Effects of Citric Acid and Methanol Extracts of Banana and Plantain Peels on Stability of Refined Soybean Oil

Refined Soybean Oil (RSBO) was freshly obtained before adding any additive from a local Vegetable Oil factory in Owo, Ondo- State, Nigeria. Ripped peels of banana and plantain were removed from their fruits, cut, sun dried, ground, sieved and separately extracted with methanol. The methanol extracts were dosed at varying concentrations (0.02%-0. 10%) into RSBO. RSBO containing 0.02% and 0.04% of citric acid (CA) were also set up for comparison. The stability effects of methanol extracts and citric acid of RSBO were evaluated by monitoring the Free Fatty Acid (FFA), Acid Value (AV) and Peroxide Value (PV) of the oil sample monthly for a period of six months. The results indicated that RSBO containing both extracts (0.02%-0. 10%) and citric acid were more oxidatively stable than RSBO that contained no additive. Oil samples containing 0.08%-0. 10% banana peel extract, 0.08% plantain peel extract and citric acid (0.02%-0.10%) were more hydrolytically stable than oil sample that contained no additive. Plantain peel extract in RSBO competed more favourably with citric acid than banana peel extract in terms of oxidative stability of RSBO. The plantain peel extract had higher antioxidative activity than banana peel extract against oxidative deterioration of RSBO. Both extracts had optimal performance against oxidative rancidity of RSBO at 0.06% concentration

INTER-SPOUSAL COMMUNICATION AS A DETERMINANT OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE IN NIGERIA: A MIXED METHOD

The need for understanding the level of communication among couples is important in reproductive health. Agreement by couples on contraceptive adoption is a major consideration if population growth will be reduced. Therefore this paper tests the hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between interspousal communication and contraceptive use in Nigeria. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative method of data collection. The quantitative data employed the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey Couple recode dataset, while the qualitative data was collected using Focus Group Discussion. Data was analyzed using Stata13 and the qualitative data was analyzed using NVivo 11 software. The result of the logistic regression model showed that there is a significant relationship between inter-spousal communication and contraceptive use (P<0.001). The result of the unadjusted model showed a Log-likelihood ratio [LLR] = 2335.0875, R2 = 27.05% and Chi-square= 1731.32 on 29 degree of freedom while, the adjusted model showed a [LLR] = 435.0011, R2 = 38.20%, Chi-square= 268.36 on 32 degrees of freedom, p<0.05. The reduction of 1296.3189 in the Log-likelihood ratio and an increase of 11.15 % in the R2 indicate a very good fit. In the qualitative study the findings showed that majority of the couples using contraceptives discussed with their spouses and more than half of them received their husband’s maximum support. We conclude that couples communication will improve the uptake of contraceptives and reduce the increasing population growth in Nigeria

Psychosocial Health of Adolescent living in Urban Slum Nigeria

The paper examines association of neighborhood characteristics with psychosocial statues of adolescent living in urban slums. Data for the study were obtained from a cross sectional survey among adolescent age 15-19, living in urban slums in Lagos State. Adopted a measuring scale for adverse environment and psychosocial attributes, data were analyzed using univariate and binary logistic regression analysis. Results revealed that neighborhood characteristics were associated with low self-academic performance rating. Both parental process and neighborhood factors such social disorganization was able to predict psychosocial wellbeing such subjective academic performance rating. The findings revealed among others that adverse neighborhood characteristics in urban slum were associated with unhealthy subjective wellbeing which reflects wide personal and social contexts and have implications for public health and social wellbeing. This paper calls for programmes that are tailor to addressing rapidly developing slum settlements in low income area, to secure the future generation

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in some Nigerian rasted plant foods

Thirteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were identified and quantified in three different roasted plant foods (Zea mays, Dioscorea rotundata and Musa paradisiaca) using a rapid method involving microwave assisted saponification and simultaneous extraction followed by solid-phase extraction (SPE), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation and spectrofluorometric detection. The method applied had good recovery and repeatability characteristcs. With respect to raw samples, roasted samples had higher contamination levels with a maximum benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) content of 0.6 \u3bcg kg-1 dry weight. Roasted Zea mays had the highest low molecular weight- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (LMW-PAH) load of 31.2 \u3bcg kg-1 dry weight, which may be due to the fact that the charred portions after roasting are not usually subjected to scrapping, an exercise which is usually carried out on other roasted plant foods. Anyways, PAHs exposure due to the consumption of roasted plant foods may not pose serious concerns for human health, especially as they are low in heavy molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAHs)