Survey on the Possible Critical Control Points during the Production of “Balangu” in Kano

Hazard, and critical control point (CCP) analysis was carried out during the production of balangu (a locally produced roasted meat product) in Kabuga, Gwale Local Government area of Kano State Nigeria. The analysis consisted of the aerobic mesophilic bacterial count, fungal count, and detection of E. coli, Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens on the raw meat before processing and the roasted meat. The raw meat was found to have counts above the (FAO 1979) acceptable limit (107cfu/g). Bacteria isolated and biochemically characterized are Staphylococcus spp, coliforms, Salmonella spp and Clostridium perfringens. Presence of these organisms is potentially hazardous and pose risk to consumers of the product. The roasted meat (the finished product) have relatively low counts. The counts from raw meat were, aerobic plate count (APC) = 1.73 E8 cfu/g, and fungal counts (FC) = 2.02 E7 cfu/g, then Staphylococal count (SC) = 7.00 E8 cfu/g, in addition to the isolation of E. coli, Salmonella spp and Clostridium perfringens. The raw meat is therefore regarded as a critical control point. It is therefore recommended that meat handlers and operators at abattoir, should exercise personal and environmental hygiene as well as use clean utensils so as to eliminate any possible hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.Key words: Hazard and Critical Control Point, Bacterial count, Fungal count, Pathogenic bacteria, balangu, Kano

Earthworm-assisted bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soil from mechanic workshop

The use of earthworms (Eudrilus eugenia) for vermi-assisted bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated mechanic workshop soils was investigated. Parameters of interest where earthworm survival, microbial count and identification, carbon and nitrogen contents of the soil and total petroleum hydrocarbon content of the soil. Earthworm survival was found to be dependent on the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbon and nature of the mechanic workshop. The survival of the worms in the as-obtained mechanic workshop soil was much lower than the survival in mechanic workshop soil diluted with petroleum hydrocarbon free soil. Earthworm inoculation also resulted in lower soil C and N contents after 35 days of vermi-assisted bioremediation. After 35 days of treatment, earthworm inoculation effected a higher drop in total petroleum hydrocarbon contents as compared to the samples without worms, indicating that earthworms may be used as biocatalysts in the bioremediation process.Key words: Eudrilus eugeniae, total petroleum hydrocarbon, mechanic workshop soil

Heavy metal contamination of soil in mechanic workshops

The distribution of metal in soil from mechanic workshops around Zaria, Nigeria (Latitude: 11° 4' 0 N, Longitude: 7° 42' 0 E) was studied. The types of mechanic workshops considered were motorcycle, motorcar, truck/lorries and generator set. The soils were sampled in August 2010. The results indicated that there was an increase in the metal content of soil in all types of mechanic workshops. The heavy metal (nickel, copper, zinc, lead and arsenic) content of the soil was compared with recommended limits. The percentage composition of some of the heavy metals, in many of the samples, were found to be in excess of the considered set limit, particularly for lead for which the percentage of soil samples analyzed from motorcycle, motorcar, truck/lories and generator set mechanic workshops in excess of the considered recommended set limit was found to be 88.89, 100, 100 and 100% respectively. 11.1% of all the samples analyzed were found to contain arsenic in excess of recommended limit. Statistical analysis of the heavy metal content (one-way analysis of variance) indicated that the Zn and Pb contents of soil from mechanic workshops were not functions of the workshop type (P > 0.05) but the nickel and copper contents were found to be dependent on workshop type (P < 0.05).Keywords: Elemental analysis, Heavy metals, Mechanic workshop, Soil, Zari

Effects of millet malt wort on brewer's yeast

The effect of Pearl Millet, Penniserum americanum (L), malt won obtained by modified infusion method of  mashmg was investigated on the brewers yeast, Saccharomyces uvarum, growth and fermentation  performance. Bud formation in the yeast was observed nine hows into the initiation of. the fermentation process which slowed down towards the termination of the fermentation period with cells looking elongated and with irregular buds. Yeast generation time was high .(32 to 40 hours) with low number of generation (5 to 8) and low growth rate 5.1 x 10-4 ). The percent acidity as acetic acid was low (50%) however, the won pH was satisfactory (3.8). Malting regime was found to have direct correlation with yeast viable counts as the won obtained from the 3 day regime malt gave the highest viable counts. Yeast viability was maintained for the three pitching cycles. Erythrodextrin and amylodextrin were largely the prcxlucts of the unconverted starch in the 3 - day and 2 - day regime wort - derived malt respectively. Yeast flocculence in the wort. Alcohol percent by volume obtained was 1ow ( 1.3 % V. V). This cereal appears inadequate for beer production due to the low extract content of the wort

The effect of the interaction of various spawn grains and oil types on carpophore dry weight, stipe length and stipe and pileus diameters of lentinus squarrosulus (mont.) singer

Lentinus squarrosulus, an indigenous Nigerian mushroom species, was cultured on six different media that were inoculated separately with three different spawn grains and amended with six different oils at five different rates. The results revealed that the interaction of the different spawn grains with the various oil types produced a highly significant effect (

The effect of the interaction of various oil types with different culture media on biomass production of Psathyrella atroumbonata Pegler

Psathyrella atroumbonata, an indigenous mushroom species, was cultured on six different media that were inoculated separately with three different grain spawns and amended with six different oils at five different rates. The results revealed that the interaction of the various oils with the different culturemedia produced a highly significant effect (p<0.01) on the dry weights and stipe and pileus diameters of P. atroumbonata. The widest mean stipe diameters were produced by the interaction of coconut x animal bedding and rice as well as butterfat x sawdust media. Both the heaviest mean dry weight and widest pileus diameters were induced by coconut x animal bedding and rice medium

Effect of earthworm inoculation on the bioremediation of used engine oil contaminated soil

The effect of earthworm (Eudrilus eugeniae) on the bioremediation of used engine oil contaminated soil, amended with poultry manure, was investigated. Investigation into the effect of initial concentration of used engine oil, in soil, for earthworm inoculated samples showed that the biodegradation rate of used engine oil contaminant increased with increasing initial concentration of used engine oil. For initial used engine oil concentration of 5, 10, 15 and 20 g/kg soil, the drop in total petroleum hydrocarbon was found to be -16.91, 20.82, 34.68 and 36.28% respectively after 42 days of treatment. Investigation into the effect of earthworm concentration showed that the use of earthworms did not result in catalysis of the bioremediation process as the extent of biodegradation for the sample without earthworm was found to be higher than those of all concentrations of earthworm considered (5 - 20 worms/kg soil). However, the rate of bioremediation was found to increase with increase in earthworm concentration (as earthworm concentration was increased from 5 to 20 worms per kg of used engine oil contaminated soil). Similarly when the rate of bioremediation in the without-earthworm but manually tilled and the without-earthworm and untilled samples where compared with samples inoculated with earthworm for bioremediation, both samples without worms recorded higher bioremediation rates.Keywords: Concentration, Time, Total petroleum hydrocarbon, vermicomposting, Eudrilus eugenia

Nutritional studies with Lentinus squarrosulus (Mont.) Singer and Psathyrella atroumbonata Pegler: I. Animal assay

Lentinus squarrosulus and Psathyrella atroumbonata, two edible indigenous mushroom species, were dried, ground and used in nutritional studies. According to the results L. squarrosulus and P. atroumbonata had significantly lower protein efficiency ratio (PER) values than the standard casein diet but gave rise to net protein retention (NPR) values which were at par, but slightly higher than that of the standard casein diet. In addition, the mean albumin and bilirubin levels were significant at p<0.01 while the total serum protein level was significant at p<0.05. The animals fed the protein free and P. atroumbonata diets produced comparable total serum protein levels that were significantly higher than the comparable total serum protein levels produced by the animals fed L. squarrosulus and the standard casein diet. The albumin levels produced by mice fed the protein free diet were at par with those of the P. atroumbonata diet, but significantly higher than the albumin levels of animals fed L. squarrosulus and the standard casein diets, which were similar.Keywords: Lentinus squarrosulus, P. atroumbonata protein efficiency ratio, net protein retention ratio, total serum protein, albumin, bilirubi

Modification of Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a petroleum refining effluent for increased petroleum product degradation

Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from Kaduna refining and petrochemical company (KRPC) were subjected to ultra-violet (UV)-irradiation for 30 min followed by nitrous acid treatment and re-irradiated with UV light for 30 min using standard methods and their petroleum degradation abilities were compared with parent strains. Prior to modification, B. cereus and P.aeruginosa grew on minimal basal medium containing 1.5 and 1% crude oil, respectively, initially but on re-inoculation, both organisms grew on minimal basal medium containing 5% crude oil. 99.83 (0.17% survival) and 96.91% (3.08% survival) death were recorded on UV-irradiation for 30 min; 38.24 (61.76% survival) and 82.02% (10.98% survival) death were recorded after nitrous acid treatment and 29.01 (70.99% survival) and 95.76% (4.24% survival) death were observed on re-irradiation with UV light for 30 min for B. cereus and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Petroleum product degradation increased from98.92% for parent B. cereus to 99.70% for UV-irradiated nitrous acid treated B. cereus, and from 91.34% for parent P. aeruginosa to 98.09% for UV-irradiated nitrous acid treated P. aeruginosa. However, itdecreased from 98.92 to 97.87% and increased from 91.34 to 97.87% for parents and second stage mutants re-irradiated with UV light of B. cereus and P. aeruginosa, respectively. Higher potential were observed for second stage mutant of B. cereus than P. aeruginosa. Thus, the modification of the organisms with UV-irradiation for 30 min followed by nitrous acid treatment resulted in their increased petroleum product degradation ability and could therefore be used for bioremediation of environmentspolluted with petroleum products of 1 - 5% (v/v)

Study of the bacteriological and physicochemical indicators of pollution of surface waters in Zaria, Nigeria

This study investigates the pollution level of surface waters in Zaria, Nigeria. The bacteriological and physicochemical analyses performed were in accordance with standard procedures. Out of 228 samples from different sites, 128 (56.1%) had counts higher than the standards. Samaru stream was themost polluted. The frequency of contamination of samples with Escherichia coli O157 was only 2.2%. There was a positive correlation between faecal coliform count with most of the physicochemical parameters. The use of the surface waters as raw water for drinking, irrigation of food crops for rawconsumption and for recreational activities may be hazardous. The study therefore, stresses on the need to control the faecal pollution of the bodies of water