Quality Characteristics of bread made from Wheat and Fluted Pumpkin seed flour

Bread fortified with fluted pumpkin seed flour was made; the seeds of fluted pumpkin were extracted and processed into raw dried flour. Appropriate quantities of wheat and fluted pumpkin flour (on dry weight basis) were measured and mixed to give the following blends, 90:10, 80:20, 60:40, 50:50, wheat/fluted pumpkin seed flour and 100% wheat flour as control. Proximate composition of bread made from the flour blends was determined. Wheat/fluted pumpkin flour bread had protein content that ranged from 10.22 to 19.36%, fat content: 2.98 to 13.81%, ash content: 1.89 to 4.90%, crude fibre content: 6.00 to 9.83%, carbohydrate: 27.63 to 52.71%, moisture content: 27.80 to 34.38%, loaf volume: 1.75 to 2.80cm , loaf firmness: 80.0 to 97.6N/m . Sensory evaluation based on crust colour, crumb texture, taste, flavor, appearance and general acceptability showed that 90:10% and 80:20% wheat/fluted pumpkin flour bread were both acceptable at 1% and 5% level of significance when compared with 100% wheat bread. This shows that fluted pumpkin seed flour can be substituted up to 20% level in bread making so as to give acceptable loaf volume quality which wheatbread is known.Key words: wheat, fluted pumpkin seed, bread, qualit

Gastrointestinal parasites of fish as bio-indicators of the ecology of Chanchaga River, Minna, Niger State

Fish parasites are of particular interest in relation not only to fish health but also in the understanding of ecological problems. A study of the gastrointestinal parasites of fish as bio-indicators of heavy metal pollution in Chanchaga River was carried out from May-August, 2014. A total of 100 specimens were sampled which comprises of 4 species; Tilapia zilli, Auchenoglanis occidentalis, Clarias gariepinus and Mormyrus rume (25 samples each). The intestinal contents of the samples were analyzed, parasites found were the Nematodes, 52.00% and mean intensity of 57.03, Cestodes, 28.00%with 4.14 mean intensity and some unidentified species of insects and Copepods were 12.00% and a mean intensity of 7.85. The concentration of the metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Cr&Mn) were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Result showed no significant (P>0.05) difference in the heavy metal accumulation in the muscle of both the infected fishes and the uninfected ones, but there was a significant (P<0.05) difference in the metal concentration in the intestines amongst the fish species for Cu in T. zilli (0.83±0.01mg/g) and in A. occidentalis(0.02±0.01 mg/g). Among the species sampled for heavy metal in fish muscle M. rume had the lowest mean concentration (0.27±0.01 mg/g) while C. gariepinus had the highest (0.45±0.03 mg/g). This study has established the presence of gastrointestinal parasites in fish from Chanchaga River and also presence of heavy metal though in low quantity in the fish from the River thereby indicating that the river is slightly polluted.Keywords: Fish parasites, Heavy metals, Gastrointestinal and Chanchaga Rive