No abstract

Cowpea, one of the six major cultivated crop species of the family leguminosae distributed throughout the tropics is a cheap source of protein. It has about 20-25% protein content, containing about twice the protein content of most cereals and it is also rich in vitamins, minerals and low in fats. Even though cowpea is nutritionally important to many people, its cultivation is under treat from insect pests both in the field and storage but the most damaging pest of cowpea in storage is Callosobruchus maculatus. The oviposition, growth and development of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) on four (two resistant and two susceptible) varieties of cowpea were investigated under laboratory conditions in the Department of Crop Protection, University of Ilorin. This was done to ascertain the resistance of the selected cowpea varieties to attack by C. maculatus. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with five treatments namely Ife-brown, TVU-2027, Vita-7 and IT86D-535. Each treatment was replicated three times More eggs were laid on Ife Brown when compared with TVU 2027. However, fewer eggs were laid on Vita-7 when compared with IT86D 535. C. maculatus developed best on the seeds of Ife brown followed by IT86D 535 and Vita 7. Few adult insects emerged from TVU 2027. Developmental period was longer in TVU 2027 than in Ife brown, IT86D 535 and Vita 7. The largest number of adult males and females were reared from Ife brown.

An investigation was carried out to evaluate the nutritive value and shelf life of five strawberry genotypes. It was found that under fresh condition the highest ascorbic acid (45.76 mg/100g) was obtained by Rabi-3 and the highest ?-carotene (15.09 IU/100g) by Festival. The maximum amount of reducing sugar (6.373 g/100g) and non-reducing sugar (2.947 g/100g) was recorded in Camarosa and Festival respectively. The maximum amount of calcium (0.480%) in BADC Strawberry, iron (93.50 ppm) in Rabi-3, phosphorus (0.081%) and potassium (0.854%) in BARI Strawberry-1 was recorded. Under different temperature and packaging conditions, polyethylene package at 40C proved to be superior to others in all respects. The highest shelf life (47.00 days) and ascorbic acid (42.76 mg/100g) after four days of storage was obtained by Camarosa in this condition; whereas the lowest shelf life (2.33 days) and ascorbic acid (10.12 mg/100g) was recorded in BADC Strawberry in plastic punnet package at 250C.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. March 2016, 2(1): 19-26

An investigation was conducted at Borjona village of Kapasia, Gazipur district during September 2011 to October 2012 to examine the biological performance of Indian spinach and papaya in litchi based agroforestry system. Papaya was planted between two litchi plants in each line and Indian spinach varieties were grown in the inter-space of two lines of litchi plant as well as control (farmer's practice) in May 2012. Yield and yield contributing characters of Indian spinach varieties grown as litchi-papaya based agroforestry system and control did not vary. However, sprout plant -1 and sprout weight of Indian spinach varieties grown in litchi-papaya based system were significantly influenced while the other parameters did not vary. Sprout plant -1 of KS green (2.97) and local (2.89) variety were identical but higher over KS red variety (2.57). Sprout weight of KS red variety was the highest (85.80 g) while KS green and local variety gave lower and identical sprout weight. Though the yield did not vary among the varieties, KS red gave the highest yield (36.32 t ha -1 ) followed by local (34.61 t ha -1 ) and KS green (34.00 t ha -1 ). In case of growth of litchi, plant height and stem diameter increment were 21.39 and 44.94 % over the eleven months observation period. The yield of papaya was quite satisfactory with an average 42 fruits per plant with 23.71 t ha -1 . Therefore, in the Litchi-Papaya-Indian spinach based system, Indian spinach varieties could be ranked as KS red > Local> KS green.