Annual Research & Review in Biology

Aims: To determine the potential for local use of Zingiber album Nurainas among Zingiberaceae family through an ethnobotanical approach.

Study Design: Information about traditional uses of Zingiberaceae family collected through literature review. The data was analyzed quantitatively using the ethnobotanyR package in the R Studio software and visualized using a flow diagram with the ggalluvial formula.

Methodology: Literature review.

Results: From the research, it was found that the local use of Z. album as a vegetable and traditional medicines, namely the medicine for swollen uterus after childbirth, abdominal pain, internal heat.

Conclusion: Z. album Nurainas has potential as a food and traditional medicine. Ethnoalluvial analysis of the potential utilization of Z. album among other species in the Zingiberaceae family in West Sumatra showed that the species categorized as low importance.

The study of animal diseases increases the relevance of the livestock industry, which is the main leading component of the strategy for the development of agriculture in Azerbaijan. An important roleour country. Their research is critical in the implementation of measures to combat rotavirus and coronavirus infections in infant calves.  The primary goal of this study was to investigate the seasonal dynamics of accompanying diarrhea in calves caused by rotavirus and coronavirus infection. The research was carried out on farms located in the northwestern region of the Azerbaijan republic.

Fecal samples were used as material and tested by chromatographic immunoassay for the qualitative detection of rotavirus and coronavirus antigen.

The study revealed that the clinical signs of diarrhea in calves caused by rotavirus and coronavirus infections in farms located in the northwest region of the country are relatively similar. However, there was a relatively higher incidence of rotovirus infection, and mortality relative to coronavirus was at a lower level. The occurrence of secondary pneumonia in patients with coronavirus was noted as one of the main clinical signs. The study showed that the trend of infection and death from both diseases changes in different seasons of the year, which from season to season and, as a result, becoming massive causes serious damage to farms, becoming widespread in spring, autumn, and winter.

Indonesia is a tropical area with high rainfall, the area on land is connected by around 472 large and small rivers that flow into the sea. The estuary area is the meeting area of ​​rivers or fresh water streams with the ocean. Transportation of organic matter, minerals and sediments from upstream to the estuary and from the sea containing minerals, hence estuarine waters are more fertile than other areas. In addition, estuary areas are important habitats for several types of marine and freshwater organisms to fulfill their life cycles, which are used as spawning, foraging, and nursery grounds.

This study aimed to determine the total organic contents, total Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in the estuary waters of Maros as a source of brackish water for fish pond aquaculture in Maros Regency. The research was conducted in the estuary waters of Maros for three months from September to November 2020. Sampling was conducted four times with an interval of once every 15 days. Sampling was carried out at five stations based on water movements to the estuary, station A was located at the seawater, station B was located in the pond wastewater locations, station C was water sources from residential waste, station D was located in the river, and station E was the estuarine water. The results showed that the dominant water quality parameters affecting estuarine water quality were salinity, total organic matter, nitrogen content, either in the form of ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite, and phosphorus content, especially phosphate. Water entering the estuary has an impact on high concentrations of total organic matter, increased concentrations of Total N, and phosphorus. The results of water quality analysis in estuaries showed that salinity, organic matter, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, and phosphate exceed the standard threshold for water quality standards for fish pond aquaculture. Thus, the waters of the Maros estuary are not suitable for aquaculture, especially for the 5 observed stations (A, B, C, D and E). 

Aims: Medicinal plants used by traditional medical practitioners (TMP) to treat cancers are considered safe when used alone or combined with conventional therapy to ensure their effectiveness and eliminate the toxic effects of orthodox medicines. Using cytotoxic and antioxidant studies, the study attempted to assess some of the commonly used medicinal plants used to cure cancer among Yoruba people in Ogun, Oyo, Osun, and Lagos (South-West, Nigeria).

Study Design: Samples of commonly utilized anticancer plants obtained from the chosen areas using physical and virtual oral seminars were studied for physiochemical composition and a possible antioxidant and cytotoxic potential to validate the basis for the use of the selected anticancer plants.

Methodology: Online academic literature searches were done on the cited plants to identify the already-exploited anticancer plants. The ethanolic extracts of the plant were examined for the presence of bioactive components and their total flavonoid content, with focusing on quercetin detection using thin layer bioautography (TLB) and brine shrimp lethality assay (BSLA) for cytotoxicity. In comparison to quercetin and ascorbic acid, the scavenging of superoxide radical (SOR), hydrogen peroxide, and 2, 2-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical activity by a model (most biologically active) of the anticancer plant was also evaluated.

Results: There were only twelve anticancer species that were not used in related studies: Lannea egregia, Ficus exasperate, Croton zambesicus, Tetrapleurai tetraptera, Terminalia catappa, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides, Plumbago zelanica, Hilleria latifolia, Bryophyllum pinntum, Chromolena odorata, Brysocarpus coccineus and Spondias mombin. The anticancer plants contained bioactive and mineral substances like saponins, protein, lipids, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, and a decreased Na/K concentration. The plants had a fair amount of flavonoids and variable levels of cytotoxicity. L. egeregia was regarded as the prototype of the anticancer species due to its profound flavonoid concentration (85.40 µg/mL) and cytotoxicity (9.46 µg/mL) compared to other extracts. The TLB also demonstrated the presence of quercetin, with a dose-dependent antioxidant property. The anticancer model's overall antioxidant activity (34.72 µg/mL) was slightly lower than quercetin (30.44 µg/mL) but higher than ascorbic acid (41.68 µg/mL).

Conclusion: The results support the traditional use of anticancer species as nutritional and dietary supplements, whose bioactive compounds are relevant in managing cancer patients. The plant’s bioactive principles need to be characterized in future research.

Aims: To evaluate halal criteria of beef microbiological quality intended for export in two slaughterhouses.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Khartoum State, Sudan between August and November 2022.

Methodology: Samples were collected by using the non-destructive dry swab method for microbiological quality sampling of beef and a standardized checklist to evaluate good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and good hygienic practices (GHPs). Restraining methods were categorized as “modern method” where the full inversion rotary casting box was used which resembled slaughterhouse “A” or “conventional method” where a large-sized hammer for blowing the skull was used and this resembled slaughterhouse “B”. A total of 80 male beef cattle were investigated after arrival in the lairages of the designated slaughterhouses. Forty carcasses from each slaughtering method were randomly chosen and swabbed.

Results: The results revealed that halal criteria for the slaughtering methods in slaughterhouse (A) was 100%, while slaughterhouse (B) was 83.2%. Also, this study revealed poor personal hygiene as slaughterhouse A scored 53.2%, while slaughterhouse B scored 33.2% for personal hygiene evaluation. The mean total bacterial count (TBC) was found to be 4.556 x 10⁵ cfu/ml and 5.53275 X 10⁵ cfu/ml in slaughterhouses A and B, respectively with highly significant differences compared to the standard permissible limits (1x 10⁵cfu/ml) with p ≤0.05, while there were no statistically significant differences (0.847) within slaughterhouses with p ≤0.05.  Furthermore, the mean total coliform count (TCC) was found to be 16.4795 X10²cfu/ml and 47.8670 X 10²cfu/ml in slaughterhouses A and B, respectively with a highly significant difference compared to the standard permissible limits (1x10²cfu/ml) with p ≤0.05 and also with highly significant differences (0.000) between slaughterhouses themselves with p ≤0.05.

Conclusion: The study concluded that both slaughterhouses failed to meet the requirements of the various beef halal criteria.