A STUDY ON SWEET ORANGE PRODUCTION AND ITS POST-HARVEST LOSSES AMONG FARMERS IN NORTH-EASTERN ZONE OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Agnes Agbanugo Ikwuba¹, Francis Shagbaor Wegh^1,Tavershima Abraham Agwaza^2* and Ruth Iveren Angera²

¹Department of Sociology, Benue State University, Makurdi-Nigeria

²Centre for Food Technology and Research (CEFTER), Benue State University, Makurdi-Nigeria

E-mail: mandegwaz2012@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The study assessed sweet orange production and its post-harvest losses among farmers in North-Eastern Zone of Benue State, Nigeria.Specifically, the objectives of the study were to: find out the quantity of oranges produced by farmers, examine the extent of post-harvest losses of orange and explore possible ways to reduce post-harvest losses of orange in the area. One hypothesis was formulated to authenticate the result of the study. The study adopted duffusionist theory. Cross-sectional design was employed. A sample size of 313 respondents was drawn from a population of 1442 registered orange farmers using multi-stage sampling technique. The instruments for data collection were questionnaire, KII and FGD. Data collected through these methods were analysed using descriptive statistics to address research objectives, while ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that most orange plantations in the study area were within one hectare and less than a hectare. The cultivars grown were mostly Ibadan Sweet and Valencia. An average of 22,164.6bags of oranges were harvested, 16,672.3bags were sold while 5,492.3bags of oranges were lost. Findings revealed that the extent to which post-harvest losses of orange occurred in the area was as high as 21-30 per cent. These losses were noticed to occur in all the post-harvest stages of orange. However, plucking and bagging (31% and above) were the principal stages of post-harvest losses of orange. The study therefore recommended awareness and sensitisation creation on post-harvest losses of orange among farmers, change in settlement pattern among the people of the study area, farmers before harvesting the fruits should endeavour to spread cushions around the tree canopies and harvest at the appropriate time of the day, possibly when the grounds are dry, among other recommendations as strategies to increase orange plantations and reduce post-harvest losses in the area.

Keywords: Sweet orange production, Post-harvest losses, Farmers, North-Eastern Zone

Purification and Analysis of bioactive compounds from Citrus aurantifiolia Linn stem bark by Gas- Chromatography-Mass spectrometry

Mustapha A. Tijjani¹* Fanna I. Abdulrahman¹,Sherrif Umar1, Fatima M. Dungus²

¹Department of Chemistry, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

²Departement of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria

Email: mustaphatijjani22@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this research are to extract the air-dried stem bark (500g) of citrus aurantifolia with methanol using cold infusion (maceration) technique, partition the extract  with solvents of graded polarities (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol suspended in water) and phytochemically screened and fractionate and purify the n-butanol partitioned portion using a combination of column and thin layer chromatographyand finally subject the possible pure fraction(s)  to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The methanol crude extract yield 14.90% ^w/_w dark green in colour, gummy in texture. the n-hexane partitioned portion yield 0.44% ^w/_w  light green in colour oily paste texture, ethylacetate partitioned portion yield 5.32% ^w/_w  dark brown in colour, gummy in texture, while n-butanol yield 21.04%^w/_w, brown in colour, gummy in texture and finally aqueous partitioned portion yield 52.08% ^w/_w  brown in colour power in texture respectively. The presence of metabolites such as carbohydrates, cardiac-glycosides, terpeniods, flavonoids, tannins and phlobatannins were recorded in the methanol crude extract while, anthraquinones, alkaloids and saponins were not detected in methanol crude stem bark extract. Whereas cardiac-glycosides, terpeniods and flavonoids were present in n-hexane portion and n-butanol portion but carbohydrates, anthraquinones, tannins, saponins, phlobatannins and alkaloids were not found in both of the portions.. The purification of compounds was done by using a combination of column and thin layer chromatography techniques. The n-butanol partitioned portion was subjected column chromatography after, rerunning, recombination and pooling four compounds, coded C_a1, C_a2, C_a3 and C_a4 were obtained. The melting points were sharp and uncorrected. In gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of compound of sample C_a1 fourteen compounds were identified by comparison with the library of NIST. Among the compounds, were found to be 3, 5, 9-Trioza-5-Phosphaheptacos-18-en-1-aminium, Pentacosanoic acid, Oleic acid, 7, 8-Epoxylanostan-11-ol. Analysis of Compound of sample C_a2  shows that only one compound was identified by comparison with the library of NIST. The compound was found to be 3H-Cycloocta[c]pyran-3-one. Analysis of Compound of sample C_a3 shows eight compounds were identified by comparison with the library of NIST. Among the compounds were found to be 1, 3-Dioxane, Pregn-5-en-20-one, 9-Octadecenoic acid, Heptadecanoic acid, Epoxylanostan-11-ol. Analysis of Compound of sample C_a4  shows that eight compounds were identified by comparison with the library of NIST. Among the compounds were found to be Glycidol stearate, Andrast-4-ene-3-one, Octadecanoic acid, Dihydromorphine.. The dihydromorphine which believed to be a reduced formed of morphine with a molecular formula of C₁₇H₂₁NO_3. It has been reported thatthe 7, 8-double bond of morphine also is not required for analgesic activity as indicated by the relative analgesic potency of dihydromorphine. Also, oxidation of the 6-OH of dihydromorphine to yield hydromorphone further increases activity.

Keywords: Citrus aurantifolia, purity, column chromatography, Mass spectrometry

ARSENIC REMEDIATION OF DRINKING WATER

Kamaru M. B¹. Umar S². Usman A. A³, Fatima L. B⁴

^1,2,3,4Department of Science Laboratory Technology

Umaru Ali shinkafi Polytechnic Sokoto

Email: bashirkamaru@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

In this study, the potential of limestone as an adsorbent of different particle sizes for the removal of arsenic from drinking water was investigated. Effects of various operating parameters such as particle size, contact time and adsorbent dosage ere studied using batch adsorption studies. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to certify the mineral composition of limestone. This method shows maximum removal of arsenic 98.4 % under the following operating conditions: contact time 10 min, adsorbent dosage 2 g, particle size 2 µm and temperature 28 ^oC. Pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were employed to elucidate the adsorption behaviour of the system. The result of the adsorption process showed a poor correlation value with the pseudo-second-order model compared to the pseudo-first-order. This designates that the rate-determining steps in the adsorption of arsenic could be physical adsorption processes.

Keywords: Limestone, arsenic, adsorption, correlation, kinetics

STUDIES ON THE POTENTIALS OF MANGO (Magniferaindica) SEED OIL AS RAW MATERIAL FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SOAP

^1*Arzika, A.T., ¹Ahmad, M.B., ¹Adamu, S.M., ¹Bagna, E.A., ²Bashar, S.Y., ¹Mohammed, S. and ³Sani, G.

^1*Department of Chemistry Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, Nigeria

²Department of Chemistry, State College of Basic and Remedial Studies, Sokoto, Nigeria

³Department of Science Laboratory Technology, College of Science and Technology, Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic Sokoto, Nigeria

E-mail: arzikatambuwal1982@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The seed oil of mango (Magniferaindica)was extracted by soxhlet extraction method using n-hexane as solvent and its chemical and physical properties were evaluated. The chemical parameters investigated include: saponification value (SV), iodine value (IV), peroxide value (PV) and Acid value (%AV). These were found to be85.3∓0.05mgKOH/g, 39.5∓0.10g I2/100gand 4.4mEq/kg and 2.4∓0.01mgKOH/g, respectively. The physical parameters evaluated include: percentage yield (10.21%), relative density (0.87), refractive index (1.4784) and moisture content (12.5%). Soap was then formulated using the oil and the properties of the product were evaluated. From the results, it was found that the products compared favorably to similar products sold in the market in terms of pH, colour, percentage alkali and solubility in water.

Keyword: Oil, Extraction, Chemical, Physical, Parameters, Evaluation