Asian Journal of Applied Chemistry Research

This study will present a novel method for crude oil remediation in water. The research was carried out to explore the possible application of Sterculia setigera as a potential biodegradable sorbent for oil cleanup from water. The crude Sterculia setigera (CSS), retted Sterculia setigera (RSS) and bleached Sterculia setigera (PFSS) were subjected to sorption studies to optimize their sorption capacity. The results revealed that the efficiency of sorbent to remove crude oil from water is related to the sorbent weight, contact time, initial oil concentration and temperature of sorption. It was found that increase in sorbent weight led to increase in sorption capacity from 3.75 -5.12 g/g, 4.72- 6.41 g/g, and 4.61-6.18 g/g in CSS, RSS and PFSS respectively. Oil sorption capacity increases by 21-27% when oil concentration was varied from 5-20 g. Contact time played a role only at the beginning of oil sorption study and became less important near equilibrium. Sorption time was varied from 10-70 min and the highest sorption capacity was recorded at 30 min. then it gradually reduced and became steady. The effect of temperature was investigated from 30-60°C. A decreased of 34-37% in oil sorption capacity was observed with increased in temperature.  RSS exhibit lower water sorption when compared to the other sorbents. The sorbents showed good reusability after 8 cycles, with less than 50% reduction in sorption capacity and good reusability. Sterculia setigera demonstrated good potentials for utilization as natural sorbent for oil cleanup.

Vegetables are an important source of nutrients and play a vital role in maintaining good health. Nowadays, vegetables are destroyed by a variety of unwanted contaminants which have become a serious problem. Eating contaminated vegetables can lead to many ailments and disrupt normal body functions. Therefore, the key objective of this study is to determine the contamination level of heavy metals in known vegetables and their growing soils in Lalmonirhat, Bangladesh; Consumers' health risks are assessed by targeted health factor (THQ) and target cancer risk (TCR) analysis. Average concentrations of Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in vegetables were 30.83, 429.27, 9.91, 32.19, 0.58, 8.88 mg/kg, as well as 240.83, 3690.45, 22.88, 65.87, 0.69 and 11.58 mg/kg in growing soils. Concentrations of heavy metals were compared with the recommended value of the World Health Organization and the average Fe, Pb, and Cd concentrations in leaf, fruit and root vegetables exceeded the allowable limit. In addition, the value of TSQ and carcinogenic parameters in leaf, fruit, and root vegetables was higher than 1.0 for Fe and Pb. Therefore, the THQ of Fe and Pb is harmful to humans. Also, the risk of cancer exceeds the USEPA risk threshold (>10^–6) and the TCR of Pb shows a higher cancer risk, whereas Cd risk is higher. Therefore, the use of this vegetable is of concern and it is strongly recommended to monitor it regularly.

Silymarin is extracted from the Silybum marianum (milk thistle) plant C₂₅ containing flavonoid mixture. It is mainly used for its effect in liver disease. The HPLC of silymarin tablet had been validated for precision, accuracy (recovery), selectivity & Linearity. In the present study, an attempt was made to provide a newer, simple, sensitive, precise and low cost HPLC method for the effective quantitative determination of silymarin as an active pharmaceutical ingredient as well as in pharmaceutical preparations without the interferences of other constituent in the formulations. HPLC method is developed and validated for various parameters as per ICH guidelines. The validated method was effectively useful to the commercially accessible pharmaceutical dosage form, yielding extremely good and reproducible result.

Aim: To evaluate and compare the quality parameters of some commonly consumed oils and fats.

Study Design: Laboratory experimental design was used.

Place and Duration of Study: Cultured Clarias gariepinus was collected from a fish pond, Glycine max was purchased from a local market while pork, chicken and beef fats were collected from Oko Oba Abattoir, Agege, Lagos State, Nigeria. The study was carried out between September 2019 - February 2020 at the Oilseed Laboratory of Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Lagos State, Nigeria.

Methodology: Oil available in C. gariepinus and G. max were extracted using Soxhlet extraction method while the animal fats were pre-treated to remove the impurities present in them. The chemical properties of the oils and fats were determined using standard methods of analysis while the fatty acid composition were analysed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometer.

Results: Beef fat had the lowest peroxide (3.02mEQ/kg), anisidine (4.32mEQ/kg) and TOTOX value (10.36mEQ/kg), indicating that the fat could be stored for a long period of time without undergoing deterioration. The fatty acid composition shows that G. max oil, C. gariepinus oil and pork fat contains high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids while beef fat contains large number of saturated fatty acids.

Conclusion: This study shows that G. max oil, C. gariepinus oil and pork fat have more nutritive value compared to chicken fat and beef fat although will be easily susceptible to oxidation due to the large number of double bonds present in them.

The metal (II) complexes, Na₂[ML₂] [M = Cu, Co, Ni, and Zn], of salicylaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (L) containing a trifunctional ONS-donor system have been synthesized and characterized on the basis of physicochemical data by elemental analysis, magnetic moment, molar conductance, and spectroscopic (electronic, IR and ESI-MS). The ligand functions as ONS tridentates producing octahedral complexes. All compounds showed significant antibacterial activity in different ranges against gram positive (Bacillus subtillus) and gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria.