Fatimah Sadeq Jaffar Jaber

The increasing contamination of water resources by persistent organic pollutants and the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria necessitate the development of multifunctional and sustainable treatment strategies. Green-engineered nanomaterials have emerged as promising candidates to address these interconnected environmental and biological challenges. This study reports a green and scalable synthesis of Ag-decorated TiO2 nanostructures via a plant-mediated reduction route, targeting sustainable water treatment and antimicrobial applications. Structural and morphological analyses (XRD, TEM, and FT-IR) confirmed the successful deposition of Ag nanoparticles on the surface of the TiO2, yielding quasi-spherical nanostructures with an average particle size of 10–55 nm and uniform dispersion. The photocatalytic performance was evaluated through the decolorization of model organic dyes under UV and visible-light irradiation. The Ag-TiO2 nanostructures achieved decolorization efficiencies of 96.4% for rhodamine B and 91.7% for erythrosine within 110 min, demonstrating enhanced charge separation and visible-light responsiveness compared to pristine TiO2. Antibacterial activity was systematically assessed against various strains, showing inhibitory effects with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 31.5–250 µg/mL, attributed to the synergistic effects of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles and reactive oxygen species generation. Additionally, the nanostructures exhibited notable antioxidant activity (~ 80% radical scavenging). Overall, this work highlights a sustainable route for engineering multifunctional nanocatalysts with dual environmental and biomedical relevance, aligning with green chemistry principles and water remediation challenges

Apitherapy is the medicinal application of honeybee products, such as Propolis, honey, pollen, beeswax, honey and, in particular bee venom. The aims of this paper were to review bee venom and it’s the composition and properties with giving an overview of the medical importance and applications; as well as describe the process of extraction and the safe storage of bee venom. Bee venom is a clear, bitter in taste, watery liquid and odor less, the bee secrete it when they feel threatened it has at least 18 pharmacologically active components including various enzymes, peptides and amines. Bee venom therapy is the therapy which utilizes the application of bee venom to treat various diseases and it has been used since ancient times in traditional medicine to treat kinds of rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis, suppressing oedema’, low back pain and as anti-inflammatory agent. Currently, special collectors gather bee venom for commercial use. as well as the several electrical collecting devices that have been created to collect it. Dried bee venom should be stored preferably frozen and it should always be kept in dark coloured bottles in the dark.

Silver and silica nanoparticles and Nerium oleander (neem) leaves extract were used in different concentrations on the adults of Callosobruchus maculatus (cowpea seed beetle) and Tribolium castaneum (flour beetle) to detect their activity on productivity (number of eggs) and adult emergence.

Silver nanoparticles seem to be an excellent alternative option to control insect’s pests due to their unique characteristics. In addition, the plant mediated synthesized silver nanoparticles have important applications in the field of biology, agriculture and environmental due to their safety. The present work aims to study the activity of pure and green-synthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag NP’s) against Tribolium castaneum and Callosobruchus maculatus. The biosynthesized Ag NP’s by N. olrander were characterized by UV-visible spectra, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM). Larvae of T.castaneum and C. maculates were exposed to different concentrations of pure and green-synthesized silver nanoparticles and Nerium oleander leaf extract (500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 ppm). Although the Larvicidal effect of pure silver nanoparticles against larvae of T. castaneum (mainly first larval instar with LC50 value 2.019) and C. maculates (with LC50 value 3.366) , the green-synthesized silver nanoparticles have more larvicidal effect. while Nerium extract have a less effect on all larval instars of T.castaneum (LC50 value against first instar 3.853) and larvae of C. maculates (LC50 value 4.332), The green-synthesized silver nanoparticles have more Larvicidal effect than pure silver nanoparticles and N. oleander leaf extract.

Recently nanotechnology has become one of the most promising new approaches for insect control in some countries.The present study conducted to detect the insecticidal effect of silica nanoparticles on adults and larvae of Tribolium castaneum (T. castaneum) and Callosobruchus maculates (C. maculates) in city of Diwaniyah, Al-Qadisiyah, Iraq. Different concentrations of silica nanoparticles (500,1000, 1500 and 2000) ppmare tested on adults and larvae of T. castaneum and C.maculates. Silica nanoparticles(mainly concentrations ≥≥≥ 1000 ppm) significantly affected on adult and larvae ofT. castaneum and C. maculates in compared with control (p<0.05). Adults of C. maculates were more sensitive to silica nanoparticles than larvae, in contrast, adults of T. castaneum were less sensitive to silica nanoparticles than larvae. Silica nanoparticles are an excellent insecticidal agent especially on adults of C. maculates.