ABSTRACT Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is an economically and nutritionally important crop in Rwanda. However, its production is threatened by the invasive tomato leaf miner (Tuta absoluta Meyrick) since 2015. Options for integrated pest management (IPM) for its control under Rwandan conditions have not been developed. The main objective of this study was to contribute to enhanced tomato productivity and fruit quality in Rwanda through evaluation of entomopathogens and plant extracts as o...
ABSTRACT Mycotoxin and Brucella abortus contamination of milk along the dairy value chain is of public health concern and contributes to food insecurity. Animal feeds that are contaminated with mycotoxin causing fungi pass the contaminationtion to the milk. Inhygienic handling of milk can lead to Brucella contamination of milk. This study aimed at determining the on-farm risk factors associated with Mycotoxins and B. abortus occurrence and their prevalence on smallholder farms at rural and p...
ABSTRACT Mosquitoes transmit devastating diseases that kill millions of people each year. The adverse effects on human health, well being and high economic losses inflicted by mosquitoes, the malaria vector, is an important stimulant for the search for new, safe and effective mosquito larvicides. The pool of natural products is an important source of such larvicidal metabolites. Fungi have extensive secondary metabolites at their disposal, and some could be active against the mosquito larvae...
ABSTRACT Aflatoxin contamination is a major problem affecting cereal producers worldwide. Aspergillus species, which are known to produce these toxins, colonize cereals in the field, during post-harvest period through to storage. This study sought to establish variation in: (i) fungal species in maize and soil, (ii) their morphological diversity, (iii) the distribution of toxigenic Aspergillus species as well as, (iv) the seasonal variations of aflatoxins and (v) the predominant toxin type i...
ABSTRACT This study explores the use of lactic acid bacteria from fresh salad vegetables to inhibit fungal growth. The antifungal assay was done using the agar well diffusion method as reported by Schillinger and Lucke (1989). The largest zone of inhibition (25mm) was recorded by the antagonistic activity of the isolate identified to Lactobacillus plantarum against Candida albicans ATCC 90029. No activity was recorded against Candida parapsilosis ATCC 22019, C. valida UCH 1508, C. pseudotrop...
In this work, the antimicrobial properties of fresh Buchholzia Coriacea (wonderful kola) and its extracts was investigated. The proximate composition of the fresh kola was also determined. B. coriacea was dried, milled and extracted using two different solvents of varying polarity: hexane and methanol. The effect of the fresh kola, hexane and methanol extracts was tested on some food borne pathogens. This was evaluated by measuring the zone of inhibition on nutrient agar for bacteria and malt...
ABSTRACT The seed oil of Leuconia leucocephala was investigated for its antimicrobial activity and the pharmaceutical properties of its lotion formulation determined. The oil was extracted from the pulverised dried seeds of the Leuconia leucocephala plant by cold maceration in n-hexane. The oil was tested against four bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Esherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and four fungi (Aspergilus niger, Rhizopus stolon, Penicillum notatum and Cand...
ABSTRACT Dried, milled cassava and yam peels were inoculated separately with A. nigermidRhizopus sp in solid state. The changes in crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and hemiccllulose were evaluated til 0. 4. X, and 10 days after inoculation. At. the end of the 10th day of fermentation with A. niger the crude protein of cassava peel meal (CPM) increased from 3.5% to 7.0% while that inoculated with Rhizopus sp increased to 5.25%. Cru...
ABSTRACT Tomato is one of the most widely cultivated horticutural crops but the production is affected by the pest problems like Fusarial wilt. Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. Lycopersicit is a destructive disease of the tomato and one of the main causes of the crop decline worldwide. The disease is currently managed using synthetic fungicides but there is a growing concern about the traces of the pesticide residues on the product and resistance to the current fungicides. Fungicides are applied at...
ABSTRACT Infectious diseases remain to be a global health burden due to the development of antibiotic resistance by pathogenic microorganisms. Antibiotic resistance has led to increased number of deaths among children and adults. This study sought to screen for antimicrobial activity of extracts from fungal endophytes against selected human pathogens, identify, and characterize the fungal endophytes and screen for phytochemicals present in selected medicinal plants‟ extracts. Sixty-five fu...
ABSTRACT The emergence of multi-drug resistant strains is a formidable threat to the fight against skin diseases and hence effective alternative regimes must be sought. Although many studies have been done on antimicrobial activities of Syzygium aromaticum and Eucalyptus citriodora oils, no information is available on their antimicrobial interaction and hence the purpose of this study. Bioactivity testing of Syzygium aromaticum and Eucalyptus citriodora oils was done using disc diffusion tec...
ABSTRACT Polyamide-6 (also known as nylon-6) is one of the biodegradation-resistant synthetic polymers used in the manufacturing of commodity plastic materials. The environmental effects of the persistence of this material in landfill and on surface water bodies pose global problems that endanger public health. Knowledge of the microbial distribution and pattern of their interaction with these plastics will provide the biological resources and scientific basis for the development of sustaina...
ABSTRACT Maize is an important cereal crop and a staple food in most parts of Africa. Food insecurity is one of the major challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. The food situation is worsened by fungal infestation of maize crops in the fields. The most prevalent fungi on maize crops are Fusarium moniliforme and Fusarium graminearum that cause red ear rot, stalk rot and Grey leaf spot (GLS) respectively. The development of antifungal resistance and side effects associated with synthetic pesticides ...
ABSTRACT In the recent time, the use of low cost biosorbents like bacteria, fungi, algae and some agricultural by-products have been investigated for their biosorption capacities. In this work, the biosorptions of three heavy metals (zinc, copper and manganese) from aqueous wastewater solution by five micro-organisms (Bacillus circulans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus xylosus, Streptomyces rimosus and Saccharomyces sp.(Yeast) were investigated using a combined flow and batch process...
ABSTRACT Mosquitoes present a worldwide, public health and nuisance challenge since they transmit human diseases including west Nile virus, malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, filiarisis and other viral diseases throughout the globe. An obvious method for preventing the spread of these diseases is to control mosquito vector population by insecticides and synthetic agents, which have been developed and employed in the field with considerable success. As a result of insects’ resistance a...