Germination performance of Dacryodes edulis (don. G. Lam h. J.) seeds from dry and moist heat softened fruits

The study was designed to assess the germination performance of seeds from moist heat and dry heat softened fruits of D. edulis. Ripe fruits were harvested from mother trees and mixed together to mute any effects due to genotype and subjected to two heat treatments: forty-eight fruits were soaked in warm water at 57oC in the moist heat treatment, while a total of twenty fruits were placed on cooling hotplate at (54oC) in the dry heat treatment. Seeds were propagated in clear polythene bags 0.1 mm thick and 100 x 150 mm dimension at 26oC room temperature in a completely randomized design experimental layout. Data collected include: number of days before germination, germination count, total number of germinated seed, and duration of germination. While germination characteristics evaluated were: dormancy period, mean germination speed, mean daily germination, mean germination time, and germination capacity. Data analysis was carried out using Mann-Whitney U-test after a normality test confirmed data was non-normal. The results showed that dormancy period in seeds from dry heat softened fruits was 9 days and moist heat softened fruits 10 days: seeds from moist heat softened fruits however recorded higher mean germination speed (4 seed), germination capacity (100 %), mean daily germination (3 seeds), and lower mean germination time (8 days): while seeds from dry heat softened fruits recorded lower mean germination speed (0.33), germination capacity (55%), mean daily germination (1 seed), and higher meangermination time. There was a significant difference in germination performance of the two heat treatment methods. Dry heat penetrating D. edulis seed reduced the germination performance. Keywords: germination characteristics, propagatio

In-vitro development of Nauclea diderrichii (de Willd. & Th. Dur) Merrin liquid-M Smedia supplemented with benzyl amino purine (BAP) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA)

The growth of plantlets in Temporary Immersion Bioreactor system (TIBs) relies on initial successful liquid phase transition process. The response of N. diderrichii explants was assessed in liquid-M Smedia with a view to mass produce its seedlings using TIBs. Seven treatments consisting (A) 0.0/0.0, (B) 0.0/0.1, (C) 0.1/0.0, (D) 0.2/0.1, (E) 0.3/0.2, (F) 0.4/0.3 and (G) 0.5/0.4mg/lBAP/NAA combinations were studied. Each group consist of seven replicates and group A without Growth Regulators (GR) serves as control. The results at 4 Weeks after Inoculation (WAI) showed that effects of the growth regulators were significant on shoot length and number of adventitious shoots while number of roots and leaves were closely related. Treatment E produced highest number of adventitious shoots (3.6) which was higher than 0.9 shoots from treatment G and closely related to others. Maximum number of leaves (16.6) was produced by treatment F followed by E (15.7) while the least (12) was obtained in treatment A. The highest number of roots (4.9) was obtained from treatments B, followed by E (4.3) with the lowest being recorded in C (2.43). Liquid MS medium supplemented with 0.3/0.2mg/lBAP/NAA shows some promise for plantlets generation for the purpose of multiple shoot production of N. diderrichii in TIBs

Studies of harnessing quality attributes of condiment powder (IRU) processed from soy (Glycine max) and African locust bean (Parkia biglobosa) seeds

This study harnessed the quality attributes of condiment powder (iru) processed from soy and African locust bean seeds using calabash and plastic as fermenting containers. The soy and African locust bean-condiment powders were comparatively evaluated with referencecondiment based upon storability for 8-weeks on moisture gain or loss and microbial counts, and 3-weeks colour evaluation were carried out. Sensory analysis was done using students of the Department of Food Technology, University of Ibadan. The design of the experiment was carried out using completely randomized design. The results revealed increase in moisture throughout the weekly storage study as the concluding 8-week showed highest in referencecondiment(14.78 %) and lower in soy-condiment powder (10.03 %) produced in plastic. Microbial count ranged from 4.74 to 5.07 log10 cfu/mL and no detection of fungi in all condiment powder samples. However, coliform was present only in control-condiment (0.73 log10 cfu/mL). Weekly storage studies on total viable count of soy and African locustcondiment powders ranged from 4.74-5.07 (week 0); 4.93-5.05 (week 1); 4.66-5.47 (week 2); 4.11-5.07 (week 3); 4.20-5.59 (week 4); 4.51-5.76 (week 5); 4.75-5.88 (week 6); 4.01-5.28 (week 7) and 4.48-5.62 (week 8) log10 cfu/mL. The degree of lightness (L*), redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) on soy and locust bean-condiment powders produced in a plastic had optimum scores but lower in reference-condiment. General acceptability was highest in soy-condiment powder produced in plastic. Plastic container can be use for the processing of condiment powder without any adverse effect on the final product. Keywords: African locust bean, soy bean, containers, powdered condiment, moisture gai

A review of biofuel and biochemical production from forest and agricultural wastes

Utilization of fuels and chemicals from fossil fuel and its derivatives have some disadvantages. Forest and agricultural wastes such as wood wastes are potential resources for the production of chemicals and biofuels. These wastes are lignocellulosic materials which are cheap, renewable and their conversion to bio-based chemicals contributes to resource and environmental conservation. Application of various conversion methods could convert these wastes to myriad of industrial chemical products, platform chemicals, biofuel and other products. The major obstacle in processing these wastes into chemicals is the recalcitrant nature of lignin and the compact structure of these materials. Pretreatment of these waste materials remains a valid option to fracture their recalcitrance and improve the yield of products obtainable from their conversion. In this article, the sources of wastes useable for production of biofuel and biochemicals were discussed. The article also x-rayed the mode of conversion and the types of biofuel and biochemicals obtainable from these wastes. Notably, conversion of these wastes encourages greener environment and lessens the effect of fossil fuel and its derivatives on climate change. Keywords: Wastes, pretreatment, biofuel, fossil fuel, lignin

Ethnomedicinal Uses and Therapeutic Activities of Piper Guineense: A Review

The use of medicinal plants in most developing countries as therapeutic agents for the maintenance of good health is a widespread practice. One of such plant products is Piper guineense, which is a West African spice used in many folklore medicines and has a number of verified pharmacological activities. Proximate analysis reveals that the plant contains crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals while preliminary phytochemical screening and gas chromatography-mass spectrophotoscopy of the methanol leaf and seed extract of Piper guineense revealed the presence of several constituents such as alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, flavonoids, terpenes; sesquiterpenoids and monoterpenoids, saponins and secondary metabolites such as Aromadendrene, 1,6,10- Dodecatriene,7,11-dimethyl-3-methylene and piperine, piperidine amongst other secondary metabolites. Studies have revealed that Piper guineense possess several pharmacological and therapeutic properties such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, aphrodisiac, anti-parasitic, antiinflammatory, anti-convulsant, molluscicidal, oestrogenic and oxytocic properties. This paper provides a review on the morphology, physicochemical and phytochemical constituents, ethnomedicinal and scientifically proven therapeutic activities of Piper guineense