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Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Publication Date: 2015
Publication Name: Frontiers in Microbiology
Research Interests: Environmental microbiology, Bacteriology, Medical Microbiology, Biology, Applied microbiology, and 15 moreAntimicrobials, Medicine, Food Microbiology, Antimicrobial drug resistance, Biological Sciences, Biologia, Antimicrobial activity, Bacteria, Antimicrobial, FRONTIERS, Microbiologia, Applied Biology, Bioactivities of honey, Honey in wound care, and Antimicrobial activity of honey
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Seminaire International Protection et Preservation des Ecosystemes Sahariens ECOSYS09 Ouargla les 1314 et 15 decembre 2009
Publication Date: 2013
Research Interests:
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Publication Date: 2014
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The first true deserticolous species of Buthus Leach,1815 from Algeria (Scorpiones: Buthidae); Ecological and biogeographic considerationsmore
by SADINE Salah Eddine and Bissati Samia
Since the early 2000s, the genus Buthus Leach,1815 (family Buthidae) has been the subject of an important number of studies. These concerned particularly the species belonging to the ‘Buthus occitanus’ complex. A number of populations... more
Since the early 2000s, the genus Buthus Leach,1815 (family Buthidae) has been the subject of an important number of studies. These concerned particularly the species belonging to the ‘Buthus occitanus’ complex. A number of populations previously considered as subspecies or varieties of B. occitanus Leach were raised to the rank of species, but also many new species have been described. Most of the species considered in these studies come from North Africa, in particular from Morocco, Mauritania, Chad, Sudan and Egypt, but only two new species were recorded from Algeria. At present, one more new species of Buthus is described from the Algerian Saharan Desert, raising the number of confirmed Buthus in Algeria to five. Since most Buthus species from North Africa, and in particular those from Algeria, inhabit more mesic environments than the Saharan Central compartment, the new species appears as the first true deserticolous species found in this country.
Research Interests:
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Background: Honey has multiple therapeutic properties due to its composition with diverse components. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the antimicrobial efficacy of Saharan honeys against bacterial pathogens, the variation of... more
Background: Honey has multiple therapeutic properties due to its composition with diverse components. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the antimicrobial efficacy of Saharan honeys against bacterial pathogens, the variation of honey floral origins and its physicochemical characteristics. Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial activity of 32 samples of honey collected from the Algerian Sahara Desert was tested on four bacteria; Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The botanical origin of honeys and their physicochemical properties were determined and their combined antibacterial effects were modeled using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). Results: Out of the 32 study samples, 14 were monofloral and 18 were multifloral. The pollen density was on average 7.86 × 106 grains/10 g of honey, water content was 14.6%, electrical conductivity was 0.5 μS/cm, pH was 4.38±0 50, hydroxymethylfurfural content was 82 mg/kg of honey, total sugars = 83%, reducing sugars = 71%, and the concentration of proline = 525.5±550.2 mg/kg of honey. GLMM revealed that the antibacterial effect of honey varied significantly between bacteria and floral origins. This effect increased with increasing of water content and reducing sugars in honey, but it significantly decreased with increase of honey electrical conductivity. E. coli was the most sensitive species with an inhibition zone of 10.1±4.7 mm, while C. perfringens was the less sensitive with 3.9±5.4 mm. Honeys dominated by pollen of Fabaceae sp. were most effective with an overall antimicrobial activity equals to 13.5±4.7 mm. Conclusion: Saharan honeys, of certain botanical origins, have physicochemical and pollinic characteristics with relevant potential for antibacterial purposes. This encourages a more comprehensive characterization of honeys with in vivo and in vitro investigations.
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01239
Volume: 6
Publisher: Frontiers
Journal Name: Frontiers in Microbiology
Page Numbers: 1239
Publication Date: Nov 6, 2015
Publication Name: Frontiers in Microbiology
Research Interests: Microbiology, Environmental microbiology, Bacteriology, Medical Microbiology, Biology, and 18 moreEnvironmental Microbiology (Biology), Plant biotechnology, Applied microbiology, Antimicrobials, Food Microbiology, Antimicrobial drug resistance, Biological Sciences, Biologia, Antimicrobial activity, Bacteria, Antimicrobial, Microbiologia, Applied Biology, Therapeutic properties of honey, Nutritional aspects of honey, Bioactivities of honey, Honey in wound care, and Antimicrobial activity of honey
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Ethnopharmacrological relevance: Desert truffles are edible hypogeous fungi, highly appreciated by the inhabitants of hot-desert settlements. Native Saharan people use truffles for food, promoting tourism, increasing fertility, and... more
Ethnopharmacrological relevance: Desert truffles are edible hypogeous fungi, highly appreciated by the inhabitants of hot-desert settlements. Native Saharan people use truffles for food, promoting tourism, increasing fertility, and treatment of eye diseases and fatigue.
Aim of the study: This study consists of a cross-sectional survey focusing on the knowledge, use and ethnomycological practices of desert truffles among the native people of the Algerian Northern Sahara.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted through direct interviews with 60 truffle-hunters in the regions of Ouargla and Ghardaia.
Results: Three species were harvested and consumed by the surveyed subjects: Terfezia claveryi was the most appreciated and most expensive species, followed by Terfezia areanaria moderately preferred, then Tirmania nivea the least appreciated and least expensive. Among the 60 interviewees, 90% rely on the abundance of symbiotic plants (Helianthemum lippii) to harvest truffles, 65% begin harvesting from mid-February to March, after rains of the autumn (38 %) and winter (36%), particularly in the Wadi beds (37%) and Daya landscapes (32%). Interviewees harvested truffles mainly for home consumption; however 26.7% sell any harvest surplus, and of those only 15% generate significant revenue from this source, and 73% considered the sale of desert truffles to have low financial value. Desert truffles are used in traditional medicine, especially against eye infections (22%), weakness (19%) and to promote male fertility (19%). In the case of desert truffles for consumption, the surveyed population preferred to prepare the truffles with couscous and meat, or in porridge. Respondents used price as the main criterion for deciding whether to purchase desert truffles.
Conclusions: The surveyed trufflers use the knowledge passed from one generation to the next to help ensure a good harvest of truffles during each foray into the desert. Our findings highlight the various uses of truffles in the Sahara Desert, and how these relate to the lifestyle of local people.
Keywords: Algeria; Northern Sahara; Ethnomycology; desert truffles; traditional knowledge; medicinal use.
Aim of the study: This study consists of a cross-sectional survey focusing on the knowledge, use and ethnomycological practices of desert truffles among the native people of the Algerian Northern Sahara.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted through direct interviews with 60 truffle-hunters in the regions of Ouargla and Ghardaia.
Results: Three species were harvested and consumed by the surveyed subjects: Terfezia claveryi was the most appreciated and most expensive species, followed by Terfezia areanaria moderately preferred, then Tirmania nivea the least appreciated and least expensive. Among the 60 interviewees, 90% rely on the abundance of symbiotic plants (Helianthemum lippii) to harvest truffles, 65% begin harvesting from mid-February to March, after rains of the autumn (38 %) and winter (36%), particularly in the Wadi beds (37%) and Daya landscapes (32%). Interviewees harvested truffles mainly for home consumption; however 26.7% sell any harvest surplus, and of those only 15% generate significant revenue from this source, and 73% considered the sale of desert truffles to have low financial value. Desert truffles are used in traditional medicine, especially against eye infections (22%), weakness (19%) and to promote male fertility (19%). In the case of desert truffles for consumption, the surveyed population preferred to prepare the truffles with couscous and meat, or in porridge. Respondents used price as the main criterion for deciding whether to purchase desert truffles.
Conclusions: The surveyed trufflers use the knowledge passed from one generation to the next to help ensure a good harvest of truffles during each foray into the desert. Our findings highlight the various uses of truffles in the Sahara Desert, and how these relate to the lifestyle of local people.
Keywords: Algeria; Northern Sahara; Ethnomycology; desert truffles; traditional knowledge; medicinal use.