Mutation is a major technique to improve stress resistance in plants. This study was conducted to induce mutation in four tomato cultivars and to explore the variation in the mutants. The seeds of four tomato cultivars, Riogrande, Roma, Nagina, and T4 were treated with a 4 millimole (mM) Ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) dose, and the seeds were sown in germination trays along with untreated seeds. Morphological and Physiological parameters of treated and control cultivars, such as number of leaves, leaf area, plant height, fruit weight, average fruit diameter and fruit length, relative water contents, and cell membrane stability, were recorded. Parameters considered were analyzed statistically by using Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) methods, and means were compared by using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% level of significance. Plants were selected on growth bases as the indicator characteristics of the Ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagen. Tomato cultivar Riogrande mutants showed improvement in leaf area (34.8 cm2), maximum number of fruits per plant (21.33), maximum fruit weight (35.86g), maximum fruit weight per plant (750.87g), and for the Roma cultivar, maximum average fruit length (6.71cm), and maximum cell membrane stability (50.15%). Results showed improvements of some traits in mutants as compared to the control, and concluded that chemical mutagen Ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) is suitable to create improved mutants in the tomato plant.
The fatty acid profile of seed extracts of two medicinal plants used in traditional medicine, Syzygiumcumini (Myrtaceae) and Linum usitatissimum (Linaceae), was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Seventeen fatty acids (6 saturated and 11 unsaturated) were detected in Linum usitatissimum and 26 fatty acids (9 saturated and 17 unsaturated) in Syzygiumcumini. Most of the fatty acids in both plants were unsaturated. The results of the phytochemical analysis indicate the presence of bioactive fatty acids and the potential of these plants as natural sources of health-promoting lipids, which supports their continued use in traditional and alternative medicine as well as their use in nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical formulations.
Carthamus oxyacantha is a member of Asteraceae family. It contains more than 1000 genera and above 10,000 species across the globe. The present research work was carried to determine volatile compounds and biological potential of medicinal plant Carthamus oxyacantha. The plant was collected from the Zarghun, Chiltan, Hazar Ganji, and Dasht Balochistan. The n-hexane fraction of the plant was evaluated for the determination of volatile compounds by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to identify the functional group of the compounds. The plant extract was evaluated for biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal activities by using chemiluminescence protocol, DPPH radical scavenging assay protocol, agar well diffusion method and agar tube dilution protocol method respectively. The GC-MS analysis showed the presence of 35 volatile compounds. The FTIR spectra of n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanolic extract showed the presence of functional groups such as alcohol, alkane, carbonyl compound, alkene, amide group, aromatic ring, nitro group, alkyl group and ester. The anti-inflammatory activity showed moderate activity IC50 =46.57± 3.92 μg/ml against reactive oxygen species (ROS) production against standard Ibuprofen. The antioxidant activity exhibited weak activity IC50713.7±7.50 against standard drug Gallic acid. The antibacterial activity exhibited 16 mm zone of inhibition against gram positive bacteria staphylococcus aureus showed 26mm. The plant has showed promising results against the different biological activities and showed the presence of significant volatile constituents. It is suggested that the plant may further be studied for the isolation of natural compounds and their derivatives.
Climate change and human activities have led to a decline in insect pollinators. In recent years, the excessive use of agrochemicals has reduced the crop's natural insect pollinators. This sparked research to identify alternative natural insect pollinators and artificial technologies. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) grown in protected facilities is increasing worldwide, this enforce the adoption of artificial pollination technologies as the protected environment does not allow insects for their free entry. This issue was addressed in the current experiment by designing and developing an energy-efficient, portable, and user-friendly artificial pollinator. The working mechanism of the device is designed to simulate natural buzz pollination through controlled mechanical vibrations. An Arduino-based control system was integrated into the device, with a DC motor and a scotch yoke mechanism, which was utilized for precise and impactful pollination. A compact electronic architecture was developed to deliver optimized vibration frequencies of 70, 85, and 100 Hz. To evaluate the performance of a newly developed machine, an experiment was performed on tomato flowers on the inclined-wire culture under protected conditions through a comparative analysis with natural pollination. Artificial pollination shows a significant enhancement in fruit conversion of tomato flowers. The consequence of artificial pollination showed that there was a change in the ratio of fruit set, where the vibration frequency of 85 Hz was observed to give the best result (81%). According to one-way ANOVA results, there was a significant effect of the vibration frequency on the fruit conversion percentage (F = 4.22, p = 0.009) since the frequency of 85 Hz gave the highest average fruit set (80.93%) among others. In general, the efficiency of the device proved to be high in repeated field operations. Calibration of the frequencies of the device was conducted by calibrating the speed of the motor by tachometer. Therefore, the outcomes of the study proved that vibration-assisted pollination is capable of being used as an alternative to natural pollinators. The pollination device provided an efficient solution to the problem. The research results support the use of artificial pollination devices for mimicking natural pollination.
Conjunctivitis, a common ocular condition, poses significant public health challenges due to its contagious nature and potential for recurrence. This study explores the prevalence of conjunctivitis in patients attending a tertiary care hospital in the Hyderabad region, with a particular focus on associated risk factors and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns in Staphylococcus aureus, a predominant causative agent. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted over eight months, involving 40 patients clinically diagnosed with conjunctivitis. Swab samples were obtained and inoculated on Chocolate Agar and Mannitol salt agar and incubated at 370C for 24 hours. Isolated pure culture were subjected to susceptibility testing on Mueller-Hinton agar. Findings revealed that bacterial conjunctivitis accounted 48.20%, with Staphylococcus aureus present in over half of bacterial isolates (62.5%) in contrast to Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus accounting as 20% and 17.5% respectively. Alarmingly, antibiotic susceptibility testing demonstrated high resistance rates to commonly prescribed topical antibiotics including tobramycin (85%), moxifloxacin (80%) and Oxacillin (80%). However, ciprofloxacin (45%) and vancomycin (40%) showed comparatively lower resistance levels. The study underscores the urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship and targeted public awareness campaigns to curb irrational antibiotic use and reduce disease transmission. Understanding the local epidemiology and resistance trends is critical for optimizing empirical treatment protocols and guiding clinicians in selecting effective antimicrobial therapies. The findings also advocate for routine surveillance of ocular pathogens to inform public health service provider and policy planning. Further research is warranted to investigate the molecular mechanisms driving resistance and the potential for multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains in ocular infections.
Floods are considered among the most frequent and devastating natural disasters in Pakistan, particularly in the Indus Basin and its tributaries. Every year, especially during the late monsoon season, the Chenab River basin is prone to flood inundation, which has a devastating effect on human life and infrastructure. Pre-disaster estimation of flood magnitudes for various return periods is of vital importance to flood risk management and hydraulic infrastructure design for water sustainability. This study employed flood frequency analysis to estimate exceptional flood events by using yearly peak downstream discharge data gathered over 50 years (1975–2024) on two barrages of the Chenab River- Qadirabad and Trimmu. Five frequency distributions, including the Gumbel, Pearson Type 3, Log Pearson Type 3, Normal, and Log Normal, were fitted to the historical annual maximum discharge series for each site to estimate the corresponding flood magnitudes to return periods of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, and 200 years. The Chi-square (χ²) test was used to assess the goodness-of-fit; 95% confidence intervals were computed to quantify estimation uncertainty. Modelled results showed that the magnitude consistently increases with the return period, with model differences being greater for more extreme events (≥50 years). In almost all cases, a Log Pearson Type III distribution provided the best balanced and reliable statistics of fit for all sites (lowest χ² values) that produced the highest discharge estimates for very rare floods. Confidence intervals widen significantly for longer return periods, a range of potential flood magnitudes expands, indicating an increase in uncertainty and anticipating less frequent occurrences. These results present the main importance of selecting an appropriate distribution pre-disaster assessment. The findings are helpful in floodplain management, flood control, climate-resilient infrastructure planning, and disaster preparedness across the Chenab River basin.
Biological rhythms are essential physical processes that control metabolism, behavior, adaptation, and reproduction in animals. These biological rhythms in animals are harmonized through environmental factors/cues, i.e., lunar cycles, seasonal changes, solar activity, and the Earth's rotation. Earth's rotation on its axis controls the light-dark cycle (circadian rhythm ) that governs the sleeping patterns, hormone secretion, breeding seasons, molting, feeding behavior, reproductive physiology, and immune responses in animals and poultry species. In poultry, photoperiodism affects growth rates, egg production, fertility, and other performance parameters. Lunar/moon cycles also cause changes in activity patterns, reproductive behaviors, migration in birds and other animals, and metabolic adaptations. Emerging evidence suggests that solar radioactivity and geomagnetic variations influence biological functions through molecular and neuroendocrine pathways. Hence, understanding the cosmological influence of biological rhythms is crucial to improve animal welfare, optimize poultry management practices, enhance reproductive efficiency, and develop sustainable livestock production systems. Therefore, the present review intends to explore how solar activity, geomagnetic field, cosmic radiation, and planetary cycles influence the biological rhythms, evolution, extraterrestrial biology, and practical animal and poultry husbandry. The changes in the duration of daylight have an impact on egg production, behavioral patterns, and endocrine secretions, while the Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is essential for the synthesis of vitamin D and skeletal Growth. Physiological stress, immunological suppression, and circadian imbalance in animals may be caused by artificial lighting disturbances or by any space weather phenomena like solar flares and geomagnetic storms.
In tropical and subtropical regio tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) has economical vegetable crop and extensively cultivated. The current study purpose is to optimize the conditions for in vitro germination of various tomato seeds cultivars and develop an efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation procedure using the GUS reporter gene. Half-strength MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/L NAA and 2 mg/L BAP were used to culture seeds, which shows reduced time required for germination. Four different cultivars of tomato using hypocotyl and cotyledonary leaf as explants and subjected to transformation using Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA101 with vector pZY102 holding the GUS gene. For infection bacterial culture with OD₆₆₀ of 0.3–0.4 was used with acetosyringone for 15 minutes. Co cultivation of explants was done at 22°C in the dark for 2 days, after pre selection of 7 days followed by histochemical GUS assay at 37°C. The results of present study showed that optimized conditions for germination significantly increased seed emergence and both explant types showed successful transformation with difference among cultivars. The optimized infection conditions and presence of acetosyringone enhanced T-DNA delivery and expression of GUS. Higher efficiency of transformation was observed under controlled infection parameter and co-cultivation. This study reveals that type of explant and conditions for culture plays an important role in improving transformation efficiency in tomato. It is concluded that a protocol which is reliable and efficient for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation has been developed; still, to achieve higher rate of transformation and stable expression of gene continuous optimization is required.
Microfibers (MFs) constitute small pieces of plastics produced as byproducts during the production processes of commercial products and further degradation of bulk polymers. Environmental impacts, as well as the hazard to biodiversity, are both threatened by MF pollution. Microfibers with vast utilization in the textile sector pose severe environmental and worker’s health concerns in many units of Punjab. This study aims to assess the microfiber's exposure and health risk in various textile industries in Punjab. Air and water samples were taken from inside and outside of selected textile industries in the Punjab province. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy was also used for the identification of microfiber polymers. Hazard index was calculated for over health risk of microfiber pollution. The results revealed that the highest concentration of microfibers was detected in Sheikhupura’s textile industries followed by Lahore. Among all the sections of textile industries, knitting section exhibited the highest microfiber detection /concentration. Hazard index values for air exposure in all the sections were below 1, except knitting section. Knitting section exhibited hazard index value of 1.26, indicating a potential health risk. Hazard index for wastewater and drinking water remained below 0, suggesting safe exposure levels. FTIR analyses revealed the type of MFs such as polybutylene terephthalate (3.13%), polypropylene standard (28.13%), polyisobutylene (12.5%), vinyl chloride (12.5%), polyethylene terephthalate (31.25%), low density polyethylene (3.13), and polyesters (9.38%). The most widespread were polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate, the ones mostly utilized in various daily-use products all over the globe.
Milk production and reproductive efficiency are significant indicators for the grading of dairy cows. Native breeds of the Pakistan having 4- 8 liters milk production per day with average reproductive efficiency. Productive and reproductive performance is mainly dependent upon the balanced feeding. Mainly animals of the remount area are deficient in energy and protein diets. They also need a balanced ration to give better output. However, exotic breeds of high yielder dairy cows have been introduced both on small and large scale dairy farming. These breeds have very optimized feeding plan. Balanced animal nutrition is of vital importance for good metabolic and reproductive output in dairy cows. Best calving interval of one year is profitable for dairy farmer. Genetics and environmental factors are associated for good performance of dairy animals. One major metabolic product blood urea nitrogen (BUN) or plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) have been addressed to affect predominantly the reproductive efficiency of the dairy cows. Blood urea is a product of protein metabolism. Supplementary nitrogen is provided in the animal feed to fulfill protein need. As a result of nitrogen utilization, urea is produced that is absorbed in the blood stream. To investigate the effect of blood urea in dairy cows, 100 samples of blood from four groups of dairy cows i.e. C1, C2, C3 and C4 have been analyzed for blood urea analysis. Significant variations between the four groups of lactating cows have been noticed for BUN levels. With a mean BUN level of 17.78 mg/dL, group C1 has the highest level, group C2, with a mean BUN level of 16.47 mg/dL, the mean of group C3 is 16.99 mg/dL. While the mean of group C4 is 17.61 mg/dL, reveals a balanced protein status. Individual cow responses to nutritional intake vary widely, as seen by the standard deviations, which reveal that Group C2 has the most variability (3.78) and Group C4 has the lowest variability. Reproductive performance in terms of conception rate (CR) and successive pregnancy has been found highest in group C4 probably due to proper metabolic output in terms of BUN lower than detrimental level of 20 mg/dL. Optimized protein feeding is important for good conception rates. Moreover, over protein feeding will also increase the feeding cost.
Background: The most common bacterial ailment is urinary tract infection (UTI), which needs to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible to avoid complications. Since Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the crucial source of UTIs, early detection is essential for effective treatment. This is because treating UTIs can be extremely challenging due to the growing problem of drug resistance in uropathogens, which is primarily caused by the overuse of antibiotics. The novel medium that makes it easier to isolate and identify E. coli early on is chromogenic agar. The study's objective was to assess a chromogenic agar medium for uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) fast isolation and identification. Method: This cross-sectional study is being piloted from January 2021 to December 2021 at the tertiary care hospital in Hyderabad. Twelve hundred fifty clean catch midstream urine samples were collected aseptically during the course of this investigation and inoculated under clean and controlled conditions on blood agar, MacConkey agar, and chromogenic agar plates. These petri dishes were then keep in incubator for twenty-four hours at 37°C. Battery of tests were used to identify uropathogens. Results: 109 isolates out of 1250 samples were found to be E. Coli, whereas the remaining isolates were either Gram-positive bacteria or belonged to another species in the Enterobacteriaceae family. Furthermore, on MacConkey agar, three E. Coli samples were incorrectly identified. Conclusion: In comparison to the combination of blood and MacConkey agar, chromogenic agar medium is superior because it enables the immediate identification of E. coli colonies based solely on colony color within 24 hours of growth without the need for additional testing.
Developing nations are facing serious problems of heavy metals in their domestic water use, especially in drinking water. The objective of the current study is to analyze heavy metal concentrations such as Arsenic (As), Antimony (Sb), Strontium (Sr), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn) and Barium (Ba) and carrying out health risk assessment in drinking water. A total of 100 drinking water samples were collected from different areas of urban and rural Lahore. Analyses were performed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technique for all selected metal analysis. Associated human health risk assessment was calculated using USEPA mathematical equations. The results revealed that the mean arsenic concentration of well water samples of almost all selected areas ranged 10-30μg/l exceeding the limits of WHO standard of 10μg/l), while filtered samples were within the range. Other toxic metals concentration of Sb, Sr, Zn, Mn and Ba were mainly within the limits in both well and filtered samples. Hazard quotient (HQ) for arsenic has found between 1-3 (higher than HQ limit of 1) while the other metals HQ were much smaller. HI (hazard index) ranged from 1.01 to 3.93, which was higher than the toxic index value of 1. The ILCR for arsenic was ranged from 4.5E-04 to 1.35E-03 for oral exposure. In conclusion, arsenic concentration in drinking water poses serious threat to public in all selected areas of Lahore.
In the present study, hyperimmune serum was raised in experimental dogs using a measles vaccine. The level of antibodies in the hyperimmune serum was determined using the Agar Gel Precipitation Test (AGPT) and an ELISA-based assay. The hyperimmune serum containing 128 AGPT units of anti-CDV antibodies was effective in controlling the disease in infected dogs after natural exposure to the canine distemper virus. Finally, the effective time for passive immunization against canine distemper was determined in experimental dogs. It was noted that immune serum offered protection against canine distemper immediately after infection, during the incubation period of the disease, 48 h after infection, and in the early phase of the disease (immediately after the appearance of clinical signs). Passive immunization was not effective when infected dogs showed nervous symptoms of the disease. It was concluded that immune serum is only useful for the prevention of canine distemper in dogs kept along with infected dogs, particularly in the same kennel
Food products can act as vehicles for the dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and their associated resistance determinants to humans. The present investigation focused on the molecular identification of gentamicin resistance genes in Escherichia coli recovered from raw buffalo milk. A total of 175 milk samples were obtained from buffaloes in Narowal District and analyzed for the presence of E. coli using selective culture techniques on Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar. The antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of the isolates were evaluated against a panel of commonly used antibiotics. Genomic DNA was subsequently extracted from gentamicin-resistant isolates and examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify genes associated with gentamicin resistance. Among the collected samples, 40 (22.8%) yielded E. coli isolates. Susceptibility testing revealed resistance to multiple antimicrobial agents, with the greatest resistance detected against amoxicillin (100%), whereas ciprofloxacin showed the lowest resistance rate (10%). Molecular analysis verified the occurrence of gentamicin resistance genes in the selected resistant isolates. These findings indicate that raw buffalo milk may serve as a reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli, emphasizing the importance of routine monitoring, effective diagnostic approaches, and improved control strategies to safeguard public health.
The metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) play an important role in heterogeneous photodegradation and removal of organic dyes from water sources. This method is more preferable for being ecofriendly as compared to the other methods having low cost and no use of high temperature, pressure or other parameters. Previous studies have demonstrated that CuO exhibits significant photocatalytic activity. Subsequently, in the present study the CuO NPs were synthesized using aqueous extract of Withania Coagulans berries with copper sulphate pentahydrate (CuSO4.5H2O) served as precursor. The characterization of the synthesized NPs was carried out using UV-Visible spectroscopy to determine the characteristic absorption peak, which was observed at 296nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to study the functional groups and to detect any impurities present in the NPs due to plant extract. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) study was carried out to examine the crystalline nature of synthesized NPs while the surface morphology was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of biologically fabricated NPs was tested against the potentially harmful dye methylene blue (MB) under sunlight as the light source. Factors affecting degradation efficiency like photocatalyst dosage, initial dye concentration and pH of the solution were optimized over a time range of 5 to 115 minutes. Under the optimized parameters the CuO NPs showed high degradation efficiency of around ≈96% after 115 minutes which is significantly higher as compared to the previously reported works.
Electroencephalography (EEG) continues to play a vital role in the evaluation of epilepsy and other neurological conditions; however, diagnostic accuracy is often compromised by the misidentification of artifacts and medication-related patterns as epileptiform discharges (EDs). This review examines key challenges reported in the literature, with particular attention to technical artifacts—such as electrode disturbances, muscle activity, and electrical interference—and drug induced EEG changes, including enhanced beta activity from benzodiazepines and spike-like patterns associated with clozapine. Using simulated waveform examples, structured decision aids, comparative tables, and clinical case discussions, we outline distinguishing features based on morphology, spatial distribution, and clinical context. Misinterpretation may result in inappropriate treatment with antiepileptic drugs or, conversely, failure to detect genuine abnormalities. To improve diagnostic reliability, a cautious and integrative strategy is recommended, incorporating video-EEG correlation, technical adjustments, and thorough medication assessment. Practical guidance is offered for EEG technologists, interpreters, and healthcare providers.
Bovine mastitis is among the most significant infectious diseases of dairy cattle that cause considerable economic losses of the dairy industry due to cost of treatment, loss of milk production and early culling of cows. Streptococcus uberis is an important environmental pathogen and can cause clinical and subclinical mastitis. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing concern for the effectiveness of the treatment for Streptococci. The objectives of the present study are to isolate and characterize Streptococcus spp. from mastitic cow milk, to identify their antimicrobial resistance pattern and to confirm the species using multiplex PCR. 150 milk samples were taken from the cattle at UVAS Ravi Campus Pattoki and its surrounding villages. Samples were screened using the California Mastitis Test (CMT), positive samples were cultured on blood agar for morphological and biochemical identification (Gram staining and biochemical tests). Kirby–Bauer Disk Diffusion method was used to determine antimicrobial susceptibility for the 13 antibiotics as per CLSI guidelines. Multiplex PCR assays to target S. agalactiae (16S rRNA, 317 bp), S. dysgalactiae (16S rRNA, 572 bp) and S. uberis (Cpn60, 400 bp) were performed for molecular confirmation. Of the 150 samples collected 100 (66.9%) were found to be CMT positive, including 12 Streptococcus sp. isolates. A 400 bp amplicon of Cpn60 was found in all isolates, so they were all identified as S. uberis. All the isolates were resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, vancomycin and clindamycin (100%) and 91% sensitive to levofloxacin, azithromycin and ofloxacin. A significant difference in inhibition zones was observed between the different isolates (p ≤ 0.05). Streptococcus uberis was the only mastitis-associated Streptococcal species found and is multidrug resistant highlighting the need of molecular diagnosis, AMR monitoring and rational antibiotic usage in Pakistani dairy industry.
Population growth is driving up the global demand for food, which poses significant challenges for sustainable agriculture and food security. Seeds quality is a key factor in enhancing crop productivity and efficient farming in precision agriculture. The traditional methods of assessing seed quality of maize are, however, time consuming, expensive, labor intensive and destructive, making them impractical for large-scale agricultural applications. This research introduces an intelligent system for maize seed quality assessment and classification using a mobile application that is connected to the AI models. Maize seeds were captured and preprocessed using resizing, normalization, and data augmentation techniques to enhance the model performance and generalization. Several convolutional neural network (CNN) models were trained to classify maize seeds into three categories: Excellent, Average, and Worst. The mobile application developed allows farmers and agricultural stakeholders to assess the quality of seeds in real-time and easily. The experimental results showed that the deep learning-based approaches achieved a higher classification accuracy and efficiency than the traditional approaches. The overall best performance was seen with EfficientNet-B0, and the best performance for mobile and resource-constrained environments was seen with MobileNetV2. The proposed system based on AI-driven mobile app is a scalable, cost-effective, and non-destructive solution for maize seed quality assessment and can be used for modern precision agriculture practices.
Edible oils, the main constituent of daily diet, plays important role to provide energy and maintain metabolic mechanism of body. It is most important to check the chemical composition of oil because several quality problems are associated with quality of edible oils such as oxidative deterioration. Oxidation not effects the quality of oil also makes it unfit for use. Several factors are responsible for oxidation such as; storage, temperature, humidity etc. In present study, the chemical composition of Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) was monitored at different humidic conditions for 65 days by, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry and conventional titrimetric methods. Oxidation of PSO was assessed by measuring peroxide value (PV) (1.93 -7.35 meq/kg), p-anisidine value (p-AV) (7.83 -36.40), free fatty acid content (FFA) (0.95 -2.19%) and total oxidation value (TOTOX) (11.75 – 51.10).Current study shows that the oxidation influences the quality characteristics of PSO. PV increased from initial day28th day of oxidation and decreased till 281.89 to 3.71 meq/kg. On very first day the PV value of PSO samples were noted. When the PV values of all three samples were compared with values of 28th day of oxidation, an increased trend was observed from day 1st to 28th day. The same increased trend was followed till last day of oxidation whereas slight decreased in PV was noticed till 42nd day. FFA level was observed continuously increased from initial day till last day, the p-AV value also enhanced from day 1st to last day and totox value was also observed in increased order during 65 days of storage at different humidic conditions. FT-IR study illustrated major effect on the CLnA band during oxidation. Furthermore. In conclusion significant variation in the chemical composition of pomegranate seed oil was observed during oxidation at different humidic conditions which also affected the chemical behavour of oil. It was also suggested that humidic condition is not suitable for quality and edible point of view of oil.
This study was planned to look at the influence of rural poultry farming on poverty reduction in Tehsil Toba Tek Singh that involved 302 farmers from 35 villages and. The majority of farmers used backyard poultry for both food and revenue, raising 10–40 birds per household. The results showed that farmers were between the ages of 36 and 40 on average. Thirty percent passed the matriculation exam, while forty-six percent had less than ten years of education. It was observed that 263 farmers (87.1%) came from low-income group and 46% of the poultry care and management was done by women and children. While there was a positive association between financial status and education level (0.205), family size and education level (0.071), and family size and financial status (0.032), the study found a negative correlation between age and education level (-0.159).The birds kept in study area produced just 39 eggs annually and were late to lay their first egg (6.75 months). Hatchability was 69% and the average egg weight was 39 grammes. Poultry birds cost an average of 819.2 ± 59.80 PKR per year, housing cost 952.5 ± 92.93 PKR, feed cost 1111.6 ± 142.30, immunisation cost 168.5 ± 15.42, and treatment cost PKR 508.3 ± 31.81 respectively. There was no funding allocated for sanitising rural poultry housing and biosecurity, and very little was spent on vaccination. Egg sales generated average revenue of 9742.2 ± 674.17 PKR/year, making 95% of total revenue. Poultry farming generated an average yearly profit of 6438 PKR. Less activity (77%), off-feed (57%), feather loss (6%), diarrhoea (55%), blood in the faeces (9%), and trouble breathing (13%), were the most prevalent illness signs seen. Only Newcastle Disease was vaccinated, and 72.6% of farmers vaccinated their chickens. Sanitation practices were not followed, despite farmers adopting preventative measures such adequate housing (64.9%), immunisation (72.6%), and correct diet (66.3%). Dogs (40.9%), snakes (21.2%), rats (8.3%), cats (7.9%), and foxes (9.2%) were the most common predators. Predation was the main cause of disease outbreaks (23.5%) and poultry deaths caused due to predation was (75.8%). Due to unorganized marketing structure, farmers did not receive premium pricing for their rural poultry and the products. A lack of a marketplace (65.2%), fluctuating pricing (49.3%), erratic demand (40.6%), and the involvement of intermediaries (20.5%), expensive transportation (20.1%), and a lack of money (4.3%) were among the issues encountered when marketing. Farmers looked to NGOs for support in order to enhance the rural poultry industry because there were no loans available for poultry production.
