Natural & Applied Sciences

Natural & Applied Sciences Research Papers/Topics

Current applications of probiotic foods in Africa

Currently, there is a growing interest in the consumption of probiotic foods due to their reported health benefits. In developed countries, probiotics have been extensively studied and this has led to the production of a variety of probiotic foods especially with dairy milk. However, the use of beverages from plant materials as a potential carrier of probiotic microorganisms is receiving increasing attention. Various indigenous fermented foods containing probiotic bacteria have been part of l...

Physico-thermal and pasting properties of soy-melon-enriched “gari” semolina from cassava

Abstract: The physical, thermal and pasting properties of “gari”, a fermented and toasted cassava granule, enriched with 10% full fat soy-melon protein supplements, at different processing stages, were studied. The stages at which the gari meal was enriched were: after fermentation but before toasting (PRT, soak-mix method) and after toasting (AFT, dry-mix method). Based on the result of the analysis of the physical properties, the swelling index of the samples decreased from 3.79 for the...

EFFECT OF CO-FERMENTATION ON NUTRITIVE QUALITY AND PASTING PROPERTIES OF MAIZE/COWPEA/SWEET POTATO AS COMPLEMENTARY FOOD

Abstract Traditional complementary foods based on cereals have inadequate nutrients required by infants. This study developed a co- fermentation process of maize (50%), cowpea, (30%) and sweet potato (20%w/w) to produce a complementary food for infants. The control was fermented whole grain maize. Gruel of fermented cereal is called ‘ogi’ in Yoruba native language of south-west Nigeria. Analyses of proximate composition, minerals, amino acids and ß-carotene contents were done using stand...

Studies on the Nutritional quality, anti-nutritional factors, amino acid profile and functional properties of co-fermented wheat/cowpea

ABSTRACT Nigeria was ranked 14th in global assessment of under-five mortality rate due to infants poor nutrition. (The Punch 2011) The Wheat, genus Triticum, tribe,Triticeae family, is limiting in lysine but has adequate amount of sulphur-containing amino acids (Adeyeye & Aye 2005).The cultivation of Triticum durum yields well in Nigeria. It is mainly consumed by adults who eatit in bread and other pastries (The Compass 2011).There have been cases of hypersensitive response to wheat gluten ca...

Ethanol Yield of Three Varieties of Cassava (Odongbo, Ofege, and TMS 30572) Using α-Amylase from Germinated Paddy Rice and Yeast from Palm Wine

AbstractA process of conversion of flour from three varieties of cassava, namely Odongbo, ofege and TMS30752 to ethanol using α-amylase locally sourced from germinated unhusked paddy rice and yeast isolated from palm wine was developed. It involves the germination of paddy rice for a period of 15days to produce α- amylase for starch hydrolysis and isolation of yeast from palm wine for fermentation. The results showed that optimum amylase yield of “ofada” rice paddy was at 6th day germin...

Development of extraction protocol for phenolic compounds in musk tree seed (Buchholzia coriacea)

The impact of extraction methodology and polarity of extraction solvents on the assay of phenolic compounds was investigated using musk tree seed (Buchholzia coriacea) as a model substrate. The efficiency of four solvents (methanol, ethanol, acetone and ethyl acetate) at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% aqueous solution and five extraction methods (shaking, vortex mixing, stirring, sonication, sonication/vortexing and accelerated solvent extractor) in extracting the phenolics of B. coriacea were evalu...

Proximate and sensory properties of fruit juice produced from varieties of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus).

Abstract Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) juice was produced from different varieties of watermelon (Dansuke, orangeglo and cream of Saskatchewan). Single strength orange juice was used as control. Proximate composition of  sample products was analyzed. Results showed that single strength orange juice had more moisture and protein (93.41% and 0.74% respectively) than the water melon juices. The watermelon juice had more carbohydrates, fat and ash.  Taste of single strength orange juice was c...

Physical Properties of Cookies Produced from Cassava – Groundnut-Corn Starch Blend- A Response Surface Analysis

ABSTRACT  Cookie bars were produced from mixtures of cassava and groundnut flours with cornstarch as binder. Box-Behnken response surface design for k=3 was used to study the effects of experimental variables for cassava flour (25- 75%), groundnut flour (25-75%) and corn starch (5-15%). Effects of the experimental variables on physical properties of the cookie bars were assessed. Experimental variables had significant effect on the thickness and spread factor of the cookie bars. Keywords: P...

Factor Analysis and Survey Design

This paper analyzes factor analysis, discussing both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), as they relate to survey design. Shi et al. (2017) is discussed and compared to another study applying factor analysis by Tungkunanan (2020). A discussion of how factor analysis is used in my current field and potentially for COVID research is also explored. First, however, a discussion of the history of factor analysis, how it was designed, improved, and is currently...

Assess the Value of Hypothesis Testing

This paper discusses and analyzes the procedures of hypothesis testing, benefits, and detriments. 

Human Activity Recognition by Wearable Sensors

The purpose of this project is to develop a model that is capable of recognizing daily basic human activities under real-world conditions, using data collected by a waist-mounted triaxial accelerometer and gyroscope built into a cellphone (in our study, a Samsung Galaxy S II). Activity recognition is formulated as a supervised classification problem, whose data is obtained via an experiment having 30 human subjects perform each of the activities. Our classification models have been trained...

An Overview of Polymers Used in Paint and Surface Coatings Application

An investigation was carried out to identify the different types of polymers used in paint and surface coatings and variations of the final products upon modifications of the materials used. The process of manufacturing paint and surface coatings involves a great deal of understanding various molecular behavior of paint and surface coatings polymeric matrix. These advance knowledge helps in developing new and advanced modifications of the super polymers. Every desire of a paint and surface co...

Steganography

Steganography is important due to the exponential development and the secret communication of computer users over the internet. Steganography is a data hiding technique, which is used to hide the data within a file to avoid detection. Stenography or covered writing is of hiding private or sensitive information which appears to be unrevealed information. Hiding information or wrapping information in other information like image, audio, video etc.    KEYWORDS:Steganography,Data concealing,Sec...

ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF THE LEAF EXTRACTS OF Solanecio biafrae AGAINST SOME SELECTED CLINICAL ISOLATES

An average Nigerian household consumes vegetables of various kinds but are ignorant of their antibacterial properties and other benefits. There is also an increase in the prevalence of multidrug resistant strains of bacteria which has raised the spectra of untreatable bacterial infections. This challenge has requested for urgency to search for new infection-fighting strategies. This study therefore investigated the antibacterial activities of the ethanolic and acetonic leaf extracts of Solane...


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