Assessment of the Quality of Borehole Water Sample in Federal Housing Estate and Sites and Services Areas of Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Assessment of the quality of borehole water samples from Federal Housing Estate and Sites and Services areas of Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria was conducted to determine the suitability of these borehole water samples. Six samples of borehole water gotten from six different families living in these areas were analyzed for microbial, chemical and physicochemical parametersusing standard analytical method of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The result of microbial analysis revealed that all the water samples (samples D, E, F, G, H, and M) had total coliform count of 64.0cfu/100ml, 5.0cfu/100ml, 41.0cfu/100ml, 16.0cfu/100ml, 124.0cfu/100ml and 0.0cfu/100ml respectively. This showed that sample D, F, G, and H exceeded the standard of 10 coliform counts/100ml. The entire samples resulted at 0 counts for Escherichia coli. Samples D, F, G and M tested negative for pseudomonas test, whereas samples E and H did not. The chemical analysis showed that all the samples did not meet up with the recommended standard of pH (6.5-8.5).However, there was significant difference (p<0.5) between samples D and E. samples F and J were significantly the same, also as samples G and M. Sample M was the least significant while sample D was the most significant at pH 4.6 and 6.4 respectively. The temperatures were all significantly the same and did not exceed standard limit of 370C. The total dissolved solid also did not exceed the limit of 500ppm and the conductivity limit was not exceeded. All the samples did not exceed limits for zinc, copper, lead, magnesium, cadmium and iron which are 3mg/l, 1mg/l, 0.01mg/l, 0.02mg/l, 0.03mg/l and 0.3mg/l  respectively except for calcium, where samples D, E, G and H were beyond standard of 0.4mg/l. All the samples were significantly different for each parameter except for lead of which the entire sample were all the same. The depth of the borehole in relation to the distance of septic tank, distance of neighbor’s septic tank and distance of refuse dump as obtained from these families revealed that sample M had the highest distance and was the least contaminated, whereas sample H had the closest distance and the greatest microbial contamination. The depth of Sample G borehole was according to the regulatory standard of 150 ft., and from the analysis the entire parameters were within standard except for pH. Keywords: Water, Standards, Microbial analysis, Total Dissolved Solid, Metals, Septic tan

Efect of Phytol on Dehydrogenase Activity of Bacterial Isolates from Grilled Meat

Abstract Effect of phytol on the dehydrogenase activity of Staphylococcus aureus Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis isolated from grilled meat was examined via dehydrogenase assay using 2,3,5 -tripheny tetrazolium chloride (TTC) as the electron acceptor. The bacteria isolates were exposed to various concentrations of phytol (0-2000 µg) in a nutrient broth. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minium bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of phytol against the bacterial isolates were found in the range of 31.25 µg /ml to 250 µg /ml and 125 µg /ml to 250 µg /ml respectively. Effect of phytol on the dehydrogenase activity of the bacterial isolates showed that gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa had higher dehydrogenase activity than the gram positive Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus faecalis and Stpahylococcus aureus. The effect of phytol on the dehydrogenase activity varied significantly among the bacterial isolates. This result indicates that phytol could be used as an antibacterial agent in food industry to inhibit the growth of certain food borne pathogens

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DOUGH IMPROVERS ON THE PROXIMATE COMPOSITION, MINERALS, VITAMINS AND SENSORY PROPERTIES OF WHEAT BREAD

Abstract Comparative evaluation of bread made from wheat flour using five different dough improvers was evaluated. The improvers were ascorbic acid, EDC-2000, (etheylen