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Assessment of the distribution of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, glycosides, phenols, steroids and flavonoids in ten Nigerian plants belonging to different families was carried out. All the plants investigated contained flavonoids but lacked steroids. Apart from Afzelia africana and Detarium microcarpum, the rest contained alkaloids. Glycosides were present in all except Gongronema latifolium. Phenols occurred in all the plants except A. africana, D. microcarpum and Azadirachta indica. Saponins were absent only in G. latifolium, A. indica and Cola nitida while tannins occurred only in Piper guineense, G. latifolium, Myrianthus arboreus, A. indica, and C. nitida. In quantitative estimation of each phytochemical present in the plants, C. nitida showed the highest percentage alkaloids (7.76%) and Treculia africana the highest percentage saponins (4.24%) while the highest percentage tannins was recorded in A. indica. T. africana had the highest percentage glycosides (24%) and phenols (48%) while A. indica and C. nitida showed the highest percentages of flavonoids. The medicinal uses of the plants understudy were reviewed.

Aims: To investigate the effect of Heavy metals on the growth of Zea mays (Z. mays) and Sorghum bicolour (S. bicolour). Study Design: Laboratory-experimental design was used in this study. Place of Study: The heavy metal polluted soil samples were collected from Crush Rock Industries Ishiagu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, while control soil samples were obtained from the Zoological Garden of the Department of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Enugu State University of Science and Technology. Methodology: The seeds of the two plants were collected from the Enugu State Ministry of Agriculture. The experimental setup consisted of 16 contaminated potted soils, 8 each for Z. mays and S. bicolor. Another 8 potted soils not contaminated with heavy metals served as control. Fourteen days after germination, the following growth parameters were measured (in cm); plant heights, number of leaves, stem girth, and leaf area. Results: The polluted soil sample was slightly acidic; (pH was 6.34±0.29). It had a higher cation exchange capacity (21.80±0.33), Cd (25.18±0.34), Cr (10.20±0.21), Cu (28.54±0.49), Pb (9.92±0.36), but lesser soil organic carbon (0.87±0.10). Plant samples cultivated in contaminated soil showed the least favourable vegetative growth. Conclusion: Comparing the results obtained from the control sample, it was deduced that these heavy metals have adverse effect on the vegetative growth of Z. mays and S. bicolor.

Quality changes of kola nut (Cola acuminata) as affected by processing methods and short-term storage environments were investigated. The experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Laboratory of the Department of Crop Science, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria. The treatments comprised of: three different colour plastic buckets -red, green, white and three inner liningsNewbouldia laevis leaves, Spondias mombin leaves and Black polyethylene sheets giving a 3 × 3 × 3 treatment combinations. The N. laevis, S. mombin and Black polyethylene sheets were laid inside the buckets as beddings for the kola nuts. About 0.45 kg of kola nuts (coated and uncoated) numbering 20 nuts were put in each storage container. Sensory quality of the nuts after storage was determined with quantitative descriptive analysis in expert panel, using six quality attributes. Physical parameters measured were; weight loss, pest incidence and sprouting incidence. Weight loss was significantly lower in white plastic storage container for coated kola nut while green plastic container reduced weight loss for uncoated. Black polyethylene sheet as inner-ling of the storage container significantly (P≤ 0.05) reduced weight loss and pest incidence in coated kola nut compared to uncoated. N. laevis and S. mombin significantly reduced weight loss in kola nuts. It is evident in this study that coated kola nut genotype were kept better than the uncoated kola nut.