Food Microbiology articles list

India is a country of immense diversity. It is home to people of many different racial, languages, ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds. Groups of people in India differ from each other not only in physical or demographic characteristics but also in distinctive patterns of behavior and these patterns are determined by social and cultural factors like language, region, religion, and caste. Apart from behaviour, economic development, level of education and political culture of the people in various social segments differ from region to region. More you can say that economy and cultures have been enriched by the contributions of migrants from round the globe. In an increasingly globalised world, migratory movements is continuously shaping the countries all over the world. Some countries like India and Ireland, which set the example of economic development and social integration, have the positive impact of the migration by globalisation and some countries like USA, which recently witness racism, xenophobia and discrimination have the negative impact on the migrants. It does not mean India do not face fragmentation and USA do not have cohesion. USA have many stories which show successful integration process, that facilitated the lives of immigrant communities, but being a developed country it still suffers from cultural alienation. In these countries, borders are built within borders to create cultural divides that do not allow people to integrate. Recently, this problem has become more prominent due to the rise of terrorism, clash of cultures in the world, leading to the glorification of stereotypes. People are becoming less accepting towards anyone who does not belong to their region. Migration does not stop after people move from one place to another place. The main question start after that ‘now what’ they will do. That is why this topic needs to be discussed thoroughly in order to find better solutions. This paper will begin with an analysis of different approaches to Migration, discuss the target groups for integration policies, provide indicators of the current situation of migrants and proceed to an analysis of integration tools: legislation, social policies and participatory processes. It will focus not only on the impact of migration but also on social integration, mix culture like indo-western culture in a comparative basis.

Ekta Meena

India is a country of immense diversity. It is home to people of many different racial, languages, ethnic, religious, and national backgrounds. Groups of people in India differ from each other not only in physical or demographic characteristics but also in distinctive patterns of behavior and these patterns are determined by social and cultural factors like language, region, religion, and caste. Apart from behaviour, economic development, level of education and political culture of the people in various social segments differ from region to region. More you can say that economy and cultures have been enriched by the contributions of migrants from round the globe. In an increasingly globalised world, migratory movements is continuously shaping the countries all over the world. Some countries like India and Ireland, which set the example of economic development and social integration, have the positive impact of the migration by globalisation and some countries like USA, which recently witness racism, xenophobia and discrimination have the negative impact on the migrants. It does not mean India do not face fragmentation and USA do not have cohesion. USA have many stories which show successful integration process, that facilitated the lives of immigrant communities, but being a developed country it still suffers from cultural alienation. In these countries, borders are built within borders to create cultural divides that do not allow people to integrate. Recently, this problem has become more prominent due to the rise of terrorism, clash of cultures in the world, leading to the glorification of stereotypes. People are becoming less accepting towards anyone who does not belong to their region. Migration does not stop after people move from one place to another place. The main question start after that ‘now what’ they will do. That is why this topic needs to be discussed thoroughly in order to find better solutions. This paper will begin with an analysis of different approaches to Migration, discuss the target groups for integration policies, provide indicators of the current situation of migrants and proceed to an analysis of integration tools: legislation, social policies and participatory processes. It will focus not only on the impact of migration but also on social integration, mix culture like indo-western culture in a comparative basis.

Ekta Meena

In this paper, investigations are made to analyze the human body temperature during wound healing process due to surgery. Wound is considered after the skin graft. Skin graft is a technique used in plastic surgery. Skin is the first line of defense between the human and environment, it is very susceptible to damage. Internal body or core temperature (Tb) is one of the clinical vital signs along with pulse and respiratory rates. Any disturbance in body temperature will drive complexities in wound healing process. These studies are important in the mechanism of establishing the limits of thermal regulation of human body during the healing process in different situations and conditions. The Finite element method is used to analyze tissues temperature for normal tissues (donor site) and abnormal tissues (tissues after surgery). Appropriate boundary conditions have been framed. Numerical results are obtained using Crank Nicolson Method.

Manisha Jain

Intensively cultivated rice-wheat cropping system of the Indo Gangetic plain (IGP) is a potential source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.Agriculture sector emits GHGs like methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The total amount of GHGs emitted by a product is known as its carbon footprint (CFP).Quantification of CFP of crops will help in identifying management practices to reduce CFP of crop production. Studies related to assessing of CFP of agricultural products are lacking. The present review paper was aimed to discuss about the studies done on GHG emission from rice-wheat cropping system of the Indo Gangetic plains. The paper elaborates on what is CFP, how to calculate CFP of rice-wheat cropping system with the help of different case studies. The paper provides insights about certain agricultural management practices which can help in reducing CFP of rice-wheat cropping system. Discussion from this paper signifies the importance of carbon footprint assessment in maintaining the sustainability of rice wheat cropping system.

Dr.Renu Dhupper

Conservation agricultural (CA) practices prove to be beneficial in terms of resource utilization and maintenance of soil health. Rice-Wheat cropping system (RWCS) is the majorcropping system in Indo-Gangetic plains of India. CA practices are becoming popular in this cropping system as sustainable agricultural management practices. Phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are important primary nutrients and are required for crop growth. A field experiment was conducted during the period of 2015-2017 at Taraori village of Karnal district in Haryanato study the effects of conservation agricultural practices on P and K availability as well as uptake in rice-wheat cropping system. The experiment comprised of four treatments i.e. Transplanted rice + Conventionally tilled wheat (T1), Direct seeded rice + Zero tilled wheat with residue retention (T2), Transplanted rice + Zero tilled wheat (T3) and Transplanted rice + Zero tilled wheat with residue retention (T4). Results showed that P uptake was highest in T4 treatment in wheat crop. P uptake in rice was highest in T4 treatment while direct seeded rice (T2) showed lowest P uptake. CA practices also increased K uptake in both the crops. Practicing zero tillage in wheat increased the availability of soil phosphorus as compared to conventionally tilled treatment with highest value (34 kg ha-1) recorded in T3 treatment. But direct seeded rice soil showed lower values of soil available P. Similar to phosphorus, available potassium of soil also increased in all treatments. Highestvalue (341.5 kg ha-1) of available K was recorded in T4 treatment while it was minimum (307.2 kg ha-1) in T1. Residue incorporation in soil led to more availabilityof K in T2 and T4 treatment. This study features the significance of conservation agricultural practices over conventional practices in terms of increasing the uptake and availability phosphorus and potassium in soil. Key words : Conservation agriculture,

Dr.Renu Dhupper

Physically unclonable function (PUF) is a hardware security module preferred for hardware feature based random number and secret key generation. Security of a cryptographic system relies on the quality of the challenge-response pair, it is necessary that the key generation mechanism must unpredictable and its response should constant under different operating condition. Metastable state in CMOS latch is undesirable since it response becomes unpredictable, this feature used in this work to generate a unique response. A feedback mechanism is developed which forces the latch into the metastable region; after metastable state, latch settle to high or state depends on circuit internal condition and noise which cannot be predicted. Obtained inter hamming variation for 8 PUF is 51% and average intra hamming distance is 99.76% with supply voltage variation and 96.22% with temperature variation.

Abhishek Kumar

One of the unique features of Indian society is prevalence of caste system which was originated thousands of years back to demarcate the people engaged in different occupation or jobs. Initially it was not much rigid but gradually people belonging to upper castes for their own selfish means to maintain their monopoly made this arrangement hereditary and started treating people of lower castes disgracefully. For preservation of this system, people started controlling their women to prevent inter-caste marriages and the concept of endogamy came up. This robbed away many types of freedom from women. For women belonging to lower castes, this situation is worse as they are doubly subjugated on the basis on caste as well as gender. Men belonging to their own caste treat them as secondary beings. This paper throws light on this intersection. How intersection of these two kinds of inequalities place them at the lowest position in Indian society. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar rises as their leader who all his life worked for empowerment of downtrodden section of society. He argues that education is the primary tool for evading these differences among people. He further emphasizes to adopt the concept of exogamy to break the backbone of Indian caste system and to immediately leave a religion or culture which legitimizes such system of inequality among people of the same land.

Swati sharma

One of the unique features of Indian society is prevalence of caste system which was originated thousands of years back to demarcate the people engaged in different occupation or jobs. Initially it was not much rigid but gradually people belonging to upper castes for their own selfish means to maintain their monopoly made this arrangement hereditary and started treating people of lower castes disgracefully. For preservation of this system, people started controlling their women to prevent inter-caste marriages and the concept of endogamy came up. This robbed away many types of freedom from women. For women belonging to lower castes, this situation is worse as they are doubly subjugated on the basis on caste as well as gender. Men belonging to their own caste treat them as secondary beings. This paper throws light on this intersection. How intersection of these two kinds of inequalities place them at the lowest position in Indian society. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar rises as their leader who all his life worked for empowerment of downtrodden section of society. He argues that education is the primary tool for evading these differences among people. He further emphasizes to adopt the concept of exogamy to break the backbone of Indian caste system and to immediately leave a religion or culture which legitimizes such system of inequality among people of the same land.

Swati sharma

The ability of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) for effective binding to multiple target microbes has drawn lots of attention as an alternative to antibodies for detecting whole bacteria. We investigated pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) detection by applying a microfluidic based biosensing device embedded with AMP-labeled beads. According to a new channel design, our device is reusable by the repeated operation of detection and regeneration modes, and the binding rate is more enhanced due to even distribution of the bacterial suspension inside the chamber by implementing influx side channels. We observed higher binding affinity of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 for AMP-labeled beads than nonpathogenic E. coli DH5α, and the fluorescence intensity of pathogenic E. coli was about 3.4 times higher than the nonpathogenic one. The flow rate of bacterial suspension should be applied above a certain level for stronger binding and rapid detection by attaining a saturation level of detection within a short time of less than 20 min. A possible improvement in the limit of detection in the level of 10 cells per mL for E. coli O157:H7 implies that the AMP-labeled beads have high potential for the sensitive detection of pathogenic E. coli at an appropriate flow rate.

Myung-Suk Chun

An experiment was carried out during kharif 2017 at Zonal Research Station, Chianki using sixteen promising genotypes of okra with three replications in randomized block design. Observations on ten important quantitative characters were recorded. Analyzed data revealed that all characters showed significant effect. The genotype Ajeet-121 gave significantly highest yield with the yield of 135.12 q/ha followed by NS-862 and Super green with the yield of 134.75 q/ha and 134.02 q/ha, respectively. Average fruit weight (15.33 g) and yield of fruits per plant (245.67 g/plant) were recorded significantly highest in the genotype Ajeet-121. On the basis of these observations, it may be concluded that the genotype Ajeet-121 was found most suitable okra genotype for kharif cultivation in the western plateau region (sub zone-V) of Jharkhand.

International Journal of Agricultural and Applied Sciences (IJAAS)

This paper examines Nigerian students’ perception or approach to libraries. It cuts across the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. The reason for the laxity in library real time usage is the primary driving force that led to the research. The research method adopted for this study was longitudinal method to get the right place of the actual issues without official cover-ups where necessary. Secondary data were also used to buttress the position of the research. The population approached for the longitudinal method was randomly picked at the different levels of schools. Parents were also in place at some point to drive home the true intent they have about their children and the use of libraries. Findings revealed that seeming laxity of both undergraduate and graduate students’ perception and attitude about the library is primarily because of the lacuna in their other levels of education before coming to the university. This served as a useful yard stick for the researchers developing workable recommendations that in their opinion will be of immense help to solving it. Index Terms— Library Knowledge, Nigerian Student, Primary School Library, Secondary School Library, Tertiary Library.

Emmanuel Musa

Effect of germination and fermentation on the nutrient contents, functional and antioxidant activities of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) flour were investigated. The pigeon pea seeds were sorted, cleaned and processed into germinated, fermented and raw flours. The flour samples obtained were analyzed for proximate composition, mineral contents, antinutrient contents, functional properties and antioxidant/free radical scavenging properties using standard methods. The results of the proximate composition showed that the moisture content within the range of 9.62±0.02-9.96±0.01, crude protein content 16.63±0.01-24.17±0.01, crude fibre content 1.41±0.01-2.59±0.01, lipid 4.33±0.01-5.61±0.01, ash content 1.62±0.01-2.17±0.01, carbohydrate 56.80±0.02 - 62.47±0.01 and energy values 366.91 - 374.40kcal/100g. The result of elemental mineral analysis showed magnesium as the major mineral element in the sample (91.32±0.02 to 123.75±0.04mg/g), calcium (96.02 ± 0.02 - 110.14 ± 0.003mg/g), phosphorus (39.11 ± 0.02 - 46.12 ± 0.03mg/g), sodium (8.63 ± 0.02 - 12.61 ± 0.001mg/g), Iron (3.08 ± 0.02 - 4.11 ± 0.001mg/g) and zinc (2.04 ± 0.01 - 3.17mg/g) respectively. The result of the functional properties showed optimal gelatinization temperature ranged from 73.610C - 89.410C, emulsion capacity, 11.88 - 43.42%, foam stability,28.22 to 65.81%, foaming capacity,15.83 to 21.11%, bulk density,0.53 - 0.71g/ml, water absorption capacity, 1.11 and 1.51ml/g while oil absorption capacity,0.84 - 1.14ml/g. The sensory properties of the moi-moi from the processed flours showed that the colour test, (6.33 -7.53), flavour (7.63 to 7.75), taste (5.13 to 5.53), mouth-feel (7.25 to 7.36), overall acceptability (6.93±0.04 - 8.83±0.04). The results of the phenolic content ranged from 20.13mg\GAE, 53.43mg\GAE and 42.64mg\GAE for raw processed, malted and fermented samples respectively. The results of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) antioxidant activity of ethanolic extracts showed IC50values of 0.810, 1.177 and 1.014mg\ml for the raw, malted and fermented seed extracts respectively. The moisture, crude protein and fibre contents was significantly increased (p>0.05) during germination and fermentation whereas lipid, carbohydrate, ash and energy values were significantly (p<0>0.05) increased the % scavenging properties of pigeon pea extract though that of germination was higher. Malting and fermentation significantly (p<0.05) decreased the sensory properties of moi-moi produced. Based on the result obtained, regular consumption of pigeon pea will be a proactive measure against heart diseases and other related disorders in the human body.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

Provision of clean water is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Water quality assessment as an ongoing exercise, in view of the threat of contamination from natural sources and human activities, plays a pivotal role in the sustainable management of water resources. Potable water samples were collected from Enugu Metropolis for water quality assessment. The physicochemical parameters were determined using APHA (1995 - 1998) protocols, and the presence of 7 heavy metals (Chromium, Zinc, Manganese, Silver, Cadmium, Iron and Lead) in the waters were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The results of the physicochemical analysis of the four samples show a pH range of 8.60 - 8.95mg/l; this result showed that pH of the water samples were slightly alkaline and above the WHO stipulated range of 6.50 - 8.50. Acidity ranged from 5.00 - 6.88mg/l, while alkalinity values were between 7.52 - 13.00mg/l. The total dissolved solid (TDS) and total solids (TS) was present in very minute quantities and below their permissible limit of 0.45mg/l; while total suspended solid (TSS) was not present at all. The heavy metal analysis showed that all but 2 heavy metals (Cadmium and Lead) were below the permissible standard set by the WHO in all four samples. Cadmium was present in samples A and C with values 0.021mg/l and 0.006mg/l respectively, which is above its WHO limit of 0.005mg/l; while Lead was present in samples A, B and C with values of 0.021mg/l, 0.011mg/l and 0.015 mg/l respectively, which were above the WHO limit of 0.010mg/l. Given the well-documented toxicity of certain metals, there is a need for safety checks to be carried out in potable water companies to address the source of this contamination and ensure production of safer drinking water.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

Water contamination has become a global challenge which must be tackled. This study examined the contamination level of water in four locations at Ogbete area Enugu state. Carters street had the highest pH of 5.23 which is below the WHO standards limits for drinking water. The conductivities ranged from the highest conductivity 1445 μs/cm, which is below the WHO limits (8-10,000 μs/cm), TDS (1000 mg/l., TSS (WHO (500 mg/l). For alkalinity, the four locations were all below the (150 mg/l) standard set by World Health Organisation. Results showed that most of the physicochemical, biological and heavy metals parameters considered in this study were significantly above the permissible or allowed by WHO. It is therefore recommended that the water should be treated before use.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

Potassium Bromate (KBrO3) is an oxidative agent capable of causing hematological alterations and other toxic effects. Amaranthus Viridis (Inine) is a medicinal plant traditionally used for various therapeutic purposes. This study investigated the ameliorative effect of ethanol extract of Amaranthus viridis (Inine) on the haematological parameters in potassium bromate (KBrO3) intoxicated Albino Rats. Thirty (30) rats divided into six (6) groups consisting of five rats each, group one as the normal control, group two as the negative control (50 mg/kg of KBrO3 only), group three Vitamin C (100 mg/kg) + 50 mg/kg of KBrO3and group four to six (200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, and 800 mg/kg) respectively. KBrO3 exposure significantly altered some haematological indices in the rats indicating a haematotoxic effects. The results showed a dose-dependent improvement in several haematological parameters upon coadministration of Amaranthis viridis occurred. The red blood cell count (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), and white blood cell count (WBC) exhibited notable recovery in comparison to the KBrO3-treated group. Platelet count (PLT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) also demonstrated positive alterations in response to the extract. The group receiving the highest dose of the leaf extract (800 mg/kg) alongside KBrO3 displayed the most significant improvement in the aforementioned parameters, indicating a potential dose-dependent protective effect against KBrO3-induced haematotoxicity. These findings suggest the potential therapeutic efficacy of Amaranthus viridis extract in mitigating KBrO3-induced hematological alterations.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

The study was carried out to evaluate the effects of thermal processing treatments on nutrient and antinutrient contents of African yam bean seed flours. The African yam bean seeds were sorted, cleaned and divided into five equal lots of one kilogram each. Four lots were processed into boiled, blanched, roasted and autoclaved African yam bean flours, while the last lot was processed raw and used as control. The flour samples obtained were analysed for proximate, mineral, vitamin and antinutrient contents using standard methods. The proximate composition of the samples revealed that the flours had a range of 6.14-11.24% moisture, 8.18-14.37% crude protein, 3.06-4.61% fat, 2.04–3.32% ash, 3.18–3.56% crude fibre, 62.90–76.98% carbohydrate and 350.57–368.50 kJ/100g energy, respectively. The mineral composition of the samples showed that the flours contained 128.81–174.16 mg/100g calcium, 88.86–212.20 mg/100g, potassium, 134.71–166.77 mg/100g phosphorus, 89.17 – 122.76 mg/100g, magnesium, 14.28–18-11 mg/100g iron and 3.24–5.59 mg/100g zinc, respectively. The vitamin composition of the flours were 1.15–1.37 mg/100g ascorbic acid, 1.15–135 mg/100g thiamine, 1.19–1.55 mg/100g niacin, 1.34–1.85 mg/100g riboflavin, 1.09–1.29 mg/100g folic acid, 1.37–1.95 mg /100g vitamin A and 1.27–1.66 mg/100g vitamin E, respectively. The results showed that the roasted and autoclaved African yam bean flours generally had higher crude protein, fat, ash, crude fibre, mineral and vitamin contents than the boiled and blanched flour samples compared to the raw sample. The antinutrient composition of the flours also showed that the levels of trypsin inhibitor activity, tannin, phytate, oxalate, saponin and haemagglutinin of the samples were significantly (p<0.05) reduced by boiling, autoclaving roasting and blanching treatments compared to the raw sample. However, the study revealed that the processed African yam bean flours have the potentials to be used as nutrient dense ingredients in the preparation of a wide range of food products than the raw sample especially in both underdeveloped and developing countries where the problems of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrients deficiencies are prevalent.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of thermal processing techniques on the nutrient and antinutrient contents of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) flours. The pigeon pea seeds were sorted, cleaned and divided into five equal lots of 0.5kg each. Four lots of pigeon pea seeds were processed into blanched, boiled, roasted, and autoclaved pigeon pea flours, while the fifth lot was processed raw and used as control. The raw and thermally processed samples obtained were analysed for nutrient and antinutrient composition using standard methods. The proximate composition of the samples showed that the flours had a range of 8.61 - 11.46 % moisture, 21.13 - 23.94 % crude protein, 1.26 - 1.68 % fat, 5.12 – 6.10 % crude fibre, 1.74 – 2.97 % ash, 55.56 – 60.41 % carbohydrate and 333.45 - 342.75 kJ/100g energy, respectively. The mineral composition showed that the flours contained 86.24 – 144.72 mg/100g calcium, 137.80 – 170.33 mg/100g magnesium, 125.86 - 156.76 mg/100g potassium, 66.66 – 95.62 mg/100g sodium, 4.38 – 6.64 mg/100g iron and 130.27 – 178.29 mg/100g phosphorus, respectively. The vitamin content of the flours were 3.09 - 4.33 mg/100g ascorbic acid, 0.05 - 0.17 mg/100g thiamine, 0.03 - 0.21 mg/100g riboflavin, 0.13 - 0.28 mg/100g niacin, 3.21 - 6.25 mg/100g vitamin A and 1.10 - 2.70 mg/100g vitamin E, respectively. The antinutrient composition of the flours also showed that the levels of trypsin inhibitor, tannin, phytate, oxalate, saponin and haemagglutinin ranged from, 2.30 – 5.61 Tiu/mg, 0.81 – 1.5mg/100g, 1.12 - 4.18mg/100g, 0.48-4.01 mg/100g, 1.28 – 3.66 mg/100g and 1.30 – 7.44 Hiu/g, respectively. Therefore, the study showed that thermally processed pigeon pea flours could be used as nutrient dense ingredients in the preparation of a wide range of foods for children, adolescents and aged adults especially in developing countries where the problems of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrients deficiencies are prevalent than the raw sample.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

The study was undertaken to evaluate the nutrient composition, physical and sensory properties of bread samples produced from wheat, ground bean and sweet potato flour blends. The ground beans and sweet potatoes were prepared into flours and used at varying replacement levels (5-25% and 5-25%) for wheat flour in the production of bread loaves with 100% wheat flour bread as control. The nutrient composition, physical and sensory properties of the bread samples were determined using standard methods. The moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fibre and ash contents of the bread samples increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in the addition of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 7.53-8.03%, 9.06-14.52%, 3.12-4.68%, 3.42-5.15% and 2.41-3.04, respectively, while the carbohydrate and energy contents decreased from 74.46-64.58% and 362.16-358.52 KJ/100 g, respectively. The mineral composition of the bread samples also increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in substitution of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 76.32-102.33 mg/100 g (calcium), 86.33-106.76 mg/100 g (potassium), 43.17-70.79 mg / 100 g (phosphorus), 92.14-112.15 mg / 100 g (magnesium), 1.52-2.05 mg / 100 g (iron) and 2.13-2.98 mg/100 g (zinc), respectively. The thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, ascorbic acid, vitamin A and vitamin E contents of the bread samples increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in the addition of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 42.17-59.19 mg/100 g, 62.31-80.69 mg/100 g, 24.15-47.57 mg/100 g, 12.15-12.15-12.73 mg/100 g, 18.32-47.33 mg/100 g and 15.31-43.67 mg/100 g, respectively. The physical properties (loaf volume, loaf height, loaf weight, oven spring and specific loaf volume) of the bread samples decreased significantly (p<0.05) with corresponding increase in the addition of ground bean and sweet potato flours from 310.21-115.41 cm3, 6.82-3.84 cm; 410.21-246.31g, 458.15-407.94 cm and 0.76-0.26 cm3/g, respectively. The sensory properties of the samples showed that the control sample (100% wheat flour bread) was the most acceptable to the panelists and also differed significantly (p<0.05) from the composite flour breads in colour, texture, taste and flavour. Although the 100% wheat flour bread (control) had better sensory and physical properties, it had the least values in nutrient contents compared to the composite flour bread loaves. However, the study showed that the nutrient contents of wheat flour breads could be improved by enriching wheat flour with ground bean and sweet potato flours at the levels of 5-25% and 5-25%, respectively in the production of bread loaves.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of thermal processing techniques on the nutrient and antinutrient contents of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) flours. The pigeon pea seeds were sorted, cleaned and divided into five equal lots of 0.5kg each. Four lots of pigeon pea seeds were processed into blanched, boiled, roasted, and autoclaved pigeon pea flours, while the fifth lot was processed raw and used as control. The raw and thermally processed samples obtained were analysed for nutrient and antinutrient composition using standard methods. The proximate composition of the samples showed that the flours had a range of 8.61 - 11.46 % moisture, 21.13 - 23.94 % crude protein, 1.26 - 1.68 % fat, 5.12 – 6.10 % crude fibre, 1.74 – 2.97 % ash, 55.56 – 60.41 % carbohydrate and 333.45 - 342.75 kJ/100g energy, respectively. The mineral composition showed that the flours contained 86.24 – 144.72 mg/100g calcium, 137.80 – 170.33 mg/100g magnesium, 125.86 - 156.76 mg/100g potassium, 66.66 – 95.62 mg/100g sodium, 4.38 – 6.64 mg/100g iron and 130.27 – 178.29 mg/100g phosphorus, respectively. The vitamin content of the flours were 3.09 - 4.33 mg/100g ascorbic acid, 0.05 - 0.17 mg/100g thiamine, 0.03 - 0.21 mg/100g riboflavin, 0.13 - 0.28 mg/100g niacin, 3.21 - 6.25 mg/100g vitamin A and 1.10 - 2.70 mg/100g vitamin E, respectively. The antinutrient composition of the flours also showed that the levels of trypsin inhibitor, tannin, phytate, oxalate, saponin and haemagglutinin ranged from, 2.30 – 5.61 Tiu/mg, 0.81 – 1.5mg/100g, 1.12 - 4.18mg/100g, 0.48-4.01 mg/100g, 1.28 – 3.66 mg/100g and 1.30 – 7.44 Hiu/g, respectively. Therefore, the study showed that thermally processed pigeon pea flours could be used as nutrient dense ingredients in the preparation of a wide range of foods for children, adolescents and aged adults especially in developing countries where the problems of protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrients deficiencies are prevalent than the raw sample.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA

This research assessed the nutritional composition, microbiological and sensory attributes of maize-based fortified food with peanut and carrot blends. A total of six composite flour samples were formulated using varying ratios of maize, peanut, and carrot: (MPC1) 100% maize flour (control), (MPC2) 90% maize, 5% peanut, and 5% carrot, (MPC3) 80% maize, 15% peanut, and 5% carrot, (MPC4) 70% maize, 20% peanut, and 10% carrot, (MPC5) 60% maize, 25% peanut, and 15% carrot, and (MPC6) 50% maize, 30% peanut, and 20% carrot. The proximate, mineral, vitamin, antinutrient, and functional properties of these fortified food samples were assessed using established methodologies. The proximate analysis revealed a significant increase (p<0.05) in moisture, crude protein, fat, crude fibre, ash, and energy content of the fortified samples, with values ranging from 1.63% to 3.80%; 3.08% to 44.43%; 2.39% to 15.16%; 3.58% to 7.04%; 2.34% to 3.80%; and 381.75 to 432.52 KJ/100g, respectively, as the supplementation of peanut and carrot flours increased. Conversely, the carbohydrate content decreased from 86.98% to 27.64%. The mineral content of the fortified samples also showed a significant increase (p<0.05) with higher levels of peanut and carrot flour supplementation. The findings of this study indicated a statistically reduction (p<0.05) in the antinutrient profiles of the fortified food samples. Additionally, the vitamin content significantly increased (p<0.05) with the addition of peanut and carrot flours. The overall viable counts were significantly low, and there were no detectable coliform or fungal counts. Although, the result of sensory evaluation indicated that the control sample was more organoleptically acceptable than the substituted samples, incorporating these nutrient-rich and functional ingredients in the production of maize-based cereals may broaden the application of peanut and carrot flours in the creation of various cereal types and other cereal-based food items.

OKECHUKWU OBED CHUKWUEMEKA