PIPELINE VANDALISATION AND FARMERS’ SITUATION: EXPOSITION FROM OBAFEMI OWODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed the effects of pipeline vandalisation on the socio-economic life and activities of farmers in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 80 farmers from the affected villages in the Local Govern- ment Area. Primary data were obtained with interview guide. Chi-Square was used to analyze the data collected. The mean age of the farmers was 43.37 years and 78.7% were male. Majority (76.3%) were married while 61.2% were Christians. More than half (57.5%) had no formal education and they cultivated an average of 4.94 hectares of land. Most (92.0%) of the farmers operated on full time basis. Nearly all the farmers (97.5%) were aware of the incidents of pipeline vandalisation in their area. Efforts of the farmers at reducing the menace included warning messages through town criers, reporting cases to the law enforcement agents, threat of killing the vandals and the use of “charms†to scare the vandals. Majority (52.5%) claimed that the efforts made by the farmers and the government had no effect on the incident of pipeline vandalisation. Farmers’ perceived effect of pipeline vandalisa- tion on their activities and livelihood included non-availability of labor due to the youths’ involvement in the practice (82.5%), destruction of farmlands (76.25%) and pollution of rivers and atmosphere (65.0%). Farmers were constrained by corrupt law enforcement agents in charge of surveillance, un- cooperative attitude of fellow farmers, non-challant attitude of the government and lack of fund to or- ganize campaigns against pipeline vandalisation. Chi-square analysis showed a significant association between pipeline vandalisation and farmers’ agricultural production. It was concluded that pipeline vandalisation was a regular occurrence in the study area and that it constituted a health hazard and posed a problem to the environment as well as the agricultural activities of the farmers.Â

Determination of Heavy Metal levels in Soil and Vegetable Samples around Automobile Workshops in Iworoko-Ekiti, Nigeria

This study identified and determined levels of eighteen heavy metals in six soil and twelve vegetable samples (Talinum triangulare and Amaranthus hybridus) from selected automobile workshops at Iworoko Ekiti using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (EDXRF). Identical samples were also collected outside this neighborhood as control and analyzed using the same analytical technique. The results indicated that the observed heavy metals in the samples from the sites and control were within the range (1.044-3180.224) mg/kg and (1.002-1845.744) mg/kg. The soil samples were slightly enriched in vanadium, manganese, nickel, copper ,zinc, arsenic, selenium  and rubidium (Enrichment Factor (EF) = 1.033 – 2.179). Significant differences also exist between the levels of calcium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, nickel, copper, arsenic, and yttrium (at p < 0.05, t = 0.00002 – 0.03950). The accumulation factors of the vegetable samples in Amaranthus hybridus were in the range 0.0006 – 824.1057 and those of Talinum triangulare were in the range 0.00019 – 338.76885. The relatively higher levels of chromium, manganese, iron, nickel, copper, zinc and arsenic in the vegetable samples from the sites compared with WHO/FEPA permissible limits was an indication of contamination: The consumption of vegetables in such an environment could be detrimental to health

Implications of Deceptive Practices of Poultry Input Suppliers on Poultry Production in Kwara State, Nigeria

Deceptive practices of poultry input suppliers are partly responsible for inability to meet the consumption of recommended animal protein (35g/person/day). The study examined the prevailing deceptive practices and effects on poultry production in Nigeria. Proportionate random sampling technique was used to select 70 small scale poultry farmers used as respondents. Data were analyzed using percentages and means. The respondents (68.6%) had a minimum of secondary school education and spent averagely 15.7 years in poultry production. The findings showed that deceptive practices include adulteration of feed ingredients, marketing of under‑weighed feeds, lack of proximate analysis of nutrient composition of feeds and use of old bags for packaging. The respondents (81.3%) agreed that deceptive practices delayed the start of growing period of the fowls. Similarly, 79.5% and 61% experienced low meat and egg production, respectively, resulting in expensive animal protein, increased production overheads (83.4%), lowered returns on investment (90.1%). The result of hypothesis indicated a positive significant relationship between the level of educational attainment of respondents and ability to identify deceptive practices in poultry production (R = 0.214, P ≤ 0.05) among respondents. Nigerian Institute of Animal Science and other relevant regulatory agencies should have a structure to regulate and award penalties to culpable individuals in these deceptive practices. Extension organizations should educate poultry producers on the concept of deceptive practices and its consequences. Keywords: adulteration; poultry feeds; egg production; poultry meat production

Solanecio biafrae: An Underutilized Nutraceutically‑Important African Indigenous Vegetable

Solanecio biafrae (Olive and Hierne) C. Jeffrey (1986) (Family: Asteraceae), has synonyms Senecio biafrae Olive and Hierne (1877) and Crassocephalum biafrae (Olive and Hierne) S. Moore (1912). It is a perennial standent, underutilized African indigenous medicinal vegetable. It was first reported and published in Flora of Tropical Africa. Its common names varied from Gnanvule in Cote d’Ivoire to Worowo/bologi in Nigeria. It has alternate, simple, succulent, petiolated, and exauriculate leaves. Its propagation is vegetative by rooting of cuttings. However, there is no report on its propagation by seed. It is ubiquitous in cocoa plots in Nigeria, especially southwest; due to deliberate protection for economic revenue, but this has little‑uncoordinated cultivation indication. These deliberately protected few are exposed to contamination by a chemical used for protecting cocoa plants. It is highly nutritive and rich in protein. It is also medicinally important as a galactagogue and for treatment of diabetes, high blood pressure, and infertility. It has biological activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. It also has traditional and cultural claims for initiation and rituals. Personal interviews and search of the available literature on S. biafrae in electronic peer‑reviewed English journals using scientific databases such as Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was employed

Assessment of Drinking Water Samples Around Selected Oil Spillage and Metal Recycling Company in Lagos State, Nigeria

In recent times, anthropogenic source has been considered to be one of the major sources of environmental pollution. In this study, the levels of six heavy metals (Cadmium -Cd, Copper-Cu, Chromium-Cr, Iron-Fe, Mangenese- Mn and Lead-Pb) were assayed in water samples from well and borehole around Gemade oil spillage and Sun metal industry, Lagos, Nigeria using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (FAAS). The levels of these heavy metals were in the order Fe > Mn > Cu > Cd / Pb / Cr for the two sites and control, and within the range 0.001-10.162 mg/L. The results showed that significant difference exists between these levels and the controls (tv < 0.005). In most cases, the levels of Fe and Mn from the sites were found above the WHO/FEPA limits. Significant differences exist between the levels of Cu and Mn in well and borehole water samples (tv = 0.004 -0.005) but not Fe (tv = 0.31 - 0.91). This indicated that the surrounding drinking water samples were polluted with some of these metals. The results obtained in this work also gave the baseline levels of these metals in the water samples at the selected sites

Significance of African Diets in Biotherapeutic Modulation of the Gut Microbiome

Diet plays an essential role in human development and growth, contributing to health and well-being. The socio-economic values, cultural perspectives, and dietary formulation in sub-Saharan Africa can influence gut health and disease prevention. The vast microbial ecosystems in the human gut frequently interrelate to maintain a healthy, well-coordinated cellular and humoral immune signalling to prevent metabolic dysfunction, pathogen dominance, and induction of systemic diseases. The diverse indigenous diets could differentially act as biotherapeutics to modulate microbial abundance and population characteristics. Such modulation could prevent stunted growth, malnutrition, induction of bowel diseases, attenuated immune responses, and mortality, particularly among infants. Understanding the associations between specific indigenous African diets and the predictability of the dynamics of gut bacteria genera promises potential biotherapeutics towards improving the prevention, control, and treatment of microbiome-associated diseases such as cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The dietary influence of many African diets (especially grain-base such as millet, maize, brown rice, sorghum, soya, and tapioca) promotes gut lining integrity, immune tolerance towards the microbiota, and its associated immune and inflammatory responses. A fibre-rich diet is a promising biotherapeutic candidate that could effectively modulate inflammatory mediators’ expression associated with immune cell migration, lymphoid tissue maturation, and signalling pathways. It could also modulate the stimulation of cytokines and chemokines involved in ensuring balance for long-term microbiome programming. The interplay between host and gut microbial digestion is complex; microbes using and competing for dietary and endogenous proteins are often attributable to variances in the comparative abundances of Enterobacteriaceae taxa. Many auto-inducers could initiate the process of quorum sensing and mammalian epinephrine host cell signalling system. It could also downregulate inflammatory signals with microbiota tumour taxa that could trigger colorectal cancer initiation, metabolic type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel diseases. The exploitation of essential biotherapeutic molecules derived from fibre-rich indigenous diet promises food substances for the downregulation of inflammatory signalling that could be harmful to gut microbiota ecological balance and improved immune response modulation

Nanochitosan derived from marine bacteria

Nanochitosans are polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent deacetylation of chitin and comprise a series of 2‐deoxy‐2 (acetylamino) glucose linked by ß‐(1‐4) glycosidic linkages. These are naturally formed from the deacetylation of shellfish shells and the exoskeleton of aquatic arthropods and crustaceans. Reports of chitosan production from unicellular marine bacteria inhabiting the sea, and possessing distinct animal‐ and plant‐like characteristics abound. This capacity to synthesize chitosan from chitin arises from response to stress under extreme environmental conditions, as a means of survival. Consequently, the microencapsulation of these nanocarriers results in new and improved chitosan nanoparticles, nanochitosan. This nontoxic bioactive material which can serve as an antibacterial agent, gene delivery vector as well as carrier for protein and drug release as compared with chitosan, is limited by its nonspecific molecular weight and higher composition of deacetylated chitin. This chapter highlights the biology and diversity of nanochitosan‐producing marine bacteria, including the factors influencing their activities, survival, and distribution. More so, the applications of marine bacterial nanochitosans in transfection and gene delivery; wound healing and drug delivery; feed supplement development and antimicrobial activity are discussed

Next Generation Nanochitosan Applications in Animal Husbandry, Aquaculture and Food Conservation

Studies have identified the properties of enzymes, functionalized molecules, and compounds in food industry applications as edible coatings and encapsulations, that assure prolonged food quality and standards. These molecules present benefits of longer shelf-life by delayed deterioration and inhibition of the proliferation of spoilage and mycotoxigenic microorganisms. However, challenges of reduced nutrient levels, miniaturized size, and low chemical stability remain concerning. Chitosan polymers naturally formed from the deacetylation of shellfish shells and exoskeletons of aquatic arthropods and crustaceans offer improved benefits when functionalized into nanoparticles as nanochitosans. These polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent deacetylation of chitin, comprise a series of 2-deoxy-2 (acetylamino) glucose linked by ß-(1- 4) glycosidic linkages. This chapter considers the health impacts and microbiological health hazards associated with animal feeds quality and the enzyme immobilization potentials of nanochitosans in animalbased food and feed packages. Thereafter, nanochitosan properties and benefits are compared against traditional preservatives from microbes and plants; with highlights on current challenges in the application of nanochitosan for enzyme immobilization

Utilization of nanochitosan for enzyme immobilization of aquatic and animal-based food packages

Studies have identified the properties of enzymes, functionalized molecules, and compounds in food industry applications as edible coatings and encapsulations, that assure prolonged food quality and standards. These molecules present benefits of longer shelf-life by delayed deterioration and inhibition of the proliferation of spoilage and mycotoxigenic microorganisms. However, challenges of reduced nutrient levels, miniaturized size, and low chemical stability remain concerning. Chitosan polymers naturally formed from the deacetylation of shellfish shells and exoskeletons of aquatic arthropods and crustaceans offer improved benefits when functionalized into nanoparticles as nanochitosans. These polysaccharides produced by the alkalescent deacetylation of chitin, comprise a series of 2-deoxy-2 (acetylamino) glucose linked by ß-(1-4) glycosidic linkages. This chapter considers the health impacts and