This study was designed to bridge gap in nutritionally skewed available biscuits and the high volume of agricultural waste generated by investigating the quality of biscuits prepared from wheat base, supplemented with waste from watermelon rinds and orange pomace as possible nutritious alternatives. Biscuit samples were respectively produced from blends of wheat, watermelon rind and orange pomace in the following ratio 100:

A significant contributor to compromised nutriture of a particular nutrient is the method of processing or preparation. The pre-treatment technique employed in the processing of soybean milk is a wellrecognized factor that not only aids in the deactivation of certain anti-nutritional components but also enhances its protein digestibility and bioavailability. Second to the overall importance of soybean is the protein composition, which is a function of the monomeric amino acid it contains. Thus, the amino acid profile of soybean milk processed by three pretreatment methods including soaking, roasting and boiling was analyzed using amino acid analyzer (model 120A PTH; Applied Biosystems, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA). The results show that pretreatment by boiling retained the best product judged in terms of general nutritional quality as shown by higher total amino acid content recorded as 97.95g/100g compared to those of toasted and soaking which were 88.36 g/100g and 91.28 g/100g respectively. Also boiling technique recorded the highest total essential amino acid content of 51.01g/100g as against 46.58g/100g and45.85g/100g for toasting and soaking methods employed. In the same vein, boiling technique gave the highest amount of total conditional amino acids, which was 46.37g/100g when compared to that of toasting at 43.18g/100g) and soaking at 42.26g/100g, making it ideal for therapeutic purposes. This findings show that soymilk produced through boiling pretreatment is recommended for consumption at both household and commercial levels in order to optimize the full benefit of soymilk nutrition and therapeutics.

The effect of six different fertilizers on concentration of photosynthetic pigments in leaves of amaranth (Amaranthus spp) and jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius) was studied in controlled conditions. Two types of pigments were examined: chlorophyll A and chlorophyll B. The highest concentration of photosynthetic pigments of 18.99 μg/L chlorophyll A; 10.6 μg/L chlorophyll B was found in the leaves of vegetables treated with pig manure and the lowest values of 16.01 μg/L chlorophyll A; 8.33 μg/L chlorophyll B in the vegetables treated with mineral fertilizer NPK 15:15:15 for amaranth, while for jute mallow the highest pigment concentration of 21.74 μg/L chlorophyll A; 12.09 μg/L chlorophyll B was found in leaves of vegetables treated with Urea and the lowest pigments of 19.02 μg/L chlorophyll A; 10.0 μg/L chlorophyll B in the seedlings treated with pig manure. Results show that the concentration of photosynthetic pigments in leaves of amaranth and jute mallow seedlings vary depending on the fertilizer that was applied, as such conducting appropriate fertilizer screening before application is critical in ensuring high yielding vegetables.

The production and determination of the nutritional properties of cookies produced by partial substitution of margarine with avocado pear pulp was studied. Well cleaned avocado pear was blended into paste and used to substitute margarine in the prepared cookies. The ratio of avocado pear pulp substituted was 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%. The substituted products and the control (100% margarine) were subjected to physicochemical and sensory evaluation. The results of the proximate analysis showed that the protein content ranged from 6.93% -7.83% with sample A having the highest protein content and fat content. Moisture content and ash content of samples were seen to be higher in sample E (50:50 ratio). Sample A had the least value of moisture, ash and crude fibre with moisture content of 11.13%, ash content of 1.40% and crude fibre value of 0.29%, while sample E  recorded the least value of crude fat  (16.00%). The carbohydrate content was recorded to be higher in sample C. The physical properties showed that cookies made with higher avocado pear pulp had less thickness compared to the control cookies. The sensory evaluation results showed that sample A had the highest values of 8.05%, 7.85% and 7.95% for appearance, taste and aroma respectively while sample E (50:50 ratio) had the least values in crunchiness, taste and aroma. The overall acceptability of the results showed that sample A recorded the highest value but not significantly different (p<0.05) from sample B (80:20 margarine avocado). The research concluded that the partial substitution of avocado improved the nutritional value of the cookies by lowering the saturated fat content.