The predominant increase in the price of feedstuffs and the consistent shift in climate have increased the cost of producing animal protein and an attendant increase in the search of available and valuable plant options in combating this problem. The study aimed to evaluate the nutritive value of ten identified water weeds (Polygonum lanigerum, Nymphaea lotus, Paspalum scrobiculatum, Ascroceras zizanioides, Ipomea aquatica, Panicum sulbabidum, Sacciolepis africana, Leersia hexandra, Heteranthera callifolia and Dicksonia antartica) via in vitro digestibility studies. The gas production was measured by incubating samples in buffered ruminal fluid from goats for 96hr. Cumulative gas production was recorded at 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42, 45, 48, 51, 54, 57, 60, 66, 72, 84 and 96 hour of incubation periods and the organic matter digestibility (OMD), short chain fatty acid (SCFA) and metabolizable energy (ME) were also estimated. Results indicated that the total gas production varied significantly (P<0.05) at 24 and 48 hours incubation. Gas production ranged between 4.67 ml and 14.00 ml with least and highest obtained in Sacciolepis Africana and Ipomea aquatic, respectively. The Metabolizable energy (MJ/KgDM) recorded in all weeds differed (P<0.05) in all hours of incubation. Paspalum scrobiculatum and Dicksonia antartica recorded the least value at 24 and 48 hours incubation while Nymphaea lotus and Dicksonia antartica had the least value at 72 and 96 hours incubation. Heteranthera callifolia had the highest organic matter digestibility (%) while the least short chain fatty acid (μmol) was observed in Dicksonia antartica at 24, 48 and 96 hours incubation. Based on the results of this study, these plants had the potentials of being fed to livestock especially during the dry season when forage feeds are generally scarce.
Isolation and identification of fungi causing decay in pepper fruits from four markets in Makurdi, Benue state, Nigeria namely Northbank, Wurukum, High level and Wadata was carried out. Samples were collected in polythene envelopes and taken to the laboratory for fungal isolation. They were surfaced sterilized in 5% NaOCl solution for 1 minute, rinsed in several changes of sterile distilled water and plated on Potato Dextrose Agar in Petri dishes. After 5-7 days of growth, subculturing was done to obtain pure cultures. Identification of the isolates was made macroscopically and microscopically. Colony characteristics such as appearance, change in medium colour and growth rate were observed. Shapes of the conidia and conidiophores were also taken note of. Five fungi, namely Aspergillus niger, Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium oxysporum, Colletotrichum asianum and Bipolaris zeicola were isolated with 31.52%, 29.76%, 5.93%, 20.68% and 12.11% as their percentage occurrence respectively. Pathogenicity of isolates ranged from 4 -5 respectively which indicated 61-100% of decay. The presence of these fungi in pepper could lead to severe health implications when consumed.
The experiment was conducted to study the effect of chlorine, packaging materials and storage condition on quality and shelf life of pepper. Fruits and vegetables are sources of digestible food. Peppers are good sources of carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and are considered as staple source of stew and soup ingredient in Nigeria. Pepper are highly perishable, proper handling of pepper will enable it to store for some weeks. Pepper were stored in four different storage methods: non-treated and stored in evaporative cooler, non-treated stored in basket, treated with chlorine and stored in basket and treated with chlorine stored in evaporative cooler. All kept at ambient (Temperature 25-28°C & relative humidity 70-90%) condition. The sack wall of evaporative cooler and basket was constantly wet with water. Data on physiological weight loss (%), decay (%), nonmarketability (%), shelf life (days), total soluble solid (TSS), tritrable acid (TA) were taken. At 21 days of storage period, pepper treated and stored in evaporative had 44.76% marketability while other treatments had more than 67% pepper fruits were non-marketable. With the use of evaporative cooler, shelf life of pepper had extended up to 21 days as compared to non-treated and without packaging.
The effects of plant population density of maize on performance of component crop on cowpeamaize intercrop, were studied in field experiments at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Agriculture Makurdi in 2005 and 2006 cropping season, the experiment was set as a 2x3 factorial in split plot design and was replicate three times. Cowpea varieties that are Ife-brown and Kano-white constituted the main plots whereas maize population density occupied the subplots. The main crop had a constant population density of 40,000 plants/ha while maize in sub plot crop had varying population densities of 10,000, 20,000, and 40,000 plants/ha. Sole crop of maize and cowpea were also included in the experiment. Cowpea and maize planted at the same time. The results indicate that population density of maize at 40,000 plants/ha have significant effects on yield of cowpea varieties. Grain yield of maize was highest when maize planted at population density of 40,000 plants/ha. Population interaction effect and varieties was not significant on grain yield of maize in 2005. Interaction effect showed that yield was highest (765.3 kg/ha) when Kano-white variety of Original Research Article
Peppers are important sources of digestible carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. These crops are highly perishable and high postharvest losses often result if handled poorly or stored in unfavorable conditions. This study is to assess how the period of storage actually affects the properties of the fresh pepper and to obtain the optimum period that they can be stored without losing their essential properties. An alternative non-refrigerated storage that can potentially maintain quality longer is the use of evaporative coolers. In this study, the effects of evaporative cooling system lower temperature (28.31±3.85°C, 83.84±9.33% RH) on the proximate analysis of pepper species (Capsicum annuum, Capsicum genus and Capsicum chinense) were evaluated. The evaporative cooler was stored under ambient condition (33.21±1.67°C, 68±3.78% RH). This experiment was carried out in Makurdi, Benue State Nigeria between November and December. The samples of three species of pepper used for this study were washed with distilled water and treated with 200ppm hydrochloride, allowed to drained and stored in basket wrapped with polythene and foam (evaporative cooler) for 21 days, during which tests carried out to quantify some nutritional Original Research Article
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