eChapters

Parasitology is the branch of biological sciences that deals with the study of parasites and all the related aspects. This leads to a basic question who is a parasite ? In fact, this term is frequently used in our society for those persons who are doing nothing and depending on others for their survival. The term Parasite means the organism (parasite) which depends on other organism (host) for its nutritional requirements. By definition, it excludes the organisms which are free living and do not depend on other organism for their food requirements. There are other details in fulfilling its nutritional requirements and important one is that in doing so, it causes some harm to the host other wise it will not be a parasite but a commensal.

Our nature is the greatest or only laboratory where a large number of events are occurring at every fraction of a second - there are so many events, creatures, miseries taking place in the nature. Rightly it is considered an unparallel and biggest laboratory, man has ever witnessed. However, understanding it’s any event requires deep devotion and understanding,then only success will come. Our Philosopher and Poet Kabirdas has understood these facts as have reflected in his various couplets “Jin khoja tin paiya, gahre pani paith” or “chalti chaki dekh kar diya kabira roye, do patan ke beech main sabit bacha na koi“. For an ordinary person earth is still flat and he may not know the reasons for change of seasons.

It will be unjust not to describe history of Parasitology (31) and a little bit about Parasitology (chapter 8) so that our students may know the earlier works done in this field and how research has advanced by diligent observations of the eminent scientists when they were not having such sophisticated facilities.

As helminth is visible with naked eyes, it was this parasite which man encountered first in its journey of life sciences or natural sciences,as was known in ancient times. Some of these were known even before the era of biblical Palestine and ancient Egyptian civilization. Hippocrates (460-357BC), ‘Father of Medicine’ knew about pinworms (Oxyuris equi) of horses. In his “History of Animalium”, Aristotle (384-322 BC)(32) has mentioned three kinds of helminthes-flatworms, cylindrical worms (Ascaris lumbricoides) and thinworms (Enterobius vermicularis). The treatises of India had the information on large roundworms of intestine (Ascaris), pinworms, leeches, bed bugs and mosquitoes.

Whenever a person acquires desired qualifications, he needs a forum to express his talents and a place where he can fulfill his dreams and make important attainments. This may be achieved by two ways. One is, he becomes an entrepreneur and plans his own organization. As we are discussing biological research, there are good opportunities to start a Pharmaceutical firm to produce a drug, or a biotechnology firm to produce some biochemical molecule, enzymes, bio-fertilizers, vaccines against important human/animal/poultry diseases or a firm to supply diagnostic kits or immunological products etc. These are not hypothetical suggestions, difficult to achieve by a middle class person, but part of reality achieved by middle class family in India with laurels in their field of work. We may cite examples of firms like Dr Reddy Laboratory (Dr K.A Reddy), Biocon India (Ms Majumdar), Venky (poultry vaccines etc), Biorad (Bangalore based biochemical molecules supplier) who are working in India and leading their respective field. All this have been possible with tremendous change that has occurred in Indian scenario where there are many venture capitalists (or PE firms) who are willing to invest any amount of money provided they like your new idea of establishing a new enterprise. A somewhat more detailed information, in this regards, is provided elsewhere (see Research for money-chapter 13). Here I have not mentioned to pursue a Dairy or Poultry farm as these are not parts of research activities but related to animal production and any other person may also enter in such commercial activities.

At times, we hear our young generation questioning the need for obtaining degrees for conducting any research work. To some extend they are right. If we look back, there are many examples where persons without any former degree attained what is impossible by many degree holders. Tulsidas has written ‘Ramacharitmanas’, incorporating so many principles of Vedas and stories from Puranas without obtaining any degree. Srinivasa Ramanujan (21) narrated mathematics theorems without any degree in mathematics. His achievements may be appreciated by the fact that we celebrate his birthday 22nd December as National Mathematical day.

The very basics in one’s life is whether he has judged his interests or decided goals of his life or has taken life casually. The first is to know what you wish to achieve in your life or in the words of our former president and Bharat Ratna APJ Abdul Kalam (14) what are your dreams ? If you have dreams than only you can achieve them hence it’s essential to know what is your passion ?, passion is the key to success. In pursuing your passion, all things become secondary ; in fact, desired changes occur within you, unnoticed and automatic to achieve your goals. It may not be out of contest to mention that basically I belonged to a business family and being eldest son in the family, my father asked me to join family business, after doing my intermediate, with the liberty to join part time BA classes while carrying business activities. But business was not my passion hence I struggled to join to the academics and carried all my Veterinary education with distinctions - because of my interests. I am not sure what would have happened to my life have I joined least interested business line- perhaps a failed business man.

Research is the basics which have changed human life and surrounding environment what existed on earth million years ago into present form. As soon as man realized himself as a separate entity from other animals, he started thinking about himself, creatures co-inhabiting with him and the universe. In that sense, biological science is the oldest subject which fascinated man, though it was called natural sciences in ancient times. Perhaps, the first curiosity was about himself, his birth, death and alike matters. As soon as he realized mortality of life or faced death of his dear ones, he attempted to become immortal or ‘amar’. This is reflected by worshiping of ‘Asur ’(Hirnakashyap, Bhasmasur, Ravan etc) to ‘Brahma’ or ‘Shiva’ for receiving the blessings of becoming immortal . However, even God refrained to bless these personalities becoming ‘amar’ confirming the realization by all that life is strongly linked with death ; as such they were blessed with certain conditional ties which may lead their death. Eventually, they met with their death under specific circumstances (3). When God or His little part (Ansh) took birth on earth as incarnation, He also followed all the rules and regulations of cosmic laws. But He never tried to become immortal and left His body on the earth, after finishing His duties.

If you are inclined to make research as a career, the first question is why are you interested in research or making it as a career in your life -whether for money or to pass a cozy life in a government institute or to get fame or to solve some scientific problems - related to cosmos, Agriculture, animals, human health, search some medicinal plants or you have great passion for science and impressed with its power to find solutions for many universal problems ? Or it is un-employment, now rampant in every field, which is deriving you to join higher degrees and research. Many times, this unemployment or no vacancies in due time leads the young persons to continue their post graduation or joining doctorate program with the hope that some vacancy will arise in the ensuing period or a suitable job may fall after or prior getting a Ph.D. degree.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The most significant factors distinguishing organic farming from eco-farming are the existence of production standards and certification procedures. Certification of organic farming is the procedure by which a written assurance is given by the certification agency that a clearly identified production or processing system has been methodically assessed and conforms to the specified requirements. It is a process certification rather than a product certification. Certification and labelling is usually done by an independent body to provide a guarantee that the production standards are met.  In case of organic products, certification is an acknowledgement that the products are produced according to organic production standards of certification bodies or associations or of the country. Organic production system is a land use system in accordance with set standards to the location specific conditions by integrating practices that foster cycling of resources, promoting ecological balance and conserve biodiversity. The prime principles of organic farming are,

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The crop production is as old as human civilization, it is an art, science and business. In the world of ‘Fast Food,’ food safety is a watch word. To accomplish safety food to consumers and fair price to producers through appropriate market channels, the concept of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) has evolved in recent years. The stakeholders include governments, food processing and retailing industries, farmers, and consumers, who seek to meet specific objectives of food security, food quality, production efficiency, livelihoods and environmental benefits in both the medium and long term. GAP offers a means to help reach those objectives.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The cumin (Cuminum cyminum Linn.) belonging to family Apiaceace is an important seed spice believed to be indigenous to northern Egypt, East Mediterranean region, Iran, Turkey  and India (Amin, 2003; Raghavan, 2007). It is popularly known as safed jeera and is one of the most common spices of daily use in the Indian sub-continent. Cumin is well known to ancient civilization. It is one of the oldest spices known since biblical times, valued mostly for their digestive properties and for flaovouring bread and other dishes during the periods of ceremonial fasting. As early as 5000 BC, Egyptians preserved the bodies of their kings by mummifying them with cumin, anise and marjoram.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) is important seed spices belonging to family Apiaceae, and a native of Southern Europe and Mediterranean area. Later it spread to the far East and far north in Europe. To the ancient Greeks, fennel represented success and so it was called “Marathon” in reference to the battle, fought in fennel field where the Greeks defeated the Persians in 490 B.C. Fennel was also a symbol of success to the Romans. During the thirteenth century in England, fennel was considered as a royal spice and was served to kings with fruits, bread and pickled fish seasoned with fennel seeds. Fennel was even described by Longfellow in his poem The Goblet of Life. According to early Sanskrit writings, fennel has been described as Madhurika and was known as far back as 2000 BC for its cultivation in India.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Fenugreek is one of the oldest cultivated spice crops of the world and grown for its medicinal value and forage in India, Western Asia and Nile valley since remote antiquity. In Egypt, it has been cultivated since 1000 BC and is part of the Indian diet for over 3000 years. Fenugreek is used as an important component of holy smoke in Egyptian incense. It is found growing wild in parts of northern India and cultivated all over the subcontinent for its green leaves and seeds. Fenugreek is a native of south-eastern Europe and Western Asia.  India is also said to be a native of fenugreek (Shanmugavelu et al., 2002) and found growing wild in Kashmir, Punjab and upper Gangetic plains.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
 
Coriander is a native of southern Europe and Asia Minor. In a treatise, Farrell (1999) has described coriander as indigenous to the Near East and Mediterranean region of North Africa and Southern Europe. According to early Sanskrit writings, coriander was known as far back as 5000 BC for its cultivation in India. Persia grew coriander 3000 years ago for adding fragrance to hanging garden of Babylon and seeds were found in Egyptian tombs of 960 BC. It has been used as an ingredient to traditional and folk medicine in the Middle East and Asia for more than 2000 years. There is archaeological evidence of coriander cultivation from Early Bronze Age in Macedonia (Fragiska, 2005)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Capsicum or chilli including paprika belonging to family Solanaceae, is a native of new world tropics and sub tropics. Within the genus Capsicum, mainly five species have been recognized as domesticated namely, Capsicum annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens and C. pubescens. Most of the commercially cultivated chilli cultivars as well as paprika belong to the species C. annuum. The cultivated Capsicum was introduced to India and Southeastern Asia in the 17th century by the Portugese. The name Capsicum is possibly derived from the Greek word ‘Kapso’ meaning ‘to bite’ referring to the dominant pungency stimulated by the spice, while ‘Paprika’ means plants of the genus Capsicum, in the Hungarian language. ‘Paprika’, is defined in the world market as non-pungent (sweet) brilliant red ground Capsicum powder, derived from the thick flesh dried red pods, with most of the seeds and veins removed. Both chilli and paprika are widely consumed as vegetable and spice all over the world. Mostly, the cultivars grown in Asian countries are pungent, while less and non-pungent cultivars are more common in European countries. Chilli of commerce is the dried pod, while it was pericarp (outer skin of the dried fruit) for paprika.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Among tree spices, nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt) belonging to the family Myristicaceae is the most important, providing two spices, i.e. the nutmeg (dried seed) and the mace (dried aril covering the seed). The latter is more important. Nutmeg is cultivated mostly in the tropical areas of Indonesia and West Indies. The world annual production of nutmeg and mace is around 12000 tonnes and 2000 tonnes, respectively (Krishnamoorthy and Rema, 2001). A native of the Moluccas (The Banda Islands of East Indonesia), nutmeg is presently cultivated in several countries such as Grenada, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Fiji, some Caribbean Islands, Africa and China including India. Of late, Brazil also started its cultivation. The Indonesian nutmeg known as East Indian nutmeg shares 75% and Grenadian known as West Indian nutmeg shares 25% of world market and they are major suppliers in the world. The East Indian nutmeg is highly aromatic which is preferred by the USA. West Indian type is of mild flavour and is preferred in Europe. The major importers are USA, Canada, Japan and European countries. In USA, the oil is generally preferred whereas the Europeans consume it as whole spice.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Vanilla is one of the most popular and widely used flavour materials in the world and it is the most expensive spice traded in the global market after Saffron (Crocus sativus L). The major consumers of vanilla beans currently are the developed countries with the US, France and Germany absorbing about 80 per cent of the world imports. Among them, the US imports 50-60 per cent while the latter 10-15 per cent each. They are also main re-exporters of both vanilla beans and processed products. The total area under vanilla cultivation in the world during 2002 was 38,066 ha with the production of around 4956 metric tones and increased to 76,440 ha with a production of 10, 360 tons during 2005 (FAO, 2007). The major vanilla producing countries are Madagascar, Comoros, Indonesia, Mexico and Reunion (Table 1). Area under vanilla in India during 2002-03 was 2545 ha with the production of 92 tonnes. (Spices Board, 2003) and increased to 5370 ha with a production of 196 tonnes during 2004-05.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Turmeric (Curcuma domestica Val. (syn. C. longa Koenig non L.) is an important spice, a native of India and South East Asia. Chikarmane et al. (2003) by analyzing historical patterns of movement of South Asian and Southeast Asian people known to have used turmeric suggested that turmeric was introduced into Southeast Asia via Indian colonization in the early Christian centuries. An increase in colonization events from South India during this time was because of discoveries in navigational science and desires to expand civilizations, rather than military conquests. The cultural expansion from South India supports the introduction of turmeric cultivation to Southeast Asia via human means. These human migratory patterns are compared to a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence data within Curcuma, and suggested that key locations such as the Isthmus of Kra were important not only to human movement but to species evolution in Curcuma (Chikarmane et al., 2003).

1. INTRODUCTION

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) is a perennial herb and the economic part is underground stem (rhizome), which is used as a spice. It is native to tropical South-East Asia, introduced into the West Indies, African countries and other tropical belt of the world. The ginger rhizome is harvested between 6 and 12 months after planting and used as spice in the fresh condition,  peeled and split dried or powedered forms. Ginger is utilized widely as a spice, for pickles, candies and as a medicinal herb. The anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea qualities of ginger have applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Ginger and supplements derived from ginger have received attention for the treatment of chronic inflammation. Administration of ginger has resulted in decreased symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (Srivastava and Mustafa, 1992) and gingerol (a component of ginger) has been reported to have anti-inflammatory actions (Kiuchi et al., 1992; Tjendraputra et al., 2001).

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Plant parasitic nematodes are among the major soil-borne crop pests that cause significant economic losses to a wide variety of crops. They cause an estimated annual crop-yield loss of US$78 billion worldwide which warrants for effective control strategies (Sasser and Freckman, 1987). Nematodes have the greatest impact on crop productivity when they attack the roots of seedlings or young plantlets (Ploeg, 2001). Nematode feeding also creates open wounds that provide entry to a wide variety of plant-pathogenic fungi and bacteria. These microbial infections are often more economically damaging than the direct effects of nematode feeding.