Fungal foodborne diseases pose serious public health problems and cause significant loss of the world's food stock as a result of toxic contamination. Hence the need to find solutions to foodborne fungal contaminants. This study investigated the antifungal and phytochemical properties of Moringa oleifera leaves and seeds using various extraction solvents (acetone, water, ethanol and methanol). Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger isolated from food samples were used as test organisms. The Agar Well Diffusion method was used to determine the antifungal activities of Moringa oleifera leave and seed extracts, while standard phytochemical tests were used to analyze for the phytochemicals. Moringa oleifera leave and seed extracts showed the presence of glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, phenols and hydrolysable tannins after the chemical test. At 100 mg/ml for Methanol extract, the leaves gave wider zones of inhibition (18.33 mm against A. flavus and 17.17 mm against A. niger) than the seed extract (16.50 mm against A. flavus and 16.33 mm against A. niger) for all test organism. The activity of the extracts were however lower than Sodium benzoate (33 mm at 100 mg/ml), as standard. The Minimum Inhibition Concentration of the plant extracts was most active at 25 mg/ml. Moringa oleifera leaves and seeds extracts may serve as natural antifungals for controlling growth of food spoilage fungi, and therefore may be used as a bio-preservative agent for prolonging the shelf-life of food products.
This work assessed modes of irrigation on vegetable production in fifty (50) vegetable gardens from ten (10) sampled areas in the Accra Metropolis. Irrigation water sources include: pipe, segment, gutter, dug-well, dam, river, and drains. Demographic survey, nature of the surrounding of the water bodies, physico-chemical and microbiological analysis of irrigation waters were carried out and contrasted with standard values. The analysis of the parameters of various water samples was within the accepted standard values, except the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) value for the irrigation water from Opeibea (3020) and Kasoa (340), which were relatively high compared to standard value of 250. The faecal coliform counts for irrigation water at Abossey-Okai are also high (1150/100 ml) compared to the standard values of 1000/100 ml irrigation water. The vegetable farming was found to be a male dominated activity (86%), mostly practised by 21 -30 year age group (69%). However the education levels of farmers are low; 70% either do not have formal education or only up to primary education levels. A greater percentage (68%) of the water used for irrigation was waste water, mostly from gutters and segments. Proper management practices of effluent are recommended for vegetable production.
The study was conducted using 20 cafeterias in Greater Accra Region on the effect of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Purposive sampling technique was employed for the collection of the study data. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed to the customers of the selected cafeterias. The data gathered was analyzed by employing structural equation modelling (SEM) supported by AMOS 23.0 with maximum likelihood estimation in order to test the proposed hypothesis for the study. From the analysis of the data, tangibility was statistically having significant relationship with customer satisfaction. The result indicates that responsiveness, empathy, and assurance have insignificant relationships with customer satisfaction of the selected cafeterias.
This paper comparatively assessed the effectiveness of potable water filtration methods, commonly used in the hinterlands in some Ghanaian communities. Physico-chemical and microbiological analysis were carried out on pond, dam and river water samples, using spectrophotometric, pour plate count and the most probable number (MPN) methods. For the unfiltered water samples the total dissolved solids (TDS) and colour were the only parameters with values within recommended standards. The other parameters, total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, total coliforms and bacterial counts levels were above their standard recommended values. All the filtration methods showed reduction in the levels or better accepted values of the physico-chemical and microbiological parameters. The ceramic filters and the household sand filters showed outstanding results, with all analysed parameters being within the acceptable standards levels. These two methods could be promoted for use to treat untreated drinking water. It is envisaged that a combination of a number of these methods would produce even better results, especially when agents such as alum and activated carbon are included. Follow-up research in this regard is therefore recommended.
In today's competitive global environment, employee productivity is an essential element of a company's success. Employee productivity can be significantly hindered by high levels of stress experienced in the work environment. Stress is a universal phenomenon and persons from nearly every walk of life have to face stress. Employers today are critically analyzing the stress management issues that contribute to lower job performance of employees. The main aim of the study is to examine the impact of stress and its effect on employees' productivity at the selected cafeterias. Descriptive survey was adopted as the research design. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting a sample size of 320 employees from 20 cafeterias in Accra. Questionnaires were used as data collection instrument for the study. The results obtained suggest there is statistically and significant impact of stress on productivity. The size of the impact was estimated to be (V=0.50). Also, demographic variables such as Age, gender and educational of employees have significant impact on some stress variables. It was recommended that there must be education on the impact of stress on employees' productivity in the cafeterias especially.
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