agar and ethyl-acetate

In an effort to achieve sustainable development goals, a reevaluation of the materials used in wooden buildings must be done, including the preservatives used to treat the materials. Since typical wood preservatives use toxic heavy metals, their handling and use can contaminate the environment. Therefore, substances such as lignin-derived components have been investigated as bio-based preservatives. Organosolv treatment is a promising technique for separating components of lignocellulosic biomass, which enables the utilization of each component. The present report describes components of lignocellulose with antifungal effects that were recovered after organosolv treatment using water and 1-butanol solvent at 473 K for 2 h, followed by simple solvent fractionation. The organosolv lignin was divided into three fractions: n-hexane soluble, ethyl acetate soluble, and ethyl acetate insoluble, yielding 23 wt%, 52 wt% and 13 wt%, respectively. Antifungal activity was determined using an agar plate method. White rot fungi (Trametes versicolor) was dispersed on the agar plate with a cellulose disc containing each lignin-derived fraction obtained from Japanese cedar. Results showed inhibition of fungal growth over the cellulose disc containing the n-hexane soluble fraction. To examine the effect in greater detail, the chemical structure of the n-hexane-soluble fraction on the antifungal activity was investigated. The content of phenolic hydroxyl group in n-hexane-soluble fraction was the highest (4.6 mmol/g), and the results from the chemical modification suggested that the functional group was required for antifungal action. In addition, the n-hexane-soluble fraction imparted some water resistance. The procedures used for cedar as a feedstock were applied to another type of biomass-bagasse-and its fractions showed antifungal activity similar to those of Japanese cedar.

Topics: Agar; Antifungal Agents; Cellulose; Lignin; Solvents; Trametes; Water

Cellulitis is a common skin disease encountered in medical emergencies in hospitals. It can be treated using a combination of antibiotics therapy; however, the causative agent Staphylococcus aureus has been reported to develop resistance towards the currently used antibiotics. Therefore, the search for more alternative herbal origin antimicrobial agents is critical.. In this study, maceration and Soxhlet extraction of the whole plant of Cassia alata Linn. (leaves, roots, and stem) were performed using four solvents with different polarities, namely n-hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and distilled water. The crude extracts were screened using agar well diffusion, colorimetric broth microdilution, grid culture and bacterial growth curve analysis against Staphylococcus aureus. The phytochemicals in the crude extracts were identified using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).. Agar-well diffusion analysis revealed that extraction using ethyl acetate showed the largest inhibition zone with an average diameter of 15.30 mm (root Soxhlet extract) followed by 14.70 mm (leaf Soxhlet extract) and 13.70 mm (root maceration extract). The lowest minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentration in root Soxhlet extract using ethyl acetate was 0.313 and 0.625 µg µL. Ethyl acetate crude extract was better than the other investigated solvents. The root and stem of C. alata showed significant antimicrobial efficacy against S. aureus in this study. The remaining 56 out of 88 phytochemicals of the plant should be intensively studied for more medicinal uses.

Topics: Agar; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Infective Agents; Cassia; Cellulitis; Phytochemicals; Plant Extracts; Plant Leaves; Solvents; Staphylococcus aureus

The quantitative formalin ethyl acetate concentration technique (QFEC) was compared to agar plate culture (APC) for the detection of Strongyloides stercoralis larvae. QFEC could substitute for APC only when the parasite load was higher than 50 larvae per g of stool. This study serves as a good reminder to those conducting stool exams about the sensitivity and specificity limitations of both techniques.

Topics: Acetates; Agar; Animals; Centrifugation; Feces; Formaldehyde; Humans; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; Larva; Parasitology; Strongyloides stercoralis; Strongyloidiasis

An agar plate method for the diagnosis of intestinal strongyloidiasis was compared to the standard formalin-ethyl acetate concentration method. A total of 13 of 225 patients with eosinophilia had positive stools for strongyloides larva by agar plate compared to six of 225 by the formalin-ethyl acetate method (P = .0455). Nine positive stool specimens by the agar plate method were tested by the Baermann technique, and five were positive. The agar plate method is a sensitive and efficient technique for the diagnosis of strongyloidiasis.

Topics: Acetates; Agar; Animals; Feces; Formaldehyde; Humans; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic; Parasitology; Strongyloides stercoralis; Strongyloidiasis