Comparison of the Effects of Coconut Oil and Soyabean Oil on TSH Level and Weight Gain in Rabbits

The present study was conducted on 12 albino rabbits of either sex and weighing between 1-1.5kg to see the influence of coconut oil and soyabean oil on serum TSH levels and weight gain for a period of 12 weeks.  The rabbits were divided into 2 groups of six each.  Rabbits in group 1 were fed on coconut oil and in group 2 were fed on soyabean oil in addition to their standard diet.  At the end of 12 weeks we found that rabbits fed on soyabean oil had significant increase in TSH levels (p= 0.003) and gained more weight (p=0.000) when compared to rabbits fed on coconut oil

Intercropping Sunflower with Soyabeans Enhances Total Crop Productivity

There is a need to develop sustainable and productive cropping systems for edible vegetable oilseeds in tropical Africa. Field trials were conducted during the late cropping season (July–Nov.) of 2001 and 2002 to determine the grain yields, and other yield attributes of sunflower and soyabeans and their productivity under monocropping and intercropping. Three sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) varieties (a local adapted var. Funtua and two exotic varieties Isaanka and Record from Argentina) and five improved, high yielding soyabean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) varieties: TGx 1448-2E (late), TGx 1440-1E (late), TGx 1019-2EB (medium), TGx 1740-2F (early) and TGx 1485-1D (early maturing) were used. Funtua had significantly greater head weight and diameter, achene number and weight per head than Isaanka and Record during the dry and relatively hot cropping season of 2001. Cropping system significantly reduced soyabean grain yield in intercropping, relative to monocropping, except when soyabean was intercropped with Isaanka in 2001 and Record in 2002. All yield attributes of both crops exhibited significant positive relationship with grain yields, except height to the lowest pod of soyabean. TGx 1448-2E and TGx 1440-1E intercropped with Isaanka and Record had average grain yield of 1043 and 1081 kg ha–1 and land equivalent ratios (LER) of 1.47 and 1.58, respectively. It is recommended that intercropped combination of TGx 1448-2E/Isaanka and TGx 1440-1E/Record be used to improve yields of vegetable oilseeds

The effect of replacement of soyabean meal with blood meal on the growth of mudfish Clarias anguillaris (L) fingerlings

Blood meal and full fat soyabean meal were mixed in different proportions to give 0%, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% meal in the protein fraction of the diet and fed to Claria anguillaris fingerlings in floating hapas. The growth performance of the fingerlings were monitored for 84 days. At the end of the experiment the mean weight of the fingerlings increased in the level of blood meal up to 50% blood meal in the diet after which there was a decline in the mean weight of the fish. This same level of blood meal gave the best specific growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and protein efficiency ratio. Thus the nutritive value of blood meal was enhanced by the addition of an equal level of full fat soyabean meal in the die

Critical review of health effects of soyabean phyto-oestrogens in post-menopausal women

A consensus view of soyabean phyto-oestrogens in clinical interventions in post-menopausal women is presented that is based on data from the EU-funded project Phytohealth. The phyto-oestrogens, primarily genistein and daidzein, were given as soyabean-protein isolates, whole-soyabean foods or extracts, supplements or pure compounds. A comprehensive literature search was conducted with well-defined inclusion or exclusion criteria. For areas for which substantial research exists only placebo-controlled double-blind randomised controlled trials (RCT) conducted on healthy post-menopausal women were included. For emerging areas all available human studies in post-menopausal women were reviewed. In order to make cross comparisons between studies the doses of isoflavones were calculated as aglycone equivalents. There is a suggestion, but no conclusive evidence, that isoflavones from the sources studied so far have a beneficial effect on bone health. The consumption of whole-soyabean foods and soyabean-protein isolates has some beneficial effects on lipid markers of cardiovascular risk. The consumption of isolated isoflavones does not affect blood lipid levels or blood pressure, although it may improve endothelial function. For menopausal symptoms there is currently limited evidence that soyabean-protein isolates, soyabean foods or red-clover (Trifolium pratense L.) extract are effective but soyabean isoflavone extracts may be effective in reducing hot flushes. There are too few RCT studies to reach conclusions on the effects of isoflavones on breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes or cognitive function. The health benefits of soyabean phyto-oestrogens in healthy post-menopausal women are subtle and even some well-designed studies do not show protective effects. Future studies should focus on high-risk post-menopausal women, especially in the areas of diabetes, CVD, breast cancer and bone healt

Constraints Associated With Cultivation and Utilization of Soyabean by Farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study identified the constraints associated with the cultivation and utilization of soyabeans by farmers in Ogun State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 120 respondents for the study. Primary data were obtained with interview guide. Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Chi-Square were used to analyze the data collected. Results showed that the mean age of the respondents was 54.8years and majority (75.0%) were male. Majority (64.2%) were married while 65.0% were literate. Thirty five percent (35.0%) had been in farming for about 20 years while majority (65.8%) cultivated between 1-3 hectares of land. Most (80.8%) of the farmers were aware of soyabean cultivation with 56.7% having extension agents as their source of information. Other sources of information include the media (radio and television), fellow farmers and friends. Lack of market for soyabean was the foremost constraint against farmers’cultivation of soyabeans while lack of knowledge of soyabean processing was ranked first among the constraints militating against farmers’ utilization of soyabeans. More than half (59.2%) of the farmers utilize soyabean only in the form of soya milk. Chi-square analysis showed a significant relationship between farmers’ cultivation of soyabean and sex (c2=8.34, p<0.05) and educational status (c2=31.43, p<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that farmers’ cultivation of soyabean is significantly related to age (r=0.96, p<0.05), farm size (r=0.78, p<0.05) and years of farming (r=0.68, p<0.05) while age is significantly related to farmers’ utilization of soyabean (r=0.04, p<0.05). It was concluded that age, sex, educational status, farm size and years of farming played significant roles in farmers’ cultivation of soyabean while age determined the utilization of soyabean by the farmers. It was recommended that extension services targeted on soyabean cultivation and utilization should be more vigorously pursued. Keywords: Soyabean, Cultivation, Utilization, Innovation, Constraint

Developments in plant breeding for improved nutritional quality of soya beans I. Protein and amino acid content

Soya beans, like other legumes, contain low concentrations of the nutritionally essential sulphur amino acid, methionine. Cysteine, although not an essential amino acid because it can be synthesized from methionine, also influences the nutritional quality of soya bean products when it is only present in low levels. A low cysteine content will also aggravate a methionine deficiency. Soya bean lines deficient in 7S protein subunits have been identified. The 7S proteins contain substantially less methionine and cysteine than the 11S proteins. With the myriad of genetic null alleles for these subunits it may be possible to tailor the 7S/11S storage protein ratio and their total composition in seeds to include only those subunits with the richest sulphur amino acid composition. Cotyledon feeding experiments, using isolated soya bean cotyledons, demonstrated that addition of methionine to the culture media caused increased synthesis of both proteins and free amino acids but the mechanism by which this takes place is not clear

Does crop-livestock integration lead to improved crop production in the savanna of West Africa?

Integrated crop-livestock farming in the Guinea savanna of West Africa is often assumed to lead to synergies between crop and livestock production, thereby improving the overall productivity and resilience of agricultural production. Whether these synergies actually occur remains poorly studied. On-farm trials were conducted in northern Nigeria over a period of four years to assess the agronomic and economic performance of maize-legume systems with and without the integration of livestock (goats). Groundnut-maize rotations with livestock achieved the highest carry-over of nutrients as manure from one season to the next, covering approximately one-third of the expected N, P and K uptake by maize and reducing the demand for synthetic fertilizers. However, the advantage of lower fertilizer costs in rotations with livestock was offset by higher labour costs for manure application and slightly lower values of maize grain. Overall, no clear agronomic or economic benefits for crop production were observed from the combined application of manure and synthetic fertilizer over the application of synthetic fertilizer only, probably because the amounts of manure applied were relatively small. Legume-maize rotations achieved higher cereal yields, a better response to labour and fertilizer inputs, and a higher profitability than maize-based systems with no or only a small legume component, irrespective of the presence of livestock. Livestock at or near the farm could nevertheless make legume cultivation economically more attractive by increasing the value of legume haulms. The results suggested that factors other than crop benefits, e.g. livestock providing tangible and non-tangible benefits and opportunities for animal traction, could be important drivers for the ongoing integration of crop and livestock production in the savann

A comparison of two methods for determining titanium dioxide marker content in broiler digestibility studies

The use of inert markers in broiler diets eliminates the need to quantitatively evaluate feed intake and excreta output to determine diet digestibility, and enables nutrient uptake at specific points along the gastrointestinal tract to be examined. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is commonly used for this purpose and measured using a UV spectrophotometric assay. Two experiments were conducted to observe whether an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometer (ICP-OES) assay is able to replace the UV-spectroscopy assay for rapid analysis of TiO2 in broiler feed and ileal digesta samples. In the first experiment, TiO2 was added at 5g/kg to 19 broiler diets. Ross 308, male broilers (n=452) fed these diets were involved in a series of digestion studies to determine ileal digesta recovery of TiO2. In the second experiment, defined amounts of TiO2 were added to ileal digesta samples from Ross 308, male broilers (n=176) and TiO2 recoveries were determined

Phosphorus Uptake and Balance in a Soyabean-Maize Rotation in the Moist Savanna of West Africa

This study investigated the effect of maturity class on phosphorus (P) balance in a soyabean-maize rotation in the West African moist savanna.F our soyabean varieties of different maturity classes were grown with or without P fertilizer followed by a maize crop. Soyabean stover P content averaged 1.77 kg ha−1 compared with 5.13 kg ha−1 in the grain. The late soyabean variety TGx1670-1F accumulated a significantly higher P in the grain (6.56 kg ha−1), and stover (2.57 kg ha−1) than the others. While P harvest index averaged 79%, P application increased grain P by 63-81% and stover P by 100% or more. When either soyabean grain or grain+stover was exported, P balance was negative and was not statistically different for varieties when no P was applied. At 30 or 60 kg P ha−1, P balance was negative but significantly lower in TGx1670-1F compared with other varieties. In creasing P rate applied to soyabean significantly (p 0.01) increased maize grain P by 35-66% in the second year. When P was exported only in soyabean grain, cumulative P balances after maize grain harvest (with no P or 30 kg ha−1 applied previous year) were not significantly different for previous soyabean crops. At 60 kg ha−1, however, P balance in previous TGx1670-1F plot was significantly lower than for other varieties. A further export of soyabean stover reduced P balance. Significant residual P effect was observed emphasizing the need to focus P fertilizer application in the cropping system rather than on the single crop. Also with more P in soyabean grain, a reduction in the extent of P depletion will be achieved by returning soyabean stover to the field after threshing

Effect of peroxidized soyabeans oil on acid and alkaline phosphatase activities of some rat bones

Soyabean oil was deep fried in an open air for two hours daily for ten days at a temperature of 2000c ± 200c. The peroxide value and Free Fatty acids of the deep fried soyabean oil was determined and found to be higher 35.00 ± 0.02 and 5.04 ± 0.40 than the fresh soyabean oil 20.00 ± 7.07 and 2.24 ± 0.01 respectively. This is an index of peroxidation of the soyabean oil. The peroxidized soyabean oil was used in the formulation of diet at 5% and 15% levels and fed to male albino rats of wistar strain for six weeks. The bone (Tibia and Femur) of the animals were then studied weekly for alkaline and acid phospatase enzyme activities. The activities of these enzymes at 5% level were reduced when compared to the control groups. At 15% level, the activity was higher. There were no significant difference between the activities of the enzymes studied at all levels when compared to the control group (p>0.05). This shows that there is little or no effect due to toxic intake of peroxidized soyabean oil on the enzyme activities in bone of the animals.Keywords: Alkaline phospatase, Acid phospatase, Femur, Tibia, Peroxidatio