Comparative analysis on the nutritional and anti-nutritional contents of the sweet and bitter Cassava varieties

Abstract: Three varieties of mangoes (Mangifera indica) namely; Adansonia digitata (Durshea) big seed, Durio zubethinus murr (Peter) middle seeded, Foetide lour (Julie) collected within Kaduna metropolis were subjected to proximate analysis. Analysis of the nutritional and anti-nutritional contents of the three varieties of mangoes revealed that moisture content, crude protein, carbohydrate, crude fat, ash content and vitamin c were 79.17, 1.97, 7.16, 1.89, 9.81 and 34.12% respectively for Durshea variety. The findings revealed that Peter (Middle Seeded) mango proximate values for all the nutrients analyzed were not significantly (p>0.05) different from the values obtained from Durshea result. The Julie (Small Seeded) mango's moisture content (72.04%) and carbohydrate contents (16.59 mg/100 g) were significantly (p<0.05) different from Durshea and Peter varieties. The findings also revealed that calcium contents were 0.15, 0.10 and 0.13% for durshea, peter and Julie, respectively. Iron and magnesium contents were present in small amount for all the three variaties. The contents of cyanogenic glycosides (0.28 mg/100 g), oxalates (1.60 mg/100 g) and phytate (0.62 mg/100 g) for durshea were not significantly different from peter and jullie varieties of the mango. The findings revealed that the three varieties of mango contain appreciable amounts of nutrients that the body required for its normal metabolic functions .The anti nutrients contents is negligible. The Durshea variety is the most recommended for human consumption because of its high lipids and calcium contents

Efficacy of Di-n-octyl Phthalate Anti Venom Isolated from Ceiba pentandra Leaves Extract in Neutralization of Echis ocellatus Venom

Abstract: The aim of the study is to investigate the efficacy of Di-n-octyl phthalate isolated from Ceiba pentandra leaves extract for its anti Echis ocellatus venom properties. The leaves of Ceiba pentandra was extracted with aqueous methanol, partitioned on column chromatography and subjected to TLC and preparative TLC. The isolate was tested for its anti venom activity and submitted to IR and GCMS for structural elucidation. Our findings revealed that the isolate was biologically active in inhibiting PLA 2 activity in a dose dependent manner. The IR analysis showed that the isolate has a carbonyl functional group and aromatic ring and the GCMS analysis revealed that the compound isolated was Di-n-octyl phthalate with molecular weight 391. The inhibitor (Di-n-octyl phthalate) isolated during this research might become a highly effective therapeutic agent for the reducing of snake bite envenomation. The relevance of these findings would be of importance in the area of development of anti snake bite drugs that are going to be effective, cheap, accessible and less allergic plant compound that can be scientifically explored