ASU Biologists Create New Preparations for Agriculture

A group of scientists of the Research Laboratory of Biotechnologies and MA students of the programme “Biotechnology”, guided by Prof. Mikhail Egorov, are developing innovative biological preparations based on biologically active substances, extracted from black nightshade.

Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.) is an annual (sometimes biennial) herbaceous plant of the nightshade family. It widely grows in Astrakhan region as a weed, mainly with vegetable crops. As the plant is rich in biologically active substances, its extracts can be used in many applied spheres.

The biotechnologists of Astrakhan State University are working on two issues at once: they are analyzing growth-stimulating properties of nightshade and studying antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of the extracted substances in order to create new food preservation agents of vegetable origin.

Along with the scientists of the Laboratory of Biotechnologies, the research group also includes Master’s degree students of the 1st and 2nd study years, guided by Oksana Astafieva, a senior researcher.

The conducted preliminary laboratory studies of the extracts on agricultural crops of the nightshade and cruciferae families will allow to perform in-field testing of the extracts at farms already this year. Then the research group will develop new special biological preparations for agricultural needs of our region.