In Nigeria, agro by-products have not been fully utilized by many and often discarded at the dumping site. This anthropogenic activity is contributing to an increase in pollution and is a threat to public health. Environmental sustainability requires the wise use of resources that include agro by-products. Therefore, there is a need to utilize the agro by-product for the production of enzymes such as α-amylase. α -amylase is one of the important extracellular enzymes with several uses. The development of suitable technology to produce enzymes at a very lower cost is significant. The solid-state fermentation (SSF) process using corn and wheat wastes as a substrate have been utilized. In this study, Aspergillus niger from abattoir effluent was identified, isolated and used for the production of an enzyme (α-amylase). The study evaluated the effect of temperature, pH and incubation period on the activities of α-amylase produced by Aspergillus niger. The activity of α-amylase was found to be higher at pH 6.5 and temperature above 50^oC. At 4 days incubation of the solid-state fermentation of corn and wheat wastes, α-amylase activities produced were 90.61 Unit/mL and 87.34 Unit/mL respectively. Also in this study, 3-dimensional presentation of the pH, temperature and incubation time were evaluated. The result presented an optimal condition for amylase activity produced by Aspergillus niger.

Continuous efforts are required to find ways to protect crop production against the toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons, such as diesel, contamination of soils. There is a need for identification of candidate plants that are tolerant to diesel toxicity that might also have the potential for remediation of diesel-contaminated soils. In this study, petunia, a popular ornamental plant and a model experimental plant in research on phytoremediation of environmental pollutants, was used to evaluate a novel method for rapidly assessing diesel toxicity based on the tolerance of shoots generated through in vitro plamt cell culture selection. Petunia shoot lines (L1 to L4) regenerated from diesel-treated callus were compared with those from non-diesel-treated callus (control). Significant morphological differences were observed among the tested lines and control, notably with L1 and L4 showing superior growth. In particular, L4 exhibited remarkable adaptability, with increased root development and microbial counts in a diesel-contaminated potting mix, suggesting that the shoots exhibited enhanced tolerance to diesel exposure. Here, this rapid bioassay has been shown to effectively identify plants with varying levels of tolerance to diesel toxicity and could therefore assist accelerated selection of superior plants for phytoremediation. Further research is needed to understand the genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying tolerance traits, with potential applications beyond petunias to other environmentally significant plants.

Continuous efforts are required to find ways to protect crop production against the toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons, such as diesel, and contamination of soils. There is a need for identification of candidate plants that are tolerant to diesel toxicity that might also have the potential for remediation of diesel-contaminated soils. In this study, petunia, a popular ornamental plant and a model experimental plant in research on phytoremediation of environmental pollutants, was used to evaluate a novel method for rapidly assessing diesel toxicity based on the tolerance of shoots generated through in vitro plant cell culture selection. Petunia shoot lines (L1 to L4) regenerated from diesel-treated callus were compared with those from non-diesel-treated callus (control). Significant morphological differences were observed among the tested lines and control, notably with L1 and L4 showing superior growth. In particular, L4 exhibited remarkable adaptability, with increased root development and microbial counts in a diesel-contaminated potting mix, suggesting that the shoots exhibited enhanced tolerance to diesel exposure. Here, this rapid bioassay has been shown to effectively identify plants with varying levels of tolerance to diesel toxicity and could therefore assist accelerated selection of superior plants for phytoremediation. Further research is needed to understand the genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying tolerance traits, with potential applications beyond petunias to other environmentally significant plants.