Salt Pans Research Articles

Influence of Coastal Geomorphology on Prediction of Weaker Strategical Locations in Coastal India to Curb Maritime Terrorist Intrusion

Abstract: In recent years, sea-borne terrorism has emerged as a significant security threat in coastal India. This paper evaluates the possibility of increased maritime terrorist violence in India by recounting and analysing some of the most recent past incidents in these waters. The weak strategic geographical locations always played a crucial role for the terrorist to entering the mainland. The features like Mangrove Forest, Salt Pan, Shallow Continental Shelf, and Backwaters can be the weakest strategical locations that are not properly safeguarded. The 1991 Rajiv Gandhi Assignation by LTTE and the 26/11 Mumbai Attack in 2008 are one of the significant Maritime Terrorism that happened in coastal India. India’s coastal and marine ecosystems include a wide range of mangroves, coral reefs, seagrasses, salt marshes, mud flats, estuaries, and lagoons which should be safeguarded appropriately for future consideration. The article explains how crime takes place in this isolated topography which has very low surveillance support and discusses how this topography can be safeguarded for futuristic purposes.

Social Changes of Salt Pan Workers in Karippu Manigal

This Article deals with the novel “Karippu Manigal‟ which reflects the social changes in the lives of salt harvesters. The novel Karippu Manigal is the harrowing depiction of the lives of salt pan workers. Man’s fundamental needs are Food, Clothing, and Shelter which are produced by the working class, but their lives halts at the margin. A tamil proverbs goes like this, “Food without salt is waste”, which shows the immense use of salt in food. Though we enjoy the salt in food, we fail to know about the salt harvesters who produce that. Through this novel Rajam Krishnan portrays the appaling lives of workers in salt pans like their poor living condition, lower wages without proper standard income and their sufferings are not only constrained to money but also to physical illness such as young having grey hair at an early age, eye problems and many others. Author has also shown the other side of worker’s suffering due to employers and contractors. Rajam Krishnan clearly demonstrates that, without striving earnestly, social changes ain't possible. The objective of this dissertation is to show that only a revolution against capitalism will serve as a root cause for the social changes in the lives of salt harvesters which is proved through the novel “Karippu Manigal”.

Accurate mapping of Chinese coastal aquaculture ponds using biophysical parameters based on Sentinel-2 time series images

Aquaculture plays a crucial role in the global food security and nutrition supply, where China accounts for the largest market share. Although there are some studies that focus on large-scale extraction of coastal aquaculture ponds from satellite images, they have often variable accuracies and encounter misclassification due to the similar geometric characteristics of various vivid water bodies. This paper proposes an efficient and novel method that integrates the spatial characteristics and three biophysical parameters (Chlorophyll-a, Trophic State Index, and Floating Algae Index) to map coastal aquaculture ponds at a national scale. These parameters are derived from bio-optical models based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud computing platform and time series of high-resolution Sentinel-2 images. Our proposed method effectively addresses the misclassification issue between the aquaculture ponds and rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and salt pans and achieves an overall accuracy of 91 % and a Kappa coefficient of 0.83 in the Chinese coastal zone. Our results indicate that the total area of Chinese coastal aquaculture ponds was 1,039,214 ha in 2019, mainly distributed in the Shandong and Guangdong provinces. The highest aquaculture intensity occurs within the 1 km coastal buffer zone, accounting for 22.4 % of the total area. Furthermore, more than half of the Chinese coastal aquaculture ponds are concentrated in the 0–5 km buffer zone. Our method is of general applicability and thus is suitable for large-scale aquaculture ponds mapping projects. Moreover, the biophysical parameters we employ can be considered as new indicators for the classification of various water bodies even with different aquaculture species.

Fleur de sel: How Does a Pinch of Suitable Choice Practices Value This Sustainable Natural Resource?

As mechanized processes developed, small producers of traditional sea salt ceased to be competitive. However, when the valuable salt flower (a.k.a. fleur de sel, flower of salt) market appeared, it gave new breath to the activity of traditional salt pan production. Salt flower sensitivity and delicateness became a part of modern food habits. Its crystals present some grain differentiation and these can fulfill diversified consumer tastes. In cooking art, a regular fine flower of salt can be used to finish dishes, whereas a longer and thin grain known as ‘scale’ (a.k.a. écaille de fleur de sel in French) can be used for a more gourmet-like palate. Here a suitable method is presented to sort and grade flower of salt to satisfy different palates. The method of salt flower selection is based on four main characteristics, which should be considered: cleansing, moisture, color, and size. It is the grain size that contributes most to demand allocation. The results show that what is produced (supply) and the demand from customers do not exactly match. The tiniest types of salt flower are usually completely absorbed by the market, whereas the largest types have no market at all.

Suitability evaluation of carrying capacity and utilization patterns on tidal flats of Bohai Rim in China

Tidal flats in the Bohai Rim are facing threats from human activities. Quantifying the carrying capacity and suitability of tidal flats is of great significance to the regional environment and resource management. In this study, the existing social and natural data were collected and the natural conditions of tidal flats, e.g., the distributions and utilization patterns, were investigated through remote sensing image interpretation and field investigation in the Bohai Rim. Then, a multi-index evaluation system was developed with indexes organized under the framework of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the Drivers-State-Impact (DSI) framework, processed by fuzzy evaluation, and weighted by the entropy method. The studies show that the rapid expansion of industry-port-town, salt pans or aquafarms in the Bohai Rim during 1990–2020 squeezed the space of tidal flats. Despite the limitation of the declining resource condition, the carrying capacity of tidal flats in the Bohai Rim increased slightly during 2000–2018 because of the great improvement in economic and ecological conditions. We estimate 59.93% of the land resources are suitable for economic development while others are temporarily unsuitable for reclamation due to their high ecological importance. The land use data and macro-evaluation system of tidal flat utilization patterns herein can provide references for coastal resource management and ecological restoration.

Improving Satellite Retrieval of Coastal Aquaculture Pond by Adding Water Quality Parameters

Coastal aquaculture is an important supply of animal proteins for human consumption, which is expanding globally. Meanwhile, extensive aquaculture may increase nutrient loadings and environmental concerns along the coast. Accurate information on aquaculture pond location is essential for coastal management. Traditional methods use morphological parameters to characterize the geometry of surface waters to differentiate artificially constructed conventional aquaculture ponds from other water bodies. However, there are other water bodies with similar morphology (e.g., saltworks, rice fields, and small reservoirs) that are difficult to distinguish from aquaculture ponds, causing a lot of omission/commissioning errors in areas with complex land-use types. Here, we develop an extraction method with shape and water quality parameters to map aquaculture ponds, including three steps: (1) Sharpen normalized difference water index to detect and binarize water pixels by the Otsu method; (2) Connect independent water pixels into water objects through the four-neighbor connectivity algorithm; and (3) Calculate the shape features and water quality features of water objects and input them into the classifier for supervised classification. We selected eight sites along the coast of China to evaluate the accuracy and generalization of our method in an environment with heterogeneous pond morphology and landscape. The results showed that six transfer characteristics including water quality characteristics improved the accuracy of distinguishing aquaculture ponds from salt pans, rice fields, and wetland parks, which typically had F1 scores > 85%. Our method significantly improved extraction efficiency on average, especially when aquaculture ponds are mixed with other morphological similar water bodies. Our identified area was in agreement with statistics data of 12 coastal provinces in China. In addition, our approach can effectively improve water objects when high-resolution remote sensing images are unavailable. This work was applied to open-source remote sensing imagery and has the potential to extract long-term series and large-scale aquaculture ponds globally.

Population Dynamic of the Annual Halophyte Salicornia ramosissima in Salt Pans: Towards a Sustainable Exploitation of Its Wild Populations.

Halophyte species growing under stressful conditions, such as the annual species of the Salicornia genus, have been recognized as a source of metabolites of pharmacological and nutraceutical interest. Therefore, planning the extraction of individual plants from wild populations in a sustainable way is especially important in the case of annual species. We studied the environmental matrix and population dynamic of four Salicornia ramosissima populations growing at two elevations in salt pans under a Mediterranean climate. In elevated areas, S. ramosissima populations presented maximum plant densities of between 628–6288 plants m−2 that remained almost constant until fruiting. In contrast, populations in depressed zones presented five-times greater soil-seed-bank densities and maximum plant densities than populations in elevated zones. In this context, populations in depressed zones lost c. 60% of their maximum plant densities from the end of spring and through summer. In whatever way the environmental matrix seemed to control the population dynamic of S. ramosissima in depressed zones, the effects of a stressful environment would interact with plant densities. In this sense, we recorded the density-dependent mortality for the densest population (max. 51,558 plants m−2). Our results are useful for planning a sustainable harvesting of natural populations of S. ramosissima.

Delineation of sensitive coastal zone of northern Ramanathapuram coast, Tamilnadu, India, using a GIS approach

This research aims to assess the sensitive coastal zones by analyzing the shoreline changes such as accretion and erosion in the eastern coastal part of Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India. The study focused on Mandapam, Pirappanvalsai, Enmanamcondam, Nagachi, Terbogi, Athyuthu, Chitrakkottai, Pathengal, Attangarai, Alagankulam, and Devipattinam villages. Some of these areas are distinguished as highly sensitive ecological zone. The erosion of an area leads to irreplaceable disturbances to nature. Hence, erosion and accretion studies are top priorities when studying the coastal area. In addition to GIS technology, which has been widely used in the past 20 years, the End Point Rate (EPR) and Linear Regression Rate (LRR) analyses were conducted to better understand the shoreline changes. The stability of the coastal region was analyzed by observing the slope variations of the beach during the profile survey. In the study, we analyzed that the Quaternary deposits of sand are the dominant geological feature of the study area. Coral reefs and salt pans are highly distributed along the coastal stretch. The coast of Mandapam village has been detected as a highly sensitive region, with an average erosion rate of −3.1 m/yr and an average accretion rate of 1.22 m/yr, resulting in high erosion and low accretion. The coast is a steep coast with an average slope angle of 0.24°. This study provides insight into sustainable coastal zone management.

Geochemical evolution of high-pH sodic salt pans in Central Otago, New Zealand

ABSTRACT Soil-free sodic salt pans with local pH >10 have formed on loess and schist-derived clay surfaces in the semi-arid climate of Central Otago. This study identifies evaporative mineral distributions and associated variations in surface geochemistry, and these results are relevant to survival of rare halophytic plants on some of the pans. Evaporative salts on pan surfaces are dominated by NaCl from marine aerosols, and Na-sulphates and Na-carbonates. Some of the Na in evaporites was derived from alteration of schist-derived albite and Na-bearing smectite formed from albite. The high pH pan surfaces result from a combination of long-term (decades to millennia) albite alteration and short-term (minutes to months) Na-carbonate dissolution and recrystallisation. This muscovite is variably cemented by evaporative salts, and some crusts have abundant salt-dissolution voids. High pH has facilitated dissolution of aluminium and silica from albite and smectite, with evaporative precipitation of Al-oxyhydroxide contributing to crust cementation. Different dissolution rates of evaporative minerals during rain events and damp seasons results in differential mobility of salt components downslope. The salt pans are physically and chemically dynamic features that have formed on time scales of decades to centuries.

MEMORY IN THE QUILOMBO ALCANTARENSE DE ITAMATATIUA-MA

The narratives about the development of the territory that comprises Itamatatiua are imprecise, as the historical data contrasts with the oral reports. Nevertheless, it is clear, both in the memory of the community and in the historical documentation, the direct link of this village with the Order do Carmelite (Carmelite Order), which had several projects in Alcântara, such as farms, potteries, salt pans, first hospitals for people with mental disorders, convent and church. The approach adopted in this article focuses on the religiosity present in the formation of the quilombola community in Itamatatiua, located in Alcântara/Maranhão. In the methodological track, field research was used, conducted in the place where people live and socialize, with due survey through data collection and an inductive method (descriptive accumulation in detail).

Spatiotemporal occurrence, distribution, and characterization of microplastics in salt pans of the coastal region of the Gulf of Mannar, southeast coast of India

Salt is included in a variety of foodstuffs consumed by humans and since salt is contaminated with microplastics (MPs) causes health risk for humans. MPs can absorb pollutants that may transfer through organisms after the ingestion of MPs and affect the health of the human body by constantly taking the contaminated salt through food. Therefore, studies are needed to analyze the presence of MPs in salt pans. The present study was undertaken to investigate the spatiotemporal variations in the occurrence, distribution, and characterization of microplastics in water, sediment, and salt from salt pans of the Thoothukudi coastal region (October 2020–September 2021). Samples were collected from three sampling sites, viz., Tharuvaikulam (station 1), Thoothukudi (station 2), and Pazhayakayal (station 3) for analysis of the MPs throughout the year as they vary with season by Nile red staining method. The maximum occurrence of MPs in the salt was recorded as 52 MPs/kg during the monsoon season, in sediments it was 45 MPs/kg post southwest monsoon season, and in surface water samples it was 42 MPs/liter post southwest monsoon season at station 1. The dominant size of MPs for all the three samples was <0.5 mm post southwest monsoon season. White color with irregular-shaped MPs was found to be dominant throughout the study. The predominant composition of the extracted MPs was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and identified as polyethylene and polypropylene in all the samples.

Metal(loid) accumulation in the leaves of the grey mangrove (Avicennia marina): Assessment of robust sampling requirements and potential use as a bioindicator

This study assessed the appropriate sampling design required for quantifying variability in metal accumulation in the leaf tissues of A. marina, a dominant mangrove inhabiting Australian estuaries, by applying a hierarchical nested sampling design to sample mangroves at various levels of biological and spatial hierarchies (leaf, branch, tree, site). It was revealed that most variation in metal accumulation occurred among trees and branches, with insignificant variation between sites and among leaves. We also examined the accumulation of metal (loid)s in the leaf tissues collected from six locations across the Georges River estuary in southern Sydney, which differ in metal contamination history. Prospect Creek and Salt Pan Creek were the most contaminated locations, which exceeded sediment quality guideline values for Cu (66.71 ± 2.18 μg/g), Zn (317.14 ± 46.14 μg/g) and Pb (81.02 ± 2.79 μg/g). All metal(loid) concentrations in leaf tissues were much lower than their concentrations in sediment, but essential metals exhibited greater mobility. Out of 10 metal(loid)s, Mn, Co and Pb in leaves showed linear relationships (R2 = 0.28–0.47) with sediment, indicating that mangrove leaves may be used as a bioindicator of environmental loads for these metals.

Natural and Cultural Lost Landscape during the Holocene along the Central Tyrrhenian Coast (Italy)

Landscape evolution over the last 8000 years in three areas located along Tuscany, Latium, and Campania coasts (central Tyrrhenian) has been deduced through a morphological, stratigraphical, and historical approach considering the physical evolution and human activity. Between 8000 and 6000 yr BP, the Sea Level Rise (SLR) dominated and, near the river mouths, inlets occurred. In the Tuscany area, Mt. Argentario was an island and to SE of the Ansedonia promontory a lagoon occurred. The areas were covered by a dense forest and the human influence was negligible. Between 6000 and 4000 yr BP, humans organized settlements and activities, and a general coastline progradation occurred. A tombolo linked Mt. Argentario to the mainland. In the Tiber and Campania areas, coastal lakes and a strand plain developed. Between 4000 and 3000 yr BP, near Mt. Argentario, two tombolos enclosed a wide lagoon. At the SE of the Ansedonia promontory, the lagoon split into smaller water bodies. In the Tiber and Campania areas, delta cusps developed. The anthropogenic presence was widespread and forests decreased. During the last 3000 years, anthropic forcing increased when the Etruscans and Romans changed the territory through towns, salt pans, and ports. After the Roman period, natural forcing returned to dominate until the birth of the Italian State and technological evolution.

Carbon dynamics and sequestration by urban mangrove forests of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This study intended to 1) determine spatial and temporal changes of mangrove forests, 2) identify drivers of mangrove deforestation and forest degradation, 3) determine historical carbon storage, sequestration and deforestation emissions by mangrove forests, and 4) determine whether mangrove forests are a source or sink of CO2 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Mangrove forests have decreased from 4,813 hectares in 1986 to 1961 hectares in 2016. The following were prominent drivers of deforestation in descending order: clearing mangrove forests for salt pans; hotel construction; settlement; and charcoal making. Tree removals for firewood and building poles were also prominent drivers of mangrove forest degradation. Similarly, carbon stored in mangrove forests has decreased from 1,131,055 tonnes CO2e in 1986 to 460,835 tonnes CO2e in 2016. Sequestration of CO2 by mangrove forests is estimated at 133,516 (1986-1995); 106,110 (1995-2006) and 69,616 (2006-2016) tonnes CO2e year-1. Conversely, mangrove deforestation has resulted in emissions of about 27,400, 16,500 and 24,000 tonnes CO2e year-1 in 1986-1995, 1995- 2006 and 2006-2016, respectively. Urban mangrove forests play an important environmental role in mitigating climate change and amelioration of local weather through the large carbon stocks they store and sequester. Mangrove forests in the study area remain a net carbon sink, however, the sink role played by mangrove forests in the study area is decreasing rapidly. The declining spatial and temporal trends of urban mangrove forest cover has resulted in a systematic decrease in the total carbon stored and sequestered by mangrove forests. In the absence of timely measures of preserving and rehabilitating degraded mangrove areas, the mangrove forests of Dar es Salaam may become the source of CO2. The study recommends effective urban land use planning and effective law enforcement to ensure a win-win situation through sustained ecosystem services offered by urban mangrove forests to support economic growth.

Comparison of Classification Algorithms for Detecting Typical Coastal Reclamation in Guangdong Province with Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 Images

Coastal reclamation in Guangdong Province is highly concentrated and is growing rapidly. However, intensive reclamation use has resulted in serious influence on the coastal ecosystem, directly and indirectly. The current conditions and spatial distribution of reclamations must be detected for coastal preservation and management using efficient technology. This study aims to find a suitable method and data to map reclamations accurately at a large scale. Pixel-based and object-oriented classification methods were applied in extracting the three typical types of coastal reclamation, namely, ports, aquaculture ponds, and salt pans, in Guangdong Province from Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 images. The algorithms of a support vector machine, random forest, decision tree, and rule-based algorithm were performed. Classification results were compared with statistical measures to assess the performance of different algorithms. The results indicated that all of the algorithms could obtain classification results with high accuracy, whereas the object-oriented algorithm showed less efficiency than other algorithms in classifying ports with complicated features. High-resolution data were not always superior to lower-resolution data in the reclamation classification. Generally speaking, applying the rule-based object-oriented algorithm in Sentinel 2A MSI images is relatively efficient at detecting the reclamation use in coastal Guangdong considering its actual situation. The mapping of reclamations in the whole of coastal Guangdong shows that they present obvious agglomeration characteristics in the space. The aquaculture ponds are mainly distributed in the coastal zones of western Guangdong and eastern Guangdong, with the largest area of 77,963 ha. The other types of ports are mainly distributed in the coastal zones of the Pearl River Delta, with an area of 8146 ha, while salt pans are mainly distributed in the coastal zones of Jiangmen, Zhuhai, and Zhongshan, with a total area of 4072 ha. The results can provide key supporting data for decision making in coastal management and preservation.

Annual effective dose and radiological risk assessment from selected salt pans from the lagoon of Erongo region, Namibia.

Radioactivity levels in salt pans from the Erongo region of Namibia have been investigated. Ten composite salt samples, collected from salt pans of the Walvis Bay lagoon were analyzed for activity concentrations of 2226Ra, 232Th and 40K. This was done using a high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometer. The average activity concentrations in (Bq.kg-1) of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were found to be 2.17±0.19, 0.20±0.02 and 2.28±0.39, respectively. These activity concentrations were used to calculate the annual effective dose and radiological health risk from the ingestion of salt for the different age groups. The average annual effective dose in (μSv/yr) for the age ranges (2-7 years), (7-12 years), (12-17 years) and ≥ 17 years were found to be 2.67±0.22, 3.33±0.28, 6.08±0.53 and 1.22±0.10, respectively. All these were lower than the worldwide average of 0.29 mSv/yr as reported by UNSCEAR in 2000. The total average radiological risk (unitless x 10-8) for the age ranges (2-7 years), (7-12 years), (12-17 years) and ≥ 17 years were found to be 30.15±2.48, 60.30±4.96, 89.8±7.44 and 422.09±34.75, respectively. All these were lower than the recommended limit of between 1x10-6 to 1x10-4 as reported by USEPA in 1991. Therefore, the results from this study indicated that the salt samples do not pose a radiological risk to members of the public.

Prevalence of aqueous deficient dry eye and common ocular surface changes among salt workers

Background: India is the third-largest salt-producing country in the world and Tamil Nadu is the second largest salt-producing state in India. Salt production is one of the most hazardous occupations, which affects the eye and skin primarily. This study was done for assessing the common ocular surface changes among salt workers in Marakkanam, which is a block of Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional study for 2 months among 253 salt workers with minimum exposure of 6 months after taking informed consent. Those with systemic diseases and other ocular surface disorders were excluded from this study. After performing Schirmer's test, an ophthalmic evaluation was done for ocular surface disorders. Results: The prevalence of aqueous deficient dry eye (ADDE) in salt workers is 38.30%. The prevalence of pterygium is 39.50%. The prevalence of pinguecula is 29.64%. Males (46%) are affected more than females (28%) because males are held in the salt pan where sandy and outdoor environments increase the risk of the development of pterygium. Salt pan workers (47%) who work amidst salt crystals and a sandy environment have an increased risk of developing pterygium, than the dry salt workers (24%). Conclusion: ADDE and pterygium are highly prevalent among salt workers. It will also guide the salt workers to know their ocular conditions and the need for a regular ocular check-up to safeguard their eyes.

Salt Exploitation References in Plinius Maior’s Work

This article aims to approach the work of Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, from the perspective of salt exploitation, highlighting the forms of manifestation, its geographical distribution and briefly the main uses. The motivation of the present paper materialized after going through Pliny’s text, which revealed a subject that lacks fluency to a certain extent. Pliny distinguishes two categories of salt, according to its state, natural and artificial. Thus, a first systematization of the references about salt identified in Naturalis Historia is based on these aspects, highlighting, in thecase of the natural state of theexplored mineral, thesalt lakes, springs or salt mountains and sea water; regarding the artificial state of salt, mentions of salt pans have been documented. Along these, a short excursus regarding the medicinal uses of salt is added, in order to better portray the image of salt in the era

Broad spectrum of bioactive compounds from halophilic actinomycetes isolated from the Kodiyakadu saltpan of Vedaranyam-India

Discovery of new novel drugs are necessitates for treat the bacterial infectious disease. Since, some potent antimicrobial compounds present in soil actinomycetes. Preliminary study was performed to isolate the halophilic actinomycetes from Kodiyakadu salt pan located in Vedaranyam, Nagapattinam District, Tamilnadu, India for promising antibiotic producing actinomycetes against gram positive pathogens- Stapylocoocus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Enterococus faecalis and gram negative pathogens: Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Klebsiella pneumoniae and pseudomonas aeruginosa. Among the six isolates, there had only one of the strain KOA-2 showed good antibacterial activity. Potential strain was confirmed Streptomyces diastaticus accession no (OM060757) by of 16srRNA sequencing molecular profiling technique. Crude extract of KOA-2 strains shows good pathogenic activity of all pathogens and shows high activity in Vibrio parahaemolyticus (32 mm) zone of inhibition. Resazurin assay MIC value represented 0.05 and MBC value 0.312 expressed in mg ml. Crude extract are characterized by GCMS technique. The increased peak value at (16.775) followed by (22.950) retention time were identified as Carbonic acid, propargyl 2- ethylexyl ester and 1-Decane,3,4-dimethyl bioactive compounds are responsible for antibacterial activity against the bacterial pathogens. Finally, crude extracts of KOA-2 strain are characterized by FTIR, UV analysis, and the results are encouraging for biotechnological techniques.

A comparative study of xylanase producing wild and mutated strains of Streptomyces variabilis VITMUVB02 isolated from Kanyakumari salt pan

The current study aimed to isolate xylanase-producing marine actinobacteria, which is a novel idea; ascribed to the challenges associated with the culturing of marine microorganisms. A total of 5 actinobacterial colonies were isolated from Kanyakumari marine sediments. Among them only one isolate, A1 indicated the elevated xylanase activity manifesting a zone of hydrolysis of around 20 mm during primary screening. On the other hand, secondary screening of A1 i.e., sugar estimation by 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid method, resulted in A1 exhibiting 400 µg/ml of enzyme activity. The enzyme extracted from the isolate A1 also contained a protein concentration of 600 µg/ml. Physical and chemical mutation studies were carried out to over-express xylanase production. Chemical mutation involving the use of EDTA did not show a significant increase in xylanase production and thus, was not subjected to further analyses. The isolate, A1 also showed a zone of hydrolysis of 28 mm in the physical mutation study and was named A'1.75. This zone was 8 mm more than the wild-type strain after UV-exposure for 75 min. A'1.75 also exhibited an enzyme activity of 600 µg/ml and protein content of 800 µg/ml. The potential isolate was identified as Streptomyces variabilis VITMUVB02 using 16S rRNA molecular sequencing. The molecular weight of the purified xylanase extracted from A1 and A'1.75 was found to be 25 kDa and 20 kDa, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analyses showed the mutagenic effect with the change in the spectral and functional groups.