Assessing Preservation of Tomato with the Use of Microwave Radiation

Postharvest losses of vegetables can occur at any point from harvest through collection and distribution to the final consumer. Thus, preservation is important for all stake holders involved from planting till consumption of these vegetables. There is therefore the need to look into the use of common methods including home appliances to increase the shelf-life of these produce. Research was conducted to investigate the use of microwave radiation from the kitchen microwave oven for the preservation of fruits using tomato as the test crop. The experiment was conducted inside the Laboratory of Agronomy department, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology LAUTECH, Ogbomoso Oyo state, Nigeria. Tomato fruits were harvested from the teaching and research farm of LAUTECH at maturity stage, and batched into (four) 4 groups of ten (10) tomatoes each then labelled (B1, B2, B3 and Bo – control).  The B1, B2, and B3 tomatoes were radiated using the kitchen microwave oven for 5, 10 and 15minutes at three microwave power levels of low (9.3GHz), med-low (9.5GHz) and high (10.0GHz) frequency. The samples were monitored under room temperature for ripening for 5weeks.The result shows that only 20% out of the radiated tomatoes at low frequency of 9.3GHz for 15minutes were ripened by the 5th week while Bo tomatoes were all ripened and spoilt by the 3rd week of observation. It is therefore recommended that tomato fruits can be preserved best at a recommended frequency of 9.3GHz for 15minutes. Keywords: postharvest losses, Electro-magnetic radiation (EMR), tomato preservation, kitchen microwave oven, DOI: 10.7176/ALST/76-05 Publication date:September 30th 201

Assessment of Trace Metal Contaminations in Vegetables Around Riparian Area of Ogbomoso

Different types of waste consisting of everyday items from different sources that are discarded by the public are commonly disposed at the bank of a river in which vegetables are planted. The vegetables planted are assumed to be polluted with some heavy metals as a result of municipal waste. These heavy metals accumulate in the body and enter through the food. The heavy metals sometimes are so much in the body that they pose a great hazard to human body. Four heavy metals Lead (Pb), Chromium, (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), and Zinc (Zn) were studied in comparison with FAO/WHO standard.The research was carried out in Ogbomoso at three different locations Arada, Ikose and Beulah. Vegetables sample were uprooted at the river bank of these locations at three varying distances (10m, 15m and 20m) away from the river. The vegetables samples were kept in a labeled brown envelopes and oven dried for 48 hours at 23oC to remove moisture. The dried samples were then taken to the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training at Ibadan for analysis.The results showed that the level of concentration of Pb, Cr, Cd and Zn found in the vegetable planted in riparian area of Ogbomoso are safe for human consumption because the metals found were in conformation with FAO/WHO standard. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-18-05 Publication date:September 30th 201

Effects of Sowing Date on Yield and Yield Parameters of Some Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Cultivar Under Rainfed Condition in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

The study examined the variation in number of flowers, number of nodules, number of pods and seed yield of some groundnut cultivar as affected by planting date in Ogbomoso, Oyo state, Nigeria under rainfed condition. This is necessary to determine when moisture availability will be at optimum starting from the onset of rainfall, to avert loss which could arise from improper timing of planting. Teaching and Research Farm of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Ogbomoso with average annual rainfall of 1000 mm and temperature ranging from 28 to 33 ºC was used for the experiment. A 4 by 4 factorial experiment with four varieties of groundnut (three improved varieties Samnut-10, Samnut-23, Samnut-22 and Kampala (local variety)) and four planting dates of a week interval (29th April, 6th May, 13th May and 20th May, 2016) were tried without chemical amendment. All the parameters evaluated were affected by the planting date.  Samnut-23 and Samnut-10 planted on 29th April produced the highest mean number of flowers (15.67) and number of nodules (116.00) respectively which were significantly higher than others. Cultivar type did not have significant influence (p≤0.05) on the growth parameters. However, number of pods and seed yield was influenced by the cultivar. The highest number of pods (103.00) from this study was produced by Samnut-23 planted on 29th April. It was observed that the high number of pods produced by Samnut-23 did not translate to seed yield because Kampala produced the highest seed yield (73.51 g/plot) which was significantly higher than yield from other cultivars tried. Groundnut cultivars responded differently to planting date tried, with best planting period being early month of May. It was observed that all the cultivars produced their least seed yield when planted towards the end of month of May, therefore, should be discouraged for the tried cultivars at the trial location. KEYWORDS: Sowing date, Rainfed, Pod, Seed yield and Groundnut Production DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/9-18-06 Publication date:September 30th 201

Phenotypic stages of some improved varieties of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L) in the humid South Western Nigeria

Background: Groundnut is an important legume crop of tropical and semiarid tropical countries, where it provides a major source of edible oil, vegetable protein and source of raw materials for agro-allied industries. To aid in groundnut research planning, varietal development, crop modeling and for extension workers in recommending time of cultural practices, standard descriptions of some improved (SAMNUT 10, SAMNUT 22 and SAMNUT 23) and local (kampala) varieties of groundnut were recorded. Methods: The descriptions were based on visually observable vegetative (V) and reproductive (R) events. The V stage recorded was VE (Emergence: Cotyledons near the soil surface with the seedling showing while some part of the plant visible). The R stages recorded are R1 (beginning flowering), R2 (beginning peg), R3 (beginning pod), R4 (full pod), R5 (beginning seed), R6 (full seed), R7 (beginning maturity) and R8 (harvest maturity). A growth stage is reached when 50% of the plants or seeds sampled have achieved or exhibiting the specified the specified trait. Results: VE of 7 days after sowing (DAS) was recorded for the improved varieties and 6 DAS for kampala. R1 was 28 DAS for all the varieties, R2 of 33 and 35 DAS was recorded for the improved varieties and kampala respectively. R3 of 43 DAS, R4 of 56 DAS, and R5 of 63 DAS for the four varieties. R6 (76, 74, 75 and 77 DAS for SAMNUT 10, SAMNUT 22, SAMNUT 23 and kampala respectively) and R7 (93, 93, 92 and 94 DAS for SAMNUT 10, SAMNUT 22, SAMNUT 23 and kampala respectively) varies for the varieties. Harvest maturation, R8 varies within the varieties; 135 DAS, 120 DAS, 100 DAS and 120 DAS for SAMNUT 10, SAMNUT 22, SAMNUT 23 and kampala respectively. Conclusions: The stages apply to both improved varieties and the local variety and could be used to schedule cultural practices including irrigation, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, growth regulators, and harvest.   Key Words: Groundnut, Growth stages, Vegetative events, Reproductive events, Standard descriptions

Effect of Dietary Biscuit Waste on Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broilers

A study was conducted for 8 weeks to investigate the effect of dietary biscuit waste (BW) replacing maize (M) on performance and carcass characteristic of broilers. A total of 175 day old marshal broiler chicks were used for this study. They were completely randomized and divided into five treatments. Each treatment had five replicates of seven birds per replicate. Five experimental diets were formulated as follows; A: (100%M : 0%BW), B: (75% M: 25%BW), C: (50%M: 50%BW), D: (25%M: 75%BW), E: (0%M: 100%BW) at both starter and finisher phases. Performance indices measured were feed intake, weight gain and feed conversion ratio.  The feed intake (F.I.) was affected with increasing level of biscuit waste. There were significant differences (p<0.05) across the treatments with treatment A having the highest value of 2.92kg for F.I  and treatment E having the least value of 2.51kg while treatments B, C and D followed the same trend having the following values of 2.73kg, 2.70kg and 2.61kg respectively. Average weight gain showed that there were no significant differences (p>0.05) across the treatments, the values obtained were 1.13kg, 1.09kg, 1.10kg, 1.12kg and 1.10kg for treatments A, B, C, D and E respectively. Feed conversion ratio showed significant differences (p?0.05) as birds in treatments C, D and E recorded lower values of 2.47%, 2.37% and 2.33% respectively while birds on treatment A had highest value of 2.60%. The carcass weights expressed as percentages of live weights (LW) did not show any significant differences (p>0.05). The result for breast weights showed significant differences (p?0.05) as birds on treatments four (25% M: 75% (BW) and five (0%M: 100% BW) had lower values of 10.05% (LW) and 11.20% (LW) respectively. Surprisingly, birds on treatment two (75% M 25% BW) had the highest breast meat value of 16.75%. The percentage organ weights showed no significant differences (p>0.05) between liver, heart and spleen but the gizzard weights were significantly different among the treatments with the control having the highest value of 2.88% (LW). It was concluded that biscuit waste could be used as feed for broilers up to 50% replacement levels for maize at the starter and finisher phases without compromising performance and carcass value of broilers. Keywords: Biscuit waste (BW), Maize (M), Broiler Performance and Carcass Characteristics

Evaluation of layer type chickens under reciprocal recurrent selection

Matings within pure male and female lines, and between pure male and female lines were carried out to produce purebred male line (AA x AA), female line (BB x BB), cross (AA x BB) and reciprocal cross (BB x AA). A total number of 364 pullets arising from 207 hens and 23 cocks in generation 1 and 440 pullets from 70 hens and 10 cocks in generation 2 under selection were monitored in individual cage units for part period of egg production up to 280 days of age. Parameters considered were age at sexual maturity (ASM), body weight at 20 and 40 weeks of age (BW 20 and BW40), egg weight average (EWTAV) and egg production up to 280 days (Egg 280). A nonsignificant difference among purebreds but a significant difference (

Sexual harassment and victimization of students: a case study of a higher education institution in South Africa

Introduction: Sexual harassment has been identified as a major public health problem that is hidden in most institutions/orga- nizations.Objective: This study assessed sexual harassment and victimization of students in a higher institution in South Africa.Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive design was used in this study. The target population was registered stu- dents of the higher education institution and the sample size was 342. Questionnaire was used for data collection and data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 23.0 program. The basic principles of ethics were duly observed and the ethical clearance certificate was obtained prior to data collection.Results: The findings revealed that 27 (17.3%) of the male and 47 (25.5%) of the female respondents (P = 0.047) had personally experienced unwanted touching. Two (1.3%) male and 5 (2.7%) female students admitted that they have been raped. Seventeen (10.8%) of the males and 19 (10.2%) of the females had been coerced to comply with a sexual relationship on campus.Conclusion:  This study shows that both male and female students on campus are experiencing different forms of sexual ha- rassment.Keywords: Students, sexual harassment, higher education institution

Small signal stability analysis of a four-machine system with placement of multi-terminal high voltage direct current link

Inter-area oscillation caused by weak interconnected lines or low generator inertia is a critical problem facing power systems. This study investigated the performance analysis of a multi-terminal high voltage direct current (MTDC) on the damping of inter-area oscillations of a modified two-area four-machine network. Two case studies were considered, utilising scenario 1: a double alternating current (AC) circuit in linking Bus_10 and Bus_11; and scenario 2: a three-terminal line commutated converter high voltage direct current system in linking Bus_6 and Bus_11 into Bus_9. It was found that scenario 2 utilising MTDC link with a robust controller provided quick support in minimising the network oscillations following a fault on the system. The MTDC converter controllers’ setup offered sufficient support for the inertia of the AC system, thus providing efficient damping of the inter-area oscillation of the system

Impact of LCC–HVDC multiterminal on generator rotor angle stability

Multiterminal High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission utilizing Line Commutated Converter (LCC-HVDC) technology is on the increase in interconnecting a remote generating station to any urban centre via long distance DC lines. This Multiterminal-HVDC (MTDC) system offers a reduced right of way benefits, reduction in transmission losses, as well as robust power controllability with enhanced stability margin. However, utilizing the MTDC system in an AC network bring about a new area of associated fault analysis as well as the effect on the entire AC system during a transient fault condition. This paper analyses the fault current contribution of an MTDC system during transient fault to the rotor angle of a synchronous generator. The results show a high rotor angle swing during a transient fault and the effectiveness of fast power system stabilizer connected to the generator automatic voltage regulator in damping the system oscillations. The MTDC link improved the system performance by providing an alternative path of power transfer and quick system recovery during transient fault thus increasing the rate at which the system oscillations were damped out. This shows great improvement compared to when power was being transmitted via AC lines