BACKGROUND Radix Trichosanthis (RT), the dry root tuber of Trichosanthis kirilowii Maxim (Cucurbitaceae), is a traditional Chinese medicine. Although a wide range of saponin pharmacological properties has been identified, to our knowledge, this may be the first report to investigate the crude saponins from RT. The purpose of this study was to delineate the antioxidant activity both in vitro and...

Ruthenium complexes with tetradentate PNNP donor ligands demonstrate a marked change in selectivity compared to analogous bis bidentate PN Guerbet catalysis, producing mixtures of n-butanol (17 %), sec-butanol (14 %) and ethyl acetate (66 rather than the usual 90 %+ n-butanol. Tridentate PNP ruthenium such as [Ru(H)(Cl)(CO)(Ph2PCH2CH2NHCH2CH2PPh2)] also produce and, optimized conditions (120 °C...

BACKGROUND The main challenge of cassava-based biobutanol production is to enhance the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation with high hyperamylolytic activity and butanol yield. Manipulation of cofactor [e.g., Ca(2+) and NAD/(P)H] levels as a potential tool to modulate carbon flux plays a key role in the cassava hydrolysis capacity and butanol productivity. Here, we aimed to develop a...

Methanolic extract of Jasminum mesnyi Hance leaves having antidiabetic activity was subjected to fractionation to obtain antioxidant and antihyperglycemic rich fraction. Different concentrations of ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions were subjected to antioxidant assay by DPPH method, nitric oxide scavenging activity and reducing power assay. The fractions showed dose dependent free radical s...

Biobutanol is a sustainable green biofuel that can substitute for gasoline. Carbon flux has been redistributed in Clostridium tyrobutyricum via metabolic cell engineering to produce biobutanol. However, the lack of reducing power hampered the further improvement of butanol production. The objective of this study was to improve butanol production by rebalancing redox. Firstly, a metabolically-en...

To improve butanol selectivity, Clostridium acetobutylicum M5(pIMP1E1AB) was constructed by adhE1-ctfAB complementation of C. acetobutylicum M5, a derivative strain of C. acetobutylicum ATCC 824, which does not produce solvents due to the lack of megaplasmid pSOL1. The gene products of adhE1-ctfAB catalyze the formation of acetoacetate and ethanol/butanol with acid re-assimilation in solventoge...

In the present study, ethyl acetate, butanol and aqueous fractions derived from total methanol extract of Butea monosperma flowers were evaluated for radical scavenging activities using different in vitro models like reducing power assay, scavenging of 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, nitric oxide radical, superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical and inhibition of erythrocyte hem...

The antimicrobial efficacy of methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform and butanol extracts of fungus Chaetomium cupreum was determined by employing well diffusion and broth micro-dilution techniques. Chaetomium species are the largest genus of saprophytic ascomycetous fungus, which belongs to the class Sordariomyetes and family Chaetomiaceae. Ethyl acetate and butanol extracts exhibited antibacteri...

The butanol-HCl spectrophotometric assay is widely used for quantifying extractable and insoluble condensed tannins (CT, syn. proanthocyanidins) in foods, feeds, and foliage of herbaceous and woody plants, but the method underestimates total CT content when applied directly to plant material. To improve CT quantitation, we tested various cosolvents with butanol-HCl and found that acetone increa...

The Golgi apparatus is a highly dynamic organelle whose organization is maintained by a proteinaceous matrix, cytoskeletal components, and inositol phospholipids. In mammalian cells, disassembly of the organelle occurs reversibly at the onset of mitosis and irreversibly during apoptosis. Several pharmacological agents including nocodazole, brefeldin A (BFA), and primary alcohols (1-butanol) ind...