EVALUATION OF PLANTING PERIODS AND FERTILIZER TYPES ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF CUCUMBER INTERCROPPED WITH PAWPAW VARIETIES

In a two phased field experiment conducted between 2006 and 2008 at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, the performances of cucumber (Cucumber sativus L.) var. Market-more introduced into pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) var: ‘Homestead selection’ and ‘Sunrise solo’ at the early, simultaneous and late times of introduction using 10 t/ha OMF as basal application was evaluated. Also in the mixture, the best fertilizer type involving 10 t/ha OMF or NPK 15:15:15 at 125 kg / ha / month using the zero (0 t/ha) application as control was determined. The factorial experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design replicated three times. The results indicated that except at early cucumber introduction, growth and yield depression occurred in the crop mixture compared to the sole in the main vine length, leaf area, number of fruits, fruit yield and relative yield total (RYT). The cucumber performance was better in juvenile pawpaw (one year old) than in mature pawpaw (two year old). Both early and simultaneous introductions under juvenile and mature pawpaw were significantly better than late introduction. The cucumber with OMF was higher than those with NPK treatment in main vine length (101.6 cm and 53.3 cm respectively) and both were significantly better than the control (38.6 cm), though plants with OMF and NPK both were not different in leaf area (4,844 and 4,874 cm2 respectively), while plants with NPK compared to OMF recorded higher number of fruits (16 and 14 respectively) and higher fruit yield (13.8 and 11.2 t/ha respectively). The LER > 1.0 recorded for both cucumbers in Sunrise or Homestead indicated yield advantages of the mixtures compared to the sole.Â

THE INFLUENCE OF TYPE OF CUTTING AND GROWING MEDIUM ON GROWTH AND FLOWERING OF SCORPION ORCHID (Arachnis maingayi) Hook.f. Schltr

Orchids are of importance primarily for their horticultural appeal and accounts for 8% of the world floricultural trade. Scorpion orchid (Arachnis maingayi Hook) is highly prized for its beautiful long lasting flowers, but it is under-exploited in many countries including Nigeria. There is the need to determine the best type of cutting and growing medium protocols for commercial production of this species. Seven homogenous growing media (sawdust, topsoil, charcoal, coconut husk, wood shavings, maize cobs and rice husk) and two types of cutting (apical and non-apical) were compared in a factorial experiment laid out in Completely Randomized Design with six replications at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria between 2010 and 2012. Data collected on plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, shoot dry weight, days to spiking, length and number of spike, size and number of florets were subjected to analysis of variance and Tukey’s HSD at p ≤ 0.05 to separate treatment means. Apical cuttings were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) superior to non-apical cuttings in terms of all parameters assessed except floret diameter which was statistically similar. For growing medium, dry matter accumulation and spike yield were in the order of charcoal > rice husk > maize cob > topsoil > wood shavings > coconut husk. Apical cuttings planted in charcoal or rice husk gave the best results relative to other media. Thus, apical cutting is the best propagating technique and charcoal or rice husk is the best growing medium for scorpion orchid cultivation. &nbsp

Chemical composition and biological activities of volatile oil of the stem of Dombeya buettneri K. Schum. (Sterculiaceae)

Essential oil, obtained from the stem of Dombeya buettneri and characterized by high resolution GC–MS was tested for antimicrobial (using broth dilution method) and antioxidant (using spectrophotometric methods: DPPH, FRAP and ABTS) properties.Forty-three (43) essential oil components were detected which account for 96.8% of the total oil content comprising mainly: Non-terpene derivatives (31.8%), Apocarotenes (24.3%), Sesquiterpenoids (15.3%), Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (14.4%), Monoterpenoids (10.1%) and Monoterpene hydrocarbons (0.9%). The major identified compounds in the oil were (E)-geranylacetone (14.8%), δ-cadinene (8.9%), n-hexadecane (7.8%), Tetradecanal (6.2%), β-ionone (4.9%), Borneol (4.2%), Viridiflorol (3.5%), Guaiol (3.4%), caryophyllene oxide (3.4%), Palustrol (2.5%) and Spathulenol (2.5%).The oil displayed antibacterial and antifungal activities on Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Candida albicans ATCC 18804 with respective Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 6.25, 12.5 and 12.5%v/v. The Minimum Bactericidal/Fungicidal Concentrations on the test organisms ranged from 12.5 to 25.0%v/v. The antioxidant assay by DPPH showed a concentration dependent values of 8.0993±0.827 at 25 mg/mL, 14.7657±0.8151 and 19.449±0.6678 at 100 mg/mL with good IC50 value of 1098 µg/mL as compared with reference ascorbic acid standard with IC50 of 23.52 µg/mL. The Ferric reducing antioxidant assay (FRAP) showed activity at concentration of 0.076713±0.001227mg/FeSO4Equiv./g, while ABTS showed an activity at 0.3776±0.0025 mg AA Equiv./g with respect to the standards.The current study showed that the volatile oil of Dombeya buettneri stem possess good antioxidant and antimicrobial properties that could be utilized for cosmetic and pharmaceutical health benefits

Growth and flowering response of balsam (Impatiens balsamina L.) to soil textural class

Soil quality have been a subject of great interest in floriculture. Sand, loam and clay are three main textural classes, different in nutrient and water holding capacities. Balsam (Impatiens Balsamina L.) is an annual bedding plant that produces varying beautiful flowers. Pot experiment was conducted concurrently at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria (Latitude 7°14′N and Longitude 3°26′ E) between April and August, 2017 to assess the growth and flowering response of hybrid Balsamina to soil textural classes. The experiment was a Completely Randomized Design with eight replicates. Treatments were, sandy clay (37.13 % clay, 9.42 % Silt and 53.45 % Sand), sandy loam 1 (17.2 % clay, 5.42 % Silt and 77.38 % Sand) and sandy loam 2 (19.13 % clay, 5.42 % Silt and 75.45 % Sand). Data collected on plant height, number of leaves, number of flowers, dry seed weight and plant biomass were subjected to analysis of variance using Genstat 12th edition (commercial version). Raising Balsam on sandy loam 1 and Sandy loam 2 significantly (p≤0.05) increased plant height (54.42 and 57.08 cm), number of leaves (58.50 and 61.17), cumulative number of flowers (32.02 and 33.07), dry seed weight (5.20 and 6.93 g/plant) and plant biomass (80.92 and 95.08 g/plant) than plants raised on sandy clay (46.08 cm/plant, 49.67/plant, 27.58/plant, 4.71 g/plant and 62.25 g/plant) respectively. Total Nitrogen (1.22 and 1.91 %), Magnesium (65.3 and 69.1 mg/kg) and average Phosphorous (993.8 and 1010.7 mg/kg) were higher in balsam grown on Sandy loam 1 and 2 respectively than Sandy clay. The study showed that soil textural class could influence growth and flowering of balsam. Sandy loam is adequate and recommended for the production of Balsam

Growth, yield and proximate content of two varieties of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in response to compost

A field experiment was conducted between August and November, 2013 at the Organic Agriculture Skills Demonstration Plot, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria to determine the growth and yield response of two cucumber (Cucumis sativus) varieties („Poinsett‟ and „Marketmore‟) to compost applied at 0, 5, 10 and 20 t/ha. The experiment was a factorial arrangement fitted into a Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GENSTAT 12th edition (commercial version) and the separation of treatment means was done by the use of Least Significance Difference (LSD) at 5% level (Wahua, 1999). The parameters assessed were number of leaves, leaf area, number of flowers, fruit yield and proximate content. Both varieties did not differ significantly in vegetative growth and fruit yield. Nonetheless, Marketmore fruits had higher crude protein and calcium but lower vitamin C than those of „Pointset‟. Cucumber treated with compost rate at 10 or 20 t/ha produced more leaves and broader leaves than 0 and 5 t/ha. Cucumber that received compost at 10 t/ha produced highest number of flowers than other rates. There was no significant difference in the fruit yield of cucumber that received 5, 10 or 15 t/ha. However, application of compost at 5, 10 or 20 t/ha compost had higher fruit yield than control. Vitamin A content was highest in cucumber fruit treated with 20 t/ha of compost than other rates. Vitamin C content was higher in cucumber applied with 10 or 20 t/ha when compared with 0 or 5 t/ha compost. Vitamin C content was highest in „Marketmore‟ applied with 10 or 20 t/ha, and „Pointset‟ with 20 t/ha compost. Consequently, for cucumber fruit production, either variety could be used and 5 t/ha of compost is optimum. However, Marketmore‟ applied with 10 t/ha compost is optimum to enhance vitamin C content of cucumber

Anti-tuberculosis lupane-type isoprenoids from Syzygium guineense Wild DC. (Myrtaceae) stem bark

Plant derived isoprenoids commonly called terpenoids, are not only useful as chemosytemic markers but are increasingly attracting attention in the development of newer drugs for the treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Anti-tuberculosis activity guided solvent fractionation and chromatographic separation of the chloroform extract of S. guineense stem bark resulted in the isolation of two bioactive 3-β-hydroxylupane-type isoprenoids: betulinic acid methylenediol ester (1) (MIC; 0.15 mg/mL) and betulinic acid (2) (MIC; 0.60 mg/mL). The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated using spectroscopic techniques. The antituberculosis assay was done using the Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) method. This is the first report of the isolation of the anti-tuberculosis constituents of S. guineense and its potentials for the development of drug leads for the treatment of tuberculosis thus validating its ethno-medicinal uses