the edible fruits ripen within a very short period, usually leading to an overabundance of the fruits when harvested. Many of the fruits are consumed fresh, but large quantities of harvested...

Mucuna is a well-known medicinal and food plant widely exploited for its seed pods and leaves in many tropical countries. The drug L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) extracted from seeds of Mucuna plant has been commonly used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. In the present study, a new species of Mucuna, M. sanjappae Aitawade et Yadav f...

Abstract Hairy roots (HRs) have been proven as a potential source of secondary metabolites and also, for the biotransformation of desirable metabolites. Recently, HRs have emerged as an effi cient in vitro model systems for screening the capabilities of different plant species to tolerate, accumulate, and/or to remove environmental pollutants. HRs...

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the potential of custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) in the production of a beverage fermented using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (NCIM 3282) yeast and assess the antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content and DNA damage-protecting activity of custard apple fruit wine (CAFW). The antiradical activities of...

Export Date: 18 October 2014, Article in Press

L-DOPA (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine), a modified amino acid, is an expansively used drug for the Parkinson’s disease treatment. In the present study, optimization of nutritional parameters influencing L-DOPA production was attempted using the response surface methodology (RSM) from Mucuna monosperma callus. Optimization of the four factors was ca...

Production of L-DOPA, an anti-Parkinson's drug, using biological sources is widely studied in which tyrosinase is known to play a vital role. Tyrosinase is an omnipresent type 3 copper enzyme participating in many essential biological functions. Understanding properties of tyrosinase is essential for developing useful tyrosinase-based applications....

Spectacular advancement in Nanotechnology in recent years has changed the scenario of biological, chemical, engineering and physical sciences. Among the production of various metallic nanoparticles, extensive work has been carried out on the synthesis and utilization of silver nanoparticles using various approaches. Several applications of silver n...

Environment damages by pollutants from various sources have become a very serious predicament posing grave threats to mankind, plant wealth and other life forms. It is a challenging and daunting task to overcome this problem for which various physical, chemical and biological remedies have been followed successfully in some cases. Among the biologi...

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a most versatile nucleic acid involves in several cellular metabolic events and plays a significant role in various molecular maneuvers. Recent advances in molecular biology, material sciences and nanotechnology have helped and contributed immensely to understand and decipher RNA’s mechanism as well as exploitations of its...

A novel approach for the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from aqueous solution of silver nitrate (AgNO3) by using Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. seed powder extract (ASPE), as a reducing agent has been reported in the present work. The seed contains Jacalin, a lectin which is a single major protein representing more than 50% of the p...

Rajeli (AAB), a commercially valuable Indian banana cultivar, is presently under the threat of extinction due to various diseases, warranting development of the strategies for its conservation and incorporation of disease resistance. This elite genotype was successfully regenerated in vitro via establishment of cell suspensions followed by somatic...

Salacia chinensis L. has various beneficial properties including antidiabetic and antioxidant activity. The S. chinensis fruit pulp (SCFP) was extracted with four different solvents (Methanol, ethanol, acetone and water) and was screened for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activity (AOA). The AOA was asse...

The study aimed to investigate the effect of different solvent (water, methanol, ethanol and acetone) extractions on total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant properties of custard apple (Annona squamosa L.) fruit pulp (CAFP) extracts. Various antioxidant assays including 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, ferric-redu...

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have gained great interest in nanotechnology, biotechnology and medicine. The green synthesis of nanoparticles has received an increasing attention because of it’s maximize efficiency and minimize health and environmental hazards as compared to other conventional chemical synthesis. In this study, we reported biosynthes...

Salacia chinensis L. has various beneficial properties including antidiabetic and antioxidant activity. The S. chinensis fruit pulp (SCFP) was extracted with four different solvents (Methanol, ethanol, acetone and water) and was screened for total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activity (AOA). The AOA was asse...

Hexavalant chromium [Cr(VI)] tolerance and accumulation in in vitro grown Nopalea cochenillifera Salm. Dyck. plants was investigated. A micropropagation protocol was establish for a rapid multiplication of N. cochenillifera and [Cr(VI)] tolerance and accumulation was studied in in vitro grown cultures. Cr concentration was estimated by atomic absor...

Cactaceae Nopalea cochenillifera cell cultures and intact plants (cladodes) transform various toxic textile dyes, including Red HE7B into less phytotoxic, non-hazardous metabolites. The [tentative] pathway analysis demonstrates that Red HE7B is transformed into 3-amino-5-imino-5,8-dihydronaphthalen-2-ol, 2-amino-6-(carboxycarbonyl)-3,4-dihydroxyben...

The study reports the transient expression of gusA gene in embryogenic cells using three banana derived fruit-specific promoters. Banana embryogenic cells were transformed with a pCAMBIA-1301 derived plasmid construct harboring gusA gene driven by either chitinase, glucanase or expansin promoters derived from banana. The transient expression of β-g...

Jatropha curcas is a tropical perennial shrub having multiple benefits. Besides being a source of biofuel, it can be cultivated to control soil erosion, waste land reclamation. Various parts of the plant are rich in secondary metabolites with medicinal value. The Jatropha seed cake, a by-product, is an excellent source of proteins as an animal feed...

The drug L-DOPA has been widely used against Parkinson’s disease and is extracted from plants. Due to the increasing demand of this drug, new plant sources need to be discovered in addition to the existing sources. The paper embodies results on Mucuna monosperma, which can be a promising candidate for L-DOPA. The seed powder of this plant contains...

Sesuvium portulacastrum is a common halophyte growing well in adverse surroundings and is exploited mainly for the environmental protection including phytoremediation, desalination and stabilization of contaminated soil. In the present investigation, attempts have been made on the decolorization of a toxic textile dye Green HE4B (GHE4B) using in vi...

Jackfruit is an underutilized edible fruit in the tropics and subtropics. The aim of this study was to produce wine from jackfruit pulp and to evaluate the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant properties of the wine. The ability of scavenging free radicals was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing ant...

Cell cultures of Blumea malcolmii Hook., developed in the laboratory, rapidly decolorized textile industry effluent along with a variety of dyes with diverse structural properties. Most rapid decolorization was observed in case of Malachite Green (93.41% decolorization within 24 h). The cells were capable of tolerating and degrading high concentrat...

Phytoremediation is considered as an effective viable alternative to remediate the contaminated sites, industrially hazardous chemicals and other toxic pollutants. This bioremediation option offers a safe, cheap and eco friendly alternative to existing physical and chemical remediation technologies as well as other biological sources. The wall pain...

In vitro transgenic hairy root cultures provide a rapid system for physiological, biochemical studies and screening of plants for their phytoremediation potential. The hairy root cultures of Brassica juncea L. showed 92% decolorization of Methyl orange within 4 days. Out of the different redox mediators that were used to achieve enhanced decoloriza...

Factors affecting in vitro propagation were evaluated for Ceropegia attenuata Hook., an endemic and endangered plant having ornamental potential but a limited reproductive capacity. Rapid shoot multiplication from nodal explants was established using varying concentrations of cytokinins and auxins either alone or in combinations. The highest freque...

Research to alter crops for their better performance involving modern technology is underway in numerous plants, and achievements in transgenic plants are impacting crop improvements in unparalleled ways. Striking progress has been made using genetic engineering technology over the past two decades in manipulating genes from diverse and exotic sour...

Hypocotyl segments excised from seedlings of Santalum album (sandalwood tree) grown in vitro were cultured aseptically on various nutrient media. Regeneration of shoot buds on explants was observed on basal media supplemented with auxins like IAA, IBA, NAA, or NOA. Shoot bud formation was completely suppressed on 2,4-D or pCPA medium. Cytokinins st...

Ceropegia fantastica Sedgw. (Asclepidaceae) is a critically endangered, endemic species in Western Ghats of India. The fruit and seed setting are very low and in vitro propagation is the only viable alternative for its sapling raising and restoration of this plant's population in the wild natural environment through reintroduc-tion. Attempts have b...