Tomato fruit is a perishable farm produce with high moisture content. Despite its valuable qualities, the fruits are subjected to wastage and spoilage during its seasonal period. The study was therefore conducted to investigate some physical properties of local variety of tomatoes that are relevant in the handling and processing of the fruits. The physical characteristics considered were axial dimensions, weight, volume, density, surface area and sphericity. The mean dimensions of the fresh fruits specifically were longitudinal diameter (5.06 cm); transverse diameter (4.48 cm) and thickness (2.92 cm). The weight, volume, surface area and sphericity were 50.44 g, 4.6 cm 3 , 23.31 cm 2 and 80.05 % respectively. The true and bulk densities were 10.96 g/cm 3 and 0.71 g/cm 3 respectively. The thin layer drying characteristics of whole tomato fruits were also investigated at temperatures 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 o C. Fruit samples were also sun dried. The quality of oven and sun dried products were analyzed for nutritional contents (protein, crude fibre, ascorbic acid and carotene) and antioxidant (lycopene). The statistical analysis of the nutritional constituent was also carried out. Drying time decreased from 30 to 24 hrs as drying temperature increased from 40 to 80 o C. The nutritional values of oven dried products such as protein (1.51%), ascorbic acid (17.06 mg/100), crude fibre (2.25 %), carotene (0.46 mg/100), phenol (14.18 mg/100) and lycopene (12.95 mg/100) while the values of sun dried products were 0.52 %, 11.75 mg/100, 0.93 %, 0.14 mg/100, 6.91 mg/100 and 5.91 mg/100 respectively. The statistical analysis shows that the result were statistically significant (P<0.05).

Harmful gases are released into the atmosphere through burning of residues which is commonly practiced in Nigeria and can be attributed to climate change issues. Agricultural residues have the potentials to be used as energy and chemical source and meet its deficit in the country. This paper focuses on utilization of lignocellulosic materials obtained from two agricultural residues through renewable technology to produce bio-energy and chemical feedstock. The lignocellulosic materials were extracted from palm fruit (Elaeis guineensis) fibre and physic nut (Jatropha curcas) shell, and pyrolyzed under low temperature and pressure at various particle sizes. The main properties of solid (lignocellulosic) materials were tested and the bio-oil produced was analyzed using GC-MS. Results show proximate analyses (volatile, ash and fixed carbon contents) and ultimate analysis (carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc). The pH value of the bio-oil from both residues increased with increase in temperatures. The density, viscosity and calorific value of the palm and physic residue oil are 831.99 and 947.5 kg/m 3 , 0.695 and 1.58 cPa at room temperature, 22.33 and 14.169 kJ/g, respectively. Aromatics and other compounds are major dominant compounds in the palm fruit fibre oil which is characterized for bio-fuel production. Physic nut shell oil contains aromatic ethers, cyclic ethers, secondary amides and organic halogen compound which are important chemical feedstock. Conversion of these residues to useful products will alleviate the energy supply deficit, improve social and economic development, promote clean and healthy atmosphere of the nation and significantly contribute to global climate change mitigation.

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Over the years, the excessive use of agro-chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) have adverse effect on the soil health and lead to declining of crop yields and quality of products. The shredding of twigs will provide an alternative for the use of agro-chemicals. For this to happen, the twigs will first be shredded into small bits making it ready for transportation and further processing. This necessitated the development of a shredder machine. The machine consists of three-phase electric motor, bearings, structural frame, cutters, hopper, shredding unit, discharge chute, belt drive and shaft. Four cutters are mounted on the shaft, which rotate by a belt drive. The power from the electric motor is transmitted to the cutter shaft through a belt drive. Cut is made inside the shredding unit due to the effect of tensile, friction and impact effect in shredding process. The twigs get shredded and the small bits are collected at the discharge chute of the shredder. The performance of the machine was evaluated and test results showed that there was a correlation between the weight of the shredded twigs and the shredding time. The shredding operation was done at 4 different time intervals (4 minutes, 8 minutes, 12 minutes and 16 minutes) with the same weight of twigs (40 kg) and the weight of small bits of twigs collected increases with time. The machine is user friendly and recommended for farmers and medium scale entrepreneurs.