OPTIMIZATION OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM DANIELLA OLIVERI OIL SEED USING WASTE SNAIL SHELL AS HETEROGENEOUS CATALYST

Biodiesel has gained support and recognition as a fuel to replace fossil fuel which has caused a lot of damage to the environment. In search of locally cheap raw materials that could be used for biodiesel production at a cheaper rate. An investigation was carried out with Daniela oliveri oil seed and waste snail shells as raw materials. One step alkaline transesterification was conducted to produce the biodiesel. Snail shell was used as a source of CaO heterogeneous catalysts by calcination process at 9000C for 5 h. Four process parameters were optimized; methanol to oil ratio 7:1, reaction temperature 500C, catalyst concentration 2.0 wt% and reaction time 60 min to obtained high yield of biodiesel 77% from the oil. The fuel properties of the produced biodiesel from D.oliveri oil were compared with the ASTM standard and found within the requirements

Comparative Analysis of Three Time Series Trend Models on Gross Domestic Product in Nigeria

This work fitted three time series trend models namely, linear trend model, quadratic trend model and exponential trend model on Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria using an annual data from 1982 to 2012. It was found out that the exponential trend model had the least MAPE and fitted the data appropriately. The exponential trend model was used to make a five year for forecast of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, which showed that the country’s Gross Domestic Product will be on the rise within the next five years. Keywords: Model, Forecast, Time Series and Linear Tren

Green synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles using calotropis procera leaf extract and evaluation of its antimicrobial activity

In this study, magnetite nanoparticles were successfully synthesized using Calotropis procera aqueous leaf extract. The effect of the whole extract and some of its phytochemicals on the particle size distribution was determined using Dynamic light scattering (DLS) while other characterizations such as UV–vis spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out. The antimicrobial activity against selected microorganisms was also studied using the agar well diffusion method. The leaf extract showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids and tannins. The magnetite nanoparticle synthesized using the leaf extract ( Calotropis procera /Fe _3 O _4 ) had an average particle size of 11.1 nm with a PDI of 0.142 while the phenolic, flavonoid and saponin extracts of Calotropis procera leafs produced magnetites with average particle sizes of 62.83 nm, 68.02 nm and 134 nm respectively. The UV–vis spectra displayed the characteristic plasmon resonance peak at 420 nm, the FTIR plots highlighted important functional groups including peaks between 600 cm ^−1 and 400 cm ^−1 confirming the formation of iron oxide while the SEM micrographs showed the nanoparticles were mainly irregular in shape with areas of agglomeration. Calotropis procera /Fe _3 O _4 displayed significant anti-microbial activity against Staphylococcus aureus , Bacillus subtilis , Klebsiella pneumonia , Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum while no activity was recorded against Escherichia coli . The study indicated that Calotropis procera leaf extract was suitable for the green synthesis of magnetite with properties that suggest that it could be potentially applied as antimicrobial nanofillers

Secondary metabolites and In-vitro Antioxidant Properties of Methanol Extracts of Fruits of Annona senegalensis, Curcubita pepo L, Cucumi melo inodorous and Sarcocephalus latifolius.

The Methanolic extracts of fruits of Annona senegalensis, Curcubita pepo L., Cucumi melo inodorous and Sarcocephalus latifolius were screened for their phytochemical constituents and in-vitro antioxidant properties using standard methods. Results revealed the presence of alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, tannins, saponins, flavoniods and phenols in all the fruits studied. Quantitative phytochemical determination of the fruits showed that alkaloid content of the extract ranged between 8.89 ± 0.30 to 193.47± 0.30mg/g while tannin content was in the range of 89.45 ± 1.23 mg/g and 392.71 ± 0.23 mg/g, saponins between10.50 ± 0.50 mg/g and 97.31 ± 0.61 mg/g, total phenols between 75.25 ± 1.85 and 374.52 mg/g, and total flavonoid content between 5.24 ± 0.44 mg/g and 57.00± 10.50mg/g. All the fruits studied showed antioxidant activity in a concentration dependent manner. Annona senegalensis extract showed the highest 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity (38.43-77.15%) while Curcubita pepoL showed the least DPPH scavenging ability (1.00- 3.8%) compared to other extracts. The highest reducing power was also observed in Annona senegalensis extract compared to other fruits extract. These fruits can serve as good sources of antioxidants which can be used in the management of degenerative diseases.Key words: DPPH Free radical, reductive power, Annona senegalensis, Curcubita pepo L, Cucumis melo inodorous, Sarcocephalus latifoliu