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This work investigated the viability of a non-edible oil obtained from raphia africana in the production of biodiesel using a novel heterogeneous catalyst derived from turtle shells (Centrochelys sulcata). The study also proposed the use of acetone as co-solvent to enhance the solubility of the reacting mixtures. The turtle shells were calcined at 900oC for 3hr, impregnated in KOH to improve its activity and then supported with activated carbon produced from cassava peels to increase its surface area. The influences of KOH concentration, catalyst loading, catalyst/carbon mix ratio and concentration of acetone/methanol on the yield of biodiesel were investigated. The results obtained revealed that maximum biodiesel yield of 93% was obtained from the bio-oil at KOH concentration of 30% (w/w), catalyst loading of 6.5%, solvent/methanol ratio of 0.4 and catalyst/carbon weight ratio of 1.25. The activated carbon supported turtle shell catalyst has been found to possess very high catalytic activity converting bio-oil with high saturated fatty acid content to biodiesel with excellent fuel properties having low saturated fatty acids profile. Doi: 10.28991/HEF-2021-02-03-07 Full Text: PDF

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Malaria is a reoccurring disease which affects about 296 million people globally. In countries where the people are overly attached to their culture like Nigeria, most of the population depends on local antimalaria remedies. One of such remedy is a tea of Citrus aurantifolia (leaves and peels), Psidium guajava (leaves) and Ocimum gratissimum (scent leaf) in alcohol. This study was aimed at determining the phytochemical, antibacterial and free radical scavenging activity of the methanol extract of this antimalaria tea, in order to determine the effect of its consumption on the human body. The phytochemical screening results showed the presence of compounds such as flavonoids, phenol, alkaloids and terpenoids amongst others. The extract also showed good antibacterial activity against S. aureus. The antioxidant activity results indicated that the lowest dose (0.25 mg/mL) of the tea had moderate antioxidant activity (62%) as compared with that of the standard antioxidant used. The highest dose level on the other hand had a very poor antioxidant activity (-7%). The results indicates that though consumption of the antimalaria tea may reduce the microbial load of S aureus in the body, excessive consumption of the antimalaria tea could lead to long term neurological or cell damage in the human body because of the ability of the tea to generate free radicals when taken in high concentration.

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