The bioaccumulation of arsenic by plants may provide a means of removing this element from contaminated soils and waters. However, to optimize this process it is important to understand the biological mechanisms involved. Using a combination of techniques, including x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we have established the biochemical fate of arsenic taken up by Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). A...

The major food items of Indian cuisine include rice, wheat, diary products, and abundant fruits and vegetables. Beside these, there are several kinds of herbs and spices as important ingredients, containing many phytochemicals with medicinal properties, adding taste to Indian cuisine. An impressive body of data exists in support of the concept that Indian food ingredients can be used in prevent...

A phytoextraction treatment enhanced by electric field to decontaminate a heavily Pb polluted soil has been tested in a greenhouse-scale experiment. Brassica juncea was selected as Pb-hyperaccumulator plant. The influence of the application of two Electric Potential Difference values (0.6 and 1.1 V cm) and the addition of EDTA (2.5 mmol kg) on biomass production, plant uptake, contaminant leach...

The view that food can have an expanded role that goes well beyond providing a source of nutrients truly applies to traditional functional foods. The systematic consumption of such traditional functional food provides an excellent preventive measure to ward off many diseases. Rasam, a soup of spices, is a traditional South Indian food. It is traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base...

internationally boarder and Manipur, Assam, and Tripura national boarder. The climate is mild and temperature ranges from 11 to 210 C in winter and 20 to 30oC in summer. Monsoon starts from June and lasts till the month of August. The average rainfall is around 2500mm. Major crops grown in the state are paddy, maize, mustard, sugarcane, sesame, fibber less ginger and potatoes. In the state ther...

Background: Freshwater in sufficient quantity and adequate quality is a prerequisite for human societies natural ecosystems. To adequately feed 9.3 billion people 2050, consumptive water use (i.e. transpired water) by all food fodder crops needs to increase from its present estimated level of 7000 km3/year 12,586 km3/year. However, fresh resources are increasingly getting scarce because increas...

Oil massage of newborns has been practised for generations in the Indian sub-continent; however, oils may vary from potentially beneficial, e.g. sunflower seed oil, to potentially toxic, e.g. mustard oil. The study was carried out to gain insights into oil-massage practices and acceptability of skin barrier-enhancing emollients in young, preterm Bangladeshi neonates. Preterm infants of <33 week...

Epidemic dropsy is a disease occurring in epidemic or endemic form characterized clinically by (edema, erythema, cutaneous nodules, diarrhoea, cardiac failure, glaucoma and/or abortion in pregnant women. Pathologically there is an extensive dilatation and engorgement of the capillaries in the skin and the internal organs. Its ajtiology has been traced to the use of adulterated mustard oil, the ...