Two
teenagers from Nigeria, Eveshorhema Samuel-Alli and Ibukunoluwa Oladeinde that
proudly represented Nigeria at the 2014 Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, California, USA, have bagged an award as a
result of their research work on Halistosia a.k.a. mouth odour.
Halitosia or
bad breathe, is an unpleasant odour of the mouth present o exhaled breahte.
According to medical experts, this very embarrassing condition which can be
acute (occasional) or chronic (long-lasting), could be caused by several
factors including food, poor dental hygiene, tobacco products, health problems,
dry mouth, mouth infections, denture or braces and medications.
Bad breahte
has caused otherwise well qualified people to lose employment opportunities,
caused job losses, and friendships/marriages to crash. In their search for a
solution, the two students of Doregos Private Academy, Ipaja, Lagos, Nigeria
carried out research on African walnut (Coula edulis), a member of the tree nut
family common in Nigeria. At the end, they discovered that apart from its
cancer-fighting properties, rare
antioxidants, benefit for the heart and circulatory system, weight control, improved
The
experiment;
“The
Halitosia project has to do with mouth odour and we used a common Nigerian
snack, the walnut, to cure mouth odour because it is a very embarrassing
problem. Your best friend won’t tell you that your mouth is smelling so we had
to find a solution to it.
Consent
forms;
“We
conducted this experiment using 35 volunteers who were students of our school.
We sent out parent consent forms and when we received the parents consent, we
continued the experiment. The volunteers were divided into four groups. The duo
then made two different walnut products. Walnut chewing gum: “We made walnut
chewing gum by adding resins and sucrose to chopped walnuts. Walnut mouthwash:
“Also, we made a walnut mouthwash mixing chopped walnut, water and 10 per cent
lime as preservative. One group was given whole walnuts to eat; they second
group was given walnut chewing gum; the third was given walnut mouthwash while
the last group was given nothing so they were the control group. “They took the
walnut morning and night. We then observed them and recorded the results.
They did not
brush their teeth for the duration of the experiment. They were going only on
walnut so we would be able to see the improvement, “said Eveshorhema
Samuel-Alli”. “After this, we conducted an experiment using Lead Trioxonitrate
(v) in which the volunteers were made to blow bubbles into a solution of lead
nitrate and water before and after the experiment. “Before they took the walnut
and walnut products, they were made to blow bubbles into the solution and then
we recorded how long it took to turn the solution black. What turns the
solution black is hydrogen sulphide and that is what causes mouth odour. So if
it takes a short time, that means the mouth odour is actually very bad.
Then after
the experiment, they were also made to blow bubbles into the solution and this
time, ti was noticed that there was significant time lapse before the solution
turned black. When the control group who had bacteria in their mouths, blew
bubbles into the solution, it turned black while it remained clear when the
other groups blew bubbles into it.
So we knew that the walnut was actually working
to cure Halitosia. “Bacteria culture: From the results obtained, the duo
suspected that some chemicals like alkaloids, oleic acid and tanins in the
African walnut must be killing some of the odour-causing bacteria in the mouth.
So they swabbed the mouth of each volunteer, grew the bacteria and counted the
number. The found out that 
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