Comparative study on the microbiology and shelf life stability of palm wine from Elaeis guineensis and Raphia hookeri obtained from Okigwe, Nigeria

The microbiological and biochemical changes and shelf life stability of Elaeis guineensis and Raphia hookeri brands of palm wine were determined. R. hookeri brands were found to habour more heterotrophic and coliform population than the E. guineensis, whereas the later haboured more yeast species. Identification tests revealed the isolation of Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Brevibacterium and Staphylococcus from E. guineensis while Escherichia coli and Micrococcus species with the exception of Brevibacterium sp. was additionally isolated from R. hookeri. Furthermore heterotrophic count and pH were observed to decrease with increased fermentation days. The effect of the preservatives on the sensory properties of palm wine was dependent on the type of preservation used. The level of CO2 as well as the effect of extracts from the plant preservatives on the isolates from the palm wine samples was also carried out. Percentage loss of CO2 for each successive fermentation day was observed and there was significant difference in the effect of the plant preservatives used

Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of urinary tract pathogens in Port – Harcourt, Nigeria

The prevalence and sensitivity pattern of urinary pathogens from 1240 patients in Port-harcourt, Nigeria was investigated. The predominant pathogens cultured was E. coli which accounted for 76.6% of the infections. Klebsiella spp was responsible for 8.1% of cases while the rest were accounted for by Proteus spp (4.8%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (3.2%), Pseudomonas spp (2.4%), Enterobacter spp. (2.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (1.6%) and Citrobacter species (0.8%). The majority of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline (75.8%), ampicillin (71.0%) and cotrimoxazole (65.3%) but exhibited good sensitivity to nitrofurantoin (88.7%), gentamicin (85.5%) and nalidixic acid (76.6%). It is recommended that a periodic reassessment of the sensitivity pattern of urinary pathogens be carried out to serve as a guide for antibiotic therapy of UTIs in a particular environment since these organisms exhibited resistance to first-line drugs used for UTI infections. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management Vol. 10(3) 2006: 103-10

Impacts of Organic Wastes on Water Quality of Woji Creek in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

The impacts of organic wastes contamination on water quality of Woji creek in Port Harcourt Rivers State were studied for two years. Surface water samples were collected monthly for the duration of two years at five sampling points using standard methods. The samples were subjected to physicochemical analyses based on temperature, pH, turbidity, alkalinity, conductivity, total dissolved solid, total suspended solid, dissolved oxygen, BOD, COD, total organic carbon. Temperature range was found to be significantly higher in the dry season (27.92±0.21oC) than in the wet season (25.81±0.21oC). Conductivity measurement indicated significantly higher level in the dry season (20596.20±1737.37μs/cm) than in the wet season (9880.14±2878.49μs/cm). The findings of this study indicate that organic wastes are the major factors responsible for deterioration of the water quality of Woji creek

Antibacterial properties of Uvaria chamae, Congronema latifolium, Garcinia kola, Vemonia amygdalina and Aframomium melegueta

The antimicrobial efficacy of cold and hot water and ethanol extracts of Garcinia kola, Congronema latifolium, Aframomium melegueta, Vemonia amygdalina and Uvaria chamae on Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio spp. were determined using well in agar diffusion technique. Cold and hot water extracts of G.kola and U. chamae moderately inhibited the growth of S. aureus and S. pyogenes with zone of inhibition of between 9 – 15 mm. V. amygdalina, G. kola and C. latifolium slightly inhibited S. pyogenes and E. coli with a zone of clearing of between 7 -13 mm. Cold or hot ethanol extracts of U. chamae, G. kola and V. amygdalina profoundly inhibited the growth of S. aureus, S. pyogenes, E. coli and S. typhi to about 13 to 21 mm. Also ethanol extract of C. latifolium inhibited the growth of S. aureus, S. pyogenes and E. coli with zone size between 13 to 20 mm. While P. aeruginosa was slightly inhibited by ethanol extracts of G. kola, A. melegueta and U. chamae. Soxhlet extracts of U. chamae, G. kola, V.Amygdalina and C. latifolium profoundly inhibited the growth of S. aureus, S. pyogenes, E. coli and S. typhi with zone of inhibition ranging from 13 – 22 mm. Vibro spp. were not inhibited by the cold and hot extract as well as soxhlet extracts of all the plants tested. The standard microorganisms, E. coli NCTC 10418 and S. aureus NCTC 6571, were moderately inhibited by the various test plant extracts with zones of inhibition ranging between 8 mm to 20 mm. This study reveals the antibacterial potentials of these plants

Antibacterial activities and toxicological potentials of crude ethanolic extracts of Euphorbia hirta

Leaves of Euphorbia hirta used in traditional medicine for the treatments of boils, wounds and control of diarrhoea and dysentery were extracted by maceration in ethanol. The agar diffusion method wasused to determine the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Bacillus subtilis at different concentrations while toxicological studies was carried out through intraperitoneal injection of albino rat with varying concentrations of the extract. Antibacterial sensitivity test indicated that the extract inhibited the growth of S. aureus, E. coli, B. subtilis and P. aeruginosa to varying degrees while S. typhi was notaffected. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), of the extract against E. coli, S aureus, P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis were 58.09, 22.55, 57.64 and 74.61 mg/ml respectively. Hematological analyses revealedthat there was no significant difference (p = 0.05) between the total red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values of therats used as control and those treated with the different concentrations of the extract. Also, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) values were significantly different at certain concentrations of the extract administered which indicates that the plant extract is heamatologically not toxic to rats. The plant extract was found to contain tannins, alkaloids and flavonoids which may be responsible for its antimicrobial properties. The results justify the traditional use of the plant in the treatment of sores, boils, wounds and control of dysentery and diarrhoea

Microbiological Quality of Commercially Available Poultry Feeds Sold in Parts of Eastern Nigeria

Food poisoning and infection by bacterial and fungal genera pose obvious health threat to both animals and humans. Pfizer, Guinea, Extra, Top, NOM and Master brands of feed sold in Owerri Metropolis were analysed for their bacterial and fungal quality. The genera of bacteria and fungi isolated and their percentage occurrence were Listeria spp (10.4%), Staphylococcus spp. (50%), Bacillus spp (27.1%), Pseudomonas spp. (12.5%), Escherichia coli (29.2%) and Salmonella spp. (25%), Aspergillus spp (56.3%), Fusarium spp (58.3%), Penicillium spp. (62.5%) and Rhizopus spp (89.6 %). The mean bacterial and fungal counts vary with samples while statistical analysis for the goodness of fit revealed no significant difference between the observed and expected values at 1.0% level

Euphorbia-derived natural products with potential for use in health maintenance

Euphorbia genus (Euphorbiaceae family), which is the third largest genus of angiosperm plants comprising ca. 2000 recognized species, is used all over the world in traditional medicine, especially in the traditional Chinese medicine. Members of this taxa are promptly recognizable by their specialized inflorescences and latex. In this review, an overview of Euphorbia-derived natural products such as essential oils, extracts, and pure compounds, active in a broad range of biological activities, and with potential usages in health maintenance, is described. The chemical composition of essential oils from Euphorbia species revealed the presence of more than 80 phytochemicals, mainly oxygenated sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons, while Euphorbia extracts contain secondary metabolites such as sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sterols, flavonoids, and other polyphenols. The extracts and secondary metabolites from Euphorbia plants may act as active principles of medicines for the treatment of many human ailments, mainly inflammation, cancer, and microbial infections. Besides, Euphorbia-derived products have great potential as a source of bioactive extracts and pure compounds, which can be used to promote longevity with more health.Agência financiadora FCT/MCT, supporting the cE3c centre UID/BIA/00329/2013 UID/BIA/00329/2019 QOPNA research Unit (FCT) UID/QUI/00062/2019info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

PLASMID PROFILLING AND SIMILARITIES IN IDENTITIES OF PROBABLE MICROBES ISOLATED FROM CRUDE OIL CONTAMINATED AGRICULTURAL SOIL

Abstract. Plasmid analysis of bacteria isolated from agricultural soil experimentally contaminated with crude oil was carried out and the resultant bands' depicting the different molecular sizes of the plasmid DNA molecules per isolate was obtained. There was no visible band observed for Klebsiella indicating that the organism lack plasmid DNA that confers degradative ability to it, possibly the gene could be borne on the chromosomal DNA which enabled its persistence in the polluted soil. Molecular characterization was undertaken to confirm the identities of the possible microorganisms that may be present in crude oilcontaminated soil. The result of the DNA extracted and amplified in a PCR using EcoRI and EcoRV restriction enzymes for cutting the DNA of the bacterial cells indicated no visible band for cuts made with EcoRV restriction enzyme showing that the enzyme is not specific for bacterial DNA of isolates in the samples, hence there was no amplification. By contrast though, visible bands of amplicons were observed using EcoRI restriction enzymes. The resultant visible bands of microbial profile obtained using the universal RAPD primer with nucleotide sequence of 5'-CTC AAA GCA TCT AGG TCC A---3' showed that only Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus mycoides had visible bands at identical position on the gel indicating that both species possibly had identical sequence or genes of negligible differences coding for degradation of hydrocarbons as shown by similar values in molecular weight and positions in the gel electrophoresis field

Electrochemical and microbial treatment of bromophenol blue dye in aqueous solution

Bromophenol blue (BB) is an important triphenylmethane derivative widely used in research and industry as a dye or colorant for silk, leather, and drugs. BB has a high proclivity for water contamination because of its high solubility and stability, causing damage to living organisms even in low quantities. This study assessed the feasibility of electrochemical and biological for the decolorization of BB using graphite-copper electrode and indigenous microorganisms, respectively. It was found that effectiveness of electrochemical treatment improves with higher electrolysis time, current density, and electrolyte concentration, drops with rising pH, and shows a nonlinear pattern with temperature. The microbial strains identified as Acinetobacter baumaniu, Serratia marcescens, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Bacillus megaterium, Rhizopus stolonifer, and Bacillus subtilis performed poorly, irrespective of the dye/mineral salt ratio. The electrochemical technique was much more effective for decolorizing bromophenol blue dye-contaminated water. The computational results showed clearly that bromine atoms are the most susceptible sites for attack by oxidizing species and, thus, the onset of BB-decolorization

In Vitro Anti-Listerial Activities of Crude n-Hexane and Aqueous Extracts of Garcinia kola (heckel) Seeds

We assessed the anti-Listerial activities of crude n-hexane and aqueous extracts of Garcinia kola seeds against a panel of 42 Listeria isolates previously isolated from wastewater effluents in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and belonging to Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria grayi and Listeria ivanovii species. The n-hexane fraction was active against 45% of the test bacteria with zones of inhibition ranging between 8–17 mm, while the aqueous fraction was active against 29% with zones of inhibition ranging between 8–11 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were within the ranges of 0.079–0.625 mg/mL for the n-hexane extract and 10 to >10 mg/mL for the aqueous extract. The rate of kill experiment carried out for the n-hexane extract only, revealed complete elimination of the initial bacterial population for L. grayi (LAL 15) at 3× and 4× MIC after 90 and 60 min; L. monocytogenes (LAL 8) at 3× and 4× MIC after 60 and 15 min; L. ivanovii (LEL 18) at 3× and 4× MIC after 120 and 15 min; L. ivanovii (LEL 30) at 2, 3 and 4× MIC values after 105, 90 and 15 min exposure time respectively. The rate of kill activities were time- and concentration-dependant and the extract proved to be bactericidal as it achieved a more than 3log10 decrease in viable cell counts after 2 h exposure time for all of the four test organisms at 3× and 4× MIC values. The results therefore show the potential presence of anti-Listerial compounds in Garcinia kola seeds that can be exploited in effective anti-Listerial chemotherapy