PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SOME COMMERCIAL GROUNDNUT OIL PRODUCTS SOLD IN SOKOTO METROPOLIS, NORTHWEST NIGERIA

¹Musa M. ¹Sulaiman, A. U ²Bello; I. ³Itumoh J. E. ⁴Bello K .; ¹Bello A. M.; ¹Arzika, A. T.

¹Department of Chemistry, Shehu Shagari Collage of Education, Sokoto

²Department of Biochemistry, Usmanu Danfodiyo University,

³Department of Industrial Chemistry, Ebonyi  State University Abakaliki

⁴Department of Natural Sciences, Sokoto State Polytechnic, Sokoto

E-mail:oshiobugie2007@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Groundnut oil, also known as peanut oil or just vegetable oil is widely used in all homes in Nigeria in cooking and in other kitchen processes. The Northern part of Nigeria is also notable for the production of groundnut seed (Arachis hypogea L.) which is one of the major sources of groundnut oil in Nigeria. The physicochemical properties of commercial groundnut oils sold in Sokoto metropolis, Sokoto State, Northwest Nigeria were investigated in this study. Four different groundnut oil products purchased from Sokoto main market, Old market, Kara market and Mabera area within the metropolis and one extracted from groundnut seeds in our laboratory were analysed. The oil from Mabera has the highest saponification value of 215.05 ± 1.36 mg KOH/g which is significantly high compared to that extracted in our laboratory (175.78 ± 0.93). Iodine value was significantly higher at (p˂ 0.05) in oil from our laboratory (95.87 ± 0.15 g/100 g) compared to oils from Sokoto main market (43.72 ± 0.21) and Mabera area (45.12 ± 0.35). Groundnut oil from Sokoto main market has the highest acid value of 6.83 ± 0.15 which was above the cut-off value of 5.99, while the oil extracted in our laboratory has the lowest acid value of 1.88 ± 0.15. There was no significant difference at (p˂ 0.05) in the specific gravity of the different oil samples. The range was 0.900 – 0.918. The results show that the oils are of good nutritional value and are good for industrial applications, hence the oils pose no significant health risks to consumers in Sokoto metropolis.

Keywords: Groundnut oil, Mabera, Sokoto, Physicochemical properties

ASCORBIC ACID CONTENT OF CITRUS FRUITS AT DIFFERENT MATURITY STAGES

Agwu Grace N.

Department of Food Science and Technology

Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri.

E-mail: ernagwu@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Ascorbic acid content of oranges, grapefruits and lemons at different maturity stages were determined as well as their pH and sugar content. The juice was squeezed out from the fruits into different labeled beakers and analysed. The results show that ascorbic acid content of the fruits decreases as the fruit matures, while the sugar content increases. The results for pH showed to be below 3.7 ranging from 3.12 to 3.36 for grape fruit, 2.31 to 2.62 for lemons and 3.16 to 3.59 for oranges.

KEY WORDS: Juice, Oranges, Grape fruits, Lemons, Ascorbic acid, pH, Sugar content.

PREVALENCE OF AIRBORNE BACTERIA IN MARKETS IN MAKURDI METROPOLIS

¹H.O.A. Oluma, T. Akande, E.E. Ebah and O.C. Godwin

¹Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science

University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State

ABSTRACT                                                                                                             

Samples of air were collected from three (3) different markets within Makurdi metropolis namely; Modern Market, Wurukum Market and Wadata Market to check the prevalence of airborne bacteria in the markets. The samples were collected from five (5) different subsites in each market using the exposed plate method and incubated at 37⁰C for 24 hours. The different colonies that developed after incubation were counted and identified based on their cultural characteristics, Gram reaction and biochemical characteristics. It was noticed that five (5) types of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Neisseria species, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus species, Streptococcus species) were found in the three (3) markets except in Modern market where Neisseria species was not found in any of the subsites. This may be due to the poor sanitary condition in Wadata market which can also affect and increase the bacteria load on food stuff. The sanitary condition should therefore be improved so as to reduce the bacterial load around the areas.

MICROBIAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF WELL WATER IN KADUNA NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

¹Yabaya A. and Aliyu A.

Department of Microbiology

Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria

amosyabaya@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The microbial quality of water in Kaduna north local government of Kaduna state was assessed, using multiple tube fermentation technique. A total of 20 well water samples within Kaduna north were analyzed for the presence of coliform bacteria. No single sample recorded the absence of coliform bacteria. Samples from location B and K had high most probable index with the range of 170-1600 coliforms per 100ml of the sample. Samples from location M and U had most probable index of between 27- 63 coliforms per 100ml of the sample. The isolates were identified to be E. coli and Enterobacter species by biochemical characterization. These findings indicated that, the wells were contaminated.

Keywords: Micrbial•Quality Assessment•Well Water•Kaduna North•Nigeria