Annual Research & Review in Biology

In Côte d’Ivoire, the larvae of Oryctes owariensis are prized and widely consumed as alternative protein source. The present study was aimed at evaluating the nutritional and functional properties of the larva flour for further food products formulation. Fresh O. owariensis larvae were collected from dead trunks of raffia palms at Saïoua (6°29'31" N and 6°15'32" W) in Côte d’Ivoire. The fresh larvae were dried and ground to obtain the crude flour. Chemical composition and functional properties were investigated using standard methods. All results were statistically analysed. The chemical composition revealed that it contains crude protein about 50.64%, crude fat 18.88%, moisture 8.41%, ash 7.72%, total carbohydrate 14.33% and energy value of 417.43 kcal. The mineral evaluation in mg/100 g dry weight showed K (1610.50) > Mg (369.75) > P (142.17) > Na (102.25) > Ca (54.51) > Fe (20.26) > Zn (7.89) > Cu (0.91). These results suggest that dried O. owariensis larvae can be used in human diet to prevent undernourishment due to protein and some mineral deficiencies. Furthermore, the high in vitro protein digestibility (82.87%) could be an advantage for eating this insect larva. The functional properties showed that it has high water and oil absorption capacity with values of 220.33 and 265.90% respectively. This flour exhibited also good emulsifying and foaming properties making it suitable in formulation of foods such as sausages and bakery products. Dried O. owariensis larvae could be utilized as a new feed products of considerable protein, fat and mineral contents. The larva flour shows good functional characteristics for use in many food industries.

Aims: Phragmanthera incana, African mistletoe popularly called “bird lime”, devil’s fuge, “all heal, Iscador”, “mystyldene”, “golden bough” etc a hemi-parasitic plant was screened for its antimicrobial properties due to its ethnomedicinal claims as a remedy for stomach disorder, diarrhoea, dysentery, wound and other infections. 

Methodology: The antimicrobial activities of aqueous and methanol extracts of P. incana obtained from cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and kolanut  (Cola nitida)  were tested In vitro against five Gram negative pathogenic bacteria; Escherichia coli, Aeromonas popoffi, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Tatumella ptyseos and five Gram positive bacteria; Bacillus cereus, B. firmus, Paenibacillus assamensis, P. apiarius, Corynebacterium accolens; and seven pathogenic fungi; Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Sclerotium rolfsii, Dinemasporium species, Mycotypha microspora and Harposporium species using agar diffusion method and food poisoning techniques. The antimicrobial activity was assessed by the presence or absence of inhibition zones, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values.

Results: Phragmanthera incana kolanut methanol extract showed a higher zone of inhibition for both bacterial and fungal isolates used than P. incana cocoa methanol extract which could be due to the phytochemical constituents. Phytochemical investigation of the mistletoe from cocoa and kolanut indicated the presence of alkaloid, phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, and cardiac glycosides. Phragmanthera incana aqueous extract from both plants (cocoa and kolanut) showed no antimicrobial activities towards the organisms used except for the food poisoning techniques for antifungal assay.

Conclusion: This study showed a moderate antimicrobial potential of the extracts of the mistletoe, P. incana. Phragmanthera incana growing on kolanut was found to be more effective than P. incana growing on cocoa.

Aim: To evaluate association of 10 p locus in Slovenian inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients with different sub-phenotypes.

Methodology: Genotyping of three selected SNPs from 10 p locus was performed in 594 IBD patients, divided into three sub-phenotypes, Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and refractory CD, and in 250 healthy controls with PCR-RFLP technique. Clinical characteristics of patients were compared according to genotype of selected SNPs.

Results: We found statistically significant correlation of all three selected SNPs with different sub-phenotypes of IBD. For SNP rs12777960 on gene CCNY we found association with all IBD patients and UC patients separately, where frequency of AA and AC genotype was higher in a group of patients compared to controls (P = .007). For SNP rs4934697 we found statistically significant association only for refractory CD patients, where frequency of CT and TT genotype was higher in a group of patients compared to controls (P = .01). For SNP rs2254252 on gene SEPHS1 we found association for a group of all IBD patients and CD patients, where frequency of allele T was higher in a group of patients (0.521) compared to healthy controls (0.451, P = .009). We identified novel association between age at diagnosis and genotype of SNP rs12777960 in gene CCNY where patients with disease susceptible genotype AA were diagnosed younger compared to patients with AC/CC genotype (P = .03).

Conclusion: We confirmed candidate SNPs and genes from 10 p region in population of Slovenian IBD patients and found specific correlations of SNPs with different sub-phenotypes of IBD, particularly SEPHS1 with CD, CCNY with UC and region near CREM and CCNY genes with refractory CD.

Background: The high cost of conventional animal feed ingredients in Nigeria has made it necessary to search for alternative local sources of feed. Crop residues including sweet potato leaves abound in Nigeria. These have been explored as feed sources. The ability of microorganisms to convert agricultural wastes to more useful products could be harnessed to produce feed from sweet potato leaves which can be obtained in high abundance at low cost.

Aim: To examine the possibility of converting sweet potato leaves to animal feed through fermentation with a co-culture of Chaetomium globosum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Materials and Methods: Triplicate samples of sweet potato leaves were fermented with a co-culture of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae for 21 days at 25±2°C and the effects of fermentation on nutrient composition were determined. Fermentation and control samples were analysed for proximate, amino acids, and elemental contents. 

Results: Crude protein, crude fat and ash contents increased by 97.5%, 265.3% and 12.3%, respectively, while crude fibre and nitrogen free extract values decreased by 22.7% and 61.4% respectively. Energy content increased by 14.5%. The observed changes in the values of these nutritional components were significant (P = 0.05). The percentage  dry matter values of all the amino acids analyzed (lysine, histidine, arginine, aspartic acid, threonine, glutamic acid, proline, glycine, alanine, cystine, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine tyrosine and phenylalanine) were found to increase, with the contents of seven of the amino acids increasing significantly. Calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium contents increased significantly while those of copper and iron decreased.

Conclusion: Fermentation of sweet potato leaves with a co-culture of C. globosum and S. cerevisiae enhanced the feed potential of the leaves. With mineral supplementation, energy enhancement, and further crude fibre reduction, fermented sweet potato leaves could serve as feed for some animals.

Introduction: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is the most common gastrointestinal problem in children. The role of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) with recurrent abdominal pain is not known precisely. Since H. pylori infection may be one of the symptoms of abdominal pain. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of H. pylori Stool antigen in children with recurrent abdominal pain and compared with the control group.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 107 children with recurrent abdominal pain and 107 healthy children were enrolled. Children in both groups did not have history of the liver, the kidney and the digestive disease and at least 2 weeks before the sampling had no history of using antibiotics, pump inhibitors (PPI) and antacids. Both groups were compared for age, sex, location, type of feeding in infancy, history of gastro-intestinal problems in the family. Morning Stool antigen of H. pylori of both groups were measured with ELISA, The kits containing polyclonal antibody against H. pylori in the reference laboratory. After data collection Descriptive statistics were used to calculate ratios and frequency, SPSS software was used for data analysis. To compare the frequency of HpSA in two groups, Chi-square test was used.

Findings: The average age of children with RAP and control group was 6.1±3.1 and 6.04±2.7 year respectively, the difference was not statistically significant (P =0. 94). There was no difference between the two groups in terms of gender.  83 children with RAP and 78 children in the control group were in urban areas. Distribution of location in groups was not statistically significant (P =0.426). In 73 children with RAP (68.2%), HpSA was positive while only 12.1%  in the control group were positive for it and this difference was statistically significant (P =0.001). positive family history  of gastrointestinal problems in children with RAP and control group was 54.7% and 27.1% respectively which this difference was also statistically significant (P =0.001).

Conclusion: In this study, HpSA is significantly higher than in children with RAP especially who have a family history of gastritis. This study suggests that in children with RAP, HpSA measurement which is a noninvasive method can help.

Aim: A study was conducted to investigate the effect of graded levels of choline on the growth performance, dressed carcass yield, internal organs and haematological parameters of broiler chickens.

Materials and Methods: A total of three hundred day old mixed sex broiler chicks were shared into five treatment groups of sixty birds each and twenty birds for each of the three replicates. Birds in (T₁) belonged to the control. Those in T2 had 500 mg/kg choline chloride supplementation of their feed, those in T3 had 1,000 mg/kg choline chloride supplementation, and birds in T4 had 1,500 mg/kg choline chloride supplementation, while those in T5 had 2,000 mg/kg choline chloride supplementation. Data collected were the growth parameters, dressed carcass, internal organs and haematology.

Results: There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the average final weight, average weight gain, daily weight gain, daily feed intake, and feed conversion ratio with improvement as the choline supplementation increased from 500 to 2,000 mg/Kg of feed. The dressed carcass and internal organs showed no significant differences (p<0.05). For the haematology, the red blood cell (RBC) count, white blood cell (WBC) count, lymphocyte count, monocyte count and basophil count showed significant differences (p<0.05).

Conclusion: It was concluded that choline should be included at 2,000 mg/kg of broiler’s diet.

Phenols and their derivatives are broadly distributed as a characteristic pollutant due to its frequent presence in effluents of many industrial processes. Most of the phenolic compounds are toxic to living organisms as well as environment, even at low concentration. These phenol derivatives introduced into the environment, they may accumulate in soil and water. This signifies enormous environmental issues and if they enter into the food cycle through that polluted water, they can cause numerous health problems to humans. They show adverse effects on human being which are short term as well as long term effects. Enzymes are good biocatalysts. We discussed in this study about an enzymatic treatment on effluent containing phenols. Phenol degrading enzymes and their delivery systems in effluent shortly discussed. We focused only on the phenol degrading peroxidase enzyme. Numerous researchers extracted the peroxidase from various plants and their parts. Many researchers have reported that methods of biodegradation of phenols by peroxidase with additives to retain the specificity of peroxidase through their whole reaction. In conclusion, the plants having a great source of enzymes, such as horseradish roots, soybean seed hulls and turnip roots are having rich sources of enzymes. The enzymes are time saving and inexpensive catalyst. There are no harmful products formed after completion of reaction. Hence, enzymatic treatment is fully eco-friendly treatment.