The global agricultural sector suffers from the damage due to insect pests on plants all over the world, forcing farmers to indiscriminately use mineral fertilisers and chemical pesticides that are toxic and affecting the environment, plants and animals, as well as causing serious health problems to farmers and consumers. Therefore, scientists and researchers were forced to investigate and discover new methods until they explored the field of nanoscience, which shows great potential for applications in diverse fields, including agriculture, chemicals and plant protection by controlling harmful insect pests. Therefore, a biological method was used to synthesise the laboratory-prepared copper nanoparticles that were tested on both eggs and larvae phases in mosquitoes as nanocides using acidic Citrus Nargin broth (10%). A total of 1 mM aqueous CuSO4 of the plant extract was reduced and synthesised into stable copper nanoparticles with an average size of less than 450 nm. Then, the composition, size and percentage of the synthesised nanoparticles were determined using ultraviolet spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, FTIR, SEM and AFM techniques. The results of this study showed high mortality and a significant difference (P ≤ 0.01) for mosquito eggs and larvae when exposed to the nanocide, than those found in the extract of bitter leaves and the regular copper sulfate insecticide used in agriculture against insects. The results also showed a high relative efficiency of 100% with a highly significant difference (P ≤ 0.01) after exposure of insects and their different stages to the nanocide after 72 hours. We conclude from this study the possibility of synthesising nanoparticles using mineral compounds with natural, safe and environmentally friendly bio-plant extracts as insecticides for various agricultural pests.

Nowadays food industries are focused on two major factors for health and convenience during the development of breakfast food and variety of snack products, because consumers have sparked the development of convenient and nutritious food products. Pasta is one of the easiest and most versatile food products consumed today. Pasta usually made from durum semolina which is hard grain wheat flour that is high in protein but lack of other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and fibre. Recently, pasta products has developed into improve the nutritional quality by the addition of other ingredients like pulses, vegetable and fruit extracts which is help to get the nutritional well being of the consumers. One of the solutions for this is the incorporation of millet flour, pulse flour and plantain flour which were addition or replacement of durum wheat semolina to formulate healthy pasta. Hence the objective of study was aimed to develop multigrain nutrient dense pasta products prepared from composite mixture such as durum semolina, millets (barnyard millet (Echinochloa utilis), kodo millet (Paspalum setaceum) and little millet (Panicum sumatrense), pulses (peas (Pisum sativum L.) and lentil (Lens culinaris)) and vegetable (plantain flours (Musa paradisiaca)) at different proportions. It contains durum semolina flour, millet and pulse blend flour (millet flour blends (flours of barnyard millet, kodo millet, little millet mixed at ratio 1:1:1) and pulse flour blends (flours of peas and lentil mixed at ratio 1:1) both millet and pulse blends were mixed at ratio 1:1) and plantain flour. All the three flours samples were mixed at 70:15:15 percent for formulae 1, 55:30:15 percent for formulae 2 and 40:45:15 percent for formulae 3. Durum semolina (100%) was used as control. For 15% of plantain flour addition to millet pulse blend flour increase the nutritional content of flour due to which is more fiber content. Then composite mixture of formulae and control were analyzed the nutritional properties of such as moisture (%), energy (kcal), carbohydrate (g), protein (g), fat (g), crude fibre (g), ash (%) and minerals content were evaluated by standard procedures. Further pasta developed from composite mixtures of formulae and assessed its shelf life were also evaluated. The results showed that the composite flours of moisture content (7.8% to 8.2%), energy (363.3 kcal to 365.6 kcal), carbohydrate (78.4 g to 81.3 g), protein (9.4 g to 11.7 g), fat (0.1 g to 0.3 g), ash (0.72% to 1.38%) and crude fiber content (7.88 g to 14.06 g). These findings revealed that composite flour formulae of protein, ash, crude fiber content and calcium, iron, copper, zinc content were higher than control. While manganese content of all composite mixture and formulae 2 of calcium content was also lower than control. Therefore, three composite mixtures of formulae could be used to produce good quality of pasta products. Among the composite mixture, formulae1 was high score (8.81) in overall acceptability. During storage period, composite mixture of all fo...

Green Leafy Vegetables (GLVs) are fresh-cut sections of edible plants that play an integral rolein the human diet as a source of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. GLVs are generally cooked toimprove their quality and acceptability. It found that the cooking conditions and processing methodsaffect the nutritive value of GLVs. Fermentation seems to enhance the nutritional and medicinal value ofthe foods; hence, this study aimed to determine the proximate composition and functional properties ofyeast fermented Agathi leaves (Sesbania grandiflora). Collected Agathi leaves from a local farm werecleaned, washed and separated the leaves from the stalks. The leaves were subjected to various thermalprocessing such as boiling (20min), simmering (10min), steaming (10min) and dried at 60°C for fewhours. The dried leaf powders were dissolved in water at 1:10 ratio then fermented with 3% w/v Bakers’yeast for 20 hours in a shaking water bath. The fermented slurry was dried in a cabinet drier at 60°C for4-5 hours, made into powder and stored in air-tight containers under refrigeration condition until furtheranalysis. Phytochemicals, nutritional and functional properties of the fermented Agathi leaves powderswere analyzed by following standard procedures. Phytochemical screening of the fermented leavespowder showed the presence of Phenols, Steroids, Alkaloids, Glycosides, Saponins, Tannins, Quininesand Flavanoids in the aqueous extracts. Proximate anlaysis revealed that fermented Agathi leaf powdercontains 6.83-8.10% moisture, 35.59-45.90g% crude protein, 9.06-10.31% minerals, and 7.74-9.49g%crude fiber. The functional properties of the fermented leaf powders were 0.56-0.63g/ml for bulkdensity, 2.70-3.95g/g for Water Absorption Capacity (WAC), 0.96-1.20g/g for Oil Absorption Capacity(OAC), 30.99-51.83% for Foaming Capacity (FC) and 51.26-67.73% for Emulsifying Capacity (EC). Amarked difference in the nutrient content and functional properties of fermented and unfermented Agathileaf powders was observed. The findings suggest that fermented Agathi leaf powders are concentratedwith nutrients like protein, minerals, and crude fiber and exhibited good phytochemicals profiles andfunctional properties that can be used to develop functional food products for the malnourished

Green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of nutrients like vitamins, minerals and dietaryfibre and widely included in a habitual diet of the rural populace. Due to their perishable nature andseasonal availability, fresh green leafy vegetables are processed quickly and cooked before it served forhuman consumption. Considerable efforts have taken to increase the shelf life of green leafy vegetablesby conventional drying methods and presumed as a low-cost/convenient technology in many parts of theworld. Hence, this study aimed to preserve Ponnaganni (Alternanthera sessilis), underutilized greenleafy vegetables,through cabinet drying and determine the impact of cooking the leaves before drying onits nutritional, functional and phytochemical quality. Collected Ponnagannileaf bundle from the localvegetable market were cleaned, washed, separated the leaves then cooked by boiling for 20 min,simmering for 10 min and steaming for 10 min. The cooked and uncooked leaves were dried at 60ºC for4-5 hours in a cabinetdrier, made into powder and stored in the air-tight containers under refrigerationtemperature. The quality of dried leaves was assessed by analyzing their nutrient content, functionalproperties and phytochemical profile as per the standard methods. Results of the nutrient analysisrevealed that dried Ponnaganni leaves were high in protein (24.25g%), minerals (18.94g%) and crudefibre (8.13g%) and low in moisture (6.69%). Also the dried leaves exhibited high water absorptioncapacity (3.82 g/g), oil absorption capacity (1.66 g/g) and emulsifying activity (41.05%). Phytochemicalscreening reports that aqueous extract of dried Ponnaganni leaves were loaded with manyphytochemicals except anthocyanin. The cooked leaves showed a noticeable change in the nutrientscontent, functional properties and phytochemical profile compared to uncooked leaves. The findingssuggest that dried Ponnaganni is a nutritious product and it can be used in food formulations thatnecessitate high protein, minerals and fibre.

Background: Green leafy vegetables (GLVs) are seasonal and perishable nature. It undergoes substantial-quality changes immediately after harvest that may lead to loss of its freshness. Hence this experiment was aimed to process and preserve Agathi leaves by dehydration and study the influences of thermal processing and fermentation on its physicochemical and functional properties. Methods: Agathi leaves were separted from stalks, cleaned, washed then subjected to thermal treatments such as boiling (20 min), simmering (10 min) and steaming (10 min) followed fermentation with Baker’s yeast (3% w/w concentration, 20 hours incubation at pH 6.5, 30°C temperature). The processed leaves were cabinet dried at 60°C for 4-5 hours then powdered and stored in an airtight container. The physicochemical and functional properties of the Agathi leaf powders were determined by following standard methods. Result: The processed Agathi leaf powders contain 5.60-8.10% moisture, 35.12-45.90g/100g protein, 6.47-11.41g/100 g minerals and 7.74-9.75 g/100 g crude fibre. Bulk density, Water absorption capacity, Oil absorption capacity, Emulsifying activity and Foaming capacity of the leaf powders were ranged from 0.56 to 0.67g/mL, 2.69 to 3.95 g/g, 0.96 to 1.23 g/g, 48.26 to 67.73% and 23.06 to 51.83% respectively. Thermal and fermentation treatments have significantly changed/altered the physicochemical and functional properties of Agathi leaf powders. The findings suggest that Agahti leaf powder is rich in protein, minerals and crude fibre and showed good functional properties that could be used to develop functional food products.