Ficus palmata FORSKåL (BELES ADGI) as a source of milk clotting agent: a preliminary research

Traditional knowledge of wild plants on traditional tools, materials, products and economic practices in southern Yemen

BACKGROUND

The traditional knowledge in southern Yemen is rich in wild medicinal and food plants, which has been documented in our previous studies. In addition, other significant and general traditional usage for the daily livelihood requirements of local people (beyond medicinal and food plant uses) has not been studied before and needs urgent documentation.

METHODS

Ethnobotanical data on of wild plants used by local people in southern Yemen were collected by oral questionnaire interviews. Most informants (n = 1020) were local elderly from 15 different localities in southern Yemen. The local names and non-medicinal and non-food uses of plants were identified and analyzed.

RESULTS

The ethnobotanical data resulted various traditional uses of 73 plant species distributed in 28 families. The most represented families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Malvaceae. The most growth forms were trees and shrubs. Seven main and common categories of traditional uses were determined and classified as handicraft, health aids, livestock husbandry and beekeeping, economic and commercial plant products, agriculture tools, construction timber and fuel. The most cited species were identified for Ziziphus spina-christi, Vachellia tortilis, Vachellia nilotica, Anisotes trisulcus, Dracaena hanningtonii (Sansevieria ehrenbergii) and Aerva javanica, which have multi-purpose values of traditional usage. Nine major traditional uses of local wild plants were recorded: handicraft, agriculture tools, products aid general health, economic products, construction timber, livestock husbandry, bee keeping, fuel and ornamental.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the challenges on local traditional knowledge of wild plants, it still requested vital to many usages of traditional life and still have an economic value and heritage required of develop the daily livelihood level of the local people especially in rural areas. This includes the traditional uses of wild plants in handicraft skills, tools of agriculture, constructions. The importance of the continuity of traditional industries and their transmission to generations lies in the local population's reliance on local natural resources without relying on external resources in situations such as wars. This is the first study that contributes to documenting and analyzing the indigenous knowledge on traditional general usage of wild plants in southern Yemen.

Efficient three phase partitioning of actinidin from kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) and its characterization

Three phase partitioning (TPP) method was effectively utilized for the extraction and purification of milk clotting protease (actinidin) from the kiwifruit pulp. The different purification parameters of TPP such as ammonium sulfate saturation, ratio of the crude kiwifruit extract to tert-butanol, and the pH value of extract were optimized. The 40% (w/v) salt saturation having 1.0:0.75 (v/v) ratio of crude kiwifruit extract to tert-butanol at 6.0 pH value exhibited 3.14 purification fold along with 142.27% recovery, and the protease was concentrated exclusively at intermediate phase (IP). This fraction showed milk-clotting activity (MCA), but there was no such activity in lower aqueous phase (AP). The enzyme molecular weight was found to be 24 kDa from Tricine SDS-PAGE analysis. Recovered protease demonstrated greater stability at pH 7.0 and temperature 50 °C. The Vmax and Km values were 121.9 U/ml and 3.2 mg/ml respectively. Its cysteine nature was demonstrated by inhibition studies. This study highlighted that the TPP is an economic and effective method for extraction and purification of actinidin from kiwifruit, and it could be used as a vegetable coagulant for cheesemaking.

Evaluation of the Characteristics of Native Wild Himalayan Fig (Ficus palmata Forsk.) from Pakistan as a Potential Species for Sustainable Fruit Production

Wild Himalayan figs (Ficus palmata Forsk.), native to East Asia and the Himalayan region, are closely related to the well-known cultivated fig (Ficus carica L.), which is grown mainly in the Mediterranean region. The Pakistani state of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has a rich variety of figs. However, no comprehensive study has been carried out to utilise the diversity of these wild figs for possible use in sustainable fruit production. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the variability of 35 wild fig accessions using quantitative and qualitative traits. Descriptive statistics were used to measure quantitative characteristics, while the coefficient of variance (CV %) was analysed using SAS® version 9.1. A principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate analysis were performed using R Studio (v1.1.4). Pearson correlation coefficients between characteristics were obtained using SPSS software. The studied accessions showed high variability and the coefficient of variation (CV) ranged from 4.46–14.81%. Days to maturity varied from 71 to 86, leaf area from 38.55 to 90.06 cm2. The fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight ranged from 11.25 to 29.85 mm, 11.85 to 27.49 mm and 2.65 to 9.66 g, respectively. The photosynthetic activity and total chlorophyll content also varied from 7.94 to 10.22 μmol CO2 m−2s−1 and 37.11 to 46.48 μgml−1. In most of the fig accessions studied, apical dominance was found to be ‘absent’ while fruit shape was observed to be ‘globular’. A strong correlation was observed between all the studied characteristics. In the PCA analysis, all 35 fig accessions were distributed in four quadrants and showed a great diversity. This could be a valuable gene pool for future breeding studies and provide improved quality varieties. Wild Himalayan figs from the wild are well adapted to local pedoclimatic conditions and, combined with easy propagation and production can contribute to the local economy and have a significant impact on the socio-economic and ecological balance. The results of this study show high variability in some of the studied traits of 35 accessions from different parts of Northeast Pakistan, indicating their good potential for further enhancement and utilisation in sustainable agricultural production.

Constitutive expression of Camelus bactrianus prochymosin B in Pichia pastoris

Camel chymosin can be efficiently employed to produce cheese. Traditionally the rennet enzyme produced by the glands of the fourth stomach of ruminant animals (abomassum) is used in cheese making. Full-length Camelus bactrianus (Bactrian camel) prochymosin gene was synthesized and constitutively expressed in Pichia pastoris cells under glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAP) promoter. It was purified by sequential anion and cation exchange chromatography. SDS-PAGE analysis resulted in two bands, approximately 42 and 35 kDa. The 42 kDa band vanished when the sample was treated with endoglycosidase H, indicating that the recombinant protein is partially glycosylated. Optimal pH for the activity of the highest-purity recombinant chymosin was pH 4.5 for cow's milk and pH 4.0 for mare's milk. The range 45-50 °C and 70 °C for cow's and mare's milk types, respectively, was found to be the most appropriate for maximal relative milk-clotting activity. Concentration of CaCl2 that ensured the stability of the chymosin milk-clotting activity was between 20 and 50 mM with an optimum at 30 mM. Milk-clotting activity of camel recombinant chymosin and ability to make curd was successfully tested on fresh mare's milk. Pichia pastoris strain with integrated camel chymosin gene showed high productivity of submerged fermentation in bioreactor with milk-clotting activity 1412 U/mL and 80 mg/L enzyme yield. These results suggest that the constitutive expression of the camel chymosin Camelus bactrianus in the yeast Pichia pastoris has good prospects for practical applications.