Detection, Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of Clostridium sporogens in Nono: A Nigerian Traditionally Fermented Yoghurt Drink

Nono is a traditionally fermented milk drink commonly consumed in the Northern parts of Nigeria. It is produced through the spontaneous fermentation of raw cow milk by Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), a process that could result to the contamination of the product with such pathogenic organisms as Clostridia spp. The aim of this research was therefore to determine the incidence of Clostridia species in thirty-two (32) ready-to-drink nono samples collected directly from a number of Fulani vendors in randomly selected locations within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. Isolated organisms were further subjected to some morphological and biochemical characterizations using standard microbiological procedures. The results obtained indicate that fourteen (14) isolates were putatively identified to be Clostridium sp., out of which five (5) isolates were confirmed to be Clostridium sporogens by a BLAST analysis of their respective 16SrRNA nucleotide sequence. It was concluded that, the detection of these pathogenic strains in frequently consumed product like nono could pose a public health risk and proactive measures to prevent an outbreak of food borne illness from nono consumption, were recommended.

Antibiotic resistance profile and RAPD analysis of Campylobacter jejuni isolated from vegetables farms and retail markets

Objective:To investigate antibiotic resistance profile and characterize Campylobacter jejuni(C.jejuni) isolates using random amplified polymorphic DNA(RAPD) analysis.Methods:Ninety eight C.jejuni isolates from farms and retail outlets were screened against 10 antibiotics commonly used clinically and agriculturally by using disk diffusion method.RAPD analysis was done to characterize 98 C.jejuni isolates.Results:Fifty-one percent of the isolates had multiple antibiotic resistance index 0.2 and below.This indicated that the isolates in the vegetables were not from the high risk environment or extensive farming practices.C.jejuni isolates found resistant towards penicillin G(93%),vancomycin(86%),ampicillin(35%),erythromycin(28%),gentamycin(4%),amikacin(3%),enrofloxacin(1%),norfloxacin(1%) and no resistance towards ciprofloxacin.RAPD clustering analysis showed that the contamination of C.jejuni in vegetables was likely due to cross contamination at retail markets.Conclusions:C.jejuni contamination in vegetables at retail markets was due to cross contamination.Current finding proved that C.jejuni in small scale vegetables production was less expose towards antibiotic abuse.

Effects of Direction of Bridging of Thiocyanato on the Dimension of Coordination Polymers: Synthesis, Characterization and Single-crystal X-ray Structure Determination of [Cd(4,4'-dm-2,2'-bpy)(NCS)_2]_n and [Cd(4,4'-dmo-2,2'-bpy)(NCS)_2]_n Coordination Pol

Two new cadmium（II）-thiocyanato coordination polymers with 4,4＇-dimethyl-2,2＇-bipyridine（4,4＇-dm-2,2＇-bpy） and 4,4＇-dimethoxy-2,2＇-bipyridine（4,4＇-dmo-2,2＇-bpy） as chelating ligands were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Thermal properties were also studied as well. These complexes have formed as [Cd（4,4＇-dm-2,2＇-bpy）（NCS）2]n（1） and [Cd（4,4＇-dmo-2,2＇-bpy）（NCS）2]n（2）. The coordination numbers of CdII in 1 and 2 are six（Cd N4S2）. Direction of bridging of thiocyanato anions in 1 and 2 created one- and two-dimensional coordination polymers, respectively. The supramolecular features in these complexes were guided and controlled by weak directional intermolecular interactions.

Investigating the cytotoxic effect of ibuprofen concentration in liver cancer cells(HepG2)and normal fibroblast(AGO)

Objective:Although many studies have reported that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can have anticancer effects,the results are still challenging.The aim of this research is to Mechanism and effect of anti-inflammatory drugs in cancer treatment.Methods:In this laboratory study,cell lines were randomly divided into control group(no exposure to ibuprofen and groups exposed to ibuprofen concentrations of 10,1,0.1,and 0.001 mg/mL.The cytotoxic effect of ibuprofen was measured at 24 and 72 hours using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT).Data were compared between groups using a one-way variance test.Results:The results showed that the viability rate of HepG2 cancer cells at concentrations of 1 and 10 mg/mL decreased significantly compared to the control group in 24 hours(P<0.0001).Also,the viability rate at concentrations of 1,10,0.1,and 0.001 mg/mL decreased significantly compared to the control group in 72 h(P<0.0001).Only the concentration of 10 mg/mL ibuprofen decreased the viability of normal cells compared to the control(P<0.05).Conclusion:Overall,the results of this research showed that different concentrations of ibuprofen had a cytotoxic effect on liver cancer cells,and except for the concentration of 10 mg/mL,the other concentrations did not have a cytotoxic effect on normal cells.

Modeling of moisture loss kinetics and color changes in the surface of lemon slice during the combined infrared-vacuum drying

Color is one of the most important appearance attributes of food materials,since it influences consumer acceptability.In this study the effects of combined infrared-vacuum drying on the drying kinetics,moisture diffusivity,surface changes(shrinking)and color changes kinetics of lemon slices were investigated.Both the infrared lamp power and vacuum pressure influenced the drying time of lemon slices.The regression results showed that the quadratic model satisfactorily described the drying behavior of lemon slices with highest R value and lowest SE values.The effective moisture diffusivity increased from 2.92×10^-10 and 1.58×10^-9m^2/s when the infrared lamp power was increased from 300 to 400W.The colour parameters L^*(lightness),a^*(redness/greenness),b^*(yellowness/blueness),and DE(total colour difference)were used to estimate colour changes during drying.L^*,a^* and b^* values of dried lemon increased during drying.The rise in infrared power has a negative effect on the DE and with the increase of infrared radiation power it was increased.Different kinetic models were used to fit the experimental data and the results revealed that the power model was the most suitable to describe the color change intensity(DE).

The effect of polyvinylpyrrolidone addition on microstructure,surface aspects,the glass transition temperature and structural strength of honey and coconut sugar powders

Deep knowledge of the microstructure and physicochemical properties of polymeric food systems,such as honey powders(HP)and coconut sugars(CS),has practical importance for industry and end users.This study investigated the effect of polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)addition on microstructure,roughness,glass transition,α-relaxation temperatures and structural strength(S)of anhydrous complex carbohydrates mixtures.The addition of PVP slightly increased the glass transition andα-relaxation temperature for HP and CS systems as high molecular weight components.Systems with PVP addition showed“stronger”behaviour according to the S approach.Polarized light,scanning electron and atomic force microscopies showed slight differences in transparency and shapes between controls and systems with PVP addition.Surface morphological changes and roughness were investigated in this study to provide insight into HP and CS particles’structural changes.Moreover,S-involved structural diagrams were built to determine S parameters for controlling the structural transformation of HP and CS systems with and without PVP addition.The results obtained in this work provide new information on polymer-carbohydrate interactions in complex food systems and structural transformations during their production and storage.