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European Journal of Applied Sciences – Vol. 12, No. 1

Publication Date: February 25, 2024

DOI:10.14738/aivp.121.16297

Nwauche, K. T., Berezi, E. P., & Ugoh, A. I. (2024). Comparative Attenuating Potentials of Pleurotus ostreatus, Non-ionic and Phyto- emulsified Surfactants on Crude oil Impacted Soil and the Hepatotoxicity of Leaf Aqueous Extract of Telfaria occidentalis Harvested

from the Attenuated Soil on Wistar Rats. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 12(1). 270-289.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Comparative Attenuating Potentials of Pleurotus ostreatus, Non- ionic and Phyto-emulsified Surfactants on Crude oil Impacted

Soil and the Hepatotoxicity of Leaf Aqueous Extract of Telfaria

occidentalis Harvested from the Attenuated Soil on Wistar Rats

Nwauche, K. T.

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science,

Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt

Berezi, E. P.

Department of Chemistry,

Isaac Jasper Boro College of Education, Sagbama, Bayelsa State

Ugoh, A. I.

Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka

ABSTRACT

This study investigated and compared the hepatotoxicity of aqueous leaf extract of

T. occidentalis from crude oil impacted soil and impacted soil amended with

Pleurotus ostreatus, non-ionic and phyto-emulsified surfactants. Crude oil highly

impacted soil excavated from an oil spill site at Obeche community in

Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria was used.

Remediation was induced using white rot fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus), phyto- emulsified surfactant (Costus afer stem) and chemical surfactant (Triton x-100) for

60 days after which fresh seeds of T. occidentalis were planted on the soil and

allowed to germinate and grow for 6 weeks. Twenty-one (21) adult wistar rats

weighing between 170-200g were used. They were randomly sorted into seven

groups (A-G) of three rats each. After one week of acclimatization, the animals were

administered the aqueous leaf extract of T.occidentalis harvested from the soil

samples. Liver marker assays and histopathological evaluations were done using

standard laboratory methods on the sampled wistar rats. Results from this research

revealed a significant difference (p≤ 0.05) in the ALP level when group F (151.33 ±

12.05) is compared with group A (92.66 ± 3.05). Only groups D (74.00 ± 74.48) and

G (88.67 ± 3.21) decreased when compared with group A (92.66 ± 3.05). For the AST

levels of wistar rats fed with T.occidentalis harvested from cells A to G, only groups

B and G are significantly different (p≤ 0.05) when compared with group A. All the

amended cells except cell E (41.67 ± 3.78) are observed to be decreased when

compared with group A (35.00 ± 4.58). Only groups E, F and G are significantly

different (p≤ 0.05) when compared with group A in the ALT levels. Groups B and G

are observed to be significantly decreased with values of 18.00 ± 2.64 and 15.67 ±

2.08 respectively when compared with group A (23.00 ± 4.58). Histopathological

evaluation of the liver of the wistar rats revealed the presence of congested

sinusoid, congested vessels, intraparenchymal inflammation and congested central

veins for groups A, C, D and E respectively with mild periportal and

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271

Nwauche, K. T., Berezi, E. P., & Ugoh, A. I. (2024). Comparative Attenuating Potentials of Pleurotus ostreatus, Non-ionic and Phyto-emulsified

Surfactants on Crude oil Impacted Soil and the Hepatotoxicity of Leaf Aqueous Extract of Telfaria occidentalis Harvested from the Attenuated Soil

on Wistar Rats. European Journal of Applied Sciences, Vol - 12(1). 270-289.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/aivp.121.16297

intraparenchymal inflammation in groups F and G respectively. Findings from this

study revealed that the T.occidentalis leaves harvested from the polluted and

amended soil samples caused varying degrees of hepatotoxicity to the rats with only

those harvested from group G (Costus afer + Triton x-100) showing no presence of

acute hepatotoxicity. The finding therefore indicates that a combined formulation

of non-ionic and Costus afer phyto-emulsified surfactants could be a possible

remediation pathway in the bioremediation technology.

Keywords: Pollution, Telfaria occidentalis, surfactants, liver, Costus afer, Pleurotus

ostreatus

INTRODUCTION

The growing demand and supply of fuel oil and new chemicals by the industrialized society of

the twenty-first century has placed increasingly higher stress on the natural environment (Jaffe,

1991). Large amounts of diverse chemicals enter the environment via industrial discharges and

other anthropogenic activities. Of particular concern are the hydrophobic organic compounds,

because of their toxicological characteristics and their ability to accumulate in the environment.

Soil and water represent the first lines of recipients of oil pollution. Surface and ground water

contamination by crude oil therefore is becoming an increasing sensitive issue in Nigeria

because most of the water supply is derived from streams, shallow and unconfined aquifers.

Furthermore, contamination of land is of paramount importance of man in that it is on this

portion that man’s existence depends. The oil mineral producing areas in Nigeria are in danger

because the land is damaged and made infertile due to oil spill and other factors and this

prevents growth of crops for varying periods of time. The damageing effects are due to

suffocation and toxicity of the crude oil (Odu, 1978).

Crude oil spillage is a regular occurrence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where over 80%

of the crude oil is produced. Dublin-Green et al., (1998) reported that from 1979- 1997, the

Nigeria petroleum industries spilled 5334 barrels of oil into the Niger Delta.

Currently, physical and chemical methods, the most widely used procedures for clean-up, are

not simple or favourable to the environment. For example, the use of chemical sorbents and

dispersants are all regarded as fail-safe because they further introduce poisonous

contaminants to the environment (Stevens, 1991).

Bioremediation is a new intervention method for post clean up whereby the natural

biodegradable capabilities of the soil are enhanced by nutrient addition and/or cultured micro- organisms with advantages as cost effectiveness and without causing any environmental

damage. Odu (1978) reported an increase in bioremediation of oil-polluted soil after supplying

paraffin supplemented nitrogenous fertilizer (PSF) to the soil. Nwauche et al., (2018) in their

research showed that among all the treatments used, remediation with Triton x-100 and

Pleurotus ostreatus alone and in combination resulted in an increase in the remediation of crude

oil polluted soil and significantly resulted to better performance of fluted pumpkin planted on

the soil samples. There is a direct correlation between environmental health and human health.

Conspicuously, human health has been intensively studied for quite long, while environmental

health is a recent field. Environmental health is the assessment of the health of individual

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European Journal of Applied Sciences (EJAS) Vol. 12, Issue 1, February-2024

organisms with a direct correlation of overt transmutations in the environment. Crude oil

pollution has been linked to be the causative effect of many diagnosed diseases. The health

issues associated with crude oil spill may be through any or cumulations of the following routes:

contaminated food and/or water, emission and/or vapours. Toxic components in oil may exert

their effects on man through inhibition of protein synthesis, nerve synapse function, and

disruption in membrane transport system and damage to plasma membrane (Prescott, et al.,

1996). Crude oil hydrocarbons can affect genetic integrity of mutagenesis and impairment of

reproductive capacity (Short and Heintz 1997). The jeopardy of imbibing water contaminated

by crude oil can be extrapolated from its effect on rats that developed hemorrhagic tendencies

after exposure to water-soluble components of crude oil (Onwurah, 2002). Volatile components

of crude oil after a spill have been implicated in the aggravation of asthma, bronchitis and

expedited aging of the lung (Kaladumo, 1996). Other possible health effects of oil spill can be

extrapolated from rats exposed to contaminated sites and these include incremented liver,

kidney and spleen weights as well as lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation (Anozie and

Onwurah, 2001).

According to Odu, (1972), the ability of crops to germinate or grow on crude oil polluted soil is

dependent on the level of crude oil spillage on soil. This means that a high concentration of

crude oil pollution of the soil impairs germination of seedlings. Rowell (1977) stated that at low

level of spillage (e.g., one percent of oil contamination) germination may be delayed due to lack

of moisture and hardening of soil structure. Moreover, at high contamination of soil, there may

be no germination. Hence seed rotting will take place due to seeping of crude oil into the seeds

through the outer integument. The interference of oil to soil air and water is another means of

inhibiting seed germination. McGill (1976) noted that the toxic effect of crude oil coupled with

poor aeration and the altered wet ability of the soil due to oil spillage results in poor seed

germination. The toxic crude may also affect underground herbs and shrubs, while micro- organisms which form important groups in the food web, are also destroyed.

According to Baker (1970), spillage on land (soil) causes oil to enter into the leaves of plants

and other economic trees through their pores and hampers the process of photosynthesis and

evapo-transpiration. The pores of leaves are penetrated by films of oil, which is evidenced by

the darkening of leaves as the pore becomes filled with oil. A patch of dark oil cuts sunlight from

the leaves and where the shielding of sunlight becomes too much the leaves experience necrosis

and the plant eventually dies (Nelson-Smith, 1979).

Surface active agents (biosurfactants) are amphiphilic molecules with both hydrophilic and

hydrophobic moieties, which show a wide range of properties, including the lowering of surface

and interfacial tension of liquids and the faculty to compose micelles and microemulsions

between two different phases. The hydrophilic moiety of a surfactant is defined as the “head”,

while the hydrophobic one is referred to as the “tail” of the molecule which generally consists

of a hydrocarbon chain of varying length. Surfactants are relegated as anionic, cationic, non- ionic and zwitterionic, according to the ionic charge of the hydrophilic head of the molecule

(Christofi and Ivshina 2002). The most mundane hydrophobic components of chemically

synthesized surfactants are paraffins, olefins, alkylbenzenes, alkylphenols and alcohols; the

hydrophilic part is conventionally a sulphate, sulphonate or a carboxylate group in anionic