A Review Of Opportunities And Challenges In Conservation And Use Of Medicinal And Aromatic Plants in Nigeria.
Nature deposited in Nigeria several beneficial plant materials especially medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) for the treatment of ailments through herbal preparations, and for other culinary, traditional, medical and pharmaceutical uses. Preparation of natural medicine and production of herbal remedies by use of MAPs have proved to be a great alternative to the substandard production, cost and inaccessibility of synthetic orthodox medicines to rural dwellers. Despite the opportunities, ther...
Review of Ethnoveterinary Medicine for Animal Healthcare in Nigeria
Abstract Poor animal health is a major problem limiting livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria. Decline in funding veterinary services, animal health and cost of veterinary medicines and services have pushed poor, rural farmers to search for alternative medicine. Ethnoveterinary medical practices play important roles in animal healthcare system in Nigeria. This work was done to provide information on some medicinal plants that are used to treat animal diseases in Niger...
Plasmid Profile Of Streptococcus lactis And Lactobacillus Plantarum Isolated From Ogi Encoding For Acetaldehyde In Yoghurt
Abstract An investigation was carried out on the plasmid profile of Streptococcus lactis and Lactobacillus plantanum isolated from a total of 120 samples collected from Oyingbo, a local market in Lagos State. Morphological, cultural, physiological characterization and API kits were employed to isolate and identify and treptococcus lactis and Lactobacillus plantanum. All the isolates harboured plasmids ranging from 1-7 in numbers and 3kb – 21.5 kb in sizes. Distinct plasmid patterns were...
Determination of Physical Properties of Afzelia Africana Seeds
Abstract Selected physical properties of Afzelia africanaseeds were determined at four moisture levels: 10.60%, 12.80%, 15.20% and 18.40% wet basis (w.b). The seeds were categorized in three batches according to their weights: Batch I (2g Batch III (3.99spectively. Arithmetic and geometric mean diameters, sphericity and projected area ranged from 13.5700.43-15.8230.41mm, 12.2450.33-14.4300.39mm, 57.800.07-75.600.03% and 186.21828.42-256.03712.98mmrespectively. Unit mass, unit volume, aspec...
Integrating Modern and Traditional Health Practices in Nigeria: Challenges and the Way Forward
Abstract This paper provides valid reasons necessitating the integration of modern and traditional health practices and systems in Nigeria in view of the growing national and global demand for herbal products. Integration of modern and traditional health systems in Nigeria is important in order to harness the enormous benefits inherent in an integrated healthcare system such as: more health manpower, wider health coverage, better utilization of the vast biodiversity of the country and better ...
Impact Damage to Selected Agricultural Produce from South Eastern Nigeria.
ABSTRACT An Impact Test Apparatus was developed to determine the impact damage and bruise parameters of five fresh agricultural produce, namely: banana (Musa spp), tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas), cassava tuber (Manihot esculenta) and lemon (Citrus limon) using Impact – Drop Height method. A constant impact energy of 0.9J – 4.5J was maintained as drop heights ranged from 0.20m – 1.00m. The bruise diameter, bruise depth, bruise width, bruise volume, bruise...
Identification and Characterization of Lactobacillus Isolates Recovered from Locally Fermented Milk (Nunu) consumed within Lagos Metropolis
ABSTRACT This work assessed the probiotic potential of “Nunu” using Lactobacillus, a genus of Lactic acid bacteria and a major probiotic organism as the indicator. The viable Lactobacillus counts of samples purchased from six different areas within Lagos Mainland were enumerated by serial dilution and pour plating in selective media, DeMann, Rogosa and Sharpe agar (MRS). Twelve strains of Lactobacillus were randomly selected from the samples and identified by standard morphological, physi...
Production and Development of Herbal Contraceptives in Nigeria – A Necessity
ABSTRACT Contraception is a means or method to prevent pregnancy. Contraceptives are the devices, agents, drugs, etc used in prevention of pregnancy. Basic methods of contraception are: (i) modern methods, and (ii) traditional / herbal methods. Modern method involves the use of vaginal ring, cervical caps, hormonal implants, patch, injections, diaphragm, male/female condoms, spermicides, pills, vasectomy, male/female sterilization, intrauterine device (IUD), intrauterine system (IUS), etc. Tr...
Fungal Culture From Yam Rot Using Different Dextrose Agars
ABSTRACT The effectiveness of cotton seed dextrose agar, groundnut seed dextrose agar and kernel dextrose agar in culturing fungi was studied by culturing fungi from yam rot (Dioscorea rotundata). The research demonstrated the choice of the isolated fungi to various media, and revealed that some of the isolated fungi showed the same occurrence in different media. Aspergillus flavus showed preference for kernel dextrose and groundnut seed dextrose agar than Sabouraud dextrose agar and cotton s...
Culinary Herbs and Spices for Promotion of Health and Wellness in Nigeria
Nigeria has several culinary herbs and spices with medicinal, pharmaceutical and industrial uses. This paper presents the importance of selected culinary herbs and spices for promotion of health and wellness in Nigeria, such as: ginger (Zingiber officinale), garlic (Allium sativum), black pepper (Piper nigrum), African nutmeg (Monodora myristica), alligator pepper (Aframomum melegueta), negro pepper (Xylopia aethiopica), aidan tree (Tetrapleura tetraptera), African basil (Ocimum gratissimum),...
Comparative Assessment of Growth Potential of Low-cost Formulated Diet for Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Production
A comparative assessment of growth potential of low-cost formulated diet for catfish (Clarias gariepinus) production was conducted using a low-cost formulated diet and commercial fish feed (Multifeed). An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of the locally-formulated feed and the commercial feed on the weight and length of catfish samples at 3% body weight (b.w) and 5% body weight (b.w) respectively. Forty (40) juvenile catfish samples, with average weight of 8.07g and average l...
Studies on Incidence and Effects of Temperature and Relative humidity on Post harvest rot of Cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) in Gombe community, Gombe State, Nigeria
Studies on incidence and effect of temperature and relative humidity on post-harvest rot of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) were conducted in Bolari, Pantami and Tudun Wada district headquarters in Gombe LGA of Gombe state, Nigeria. The aim was to determine the incidence and severity of post-harvest rot of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta), to isolate and identify the fungi responsible for the rot, to determine the virulence of the pathogen and the effect of temperature and relative humidity on...
Applications of Natural Medicine (Traditional Medicine/Complementary and Alternative Medicine) in Nigerian Healthcare Delivery System
Natural medicine in form of Traditional Medicine (TM) or Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) have proved to be efficacious in treatment of various diseases for bodily, physical, mental, spiritual and general wellbeing. In Nigeria, natural medicine has been applied to treat sickle cell disease, cancer, musculoskeletal pain, asthma, malaria, typhoid fever, pile, fever, measles, diarrhea, cough, sexually transmitted diseases, stomach ulcers, pneumonia, diabetes, mental disorders, stroke...
Selected Physical And Aerodynamic Properties Of African Breadfruit (Treculia africana) Seeds From South Eastern Nigeria
Physical and aerodynamic properties of African breadfruit (Treculia africana) seeds were studied at four moisture levels: 12.50, 15.00, 17.50 and 20.10% dry base (w.b). As moisture content increased from 10.50 to 20.10% (w.b), the average weight, major diameter, minor diameter, intermediate diameter, geometric mean diameter, arithmetic mean diameter of the seeds ranged from 0.35±0.08 to 0.60g±0.04g, 8.08±0.90 to 10.05±0.60mm, 4.04±0.53 to 5.00±0.10mm, 2.96±0.43 to 4.60±0.40mm, 4.52±0...
A Review of Heat Therapy in African Traditional Medicine
Heat therapy – also known as thermotherapy or thermal therapy – is the transfer of heat or thermal energy in and out of the human body especially at the joints, using towels, ice packs, wax, hot/warm water, steam, etc within a given temperature range. The objective is the expansion of blood capillaries and increased blood flow to the affected area for healing. The principle is the application of the heat or cold to change the cutaneous, intraarticular or core temperature of soft tissues t...
Postgraduate
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka Anambra State
February 2012 to August 2014