During the present study Coprinopsis lagopus (Fr.) Redhead was reported for the first time from Hero Shah Valley, District Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan. This is a short lived inedible species found on dung. This species is characterized first by white then gray to black fruiting body and at maturity the gills become blackish in color and elliptical in shape having smooth basidiospores which are (10-14 x 6-8.5 µm) in size.
This study aims to evaluate the effect of drying parameters on the yield and chemical composition of the extracted essential oil from bay laurel leaves (Laurus Nobilis L) grown in Tunisia. Bay laurel leaves were dried in a convective hot air dryer. Experiments were established in a range of temperature of 45-70°C, a range of relative humidity of 5-45% and a range of air velocity varying between 1, 1.5 and 2 m/s. The volatile compounds were isolated by hydro-distillation extraction method and analyzed by gas GC-MS. A total number of 23 compounds were identified. The principal component analysis (PCA) of Laurus Nobilis.L was employed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of essential oil components. The cluster analysis of Laurus Nobilis L (HCA) was classified into two subsets, characterized according to the major essential oil components. It was found that drying time, essential oil yield and the percentage of volatile compounds were slightly influenced by drying temperature. The temperature of 60°C was the most suitable temperature which provides best results: it shortened drying time and causes the lowest losses of volatile compounds as compared to fresh leaves.
Releasing of heavy metals into the environment is a worldwide major problem. The adsorption process has been preferred to remove lead ions from water as its low initial cost, simplicity, and ease of operation. In Egypt, sawdust is produced continually as a waste of wood. The retention profile of lead ions from aqueous solutions onto the solid sorbent sawdust has been investigated in a batch system. The characterization of sawdust was performed using furrier transform infra-red spectrum (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Different factors as contact time, adsorbent dose, pH, temperature, and initial metal concentration on lead removal have been studied. The most effective method for lead removal from water was applied using wood sawdust at 40 minutes contact time, 7pH, 10oC, and 0.6g/100ml sawdust dose. The maximum removal percentage of lead was 85%. This low cost and natural bio-adsorbent successfully removed lead ions from water and can be used for water treatment.
This study was undertaken to investigate the ecophysiological response of Avicennia marina to the fluctuating conditions along the Red Sea shoreline over the year 2017/2018. Parallel changes in ambient sea water characteristics over the same experimental period were determined. Three visits to the experimental localities were paid on three prescheduled intervals corresponding to spring (April), summer (August) and winter (December) seasons to study sites namely ’Al Birk’ (B: 18° 11’ 36’’ N, 41° 32’ 50’’ E) and ’Huraydhah’ (H: 17° 48’ 29’’ N, 41° 51’ 57’’ E). The dwarfing and the sparseness of the A. marina forests along the Red Sea shoreline were mainly due to the harsh environmental conditions. Namely, the high and the large fluctuation of temperature, the low precipitation and relative humidity, and the high fluctuation in sea water salinity concentrations were the major harmful environmental conditions in the Red Sea shores. Among the both study sites, plants from \'Al Birk\' (B) accumulated sodium and chloride with lesser amounts than do plants from \'Huraidhah\' (H), especially on warm seasons. Equally, they exhibited the highest accumulation of water soluble carbohydrates and proline and the lowest amount of starch; all these traits are a sign of a high tolerance to the environmental conditions compared to plants from H. In addition, in case of optimal net photosynthetic rate which occurred on date 3, plants from site B showed the lowest transpiration rate and the highest intrinsic water use efficiency compared to plants from site H. These results were in favor of the high tolerance of plants from B compared to those from H site to the Red sea environmental conditions.