Effect of Roasting on the Caffeine Content of Three Varieties of Kola Nut Consumed In Kaduna, Nigeria

The effects of roasting on the caffeine content of Cola nitida, C. acuminata and Gircina cola (bitter cola) were investigated. All the varieties studied had about 75% reduction in caffeine level after roasting. These findings confirm that the three varieties of kola nut contain different levels of caffeine, which were affected by heat treatment. Therefore, to reduce the amount of caffeine in kola nuts, roasting method will suffice for those watching their level of caffeine intake. Keywords; Kola nut, cola, caffeine, roastin

Phytochemical screening and antibacterial activity of Jatropha curcas seeds and stem extractions on some wound pathogens

Jatropha curcas is a local plant used traditionally in Southern Nigeria to stop bleeding from nose, gum and injured skin. It is also used in the treatment of sores, burns and in the control of diarrhea and skin ailments (scabies, trachoma). In this present study, the antibacterial properties of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the stem and seeds of Jatropha curcas were tested against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus pyogenes using agar well diffusion method.. The percentage yields of the ethanolic extracts of the seed and stem were 80.8% and 83.6% respectively while the yields for the aqueous extracts of the seed and stem were 81.6% and 80.6% respectively. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of steroids, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and glycosides in both the stem and seed aqueous extracts. The ethanolic extract of Jatropha curcas stem revealed the widest zone of inhibition against Escherichia coli and the least zone against Streptococcus pyogenes at 100 mg/ml concentration. Escherichia coli showed the greatest susceptibility to 100 mg/ml concentration of the aqueous extract of the stem and the seed while Pseudomonas aeruginosa had the least susceptibility. Keywords: Jatropha curcas, Escherichia coli, Zone of Inhibition, Tannins, Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC), Ethanol ExtractJournal of Pharmaceutical and Allied Sciences, Vol. 10 No. 3 (2013

Comparative determination of trimethylamine in fresh beef samples marketed in Kaduna metropolis

An investigation was carried out to determine the concentration of trimethylamine (TMA) in fresh samples of beef purchased from markets within Kaduna metropolis namely: Central Market, Sabo Market and Kawo Market. The analysis was carried out using spectrophotometry in which the levels of trimethylamine in 100 g of each sample was determined at 3 hours interval for 12 hours. It was observed that the concentration of trimethylamine in the beef samples increased with storage time. The concentration of TMA in beef bought from Central Market increased from 0.65 to 10.60, that of Sabo Market increased from 0.66 to 9.43 while that of Kawo Market increased from 5.75 to 12.93 after storage for 12 hours.Keywords: Trimethylamine, Kaduna Metropolis, Chilling, Microbiological Safety, Beef Botulism

Genetic diversity and population structure of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.): synopsis of the past two decades of analysis and implications for crop improvement programmes

Knowledge of genetic diversity within crop species and the nature of their breeding systems are critical for crop improvement. These determine the appropriate species specific breeding methodologies to deploy. Genetic diversity analysis is an ongoing process in the breeding programmes of ‘major crops’, which is used to direct or re-direct breeding objectives (especially selection of parental lines). In this regard, the importance of such information in ‘underutilised’ or ‘minor’ crop species, which largely exist as landraces with little information about their genetic diversity and breeding systems, becomes very important. One such important underutilized crop species which could contribute positively to global food security is Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.). We present here an overview of the past two decades of genetic diversity analysis of Bambara groundnut landraces. Various genetic diversity analyses of the available germplasm for the crop using phenotypic descriptors and molecular marker technologies have been reported. Generally, most of these studies lack adequate representation of the available global germplasm. For those studies that involved relatively a large germplasm collections (above 100; sampled from different agro-ecologies) the marker density employed in these analyses has been so far relatively low. Specifically, for breeding systems, high genetic diversity and low heterozygosity have been reported across the germplasm analysed in this highly cleistogamous species. In terms of population structure, the West African and the Southern African accessions appear as distinct clusters. This raises the possibility of the southern African region a secondary centre of domestication or diversity for the crop