The aflatoxin producing fungi Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, and Aspergillus nomius are highly hepatotoxic, carcinogenic and immunosuppressive which can spread quickly in environment and contaminate stored food. It can lead to serious threats to both human and animal health hazards by causing various diseases. Aflatoxin can breakdown DNA and causes genomic damage during cell division, leading to cancer even death where these breakdown products accumulate in the liver. The chemistry and biosynthesis process of the aflatoxin is discussed in present review study in a nutshell along with their occurrences and the health hazards to human. This review focuses on sources, production, biosynthesis, toxicology, detection, and control techniques of aflatoxins to assure food safety. Present review study is valuable as it provides knowledge on aflatoxins toxicity which helps in food security and safety as well as reduces human diseases in future.

The aim of the study was to investigate the phytochemical constituents and antibacterial activity of ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. belonging to family Moringaceae. Distilled water and ethanol was used to extract the bioactive compounds from the leaves of M. oleifera to detect the phytochemical constituents and to screen its antibacterial activity. The phytochemical constituents were screened by qualitative analysis method. The phytochemical screening indicated the presence of tannins, flavonoids, glycosides, terpenoids, phenols, etc., in leaf extract of M. oleifera. The antibacterial activity of ethanolic leaf extract of M. oleifera was examined against gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli). Antibacterial assay were done with ethanolic extract of M. oleifera in volumes 50, 100, 150 and 200 μL/well, using agar well diffusion method. The study showed that ethanolic extract of M. oleifera showed potent antibacterial activity against S. Aureus and E. coli.

The sand mines at Gumulong Tonggoh in Cirebon Regency use an open mining system. Open mining activities can cause environmental damage and economic losses. The present investigation was carried out to analyze the economic valuation of environmental damage due to sand mine in Gumulung Tonggoh, Cirebon District, West Java Province, Indonesia. The sampling method and environmental damage analysis use purposive sampling. Data of laboratory tests of soil physical, chemical and biological properties was analyzed by statistical tests. The economic method of environmental damage valuation uses the Ministry of Environment guidelines (2006). Sand mining activities cause soil and environmental damage to the soil (soil solum, bulk density, permeability, and soil fauna) and vegetation (land cover). However, sand mining has caused changes in soil properties, namely a significant increase in bulk density of +0.49 (53.85%), reduction in porosity of 18.26 (27.79%), decrease in Ca of -11.17 (60.48%), a decrease in Mg of -5.76 (60.95%), a decrease in CEC of -19.06 (79.88%) and a decrease in the total microorganism of 47.00 (83.19). The total of economic valuation for environmental damage due to sand mining is Rp. 39,349,860,000. Therefore, the sand mining significantly contributed the environmental damage in the Gumulung Tonggoh, Cirebon District, West Java Province in Indonesia.

A field study on ‘effects of integrated nutrient management on vegetative growth and flowering quality of gladiolus (Gladiolus hybridus Hort.) cv. American Beauty’ was carried out at College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar during 2016-17. It was found that cv. American Beauty with treatment the tallest plants (121.50 cm), maximum number of leaves per plant (9.03), the maximum  leaf length (38.20 cm), earliest spike emergence (59.22 days), minimum number of days to floret opening (12.50 days), maximum number of florets per spike (17.53), maximum spike length (108.50 cm), maximum floret diameter (9.01 cm), maximum rachis length (39.03 cm) was found in T12 (RDF 75% + Azotobacter + PSB + Mycorrhiza). The maximum stem diameter (1.52 cm) and maximum spike girth (0.97 cm) was recorded in T10 (RDF 75% + PSB + Mycorrhiza). On the basis of foregoing summary, the results may be concluded as follow: The different bio-fertilizer treatments had significant influence on the vegetative growth, flowering and post-harvest of gladiolus in the present study. Application of bio fertilizer singly and in different combinations has significant effect on all the vegetative, floral and corms parameters. Therefore, among various bio fertilizers and their combinations, Azotobacter, PSB and Myccorhiza were found the best, followed by un-inoculated treatment show least value for these parameters during the seasons of experiment.

The effects of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.): soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotations on the respective crops are limited. This manuscript discusses the response of irrigated soybean in crop rotation with cotton. An irrigated soybean: cotton rotation experiment was conducted from the year 2012 through 2015 near Elizabeth, MS. The crop rotation sequences were included continuous soybean (SSSS), continuous cotton (CCCC), cotton followed by soybean (SCSC), soybean followed by cotton (CSCS), soybean followed by two year of cotton (SCCS), and cotton followed by two year of soybean (CSSC). The rotations were grown under two production systems conventional and transgenetic with respect to weed control. During this study, a weed control treatment of (pendimethalin pre-emergence vs. glyphosate post-emergence) as included on the soybean plots was used. The soybean yields across rotations within a year were not significantly different. The means yields differed among years (3655.1, 3023.6, 3500.6 and 2600.3 Kg ha-1 for the year 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively) and appear related to difference in rainfall/irrigation amounts. The results revealed that the weights of 100 seed samples averaged 13.9g in the year 2015 which differed from the previous years (16.2, 15.6, and 16.2g; 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively). Therefore, the rotations of cotton with soybean appear to have neither a beneficial or negative effect on soybean yield.

The present investigation was carried out to determine the contamination, enrichment and translocation of heavy metals in vegetables viz., spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) grown in the composite effluent (mixture of industrial and domestic wastewater) irrigated soil. The composite effluent of Hindon River was significantly (P<0.05/P<0.01) loaded with different physical (TDS, EC), chemical (pH, BOD5, COD, Cl –, TKN, PO43-, SO42-, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+), heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn) and microbial  (total bacteria, total fungi, total coliform and yeast) parameters in comparison to the ground water. The composite effluent irrigation significantly (P<0.05) altered the soil characteristics like EC, pH, PO43-, K+, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Pb in the soil used for the cultivation of S. oleracea, T. foenum-graecum and C. sativum. The composite effluent irrigation significantly increased the contents of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn in the S. oleracea, T. foenum-graecum and C. sativum. The enrichment factor of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn in vegetables was recorded to be plant part specific after irrigation with composite effluent. The enrichment factor of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn were recorded in the order of Cd>Zn>Pb> Fe>Cr>Mn>Cu for S. oleracea, Cd>Zn>Fe>Mn>Pb>Cr>Cu for T. foenum-graecum and Cd>Zn>Pb>Fe>Cu>Mn>Cr for C. sativum after irrigation with composite effluent. Therefore, disposal of sewage and industrial effluents in the Hindon River must be strictly prohibited to save the existence of the Hindon River and irrigation practices using composite effluent should also be banned to prevent the possible health hazards due to consumption of contaminated vegetables.

The field experiment was carried out at the Dusty Acres Farm, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (JNKVV), Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh to study the effect of integrated nutrient management for growth and yield of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Variety: Jawahar Ashwagandha-134). Tallest plants (49.35 cm) were observed at harvest stage, whereas higher number of branches per plant (5.78) of W. somnifera was observed at 90 DAS with T11, respectively. The mean number of leaves per plant (125.40) and LAI (10.345) of W. somnifera was higher at 90 DAS with T11. Mean CGR was maximum (2.536 g m-2 week-1) and mean RGR was highest (0.098 gg-1 day-1) of W. somnifera at 90 DAS and thereafter decline at 120 DAS and harvest stage with T11. Whereas, mean dry matter (1392.60 kg/ha) production of W. somnifera was higher at harvesting stage of crop with T11. Significantly higher mean root length (16.30 cm), root girth (2.26 cm) and mean dry root yield (612.8 kg/ha) of W. somnifera was recorded under T11 than the rest of treatments. Mean number of berries per plant (30.78) and mean number of seeds per berry (194.17) of W. somnifera were significantly higher under T11. Higher mean seed yield (62.6 kg/ha) and harvest index (43.61%) of W. somnifera was observed under T11 as compared to other treatments. Therefore, 100% recommended dose of NPK through fertilizers along with vermicompost (2.5 t/ha), FYM (5.0 t/ha) and ZnSO4 20kg/ha (T11) followed by 50% recommended dose of NPK through fertilizers along with vermicompost (2.5 t/ha), FYM (5.0 t/ha) and ZnSO4 20kg/ha (T14) and 100% recommended dose of NPK through fertilizers along with vermicompost (2.5 t/ha) and ZnSO4 20kg/ha (T10) were found to be better integrated nutrient management for the cultivation of W. somnifera.

The present study was conducted to determine the levels of oxytetracycline residues in Thai Koi (Anabas testudineus Bloch) collected from some local fish markets of Sylhet Sadar Upazilla, Bangladesh during March to August, 2016. For the purpose of the study, 24 fresh Thai Koi fish samples were randomly collected from four (4) local markets of Sylhet Sadar Upazilla. Concentration of oxytetracycline residues in collected fish samples were determined by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) at the Food Toxicology Laboratory of Institute of Food Science and Technology, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dhaka. The results showed that 9 (37.50%) samples with detectable amount of oxytetracycline residues (mean = 42.30±3.00 ppb) were found in Thai Koi. Oxytetracycline residues level below detection limit was also reported in 15 (62.50%) samples of Thai Koi during this study. The detected residues of oxytetracycline in this fish sample did not exceed the maximum residue limit (MRL) 100 ppb recommended by the European Commission. Though residue level of oxytetracycline is lower than the MRL but long term exposure could be hazardous for human health. For that reason, control of antibiotic usage in aquaculture, regular residue monitoring, legislations and regulations for the use of antimicrobials in aquaculture and food safety education are utmost things in this regard.

This experiment was performed to optimize the response surface methodology (RSM) based reduction of cadmium (Cd2+) and lead (Pb2+) from the aqueous solution and to study anatomical effects of Cd2+ and Pb2+ stress on stomata of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [Mart.] Solms) during phytoremediation. Laboratory experiments were carried out to grow E. crassipes plants in six treatments of Cd2+ and Pb2+ viz., 0 mgL-1 (Control), 2 mgL-1, 4 mgL-1, 6 mgL-1, 8 mgL-1 and 10 mgL-1 in 25 liter capacity glass aquariums. A 2-factor central composite design (CCD) with total 25 experimental runs and the predictor regression model equation was applied to optimize the prime conditions for the Cd2+ and Pb2+ reduction. Different plant growth attributes viz., translocation factor; kinetic plant growth rate, fresh plant biomass and total chlorophyll content were also found highest up to 4 mgL-1 concentration of Cd2+ and Pb2+. Structural damage in the stomata of E. crassipes was evaluated under microscopic view and found that above 4 mgL-1 concentration of Cd2+ and Pb2+ in the medium, significant structural damage to the stomata of leaves of the E. crassipes occurred. The results of this study concluded that E. crassipes can remediate Cd2+ and Pb2+ from the medium more efficiently at 1.22 mgL-1 concentration and the developed model can be used to navigate the design space. Furthermore, the different plant growth attributes were also affected above 4 mgL-1 concentration of Cd2+ and Pb2+ in the medium.

Paris polyphylla Smith. is a well-known herbal medicine. In Arunachal Pradesh, P. polyphylla has drawn much attention among villagers, print media and the wild life government officials. With the advantage of suitable climate, soil, geographical and weather conditions, this healing herb grows luxuriantly in Arunachal Pradesh but the excessive extraction of this species for illegal trading has resulted into the alarming loss of natural populations. The present study was carried out to study the distribution, population status and chemical compositions of P. polyphylla in Arunachal Pradesh. To answers the objectives of the studies; Interview, Personal observation, field visit and GCMS were used in the study methods. The results of present study reflect unscientific collection, illegal trading, drastic loss of natural population in Arunachal Pradesh; the ethanolic extract gave forty five phytocompounds with numbers of health wellness compounds. Antidepressant, anti uric acid forming compound, anti-cancer, antihypertensive, compounds useful in Parkinson’s disease care and immune system improvement are the major phytocompounds present in P. polyphylla stem. Linolein, 2- mono was found to occupy highest area percentage in TIC peak report with 20.21% while Spirost-5-EN-3-OL, (3.beta. 25R) occupy second highest with 15.31 percent area, respectively. The present study shows need of immediate conservational measures, awareness among the villagers, further phytochemical studies and initiation of propagation to increase the population.