Plantain contributes significantly to income generation and food security for millions of people in the world. However, it faces problems of seedlings quantity, quality and availability. The innovation of the "plants issus de fragments de tiges" (PIF) technique could be a solution to these problems for small holders' farmers. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effect of clam shells through amendment of Batard and Big Ebanga PIF substrate, on the growth promotion of seedlings and their protection against black Sigatoka disease (BSD). Plantain PIF seedlings of the two varieties were grown in a substrate amended with 1% concentration of the clam shells powder in the presence of negative control in the sterile and non-sterile conditions. Agromorphological characteristics, susceptibility level to BSD, total proteins and polyphenols content were assessed. Because of the presence of clam shells in the substrates, explants germinated quickly, generated high number of shoots, grew taller by 32%, with a diameter of pseudo stems of 30%, and area of leaves of 18% compared to control. In addition, the seedlings were less susceptible to BSD by 73% compared to those of controls. The treatment seems to allow the accumulation of larger amounts of total proteins and polyphenols before inoculation and after inoculation that could participate in the growth promotion and the reduction of plant's susceptibility level. Clam shells treatment acts as a biofertilizer/biopesticide and could be helpful to boost production of plantain seedlings, the use of the by-products of fishing in agriculture and helps alleviate poverty of small holders' farmers.

Tropical roots and tubers generally contain mucilage. These mucilages exhibit unique rheological properties with considerable potential as a food thickener and stabilizer. A one-step extraction procedure was used to isolate starch free mucilage and associated proteins from a number of taro (Colocasia esculenta) varieties. The monosaccharide and amino acid composition, the structural and flow properties were investigated. The results showed that yield of mucilage fraction varied from 30 to 190 g.kg(-1). A negative correlation (r = -0.87; p < 0.05) was observed between the crude protein level and the yield. The monosaccharide profiles revealed that galactose, mannose and arabinose were the main monosaccharides in the hydrolysate of the mucilage. From the 17 amino acids analyzed, aspartic acid/asparagine (14.4-17.2%) and glutamic acid/glutamine (10.3-13.6%) were prominent in the mucilage as well as the flour. No significant differences were observed in the FT-IR spectra and in the viscosity behavior of the mucilage dispersions. The greatest difference in the mucilage is based on its monosaccharide profile while the protein composition, which reflects that of the flour, is relatively stable.

BackgroundThe recent epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Africa, coupled with rampant poverty, is an indication of the urgent need to develop new efficacious, cheaper and more available drugs to face this growing public health challenge. A number of plants products among which the protein-rich Cucurbitaceae seeds are commonly used in traditional medicine with increasing acclaimed efficacy against DM. The aim of this study was to analyse and evaluate the hypoglycaemic activity of storage proteins of five species of Cucurbitaceae, which include Telfairia occidentalis, Citrullus lanatus, Lagenaria siceraria, Cucumeropsis mannii and Cucurbita moschata.MethodsThe different families of storage proteins were extracted following differential solubility, and their contents were estimated using the Bradford method. The analysis of these proteins was done by electrophoresis in non-denaturing and denaturing conditions. The evaluation of hypoglycaemic properties of various globulins extracted was performed on male Wistar rats by the oral glucose tolerance test.ResultsThe results showed that among the proteins extracted, globulins constitute the most abundant class of storage proteins in all five species selected. Citrullus lanatus and Cucurbita moschata presented the highest levels of globulin (275.34 and 295.11 mg/g dry matter, respectively). The results of electrophoresis showed that all species possess acidic and neutrals albumins and globulins, with molecular weight of protein subunits ranging from 6.36-44.11 kDa for albumins, 6.5-173.86 kDa for globulins and 6.5-49.66 kDa for glutelins. The 6.36 kDa of albumin subunit protein and the 6.5 kDa of globulin subunit protein were present in all the species. The oral glucose tolerance test showed that the globulins of the seeds of all species except Cucumeropsis mannii caused significant drop in blood sugar (88 – 137.80%, compared to the controls, p<0.05).ConclusionsThese findings showed that the selected Cucurbitaceae seeds contained globulins with significant anti-hyperglycaemic activity. It is therefore highly encouraged to pursue investigations towards development of peptide-drugs and/or phytomedicines from these bioactive proteins which could be used as affordable alternative therapy against DM.

.05 mg/mL; YP 1.42±0.04 mg/mL) were lower than those of citric acid (1.58±0.04 mg/mL). Generally mucilage from the WP and YP sections are excellent sources of chelating agents.

The black pod disease caused by Phytophthora megakarya is responsible for 80% of the cocoa production loss in Cameroon. To assess the resistance of cocoa plants against this pathogen, necrotic lesions, phenolic content and qualitative alteration of phenolics were conducted in ICS84 and ICS95 clones (two Trinitario introduced from Trinidad) and their hybrids (families F30 and F25) derived from reciprocal cross breeding between these two parental clones after inoculation. The existence of strong hybrid vigour has been shown. Ninety percentage of the hybrid's genotypes manifested a positive heterosis effect for the development of lesion size. This suggests the existence of hybrid vigour with a genetic additive effect. F3086, F2509, F2552 and F2586 hybrids were characterized by localized lesions. Those hybrids genotypes can be considered as elite clones. In relation to analysis of total phenolics and lesion size, no maternal effect was detected in the transmission of these characters. A significant and negative correlation (r ¼ )0.683) (P < 0.01) has been observed between necrosis evolution and phenolics accumulation. The values of the heritability of lesion size and the total phenolic content in offsprings did not permit to show the maternal effect. Qualitative analyses of phenolics showed high flavonones content in cocoa leaves. Qualitative analyses of phenolics in ICS84, ICS95 clones and their hybrids showed a modification of the phenolics profiles, notably concerning apigenin and luteolin derivatives due to the inoculation. These compounds, along with others that were not identified, could have a role in the reaction and mechanism of defence of cocoa against P. megakarya.