Medicinal plants represent a great source of antimicrobial and phytochemical constituents which are increasingly used to treat microbial infections and other ailments such as tuberculosis, anemia, and trachoma. Despite the use of antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance continues to be a world issue, in as much as nutrition. This study investigated the presence of phytochemicals, proximate compositions, and antimicrobial activity of methanolic extract of Carapa procera bark. The bark of Carapa procera was collected, cleaned and air dried for 72 h. The powder obtained was treated with diethyl ether and soaked in methanol (99%) for 72 h to obtain crude extract. The extract was used to test for the presence of phytochemicals and antimicrobial activities. The raw bark was used for proximate analysis. The result showed presence of steroids, tannins and saponins, but no alkaloids present. The 100 mg/mL extract had the highest inhibition zone on all tested organisms from 24.00 ± 0.94 to 26.67 ± 1.18, and 50 mg/mL showed the least (16.67 ± 1.24) on Candida albicans. Staphylococcus aureus showed the lowest minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of 3.12 mg/mL, whereas the Gram-negative bacteria exhibited variations in their sensitivity with E. coli having the highest MIC of 25 mg/mL. The extract had high MIC (6.25 mg/mL) on Candida albicans than clotrimazole (50 mg/mL). The proximate compositions of Carapa procera were moisture (6.07 ± 0.07%), ash (12.46 ± 0.46%), crude protein (9.54 ± 0.12%), crude fat (1.42 ± 0.06%) and carbohydrate (70.50 ± 0.35%). The energy value was 1413.17 kj. Thus, Carapa procera possesses both antimicrobial and nutritional potentials worth exploring and domesticating for sustainable management and conservation.

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Edible coatings can provide an alternative for extending the postharvest shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables. The effect of two edible coatings and their combinations were studied on some physical qualities of tomato fruits. Gum arabic was formulated from the exudate of Acacia tree, and beeswax was sourced from the Horticulture Department, University for Development Studies. Cassava starch was used as a plasticizer for both materials. Tomato fruits were treated with gum arabic, beeswax, and a combination of the two at concentrations 5, 10, and 15%. Treated and untreated fruits were examined for their weight loss and decay during 20 days of storage and sampling were done at 4 days intervals. Fruits coated with gum arabic alone did not show much positive impact on weight loss and decay when compared to the control fruits. The beeswax alone however showed a positive impact on weight loss and decay. Furthermore, the combination of the beeswax and gum arabic resulted in the highest performance with reduced weight loss of 26.7%, and 13.9% decay after 20 days in storage. Hence, the combination of gum arabic and beeswax could extend the postharvest shelf life of tomato fruits at 29˚C and 72 - 75% temperature and relative humidity, respectively.

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