Curdlan production by Agrobacterium sp. IFO13140 immobilized on loofa sponge, alginate and loofa sponge with alginate was investigated. There was no statistically-significant difference in curdlan production when the microorganism was immobilized in different matrices. The loofa sponge was chosen because of its practical application and economy and because it provides a high stability through i...

The phloroglucinol glucoside derivative [2,4-dihydroxy-6-(beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)phenyl]-butan-1-one (1), roseoside (2), and kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3) were isolated from the aerial parts of Conyza aegyptiaca (L.). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first isolation of compounds 1-3 from C. aegyptiaca. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic techniques including...

Specimens of Solea aegyptiaca caught from Ghar El Melh lagoon in Tunisia were investigated for trichodinid ectoparasites. One species of the genus Trichodina was recorded on the gills of S. aegyptiaca. This species is identified as Trichodina gobii Raabe, 1959 which is reported for the first time on the soleidae fishes from Tunisian waters. The prevalence and the mean intensity level of these c...

Pea (Pisum sativum) is an important grain legume crop whose cultivation in the Mediterranean basin and West Asia is severely constrained by infection by the weedy root parasite Orobanche crenata (crenate broomrape). Pea is a false host of other species such as O. minor, O. foetida and Phelipanche aegyptiaca. In the present experiments, we demonstrate that seed germination of the Orobanche and P...

LUFFACHITIN obtained from the residue of the sponge-like dried fruit of Luffa aegyptiaca was developed as a weavable skin substitute in this study. A chemical analysis revealed that LUFFACHITIN was composed of a copolymer containing N-acetyl-glucosamine (~40%) as a major monomer with a filamentary structure as demonstrated by both optical and scanning electron microscopy. The pulp-like white re...

This study was designed to examine the in vitro antioxidant activities and total phenolic contents of the methanolic extracts from male inflorescence of Salix aegyptiaca L. grown in Iran. The methanolic extract (ME) and its three fractions including water (WF), butanol (BF) and chloroform (CF) were prepared and then their antioxidant activities, as well as total phenolic contents, were evaluate...