Mumu is a traditional cereal-based food product, particularly consumed by Tiv people of Benue State of Nigeria. It is usually produced from maize, sorghum or millet alone. The diversification of this food crop will increase its utilization and contribute, maximally, to food security. Unlike millet, post-harvest technology for potato (Solanum tuberosum L.

The menace of corrosion of steel in industries has been widely acknowledged. Analysis of oil pipeline failures in oil and gas industries in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria showed corrosion as one of the major causes of failure. Eco-friendly, cheap and renewable materials such as plant extracts have been investigated as alternative to the use of expensive synthetic chemicals which are often hazardous. In this study inhibitive properties of ethanol extracts of Ficus polita and Ficus platyphylla leaves as eco-friendly inhibitors of mild steel in 2 M sulfuric acid solution were investigated by weight loss method at temperatures of 301, 305, 309 and 313 K. The study has shown that both plant extracts inhibited the corrosion of mild steel in the acid medium. The inhibition efficiency (IE) and surface coverage (θ) for both extracts increased with increase in concentration and temperature. This trend is suggestive of chemical adsorption. However, the leaf extract of Ficus polita showed higher IE compared to F. platyphylla. Thermodynamic parameters and apparent activation energy obtained from the studies revealed the inhibition by both plant extracts to be spontaneous, exothermic and chemisorptive, while the adsorption mechanism of both plant extracts on the steel surface aligned with the Freundlich isotherm model, F. polita fits well to Temkin and Adejo-Ekwenchi isotherm models in addition.

Curcuma longa L (Tumeric) a rhizomatous perennial herb belonging to the ginger family Zingiberaceae, was studied to evaluate its physicochemical properties and antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Two solvent extractions (Aqueous and Ethanol) were prepared from the rhizomes obtained from Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria which were dried and ground into powder of mesh size of 0.2 mm in diameter. The physicochemical analysis showed a pH of 6.95, Iodine Value of 51.39, Refractive Index of 1.44 and Specific Gravity of 1.45 which imply moderate level of unsaturated fatty acids content and high antimicrobial activity. Its antibacterial evaluation against Staphylococcus aureus American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 25923 (gram +ve) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 29953 (Gram -ve) were carried out with the two extracts and Chloramphenicol as the control using agar well diffusion method. The antibiotic showed significantly higher inhibitory effect on the bacterial isolates than the aqueous extract (P<0.05). It also showed higher effect than the ethanol extract on S. aureus (P<0.05) but statistically equal effect on P. aeruginosa (P>0.05). The ethanol extract showed higher activity against the test organisms than the aqueous extract at P<0.05. The zones of inhibition for the aqueous extract ranged from 7.00 mm – 13.67 mm for S. aureus and 7.33 mm – 14.33 mm for P. aeruginosa and the ethanol extract, 13.33 mm – 19.00 mm and 15.00 mm – 13.00 mm for S. aureus and P. aeruginosa respectively. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration was observed at 12.5 mg/mL in both cases. The antibacterial activity shown by C. longa may be due to the presence of phytochemicals such as Alkaloids, Steroids, Saponins, Flavonoids, Phenols and Tannins which were observed when the extract was analyzed phytochemically. C. longa showed potent activity against bacteria in this study and would make a more active and viable antibiotic.