Preliminary Survey on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about the COVID-19 Pandemic among Residents in North Central Nigeria

A preliminary survey on the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the COVID-19 pandemic among residence in North Central Nigeria, was conducted. An anonymous electronic network sampling survey designed by e-survey was employed. The result showed that on the level of knowledge and practice, 76.83% opined that people may be sick for 1-14 days without developing the symptoms. On the viral transmission, 94.41% agreed that the transmission of the virus can be through direct contact with contaminated surfaces through eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as 78.35%, responded that the virus doesn't penetrate the skin. More so 92.04% of the respondents showed that older and sick people are more vulnerable to the disease with 98.86% showing that the most common symptoms may include fever, tiredness, dry cough, and sometimes difficulty in breathing. Only 24.43% asserted that COVID-19 cannot be transmitted through social gatherings, going put often, making direct physical contact with people. Meanwhile, 21.02% showed COVID-19 is a punishment for immoral behavior. On the rate of the outbreak, 94.32% said it is scary. Only 55.11% asserted approval of the control approach by the government. However, 82.29% would agree with the response of the masses to government measures to control the spread. On the way forward, 98.87% advised the need for more research and 87.08% would approve of vaccination against the disease. This implies that the respondents have a good level of knowledge and practice about COVID-19 and necessary adjustments are needed to control or manage the spread of the pandemic

Formulation, Organoleptic Evaluation, and Acceptability of Various Teas from Underutilized Nutritious Herbs Compared with Marketed Chinese and Yellow Lipton Tea

Herbal teas are nutrient, antioxidant, and hydration-rich brews made from herbs and spices and taken for various purposes. The objective of this study was to formulate tea from clove (Syzygium aromaticum), leaves of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), guava (Psidium guajava), and moringa (Moringa oleifera), as well as compared with Chinese and yellow Lipton Tea. The samples were analyzed for comparative sensory analysis using the 7 points hedonic scale. The sensory evaluation result demonstrated that the color of the clove tea sample (5.87) was most acceptable by participants, while the lemongrass tea (4.46) sample was least acceptable amongst all the tea samples. The clove remained the most accepted tea for aroma (6.07), taste (5.92), texture (5.76), general appearance (5.74), and general acceptability (5.93), in 7 points hedonic scale. However, all tea samples were had significant acceptable scores above average (p <0.05). Owing to the above results, these herbs can be successfully used to produce tea of relatively good quality to encourage herbs' local consumption and stay healthy

Circular economy use of biomass residues to alleviate poverty, environment, and health constraints

Inadequate energy and water resources supply are major constraints contributing to poverty and poor health outcomes in developing economies. Low-income countries lack ready access to modern necessities such as electricity and potable water. On one hand, the scarcity of electricity and other clean energies compel reliance on traditional biomass for domestic fuels. On the other hand, harvesting firewood to meet energy needs leads to deforestation and environmental degradation. Furthermore, burning the wood for heat creates ecosystem perturbators such as toxicants, greenhouse gasses, and particulate matter. These pollutants portend adverse health concerns, including premature mortality. Globally, fine particulate matter air pollution alone causes about 3.3 million deaths annually. The contribution of this paper is to offer how circular economy targeted technologies could come to the rescue. In particular, utilizing biomass residues and wastes for briquette and pellet creation is highlighted. These densified fuel products could serve as green energies in domestic and industrial applications; and thus, help to attenuate poverty, and the adverse environmental and health consequences of traditional biomass

Understanding cassava varietal preferences through pairwise ranking of gari-eba and fufu prepared by local farmer-processors

Within communities in Osun and Imo States of Nigeria, farmer‐processors grew and processed a diverse set of improved and landrace cassava varieties into the locally popular foods, gari, eba and fufu. Local and 15 main varieties were grown in a 'mother and baby trials' design in each state. Mother trials with three replications were processed by farmer‐processors renown in their community for their processing skills. Baby trials were managed and processed by other farmer‐processors. The objective was to identify food quality criteria to inform demand‐led breeding to benefit users, especially women, given their key roles in processing. Farmer‐processors evaluated the overall quality of fresh roots and derived food products through pairwise comparisons. Improved varieties had higher fresh and dry root yield. Overall, landraces ranked first for quality of gari and eba, but several improved varieties were also appreciated for good quality. Landraces in Osun had higher gari yield and a higher swelling power compared to improved varieties. Colour (browning), bulk density, swelling power, solubility and water absorption capacity were the criteria most related to food product ranking by farmer‐processors. Evaluation of varieties under farmer‐processors' conditions is crucial for providing guidance to breeders on critical selection criteria

Food quality profile of pounded yam and implications for yam breeding

Open Access ArticleBACKGROUND Assessment of the key preferred quality traits in pounded yam, a popularly consumed yam food product in West Africa, is often done through sensory evaluation. Such assessment is time-consuming and results may be biased. Therefore, there is a need to develop objective, high-throughput methods to predict the quality of consumer-preferred traits in pounded yam. This study focused on how key quality traits in pounded yam proposed to yam breeders were determined, measured by biophysical and biochemical methods, in order to shorten the breeding selection cycle through adoption of these methods by breeders. RESULTS Consumer tests and sensory quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) validated that preferred priority quality traits in pounded yam were related to textural quality (smooth, stretchable, moldable, slightly sticky and moderately hard) and color (white, cream or light yellow). There were significant correlations between sensory textural quality attributes cohesiveness/moldability, hardness, and adhesiveness/stickiness, with textural quality measurements from instrumental texture profile analysis (TPA). Color measurement parameters (L*, a*, and b*) with chromameter agreed with that of sensory evaluation and can replace the sensory panel approach. The smoothness (R2 = 1.00), stickiness (R2 = 1.00), stretchability (R2 = 1.00), hardness (R2 = 0.99), and moldability (R2 = 0.53) of pounded yam samples can be predicted by the starch, amylose, and protein contents of yam tubers estimated by near-infrared spectroscopy. CONCLUSION TPA and Hunter colorimeter can be used as medium-high throughput methods to evaluate the textural quality and color of pounded yam in place of the sensory panelists

From cassava to gari: Mapping of quality characteristics and end-user preferences in Cameroon and Nigeria

User's preferences of cassava and cassava products along the value chain are supported by specific root quality characteristics that can be linked to root traits. Therefore, providing an evidence base of user preferred characteristics along the value chain, can help in the functional choice of cassava varieties. In this respect, the present paper presents the results from focus group discussions and individual interviews on user preferred quality characteristics of raw cassava roots and the derived product, gari, ‐ one of the major cassava products in Sub Saharan Africa ‐ in major production and consumption areas of Cameroon and Nigeria. Choice of cassava varieties for farming is mainly determined by the multiple end‐uses of the roots, their agricultural yield and the processing determinants of roots that support their major high‐quality characteristics: size, density, low water content, maturity, colour and safety. Processing of cassava roots into gari goes through different technological variants leading to a gari whose high‐quality characteristics are: dryness, colour, shiny/attractive appearance, uniform granules and taste. Eba, the major consumption form of gari in Cameroon and Nigeria is mainly characterized by its textural properties: smoothness, firmness, stickiness, elasticity, mouldability. Recommendations are made, suggesting that breeding will have to start evaluating cassava clones for brightness/shininess, as well as textural properties such as mouldability and elasticity of cassava food products, for the purpose of supporting decision‐making by breeders and the development of high‐throughput selection methods of cassava varieties. Women are identified as important beneficiaries of such initiatives giving their disadvantaged position and their prominent role in cassava processing and marketing of gari

Preliminary Survey on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices About the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Residents in North Central Nigeria

A preliminary survey on the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the COVID-19 pandemic among residence in North Central Nigeria, was conducted. An anonymous electronic network sampling survey designed by e-survey was employed. The result showed that on the level of knowledge and practice, 76.83% opined that people may be sick for 1-14 days without developing the symptoms. On the viral transmission, 94.41% agreed that the transmission of the virus can be through direct contact with contaminated surfaces through eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as 78.35%, responded that the virus doesn't penetrate the skin. More so 92.04% of the respondents showed that older and sick people are more vulnerable to the disease with 98.86% showing that the most common symptoms may include fever, tiredness, dry cough, and sometimes difficulty in breathing. Only 24.43% asserted that COVID-19 cannot be transmitted through social gatherings, going put often, making direct physical contact with people. Meanwhile, 21.02% showed COVID-19 is a punishment for immoral behavior. On the rate of the outbreak, 94.32% said it is scary. Only 55.11% asserted approval of the control approach by the government. However, 82.29% would agree with the response of the masses to government measures to control the spread. On the way forward, 98.87% advised the need for more research and 87.08% would approve of vaccination against the disease. This implies that the respondents have a good level of knowledge and practice about COVID-19 and necessary adjustments are needed to control or manage the spread of the pandemic

Quality attributes of fufu in South-East Nigeria: Guide for cassava breeders

Fufu is a popular traditional fermented wet paste food product from cassava. We examined consumer preferences and quality attributes of fufu in Abia and Imo States of South‐East Nigeria, with special attention to gender differences, for the purpose of providing guidance to breeders. Data were analysed by the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. Participants for the interview were randomly selected from a list of farmers in the study area. Individual (II) interviews were conducted among 80 participants comprising 26 males (32.5%) and 54 females (67.5%). Preferences along the food chain from raw roots to final product were also obtained. Major traits influencing gender‐specific consumer preferences are related to appearance, texture and smell. Smoothness, not sticky, easy to swallow and drawability of fufu appear to be major traits that drive acceptance by both men and women. Big roots and smooth skin are prioritized for raw material. Some quality characteristics are conditioned largely by variety traits, while others can be modified by adjusting the processing methods. The complexity of producing high quality fufu makes it imperative to introduce a multi‐disciplinary approach into breeding programmes