This work aimed to extract perfume from the leaves of Cymbopogon citratus using three extraction methods viz: distillation, solvent extraction and expression or effleurage. About 150 g of dried lemons grass were extracted using ethanol as the solvent to obtain essential oils required for the formulation of perfumes. The result of the hydrodistillation process showed that 1.23 g of essential oil per 130g of dry lemongrass produce 0.95% oil at 78 °C, while the effleurage method was 2.55 g of essential oil per 130 g of dry lemongrass sample thereby producing 1.96% oil yield. The solvent extraction method gave 2.7 g of essential oil per 130 g of dry lemongrass sample. This gives about 2.08 % yield of essential oil at a temperature of 78°C i.e. the boiling point of ethanol. The solvent extraction method yielded 2.08%, the effleuragemethod yielded 1.96% and the hydrodistillation method yielded 0.95% essential oil respectively. In conclusion, solvent extraction gave the highest yield because of less exposure to air and heat, which is highly recommended as the most suitable method for the extraction of essential oil.

Four different sources of starchy foods were used for the isolation of starch using commercially cheap and readily available chemical-hypo (3.5 % active Chlorine). The isolated starch was modified through NaIO4 oxidation under mild reaction conditions. Carbonyl functional group test was employed for confirmation of the success of oxidation. FT-IR and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were used for functional group identification and morphological examination of both modified and native samples to further confirm the success of modification. The appearance of the carbonyl band at 1747-1746 cm-1 and 1647-1637 cm-1 indicated the successful synthesis of oxidized starch. Proximate results showed that the isolated starches were rich in mineral content: 0.25-2.13; crude fibre: 0.85-3.31; fat: 0.23-0.28 and energy: 1331-1410. The study showed that commercial hypo could be a useful replacement for metabisulphite for starch isolation without side effects on starch properties. SEM images showed that morphological architecture of granules was not destroyed during surface functionalization. Characteristic and nutritional features of the oxidized starch showed that it could find useful applications in food and pharmaceutical industries.