Development of Cell Culture Systems from Selected Species of Fish and Prawns

The present work deals with the development of primary cell culture and diploid cell lines from two fishes, such as Poecilia reticulata and Clarias gariepinus. The greatest difficulty experienced was the avoidance of bacterial and fungi contamination. Three types of cell cultures are commonly developed, primary cell culture, diploid cell lines and heteroploid cell lines. Primary cell culture obtained from the animal tissues that have been cultivated in vitro for the first time. They are characterized by the same chromosome number as parent tissue, cultivated in vitro for the first time, have wide range of virus susceptibility, usually not malignant, six chromatin retarded and do not grow as suspension cultures. Diploid cell lines arise from a primary cell culture at the time of subculturing. Diploid cell lines commercially used in virology are W1-38 (human embryonic lung), W1-26 (human embryonic lung) and HEX (Human embryonic kidney). Heteroploid cell lines have been subcultivated with less than 75% of the cells in the population having a diploid chromosome constitution. Tissue cultures have been extensively used in biomedical research. The main applications are in three areas, Karyological studies, Identification and study of hereditary metabolic disorders and Somatic cell genetics. Other applications are in virology and host-parasite relationships. In this study an attempt was made to preserve the ovarian tissue at low temperature in the presence of cryoprotectants so that the tissue can be retrieved at any time and a cell culture could be developed.

A Study on the Use of Castor Oil as Plasticizer in Natural Rubber Compounds

Mechanical properties and thermal degradation of natural rubber compounds containing castor oil were studied to evaluate its suitability as plasticizer. Naphthenic oil was used as a reference plasticizer. The cure time was marginally lower in the case of castor oil mixes, probably due to the presence offree fatty acids in it. The tear strength and modulus were better in the case of mixes containing castor oil, while most of the other mechanical properties were comparable to the mixes containing naphthenic oil. The heat build up and compression set were higher than that of the naphthenic oil mixes. Thermal studies showed an increase of 8 °C in the temperature of initiation of degradation and an increase of 6 °C in the temperature at which the peak rate of degradation occurred. The peak rate of degradation was comparable to that of the reference compound

A Study on the Use of Coconut Oil as Plasticiser in Natural Rubber Compounds

Mechanical properties and thermal degradation characteristics of natural rubber compounds captaining coconut oil were compared with that of a control compound containing naphthenic oil. Cure time was marginally lower in the case of coconut oil mixes, probably due to the presence of free fatty acids. Tensile strength , tear strength, resilience and abrasion resistance were better than the naphthenic oil-based compounds . Compression set and hardness were marginally inferior The coconut oil mixes had a crosslink density comparable to that of the reference compound. Thermal studies showed that the temperature of initiation of degradation was increased by 10°C and the temperature at which the peak rate of degradation occured was increased by 7°C. The peak rate of degradation was compa rable to the control compound.

Effects of Thermal Modifications on the Rheological Characteristics and Protein Quality of Three Species of Fish of Varying Collagen Content

School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology

Studies on the Composition and Structure of Palm Oil Glycerides

During the last couple of decades, the oil palm has emerged as the second largest source of edible oil in the world. Recently oil palm has been introduced commercially in India to augment edible oil supply in the country. Currently, about 10,000 hectares are under oil palm cultivation in India, and it is envisaged to cover about 6 lakh hectares in the coming years. Though oil palm is a major commercial oil crop, not much basic information on the lipids of the fruit (the source of palm oil) is available even where oil palm is cultivated in a very large scale. Being a new crop to India, it is of paramount importance to understand the basic chemistry/biochemistry of the lipids, which in turn, may find practical applications in the area of processing and product development. The present investigation entitled "Studies on the Composition and Structure of Palm Oil Glycerides" was designed with a view to elucidate the lipid composition and structure under conditions such as fruit development and processing.

Influence of collagen content on the texture andstorage quality of fish mince basedproducts

Objectives of the present study are to find out the proximate composition of 20 commercially important tropical fish species on the west coast of India. To determine the collagen content in these commercially important fish species and fractionation of collagen into acid soluble collagen (ASC) and hot water soluble (insoluble) collagen (ISC). To classify fishes according to its collagen content and To study the different storage characteristics in the mince based product—surimi, from different species of fishes. The researcher tries to find out a suitable collagen source to incorporate in surimi. and studies the different storage qualities in the mince based product, surimi at different levels of collagen in different species of fishes. The optimum collagen level to get desirable texture and storage quality for mince based product. The researcher aims to develop some products from surimi with desirable level of collagen. And compare the products prepared from surimi of lesser collagen content fish containing desirable level of collagen with surimi prepared with high collagen content fish without collagen. This study gains in importance as there is littleinformation on the collagen content of different species of fishes in India. So far no attempt was made to classify fishes according to its collagen content.

Studies on the distribution and abundance of fish eggs and larvae off the south—west coast of India with special reference to scombroids

The broad objective of the present study is to present a synoptic picture of the distribution and abundance of fish eggs and the lmportant groups of fish larvae obtained off the SW coast of India. so as to delineate the spawning areas and seasones of the fish population. with special reference to the scombroid fishes. An attempt was also made to correlate the occurrence of certain categories of larvae and hydrographical factors like temperature and salinity. The present effort was a pioneering one in Indian waters. in as much as it involved systematic and seasonally repetitive collection of ichthyoplankton from a large stretch of our seas and mapping of their distribution and abudance.

Studies on coagulase-positive staphylococci and Vibrio parahaemollticus in selected items of fish, crustaceans and fishery products

In India much work has been done on different aspects of quality of processed fish and fishery products (Pillai et al., 1965; Iyer and Chaudhuri, 1966; Iyer et al., 1966; Sreenivasan and Joseph, 1966; Pillai and Rao, 1969; Mathen et al., 1975; Valsan et al., 1985) and standards have been formulated for almost all the fishery products. Quality standards for fresh fish cover only a few fish species available in the markets. For the formulation and recommendation of quality standards for fish and fishery products for domestic trade detailed background informations are necessary. Khot et al., (1982), Valsan et al. J (1985) and Iyer et al. (1986) have reported on the bacterial flora of sea foods at retail level in Bombay. Cochin is a major fish landing centre of the south west coast of India, and an average of 25,000. tonnes of fish/shell fish are landed annually at this harbour which is about 10 percent of the total catch of fish in Kerala (Lakshmanan -et -al., 1984). All the varieties of marine, brackish water and fresh water fishes are available in Cochln throughout the year for catering to Its cosmopolitan. population and informations regarding their bacteriological quality are scanty. Hence the present study was undertaken to investigate the bacteriological quality of fish and fishery products available in the markets and cold storages situated in and around Cochin meant for internal consumption.

Enzyme reactions as index of freshness of Fish and Shellfish

An attempt has been made in this study to screen some fish muscle enzymes to assess their potential worth in testing the degree of freshness of fish. A problem with routine enzyme activity determinations is the complexity of the method of enzyme assay. Hence, in the present study as far as possible simple assay techniques were adopted. Several species were screened to assess the possibility of employing this procedure on a large scale. It is hoped that findings of this study will lead to the development of meaningful criteria in testing the freshness of fish. This thesis has been divided into five chapters

Temporal pattern of fish production in a microtidal tropical estuary in the south-west coast of India

The status of fisheries and seasonal variation in fish diversity in the Kodungallur-Azhikode Estuary (KAE) were investigated. Total annual average fish production in the estuary declined significantly to 908.6 t with average yield of 5.4 kg ha-1 day-1, when compared to earlier study; where 2747 t was reported. During the present study, 60 species of finfishes (belonging to 34 finfish families), 6 species of penaeid shrimps, 2 species of palaemonid prawns, 2 species of crabs (4 crustacean families), 6 species of bivalves and 2 species of edible oysters (3 molluscan families) were noticed. Finfishes were the major group that contributed 69.62% of total fishery in the estuary and crustaceans (23.47%), bivalves (6.84%) and oysters (0.07%) also formed good fishery. Many of the fish species in the estuary were observed as threatened (Horabagrus brachysoma, Channa striatus, Channa marulius, Clarias batrachus, Heteropneustes fossilis and Wallago attu). The major fishing gears employed in the estuary were gillnets, cast nets, stake nets, scoop nets, ring nets, traps and Chinese dip nets. Gillnets contributed 45% of the total fish catch. Gillnets also showed highest catch per unit effort (CPUE) of 6.91 kg h -1 followed by cast nets (1.85 kg h -1), Chinese dip nets (3.20 kg h -1), stake nets (3.05 kg h -1), ring nets (1.27 kg h -1), hooks and lines (1.35 kg h -1) and scoop nets (0.92 kg h -1). The study implies that temporal changes in fish landing pattern of the KAE was mainly due to environmental variability, habitat modification and fish migration; under the influence of south-west monsoon and anthropogenic activities in the KAE. Results of the study suggest that spatio-temporal variations in the fish community structure could be an indicator for anthropogenic stress and it should be considered for restoration programmes.