Adequacy of mineral contents of raw and plain sticky sauce of common and bush okra

In Nigeria, common okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) and bush okra (Corchorus olitorius L.) are popular mucilage vegetables used as sticky sauce for easy consumption of starchy staples.Both raw vegetables and sticky sauce of common as well as bush okra were estimated for their potential in the provision of daily dietary allowance of important minerals. Modified methods of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) were used to estimate the assessed minerals.The results showed that the raw and sticky sauce of assessed common and bush okra contained appreciable levels and essential minerals, but are not adequate to meet recommended dietary allowance, except for Fe and Cu. Comparatively, the two species of okra varied significantly in their mineral content of the raw and plain sauce. There was also a negative effect of cooking on the mineral contents, which reduced significantly to an average of 30% on a dry weight basis.Therefore, the two vegetables, either as a fresh or sticky sauce, require additional sources of P, K, Na, Mg, Ca, Mn, and Zn to meet recommended dietary allowance. Furthermore, dried mucilagesauce, though, could be an appreciable post harvest management and storage but not without a loss of about one-third mineral content in the process. However, the sauce of common okra andbush okra are good sources for any of the assessed mineral restricted diets

Genetic variation of postharvest physiological deterioration susceptibility in a cassava germplasm

Postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD) is an unresolved major stress in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), which constrains the crop suitability for commercial and industrial purposes. The present study sourced for PPD tolerance from different genetic resources available within a cassava germplasm. Six hundred and twelve cassava accessions within International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)-Ibadan germplasm were evaluated 2, 4, 6, and 8 days after harvest (DAH) for PPD and rate of PPD per day (PPD d–1) over the evaluation dates. Sixteen cassava genotypes that had mean PPD d–1 of 0.0% d–1 were classified as non-deteriorators (NoDs) with possible delayed-PPD trait and nine genotypes with mean PPD d–1 ≥ 70% d–1 as extra-super fast deteriorators (xSPDs) with possible early-PPD trait. The PPD was more pronounced at the proximal end of a root than at the middle and distal regions. Polyploid genotypes showed higher PPD tolerance than diploids but local varieties were more susceptible to PPD than the improved varieties. The study suggests that polyploidy could be an additional genetic resource for PPD tolerance in cassava. In addition, the knowledge of PPD status of a cassava germplasm allows its proper utilization. The NoD genotypes could sustain storage and transport within 8 d for commercial and industrial purposes and xSPD genotypes could be immediately processed into fermented foods and dried chips. The results presented in this study are explanatory in nature and could be explored further for integration into improvement programs in cassava