ABSTRACT Striga weeds are root parasitic plants that affect production of food in sub-Saharan Africa. Striga genus includes species; Striga hermonthica, S. gesnerioides, S. aspera, S. asiatica and S. forbesii with S. hermonthica being the most widely spread in the semi-arid tropical African zones. The most effective Striga control strategy is to exploit natural resistance. Wild grasses contain a resistance mechanism that enables them to resist Striga infection resulting in low Striga quantity...
ABSTRACT Bacterial infections are responsible for numerous deaths every year worldwide. On average, 80% of the African populations cannot afford conventional drugs. Moreover, many synthetic antibiotics are associated with side effects and progressive increase in antimicrobial resistance. Currently, there is growing interest in discovering new antibacterial agents from medicinal plants. About 60% of the population living in developing countries depends on herbal remedies for healthcare needs. ...
ABSTRACT Enterobacterial constitute a large family of Gram-negative bacteria which reside in the intestines of the animals and can be pathogenic. Penicillins and fluoroquinolones have been used as antibiotics to combat enterobacterial infections. Challenges in treatment of enterobacterial infections with conventional drugs have led the physicians to opt for phyto products and other alternative medicine for treatment of enterobacterial infections. Heavy bacterial load leads to oxidative ...
ABSTRACT Diabetes is increasingly affecting a growing number of patients and seriously reducing their quality of life. Use of conventional drugs in diabetes management is expensive, thus, unaffordable to most patients. Furthermore most of these conventional drugs are associated with undesirable side effects. Incorporation of herbal medicine into conventional healthcare system may significantly improve the overall management of Diabetes. Evaluation of efficacy and safety by scientific method i...
ABSTRACT Warburgia ugandensis Sprague is a highly valued medicinal plant which is over-exploited for its medicinal use among many communities. Encroachment and fragmentation of the species habitat has led to a notable decrease in its population size and distribution to the level that warrant some conservation efforts. Moreover, information on diversity in its antimicrobial activity and phytochemical profiles is lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate variations in antimicrobial activit...
ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), is an energy giving food and has a crucial role in many of the world‟s least developed countries by providing not only food but also economic security. However, its productivity has been hampered by constraints that reduce yields. One of the biotic constraints is cassava anthracnose disease (CAD) caused by pathogen Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, results into more than 30 per cent reduction of produce in the fields. The use of conventional method...
ABSTRACT Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the main staple food for more than half of the world’s population. Improving cooking and eating quality of rice is one of the important objectives of many plant breeding programs. Aroma and cooked kernel elongation are two critical parameters that determine the market value, cooking and eating qualities of rice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the phenotypic and genetic diversity of thirteen (13) Oryza sativa L. populations from Ke...
ABSTRACT Studies on the biosorption potentials of Zea mays cobs and Musa paradisiaca peels in the treatment of waste effluent from paint industry, was carried out. Standard laboratory procedures using 400 ml of the effluent were adopted to assess the values of Pb, Fe, Cland PO4, BOD and TDS at pH 6.7 and pH 10.0 before and after treatment of the effluent with 1g and 3g of pulverized corn cobs and plantain peels. Standard procedures were adopted for the phytochemical screening of the biosorbe...
ABSTRACT Biofertilizers offer commercially feasible and environmentally sound means for supplementing nutrient supply to crops. The basic problem in acquiring quality rhizobia biofertilizers is the low number of efficient cells. The major limitations affecting the quality of rhizobia biofertilizers are; short storage duration, unavailability of appropriate carrier materials, and susceptibility to high temperature. The present study evaluated the effects of selected carrier materials and stora...
ABSTRACT The Napier grass stunt (NGS) phytoplasma is a phloem limited bacterium that is transmitted by insect vector, Maiestas banda (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). The phytoplasma causes NGS disease in Napier grass resulting into huge forage yield losses hence impacting negatively the economy of smallholder dairy farmers in East Africa. Phytoplasma infections causes massive changes in phloem physiology including the sieve elements which may lead to reduced rate of phloem mass flow that interfere...
ABSRACT Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean L.) is a protein rich legumes, with food security potential. The nine (9) accessions of the Bambara Groundnut were obtained from ational Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (I'TACGRAB) Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. These were accessed for their genetic and phylogenic relatedness through electrophoresis of the seed's proteins. Protein characterization with standard gel marker revealed that the 9 accessions contained proteins (Bovine Serum ...
ABSTRACT The importance of spices and herbs as dietary supplements and alternative medicines to Zimbabwean society has increased in recent times. The popularity of these substances has come largely as a result of the dire economic situation prevalent in Zimbabwe which has engendered the dramatic collapse of the country„s healthcare system. In spite of the numerous therapeutic claims that have been associated with spices and herbs sold openly in the streets, they pose a genuine threat to the...
ABSTRACT Escherichia coli is a common gastrointestinal enterobacteriaceae that contaminates food resulting in food poisoning. Due to prolonged exposure to antibiotic therapy in their livestock hosts, E. coli continue to develop antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Most E. coli strains are commensal but may attain virulence genes through horizontal gene transfer. A cross sectional observational study was carried out to determine the total E. coli count in polony, beef burgers and traditionally ferm...
ABSTRACT Finger millet is chief food crop for millions of people in the world. It is ranked third in cereal production in semi-arid regions after sorghum and pearl millet. It is generally grown all over the world especially the developing countries with stable yield and strong adaptability to a number of agro-ecological environments. Despite its importance, finger millet increase in production is limited by abiotic stresses especially drought and salinity which affects the plant in the field ...
ABSTRACT Pain, pyrexia and inflammation cause unnecessary discomfort, suffering and also lower productivity of the victims. Conventional drugs for these conditions are expensive, not easily available and have adverse side effects. There is therefore need to develop alternative therapeutic agents, such as medicinal plant derivatives, that are cheaper and have lesser side effects. Terminalia brownii is used in traditional medicine to treat pain, pyrexia, inflammation but there is no scientific ...