Kombucha is a traditional beverage of sweetened black tea fermented with a symbiotic association of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. In this study, kombucha fermented beverage (KFB) appeared to include nine chemical groups (alcohols, acids, lactones, condensed heterocyclic compounds, antibiotics, esters, aldehydes, fatty acids, and alkaloids) of many bioactive metabolites, as elucidated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and IR spectra. The fermented metabolic components of KFB seem collectively to act in a synergistic action giving rise to the antimicrobial activity. Four types of kombucha preparations (fermented, neutralized, heat-treated and unfermented) were demonstrated with respect to their antimicrobial activity against some pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains using agar well diffusion assay. KFB exerted the strongest antimicrobial activities when compared with neutralized and heat-treated kombucha beverages (NKB and HKB). Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538 (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli ATCC11229 (E. coli) were the organisms most susceptible to the antimicrobial activity of kombucha beverage preparations. Finally, the KFB preparation showed remarkable inhibitory activity against S. aureus and E. coli bacteria in a brain heart infusion broth and in some Egyptian fruit juices (apple, guava, strawberry, and tomato). These data reveal that kombucha is not only a prophylactic agent, but also appears to be promising as a safe alternative biopreservative, offering protection against pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Kefir beverage (KB) is a fermented milk initiated by kefir grains rich with starter probiotics. The KB produced in this study seemed to contain many chemical compounds elucidated by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and IR spectra. These compounds could be classified into different chemical groups such as alcohols, phenols, esters, fatty esters, unsaturated fatty esters, steroids, polyalkenes, heterocyclic compounds and aromatic aldehydes. Both KB and neutralized kefir beverage (NKB) inhibited some pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli ATCC11229 (E. coli), Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 4957 (L. monocytogenes), Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 (B. cereus), Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028 (Sal. typhimurium) as well as some tested fungal strains such as Aspergillus flavus ATCC 16872 (A. flavus) and Aspergillus niger ATCC 20611 (A. niger), but the inhibitory activity of KB was more powerful than that obtained by NKB. It also appeared to contain four lactic acid bacteria species, one acetic acid bacterium and two yeast species. Finally, the KB inhibited distinctively both S. aureus and Sal. typhimurium bacteria in a brain heart infusion broth and in some Egyptian fruit juices, including those made with apples, guava, strawberries and tomatoes.

Magnetite zinc oxide (MZ) (Fe₃O₄/ZnO) with different ratios of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was synthesized using the solid-state method. The structural and optical properties of the nanocomposites were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis/DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectrophotometry. In particular, the analyses show higher photocatalytic movement for crystalline nanocomposite (MZG) than MZ and ZnO nanoparticles. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) with crystalline ZnO for 1.5 h under visible light was 12%. By contrast, the photocatalytic activity for MZG was more than 98.5%. The superior photocatalytic activity of the crystalline nanocomposite was detected to be due to the synergistic effect between magnetite and zinc oxide in the presence of reduced graphene oxide. Moreover, the fabricated nanocomposite had high electron–hole stability. The crystalline nanocomposite was stable when the material was used several times.

2-(6,8-Dibromo-2-methylquinazolin-4-yloxy)-acetohydrazide (4) was prepared by the reaction of 6,8-dibromo-2-methylbenzo-[d][1,3]oxazin-4-one with formamide to afford quinazolinone 2, followed by alkylation with ethyl chloroacetate to give the ester 3. Treatment of ester 3 with hydrazine hydrate and benzaldehyde afforded 4 and styryl quinazoline 5. The hydrazide was reacted with triethyl orthoformate, acetylacetone and ethyl acetoacetate and benzaldehyde derivatives to afford the corresponding pyrazoles 6, 7, 9 and hydrazone derivatives 10a-c. Cyclization of hydrazones 10a-c with thioglycolic acid afforded the thiazole derivatives 11a-c. Reaction of the hydrazide with isothiocyanate derivatives afforded hydrazinecarbothioamide derivatives 12a-c, which cyclized to triazole-3-thiols and thiadiazoles 13a-c and 14a-c, respectively. Fusion of the hydrazide with phthalimide afforded the annelated compound 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-a]isoindol-5-one (15). The newly synthesized compounds were characterized by their spectral (IR, ¹H-, ¹³C-NMR) data. Selected compounds were screened for analgesic activity.

Herein, we report a series of pyridines and their sulfa drug derivatives as antimicrobial agents. Regioselective alkylation followed by hydrozinolysis of 2-pyridone 1 gave the target compounds 2 and 3. Compound 3 was cyclized with acetylacetone or heated in dry benzene to give 2-(pyrazol-1-yl)nicotinonitrile 5 and 3-amino-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine derivatives 6, respectively. Diazotization of compound 3 with nitrous acid at low temperature afforded tetrazolo[1,5-a]pyridine derivative 8. Compounds 6 and 7 were obtained by condensation of hydrazine derivative 3 with D-glucose and D-ribose. Acid-mediated hydrolysis and sulfurization of dicyano compound 2 gave pyridine-3,5-dicarboxamide 11 and 2-thioxopyridine 12 derivatives, respectively. The later compound was alkylated with allyl bromide, benzyl chloride and mono chloroacetic acid to produce the corresponding S-alkylated derivatives 13–15. Compound 15 underwent the Thrope–Ziegler cyclization/condensation with sulfa-drugs to give the corresponding thienopyridine 16 and sulfonamide derivatives 17–19. Antimicrobial study of the new syntheized compounds demonstrated signficant activity of compounds 8–11 and 17–19.

There is a need to continue research to find out other anti-dermatophytic agents to inhibit causal pathogenic skin diseases including many types of tinea. We undertook the production, purification, and identification of an anti-dermatophytic substance by Streptomyces atrovirens. Out of 103 streptomycete isolates tested, only 20 of them showed antidermatophytic activity with variable degrees against Trichophyton tonsurans CCASU 56400 (T. tonsurans), Microsporum canis CCASU 56402 (M. canis), and Trichophyton mentagrophytes CCASU 56404 (T. mentagrophytes). The most potent isolate, S₁₀Q₆, was identified based on the tests conducted that identified morphological and physiological characteristics and using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The isolate was found to be closely correlated to previously described species Streptomyces atrovirens; it was designated Streptomyces atrovirens KM192347 (S. atrovirens). Maximum antifungal activity of the strain KM192347 was obtained in modified starch nitrate medium (MSNM) adjusted initially at pH 7.0 and incubated at 30 °C in shaken cultures (150 rpm) for seven days. The antifungal compound was purified by using two steps protocol including solvent extraction and column chromatography. The MIC of it was 20 µg/mL against the dermatophyte cultures tested. According to the data obtained from instrumental analysis and surveying the novel antibiotics database, the antidermatophytic substance produced by the strain KM192347 was characterized as an oxaborole-6-benzene sulphonamide derivative and designated oxaborole-6-benzene sulphonamide (OXBS) with the chemical formula C₁₃H₁₂ BNO₄S. The crude OXBS didn’t show any toxicity on living cells. Finally, the results obtained herein described another anti-dermatophytic substance named an OXBS derivative.