(1) Background: Probiotication is an important method in the food industry, and the use of probiotic dairy products has prevented lactose intolerant patients and vegetarians from their consumption. Hence, there is a need to incorporate probiotics in fruit juice without lactose; (2) Method: Probiotic viability, and physicochemical and sensory evaluation of stored probioticated pineapple juice using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Pediococcus pentosaceus LaG1, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Pediococcus pentosaceus LBF2) as a single and mixed starter was investigated; (3) Results: There was an increase in the lactic acid production, and reduction in pH, vitamin C content, and colour during storage. At weeks 3 and 4, Propp2 and Pcontrol samples had the highest lactic acid content (317.9 mg/L and 160.34 mg/L). The vitamin C content ranged from 2.91-7.10 mg/100 g. There was a general reduction in total soluble solids during storage. The probiotic LAB were viable throughout the storage time (1.05-1.10 × 10 9 cfu/mL) in the juice samples. There was no significant difference in terms of taste, aroma, colour, or appearance during the time of storage; (4) Conclusion: The pineapple juice supported the viability, lactic acid production, vitamin C development, and the antagonistic potential of the probiotic candidate. This result is useful for the development of probiotic fruit juice as functional foods and nutraceuticals with health beneficial effect.

Aims: Production of probiotic soursop juice and determination of properties of the juice samples for 3 weeks of storage at 4°C. Study Design: To determine the properties of soursop juice produced using Pediococcus pentosaceus LBF2 as starter culture.

The roles of biologically synthesized Exopolysaccharides (EPS) from Rhizobium and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF) in tolerating biotic and abiotic stresses were investigated in this study. The treatments effect of Rhizobia, Rhizobial-exopolysaccharides (Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110) and AMF (Glomus clarum), singly and in combination were evaluated on two varieties (TZmI1466 and TZmI1297) infected by Bipolaris maydis (BM) and subjected to water stress. Screen house experiments were conducted using a complete randomized design with three replicates. The growth characteristics, root and shoot biomass and disease incidence data were collected and analyzed by descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA at α0.05.Seed treatments with EPS had the highest significant (P < 0.05) effect on Bipolaris maydis (1.67) and drought in maize. The effect of Rhizobium, exopolysaccharide and AMF treatments against B. maydis showed that Rhizobium alone significantly increase the growth characteristics but suppressed the B. maydis effect. The exopolysaccharide improved all the growth parameters during water stress, while AMF-treated plants significantly improved plant height (43.41 cm ± 2.30), leaf area (114.08 cm2 ± 7.89) and stem diameter (2.58 ± 0.10 cm). Maize variety TZm11297 performed best for the number of leaves (8.48 ± 0.12 cm2) and leaf area (116.97 ± 2.94 cm2) but not significantly different from other growth characteristics in TZm14466.Inoculation with AMF and Rhizobium demonstrated enhanced growth and development of maize plants. Microbial inoculants tolerated drought stress in maize thus, ensuring enhanced crop productivity.

Exopolysaccharides-EPS are long-chain biopolymer with branched, recurring unit of sugars and non-carbohydrate constituents connected to exterior of cells. Rhizobial, a legume nodulating organism is capable of producing EPS. This study investigated the characteristics’ of some Rhizobium EPS and their effects in shelf life extension of some Musa spp. Rhizobial-EPS was produced using yeast extract mineral medium purified by standard methods. The EPS was characterized to determine functional group, thermal stability, chemical compounds and the monosaccharide component using Fourier Transform Infra-red, Spectroscopy, thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and HPLC and their bio-preservative property on post-harvest quality of plantain and different banana was done. The Rhizobial-EPS functional groups were hydroxyl, carboxyl, amine, methyl and ethers associated with polysaccharides. Pentadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, oleic acid and heptacosanoic acid, and varied concentration of monosaccharides were detected in the exopolysaccharides. The TGA of the EPS shows a constant loss in weight with two quasi-sharp alterations and almost steady plateau. The EPS coated samples had the lowest weight loss across the samples and as such edible coating was effective in delaying weight loss. The weight loss of Musa paradisiaca (plantain) coated with (EPSA obtained from USDA 110), (EPSB USDA 532C) and (EPSC S2) at the first day were 314 and 314.5g. The initial weight loss of coated and uncoated Musa sp. (Apple Banana), Musa acuminata (Lady Finger), and Musa balbisiana (Cooking Banana), ranged from 72 – 72.7g, 96 – 97g and 95 – 98g respectively. The total sugar of EPS Coated Musa sp. ranges from 0.381 – 0.528mg/L, 0.392 – 0.576 mg/L and 0.41 – 0.598 mg/L at days 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The highest Titratable acidity and pH was observed in EPS coated sample. The results obtained from this study proves that EPS solution is a valuable product for fruit preservation and viable for commercial applications.

In West Africa, little attention has been given to the rapid propagation of sweet potato with much dependence on the use of tuber part as seed. This study thus investigated the propagation and establishment of a different number of nodal segments of sweet potato vines in soil and soilless system under the influence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF). Cut vines (double and single nodal explants) from growing sweet potato plants were planted in the following substrates; Topsoil, Cocopeat, and Cocopeat + 5 g AMF (4 kg each fertigated with 250 g poultry manure). The experiment was conducted twice (March to July and August to December 2021). The experiment was a 2 (nodal explants) x 3 (substrates) x 2 (periods) factorial arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The agronomic and yield parameters were collected and analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% level of significance. At 4 Weeks after Planting (WAP), the number of new leaves produced by the nodal explants was insignificant. At 8 WAP, the number of nodes produced differed significantly among substrates and ranged from 17.67±0.42 (cocopeat) to 20.17±0.42 (cocopeat+5g AMF). Number of tubers produced differed significantly between planting periods and ranged from 3.28±0.41 (March to July) to 5.06±0.41 (August to December). For efficient vine rooting, planting of single node vines of sweetpotato in cocopeat substrate fertigated with poultry manure and AMF between the August to December period of the year is thus recommended.