Anti-hyperglycaemic potential of Psidium guajava raw fruit peel.

Background & objectives: This study was undertaken to evaluate the glycaemic potential of aqueous extract of Psidium guajava unripe fruit peel on blood glucose level (BGL) of normal and streptozotocin induced mild and severely diabetic rats as an extension of our previous work carried out on Psidium guajava ripe fruit peel. Methods: The aqueous extract of P. guajava unripe fruits was prepared. Male 6-8 wk old albino Wistar rats were selected for the experiments. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin infection. Blood glucose levels were measured by glucose oxidase method. Antihyperglycaemic activity of the extract was assessed in mild and severely diabetic rats. Results: The maximum fall of 21.2 per cent (P<0.01) and 26.9 per cent (P<0.01) after 3 h of glucose administration during glucose tolerance test (GTT) was observed in BGL from a dose of 400 mg/kg, identifi ed as the most effective dose, in normal and mild diabetic rats respectively. In severely diabetic rats the maximum fall of 20.8 and 17.5 per cent in fasting blood glucose (FBG) and post prandial glucose (PPG) levels, and 50 per cent (P<0.01) in urine sugar levels was observed with the same dose. Haemoglobin level increased by 5.2 per cent (P<0.05) and body weight by 2.5 per cent (P<0.05) after 21 days treatment. Interpretation & conclusions: Normal, mild and severely diabetic rat models had shown hypoglycaemic as well as antidiabetic effect of the unripe guava fruit peel aqueous extract. Further studies need to be done to characterize the active components of the peel.

Studies on chemical composition and energy transformation in river Ganga at Kanpur and Varanasi due to environmental degradation.

Impact of effluents discharged in Ganga through various sources on chemical composition, energy transformation rate and level of heavy metals was studied at Kanpur and Varanasi. The effluents were found to be nil in oxygen with acidic in oxygen with acidic to neutral pH (6.8-7.0) and having very high values of free CO2 (40-68 mg l-1), alkalinity (300.0-412.0 mg l-1), conductance (1082.0-1824.0 μmhos), total dissolved solids (542.0-912.0 mg l-1), hardness (228.0-330.0 mg l-1), chloride (42.0-60.0 mg l-1), organic matter (8.4-18.2 mg l-1) and BOD load (98.0-248.0 mg l-1). The heavy metals Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb and Zn were also quite high in the effluents (48.6-78.4, 54.0-84.6, 9.8-12.4, 72.4-84.0 and 148.6-284.0 μg l-1 respectively). The discharged effluents induced severe reduction in oxygen (av. 0.82-3.4 mg l-1) and sharp increase in the level of free CO2 (av. 10.8-24.8 mg l-1), alkalinity (182.4-288.4 mg l-1), conductance (480.0- 628.0 mmhos), total dissolved solids (254.0-315.0 mg l-1), hardness (170.0-259.0 mg l-1), chloride (36.0-52.0 mg l-1), organic matter (4.8-6.8 mg l-1) and BOD load (36.4- 58.4 mg l-1) at the discharge point (OF zones) from their comparatively much lower values before discharge (AOF zone). The rate of energy transformation and photosynthetic efficiency also reduced considerably at the discharge point (av. 1060-2101 calm-2day-1 and 0.09-0.18%) from high values before discharged point (av. 4045-4733 calm-2day-1 and 0.34-0.42%). The level of Cu, Cr, Cd, Pb and Zn also showed higher values at the discharged point (20.4-38.0, 22.4-54.8, 5.2-7.8, 30.8-72.0 and 64.8-120.8 μg l-1 respectively). Considerable improvement was observed below the discharge (BOF zone). Comparison with earlier observation revealed that the magnitude of impact has reduced considerably after the regulation in the discharge both in he respect of chemical composition and energy transformation rates.