A 2-year field experiment was conducted in 2012 and 2013 at the research fields of CSIR-Crops Research Institute to determine the best agronomic practices for the field establishment and cultivation of Chia (Salvia hispanica) and determine insect pests and diseases associated with the plant. The study also determined the nutritional composition of the plant under Ghanaian environment. A split-plot field trial with 2 planting methods (direct planting with seed; planting from seedling) as main plot and 3 planting density (10,000 plants/ha; 20,000 plantst/ha; 40,000 plantst/ha) as subplot were used for the agronomic evaluation of the plant. A sweep net was used to sweep diagonally across the field under two separate regimes to collect insects on the crop for the entomological investigations. Major insects collected were coreid bugs, lagria sp., Zonocerus variegatus and Diopsis thoracica. The method used for the pathological investigations were the moist blotter test and culture of pathogens on Potato Dextrose Agar. The results of the study in both years show high biomass and seed yield of chia when the crop was planted directly in the field. Narrow-row spacing of 0.5m x 0.5m consistently produced the highest biomass and seed yield in both years of the study. The results indicated that interaction between planting method and planting density positively influenced most of the growth and yield parameters of Chia plants. Nutritional profile analysis from the Chia seeds shows medium to high proximate and mineral composition. Disease evaluation revealed evidence of Fusarium wilt infection on Salvia hispanica in the field. The study recommends the adoption of direct planting method and narrow-row spacing (0.5m x 0.5m) (SP3) as the best option for the production of Chia plants in Ghana.

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To compare and understand the ameliorative effect of coating gums and predict accurately the enzymes inactivation and browning pigmentation of apple slice in cold storage condition, this study was conducted. Three gums (Acacia senegal, Xanthan, and Karaya) coating and distilled water (used as control) were applied to apple slices and stored for 21 days. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction in polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, and ascorbic acid oxidase activities were achieved by these gums. The effectiveness of these gums in resisting the enzymes activities follows the order: Xanthan > Acacia > Karaya. The results show that modified second‐order polynomial model and Zero‐order kinetic model could satisfactorily describe the kinetic inactivation of enzyme activities with high R2 (0.9524–0.99337) and browning indexes with highest R2 values (0.94164–0.99135) and lowest values in χ2 (0.00183–0.00346) and RMSE (0.01100–0.20536), respectively. Considering the total color change (ΔE), Xanthan coating gums had lower ΔE value compared to others. Practical applications The negative attributes on color, taste, flavor, and nutritional value of the fruit resulting from enzymatic and nonenzymatic browning is a major concern to the food industry. The results revealed that these gum coating could provide a promising way of preserving the integrity of apple tissues; thus, improving quality, shelf life, and marketing strategy for food processors.

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