The prevalence of enteritis and its accompanying diarrheal and other health challenges linked to infections with Salmonella has continuously plagued sub Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, typhoid fever is among the major widespread diseases affecting both young and old as a result of many interrelated factors such as inadequate sanitaion, indiscriminate use of antibiotics and fecal contamination of water sources. Morbidity associated with illness due to Salmonella continues to increase with untold fatal consequences, often resulting in death. An accurate figure of cases is difficult to arrive at because only large outbreaks are mostly investigated whereas sporadic cases are under-reported. A vast majority of rural dwellers in Africa often resort to self-medication or seek no treatment at all, hence serving as carries of this disease. Non typhoidal cases of salmonellosis account for about 1.3 billion cases with 3 million deaths annually. Given the magnitude of the economic losses incurred by African nations in the battle against salmonella and salmonellosis, this article takes a critical look at the genus Salmonella, its morphology, isolation, physiological and biochemical characteristics, typing methods, methods of detection, virulence factor, epidemiology and methods of spread within the environment.

Aim: To investigate the preservative efficiency of Ocimum gratissimum or its extracts on yoghurt. Study Design: Ten yoghurt samples were prepared, furthermore, nine (9) samples were treated with scent leaf in different forms at different concentrations. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Food Science and Technology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria, between September 2015 and June 2016. Methodology: Yoghurt was prepared from instant filled milk while Direct Vat Inoculum (DVI) was used as the starter culture. Proximate and phytochemical analyses were carried out following standard procedures. Sensory evaluation was carried out using a 15-man panelist with a seven point hedonic scales and results were statistically analyzed using IBM® SPSS 21.0, at 0.05 probability level. pH and microbial analysis were conducted while bacterial characterization involved biochemical tests and isolation of probable microorganisms employed morphological and structural characteristics. Results: Result for proximate analysis indicated differences in the nutritional composition of the raw milk and yoghurt (control). Moisture content increased considerably from 10.00% to 69.75%, while a reduction in protein content was reported (8.7% - 4.95%). The lipid content classified the produced yoghurt as a low-fat yoghurt, and expectedly, the carbohydrate content reduced from 58.20% - 22.30%. Phytochemical screening of the different forms of scent leaf indicated the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, and steroids, in different concentrations. Sensory scores showed that the panelists preferred yoghurt formulated with 3 mL of squeezed scent leaf extract. pH values decreased with storage period, while microbial load ranged between 0.5× 104 – 2.0 × 104, where Klebsiella spp., Streptococcus spp., E. coli, Bacillus, S. aureus, Pseudomonas spp., Enterobacter, and Proteus spp. were isolated. Conclusion: The yoghurt samples formulated with squeezed scent leaf extracts had the best organoleptic acceptance, while the sample treated with 3 mL had the lowest microbial load, hence, it can be inferred that the squeezed scent leaf extracts had the best preservative effect.

The prevalence of enteritis and its accompanying diarrheal and other health challenges linked to infections with Salmonella has continuously plagued sub Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, typhoid fever is among the major widespread diseases affecting both young and old as a result of many interrelated factors such as inadequate sanitaion, indiscriminate use of antibiotics and fecal contamination of water sources. Morbidity associated with illness due to Salmonella continues to increase with untold fatal consequences, often resulting in death. An accurate figure of cases is difficult to arrive at because only large outbreaks are mostly investigated whereas sporadic cases are under-reported. A vast majority of rural dwellers in Africa often resort to self-medication or seek no treatment at all, hence serving as carries of this disease. Non typhoidal cases of salmonellosis account for about 1.3 billion cases with 3 million deaths annually. Given the magnitude of the economic losses incurred by African nations in the battle against salmonella and salmonellosis, this article takes a critical look at the genus Salmonella, its morphology, isolation, physiological and biochemical characteristics, typing methods, methods of detection, virulence factor, epidemiology and methods of spread within the environment.

The polyacetylenic compound cis-heptadeca-1,9-diene-4,6-diyne-3,8-diol with the trivial name of falcarindiol, has been shown through various studies to exhibit anticancer activities. The beneficial effects of polyacetylenes occur at nontoxic concentrations and thus represent pharmacologically useful properties indicating that polyacetylenes may be important nutraceuticals of vegetables. In Okoli et al.; AFSJ, 7(3): 1-7, 2019; Article no.AFSJ.47204 2 the human diet, carrots are the major dietary source of falcarinol-type polyacetylenes, in particular falcarinol and falcarindiol. The prediction of physicochemical parameters relevant for drug likeness was performed by computational methods. The Lipinski, Ghose and Veber rules were applied to assess drug likeness and to predict whether the compound is likely to be a bioactive compound according to other important parameters such as molecular weight, LogP, number of hydrogen bond donors and hydrogen bond acceptors. The SwissADME tool used vector machine algorithm (SVM) with fastidiously cleaned large datasets of known inhibitors/non-inhibitors as well as substrates/non-substrates for its predictions. Results from the in silico pharmacokinetics study on falcarindiol showed that the compound exhibited drug likeness characteristics and as such can serve the purpose of an anticancer agent, being a nutaceutical and bioactive component of falcarindiol. Original Research Article