Cowpeas are grown for their leaves and grains both of which are used as relish or side dishes together with the staple food. Little information is available on the nutritional quality of local and improved cowpea varieties grown in Tanzania as well as the recipes in which they are ingredients. This study was done to investigate cowpea utilization in Iringa and Dodoma regions of Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey was carried out where a total of 517 farmers were interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Proximate and mineral composition of different varieties of cowpea grains and leaves were determined using standard AOAC methods. More than half of the households interviewed consumed cowpeas in one or more forms. Most cowpea recipes included them as relish being eaten with rice or stiff porridge (ugali), a mixture of dehulled maize and cowpea grains (kande) and cowpea buns (bagia). Improved cowpea varieties had relatively higher fat content ranging from 8 to 11.2% compared to local varieties (5.4%). Local cowpea grains had higher levels of calcium varying between 958.1 and 992.4 mg/kg than dehulled cowpea (360 to 364 mg/kg) and cowpea flour (303 to 311 mg/kg). Zinc ranged from 32.6 to 31.5 mg/kg, while iron content ranged from 27.6 to 28.9 mg/kg. Fresh cowpea leaves had the highest levels of minerals, with calcium varying between 1800.6 and 1809.6 mg/kg, zinc between 36.1 and 36.0 mg/kg and iron between 497.0 and 499.5 mg/kg. The improved cowpea varieties, IT99K-7212-2-1 (23.8 mg/kg) and IT96D-733 (21.2 mg/kg) had the highest iron content. IT99K-7-21-2-2-1 (32.2 mg/kg) and IT97K499-38 (28.3 mg/kg) had the highest zinc concentration. The bagia (cowpea buns), prepared in Dodoma had higher mineral composition, calcium (893mg/kg), zinc (13.7 mg/kg) and iron (16.3 mg/kg) compared to those prepared in Iringa; calcium (32.6mg/kg), zinc (4.96 mg/kg) and iron (5.2 mg/kg). The cowpea daily per capita consumption for the majority of the households surveyed ranged from 41 to 200 gm. The contribution of micro and macro nutrients is significant for both developed lines and local varieties but with leaves having greater mineral content than the grains; hence, promotion of consumption of the leaves alongside the grains would be of nutritional advantage. Additionally, farmers should be encouraged to plant the higher yielding cowpea varieties and preferred local varieties.

Rice blast disease, caused by a seed-borne fungus Pyricularia grisea, is an important and serious disease of rice (Oryza sativa L.) worldwide. The disease has been reported to cause yield losses of up to 40% in Tanzania. Studies were conducted to determine the effect of aqueous extracts of Aloe vera, Allium sativum, Annona muricata, Azadirachta indica, Bidens pilosa, Camellia sinensis, Chrysanthemum coccineum, processed Coffee arabica, Datura stramonium, Nicotiana tabacum and Zingiber officinalis for control of rice blast disease (Pyricularia grisea) in-vitro and in-vivo. The results indicate that processed C. arabica at 10% and 25% (v/v) had the highest (81.12%) and (89.40%) inhibitory effect, respectively, against P. grisea. Aqueous extract from N. tabacum at 10% concentration ranked third (80.35%) in inhibiting P. grisea. These were followed by extracts from 25% A. vera (79.45%) and 25% C. coccineum flower (78.83%). The results also indicate that, extracts from A. indica, A. vera, A. sativum, C. arabica, D. stramonium, C. sinensis, Z. officinalis and N. tabacum did not have any phytotoxic effect on seed germination, shoot height, root length, dry weight, seedling growth and seedling vigour index. These plant extracts can thus be used for rice seed treatment to manage rice blast disease.

Background: Surveys were conducted to determine awareness of mould infection in maize and groundnut in Kilosa District, Eastern Central Tanzania, between August and October 2010. Four villages of Msingisi, Rudewa-Batini, Mamoyo and Mkalama were surveyed. We sampled maize from each household for mycotoxins contamination after nine months of storage. A questionnaire was administered to heads of 72 selected households in the study area. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to check factor dimensionality. The differences in mean total score of knowledge and awareness between the demographic and socio-economic factors were determined by t-test. Measurements of association were carried by Chi-square test (χ2), while ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to examine the correlations between social variables and awareness of mould infection. Results: We found high levels of fumonisins in maize that ranged from 70.46 to 213.15. Aflatoxin levels in groundnuts ranged from 72.97 to 195.17. Result showed that 97 % of respondents were not aware of mould infection in stored maize and groundnuts. The mean score of mould infections awareness of females (1.7273 ± 0. 45055) was significantly higher than that of males (1.5714 ± 13.7). Awareness of mould infection was high among educated (mean score 1.9231.3 ± 0.31470) than the less educated people (mean score 1.8913 ± 0.27175). Results revealed significant association between awareness of mould infection with age (p = 0.006), education (p = 0.039), marital status (p = 0.012), gender (0.037) and income (p = 0.044). Conclusion:Campaigns are needed to improve awareness of mould infection in Kilosa District, Tanzania.

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