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Proximate composition, mineral and vitamin contents of Syzygium malaccensis (red) and Eugenia owariensis (green) apples obtained from Calabar, Nigeria were determined. Musts of the two apple species were fermented for six days into wines and allowed to age for twelve months. The fat, protein, tannin and total acidity were significantly low among the two apple species. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the proximate nutritive values of the edible parts of the two apples. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were also observed in calcium, iron, sodium, vitamin A and carotene contents among the two apples. Vitamin A and carotene contents were higher in Syzygium malaccensis and lower in Eugenia owariensis, while the contents of vitamin C for both apples were similar. The zinc contents were in trace levels for the two apple species. Among the minerals, calcium content was found to be higher in S.malaccensis (5.54 ± 0.03 mg/100g) than in E. owariensis (5.16 ± 0.03 mg/100g) while the sodium and iron contents were higher in E. owariensis (1.5 ± 0.03 mg/100g and 0.43 ± 0.02 mg/100g respectively). The aged wines were subjected to physical, chemical, mineral and organoleptic analyses. Physical properties such as appearance, color, flavor and taste were examined using taste panels. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in the total acidity, residual sugar and ash contents of the wine samples but the alcohol content was similar averaging 11.0%. The amount of sodium and iron were higher in E. owariensis (18.85 ± 0.02 and 3.6 ± 0.04 mg/l respectively) than in S. malaccensis (14.4 ± 0.02 and 3.1 ± 0.04 mg/l). The composition of the wine produced from S. malaccensis had acceptable pH, titratable acidity, alcohol, chemical and slightly better mineral contents when compared with E. owariensis wine. Both apple wines were crisp, clear with distinct apple wine flavor. The overall results indicate that S. malaccensis apple species with slightly better wine characteristics has strong potential for the production of quality commercial wine.

Medicinal plants are plants used for medicinal purposes and are commonly used in treating and preventing specific ailments and diseases that are generally considered to be harmful to humans. Gongronema latifolium is a well-known plant that is beneficial in preventing and treating certain diseases and ailment due to their phytochemical constituents. This study evaluates the effect of ethanol leaf extract of Gongronema latifolium on the reproductive system of male Albino rats using standard methods. Twenty-five male rats equally divided into five groups and five female rats were used. Group I and 2…. .II served as the Normal and Positive controls and were orally administered with distilled water and subcutaneously standard drug; testosterone respectively. The other three groups were orally treated with Gongronema latifolium extract at low, middle and high dosage (200,300 and 400ml/kg body weight) respectively. After 7 days of treatment, the female rats were introduced into the male cages in the ratio 1:1 (male: female) to ascertain for the different aphrodisiac parameters. Treatment continued for another 7 days after which the male animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected for hormonal assay. Results showed that all the aphrodisiac frequencies had a significant increase (p≤0.001) in mounting frequency, intromission frequency and penile erectile frequency when compared with the controls while the mounting latency, intromission latency, ejaculatory latency and penile erectile latency were significantly reduced (p≤0.001) in comparison with the controls in this study. Most of the reproductive hormones were significantly increased (p≤0.001) in the extract treatment group when compared to the controls. Thus, this study suggests that the crude leaf extract of Gongronema latifolium may possess aphrodisiac properties and consequently on the reproductive system.