---

Smallholder farmers in northern Punjab struggle to adopt sustainable practices like essential oil extraction, despite their potential to improve livelihoods. Core elements from theory of planned behavior, technology acceptance model, and innovation diffusion theory are amalgamated to develop an adoption model, which is subsequently analyzed using structural equation model. The results unveil significant mediating effects involving attitudes (perceived usefulness, easiness), normative concerns (social influence), and indicating maximum variation (R²) regarding by-product preparation (0.76) and steam distillation (0.65). The model successfully accounts moderating effects of socioeconomic variables, indicating a robust association among latent variables. Hence, improving the adoption behavior among smallholders necessitates a focus on socio-psychological and socioeconomic factors.

 

---

In this paper, results of the study on heavy metals solubility behavior of Ni-Cd filter cakes in Iranian Zinc Mine Development Company (IZMDC) plants are investigated. The effects of pH, temperature, liquid/solid ratio and contact time on the release of heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Ni and Pb) into water media was examined. Also, “Extraction procedure tests” approved by EPA were applied to the residues. Moreover, statistical data analysis was performed and the most important parameters for dissolution of Zn, Cd, Ni and Pb were found to be the pH and L/S.. The concentration of Cd and Pb in the extracts obtained from filter cakes by applying EPA extraction procedures at pH 5 are over 1.0 and 5.0 mg/L, which are toxicity limits, respectively. The concentrations of other metals in the solution are above the limits given by various quality standards for surface water.

 

---

TheChah Nimeh reservoirs of Sistan is as one of the main water sources of Zabol City used for drinking, agriculture, industry and livestock purposes. This study aimed to determine the contribution of the natural and concentration factors of heavy metals such as Cd, Pb and Cu in sediment of Chah Nimeh of Sistan. The concentrations of heavy metals in surface sediments were studied in six stations during 2013. To determine the concentration of the heavy metals atomic absorption spectrometer (Contr AA 700) was used. Sequential extraction analysis  was applied based on the share of natural and concentration factor sources of heavy metals. Sequential extraction analysis showed that a considerable part of the Pb (63.67%), Cd (55.17%) and Cu (57.17%) were from natural sources. The highest concentrations of Cd and Pb were 0.81 and 5.57 mg kg^-1, respectively, obtained in station one and the maximum Cu concentration was observed in station five (37.8 mg kg^-1), while the lowest concentration of Cd, Pb and Cu were 0.34, 3.95 and 31.4 mg kg^-1, respectively.

---

Pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on some morphological characteristics of Thlaspi caerulescens L., and also on the accumulation of lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in roots and shoots of T. caerulescens L.. Experiments were then set up in three treated pots with doses of 3, 6 and 9 mmol kg^-1 of EDTA and control pots (C: uncontaminated soil and W: contaminated soil). The results indicated the significant effect of EDTA on morphological characteristics and accumulation of heavy metals in the plant (P<0.05). Data revealed that the maximum of germination (99.11 and 96.00%), maximum of root length (73.31 and 70.14 mm) and maximum of shoot length (51.64 and 44.14 mm) and maximum of biomass weight (61.31 and 52.18 mg) were achieved by C treatment followed by W treatment. The maximum bioconcentration factor (3.57) and translocation factor (0.89) was observed on 9 mmol kg^-1 EDTA. In addition, the effect of EDTA on Tolerance Index (TI) showed that the TI decreased with increasing doses of EDTA. The findings indicated that the study species tolerated heavy metals concentration. EDTA had potential to promote the uptake of heavy metals for T. caerulescens L., butwith respect to non-significant differences between 6 mmol kg^-1 EDTA and 9 mmol kg^-1 EDTA treatments. Thereore, low dose of EDTA suggested to be applied because of its environmental risk.

---

The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of methanol and acetone extracts of three marine algae, including Hypnea hamulosa, Gracilaria corticata and Enteromorpha intestinalis wereinvestigated.Antioxidant activities were determined by means of total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic compounds, DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power. Antibacterial activity was determined using a paper disc diffusion method against pathogenic bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Acetone extract of E. intestinalis showed the highest antioxidant activity and contained the highest phenolic compounds. The highest percentage of DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed in the methanol extract of H. hamulosa (p<0.05). The highest ferric reducing antioxidant power was observed in the methanol extract of Glacilaria (p<0.05). The strongest inhibition (p<0.05) against L. monocytogenes was shown by the methanol extract of E. intestinalis and the highest inhibition against B. subtilis and E. coli was observed in the acetone extract (p<0.05). In conclusion, E. intestinalis extracts showed favorable antioxidant and antibacterial activity suggesting its application in food and pharmacological industries.

---

MeHg and total mercury concentrations were determined in the muscle tissues of four fish species (Cyprinus carpio, Rutilus frisii, Carassius auratus and Esox lucius) from Anzali wetland (Guilan, Iran). Fish with the highest amount of MeHg was selected to determine the thermodynamic parameters of MeHg extraction. The extractions process was performed in the range of temperatures 331.15 to 367.15 K and at atmospheric pressure. Results show the extraction of MeHg from SH groups of sulfhydryl proteins was an endothermic process with a positive value for entropy and Gibbs free energy changes at the room temperature. Significant difference was found between MeHg content at T=367.15 K and other temperatures. Correlation coefficients results showed that the mercury concentration in muscle tissue was significantly related to the length and weight of fish (p≤0.01). Also, thermodynamic parameters of methylmercury extractions had significant correlation (p≤0.05) with length and weight of the six fish specimen.

---

Research subject: Saponin compounds have been considered as anti-cancer, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral activity agents. In addition, they are also used as foaming agents in some food industries. There are few studies for assessing the extraction of this substance, so far. The main purpose of this study is to assess and compare the extraction yield of Saponin by conventional extracting using solvent and super-critical fluid method.
Research approach: In the extraction with solvent, the effect of three independent parameters including mass of solid material, percentage of ethanol solvent, and time of extraction on process performance was investigated. Yield of extraction and Saponin concentration were considered as indexes for evaluating the process performance. In the super critical fluid extraction, the effects of extraction time, pressure, and temperature were investigated. In this method, carbon dioxide was used as super critical fluid and 80% ethanol was used as co-solvent. In order to design of experiment and process optimization, response surface methodology and central composite design was used.
Main results: In optimum condition of extraction with solvent, the mass of solid material, ethanol solvent percentage, and extraction time were 5.4 g, 77.5%, and 7 h, respectively. In this condition, the maximum efficiency of extraction yield of 1.12 mg of saponins per a gram of dry primary substance was obtained. The results indicated that time and solvent percentage were significant parameters.  Further, interaction between two factors of time and solvent percentage was significant. For supercritical fluid extraction, in optimum condition, extraction time, pressure, and temperature were 10 h, 400 bar, and 50 °C, respectively. Extraction yield in this condition was 20% more than the yield of conventional method. It is concluded that the supercritical fluid extraction method has higher performance than conventional method.

---

  In this study, the effect of olive variety (Kroneiki, Iranian native oleaginous and mission) and enzyme concentration on yield, acidity, peroxide value, iodine value, turbidity, integral color index and total polyphenols of extracted oil was investigated. The statistical analysis was carried out using factorial experiment 3×3 in Completely Randomized Design(CRD)with three replicates.Our results showed that the effect of variety on all of examined factors was significant(P>0.01).The effect of enzyme concentration on extraction yield, color, turbidity and total polyphenol showed significant difference(P>0.01). Althought, there was not significant effect(P>0.05)on acidity, peroxide value and iodine value. Color and phenolic content in extracted oil produced by aqueous enzymatic process as compared with those in control showed significant difference(P>0.01)between 13 to 62.2 and 13.9 to 72.6 percent,respectively.Turbidity showed significant(P>0.01)reduction between 29.6 to 67.4 percent.On the basis of our result, the yield of oil extraction by processing aid was significantly(P>0.01)higher(1.3-2.4 percent)than that of control. It was concluded that application of enzymatic pretreatment increases quantity and quality of extracted oil and it is applicable as a processing aid in oil extraction unit operation.  

---

       Vegetable oils contain a little amount of phospholipids or phosphatides and in soybean oil compared with other oils usually more phosphatides exists. In the oil refining process , phosphatides exert adverse effects on the quantity and quality of the oil and their presence in the oil distributed in supermarkets could also create undesirable effects during consumption. If, however, phosphatides are extracted properly from the oil, they could have valuable applications such as emulsification in many food systems.Five varieties of soybean cultivated in Iran ( Sahar, Williams, Gorgan, Simes and Hill) were selected for this investigation. Hexane could be used to extract oil and phosphatides but the output of the extracted phosphatides is low. This is due to the polar nature of phosphatides which does not allow these compounds to be completely dissolved in a non-polar solvent like hexane. In fact, the proper solvent for this purpose is a mixture of chloroform and methanol, but such a solvent is expensive and its recovery is costly as well. Thus, a kind of hexane, containing some polar compounds and manufactured in Iran was used for the extraction of oil. With this solvent and relatively severe conditions for the extraction, the amount of the extracted phosphatides increased to 1.72% . Considering that the phosphatides^, constituents could affect the process of their separation from the oil and also their functional characteristics, the amounts of individual phophatides form each varieties were determined. The results indicated statistical significant difference among different varieties (P< 0.05). Although, for fatty acid composition, relatively considerable difference was observed among oils from different varieties, this difference was less on the fatty acid composition of their phosphatides.

---

Research subject: With the rapid development of science and technology, cerium and cerium oxide are widely used in various fields, including in the manufacture of aluminum, aluminum alloys, some steels and in permanent magnets, catalysts, Polishing powder, Glass, Cinema, and Ceramic Technology. Solvent extraction is one of the effective techniques for extraction, separation, and purification of cerium.
Research approach: The extraction of cerium­(IV) from sulfuric acid solutions using Cyanex 921 in kerosene was investigated. The different parameters affecting the extraction process of cerium(IV) such as pH of aqueous solutions­, reagent, metal ion concentration, contact time as well as temperature, are separately investigated. Experiments in the pH range of 0.5 to 5.5, at 25±1 ^oC­, using Cyanx 921 in the concentration range of 0.06 to 0.4 mol L^-1, and a mixture of Cyanx 921 and D2EHPA was performed in different ratios.
Main results: From the temperature study, the extraction reaction for Ce­(IV) was found to be exothermic in nature. The results indicated that the effective extraction of cerium(IV) from sulfuric acid solutions cannot be achieved in a single equilibration because the solubility of Cyanex 921 in aliphatic diluents is limited at ambient temperature. To rectify this issue, the possibility of using a synergistic mixture of Cyanex 921 and D₂EHPA as extractant system to recover cerium(IV) from sulfuric acid solutions was investigated. Mixtures of Cyanex 921 and D₂EHPA resulted in synergistic extraction of cerium­(IV) from sulfuric acid solutions. The results indicated that, under experimental conditions, the maximum synergistic coefficient was obtained at the molar ratio of (0.6M D₂EHPA_­/­0.2_­M Cyanex 921) 3.0, and cerium(IV) was extracted into organic phase in the form of Ce(SO₄)(HSO₄₎₂.­Cyanex 921.

---

Aims: The use of medications with plant origin covers a wide variety of maladies and constitutes an alternative way to antibiotic therapy, which seems to be no longer promising due to the widespread antibiotics resistance among the pathogenic microorganisms.
Active principles having antimicrobial activity could be extracted and purified from plants and used in developing new medications. Among several diseases which have historically scourged man, some of the gram-negative bacteria are potentially epidemic and considered as one of the most outstanding causes of diarrhea. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Thymus kotschyanus extracts.
Materials & Methods: The antimicrobial effect of T.  kotschyanus  Boiss leaves extract on some gram-negative bacteria strains was assayed in vitro by the disk diffusion technique. Dried and crushed plant materials were extracted from distilled water by evaporation and distillation. Finally, the antimicrobial assays were carried out for the plant, and the results were compared with an ampicillin disk results.
Findings: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhimurium, Entrobacter cloacae, Proteus mirabilis, and Shigella dysenteriae were apparently killed by the extract, as judged by the presence of growth inhibition halos in the assays.
The results of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) showed that E. coli and E. cloacae strains were better inhibited by the extract.
Conclusion: The above results were similar to those from ampicillin disk, suggesting that T. kotschyanus Boiss could be used as a source of active principles against some gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, the tested Thymus extract could be considered as a valuable natural antibacterial source, which seems to be applicable in both medicine and food industry.

 

---

Research subject:
As a low price biomass, rice husk is able to accumulate a large amount of silica in its texture. The process for extracting this silica is greener than the conventional ones. The present research addresses the effects of the different process parameters on amorphous silica extraction from rice husk through a precipitation method.
Research approach
In the extraction process, first the rice husk was burned in the open air and then turned into white ash in an electric furnace. This ash was converted into sodium silicate solution using NaOH, and finally the silica was precipitated from this solution by sulfuric acid. The effect of solid to solvent ratio, the duration of the alkaline dissolution step as well as the pH and temperature of acid precipitation step have been investigated. Moreover, a special application of the amorphous silica in rubber industry was also investigated.
Main results
The results showed that a low solid to solvent ratio at the alkaline dissolution stage as well as an acidic pH along with a high precipitation temperature are required to obtain the highest production efficiency and to obtain high purity amorphous silica. The purity and chemistry of obtained silica were quite similar to commercial sample in the rubber industry; however, the surface area and pore volume of obtained silica was less than the commercial one. It was also found that prolonging the alkali dissolution step slightly increases the production efficiency. The obtained silica exhibited very close performance to the commercial sample, in the rubber-to-fiber adhesion system (RFS). This indicates the high ability of precipitated silica to be replaced by commercial types, which are mainly produced by more cost-effective and less biocompatible processes.

---

Effect of different temperature (30 to 90 °C), time (10 to 70 min) and pH (4 to 9) conditions were investigated on the extraction efficiency of polysaccharides from seaweed E. intestinalis. Results showed that the extraction temperature had the highest effect on the enhancement of polysaccharide content. The highest polysaccharide extraction yield was achieved at 90 °C, 30 min and pH 8. Therefore, antioxidant effects of polysaccharides obtained at temperatures 30, 70 and 90 °C, times 10, 30 and 50 min, and pH 4, 7 and 8 with significant yield differences were evaluated. DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing power and total antioxidant activity were employed in order to evaluate the antioxidant properties of polysaccharides. The maximum DPPH radical scavenging activity was obtained for polysaccharides of 30 °C (73.90%), 30 min (95.08%) and pH 7 (75.61%). The highest reducing power was achieved for polysaccharides of 70 °C (97.49%), 50 min (99.05%) and pH 8 (97.49%). The maximum total antioxidant activity was obtained for polysaccharides of 70 °C (49.97), 10 min (62.32) and pH 7 (59.11 mg ascorbic acid/ g dried seaweed powder?). Overall, findings of current study suggest that the polysaccharides from green seaweed E. intestinalis possess antioxidant capacity and that the use of high temperature, long time and acidic or basic pH in extraction process results in diminishing this antioxidant capacity.     

---

A total of ten isolates of fungi with Rhizoctonia-like mycelia were obtained from infected roots and stems of Pistachio Pistacia vera grown in a commercial nursery in Rafsanjan, Iran, during the autumn of 2011. The infected seedlings showed symptoms of chlorosis that later turned to necrosis. All of the isolates were identified as binucleate Rhizoctonia on the basis of hyphal characteristics and nuclear number. They were tested for detection of the anastomosis group, optimum growth temperature, rDNA-ITS region traits and pathogenicity on pistachio seedlings in vitro and in vivo. The analysis of hyphal anastomosis reaction was carried out with the tester isolates of binucleate Rhizoctonia AG-A, AG-Ba, AG-G and AG-F as well as multinucleate Rhizoctonia AG4 as already detected on pistachio seedlings. The optimum temperature for growth of binucleate Rhizoctonia sp.was 35 °C. In in vivo test, the symptoms of root rot were observed 30 days after inoculation and mortality happened two weeks thereafter. According to molecular characteristics and anastomosis test groups, all isolates showed greatest similarity to anastomosis group AG-F. This finding is the first report of anastomosis group F (AG-F) of binucleate Rhizoctonia, as causal agent of root and stem rot disease of pistachio in the world and Iran.

---

Bark beetles are one of the most important pests in forests. Because of their small size and highly similar morphological characters, molecular approaches may be quite useful for a valid species determination. In this context molecular identification represents an accurate and modern method for species identification. The purity and high quantity of extracted DNA have important role in successful amplification of the target fragment of the genome. The aim of this study was comparing different DNA extraction methods in order to choose the highest quality and quantity of DNA extract for the identification of bark beetles. During the study bark beetles were collected from different parts of the North forests of Iran. Five different DNA extraction methods were performed and evaluated on individual specimen including Chelex, Phenol chloroform, CTAB, salting out and Lysis buffer in the laboratory. The quantity and quality of extracted DNA were measured by spectrophotometer and gel electrophoresis. The result of DNA quantity mean ranged between (23.6-579.7 ng/µl) and the mean quality which was measured by 260/280 ratio (0.9-1.8). The statistical analysis was done by SPSS software, revealing significant differences between extraction methods. The results suggested that Chelex and salting out showed the highest quantity of all used methods.

---

The effect of different lipid extraction methods (including, Bligh & Dyer, Smeds, Bligh & Dyer using Dichloromethane, Folch, Roese Gottible, Soxhlet used petroleum ether – dry and wet-  and Soxhlet used N-hexane) on total fat and fatty acid composition in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was investigated. According to the results, the Bligh & Dyer method showed a higher fat extraction efficiency than Soxhlet (wet), Smeds and Roese Gottible, while no significant difference was observed with the other methods. No significant differences were found in total SFA, total MUFA, and total PUFA of different extraction methods. The omega-3/omega-6 ratio ranged between 0.20-0.29. The highest amount of polyene index (PI) was 0.34, but no significant differences were found between different extraction methods. Taking fat quality and quantity, finance, toxicity, and theease of operation, the most efficient method for rainbow trout lipid extraction was the “optimized Bligh & Dyer using Dichloromethane”.  

---

 The effect of different extraction methods (soxtec apparatus, ultrasound, solvent and wet rendering) on yield, quality and fatty acids composition of oil extracted from the offal of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was compared. For determination of the oil quality, PV, TBA, FFA, conjugated diene, non-enzymatic browning indexes and fatty acids composition were measured. Results showed that soxtec apparatus had the highest efficiency compared to other extraction methods. In addition, ultrasound extraction had higher yield in comparison to solvent methods. Moreover, the wet rendering method had lower oil yield. The quality indexes of oil extracted with ultrasound had significantly lower quality compared to other extraction methods. Hence, the oil extracted with wet rendering methods had better quality. Oil extracted with all of the methods contained high amounts of MUFA, also oil extracted by ultrasound method had the highest content of DHA and EPA as compared with other extraction methods.

---

The extraction of hydrocolloids from seaweeds is associated with production of secondary metabolites during pretreatment step. In this study, the antioxidant properties were evaluated for secondary metabolites from brown seaweed S. angustifolium. The crude extract obtained by 80% ethanol for four hours and then partitioned using hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water. The extraction yield was found to be 4% for crude extract and varied between 2.8-43% for fractions. The evaluation of antioxidant properties revealed a successful solvent fractionation in portioning antioxidant compounds. Among various fractions, ethyl acetate exhibited the highest activity in DPPH radical scavenging (75.78%), ABTS radical scavenging (88.92%), reducing power (67.54%) and total antioxidant (0.34 Abs) capacities. The highest amount of phenolic contents was found in ethyl acetate fraction (277.86 mg/ TA in extract) while the lowest amount was in aqueous fraction (21.36 mg/ TA in extract). The highest correlation (R² = 0.88) was observed between total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity. Overall, the results of current study show that ethanol extract of S. angustifolium contains major bioactive compounds suggesting its potential application in food industry as a natural antioxidant.  

---

---

Aim: The removal of heavy metals from drinking water is one of the highest impact challenges in the water and wastewater industry. For this purpose, the use of methods such as solid phase extraction followed by the use of selective adsorbents is considered as one of the most important issues in the water and wastewater industry.
Method: In this research, in order to remove the polluting and toxic heavy metal cadmium from water in the water treatment industry, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm have been synthesized. In order to make these nanoparticles resistant to corrosion and erosive factors of the environment, they are covered with a silica shell and afterwards with the aim of removing cadmium ions from aqueous solutions, the surface of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ nanoparticles is modified with 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone molecules. The synthesized nanoparticles are characterized in order to evaluate the efficiency of these nanoparticles in separating cadmium ions soluble in water has.
Results: The synthesized and functionalized magnetic nanoparticles have an effective surface area of 378 m²/g with black color and spherical morphology. The effects of the parameters of the amount of nano adsorbent, pH of the solution, various concentrations of the solution and test time in the removal of divalent cadmium ions are investigated. According to the experimental data, the optimal values for the absorption process at pH 7 by using 18 mg of adsorbent in 50 ml of cadmium solution with an initial concentration of 0.35 mmol/L lead to the removal of cadmium ions with a maximum absorption of 92% at ambient temperature in a period of 35 minutes. Moreover, the recyclability and reusability of Fe₃O₄@SiO₂-DAQ in the adsorption-desorption process of cadmium ion is investigated using a magnetic magnet, and the results confirm that this synthetic nanocomposite is an effective adsorbent with excellent performance in order to remove divalent cadmium ion from aqueous solutions.