http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/227 2026-07-21T22:32:39Z http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/3452 PREVALENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF MALARIA, PFCRT AND PFMDR1 GENES AMONG PATIENTS ATTENDING FUT AKURE HEALTH CENTRE, NIGERIA OBIMAKINDE, Ebenezer Tolulope This research evaluated the prevalence and distribution of malaria, Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (Pfcrt) and Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistant (Pfmdr1) mutant genes among Patients attending FUTA Health Centre. A retrospective study was carried out on the results of tests that were carried out on Patients who came for malaria test in 2015 while blood samples of patients coming for malaria test were collected between December 2015 and February 2016. Information about sex, age, status and date of collection of blood samples of each Patient were recorded. The mean temperature and rainfall data from January to December 2015 were recorded. One hundred and forty (140) patient’s blood samples were examined out of which 74(52.86%) were males and 66(47.14%) were females. Malaria test was done by thick blood film microscopy and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique. PCR technique was used to detect Pfcrt and Pfmdr1 mutant genes of P. falciparum. Pearson’s Chi-square test was used for analysis. In 2015, a total of 2,616 people were tested for malaria parasite out of which 2,058 (78.7%) were positive for malaria parasite. The highest and the lowest prevalence of malaria infection in 2015 was recorded in November (95.6%) and October (45.2%) respectively and showed significant difference (P < 0.05) while the percentage distribution of malaria infection among male and female patients in 2015 was 973 (77.7%) and 1,085 (79.6%) respectively with significant difference (P < 0.05). The prevalence of Pfcrt (95%) and Pfmdr1 (45%) showed significant difference (P < 0.05). The research revealed high prevalence of Pfcrt and Pfmdr1 mutant genes of P. falciparum among patients which may be as a result of treatment of malaria with Chloroquine and other medication which the parasite has formed resistance against. In conclusion, it is important to adopt a new means through which the infection can be treated apart from the use of drugs in which the parasite has formed resistance against. M. TECH 2017-05-01T00:00:00Z http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/3451 INTAKE OF ESSENTIAL, TOXIC ELEMENTS AND MICROBIAL LOAD OF SOME LOCALLY CONSUMED RICE IN SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA FALOPE, OLUWATOSIN CHRISTIANAH Proximate composition and mineral profile of locally cultivated and imported rice obtained from Asaba, Onitsha, Afikpo and Abakalilki in Southeastern Nigeria were assayed in the laboratory using standard techniques. The proximate composition and mineral profile of both local and imported rice were compared. Dietary intakes of the nutrients were computed and compare with dietary reference intake for each element. Microbial analyses of the samples were also conducted. Imported rice was generally richer in protein and fat than the locally cultivated rice varieties probably suggesting fortification of foreign rice or varietal differences. Local rice cultivars had higher carbohydrate, fibre and moisture contents than imported rice. Heavy metal levels (notably As, Cd and Pb) were generally significantly (P<0.05) higher in locally cultivated rice than in foreign rice. Cadmium level was significantly higher (P<0.05) in rice obtained from Onitsha (0.15mg/kg) than any of the imported or locally cultivated rice (0 to 0.01mg/kg). The levels of the toxic elements in both rice cultivars are within the recommended daily intake. Levels of nutrients and essential elements such as potassium, phosphorus, copper, iron, selenium, were significantly higher in foreign rice than their local counterparts. Manganese concentration was significantly lower in foreign rice (4.85 to 5.65mg/kg) than in local (6.73 to 7.59mg/kg). No significant difference (P>0.05) was recorded in the concentration of zinc, sodium and calcium in both local and imported rice varieties. Five bacterial species namely, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus bacillus, Streptococcus epididermis and three fungi species namely; Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Rhizopus were detected in the various rice samples. The foreign rice brands were generally free from bacterial infection except Thailand rice that was infected with Bacillus cereus. However, they all have Rhizopus infestation probably due to heavy load of Rhizopus spores in the environment. Onitsha and Abakaliki rice brand have the highest bacterial loads of 0.65x105cfu/ml and 0.45x105cfu/ml respectively. Onitsha and Mama Africa have 0.70x103sfu/g and 0.56x103sfu/g fungal loads. The microbial abundance of rice sample observed showed that Bacillus cereus had the highest distribution (57.1%) followed by Staphylococcus aureus (42.9%) Streptococcus bacillus and Streptococcus epididermis had the same distribution of occurrence (14.3%).The findings in this study showed that both the locally cultivated rice and imported rice consumed in southeastern Nigeria contain low levels of toxic elements (Cd, As, and Pb). However, estimated daily intake of the essential macronutrient showed that foreign rice is richer in sodium, calcium, potassium and phosphorus. High moisture content of the local rice may probably be responsible for high microbial load. M. TECH 2018-08-01T00:00:00Z http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/3450 BIOACTIVITY OF THREE SELECTED BOTANICALS AGAINST Dermestes maculatus DEGEER AND MICROORGANISMS IN SMOKED CATFISH, Clarias gariepinus BURCHELL. FABUNMI, GOODNESS OSEHOTUE Fish, a major source of protein is mainly preserved by smoking in many developing countries. However, insect pests and micro-organisms constitute economic and health challenges to fish farmers and consumers. Three medicinal plant materials from Zingiber officinale rhizome, Allium sativum bulb and Moringa oleifera seed were evaluated for progeny inhibition in fish beetle, Dermestes maculatus, and incidence of bacteria and fungi in smoke-dried Clarias gariepinus. Cleaned C. gariepinus were separately soaked in extracts of the plants (50g/1000ml) for 60mins before smoke-drying in a mud kiln at 105ºC. Proximate analyses and sensory evaluation were conducted on un-infested fishes in lot A while fishes in lot B were artificially infested with 5 pairs of newly emerged adult D. maculatus for 10 days. Number of emerged larvae, pupae, adult insects and incidence of micro-organisms before and following 90 days in storage after infestation were used as indices of potency of the extracts. Results obtained showed that all the treated un-infested smoked-dried C. gariepinus retained high scores for taste, texture, aroma and appearance within the first five weeks of storage after smoking when compared with the control. This implied that the tested extracts had no negative effect in terms of sensory attributes on the treated fish during storage and can therefore be used for fish preservation. Larvae emerged in untreated fish much earlier (2 days) after artificial infestation than an average of 8 days in extract-treated fish. Mean numbers of developmental stages of D. maculatus were highest in untreated fish having 36.00±2.00 larvae, 21.00±0.58 pupae and 40.00±1.73 adults. Fish treated with extract of A. sativum had significantly (p < 0.05) lowest value of 17.67±1.45, 12.00±0.58 and 21.00±1.53 for larvae, pupae and adult respectively. The extracts reduced the type and load of fungi and bacteria in treated fish compared with the control. Untreated fish had higher moisture content and crude fat, and lower ash, crude fibre and crude protein contents. Meanwhile, A. sativum among all the selected extracts had the least number of larvae (17.67±1.45), adult (21.00±1.53), fungi (9.00x10²±0.53sfu/ml) and bacteria counts (11.33x10²±0.33cfu/ml) following 90 days in storage after infestation. Therefore, A. sativum proved to be most effective among the tested extracts followed by Z. officinale and M. oleifera, hence it could be recommended for control of D. maculatus and microorganisms in smoked C. gariepinus. The plant extracts could play a major role in inhibiting insect feeding and development, incidence and growth of micro-organisms thus extending the shelf-life of smoked fish. Most importantly it will reduce occurrence of food infestation and infection thereby enhancing consumer safety. M. TECH 2018-07-01T00:00:00Z http://196.220.128.81:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/3449 COMPARATIVE TOXICITY OF BOTANICAL POWDERS, DIATOMACEOUS EARTH, PIRIMIPHOS METHYL, RICE HUSK (POWDER AND ASH) AGAINST TWO STORAGE BEETLES BABALOLA, ABIODUN IBUKUN This study was carried out to investigate the comparative toxicity of seeds of Piper guineense Schum & Thonn, Capsicum annum L, Diatomaceous Earth, pirimiphos-methyl dust and rice husk (powder and ash) againstCallosobruchus maculatus (F.) and Sitophilus zeamais (Motsch) in stored cowpea and maize grains respectively. Toxicity test was carried out by exposing five pairs (male and female) each of freshly emerged insects to each of the substrate materials at the rates of 0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 g/20 grammes of grains. The experiment conducted at ambient temperature of 28 ± 2oC and relative humidity of 75±5% was replicated three times and arranged in a completely randomized design. Adult mortality was observed for four days. The following phytochemicals were observed in the materials: alkaloids, saponins, tannin, flavonoid and glycosides. Proximate analysis showed the presence of crude protein, fat content, crude fibre, moisture content and ash content. Results of the toxicity assay revealed that rice husk ash was the most toxic to adult C. maculatus and S. zeamais with 100% mortality (p≤0.05) within 72 hours of exposure at a concentration of 0.1g/20grammes grains. Pirimiphos-methyl gave a significantly high mortality of 76.67% and 90.00% at a concentration of 0.2 g/20 g of grains respectively in both cowpea and maize after 72 hours of application. The least efficacy was observed with rice husk powder evoking 3.33% and 33.33% at a dosage of 0.3g/20 grammes respectively in both cowpea and maize. The treated grains significantly reduced the oviposition and adult emergence of C. maculatus and were significantly different from the control across the different dosages. Oviposition and adult emergence were lowest in rice husk ash with 8 eggs and 24.62% adult emergence in C. maculatus, at 0.5g/20g dosage.The percentage adult emergence in the untreated grains was significantly different (higher) (p<0.05) from the emergence in the treated cowpea grains across the dosages. At all levels of dosages, the powders significantly reduced the weight loss, damage and weevil perforation index caused by the beetle. Rice husk ash at 0.5g dosage recorded the lowest weight loss, grain damage and weevil perforation index of 0.40%, 1.95% and 5.80 % respectively.Rice husk ash was able to inhibit completely the emergence of adult S. zeamais at 0.1g dosage within 24 hours post treatment as well as reduce weight loss, in Sitophilus zeamais. The inhibition rate in Pirimiphos methyl (90.42%) was comparable with those of P. guineense (90.78% ) and diatomaceous earth (82.34%) at 0.1g dosage. Weight loss of 19.90% was highest in the control while there was no weight loss in the treated grains with rice husk ash for S. zeamais. The findings from this research showed that rice husk ash was most potent/toxic to the storage beetles, C. maculatus and S. zeamais. M. TECH 2017-08-01T00:00:00Z