Breads were prepared with various combinations of maize, brown rice and wheat flours in the basic formulation of bread. The baking properties and chemical composition of bread were evaluated and analysed, respectively. The bread volume decreased, where as bread weight and moisture content increased with the increasing level of maize and brown rice flour. The crumb and crust colour of breads were improved with addition of 8% maize and 8% brown rice flour in bread formulation. The protein content and other nutrients of breads were increased by addition of maize and brown rice flours. The effects of various levels of yeast, sugar, fat, improver and salt on the quality of breads prepared with maize and brown rice flour were evaluated. Bread quality in respects of bread volume and crumb texture were improved by using 2.5% yeast, 5% sugar, 5% fat and 0.6% improver. The analysis of bread containing added 8% maize and 8% brown rice flours showed protein 9.76%, fat 4.10%, ash 2.10%, crude fibre 5.16%, sugar 2.26% and total carbohydrates 46.91%. Bread having 8% maize and 8% brown rice flour had most acceptable flavour, texture, colour and overall acceptability when compared with other bread with maize and brown rice flour.

An attempt was made to develop sapota jam to assess its prospect in marketability. The fruits were collected from local market and the pulp was extracted in the laboratory. Then the pulp was analyzed monthly for proximate composition. The proximate analysis of sapota pulp showed moisture 70.07%, ascorbic acid 8.90 mg/100g, pH 5.10, TSS 19.4% and total sugar 16.07%. No special change of ingredients was found during two months of storage. But, a little change was observed after four months. The products (jam) with three different formulations (50%, 75% and 100% pulp of the standard formula) were prepared. Sodium benzoate was added as preservative in a required quantity. These products were packed in appropriate container. A taste panel consisting 10 panelists adjudged the acceptability of the samples. The consumers’ preferences were measured by statistical analysis. Among the samples, jam made with 75% pulp of the standard formula (sample A2) was adjudged the best product by the panelists. Keywords: Jam; sapota; ascorbic acid; sugar; Achras zapotaDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/agric.v9i1-2.9473 The Agriculturists 2011; 9(1&2): 1-7

Abstract:Medicinal plants form an important and often the only component in the formulations used by the folk medicinal practitioners of Bangladesh for treatment of various ailments. Folk medicinal practitioners, otherwise known as Kavirajes, perform an integral role in the delivery of primary health-care to substantial segments of both rural and urban population of the country. To get a comprehensive view of the medicinal plants of Bangladesh, it is therefore important to conduct extensive interviews of individual Kavirajes of both urban and rural areas. Towards obtaining such comprehensive information, the present ethno-medicinal survey was conducted among the Kavirajes of 15 randomly surveyed villages of Tangail Sadar Upazila in Bangladesh to document their use of medicinal plants and the ailments treated by those plants. Information was obtained from the Kavirajes with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. The results showed that the Kavirajes of the 11 villages surveyed used a total of 55 plants distributed into 35 families in their formulations. The Mimoceseae family provided 4 plants, while the Acanthaceae, Liliaceae, Lamiaceae and Fabaceae families provided 3 plants each. Mainly leaves were used for this purpose. Other plant parts roots and stems were also used. The various ailments treated included gastrointestinal disorders, cuts and wounds, fever, respiratory tract disorders, snake bites, pain, menstrual problems, physical weakness, diabetes, mental disorders, cardiovascular disorders, skin disorders, chicken pox, burns, spermatorrhea, bone fractures and cattle ailments.

The study was carried out among the 246 school going children of urban slum of Tangail district and random sampling methods were applied. Slum population has been increasing in Bangladesh over the last three decades along with the growth and expansion of cities and towns.The facilities in urban slums were very much unsatisfactory due to lack of proper water supply and adequate hygiene and sanitation facilities. The good hygienic and sanitation knowledge and the practice have been found to be significantly low among the slum dwellers of Tangail district. Thewater supply and sanitation condition are improving very slowly in the urban slums of Tangail. Majority (94.7%) of the slum people use tube well water for drinking, cleaning and household purposes. The dustbin facility was the most neglected sector in these slums. Besides, Solid waste management and drainage system were totally unsatisfactory. It was observed that houses, shops, drains, roads etc. have been constructed unplanned and solid wastes were preserved on open places. Majority (58.1%) of the children did not ware sandal while going to latrine and did not cut finger nail regularly (54.5%). Most of the slum dwellers (63.4%) did not use cover for safety of the prepared food. It was observed that there was presence of pet/animal/insect in food preparation area of maximum households. Most of the people were unaware about toilet cleaning regularly. Findings of the study showed that 40.7% children were underweight, 28.9% children were stunted and 31.3% children were wasted. The child morbidity rate was high. Water quality, environmental sanitation and hygiene practices were positively correlated (r = 0 to +1) with health status of school going children. Thewater quality, environmental sanitation and hygiene practices have significant impact (p≤ 0.05) on the health of school going children of these slums.

This study described the comparison of different physicochemical parameters between fresh and frozen lamb meat. The pH measurement for fresh and frozen lamb meat did not show a significant difference. CIE L*a*b* (Commission Internationale de l'éclairage) color measurement technique was used and ∆E (distance between 2 colors) was found 5.32. On shrinkage measurement, there were significant differences (p<0.05) between the fresh and frozen meat. Frozen lamb sample showed 26.99% shrinkage compared to the fresh lamb which showed 18.09% shrinkage. The thawing loss did not show any significant difference. For texture analysis force and work were evaluated together for both fresh and frozen samples through Warner Bratzler texture analysis. The values did not show any significant difference. The absolute values of force and work were significantly different (p<0.05). Water binding capacity of the frozen and fresh sample were 56.57% and 59.27%, respectively. The moisture contents of fresh and frozen sample were 73.64% and 72.85%, respectively. Fat contents of fresh and frozen sample were 5.08% and 6.09% respectively. The study concludes that while comparing fresh and frozen lamb, only shrinkage and texture analysis showed significant difference whereas other physicochemical properties showed minor differences.