Most analyses of pesticide residues in foods are being performed in Raw Agricultural Commodities (RAC) for a variety of purposes, which include regulatory monitoring, import/export certification, risk assessment, field-application trials, organic food verification, and marketing to consumers. The levels of the positive detections in these analyses are generally being estimated on the basis of e...

Through transfer of an active, isoproturon degrading microbial community, pesticide mineralization could be successfully enhanced in various soils under laboratory and outdoor conditions. The microbes, extracted from a soil having high native ability to mineralize this chemical, were established on expanded clay particles and distributed to various soils in the form of microbial "hot spots". Bo...

Rationale Fungicide applications are a necessary practice to discourage disease development in most high quality turfgrass areas. Little is known, however, about the effects that fungicides have on resident microbial community of the soils supporting turfgrass sites. Soil bacteria are responsible for important processes including pesticide degradation, nutrient cycling, and organic matter break...

Beginning in the 1980s, concerns about the deleterious effects of synthetic pesticides have driven a significant Southeast Asian research and development effort directed towards alternative pest control strategies, including the use of microbial control agents. Despite this effort, use of microbial control agents has grown slowly in the region. This is the result of an interplay between interna...

An optical microbial biosensor was described for the detection of methyl parathion pesticide. Whole cells of Flavobacterium sp. were immobilized by trapping in glass fiber filter and were used as biocomponent along with optic fiber system. Flavobacterium sp. has the organophosphorus hydrolase enzyme, which hydrolyzes the methyl parathion into detectable product p-nitrophenol. The immobilized mi...

Physicochemical parameters of roots of three Plumbago species, Plumbago capensis, P. rosea and P. zeylanica belonging to Plumbaginaceae were analyzed. Microbial contamination, aflatoxins, pesticide residue and heavy metal content were also determined. Attempt has also been made to estimate the biologically active chemical plumbagin present in them and the data compared. The study ensures that t...