Traditional preparation and uses of cassava in Nigeria

Various methods of cassava preparation are practised by different ethnic groups in Nigeria. These methods involve peeling cassava roots, soaking roots in streams, grating cassava, and pressing grated cassava. Other methods include heating sieved, grated cassava, boiling peeled cassava roots, and pounding boiled or dried cassava roots. The traditional, cassava-based products aregari, fufu, akpu, cassava flour, edible starch, and tapioca. Detoxification of fresh cassava roots is partly achieved through cell rupture during cutting and grating, soaking in running or standing water in earthen pots for 3–5 days, heating, drying, and boiling.     

Subcellular Distribution and Developmental Expression of Cholesterol Ester Hydrolases in Fetal Rat Brain Cultures

Abstract: Cholesterol ester hydrolase activities previously have been identified in brain and linked to the production of myelin, which has very low levels of esterified cholesterol. We have studied two cholesterol ester hydrolase activities (termed the pH 6.0 and pH 7.2 activities) in cultures derived from 19- to 21-day-old dissociated fetal rat brains and in developing rat brain. In vivo the levels of both the pH 6.0 and pH 7.2 activities began to increase by about 10 postnatal days, reached maximal levels at 20 days (20 and 1.5 nmol/h/mg protein, respectively), and thereafter remained nearly constant (pH 6.0) or decreased somewhat before becoming constant (pH 7.2). In contrast, in the cultures the pH 6.0 cholesterol ester hydrolase activity was low until 21 days in culture (DIC; 20 nmol/h/mg protein), increased to a peak activity at 31 DIC (60 nmol/h/mg protein), remained high for 24 days, and finally decreased (18 nmol/h/mg protein at 63 DIC); the pH 7.2 cholesterol ester hydrolase activity was very low until 20 DIC, increased to a peak activity at 31 days (3 nmol/h/mg protein), and thereafter decreased to a lower level (2 nmol/h/mg protein) that was maintained for about 24 days before decreasing (0.7 nmol/h/mg protein at 63 DIC). Therefore, (a) the time courses of appearance of both cholesterol ester hydrolase activities were delayed by 10–14 days relative to that seen in vivo, and (b) the specific activities observed in the cultures were transiently two- to three-fold higher than in rat brain, but then declined to levels characteristic of whole brain homogenates. Subcellular fractionation of the cultures demonstrated that the pH 7.2 cholesterol ester hydrolase activity, along with myelin basic protein and 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide-3′-phosphohydrolase activity, was enriched in a membrane fraction collected at an interface between 0.32 M and 0.9 M sucrose; the pH 6.0 cholesterol ester hydrolase activity, in contrast, was enriched in the microsomal fraction.     

Isolation of protoplasts and regeneration of callus from suspension cultures of cultivated beets

Conditions necessary for the isolation and culture of protoplasts from suspension cultures of sugar, fodder and garden beets were investigated. Good yields of protoplasts were obtained by treating cells with a mixture of cellulase, Macerozyme and Driselase enzymes. Nutritional requirements of beet protoplasts were found to be quite simple: protoplasts could be cultured in MS, B₅ or PGo based media with 0.4 M glucose with the optimum result being produced on KM8p medium. Plating efficiency (P.E) was genotype-dependent with the sugar beet giving better P.E. than the fodder or garden beets used, and higher values being achieved with the use of desalted Driselase for isolation followed by culture on KMBp medium.Abbreviations 2,4-D 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid - BAP N⁶ benzylaminopurine - NAA naphthaleneacetic acid - P.E. plating efficiency - * University of Birmingham beet germplasm accession number     

Flavonoids of the Hydrangeaceae Dumortier

Fourteen species representing nine genera of the Hydrangeaceae Dumortier were surveyed for their flavonoid pigments. All taxa exhibited profiles based upon common flavonols. Myricetin was seen in two genera: Jamesia and Decumaria. Jamesia was further distinguished by the absence of kaempferol or its glycosides. A complex array of 3-O-mono-, 3-O-di- and 3-O-triglycosides was observed, although not all species had all levels of glycosylation. Decumaria barbara was unique within the species studied in its possession of 3,7-di- and 3,7-triglycosides. The overall pattern of flavonol glycosides observed for the Hydrangeaceae closely resembles that found in herbaceous genera of Saxifragaceae. The comparatively low frequency of myricetin contrasts with its high occurrence in herbaceous genera.     

Metabolism of [11-3H]retinyl acetate in liver tissues of vitamin A-sufficient, -deficient and retinoic acid-supplemented rats

A study was conducted on the incorporation of [11-3H]retinyl acetate into various retinyl esters in liver tissues of rats either vitamin A-sufficient, vitamin A-deficient or vitamin A-deficient and maintained on retinoic acid. Further, the metabolism of [11-3H]retinyl acetate to polar metabolites in liver tissues of these three groups of animals was investigated. Retinol metabolites were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. In vitamin A-sufficient rat liver, the incorporation of radioactivity into retinyl palmitate and stearate was observed at 0.25 h after the injection of the label. The label was further detected in retinyl laurate, myristate, palmitoleate, linoleate, pentadecanoate and heptadecanoate 3 h after the injection. The specific radioactivities (dpm/nmol) of all retinyl esters increased with time. However, the rate of increase in the specific radioactivity of retinyl laurate was found to be significantly higher (66-fold) than that of retinyl palmitate 24 h after the injection of the label. 7 days after the injection of the label, the specific radioactivity between different retinyl esters were found to be similar, indicating that newly dosed labelled vitamin A had now mixed uniformly with the endogenous pool of vitamin A in the liver. The esterification of labelled retinol was not detected in liver tissues of vitamin A-deficient or retinoic acid-supplemented rats at any of the time point studied. Among the polar metabolites analyzed, the formation of [3H]retinoic acid from [3H]retinyl acetate was found only in vitamin A-deficient rat liver 24 h after the injection of the label. A new polar metabolite of retinol (RM) was detected in liver of the three groups of animals. The formation of 3H-labelled metabolite RM from [3H]retinyl acetate was not detected until 7 days after the injection of the label in the vitamin A-sufficient rat liver, suggesting that metabolite RM could be derived from a more stable pool of vitamin A.     

Isolation and properties of catechol-cleaving yeasts from coir rets

A suitable method for the selective isolation of catechol-cleaving yeasts from coir rets has been worked out. The yeast strains, all belonging toDebaryomyces hansenii, were found to demand biotin as an essential vitamin. The organism has the ability to grow on catechol, phenol and some related compounds as sole source of carbon. It tolerates 0.4% catechol and 0.26% phenol. Evidence was obtained that the catechol-cleaving enzyme of the isolates is a pyrocatechase. Some properties of the cell-free catechol oxygenase are described.     

Role of Pectinolytic Yeasts in the Degradation of Mucilage Layer of Coffea robusta Cherries

Pectinolytic yeasts, Saccharomyces marxianus, S. bayanus, S. cerevisiae var. ellipsoideus, and Schizosaccharomyces sp., predominated in the natural fermentation of coffee cherries of Coffea robusta variety grown in Chikmagalur district of Mysore State, India. These yeast species were found on the cherry surfaces, and evidence was adduced to show that the natural fermentation of coffee was the result of activity of microflora from the cherry surface itself rather than that of flora of air or water. Incorporation of pure cultures of Saccharomyces species was shown to aid the process when a mixture of all three species was used. An enzyme preparation from the Saccharomyces species was observed to hasten the mucilage-layer degradation.     

Covalent interaction of chloroacetic and acetic acids with cholesterol

The covalent interaction of chloroacetic acid with rat liver lipids was studied in vivo. Rats were given a single oral dose (8.75 mg/kg, 50 microCi) of 1-[14C]chloroacetic acid and sacrificed after 24 hours. Lipids extracted from the livers were separated into neutral lipids and phospholipids by solid-phase extraction using sep-pak silica cartridges. The neutral lipid fraction was further fractionated by preparative thin-layer chromatography followed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The fraction corresponding to the retention time of standard cholesteryl chloroacetate gave a pseudomolecular ion peak at m/z 480/482 ratio: (3:1) on ammonia chemical ionization mass spectrometry, and the fragmentation pattern was found to be similar to that of the standard sample. Under similar conditions, acetic acid resulted in the formation of cholesteryl acetate. The effect of such conjugation reactions on the cell membrane and their contribution to toxicity is presently unknown.