This study aimed to assess the effects of three plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and chitosan either singly or in combination on maize seeds germination and growth and nutrient uptake. Maize seeds were treated with chitosan and bacterial solution. The germination and growth tests were carried out in square Petri dishes and plastic pots. The combination chitosan-A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens has increased the seeds vigor index up to 36.44% compared to the control. In comparison to the control, P. putida has significantly improved root weight (44.84%) and germinated seed weight (31.39%) whereas chitosan-P. putida has increased the shoot weight (65.67%). For the growth test, the maximal heights (17.66%) were obtained by plants treated with the combination A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens-P. putida. Chitosan-P. fluorescens induced the highest increases of leaves per plant (50.09%), aerial (84.66%), and underground biomass (108.77%) production. The plants inoculated with A. lipoferum had the large leaf areas with an increase of 54.08%, while combinations P. fluorescens-P. putida and chitosan-A. lipoferum improved the aerial and underground dry matter of plants to 26.35% and 18.18%. The nitrogen content of the plants was increased by chitosan-A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens-P. putida with an increasing of 41.61%. The combination of chitosan and PGPR can be used as biological fertilizers to increase maize production.

Our study aimed at assessing the effects of 3 Plants Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) either singly or in combination on maize growth under laboratory and greenhouse conditions. Seeds were inoculated with single and combined solution of 10⁸ CFU/ml of Rhizobacteria. Seeds were not inoculated for the control variant. The highest germination percentage was obtained with the combination of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas putida. This combination also recorded the best vigor index, plants circumferences number of leaves and the leaf area. The maximal heights of plants were observed with seeds treated with Azospirillum lipoferum with an increase of 37.32%. The highest rates of underground dry matter were recorded with A. lipoferum, with an increase of more than 56% comparative to control, while the combination P. fluorescens and P. putida increased the aerial dry matter of 59.11%. Finally, the highest value of the aerial biomass was obtained with the plants treated with the combination of P. fluorescens and P. putida and the highest underground biomass was obtained with plants treated only with A. lipoferum. These results s...

Our study aims to characterize Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from maize roots in five agroecological zones of central and northern Benin. Sixty samples were collected at the rate of four samples per village and three villages per agroecological zone. Rhizobacteria strains were isolated from these samples and biochemically characterized. These strains were analyzed for some of their PGPR traits like ammonia production and hydrogen cyanide following conventional methods. Microbiological investigation of these samples has shown that maize rhizospheres in central and northern Benin contain a high diversity of microorganisms. A total of nine species of maize Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria were identified. Those PGPR include five Bacillus species (B. polymyxa, B. pantothenticus, B. anthracis, B. thuringiensis, and B. circulans), three Pseudomonas species (P. cichorii, P. putida, and P. syringae), and Serratia marcescens. The microbial diversity does not depend on the soil types. The microbial density, generally high, varies according to both soil types and agroecological zones. All Serratia strains (100%) have produced ammonia, whereas 80% of Bacillus and 77.77% of Pseudomonas produced this metabolite. The hydrogen cyanide was produced by all isolates (100%) independent of their genus. These results suggest the possibility to use these rhizobacteria as biological fertilizers to increase maize production.

Morinda citrifolia is a plant with broad nutraceutical and therapeutic effects and used in the traditional treatment of several ailments. The objective of this work is to investigate the phytochemistry of the fruit juice of M. citrifolia on one hand and on other hand to evaluate its antiradical and antibacterial activity. The phytochemical investigation was carried out by tube staining tests of the extract of two types of fruit juice of M. citrifolia . The antioxidant activity of these juices was evaluated by reducing the DPPH radical method. Concerning the antibacterial activity, it was tested on the in vitro growth of 10 reference bacterial strains using the well diffusion method. Qualitative phytochemistry of M. citrifolia fruit juices revealed the presence of large groups of secondary metabolites including polyphenols, reducing compounds, mucilage and terpernoids. The antioxidant activity of M. citrifolia fruit juices is dose-dependent and higher than that of ascorbic acid. Antimicrobial activity on other hand revealed that fruit juices inhibit growth inhibitory activity of Staphylococcus aureus , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Proteus mirabilis , S. epidermidis , Proteus vulgaris , Streptococcus oralis , Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli . This observed difference is significant for each juices on the strains ( p < 0.001). These results support the use of M. citrifolia in traditional medicine and are the starting points for the development of a new drug to combat both dietary conditions and chronic conditions associated with oxidative stress.

Kola nuts were regularly chewed by West Africans and Beninese in particularly. The aim of this study was to investigate nutritional and anti-nutrient content of three Benin's kola nuts (Cola nitida, Cola acuminata and Garcinia kola). Proximate composition of the three species of kola nuts was assessed using standard analytical AOAC methods. Phenolics and flavonoids contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum trichloride methods, respectively. Mineral composition was determined by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry method. Free and total amino acids were separated and quantified by HPLC. Protein content of the three kola nuts ranges from 4.95% (G. kola) to 10.64% (C. acuminata) whereas fat content ranges from 0.2 ± 0.00 (C. nitida) to 2.5 ± 0.42 (G. kola). Total phenolics abounded (2444.96 ± 81.56 µg Eq AG/100g) in C. acuminata, while flavonoids predominated (561.69 ± 22.10 µgEqQ/100g) in G. kola. The three species are a good source of magnesium and a copper provider was lowest in C. nitida (0.59 ± 0.08 mg/g) and in C. acuminata (0.65 ± 0.02 mg/g). The dominant total essential amino acids were threonine (C. acu-* Corresponding author. D. Dah-Nouvlessounon et al.1396 minata) and methionine (C. acuminata and G. kola), while the predominant non-essential total amino acids according to species were arginine (C. nitida and G. kola), proline (C. acuminata) and cysteine (G. kola). For the anti-nutrients factors, saponins were in great proportion (8.33% ± 0.25%), while the oxalates were in small proportion (0.44% ± 0.04%). The three species have an interesting nutritional composition, but these seeds have the relatively lowest amino acids content.