The present study reviews the potential energy applications of wastes derived from rice, cocoa, and oil palm to augment energy needs while helping to abate environmental pollution. It also highlights the potentials of animal dungs for energy production in Nigeria. The country currently produces about 2.7 × 106 tons of rice annually, containing 0.540 × 106 tons of rice husk and a similar quantity of straw, which can be used for energy production. About 6.22 × 109 MJ of energy can be derived from the 266 000 tons (which could rise to 490 000 tons by 2015) of cocoa pods, which are currently produced and discarded annually. This could be utilized to generate process heat, either through thermal cycle or biochemical conversion. With respect to oil palm wastes, Nigeria generated about 0.344 × 106 tonnes of empty fruit bunches, 0.246 × 106 tonnes of palm shells, 0.633 × 106 tonnes of palm oil mill effluent, and 0.382 × 106 tonnes of mesocarp fibre in 2012, which are capable of producing substantial amounts of energy. Nigeria's livestock population is increasing at an annual rate of 3.2%, with current dung production of 407 × 103 tons/day (cow), 28 × 103 tons/day (pigs), 6.6 × 103 tons/day (chicken broilers), etc., which is estimated to produce 6.8 × 106 m3 of biogas daily. Electricity derivable from this quantity of biogas can provide lighting for 2.4 × 106 rural households in Nigeria.
The leaf extract of Lasimorpha senegalensis is used in Nigerian traditional medicine for the treatment of liver disease. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the hepatoprotective ability of Lasimorpha senegalensis methanol leaf extracts on paracetamol-induced toxicity in order to validate or invalidate its traditional use in the treatment of liver disease. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectometry analysis of the extract revealed the presence of Cycloheptasiloxane tetradecamethyl- and 3, 4-Dihydroxyphenylglycol, a strong antioxidant capable of protecting the cell membrane from assaults. Thirty Wistar rats of mixed sexes were randomly assigned to six groups of five rats each. Group 1, which was the normal control received only normal saline. Groups 2-4 were pre-treated with the extract at various doses, twice daily for 4 days. Silymarin, a known hepatoprotective drug was administered in the same manner to group 5 at 100 mg/kg body weight for 4 days. One hour after the last pre-treatment on the fourth day, groups 2-6 received 2500 mg/kg of paracetamol (PCM) orally in order to induce hepatotoxicity. Eighteen hours after PCM intoxication, blood samples were collected for haematology and biochemical analyses. All the animals were sacrificed and the liver cells were harvested for histopathological examinations. The liver function markers (ALT, AST, ALP), total and direct bilirubin were estimated. This present study has shown that the extract under investigation exhibits hepatoprotective activities since they reduce cell membrane disturbances induced by PCM in the isolated liver cells of the rats. These activities were comparable with that of silymarin, a reference hepatoprotective drug.
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