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Zobo is an important healthy drink made from the dried calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa by boiling water extraction. An equal volume of the basal extract was flavoured separately with conventional strawberry essence (Zobo-S), alligator pepper (Zobo-A), and clove (Zobo-C) and evaluated for chemical and sensory properties using established methods. The obtained range of values for mineral (4.70-578 mg/L) and vitamins (0.05-0.29 mg/100 g) were in moderate amounts with potassium being the most abundant mineral element (ranged 522-578mg/L) and highest in Zobo-A (578 mg/L). Zinc, an antiviral and important element for the body immune system was significantly (p<0.05) higher in Zobo-C (13.34 mg/L) and Zobo-A (8.33 mg/L) than Zobo-S (7.14 mg/L) making Zobo with spices a better choice drink for a preventive measure against infectious viral-diseases like COVID-19. Total titratable acidity ranged from 0.93-1.06 g/100 ml and was highest in Zobo-S (1.06g /100 ml) implying the Zobo made with spices were less acidic. Also, tannin content was improved with the spices and highest in Zobo-C (0.44 mg/100 g) while Zobo-A was the most preferred in overall acceptability. Thus, the natural spices improved the minerals, phytochemical contents and sensory acceptability of Zobo drink. This could proffer potential health benefits to the consumers and encourage the use of natural spices in the preparation of food and drinks rather than the chemical-based conventional flavour essence.

This study focussed on the utilisation of both unmodified and acid modified snail shells as low cost adsorbents for the removal of Congo Red (CR) from aqueous solution using batch adsorption process. Different parameters such as pH, Contact time, temperature and adsorbent dose were varied. The kinetic studies using pseudo first order and pseudo second order of the adsorption were carried out. The adsorption of Congo Red (CR) was found to be dependent on the varied parameters. The optimum time for the uptake was 60 min, adsorbent dosage of 2 g and pH was found to be 2.0. The amount of CR removed (qe) rose from 2.445 to 19.230 mg/g when the contact time progressed from 5 to 60 min for unmodified snail shell and from 5.540 to 26.170 mg/g when treated snail shell was used. Pseudo-first- order model better described the kinetic of the adsorption process. The value of ΔH obtained was 42.20 kJ/mol with ΔS value of 20.30 kJ/mol) and this is an indication that the process of adsorption to be endothermic reaction. FT-IR characterization of the adsorbent before and after adsorption process revealed the probable functional groups present on the surface of the adsorbent to be –OH, C=O and C-H. Thus, snail shells can be deployed as low cost adsorbent for Congo Red removal from effluents.

Consumption of diets rich in vegetables and fruits protects the human body from acute and chronic diseases. This study determines the effect of blanching on some antinutritional factors and mineral content of Basella alba and Amaranthus hybridus using standard methods. The vegetables were blanched in deionized water for 5 minutes at 100oC. The phytate and oxalate contents of unblanched Basella alba were significantly (p<0.05) lowered when compared with unblanched Amaranthus hybridus. Blanching caused a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the phytate content by 22.3% and 32.8%, respectively when blanched Amaranthus hybridus and blanched Basella alba BBA were compared with their corresponding unblanched leaves. Also blanching elicited a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the oxalate level by 44.4% and 18.8%, respectively when blanched Amaranthus hybridus and blanched Basella alba BBA were matched with their unblanched counterparts. The mineral (Fe, Ca, Mg, Cu, and Zn) content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in unblanched Basella alba than unblanched Amaranthus hybridus, which decreases significantly (p<0.05) to varying extents after blanching in both vegetables. Blanching reduces the mineral content of Basella alba and Amaranthus hybridus leaves but makes them more bioavailable by reducing their phytate and oxalate. Hence, other processing techniques should be developed which reduce the antinutrient content only.