Evaluation of Public-Health Risk of Heavy Metals Contaminants and Physicochemical Parameters in Adulteration Palm Oil Commonly Consumed in Calabar, Nigeria

Edible palm oil has been the parity of the human diet from generation to generation and has contributed both to nutrition and health. These studies investigated some selected heavy metals and physicochemical parameters in palm oil. Eleven (11) samples of ready-consumed edible palm oil were bought randomly from the selected market in calabar metropolis. The samples were digested with 25ml of concentrated H2SO4, for heavy metals analysis using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The physiochemical parameters in selected markets include the following FFA, IV, PV, and protein content were also analyzed using standard methods. The results showed that FFA value range from 9.26 to 12%, Iodine value range from 45.78 to 21.40 MgKOH/g, Peroxide value range from 3.60 to 0.03 Meq/kg, and protein content ranges from 0.06 to 0.2 mg were significantly (p<0.05) higher in some markets in comparison to the control. The results of heavy metals showed that Zn 8.06±0.06, Cd 1.01±0.05, N 1.00±0.00, C 125.91±0.09, Pb 9.30±0.07 Cobalt, Lead zinc were above the detectable limit of the WHO standard while Cd and Ni were within the permissibility limit. The results obtained from this study indicate that the palm oil sold in calabar metropolis may cause a public health risk if proper monitoring is not maintained by regulatory agencies. Thus, there is a need for improved screening of our local processed palm oil from the time of production to the time of consumption

Influence of storage conditions and packaging materials on some quality attributes of water yam flour

The study investigated some quality attributes of water yam flour stored in three packaging materials [high and low density polyethylene and plastic container] under different storage conditions [relative humidity (36%, 56%, 75% and 96%), temperature (25±2, 35±2 and 45±2 °C)] for 24 weeks. The functional properties, proximate composition and microbial load of the samples were evaluated at 4 weeks interval. Significant differences (p<0.01) were observed for proximate composition, functional properties and microbial load of the samples during storage. The interactive effect of storage conditions and packaging materials was significant (p<0.01) on proximate composition and pasting properties (except trough viscosity). The yam flour samples were still shelf stable after the 24 weeks of storage

Species composition and distribution of zooplankton in the lower cross river estuary

Species composition, spatial distribution, abundance and diversity of zooplankton in the Cross River estuary were investigated over a period of 24 months. A total of 66 taxa belonging to eleven phyla were identified. Copepoda was the most abundant, with 17 taxa followed by the Cladocera with 11 taxa. Overall contribution of crustaceans to the total zooplankton population was 74.16%, while Chaetognaths and Cnidarians contributed 6.3% and 6.1% respectively. Densities ranged from 40 organisms/l to 1,660 organisms/l. Copepod presence was high in all the sampling zones but more in the lower reaches of the estuary. Cladocerans, Ciliates and Rotifers were more important in the upper reaches of the estuary, whereas the Cnidarians and Chaetognaths were absent upstream but highly abundant in the downstream reaches. Zooplankton composition showed significant spatial variation (p < 0.05) in taxa occurrence and density across the sampling zones. Copepods had the highest dominance value of 0.73, followed by Cladocera with 0.51. Jaccard's coefficient of similarity of species revealed dissimilarity between the upper reach stations and the lower reaches. Taxa richness was highest in the lower reach station 6 with a value of 6.79. A general trend of increase in species diversity and richness from upstream to downstream was observed. Inter-and intra-specific relationship revealed highly significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between Cnidarians and Copepods (r = 0.896), Cladocerans (r – 0.841) and between chaetognaths and Copepods (r = 0.725, P < 0.05) and Cladocerans (r = 0.451, P < 0.05). Paucity of zooplankton in terms of occurrence and abundance at certain sampling locations of higher proximity to household and industrial effluents sources is indicative of anthropogenic perturbations. Keywords: Zooplankton, abundance, distribution, diversity, estuary AJAZEB Vol. 7 2005: pp. 5-1