Degradation properties of wild Adansonia digitata (Baobab) and Prosopsis africana (Lughu) oils on storage

The deterioration of Adansonia digitata and Prosopsis africana oils on storage for 140 days was evaluated using chemical and physical parameters. The chemical parameters evaluated includedperoxide value (PV), iodine value (IV), percentage free fatty acids (%FFA), and saponification value (SV). The physical parameters used involved the measurement of infrared (IR) spectroscopy and refractiveindex (RI). The metallic ions present in the A. digitata and P. africana oil have been analysed using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The metallic ions found to be present included calcium (Ca),iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sodium (Na) with potassium occurred in relatively high amount in A. digitata oil (280 ± 1.34 mg/100 g). Systematic variations in these parameterswith storage time were observed. These include initial increase followed by decrease in peroxide value, iodine value and increase in free fatty acids, saponification value and refractive index. These changeshave been interpreted to be due to some structural changes in the triglyceride leading to the formation of new chemical properties or products over the period of storage. The IR spectra also have given anindication of the rancid state of the oils, due to bands observed at 3470 – 3490, 1745 – 1740, 970 and 870-890 cm-1 for hydroperoxides, ester C = O stretching (indicating possible formation/presence ofaldehyde, ketones and acids), trans-isomer, peroxides, respectively, which are products of oxidative rancidity

Studies on the chemical composition and physicochemical properties of the seeds of baobab ( Adasonia digitata)

The seeds of baobab used in preparation of local condiments was analysed to establish the proximate composition and the physico-chemical characteristics of the oil and effect of storage on the oil. Results obtained showed that the saponification value (SV), iodine value (IV), peroxide value (PV), acid value (AV), percentage free fatty acid (%FFA) and refractive index of the oil are 196 ± 0.05 mg/KOH, 87 ± 0.02 g/100 g, 4.5 ± 0.06 mEq/kg, 0.33 ± 0.03 mgKOH/g, 0.45 ± 0.08 and 1.459 ± 0.13, respectively. Proximate analysis showed that protein (21.75 ± 0.12 g/100 g), ash (5.01 ± 0.07 g/100 g) and fiber (6.71 ± 0.003 g/100 g) were comparable to Prosopsis africana seeds (20.54 ± 0.18, 6.67 ± 0.08 and 5.51 g/100g), which is used for the same purpose. The crude lipid content (12.72 ± 0.01 g/100 g) was almost equal to that of P. africana seeds (12.74 g/100 g). The major mineral elements present in the seeds included phosphorus,calcium and potassium (6.00 ± 0.02, 58.90 ± 2.34 and 280.00 ± 1.34 mg/100 g, respectively), thereby suggesting that the baobab seeds could contribute partially to the overall daily intake of theseelements. The vitamins (A and C) found present in baobab seeds are higher than that of P. africana seeds. The antinutritional factors including oxalate, phytate, saponin and tannin (10.31 ± 1.00, 2.00 ±0.31, 7.16 ± 0.01, 2.84 ± 0.30%, respectively) are also comparable to that of P. Africana. The storage property of the oil from baobab seeds studied over a period of four weeks under conditions of light(ambient), darkness (ambient), and refrigeration showed that the iodine value of the oil decreased in all cases but much more so on exposure to light. In contrast, the peroxide value of the oil showed verylittle change under conditions of darkness and refrigeration over the same period, thus indicating that the oil can withstand storage

Nutrient content of seeds of some wild plants

The seeds of the fruits of some wild plants; Cassipourea congoensis (Tunti), Nuclea latifolia (Luzzi), Deterium microcarpum (Tallow), Balanites aegytiaca (Betu), and Gemlin arborea (Melina) were analysedto establish their proximate compositions and the physico-chemical characteristics of the oils. The physico-chemical characteristics measured include saponification value (SV), iodine value (IV),peroxide value (PV), acid value (AV) and percentage free fatty acid (%FFA). Refractive index was the physical parameter measured. The iodine values of the oils were not greater than 88 g/100 g but thesaponification values were in the range 122 ± 0.14 to 201 ± 0.05 mg KOH. Proximate values of the protein, oil and carbohydrate content of the seeds suggest that they may be adequate for the formulation of animal feeds. The mineral elements present also suggest that the seeds could contribute partially to the overall daily intake of these elements, subject to knowledge of the levels of the possible toxic substances. The vitamins (A and C) found to be present in the seeds are low, though could alleviate the symptoms associated with these vitamins. The cyanogenetic glucoside contents in the seeds were analyzed to establish their proximate composition. Qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis showed that all the samples studied contain hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in the form of cyanogenetic glucoside in quantities varying from 2.51 ± 0.31 mg/100g of dried sample for D.microcarpum to 3.75 ± 0.02 mg/100g for G. arborea. The aglycone for all the glucoside detected was  found to be benzaldehyde

Utilisation potentials of Conorandus panados (Mnizee) fruits and seeds

The fruit and seed of Conorandus panados were analysed to determine its potentiality. Results obtained showed that the fruit has higher concentration of mineral elements and vitamin than common fruits like guava, wild Cassipourea congoensis and Nuclea latifolia found in the studied area. The mineral elements, vitamin and proximate composition of the seeds of C. panados are higher than those of Deterium microcarpum, Balanites aegytiaca and Gemlina arboea. The physico-chemical characteristics of the oil are within the range of physicochemical characteristics of many edible oils like cottonseed, groundnut and corn oils. Deterioration results indicate that the shelf-life of the seed oil of C. panados may be 196 days, as against 84 days for Adasonia digitata and 96 days for Prosopsis africana used in the preparation of local condiments for flavouring dishes in Michika, Adamawa State and Hausa States in Nigeria. These suggest that the overall daily intake of the fruits and seeds could provide vitamin, mineral elements and proximate compositions better than C. congoensis, N. latifolia, D. microcarpum, B. aegytiaca, and G. arboea, subject to knowledge of the levels of the possible toxic substances. Also, the oil or the products of the oil would have longer shelf-life than those of A. digitata and P. Africana. Keywords: Wild, seed oil, shelf-life, physico-chemical characteristics, antinutritional, deteriorationInternational Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences Vol. 2 (4) 2008: pp. 439-44

Biochemical evaluation of Cassipourea congoensis (Tunti) and Nuclea latifolia (Luzzi) fruits

The fruits of Cassipourea congoensis (Tunti) and Nuclea latifolia (Luzzi) were assessed chemically for the presence of mineral elements, vitamins A, B, C, E, and some antinutritional factors. Resultsobtained showed that C. congoensis had higher quantities of Cu, Co, Fe, Ca, Mg and Mn ( 0.25 ± 0.02, 0.52 ± 0.01, 6.70 ± 0.13, 45.00 ± 0.23, 85.00 ± 0.11 and 0.35 ± 0.12 mg/g, respectively) compare to N.latifolia (0.15 ± 0.01,0.26 ± 0.02, 1.80 ± 0.21, 42.00 ± 0.15, 70 ± 0.21 and 0.21 ± 0.01 mg/g, respectively). Higher amounts of Zn (0.92 ± 0.03 mg/g) and P (29.00 ± 0.15 mg/g) were, however, observed in N.latifolia. Results of vitamins analysis showed that C. congoensis had the highest levels of vitamins A (69.00 ± 4.10 mg/g), B1(0.86 ± 0.02 mg/g), B2 (0.94 ± 0.03 mg/g) and C (410.50 ± 0.32 mg/g), while vitamin E was higher in N. latifolia (1.18 ± 0.49 mg/g). The antinutritional results showed that oxalate, phytate and saponin were higher in C. congoensis (11.40 ± 1.50, 2.57 ± 0.41 and 8.16 ± 0.4%, respectively), while tannin was highest in N. latifolia (4.62 ± 0.14). This indicates that these wild fruits can serve as good sources of vitamins and mineral elements where cultivated fruits are scarce or out of season

Development of sodium alginate and konkoli gumgrafted- polyacrylamide blend membrane: optimization of grafting conditions

This experiment is a continuation of our effort to develop a blend membrane of sodium alginate and “konkoli” gum-g-polyacrylamide (KG-g-PAAm) for bioremediation of wastewater. The effect of graft reaction conditions on the percentage graft yield in the graft copolymerization was investigated. It was observed that grafting parameters such as acrylamide (AM), ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN), “konkoli” gum (KG), temperature and reaction time have remarkable influence on the percentage graft yield of thegraft copolymer. The percentage graft yield initially increased and then decreased for all the parameters investigated. Optimum percentage graft yield of 83, 85, 86, 84 and 84 were obtained by varying AM,CAN, temperature, reaction time and KG, respectively. This result present the optimum grafting conditions required for copolymerization of AM onto KG