Dacryodes edulis (DE), Dalium guineensis (DG), Spondias mombin (SM) and Irvingia gabonensis (IG) as notable underexploited tropical wild fruits in Nigeria, were evaluated for quality characteristics, phenolic contents and in-vitro antioxidant activity. pH of the fruits ranked thus DE > IG > DG > SM and the reverse order was true for acidity. IG exhibited highest obrix, vitamin C and total sugar content. DE had no detectable reducing sugar compared to 18.84% in IG. Total phenol and flavonoid contents followed the same pattern with DG as the highest (1796.89 ± 71.1 and 860.64 ± 3.7 mg/100g) and IG as the lowest (454.23 ± 13.9 and 304.98 ± 7.5 mg/100g), respectively. Regarding antioxidant activities, SM was significant for ABTS•, DE and IG were similar in FRAP assay, while all the fruits were effective DPPH• radical scavengers. Generally, the fruits demonstrate high food application potentials with possible health benefits if consumed adequately.

This study investigated the effect of sowing media on the seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of Senna fistula L. Treatments were T1 (Top soil), T2 (River sand), T3 (Grinded coconut husk) and T4 (weathered sawdust), replicated two times for seed germination. The treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and the data generated was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance, while mean separation where appropriate was done using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The different sowing media used had positive effect on the seed emergence, the seeds planted in river sand had the highest emergence percentage of 70%. The different sowing media used did not have any significant effect on the vegetative growth parameters, statistically, they had same effect on the parameters measured. Nonetheless, seedlings from river sand produced highest number of leave (20.4), seedlings from topsoil produced highest plant height and largest leaf area of l0.62 cm and 37.l4 cm2 respectively. The seedlings from weathered sawdust produced the highest stem diameter of 0.79 mm, while seedlings from grinded coconut husk had lowest values for all the growth parameters measured. Therefore, it is recommended that river sand or weathered sawdust can be used to propagate Senna fistula seeds.

This study investigated the effect of sowing media on the seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of Senna fistula L. Treatments were T1 (Top soil), T2 (River sand), T3 (Grinded coconut husk) and T4 (weathered sawdust), replicated two times for seed germination. The treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and the data generated was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance, while mean separation where appropriate was done using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The different sowing media used had positive effect on the seed emergence, the seeds planted in river sand had the highest emergence percentage of 70%. The different sowing media used did not have any significant effect on the vegetative growth parameters, statistically, they had same effect on the parameters measured. Nonetheless, seedlings from river sand produced highest number of leave (20.4), seedlings from topsoil produced highest plant height and largest leaf area of l0.62 cm and 37.l4 cm2 respectively. The seedlings from weathered sawdust produced the highest stem diameter of 0.79 mm, while seedlings from grinded coconut husk had lowest values for all the growth parameters measured. Therefore, it is recommended that river sand or weathered sawdust can be used to propagate Senna fistula seeds.