Abstract: Tsetse fly-borne trypanosomiasis remains a significant problem in Africa despite years of interventions and research. The need for new strategies to control and possibly eliminate trypanosomiasis cannot be over-emphasized. Entomopathogenic fungi infect specific arthropod hosts through the cuticle and penetrate deep into the internal tissues causing death in about 3-14 days depending on the initial infectious dose. In addition, they can reduce blood feeding abilities in haematophago...
Abstract: Stem borers have been reported as the most injurious insect pests of rice among the insects that attack rice crop globally. Management of stem borers has been relied on the us e of synthetic insecticides but has been ineffective due to the cryptic nature of the attack, disruption of environment and unaffordability to purchase insecticides by small- scale farmers. The attempts to control insects have changed over time from chemicals to natural control methods. Among the various natu...
Abstract Background Grains of important food and export crops in Africa are susceptible to contamination by toxin-producing moulds. Aflatoxins are mycotoxins associated with liver damage and cancer in humans and animals. These toxic substances are produced by fungi (such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus) in food and feed exposed to poor conditions during crop cultivation, storage or processing of harvest. The presence of aflatoxins in especially maize and peanuts in Kenya is...
ABSTRACT Mouldiness in stored cocoa beans in Ghana and the production of aflatoxin have been studied. Based on actual weight of discarded beans, mouldy beans have been estimated to constitute 0.13 % and 0.00002 % of marketable beans at the farm ers’ level and the buying agents’ depots respectively in the Tafo District. This is contrasted with an estimated value o f 0.16 % obtained in a questionnaire type study involving farmers. Estimated mouldy beans at the Tema port was 0.69 % per year...
ABSTRACT Studies were carried out to establish ethno-botanical information and biological activities of crude extracts from Commiphora swynnertonii against selected microbes of veterinary importance in chickens. Initially, a questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information on practices and knowledge on ethno-botanical uses of C. swynnertonii in the study area. Then extracts from different morphological parts of the study plant were tested against selected bacteria and fungi in vitro u...
ABSTRACT Studies were carried out to establish ethno-botanical information and biological activities of crude extracts from Commiphora swynnertonii against selected microbes of veterinary importance in chickens. Initially, a questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information on practices and knowledge on ethno-botanical uses of C. swynnertonii in the study area. Then extracts from different morphological parts of the study plant were tested against selected bacteria and fungi in vitro u...
Medicinal plants have provided a source of inspiration for novel drugs compounds since plant derived medicines have made large contributions to human health. The traditional healers make use of water primarily as solvent but extracts of these plants were certainly much better and powerful. This may be due to the better solubility of the active components in organic solvents (Umadevi, 2011). The phytochemical component of the ethanolic extracts of Basella alba leaf revealed the presence of tan...
ABSTRACT Sustainable mango production will rely increasingly on alternatives to conventional chemical insecticides that are environmentally friendly for the management of fruit flies. The use of microbial control agents such as fungi in pest suppression is considered suitable since micro-organisms usually exert low environmental impact and are target specific. Application methods of bio-pesticides in the environment, which use minimal amount of inoculum is currently under improvement from inu...
Abstract: Sustainable mango production will rely increasingly on alternatives to conventional chemical insecticides that are environmentally friendly for the management of fruit flies. The use of microbial control agents such as fungi in pest suppression is considered suitable since micro-organisms usually exert low environmental impact and are target specific. Application methods of bio-pesticides in the environment, which use minimal amount of inoculum is currently under improvement from i...
ABSTRACT Propagation of mould and yeast isolates was carried out on a formulated acid-cassava starch medium and commercial potato dextrose agar.
ABSTRACT The water quality of the Imo River in Oyigbo local government area was ascertained using standard methods in this research. The important physicochemical characteristics of the river were investigated during the wet season of 2013 at six sampling locations. In situ measurements were made for water temperature, salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), biological oxygen demand (BOD), etc using the HORIBA U-10 water quality checker. The total dissolved solids and total soluble...
ABSTRACT Medicinal plants have been used for the treatment of different ailments in human and animal health systems for many years. Approximately over 80% of rural and urban African populations use plant-based synthetic products for primary healthcare. However, the widespread and indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led to clinical resistance of previously sensitive microorganisms. Despite plants and associated endophytes being rich sources of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial potenti...
ABSTRACT Pito is a traditional alcoholic beverage that is mostly brewed in the three northern regions of Ghana. Although widely consumed and used during many festivities, poor shelf-life limits its economic potential as an income generating venture for most women. The study was carried out to improve the shelf life through the addition of Moringa oleifera leaf extract and pasteurization. The study was in two phases, that is, the extract level testing phase and the storage phase. The former ...
Abstract Contamination of complementary foods by aflatoxin is a serious public health threat that requires attention to ensure that proper actions are taken to limit its health effects. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess parents’ practices and barriers associated with reducing aflatoxins contamination in complementary foods among parents with children aged 6-23 months in central regions of Tanzania. Semi-structured questionnaire (364) respondents and focus group discussion (FG...
Abstract Bioremediation has been proven to be the most effective method of cleaning up oil contaminated soils through the application of nutrients and microorganism to contaminated soils. Hence, this research was aimed at investigating the effects of particle sizes on bioremediation of crude oil polluted sandy soils. Six different soil samples were sieved using the B.S sieve sizes. The sieve sizes were classified into X and Y such that X is fine to coarse sand while Y is very fine to coarse ...