Garlic (Allium sativum) contains various biologically active components that play a significant role in the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections. It contains sulfur compounds like allicin, ajoene, allylmethyltrisulfide, diallyltrisulfide, diallyldisulphide and others which exhibit various biological properties like antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic and cardiovascular effects. The objective of the current review was to relate various literatures and assess the anti-microbial potential of garlic extract. The antimicrobial potency of garlic can be maximised by increasing the concentration of the extract. Garlic extract of 100% concentration showed a maximum zone of inhibition against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

A stochastic production technology that allows risk effects of factor inputs was estimated for maize farmers in Ethiopia. The results suggested that the promoted improved maize technology exhibits constant returns to scale whereas non-adopters use decreasing returns to scale technology. The study showed that timely planting is critical for maize yield stability among both adopters and non-adopters and suggests the importance of using oxen and higher efforts to achieve that. Nevertheless, the results showed that most of the factors under the control of the farmers do not offer powerful explanation to maize yield variability compared to natural factors such as rainfall, frost, pests and diseases.

Background. Mushrooms are increasingly becoming an important component of diets worldwide, and it is of paramount importance to choose appropriate substrates to grow them. The objective of this study was to grow Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom using different agricultural substrates. Methods. Corncobs, finger millet straw, and bamboo waste were collected from different sites of the Awi Zone. The substrates were chopped into small pieces, and 500 g of their dry mass alone and their combination was measured, packed in a polythene bag, moistened, and pasteurized. The cooled substrates were inoculated with a spoon of P. ostreatus spawn brought from Debre Berhan University. The bags were placed in the growing room, and growth parameters were recorded continuously with environmental variables. The experimental setup was a complete randomized design, six treatments with three replicates. Results. The fastest spawn running phase of P. ostreatus was 28.71 ± 0.80 days, pinhead formation was 32.36 ± 0.26 days, and fruiting bodies’ formation was 5.19 ± 0.74 days after the pinhead was recorded on the corncob substrate. The highest fresh weight and biological efficiency with the significant statistical association were obtained from P. ostreatus grown on finger millet straw (253.07 ± 1.05 and 50.20 ± 0.47, respectively). The highest average number of pinheads and fruiting bodies (29.60 and 11.44, respectively) was recorded on finger millet straw. The lowest biological efficiency (20.80 ± 0.41), fresh weight (101.48 ± 0.91), number of pinheads (14.40), and number of fruiting bodies (4.25) were recorded from a mixture of corncob and bamboo waste (50% each) substrates. Conclusion. Finger millet straw is recommended as the best substrate for the cultivation of P. ostreatus. The mixed substrate of corncob and bamboo waste (1 : 1) for P. ostreatus cultivation is not encouraged due to poor growth performance.

Fresh and unpasteurized fruit juice is common in restaurants, cafeteria, hotels and juice house of Ethiopian cities. Most fruit juices contain sufficient nutrients that could support microbial growth. The current investigation was carried out to investigate the microbiological quality and processing conditions of fruit juice vended in Shewarobit town. Purposive sampling technique was employed to collect sixteen fruit juice samples comprising of eight avocado and eight papaya from five cafeterias and three restaurants of Shewarobit town from November 2017 to January 2018. A wide mouth sterile bottle was used to collect fruit juice. Collected samples were diluted and 0.1 mL inoculated on plate count agar to determine total viable count, on violet red bile agar to determine total coliform count, on mannitol salt agar to determine total Staphylococcal count and on Sabouraud's dextrose agar for count of yeast and molds. Questionnaires were delivered for juice vendors to obtain information on demographic characteristics and conditions for processing. There is no significant statistical difference between numbers of microbial count (p> 0.05). The total viable count was found in the range of 1.3 × 10 5 to 2.9 ×10 5 cfu/ mL. The total coliform count was found to be between 0.1 × 10 5 and 2.4 × 10 5 cfu/mL. Staphylococci count was between 0.2 × 10 5 and 1.7 × 10 5 cfu/mL. The total yeast and mould counts for all fruit juice were in the range of 1.4 × 10 5 to 2.7 × 10 5 cfu/mL. Microbiological quality of most of the fruit juices were found to be not satisfactory when compared with Gulf region standard. Therefore, regular supervision and training about safe processing and handling is very crucial for juice vendors to improve microbiological quality of fruit juice.

Background:Mushrooms are increasingly becoming an important component of diets worldwide and it is of paramount importance to choose appropriate substrates to grow them. The objective of this study was to grow Pleurotus ostreatus using different agricultural substrates.Methods:Corncobs, Finger millet straw and Bamboo waste were collected from different sites of Awi zone. The substrates were chopped in to small pieces and 500g of their dry mass alone and their combination was measured packed in polythene bag, moistened, and pasteurized. The cooled substrates inoculated with a spoon of P. ostreatus spawn brought from Debre Berhan University. The bags were placed in growing room and growth parameters were recorded continuously with monitoring of environmental variables. The experimental setup was completely randomized design, six treatments with three replicates.Results: The fastest spawn running phase of P. ostreatus was observed in 28.71±0.80 days, pinhead formation of 32.36±0.26 days and fruiting bodies formation of 5.19±0.74 days after pinhead appearance was recorded on Corncob substrate. The highest fresh weight and biological efficiency with significant statistical association was obtained from the P. ostreatus grown on Finger millet straw (253.07±1.05 and 50.20±0.47 respectively). The highest average number of pinhead and fruiting bodies (29.60 and 11.44 respectively) was recorded on Finger millet straw. The lowest biological efficiency (20.80±0.41), fresh weight (101.48±0.91), number of pinhead (14.40), number of fruiting bodies (4.25) was recorded from a mixture of Corncob and Bamboo waste (50% each) substrates.Conclusion:The use of mixed Corncob and Bamboo waste (1:1) for cultivation of P. ostreatus is not encouraged due to poor growth performance.