African Journal of Agriculture

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (9), pp. 001-007, September, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Characterization of Shea Butter from Côte d’Ivoire: A Study on Traditional versus Optimized Production Methods

Rose-Monde Megnanou *, Sébastien Niamke and Jacques Diopoh

Laboratoire de Biotechnologies, Unité de Formation et de Recherche (UFR) Biosciences, Université de Cocody, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22 (Côte d’Ivoire).

Accepted 4 July, 2024

Abstract

A comparison was realized between the characteristics of shea butters from local markets in Côte d’Ivoire and optimized shea butters, manufactured in a laboratory, in order to valuate the improvements in quality. Large diversity concerning the colour (beige, grey and yellow), odour (odourless, moderate, fragrant and rancid) and the consistency (soft and hard) was found for the ordinary shea butter while the optimized one presented specific sensorial characteristics (beige or yellow colour, moderate odour and soft consistency). The acid (10.51 and 11.94 mgKOH/g), peroxide (5.77 and 2.79 mEgO2/kg) and moisture content (0.15%) values of the optimized shea butter were much lower than those of the marketed ones which were 12.80 to 17.32 mgKOH/g, 14.70 to 30.88 mEgO2/kg and 3.26 to 14.50%, respectively. Moreover, the optimized shea butters were free from heavy metals (lead and nickel), Salmonella and the microbial (coliforms), yeast and moulds contents were lower compared to the marketed shea butters. In addition, the optimized shea butters had a high unsaponifiable content (17.61%) and some minerals such as calcium (212.26 to 238.85 mg/kg), sodium (84.57 to 136.62 mg/kg), potassium (36.41 to 45.17 mg/kg), magnesium (12.18 mg/kg), zinc (1.90 mg/kg) and iron (1.67 mg/kg).

Key words: Shea butter, Vitellaria paradoxa, properties, quality, Côte d’Ivoire.
 

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (8), pp. 001-006, August, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Utilization of Cellulosic Byproducts for Xylanase Production by Penicillium chrysogenum (PCL501)

Okafor, U. A.¹, Emezue, T. N.¹, Okochi, V. I.¹; Onyegeme-Okerenta, B. M.¹ and Nwodo-Chinedu, S.² *

¹Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, PMB 12003 Idiaraba, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.
²Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Technology, Covenant University,  KM 10 Idiroko Road, Canaan Land, PMB 1023 Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Accepted 20 August, 2024

Abstract

Xylanase production by Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501, newly isolated from wood-wastes, was monitored at 24 h intervals for a period 168 h in media containing four different carbon sources (oat-spelt xylan, wheat bran, sawdust, and sugarcane pulp). The highest xylanase activity of 6.47 Units mL-1 was obtained at 96 h in media containing wheat bran whereas media containing sugarcane pulp gave a peak value of 1.39 Units mL-1 at 144 h. Sawdust and xylan gave a peak xylanase activity of 1.35 and 0.79 Units mL-1 respectively at 120 h. Maximum protein released in xylan-containing media was 0.38 mg mL-1. Higher protein yield was obtained in media containing the agro-wastes, with wheat bran giving the highest value of 1.14 mg mL-1. The maximum specific xylanase activities were 2.59, 8.52, 16.06, and 9.36 Units mg Protein -1 for sawdust, sugarcane pulp, wheat bran and xylan respectively. Out of the three agro-wastes used in this study, wheat bran holds the greatest promise for cost -effective production of the xylanase enzyme. The carbon source is the highest inducer of the enzyme in the fungus.

Key words: Penicillium chrysogenum PCL501, agro-wastes, wheat bran, sawdust, sugarcane pulp, xylanase.

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (8), pp. 001-005, August, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Rapid and Cost-effective Detection of Up-regulated Genes in Perkinsus olseni Using Suppression-Subtractive Hybridization

Ascenso RMT, Leite RB, Afonso R, Cancela ML*

CCMAR/ University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal

Accepted 27 July, 2024

Abstract

A cDNA forward subtraction library was constructed from the mollusc parasite Perkinsus olseni exposed to hemolymph from its natural host, the clam Ruditapes decussatus, and two different methodologies were used to unravel different non-redundant contigs. Our results demonstrated that screening of the non-enriched direct cDNA subtractive library (Dfsl) was the most efficient and least time- consuming method. It facilitated the identification of genes belonging to 25 different classes of molecular functions out of the 96 clones analyzed. In contrast, only 6 different classes from 204 sequenced clones were identified from the enriched library (efMOSl). It was concluded that the Dfsl cDNA subtractive library resulted in a larger pool of diversified gene hits that were obtained in a shorter time and with less technically- demanding methodology when compared to the efMOSl approach, thus demonstrating its significance and usefulness when time and/or resources are limited.

Key words: Unicellular parasite; Perkinsus olseni; SSH; bacterial dot blot and plate lifts.

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (8), pp. 001-008, August, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Comparative Study of Phenolic Profiles in Ugandan Sweet Potato Varieties: NSP, SPK, and TZ

Agnes M. Nandutu¹, Mike Clifford²* and Nazlin K. Howell³

¹Makerere University, Science Faculty, Biochemistry Department, P. O. Box, 7062 Kampala, Uganda.
^2&3University of Surrey, School of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK.

Accepted 17 July 2024

Abstract

Sweet potato varieties: Nsp, Tz and Spk obtained from Uganda were used in this study. Several phenolic compounds were identified on the basis of their mass spectra in full scan mode and the pattern of their fragmentation. The major compounds found were caffeoylquinic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acid, coumaroylquinic acid, feruloylquinic acid and caffeoylferuloylquinic acids. This is the first time that caffeoylferuloylquinic isomers have been identified in sweet potato samples.

Key words: Sweet potato, phenolic compounds, chlorogenic acids.
 

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (8), pp. 001-005, August, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Analysis of Lipid Peroxidation and Nitrosamine Precursors in Ice Creams, Yogurts, and Meats from Nigeria

Okafor, P. N¹, Nwosu, O¹, Chukwu, J¹, Agbayi, J¹ and Maduagwu, E. N²

¹Department of Biochemistry, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, PMB 7267, Umuahia, Abia State,
Nigeria.
²Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine University of Malawi, Malawi.

Accepted 24 May, 2024

Abstract

The malondialdehyde (a deleterious by-product of lipid peroxidation) and N-nitrosamines and their precursors (nitrate and nitrite) content of seven (7) and three (3) brands of Nigerian yogurts and ice-creams respectively as well as that of some meat and fish samples were determined using chemical methods. Malondialdehyde and nitrite were estimated spectrophotometrically, nitrate after reduction to nitrite with cadmium column and N-nitrosamines after decomposition to nitrite using U.V irradiation. Malonaldehyde was detected in all the samples of both ice-creams and yogurts and in some meat and fish samples with mean concentration of 1.79 ± 0.13- 9.11 ± 2.67 µg/ml in the food drinks and 0.51±0.01 - 1.68 ± 0.03 µg/g and N.D – 12.95 ± 1.07 µg/g in fish and meat samples respectively. All the brands of ice-creams and yogurts (except Brand B) analyzed contained detectable amounts of nitrite. The mean values in µg/ml ranged 0.06 ± 0.01 – 0.2±0.01µg/ml for ice creams and 0.07 ± 0.01 – 0.04 ± 0.02 µg/ml for yogurts. Measurable concentrations of nitrate (0.64 ± 0.04 – 4.91 ± 0.51 µg/ml) and N-nitrosamines were also found in some of these food drinks. The toxicological implications of these findings are discussed.

Key words: Malondialdehyde, nitrate, nitrite, n-nitrosamines, ice creams, yogurts, fish, meat.

African Journal of Agriculture ISSN 2375-1134 Vol. 11 (8), pp. 001-005, August, 2024. Available online at https://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajaoas/table-of-contents © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Computational Analysis of COOH Group Vibrational Dynamics in Amino-Salicylic Acids

Y. P. Singh¹*, Ratnesh Das² and R. A. Singh³

¹Department of Physics, Government Women’s Polytechnic College, Sagar (MP), 470001, India.
²Department of Chemistry, Dr. H. S. Gour University, Sagar (MP), 470001, India.
³Department of Physics, Dr. H. S. Gour University, Sagar (MP), 470003 India.

Accepted 28 May, 2024

Abstract

Our present work reports the IR spectra of amino substituted salicylic acids recorded by FTIR spectro-meter and also simulated theoretically. The simulation was performed using GF matrix and AM1, PM3, DFT method. In this work, the following steps were taken: optimizing the geometry, computing the IR spectra and comparing it with experimental spectra. Assuming Cs point symmetry, vibrational assign-ments for the observed frequencies have been proposed. The spectra exhibit distinct features originating from low frequency vibrational modes caused by intra-molecular motion.

Key words: o-amino salicylic acid, m-amino salicylic acid, p-amino salicylic acid, FTIR spectra, vibrational spectra, AM1, PM3, DFT, G-F Matrix.