Levels Of Iron And Copper In Ewes Milk As Influenced By Stages Of Lactation

The population of sheep and goats in Nigeria serves as a potential source of milk for the growing population. Potentials of goats and sheep have long been recognized (Ademosun, 1987). If ewe’s milk is about to occupysuch an important position in the dairy market, it then becomes imperative to establish it’s nutritional status, including mineral compositions at every sage of lactation. Nine newly Lambed West African Dwarf Sheep, 19 ± 1 month old, weighing 20 ± 2 kg, were divided into 9 replicates to study their responses to different stages of lactation in a completely randomized Design. Aliquots of total colostrums and milk collected daily and weekly respectively for each animal were reserved, labeled and frozen for determination of levels of Fe and Cu. The result showed that levels of Fe and Cu are constant in all samples of colostrums but higher than the levels in milk, which decline with advancing stages of lactation. The knowledge of levels of Fe and Cu in eve’s milk is essential for the handling of pre-weaned lambs ad thehandling of the milk for human nutrition. Original/Value: Fe and Cu are the central players in haematopoiesis

Safety Evaluation of Osun River Water Containing Heavy Metals and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in Rats

Summary: This study evaluated the pH, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Osun river water. It also evaluated its safety in rats. Heavy metals were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) while VOCs were determined by gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Male and female rats were exposed to Osun river water for three weeks and then sacrificed. The abundance of heavy metals in Osun river followed the trend Pb > Cd > Zn > Fe > Cr > Cu while VOCs followed the trend benzene < ethylbenzene < toluene < xylene. The concentrations of Pb, Cd and benzene were higher than the permissible limits of Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) and World Health Organization (WHO) respectively. Rats exposed to Osun river water for three weeks had increased WBC, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), serum proteins and serum aminotransferases. There were also significant decreases (P < 0.05) in HCT, PLT, liver aminotransferases and liver glutathione compared to the control. These results show that the pollutants in Osun river water are capable of inducing hematological imbalance and liver cell injury. The toxicity induced in blood was sex-dependent affecting female rats more than male rats.Keywords: Osun river, Haematology, Biochemical parameters, Heavy metals, Volatile Organic Compounds

Taste panel socio-economic characteristics and the organoleptic properties of rabbit meat cooked by five different methods

Forty New Zealand rabbits weighing 1.8-2.0kg (live weight) were used for this study. They were starved overnight, slaughtered and dressed conventionally. The carcasses were then allotted randomly to five different cooking methods namely, boiling, frying, roasting, boiling + frying and boiling + roasting. Assessment of the sensory characteristics (tenderness, flavour, juiciness and overall acceptability) was carried out on a 9-point hedonic scale by a 50-member taste panel. Some of the socio-economic characteristics of the taste panel studied included their age, sex, educational background and monthly income. Fifty eight percent (58%) of the taste panel was female. Majority (66%) fell within the 29-34 years age bracket and 76% had Tertiary education. Twelve to twenty percent (12-20%) earned between N10, 000- N20,000($78.74 -$157.48) while 32% earned above N20,000(above $157.48). Fifty six percent (56%) of the members of the taste panel consume rabbit meat while 29.03% ranked rabbit meat least among meat types. The nutritional qualities assessed for were then subjected to statistical analysis. The cooking methods used did not have any significant effect (p>0.05) on the eating quality of rabbit meat. The highest scores for tenderness and juiciness were recorded for rabbit meat cooked by roasting while the highest scores for flavour and overall acceptability were recorded for meat cooked by frying. Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp.139-14

Preliminary investigation of the antibacterial activity of Acalypha hispida leaf extracts against local bacterial isolates from skin infections

Acalypha hispida leaf extracts are used locally for the treatment of skin infections. We sought to obtain laboratory-based evidence for this practice by evaluating the antibacterial activity of this extract against local isolates of bacteria obtained from skin lesions and wounds. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts were evaluated using the agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, and Salmonella typhimurium. S. aureus (ATCC standard and local) and Ps. Aeruginosa isolates were sensitive to all the extracts but one. E. coli (ATCC standard and local), S. enterica serovar typhimurium and Klebsiella species were only sensitive to the soxhlet leaf extracts while S. pyogenes was sensitive to only the ethanolic soxhlet extract. Though there was no statistically significant difference in the antibacterial activity of the 5-days and 14-days neat extracts obtained by soaking in water (p = 0.13) and ethanol (p = 0.08), their antibacterial activity decreased with longer soaking periods. Likewise, there was no significant difference in the antibacterial activity of the neat water and ethanolic soxhlet extracts (p = 0.48). The results show that A. hispida leaf extracts showed some in vitro antibacterial activity and that aqueous extraction using heat would be the preferred option. Keywords: Acalypha hispida, antibacterial, skin infections, aqueous extract, ethanolic extract Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 5 (2) 2006: 12-1