Antibacterial Effect of Some Plant Extracts on Selected Enterobacteriaceae

Vernonia amygdalina (Bitterleaf), Eucalyptus citriodora (Eucalypt) and Phyllanthus amarus (Schum) were investigated for their antibacterial properties against pure cultures of clinical isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp., Salmonella sp. and Shigella sp. The isolates were obtained from dept of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital. Water and Ethanol were used in the crude extractions of the active constituents of the plants. Broth dilution and Agar diffusion methods were used in determining the antibacterial effects of the different plant extracts on the test organisms. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the water extracts on the test organisms was 50 mg/ml while that of the ethanolic extract ranged between 6.25 - 50 mg/ml. Similarly the diameters of zones of inhibition of the plant extracts at concentration of 100 mg/ml ranged between 3.0-14.0 mm and 3.0-18.0 mm for the water and ethanolic extracts respectively on the test organisms. Water extracts of vernonia amygdalina (Bitterleaf) and Schum (Phyllanthus amarus) were not effective on majority of the test organisms. Klebsiella sp. was not inhibited by the water extracts at the test concentrations. The Ethanolic extracts of Eucalyptus citriodora (Eucalypt) were most effective on all the test organisms. The least and the most susceptible organisms to the extracts were Shigella sp. and E. coli respectively. The results of this study suggest the possibility of using the ethanolic extracts of these plants in treating diseases caused by the test organisms

Microbiological assessment of some day care floors within Ilorin metropolis

There are increasing number of daycare centres in many cities where nursing mother keep their children during working hours. Many of these children come home with episode of diseases. Floor is one of the avenues for disease transmission. It is therefore necessary to carry out microbiological investigation of these floor surfaces. Ten day-care centres within Ilorin metropolis were involved in this study. Swab samples were collected from an area of 25cm by 25cm of the floor at each location. The samples were analyzed and tested for total viable bacterial, faecal coliform, and fungal count. The bacterial count ranged from 1.8 x 103 to 2.0 x 104cfu/ml while the faecal coliform count ranged from 0 to 100 cfu/ml. Similarly, the fungal count ranged from 4.0 x 102 to 4.0 x 10 cfu/ml. A total of thirteen different bacterial isolates and six different fungal isolates were identified. The bacterial isolates were Bacillus licheniformis, Aeromonas sp., Bacillus coagulans, Micrococcus sedentarius, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium kutscheri, Bacillus megaterium, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Acinetobacter sp., Bacillus polymyxa, Corynebacterium sp., Citrobacter sp., and Proteus sp. while the fungal isolates were Aspergillus clavatus, Geotrichum candidum, Penicillium chrysogenum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Fusarium culmorum, and Aspergillus niger. It was concluded that some pathogenic microorganisms were present on the floors of some day care centres. Hence, there is need for the operators of the day care centres to improve on the level of hygiene; and the local health authorities need to regularly visit these day care centres to see if they are operating within the minimum standards

Influence of Oral Administration of Peppermint Tea on Biochemical and Histological Markers of the Liver of Wistar Rats

Reports have linked the consumption of peppermint tea to improve liver cell functioning and the consumption of peppermint tea has been on the increase. The aim of this experiment was to assess the influence of the oral administration of peppermint tea on the liver of Wistar rats using biochemical and histological findings. 20 male Wistar albino rats were grouped into 4, consisting of 5 rats in each group. They were given 10mg/kg b.wt, 30mg/kg b.wt and 50mg/kg b.wt concentration of peppermint tea in tap water for 4 weeks. The first group was on normal diet and received tap water instead of tea. Their blood samples were analyzed for alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase,albumin, glucose and lactate dehydrogenase. The liver tissues were also processed for histological examination. The liver tissues were essentially normal and similar to the control tissues. The biochemical parameters studied were also normal and similar to the results obtained from the control animals. The consumption of peppermint tea days has no effect on the liver biomarkers and the histology of the liver of Wistar rats which confirmed the safety in the consumption of the studied. Keywords: Peppermint, Tea, Wistar rats, Live

Digestibility Coefficients of Cattle Hoof Meal Diet by African Catfish Clarias gariepinus Juvenile

Digestibility trial of Cattle hoof waste subjected to five processing methods was conducted on Clarias gariepinus juveniles. A reference diet 70 % and test diet 30 % was formulated with chromic oxide biomarker. Feed and feacal samples collected at 8h interval after feeding were analysed for proximate parameters and digestibility coefficient calculated. There was significant difference (P < 0.05) among treatments crude protein digestibility was highest in Reference diet (88.26 ± 0.04) < soda ash diet (87.49 ± 0.04) < fermented diet (82.15 ± 0.10) < wood ash diet (81.26 ± 0.03) < raw hoof diet (79.57 ± 0.05) and lowest in Autoclaved diet (77.69 ± 0.02). Nutrient digestibility also showed significant difference (P < 0.05) among treatments with highest values for soda ash diets parameters and least protein nutrient in autoclaved diet (58.99±0.08 ); fat, dry matter and energy nutrient in raw hoof diet (56.41 ± 3.49; 23.39 ± 0.16; 25.71 ± 0.75). This study concludes that Clarias gariepinus juveniles can be fed soda ash treated cattle hoof waste

Chemical composition of differently processed Cattle Hoof meal Waste as Feedstuff Ingredient

Waste generation at slaughter from ruminant has led to environmental concerns. Processing slaughter house waste will reduce the problem of disposal and possible utilisation in livestock feed. Subjecting Cattle hoof meal to different processing methods can help in enhancing its nutritive value. Cattle hoof were obtained from the slaughter house; raw hoof was subjected to processing methods by boiling; chemical treatment with 10 % soda ash + boiling; fermentation treatment in water + boiling; 10 % wood ash treatment in water + boiling; autoclave treatment and samples analysed for proximate composition, amino acid profile and mineral content analysis according to standard methods. The hoof proximal analysis ranged 9.30 ± 0.06 % – 12.39 ± 0.01 % moisture content; 0.34 ± 0.01 % – 2.50 ± 0.12 % ash; 0.31 ± 0.01 % – 1.47 ± 0.02 % crude fat; 0.19 ± 0.02 % – 12.71 ± 0.15 % crude fibre and 85.27 ± 0.20 % – 90.74 ± 0.26 % crude protein in all samples. The amino acids profile of the hoof showed significant difference among treated samples. Tryptophan an essential amino acid was below detectable limit in all processed samples and raw hoof. The essential and non-essential minerals content showed significant difference (P < 0.05) among treatments with highest (Mg, Fe, K) in wood ash; (Cu) in raw hoof; (Ca, Na, P, Mn, Zn) in autoclaved samples. This study, suggest that Cattle hoof has the potential of being exploited as a source of animal protein for feed formulation in animal nutrition. This research concludes that the different processing methods affect the nutritive profiles of treated samples hence supplementation of limiting amino acids envisaged

Assessment of Dry and Wet Milling using Fabricated Burr Mill

Size reduction processes are utilized to produce watery paste vegetables common in most developing countries. The research was executed in two parts; the first part was a survey of workers and owners of pepper grinding machine in 3 markets Nigeria, to obtain information on experience working with the machine and functionality of burr mills using Structured questionnaire .The second part involved physical measurement of the dimensions, and other engineering parameters on five randomly selected pepper grinding machines from a lot in each market, About 25.4% of the respondents has being working with burr mill for 11-15 years, 23.7% has 16-20 years’ experience while 10% of the respondents have spent above 20 years in business while 93.22% of the respondents use the machine more than three times daily. In view of this it could be deduced that the interaction of the working parts of the machine is un-ending in the sense that increase in the numbers of usage of the burr mill increases the level of wear of the working parts. The physical measurement of the component parts of the burr mill of existing machine compared to that of new machine showed that the level of wear and tear of the machines varies which is due to age of machine and frequency of usage. Keywords: burr-mill, grinder, dry milling, wet milling

Tradomedical Values of Cotton Leaf Plus Lemon Juice Against Clinical Bacterial Isolates

The antibacterial activity of the water and ethanolic extracts of cotton leaf (Gossypium spp.) plus lemon juice (Citrus limon) were tested against pure clinical isolates of Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., E. coli and Klebsiella sp. Cotton leaf is normally used in conjunction with lemon juice by the local populace in Nigeria for the treatment of enteric infections. Decoction method was used for the extraction of the active components from the plant in order to simulate the traditional method of extraction. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and the diameters of zones of inhibition were determined by broth dilution and Agar diffusion methods respectively. The ethanolic extracts are more effective than the water extracts on the test organisms. The MIC of the water and ethanolic extracts ranged between 1.25 -5.0 w/v on the test organisms. Similarly, the average diameter of zones of inhibition of the water extracts on the test organisms ranged between 3.0 to 13.0mm while that of the ethanolic extracts ranged between 12.0 to 21.0mm. The results of this study showed that E. coli was the most susceptible followed by Klebsiella sp., then Salmonella sp., and finally Shigella sp. at the concentrations used for both water and ethanolic extracts. This observation thereby justifies the traditional uses of these plant extracts among the Nigerian local populace for the treatment of some enteric infections such as dysentery and diarrhoea

Principal’s Classroom Visitation and Inspection, and Teachers’ Job Performance in Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria

This expo facto research investigated the influence of principal’s classroom visitation and inspection strategy on teachers’ job performance in Akwa-Ibom State, Nigeria. Subjects involved six hundred and sixty (660) teachers and three thousand, three hundred senior secondary school students which were randomly selected from two hundred and thirty two (232) secondary schools in Akwa-Ibom State. Data was collected with Principals’ Instructional Supervisory Strategies Questionnaire (PISSQ) and Teachers’ Job Performance Scale Questionnaire (TJPSQ). Two (2) hypotheses were tested in the study. The result of analysis utilizing one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that principal’s classroom visitation strategy, and inspection of lesson notes strategy each significantly influenced teachers’ job performance. It is recommended that regular supervision which must include classroom visitation strategy, and inspection of lesson notes strategy be organized by government to enhance teachers’ job performance

Inventory Management and Competitive Advantage of Contemporary Manufacturing Firms in Nigeria

This study examined the impact of inventory management in contemporary manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This was done in relation to how effective and efficient inventory management can be used to achieve a competitive advantage in any sector such manufacturing firm may belong. This study being both exploratory and theoretical, there was critical review of inventory management and competitive advantage. The study concluded that in pursuing cost leadership and differentiation as corporate strategies, inventory management must be effective and efficient. There were recommendations based on the findings, that manufacturing firms should be proactive on issues relating to production, creation of a distinct functional department in charge of inventory management and the consideration of the use of scientific approach to inventory management