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ABSTRACT, and also between fruit weight and fruit volume. A high negative correlation (P<0.01) was observed between number of fruits and fruit weight and volume. There was no correlation between number of hands and fruit weight, and number of hands and fruit volume. These findings suggest that new Musa hybrids are highly promising in terms of yield and certain fruit and bunch traits and could therefore complement African traditional plantains.

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Bread is one of the most convenient, least expensive and most important staple foods in the world today. It is usually fermented and baked into loaves or cakes. Bread making has been with the Chinese for 5000 years and has also been found in ancient Egyptian tombs and reported widely in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible and in the Holy Qur’an. Bread was introduced to Nigeria probably about two centuries ago either by white colonialists or it may have been acquired from the Arabs through the Trans-Saharan trade with the Fulanis and Hausas of Northern Nigeria, especially during the eras of Mali and Songhaï Empires. Wheat bread is widely consumed in all parts of Africa. Research into the use of indigenous raw materials in the production of composite bread, cakes and confectionery products has been carried out in several African research institutes and universities. These investigations have proven beyond doubt the baking potentials of various tropical crops including plantain and banana. Improved varieties of plantain and banana have been developed and widely distributed to farmers in West and Central Africa as well as East and Southern Africa by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). This effort was complemented by extensive post-harvest research on new product development and evaluation from various accessions of plantain and banana hybrids. Transformation of fruits at different stages of ripening involving different processing techniques, packaging and preservation of new products was disseminated to farmers and food processors. This was necessary to add value to fresh plantain and banana, reduce post-harvest loss, enhance product diversification and provide jobs. Despite these approaches, there has been limited effort to implement composite bread technology in developing countries at the industrial level. This paper is a review of the application of tropical crops, especially plantain and banana in bread making. Output of this review may provide impetus for sustainable adoption of non-wheat or composite wheat bread making technology in Africa.

Fishes are the cheapest source of animal protein and it plays an important role in the diet of many people in both developed and developing countries. It is an important ingredient in the Nigerian traditional cuisine, cat fish being one of the most valued and very diverse groups of bony fish. The catfishes are a monophyletic group, belonging to the super-order called the Ostariophysi. Freshly caught fish spoil easily and therefore requires adequate preservation and storage. Of all flesh foods, fish is the most susceptible to tissue decomposition, development of rancidity, and microbial spoilage. Fish begin to deteriorate as soon as they leave the water. The preservation of fish is therefore considered to be a major hindrance to its production and utilisation especially in the tropical countries in Africa. The four most popular methods of fish preservation are freezing, canning, smoking and pickling, the major preservation method being pickling or salting, which has been used for centuries. In this present study, the effect of extracts from three indigenous spices; Piper guinensis (uziza), Xylopia aethiopicum (okada) and Myrustica monodora (ehuru) on the preservation of smoked-dried catfish stored for six weeks were evaluated using brine solution as control. Samples treated with uziza showed the lowest moisture content of 6.5% and lowest mean FFA formation of 0.55%, which was significantly different (p<0.5) from the other spices. The mean peroxide value range of 5.8-15.1 meq/kg was observed throughout the storage period for all the spices used. Thiobarbituric acid values ranged from 0.6mg/kg-1.4mg/kg with the lowest mean value of 0.37 mg/kg recorded in fish samples treated with uziza while the highest mean TBA value of 1.14mg was obtained in ehuru treated samples. This new research reveals that the three indigenous spices used, including Piper guinensis, Myristica monodora and Xylophia aethiopicum had chemical preservative and antioxidant properties. Among the three spices, Piper guinensis (uziza) was found to have the most effective preservation potential of smoked-dried fish during storage. This new result is anticipated to provide a simple, cheaper, healthier and safer method of fish preservation in developing countries.