Vishal Ahuja

Levan is a microbial fructan type exopolysaccharide that has attracted increasing attention due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity, and versatile functional properties. However, the direct application of native levan is often limited due to poor mechanical strength, moisture sensitivity, and instability under processing or storage conditions. To overcome these limitations, levan has been integrated with natural polymers, synthetic polymers, nanoclays, and metal or metal oxide nanoparticles to develop advanced hybrid composites with enhanced physicochemical and biological performance. These levan based composites exhibit improved tensile strength, thermal stability, barrier properties, controlled swelling, and tunable surface characteristics, making them promising materials for biomedical and healthcare applications. Recent studies have highlighted their potential in drug delivery, wound healing, antimicrobial and antibiofilm coatings, tissue engineering scaffolds, biosensors, and anticancer systems. This review critically discusses levan structure, biosynthesis, production strategies, and the key factors governing successful composite formation, including interfacial compatibility, filler dispersion, and molecular architecture. In addition, major challenges such as high production cost, batch‐to‐batch variability, scalability, long‐term stability, and regulatory concerns are addressed. Overall, levan inspired hybrid composites represent a promising platform for next‐generation sustainable biomaterials, although further process optimization and translational studies are required for commercial realization.

Colorectal cancer registered around 1.93 million new cases in 2022, with 904,000 deaths, which is projected to increase by 7.2%. The major drawbacks of conventional treatment strategies are recurrence and side effects. In the present research, Basella alba leaf extract was analyzed for its anticancer potential against colorectal cancer. The Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry (GC‐MS) has identified organic acid esters and amide, such as Oleamide, 2‐Fluoro‐5‐trifluoromethylbenzoic acid, as major phytochemicals, out of which 2(3,5‐di‐tert‐butyl‐4‐hydroxybenzylidene) succinic acid displays good pharmacokinetic characteristics. The extract has exhibited significant antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 53.18 ± 0.13 µg.mL ⁻¹ (DPPH assay), 49.19 ± 1.45 µg.mL ⁻¹ (Superoxide radical), 289.86 ± 1.19 µg.mL ⁻¹ (Phosphomolybdate assay) and 109.34 ± 1.95 µg.mL ⁻¹ (Hydroxyl radical). The extract has shown dose and time‐dependent apoptosis of HCT‐116 cells. The apoptotic characteristics were further confirmed by DAPI staining, Annexin V/PI flow cytometry, and expression regulation of BAX, CASPASE‐3, and BCL2 genes. The diverse phenolic and flavonoid compounds in aqueous extract not only contributed to antioxidant potential but also led to G0/G1 phase arrest caused by cyclin D1 and pRb inhibition, p21 upregulation, and E2F‐1 inhibition. The findings indicate that Basella alba is a promising source of antiproliferative and antioxidant bioactive molecules that can be used as a complementary therapeutic agent against colorectal cancer.

Cadmium, a malleable heavy metal found in zinc ore, can pollute the groundwater and soil by various natural as well as anthropogenic means and enter different trophic levels. Several physical separation and chemical methods have been used to reduce cadmium contamination and to maintain biosafety. These methods are slow, cost- and time-intensive, and also generate toxic by-products. Phytoremediation has emerged as a sustainable and inexpensive mode to eliminate heavy metals via diverse mechanisms such as phytoextraction, phytostabilization, rhizofiltration, and phytovolatilization. Several reports are available for the pollutants’ exclusion from contaminated resources using plants such as Ceratophyllum demersum , Phragmites australis , Hydrangea macrophylla , and Iris pseudacorus , etc. The approach is promising in removing a huge amount of pollutants and retaining it for a longer period. However, it also suffers from issues such as post-treatment valorization of biomass and a slow operation process. Overall, the phytoremediation approach can be considered as safer and sustainable process to eliminate the heavy metals such as cadmium not only at lab scale but also at industry or commercial scale, which is clear with pilot-scale trials. Integration of artificial intelligence/machine learning and nano-phytoremediation approaches further improves the efficiency. The purpose of this article is to summarize the recent advancements in phytoremediation for cadmium removal, application of plants, and integration of nanomaterials and AI–ML models in commercialization of the treatment process.

Bee venom (BV) is a promising candidate against breast and lung, including leukemia. Leukemia is a malignancy related to blood cells that causes abnormal production of leukocytes (WBCs) from bone marrow (BM). Leukemia requires a multimodal treatment approach, including stem cell transplantation, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy. Due to several limitations of current therapies such as drug resistance, severe side effects, high costs, limited targeted treatment options, age-related restrictions, after treatment defects, and the genetic heterogeneity of leukemia, there is a need to explore alternatives such as BV, either as whole or its component(s), or its use in conjugation with other treatments. BV’s components such as melittin, found as 40– 60% of BV’s dry mass, exhibit anti-cancer activity such as pro-apoptotic, anti-proliferative, and cell membrane disruption. BV is a potent inducer of apoptosis, while inhibiting cell survival processes such as the Akt/ERK. BV can be considered as the potent anti-leukemia candidate. Various studies have demonstrated BVs effectiveness on leukemia cell lines such as HL-60, K562, Jurkat cell line, U937 cells, CCRF-CEM, K562, THP-1 cell lines, in a dose-time-cell line-dependent manner. This review aims to comprehend the current research assessing the effectiveness of apitherapy in leukemia through in vitro studies. The limitations of present studies and future possibilities exploring the synergistic effect of BV with the conventional treatments and targeted delivery of BV aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of treating leukemia are also highlighted.

Barleria , the third largest genus of the Acanthaceae family, carries a distinct position due to cultural as well as economic significance. Its aerial parts including stem, flowers, leaves, and underground part roots have been used in ancient civilizations as ornament, food, and for religious activities since ages. The presence of diverse phytochemicals is accountable for diverse healthcare applications including analgesic, antioxidant, and antimicrobial. In current work, previous knowledge is exploited as the foundation for the evaluation of Barleria longiflora leaves from the Siriya Kalvarayan hills region against lung cancer. The crude ethanolic extract of leaves has shown significant anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant activity. Leaf extract has considerable in vitro free radical scavenging activity in DPPH and ABTS assay, i.e. , 62% and 64%, respectively, in comparison to L‐ascorbic acid (100 g.mL ⁻¹ ). Leaf extract has also shown commendable cytotoxicity against A549 cells (IC ₅₀ : 71.00 μL.mL ⁻¹ ). Gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry identified around 38 phytochemicals including stigmasterol, resorcinol, and 3,4‐anhydro‐d‐galactosan . In silico analysis identified good binding molecules through molecular docking studies, especially stigmasterol having significant Ki values against the cancer receptors such as PI3K, mTOR, and ERβ. The phytochemicals from Barleria longiflora have shown commendable antimicrobial and anticancer activities which is also supported with in silico analysis. The compounds responsible for anticancer activity can become major ingredient for drug formulation after trials.

Power scarcity and pollution can be overcome with the use of green energy forms like ethanol, biogas, electricity, hydrogen, etc., especially energy produced from renewable and industrial feedstocks. In hilly areas, pine needles are the most abundant biomass that has a low possibility of valorization due to high lignin content. On the other hand, anaerobic digestion (AD) of lignin and animal waste has low biogas yield due to poor conductivity. This study focuses on the simultaneous production of biogas and electricity through the co-digestion of cow dung and pine needles. The digester was initially established and stabilized in the lab to ensure a continuous supply of inoculum throughout the experiment. The optimization process involved the determination of an ideal cow dung-to-water ratio and selecting the appropriate conductive material that can enhance the energy generation from the feedstock. Afterward, both batch and continuous anaerobic digestion experiments were conducted. The results revealed that the addition of powdered graphite (5 mM), activated charcoal (15 mM), and biochar (25 mM) exhibited maximum voltage of 0.71 ± 0.013 V, 0.56 ± 0.013 V, and 0.49 ± 0.011 V on the 30th, 25th and 20th day of AD, respectively. The batch experiment showed that 5 mM graphite powder enhanced electron transfer in the AD process and generated a voltage of 0.77 ± 0.014 V on the 30th day, indicating an increase of ~1.5-fold as compared to the control (0.56 ± 0.019 V). The results from the continuous AD process showed that the digester with cow dung, pine needle, and a conductive material in combination exhibited the maximum voltage of 0.76 ± 0.012 V on the 21st day of AD, while the digester with cow dung only exhibited a maximum voltage of 0.62 ± 0.015 V on the 22nd day of AD, representing a 1.3-fold increase over the control. Furthermore, the current work used discarded plastic items and electrodes from spent batteries to emphasize waste management and aid in attaining sustainable energy and development goals.