The amount of cyanide in fresh and cooked tuber parenchyma (pulp) of three cultivars of sweet cassava from two local government areas (LGA) of Benue state was studied. Cassava tubers were collected and carefully peeled to obtain the pulp. The fresh and boiled samples were adequately processed and treated with ninhydrin, Na2CO3 and NaOH and the absorbance of the reaction product measured using UV-Visible spectrometer after construction of a calibration graph using standard cyanide solutions. The amount of cyanide in the fresh pulp varied with differences in cultivars ranging from White Dan-Warri Cultivar: (19.87 to 28.81) mg/kg; Obasanjo cultivar: (17.23 to 28.81) mg/kg and Red Dan-Warri Cultivar (8.23 to 19.31) mg/kg. Also, the cyanide content of cultivars from Oju LGA was generally higher than that of the cultivars from Gwer-east LGA. Cyanide content varied with the period of the day harvested in the order: Afternoon > Evening > Morning for all cultivars. Furthermore, cooking greatly reduced the cyanide content of all the sweet cassava cultivars but boiling was more effective than roasting with the cyanide removal increasing with increase in cooking time. The cyanide content of the tuber parenchyma of the sweet cassava cultivars was very low (<30 mg/kg) which is in agreement with reported values for sweet cassava. However, cooking at a reasonable time interval will further reduce their cyanide levels to further safe limits.

No abstract

The effect of modified proprietary poultry feed on cholesterol excretion in laying birds was evaluated. The study sort to lower the cholesterol content of eggs at the point of their physiological formation via a modification of the proprietary feed fed to laying poultry birds. This was with a view to lower the net cholesterol content in their eggs, thereby lowering the cholesterol levels available in such eggs for intake upon consumption. A 20% rice bran modification of the proprietary feed was made. Animal subjects were divided into experimental and control groups and the mean total cholesterol in their faecal droppings where determined before and after varying their feeding programs. Whereas the experimental group was fed with the modified feed, the control group was maintained on the unmodified feed. Enzymatic colorimetric method was used for the determination of mean total cholesterol in the dried faecal droppings of each group of birds under investigation. The results showed that the mean total cholesterol excretion before and after the modified feed regimen were 5.97±0.16 mg/g and 9.99±0.47 mg/g respectively and were found to be significantly different when compared using a t-test at p > 0.05 and 49 degree of freedom The results also showed that the modified proprietary poultry feed increased total cholesterol excretion in the faecal droppings of laying birds fed with the modified feed by 67.3%, and this was found to be statistically significant at p > 0.05. Hence, a 20% rice-bran modification of the proprietary feed yields a modified feed with a proven potency in elevating total cholesterol excretion while producing no drastic deviation from the proximate composition of the unmodified proprietary feed and is thus likely to have no adverse effect on the productivity of laying birds.

The bioactive ingredients in most malarial drugs only reduce plasmodium load during chemotherapy. No anti-malarial drug replenishes the red blood cells destroyed by Plasmodium. This creates a need to incorporate bioactive components with haematinic property in malaria therapy. This study aimed to assess the effect of T. occidentalis leaf extract on packed cell volume (PCV) of rats with malaria-induced anaemia. Anaemia was induced in the rats by inoculating them with Plasmodium berghei. The effect of the plant extract on the PCV of the rats was determined alongside a negative and a positive control. Also, the effect of varying doses of the extract on PCV of the rats was determined. T. occidentalis leaf extract produced a 22 % increase in the post-inoculation PCV of rats. The negative and positive control groups showed a 37 % and 25 % decrease, respectively, in PCV. Also, PCV increased with increase in extract dose administered.

Parquetina nigrescens leaves have been used in traditional medicine as an important and highly efficacious herbal remedy and have been recommended as a potential source of antimicrobial agent. Three extracts of the plant obtained using n-hexane, methanol and water were used as solvents. Phytochemical analysis of the plant extracts showed important bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, saponins, tannins, terpenes, steroids, phenols and glycosides, but alkaloids were absent in all the three extracts. Agar disk diffusion method was used to study the antimicrobial activity of the extracts at different concentrations which showed activity against three gram negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus spp., one gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, and two fungus Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans with zone of inhibition ranging from 5-15 mm for n-hexane extract, 6-16 mm for methanol extract and 1-11 mm for aqueous extract compared to zone of inhibition for the standard antibacterial drug, 0.5 mg/mL Streptomycin that ranges from 13 – 37 mm and the zone of inhibition for the standard antifungal drug 5 mg/mL fluconazole that ranges from 24 – 25 mm. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most inhibited while E. coli was the least inhibited by the extract, and Candida albicans was found to be resistant to the extracts in all the concentrations. TLC finger-printing of the extracts using the solvent system – butanol : acetic acid : ethanol : distilled water in the ratio 50:10:10:30 showed spots with peaks different retention times ranging from 0.24 - 0.74 cm. The results provide justification for the use of the plants in folk medicine to treat various infectious diseases.