Rusty gold in Nigeria: Untapped advances in nanotechnology

Significance:Reasons for the slow pace of nanotechnology research in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, are explored, given Nigeria’s huge human and natural endowments, and solutions are proffered to address the seemingly lagging outlook of the country in nanotechnology. This Commentary is relevant to all critical stakeholders at national, regional and international levels to mobilise efforts to advance the course of nanotechnology in Nigeria and beyond

Quality Assessment of Some Groundwater Samples in Ogbomoso Metropolis, Southwest Nigeria

This study examines the physico-chemical and microbiological attributes of water samples obtained from ten boreholes that were sampled twice a month for a period of five months. The physico-chemical attributes revealed that the ammonia, manganese, nitrate, nitrite, fluoride, chloride contents, conductivity and total dissolved solids were below the permissible levels. However, total alkalinity and total hardness values of some water samples were higher than the permissible levels, while all the water samples had BOD and COD values that were higher than the permissible levels. The pH of water samples ranged from 5.8-6.9, showing that only two samples fell within the permissible levels. Similarly, the temperature ranged from 31.5-35.4 oC, with only two samples having values that fell within the permissible levels. The microbial quality of the water samples indicates extensive microbial contamination involving heterotrophic bacteria, coliforms, yeasts/molds, staphylococci, and Shigella. However, Salmonella was not isolated in this study. Bacterial isolates such as Proteus, Escherichia, Shigella, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, and Klebsiella with multiple-drug resistance ranging from 2-8 were encountered. The safety of the borehole water can be enhanced through regular cleaning, disinfection of storage tanks and further treatment by end-users to ensure the potability of water. This study provides baseline data with regard to the quality of underground water within Ogbomoso metropolis, Nigeria. Keywords: ground water, boreholes, microbiology, physico-chemical attributes, antibiotic resistanc

Optimization of the production of xylanases in corncob-based media by Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma longibrachiatum using Taguchi approach

Xylanases are important in producing several commercially valued bioproducts. In this study, xylanases were produced by Aspergillus niger L3 and Trichoderma longibrachiatum L2 using corncob, an agricultural waste, as sole carbon source. The impact of important fermentation parameters at individual and interactive levels were studied using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. Substantial variation in enzyme synthesis was observed among designated factor levels. The optimal conditions to produce xylanases were 20% inoculum size, 24 h fermentation time, substrate concentration of 15 g/l at pH 5.5 for A. niger L3; and inoculum size 12.5%, 72 h fermentation time, substrate concentration of 15 g/l at pH 5.5 for T. longibrachiatum L2. Validation of outcomes of the optimal combination of parameters resulted in a significant improvement of approximately 208.09 and 192.59% in the yield of xylanase by A. niger L3 (28.69 to 88.39 U/ml) and T. longibrachiatum L2 (22.13 to 64.75 U/ml), respectively. The study therefore established the optimal valorization of corncob to produce xylanase by the fungal isolates

Comparative Effects of Silver Nanoparticles, Sucrose and Sodium Chloride as Osmotic Solutions for Tomato Slices: Antioxidant Activity, Microbial Quality and Modelling with Polynomial Regression Model

This study has reported comparative effects of silver nanoparticles  (AgNPs),  sucrose and sodium chloride as osmotic solutions on antioxidant activity and microbial quality of 10 mm tomato slices. 40 g of tomato slices were dehydrated osmotically (OD) at different temperatures (60, 70 and 80 °C) and time (30, 60, 90, 120 150 and 180 min).Water loss, solid  impregnation, water and solid diffusivities of tomato slices were found to increase with increase in solution temperatures and concentrations with AgNPs having the greatest influence. Antioxidant activities using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl increased with increase in solution concentrations but decreased with increase in temperature. Three-wayANOVA(R2=0.998) revealed additive statistically significant effects of osmotic agents,  concentrations and temperatures on antioxidant activity;   F(8,54)=67.854,P=0.00. Polynomial regression analysis with response surface methodology validated experiments such that for each unit increase in concentration and temperature, antioxidant activity increased with good coefficients of determination; sucrose (R2 = 0.87), NaCl, (R2 = 0.89) andAgNPs (R2 = 0.91). Potato dextrose and nutrient agars were used for isolating and identifying microorganisms in OD tomato slices. Tomato slices dehydrated with AgNPs had the highest microbial inhibition of fungi with growth occurring after 7 days, unlike in treatments with sucrose and NaCl where fungal growth appeared after 2 and 5 days, respectively. Aspergillus niger was the most prevalent fungus. It can be concluded that AgNPs may serve as a viable means to dehydrate and preserve tomatoes without loss of antioxidant activity.Keywords: Osmotic dehydration, polynomial regression, response surface, antioxidant activity, three-way ANOVA, silver nanoparticles

Novel optimal temperature profile for acidification process of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus in yoghurt fermentation using artificial neural network and genetic algorithm

The acidification behavior of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus for yoghurt production was investigated along temperature profiles within the optimal window of 38-44 degrees C. For the optimal acidification temperature profile search, an optimization engine module built on a modular artificial neural network (ANN) and genetic algorithm (GA) was used. Fourteen batches of yoghurt fermentations were evaluated using different temperature profiles in order to train and validate the ANN sub-module. The ANN captured the nonlinear relationship between temperature profiles and acidification patterns on training data after 150 epochs. This served as an evaluation function for the GA. The acidification slope of the temperature profile was the performance index. The GA sub-module iteratively evolved better temperature profiles across generations using GA operations. The stopping criterion was met after 11 generations. The optimal profile showed an acidification slope of 0.06117 compared to an initial value of 0.0127 and at a set point sequence of 43, 38, 44, 43, and 39 degrees C. Laboratory evaluation of three replicates of the GA suggested optimum profile of 43, 38, 44, 43, and 39 degrees C gave an average slope of 0.04132. The optimization engine used (to be published elsewhere) could effectively search for optimal profiles of different physico-chemical parameters of fermentation processes

Rusty gold in Nigeria: Untapped advances in nanotechnology

Significance:Reasons for the slow pace of nanotechnology research in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, are explored, given Nigeria’s huge human and natural endowments, and solutions are proffered to address the seemingly lagging outlook of the country in nanotechnology. This Commentary is relevant to all critical stakeholders at national, regional and international levels to mobilise efforts to advance the course of nanotechnology in Nigeria and beyond

Biotechnological valorization of cashew apple juice for the production of citric acid by a local strain of Aspergillus niger LCFS 5

Abstract Background This work investigates the production of citric acid from cashew apple juice, an abundant waste in the processing of cashew, using a local strain of Aspergillus niger and the application of the citric acid as a coagulant for the production of soy cheese. Fungal isolates were obtained from a cashew plantation in Ogbomoso, Nigeria, using potato dextrose agar. Further screening was undertaken to determine the qualitative strength of acid production by the fungi on Czapek-Dox agar supplemented with bromocresol green, with the development of yellow zone taken as an indication of citric acid production. Thereafter, the best producing strain was cultivated in a cashew apple juice medium. Results Out of 150 fungal isolates generated from the cashew plantation, 92 (61.3%), 44 (29.3%) and 14 (9.3%) were obtained from cashew fruits, soil and cashew tree surfaces, respectively. Different strains of fungi isolated include Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. foetidus, A. heteromorphus, A. nidulans and A. viridinutans. The isolates produced yellow zonation of 0.4–5.5 cm on modified Czapek-Dox agar; the highest was observed for a strain of A. niger LCFS 5, which was identified using molecular tools. In the formulated cashew apple juice medium, the citric acid yield of LCFS 5 ranged 16.0–92.8 g/l with the peak obtained on the 10th day of fermentation. The citric acid produced was recovered using the double precipitation method with Ca(OH)2 and H2SO4 having ≈ 70% purity of citric acid on HPLC. The citric acid acted as a coagulant to produce soy cheese with 66.67% acceptability by panelists. Conclusion This work has extended the frontiers of valorization of cashew waste by a strain of A. niger to produce citric acid in high yield, with potential application in food industries

Green Synthesis and Antibacterial Activities of Silver Nanoparticles Using Extracellular Laccase of <i>Lentinus edodes</i>

This study reports the multi-step mutagenesis of Lentinus edodes towards optimization of the production of laccase and novel application of laccase in the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) which could be used to develop an eco-friendly method for the rapid biosynthesis of AgNPs. The wild strain of L. edodes was subjected to UV irradiation at 254 nm and the resultant viable mutant was further treated with acridine orange, a chemical mutagen. The strains were evaluated for the production of laccase and the crude laccase of the UV mutant (UV10) was used for the green synthesis of AgNPs. The particles were characterized by UV-Visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Laccase activities of wild, UV10 and UV10ACR8 strains of L. edodes were obtained as 2.6, 10.6 and 2.8 U/ml/min respectively after 7 days of fermentation, showing laccase yield improvement of 4.08-fold for UV10 mutant. UV-Visible spectroscopy indicated the formation of AgNPs at absorption band of 430 nm. FTIR result indicated that proteins were responsible for AgNP synthesis, while SEM analysis confirmed the formation of walnut-shaped nanoparticles with size range of 50-100 nm. The biosynthesized nanoparticles revealed effective inhibition against clinical isolates of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this result represents the first report on the biosynthesis of AgNPs using L. edodes metabolite. The report adds to the growing relevance of L. edodes as potential industrially viable organism, used for diverse biotechnological applications

An overview of biogenic metallic nanoparticles for water treatment and purification: the state of the art

The environment is fundamental to human existence, and protecting it from dangerous contaminants should be a top priority for all stakeholders. Reducing garbage output has helped, but as the world's population grows, more waste will be generated. Tons of waste inadvertently and advertently received by environmental matrixes adversely affect the sustainable environment. The pollution caused by these activities affects the environment and human health. Conventional remediation processes ranging from chemical, physical, and biological procedures use macroaggregated materials and microorganisms to degrade or remove pollutants. Undesirable limitations of expensiveness, disposal challenges, maintenance, and formation of secondary contaminants abound. Additionally, multiple stages of treatments to remove different contaminants are time-consuming. The need to avoid these limitations and shift towards sustainable approaches brought up nanotechnology options. Currently, nanomaterials are being used for environmental rejuvenation that involves the total degradation of pollutants without secondary pollution. As nanoparticles are primed with vast and modifiable reactive sites for adsorption, photocatalysis, and disinfection, they are more useful in remediating pollutants. Review articles on metallic nanoparticles usually focus on chemically synthesized ones, with a particular focus on their adsorption capacity and toxicities. Therefore, this review evaluates the current status of biogenic metallic nanoparticles for water treatment and purification. HIGHLIGHTS Water challenges, pollution and remediation.; Roles of conventional and nanotechnological technologies.; Metallic nanoparticles as adsorbents, photocatalysts, and water disinfectants.; Mechanisms of photocatalysis and water disinfection of metallic nanoparticles.; Possible challenges of metallic nanoparticles in water remediation.

Novel biosynthesized silver nanoparticles from cobweb as adsorbent for Rhodamine B: equilibrium isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Abstract This study has investigated the adsorption of Rhodamine B (Rh-B) dye on novel biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from cobweb. The effects of contact time, initial pH, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature were studied on the removal of Rh-B and they significantly affected its uptake. Adsorption isotherms were evaluated using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models. The adsorption process was best described by Langmuir isotherm with R 2 of 0.9901, indicating monolayer adsorption. The maximum adsorption capacity (q max) of 59.85 mg/g showed that it has relatively high performance, while adsorption intensity showed a favourable adsorption process. Pseudo-second-order kinetics fitted best the rate of adsorption and intra-particle diffusion revealed both surface adsorption and intra-particle diffusion-controlled adsorption process. Negative values of thermodynamic parameters (∆H°, ∆S° and ∆G°) indicated an exothermic and spontaneous adsorption process. The mean sorption energy (E) and activation energy (E a) suggested the uptake of Rh-B onto AgNPs was chemical in nature (chemosorption)