Effects of seed fermentation method on seed germination and vigor in the oleaginous gourd Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.

Supplying high quality seed to rural farmers is the basic requirement for the sustainable development of agriculture in developing countries. The present study was conducted to examine the influence of Lagenaria siceraria seed fermentation method on seed germination and vigor. Three seed fermentation methods (fermented in ambient air, plastic bag stored in ambient or in plastic bag buried) were tested on two cultivars during two years. Seed germination and vigor were better when fermentation was conducted in anaerobic, darkness, and at low temperature. Low seed quality was observed in unfermented seed, suggesting the occurrence of postharvest maturity in L. siceraria. Seed quality did not vary between cultivars. Regardless of the fermentation process and cultivars used, the best seed and seedling qualities were observed when the amount of rainfall during the experiment period was high, suggesting that wet soil is necessary for an on farm reliable evaluation of seed fermentation method in the bottle gourd L. siceraria.Keywords: Cucurbit, egussi, maturity, minor crops, oilseed, seedling, viability

Morphological and allozyme variation in a collection of Cucumeropsis mannii Naudin (Cucurbitaceae) from Côte d'Ivoire

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Diversité Et Variabilité Du Régime Alimentaire Des Éléphants Du Parc National d’Azagny (Sud - Côte d’Ivoire)

In Côte d'Ivoire, Azagny National Park has a small forest elephants population, described as isolated, self-contained and whose survival depends on the diversity of local biological resources. A study was undertaken to assess the diversity of the plant species consumed and the feeding preference of this large mammal. Pedestrian surveys were carried out in the different biotopes traveled by the elephants during one year, in search of fresh and old traces of nutrition and droppings. As a result of these inventories, six organs of 282 plant species have been identified has consumed by elephant. In this plant species list, three families are the most represented: the Apocynaceae, the Euphorbiaceae and the Rubiaceae. Among the elephant diet, five species appear to be the most consumed: Aframomum melegueta (1.45%), Aframomum sceptrum (1.45%), Sacoglottis gabonensis (1.27%), Echinochloa pyramidalis (1.2%) and Albizia adianthifolia (1.2%). Considering the number and type of organs harvested from plants, the study reveals that they varied from one species to another well. In general, leaves (256 species 90.8%) and fruits (95 species or 33.7%) have emerged as the most consumed organs of elephants. In view of this diet importance in elephant survival in the park, it would be important to identify the type of species consumed seasonally and to assess their availability in each of the biotopes traveled

Assessment of the genetic diversity conservation in three tall coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) accessions regenerated by controlled pollination, using microsatellite markers

Controlled pollination process is used during the regeneration of ageing accessions in the International Coconut Genebank for Africa and Indian Ocean (ICG-AIO). The effectiveness of this process has not yet been evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of controlled pollination method by investigating the level of molecular resemblance between the regenerated (G1) and parental (G0) populations of three tall coconut accessions, Mozambique Tall (MZT), Gazelle Peninsula Tall (GPT) and Tahitian tall (THT) using 15 microsatellites (SSR) markers. The results indicate a relative reduction of gene diversity during regeneration. It decreased from 0.690 to 0.587, but, low values of Jaccard’s dissimilarity index were found between regenerated and parental populations of tall coconut, varying from 0.072 to 0.133. Low values of genetic diversity between G0 and G1 tall coconut accessions (DST), ranging from 0.005 to 0.007, were recorded. Consequently, using controlled pollination technical as regeneration method of the genebank is effective for satisfying maintenance of the genetic integrity of the original coconut accessions.Keywords: Tall coconut palm, controlled pollination, regenerated accessions, genetic diversity, microsatellites markersAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2808-281

Effect of harvest time on seed oil and protein contents and compositions in the oleaginous gourd Lagenaria siceria (Molina) Standl

BACKGROUND: The stage of fruit ripeness at the time of harvest determines the final quality of ripe fruit. In this study, changes in the chemical composition of seed kernels from the oleaginous gourd Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. during maturation were evaluated to determine the best time to harvest the berries. Two cultivars (round and oval berry) were studied at three maturation stages (30 and 50 days after fruit set (DAFS) and complete plant whiteness (CPW))

Morphological diversity in oleaginous watermelon (Citrullus mucosospermus) from the Nangui Abrogoua University germplasm collection

A hundred and seventy-one oleaginous watermelon accessions either collected from different countries or obtained from gene banks were evaluated and compared based on 11 quantitative morphological traits. Principal component analysis on 11 traits revealed 81.19% of the total variability and pointed out variations among accessions, mainly on the basis of fruit size and weight. The dendrogram and factorial discriminant analysis clustered the accessions in four groups. The multivariate analysis of variance showed a significant difference between the four groups and accessions of the group 2 had higher agronomic performances. The confusion matrix gave the details about accessions assignment and pointed out that breeders must have recourse to several multivariate analyses to have better agromorphological classification of accessions. The traits related to fruit size and weight were the most accession distinctive. Consequently, fruit morphological traits could be used for accession identification during collecting missions.Key words: Citrullus mucosospermus, morphological characterization, multivariate analysis, oleaginous cucurbit