The nutrient and antinutrient composition of raw and extruded blends of acha and soybean was evaluated. Acha and soybean grains were cleaned and milled into flour separately and sieved to pass 0.75–1.00 mm mesh. The moisture content of the flours was determined. Soybean flour was added to acha flour at 25% levels of substitution. The moisture content of the blends was adjusted to 25% levels. The blend was extruded using a Brabender laboratory single‐screw extruder (Duisburg DCE‐330 model, Duisburg, Germany). Amino acid profile, proximate composition, minerals and some water‐soluble vitamins of raw and extrudate samples were determined. The oxalate, saponin, tannin, and phenol, content of raw and extrudate samples were also quantified. The results showed that the amino acids of the raw blend were higher (14.00–50.38 %) than either of the sole flours. Extrusion cooking resulted in the depletion of some amino acids between 2.96 and 40%, with methionine and phenylalanine recording the highest and least losses. As expected, fat content of the blend increased from 2.8 to 8.33% alongside the protein (7.05–14.28%). Extrusion cooking did not have significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect on these parameters. The results for mineral content showed that extrudate zinc, magnesium and chromium content decreased but not significantly (P ≥ 0.05), while iron, nickel, selenium and sodium increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05). Blending acha and soybean raised the water‐soluble vitamins content of the feed when compared with the levels of the vitamins in raw acha flour. Extrusion cooking significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased these minerals. Blending acha flour and soybean flour at 25% level of soybean flour substitution resulted in dilution of all the antinutrients evaluated. Extrusion cooking further lowered these nutrients with saponin being totally eliminated. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Quantifying the nutrient and antinutrient composition of extrudates of acha and soybean encourages the adoption and utilization of the extruded products from acha and soybean. By establishing the levels of these nutrients, the safety and nutrient densities of the resultant products are also highlighted.

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The effect of daily, oral administration of ethanolic extract of Khaya senegalensis stem bark (2mg/kg body weight) for 18days on the alkaline phosphatase, aspartate and alanine aminotransferase activities of rat liver and serum were investigated. Compared with the control, the activities of liver alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) increased significantly for the 6 and 18 days period of extract administration (P<0.05) without corresponding significant increase in the serum enzymes (P>0.05). The results indicate that the ethanolic extract of Khaya senegalensis stem bark has brought about induction of synthesis of the liver enzymes studied which is an important biochemical symptom of cytolysis.

Production of pectinase and cellulase by Aspergillus niger from corn cob was examined. The organism was screened for enzymatic activity using Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose (CMC) and Pectin as substrate. The result revealed a clear zone of inhibition in the agar plates. The organism was subjected to different optimum conditions which include pH, temperature, biomass yield and enzymatic activity. The highest cellulose activity was obtained on the 4 th day (1.9×10 -4 µg/ml/sec) while the highest pectinase activity (1.5×10 -4 µg/ml/sec) was obtained on the 4 th and 5 th day. The optimum pH for cellulase production was pH 4 with an activity of 2.70×10 -4 µg/ml/sec while the optimum pH for pectinase activity was pH 6 with an activity of 1.5×10 -4 µg/ml/sec. The optimum temperature was at 50 o C with an enzyme activity of 1.3x10 -4 µg/ml/sec for cellulase production while the optimum temperature of 60 0 C gave the highest pectinase activity of 1.6x10 -4 µg/ml/sec. This study revealed that Aspergillus niger from corn cob has the ability to produce cellulase and pectinase, hence it may be considered as a source for the production of industrial cellulase and pectinase.

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The yield and characteristics of Alpha-amylase obtained from some sprouting Nigeria cereals (maize, acha, rice and sorghum) were compared using standard procedures. The result indicated maximum α-amylase yield was attained from 72-120 hours of sprouting cereals). Of all the sprouted cereals, acha gave rise to the highest amylase yield (16.6 ± 0.02x10 2 and the least was exhibited by maize (11.0±0.04x10 2) . The optimum temperature for α-amylase activity was 60 0 C for maize and rice while that of acha and sorghum was 70 0 C. The optimal pH for the activity of α-amylase from sprouting maize, rice, acha, and sorghum were exhibited at 6.5, 5.5, 6.5 and 5.8 respectively. The apparent kinetic parameters, V max and K m , were 9.0x10 -2 and 0.23; 12.5x10 -2 and 0.56; 7.0x10 -2 and 0.29; 12.5x10 -2 and 0.50 for α-amylase from sprouting maize, acha, rice and sorghum respectively. It is concluded that α-amylase obtained from sprouting Nigeria cereals manifest differences in quality and quantity, and may be useful in different starch processing industries.

Biodegradable nanocomposite films are novel materials for food packaging because of their potential to extend the shelf life of food. In this research, the performance of cassava starch-zincnanocomposite film was evaluated for tomatoes packaging. The films were developed by casting the solutions of 24 g cassava starch, 0-2% (w/w) zinc nanoparticles and 55% (w/w) glycerol in plastic mould of 12 mm depth. The permeability of the films, due to water and oxygen, was investigated at 27°C and 65% relative humidity while the mechanical properties were determined by nanoindentation technique. The average thickness of the dried nanocomposite films was found to be 17±0.13 µm. The performances of films for tomatoes packaging was evaluated in comparison with low density polyethylene (LDPE; 10 µm) at the temperature and period ranges of 10-27°C and 0-9 days, respectively. The quality and microbial attributes of the packaged tomatoes, including ascorbic acid, β-carotene and total coliform were analysed at an interval of 3 days. The results revealed that the water vapour permeability increased while the oxygen permeability decreased with the nanoparticles (P<0.05). The hardness, creep, elastic and plastic works, which determined the plasticity index of the film, decreased generally with the nanoparticles. The films containing 1 and 2% of the nanoparticles suppressed the growth of microorganisms and retained the quality of tomatoes than the LDPE at 27°C and day-9 of packaging (P<0.05). The results implied that the film could effectively be used for tomatoes packaging due to their lower oxygen permeability, hardness, elastic and plastic works.