Evaluation Phylloplane Fungi as Biocontrol Agent of Corynespora Leaf Disease of Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. ARG.)

Abstract: Ten phylloplane fungi were assessed as potential biocontrol agents of Corynespora leaf fall disease (CLFD) of rubber (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.) cause by Corynespora cassiicola (Berk and Curtis) Wei. Trichoderma viride Pers inhibited the growth of C. cassiicola on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and was observed to coagulate the cytoplasm of the target fungus at the point of contact under a light microscope. Aspergillus sp also showed great potential in inhibiting the vegetative growth by causing hyphal lyses of C. cassiicola on contact. Trichophyton sp did not cause any physical damage on contact with the hyphae of C. cassiicola but produced hyphae that coiled around it while Gonatorrhodiella parasitica Thaxt. and Trichocladium sp showed no antangonistic effect on C. cassiicola. Pleurothecium sp, Gliocladium sp and Botrytis sp exhibited weak antagonism against the pathogen. The study showed that Trichocladium sp and Aspergillus niger recorded the best antagonistic effect on C. cassiicola

The effect of garlic and ginger phytogenics on the shelf life and microbial contents of homemade soursop (Annona muricata L) fruit juice

The preservative effects of garlic and ginger was compared with that of sodium benzoate in assessing the shelf quality of locally prepared soursop juice. The soursop juice without treatment (T1) was used as the control while others in four replicates were separately treated with 50 mg/ml garlic (T2), 50 mg/ml ginger (T3), mixture garlic and ginger in equal proportion of 50 mg/ml each (T4) and 10 mg/ml (T5) sodium benzoate respectively. The microbial counts ranged from 3.0×104-1.27×106 cfu/ml juices with the untreated recording the highest concentration of contamination compared with the treated juices of which sodium benzoate had the least microbial contamination. The microorganisms consistent in all the treatments were Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Acetobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida tropicalis while the distribution of Streptococcus sp., Klebsiella and Penicillium sp., and Proteus sp were sporadic. Marginal decreases in pH values were observed in the stored soursop juices across treatments. The results obtained showed that the treatment of freshly prepared soursop juices with sodium benzoate, and a mixture of garlic and ginger improved storage span and reduced health risks of infection and/or intoxication from their consumption. KEYWORD

FOLK USES OF MUSHROOMS BY THE AKOKO-EDO PEOPLE OF NIGERIA

A study carried out on the folk uses and ethnomycology of wild edible and medicinal mushrooms by five selected communities: Igarra, Sasaru, Egbigere, Ikpeshi and Aghor in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria showed that about 86% of respondents consumed mushrooms. About 12.5% of the respondents consumed mushrooms because of its taste, 54.2% used them as substitutes for meat or fish, 16.7% use certain mushrooms e.g. sclerotium of Pleurotus tuberregium and Schizophyllum commune while 9.2% sold them for extra incomes. Auricularia judae, Cortinarius melliolens, Macrolepiota procera, Lactarius edulis, Lycoperdon sp., Pleurotus tuberregium, P. squarrosulus, Termitomyces robustus and Tricholoma lobayense were identified as edible species, while Daldinia concentrica, Ganoderma lucidum, G. applanatum (Pers.) Pat. and Nothopanus sp. were used in traditional medicine practices. The source of utilitarian mushrooms remained forests, agroforests and farms in many communities studied, and their collection and/or sales reserved for women and childre

Green synthesis and antibacterial activities of silver nanoparticles against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

Background: Over the last two decades infectious agents have become more dangerous, most especially in developing countries, due to their ability to develop resistance against orthodox medicines. Many in these countries are suffering from the debilitating effects of these pathogens without any remedies in sight. The recent researches in nanoparticles derived from medicinal plants seem to be yielding positive results.Methods: We carried out synthesis of silver nanoparticles from AgNO3 and using Hyaluronic acid as a stabilizing agent to avoid aggregation in green synthesis from Ziziphus spinachristi and Garcinia kola. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to determine particle size and shape. Disc diffusion technique was used to study the susceptibility patterns of the particles on the test organisms- Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.Result: The nanoparticles exhibited very high activity against the pathogens at very low concentration and showed remarkable higher activity than the crude extracts and standard antibiotics (control) with very wide zones of inhibition. The zones of inhibition ranged from 12.4±0.11 - 15.1±0.22 for the nanoparticles as against, 8.7±0.21 - 9.2±0.32 for the crude and 10.7±0.22 - 12.7±0.88 for the standard antibiotics. Conclusion: Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles may give the long awaited breakthrough against these infectious agents to ameliorate, if not completely, win the war against these pathogens.

The effect of grower feed diet supplemented with Ganoderma lucidum against some enteric zoonotic parasites of pigeons ( Columba livia )

We report a preliminary study on the effect of grower feed diet supplemented with mashed Ganoderma lucidum against some enteric zoonotic parasites of wild rock pigeons ( Columba livia ) in Benin City, Nigeria. The pigeons were fed ad libitum with supplemented and non-supplemented grower feed diet in sawdust-floored squared wooden cages (45 cm x 30 cm x 20 cm) at room temperature for 21 days. They were sacrificed at days 14 and 21 for profiling of their zoonotic enteric parasites. High prevalence (77.7%) of Cestodes (tapeworms) and low prevalence (12.3%) of nematodes were recorded in the control pigeon fed non-supplemented grower feed compared to those on diet supplemented with Ganoderma. Cestodes (Helminths) such as Hymenolepsis carioca , Amoebataenia cuneata , Raillietina tetragona , Raillietina serrata , Inermicapsifer spp. , Hymenolepsis spp. , and a species of nematode ( Ascaridia columbae ) were identified in the gastrointestinal tract of the experimental pigeons. A few species (< 8 %) of Trematodes yet to be fully identified were also observed. The low population of helminth parasites and overall weight decrease of pigeon fed with diet supplemented with Ganderma lucidum recorded during the study suggest improved removal of digestive microbes, intestinal health, and gastrointestinal motility. These findings were aimed at contributing to the already existing knowledge on the use of feed additives, probiotics and supplementations in poultry farming

The effect of garlic and ginger phytogenics on the shelf life and microbial contents of homemade soursop ( Annona muricata L) fruit juice

The preservative effects of garlic and ginger was compared with that of sodium benzoate in assessing the shelf quality of locally prepared soursop juice. The soursop juice without treatment (T1) was used as the control while others in four replicates were separately treated with 50 mg/ml garlic (T2), 50 mg/ml ginger (T3), mixture garlic and ginger in equal proportion of 50 mg/ml each (T4) and 10 mg/ml (T5) sodium benzoate respectively. The microbial counts ranged from 3.0 7104-1.27 7106 cfu/ml juices with the untreated recording the highest concentration of contamination compared with the treated juices of which sodium benzoate had the least microbial contamination. The microorganisms consistent in all the treatments were Bacillus sp., Staphylococcus sp., Acetobacter sp., Klebsiella sp., Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida tropicalis while the distribution of Streptococcus sp., Klebsiella and Penicillium sp., and Proteus sp were sporadic. Marginal decreases in pH values were observed in the stored soursop juices across treatments. The results obtained showed that the treatment of freshly prepared soursop juices with sodium benzoate, and a mixture of garlic and ginger improved storage span and reduced health risks of infection and/or intoxication from their consumption

Growth promotion and protective potentials of leaf infusions of Parkia biglobosa, Moringa oleifera and Vernonia amygdalina on Abelmoschus esculentus seeds

The germinability and protective potential of leaf infusion of Parkia biglobosa, Moringa oleifera and Vernonia amygdalina leaves on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seeds against infections simulated with suspended cells of Aspergillus niger, A. favus, A. fumigatus, and Penicillium sp. were examined. Prior to planting, the okra seeds were frst surface-sterilized in 5% sodium hypochlorite solution before steeping in known concentrations (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%) of the respective leaf infusions for a known duration. Seven of the steeped seeds were planted in plastic transparent containers, incubated for 7 days under light, and observed daily. Germination index, germination rate, germination time, and vigor index were calculated for each treatment, using standard procedures. The efective concentrations of the infusions of V. amygdalina, P. biglobosa and M. oleifera were 40, 40, and 60% respectively. Optimum steeping durations in leaf infusions were 1, 5, and 6 h, for P. biglobosa, M. oleifera and V. amygdalina, respectively. All the leaf infusions were observed to protect the okra seeds against infections with the test organisms. Furthermore, seeds steeped in the respective leaf infusions showed remarkably higher germinability potential than the control seeds steeped in water. The study confrmed that the leaf infusions may be attractive as economic alternatives for seed priming and protectio

In vitro Angiotesin-1-converting enzyme,α-amylase andα-glucosidaseinhibitory and antioxidant activities ofLuffa cylindrical(L.) M. Roem seed protein hydrolysate

In recent times, researchers have explored food derived peptides to circumvent the side effects of synthetic drugs.This study therefore examined the amino acid constituents,in vitroantioxidant activities, angiotensin-1-converting enzyme (ACE),α-glucosidase andα-amylase inhibition kinetics of protein hydrolysate obtainedfrom the seed ofLuffa cylindrica. The peptide yield by pepsin (16.93�0.28%) and trypsin (13.20�1.02%) weresignificantly lower than that of Alcalase (34.04�1.96%). Alcalase hydrolysate however displayed the highestferric reducing antioxidant capacity (FRAC), 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and H2O2scavenging activ-ities (0.63%, 85.88% and 41.69% respectively), while the highest superoxide scavenging activity was shown bypeptic hydrolysate (57.89%). The ACE inhibition by the hydrolysates with IC50of 0.32–0.93 mg/mL, increased asthe concentration of the peptic hydrolysate increased with the highest ACE-inhibitory activity (74.99�0.43%) at1.2 mg/mL of peptic hydrolysate. Tryptic and Alcalase hydrloysates exhibited a strongα-amylase inhibitionhaving 27.96�0.06% and 36.36�0.71% inhibitory capacity respectively with IC50of 1.02–3.31 mg/mL.Alcalase hydrolysates demonstrated the strongest inhibition (65.81�1.95%), followed by tryptic hydrolysates(54.53�0.52%) in a concentration-dependent inhibition ofα-glucosidase (IC50,0.48–0.80 mg/mL). Kineticanalysis showed that ACE-inhibition by different concentrations of Alcalase, pepsin and trypsin hydrolysates isuncompetitive, mixed-type and non-competitive respectively.α-Amylase was non-competitively inhibited whileα-glucosidase was un-competitively inhibited by all the hydrolysates. The total amino acid concentration forAlcalase, trypsin and pepsin hydrolysates was 53.51g/100g, 75.40g/100g and 85.42g/100g ofLuffa cylindricaseed protein hydrolysate respectively, with glutamate being the most concentrated essential amino acid in all thethree hydrolysates. From these results, it can be deduced thatLuffa cylindricaseed Alcalase and tryptic proteinhydrolysates may play critical and indispensible role as bio-tools in diabetes and hypertension treatment

Diversity and abundance of macrofungi in rubber agroforests in southwestern Nigeria

The mushroom diversity was studied for 14 months in Edo State, southwestern Nigeria. A total of 76 macrofungi tantamount to 333 fruit bodies were encountered, 74% of which were identified and named. The basidiomycetes and members of the family Tricholomataceae were the best represented taxa while species on wood-based substrates made up 66% of the total mushroom taxa. The monthly mushroom abundance profile, diversity and species richness for each sampled plot correlated with local meteorological factors, age of the sampled sites and distribution of wood-based substrates. Jaccard, Sorensen and Bray�Curtis similarity index values showed that plots A and D, representing young actively managed and old abandoned rubber tree plantations, respectively, were the most dissimilar in mushroom composition. The hypersensitive response of macrofungal fruit bodies to climate variables qualify mushrooms as veritable biomonitors or bioindicators of climate change. This study supported earlier reports that rubber agroforests are a depauperate pool of utilitarian mushrooms