A preliminary evaluation of yeast fermented palm wine sourced from Imo State in Nigeria was carried out to establish compounds that contribute to the distinct flavor of the beverage and to determine if the product abundance is affected when the drink is supplemented with Sacoglottis gabonensis. Palm wine samples from two different trees Elaeis sp. and Raphia sp. (pH less than 5) that contain Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeast species identified by sequencing the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rRNA genes were used. Evaluation was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Samples contained 5.9-11.6, 2.2-7.1, 4.2-43.0, and 4.4-43.7 g/L of acetic acid, lactic acid, ethanol and glucose, respectively. Ethyl acetate, acetic acid and ethanol had the most aroma intensity and an assessment on the yeast metabolome database showed that 23 out of the 31 products detected were present in the database. Addition of Sacoglottis gabonensis supplement to a Raphia sp. palm wine sample showed lower abundance of acetoin, acetic acid, methylpropyl lactate, ethyl octanoate and propyl acetate. We conclude that Sacoglottis gabonensis supplementation could suppress specific compounds during palm wine fermentation. This knowledge could be applied in new product development for the beverage.

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The antimicrobial effect of cold water, hot water and ethanolic extracts of Spondias mombin and Baphia nittida on cariogenic streptococci isolated from dental caries patients attending the Ebonyi State University Teaching hospital dental clinic Abakaliki was investigated using the agar well diffusion technique. The cold water and ethanolic extracts of Baphia nittida showed inhibition zone diameter (IZD) of 10 and 12 mm respectively at 400 mg mL(-1), while the hot water showed no inhibitory effect. All extracts of Spondias mombin did not inhibit the test organism. The cold water and ethanolic extracts of Baphia nittida showed Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 100 and 50 mg mL(-1) respectively. The combination of the cold water extracts of the two herbs showed enhanced activity of 13 mm. Phytochemical analysis of Baphia nittida revealed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, proteins saponins, tannins, carbohydrate and steroidal aglycone. Acute toxicity testing of Baphia nittida at a range of 250-5000 mg kg(-1) bw using mice showed no clinical signs of acute toxicity. No chemical toxicity was observed amongst rats given Baphia nittida extracts 500 and 1000 mg kg(-1) bw after 30 days. Baphia nittida may be a potential source of an antimicrobial agent for the treatment and management of dental caries.

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Staphylococcus aureus is a major bacterial pathogen that causes different community and hospital-acquired infections. S. aureus resistant to methicillin has become a big and expanding problem of concern in many developing countries. Clindamycin has also been discovered to be a preferred therapeutic alternative for the treatment of both methicillin susceptible and resistant staphylococcal infections. This study examined the prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in clinical samples of patients in Abia state, Nigeria using standard recommended procedures. A total of 750 clinical specimens of blood and urine samples, wound, ear, nasal, high vaginal and ear swabs were collected from three major health facilities in Abia state, Nigeria. Each sample was cultured for bacterial isolates and examined for colonial and cellular morphology while biochemical identification was performed. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed on Mueller-Hinton agar (MHA) by disc diffusion method and MRSA screening was done using cefoxitin disc.  A total of 265 (35.3%) S. aureus isolates were recovered, out of which 126(47.5%) were from males and 139(52.5%) were from females, however there was no association between the prevalence and gender (p-value = 0.05) and also prevalence and age (p-value = 0.52). Of the 265 S. aureus isolates recovered, 164(61.9%) were MRSA. All 100% of the MRSA were susceptible to vancomycin, 120(73.2%) to clindamycin, 92(56.1%) to gentamycin. All 100% were resistant to ceftazidine, 157(95.7%) to cloxacillin, 146(89.0%) to augmentin, 136(82.9%) to ceftriaxone and 103(61.6%) to erythromycin. The MRSA strains showed much higher resistance rate than their MSSA counterparts to all tested antibiotic except clindamycin. 64(39.0%) of the MRSA were resistant to 4 classes of antibiotics indicating multi drug resistance (MDR). The overall prevalence of inducible clindamycin resistance among methicillin resistant isolates was 29(17.7%). This implies that 17.7% could have been misidentified as clindamycin susceptible by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. In conclusion prevalence of MRSA was high and it is important to routinely carry out the D-test for detection of inducible clindamycin resistance if clindamycin is considered as a treatment option.