Nigerian soft cheese often referred to as wara was produced from soya bean milk using coagulants from lime, alum and steep water. Effects of these coagulants on the yield, proximate composition, functional properties, microbial loads and sensory properties were evaluated. The result revealed that different coagulants used had no significant (p ≥ 0.05) effect on yield of the cheeses. The result for the proximate composition shows that, different coagulants used influenced all the proximate parameters except the protein content. Similarly, coagulants used significantly affected the water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, foam capacity and gelation capacity. However, the bulk density was not significantly (p ≥ 0.05) affected. Steep water coagulated cheese had the highest total plate count. The result for sensory properties shows that, lime gave the best cheese in terms of general acceptability. Cheese produced from steep water as a coagulant gave the best proximate attributes, however, its high total plate count calls for concern.
A greenhouse experiment was carried out to evaluate the response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) to saline water irrigation under soilless and traditional techniques. A special fertigation technique with two different salinity levels (1 dS m-1 and 4 dS m-1) of water was used under different soilless media, namely, perlite, gravel, and pozzolana as inert media, in addition to traditional techniques. Results showed that among the three soilless substrates, perlite medium produced the highest total yields with larger fruit sizes. Furthermore, the perlite medium enabled significant savings in water, compared to gravel (-15%) and pozzolana (-20%). Moreover, the results corroborated the existing knowledge on the tolerance of tomato to brackish water irrigation, since there was no significant difference in yield of plants grown in the soil irrigated with water with salinity levels of 1.1 dSm-1 and 4-5 dS m-1. Plant biometric data revealed a better and quicker development of plants grown in the soilless media compared to those grown in the soil, even in the case of freshwater irrigation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.