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Coconut oil is eatable oil with many nutritional and cosmetic applications. In this investigation coconut oil was subjected to 0 to 5 L/min of ozone for 3 h and the chemical composition of both crude and ozonized oil was valued via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS). Some biological tests were done including antibacterial action versus Helicobacter pylori, anti-biofilm activity versus H. pylori, anti-hemolytic activity in the existence of H. pylori, anti-Alzheimer action, and cytotoxic effect towards A-413 cancer cell line to determine the activity of coconut oil and upon exposure to ozone. Fifteen compounds were detected in the coconut oil crude and ozonized oils where the fatty acid esters were the most common molecules in crude coconut oil, whereas alkenes were the most predominant compounds in ozonized coconut oil. A slight elevation of antibacterial action towards H. pylori from 23.0 ± 0.1 to 28.2 ± 0.5 mm was displayed upon exposure of the coconut oil to ozone. Both crude and ozonized coconut oil showed a bactericidal effect with MICs = 62.5 ± 0.1, 125.0 ± 0.2 µg/mL and MBCs = 15.62 ± 0.2, 31.25 0.2 µg/mL for crude and ozonized oil, respectively. A significant elevation in anti-biofilm activity was found upon using 25% of MBCs of ozonized oil relative to crude oil. A dramatic rise was observed in anti-hemolytic activity upon using 25 and 75% of MICs of ozonized oil relative to crude one. A notable elevation of anti-Alzheimer impact was evident upon exposing coconut oil to ozone. Besides, the cytotoxic impact towards A-431 cells was slightly increased after exposing the oil to ozone. The current results suggest a new technique to expose coconut oil to ozone to improve some of its in vitro pharmaceutical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change has significantly reduced the yield of many crops due to various abiotic stressors. These stressors include water-related issues such as drought and flooding, thermal changes like extremely low and high temperatures, salinity, and adverse soil pH conditions including alkalinity and acidity. Biostimulants have emerged as promising and effective tools for mitigating the damage caused by these abiotic stressors in plants, ultimately enhancing both the quantity and quality of crops. Biostimulants are naturally derived substances that include humic acid, protein hydrolysates, nitrogenous compounds, seaweed extracts, beneficial bacteria, and molds. Even at low concentrations, biostimulants play a critical role in activating important plant enzymes, inducing antioxidant defenses, improving water relations and photosynthetic activity, stimulating hormone-like activities (particularly auxins, gibberellins, and cytokinins), and modulating root system development. This review discusses the physiological effects of microbial biostimulants on the quality and productivity of fruit crops, as well as their experimental applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Biosurfactants have been given considerable attention as they are potential candidates for several biotechnological applications. Materials and methods: In this study, a promising thermophilic biosurfactant-producing HA-2 was isolated from the volcanic and arid region of Uhud mountain, Madinah, Saudi Arabia. It was identified using 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The biosurfactant production ability was screened using different methods such as the drop collapse test, oil spreading test, hemolytic activity test, CTAB test, and emulsification index. The ability of rhamnolipid production by the tested strain was confirmed by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of rhlAB. The affinity of thermophilic HA-2 to hydrophobic substrates was also investigated. Optimization of biosurfactant production was conducted. The biological activities of produced surfactant were investigated. Results and discussion: The isolated HA-1 was identified as Geobacillus stearothermophilus strain OR911984. It could utilize waste sunflower frying oil (WSFF) oil as a low-cost carbon source. It showed high emulsification activity (52 ± 0.0%) and positive results toward other biosurfactant screening tests. The strain showed high cell adhesion to hexane with 41.2% cell surface hydrophobicity. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra indicated the presence of hydrophobic chains that comprise lipids, sugars, and hydrophilic glycolipid components. The optimization results showed the optimal factors included potato peel as a carbon source with 68.8% emulsification activity, yeast extract as a nitrogen source with 60% emulsification activity, a pH of 9 (56.6%), and a temperature of 50. (72%). The kinetics showed that optimum biosurfactant production (572.4 mg/L) was recorded at 5 days of incubation. The produced rhamnolipid biosurfactant showed high antimicrobial activity against some human and plant pathogenic bacterial and fungal isolates and high antioxidant activity (90.4%). In addition, it enhanced wheat (Triticum aestivum) growth, with the greatest enhancement obtained with the 5% concentration. Therefore, thermophilic G. stearothermophilus is a promising rhamnolipid biosurfactant producer that utilizes many organic wastes. The produced biosurfactant could be applied as a promising emulsifier, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and plant growth promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]