Torrefaction process of biomass material is essential in converting them into biofuel with improved calorific value and physical strength. However, the production of torrefied biomass is loose, powdery, and nonuniform. One method of upgrading this material to improve their handling and combustion properties is by densification into briquettes of higher density than the original bulk density of ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The study examined the mosquito-repellent and mosquitocidal activities of the volatile oil of Ocimum gratissimum at three different locations (World Bank Estate, Ihitte and Umuekunne) in Imo State, eastern Nigeria, with the purpose of sourcing for mosquito repellent that is cheap, abundant, environment and user-friendly. METHODS Four different lotions; 20% (v/v) and 30...

Increasingly, over the past 40 years, the conception of diet has undergone major changes. Many of these changes involve changes in dietary intake of fats and oils. There has been an increasing consumption of partially hydrogenated transvegetable oils and a decreasing intake of lauric acid-containing oils. Although popular literature usually attribute an increased risk of coronary heart disease ...

A new mixture of alkyl glycosides derived from palm oil (PO) or palm kernel oil (PKO) was synthesised. This mixture contains glycosylated disaccharide of either maltose or lactose with aliphatic chain that varies according to the PO or PKO fatty acids composition. The synthesis method produced no polymerised sugar unlike the production of the commercial glycosides (APG). The mixture only contai...

The objective of this study was to improve the method for determining chlorpyrifos, an organophosphorus insecticide, in various palm oil matrices. Chlorpyrifos was separated from the oil matrices using acetonitrile extraction and then subjected to the solid phase extraction (SPE) clean-up process. A silica-based SPE was used for the clean-up process. Quantification of the extracted chlorpyrifos...

The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to many West African countries, where local populations have used its oil for culinary and other purposes. Large-scale plantations, established principally in tropical regions (Asia, Africa and Latin America), are mostly aimed at the production of oil, which is extracted from the fleshy mesocarp of the palm fruit, and endosperm or kernel oil. Palm oil ...

Diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGAT) are involved in the acylation of sn-1,2-diacylglycerol. Palm kernel oil, extracted from Elaeis guineensis (oil palm) seeds, has a high content of medium-chain fatty acids mainly lauric acid (C12:0). A putative E. guineensis diacylglycerol acyltransferase gene (EgDGAT1-1) is expressed at the onset of lauric acid accumulation in the seed endosperm suggesting...