Bioethanol production from cassava (Manihot esculenta) peels.

In recent years, the production of ethanol from plentiful, low cost cellulosic biomass or agricultural wastes has grown in importance  due to the hope that it could reduce the cost of ethanol production and benefit the global environment. The application of using cassava residues for ethanol production could be of great advantage to a country’s economy; hence, this study was carried out to  determine  the  possibility  of  bioethanol  production  from  cassava  peels  as  a  cheaper  bioethanol  source.  Cassava  peels  were collected, cleaned, chopped and fermented for 14 days by Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolated from palm wine. In this study, parameters including biomass, ethanol yield, pH, titratable acidity and reducing sugar were analyzed at two day intervals using standard methods. There was a drop in pH from 5.0 to 3.8 in the yeast ameliorated batch of fermentation with ethanol yield of 7.5 mL and about 8.1% alcohol content produced. There was a progressive increase in titratable acidity and cell biomass; and a decrease in reducing sugar during the course of fermentation of both the test and control batches. The results from this study showed that ethanol production from cassava peels could provide solution to the problems of their disposal into the environment and also serve as an alternative option to ethanol production from cheaper available raw materialsEn los últimos años, la producción de etanol a partir de la abundancia de biomasa de celulosa de bajo costo o de residuos agrícolas ha crecido en importancia, debido a la esperanza de reducir el costo de la producción de etanol y beneficiar el medio ambiente global. La aplicación del uso de residuos de yuca para la producción de etanol podría ser de gran ventaja para la economía de un país; por lo tanto, este estudio se llevó a cabo para determinar la posibilidad de la producción de bioetanol a partir de cáscaras de yuca como una fuente más barata de bioetanol. Las cáscaras de yuca fueron recolectadas, limpiadas, picadas y fermentadas durante 14 días por Saccharomyces cerevisiae aislado del vino de Palma. En este estudio se analizaron parámetros que incluyeron biomasa, rendimiento de etanol, pH, acidez titulable y azúcar reductora. Se observó que hubo una disminución en el pH de 5,0 a 3,8 en el lote de fermentación mejorado con levaduras con rendimiento de etanol de 7,5 ml, y aproximadamente 8,1% de contenido de alcohol. Presentó un aumento progresivo de la acidez valorable y de la biomasa celular; y una disminución en la reducción del azúcar durante el curso de la fermentación de los lotes de ensayo y control. Los resultados de esta investigación, demostraron que la producción de etanol a partir de cáscaras de yuca, podría dar solución a los problemas de su eliminación en el medio ambiente y también servir como una opción alternativa a la producción de etanol, a partir de materias primas disponibles más baratas

Inhibitory effect of tannic acid and its derivative (gallic acid) against cisplatin–induced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) production in rat kidney – in vitro

Increasing amounts of evidence suggests tannic acid (TA) and its derivative, gallic acid (GA) has beneficial effects against nephrotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of TA and GA (two structurally related phenolic acids) against cisplatin-induced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) production in rat kidney in vitro. The effect of both phenolic acids on kidney TBARS level in the presence of cisplatin, an antineoplastic drug used in the treatment of many solid-tissue cancers which has its chief side effect in nephrotoxicity, was assessed. Thereafter, the antioxidant properties were also determined. Incubation of the kidney tissue homogenate in the presence of cisplatin (1 mM) caused a significant (P<0.05) increase in the TBARS level. However, both phenolic acids caused a significant (P<0.05) decrease in the TBARS content of the kidney in a dose dependent manner (0 – 12.5 µM). Nevertheless, TA had a significantly higher (P<0.05) inhibitory effect on TBARS production than gallic acid judging by their IC50 value. Furthermore, TA possesses stronger antioxidant properties than GA as revealed by their scavenging, chelating and reducing ability. The inhibition of cisplatin–induced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) production in rat kidney by both TA and GA could be due to their antioxidant properties and this provide further insight into the mechanism of action for their nephroprotective properties from previous reported experimental studies. However, the study revealed that hydrolysis of TA reduces its potenc

PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF CRASSOCEPHALUM RUBENSLEAVES ON CARBON TETRACHLORIDE -INDUCED LIVER DAMAGE IN RATS

Natural products, most especially from plant origin, possess antioxidant propertieswhich are known toplaycrucial roles in preventing and treating various pathological conditions occasioned by free radicals. Crassocephalum rubens is aone of those plants, and this study investigated the protective properties of ethanolic extract of C.rubens(EECR) leaves against hepatic damageinduced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). Thirty rats divided into 6 groups (n=5) were used for the investigation. Group 1 served as normal control while groups 2, 3 and 4 were pretreated for 21 days with EECR leaves at 150 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 450 mg/kg b.w.respectively, prior to a single intraperitoneal administration of CCl4. Animals in groups 5 received only the extract at a dose of 450 mg/kg body weight whileanimals in group 6 were given only CCl4. All animals were sacrificed 24 hafter the administration of CCl4. CCl4significantly (p < 0.05) induced marked hepatic damage as revealed by increased activities of plasma ALT, AST, GGT and ALP. Also, plasma total protein and albumin were significantly decreased in CCl4-treated animals relativeto normal control. Analyses of antioxidant statusshowed that CCl4elicited a significant decrease in the activities of antioxidant enzymes, with an increase in malondialdehyde levelsin liver. Pre-treatment with the EECR leavesat all doses testedhowever,significantly (p<0.05) reduced the observed biochemical lesions. The hepatoprotective effect of the EECR may be traceable to the presence of phytochemicals inherent in the plant

One-pot synthesis, characterisation and biological activities of gold nanoparticles prepared using aqueous seed extract of Garcinia kola

Recently, biogenic synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has become a focus area in cancer research owing to the eco-friendliness and cost effectiveness of the synthetic method. In this study, aqueous extract of Garcinia kola seed (AEGKs) was used for the bio-reduction of Au3+ to Au0. The synthesised AEGKs-AuNPs was characterised by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The in vitro antioxidant activity of the AEGKs and AEGKs-AuNPs was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging ability and ferric reducing antioxidant power assays. The AEGKs-AuNPs showed an absorption maximum at 512 nm, and the HRTEM images revealed mostly, spherical-shaped AuNPs in the size range of 2–17 nm. The FT-IR spectroscopy revealed that polyphenolic compounds and proteins were predominant, and responsible for the reduction and capping of the AuNPs. The AEGKs-AuNPs showed concentration dependent antioxidant activities, while dose dependent in vitro anti-cancer activity of the AEGKs-AuNPs was demonstrated against lungs, prostrate, human cervical and human colon cancer cells, using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)− 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide tetrazolium reduction (MTT) assay. The antioxidant and anti-cancer activities of the AEGKs-AuNPs could be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals and physicochemical properties of the AuNPs

Hepatoprotective Effect of Aqueous Extract of Solanum macrocarponLeavesagainst Carbon tetrachloride-Induced Liver Damage in Rats

Liver damage is a growing concern of today’s modern society. The increasing incidence of exposure to toxic agents has contributed to liver diseases. There is therefore need for hepatoprotective agents. This study was aimed at investigating the protective effect of aqueous extract of the leaves of Solanum macrocarponagainst CCl4-induced liver damage in rats. Six groups of four animals each were used for the investigation. Group 1 served as control, groups 2, 3 and 4 animals were pre-treated with leaf extract of Solanum macrocarponat 250mg/kg, 500mg/kg and 750mg/kg body weight respectively for 14 days prior to a single intraperitoneal administration of CCl4. Animals in groups 5 and 6 received only the extract at a dose of 750mg/kg body weight and CCl4respectively. All animals were sacrificed 24 h after the administration of CCl4.The liver functions tests were performed in addition to their histopathological evaluation.Results obtained showed significant adverse changes in the levels of all measured parameters in CCl4treated rats. However, pre-treatment with aqueous extract of S. macrocarponprevented the adverse changes. Our findings suggest that S. macrocarponprotects the liver against CCl4-induced damage. This could be attributed to the presence of phytochemical compounds in the plant