B P International

An assessment of storage changes within the Cretaceous sandstones of Lokoja Formation constituting the sedimentary part of Lokoja and its environs was carried out using USGS GSFLOW-1.0 software to investigate reasons for water problems such as drying of streams and failure of wells commonly experienced in the area. Daily meteorological data from year 2001 to 2010 and hydraulic conductivity for the area were used as input for the model simulation. Model results indicate that storage in the watershed takes place in the soil-zone, unsaturated-zone and saturated-zone and that storage takes place at different periods in the storage zones. Three storage cycles were identified in each of the storage zones. Soil-zone storage is generally higher during the second and third cycles. Storage in the unsaturated zone is lowest in the first cycle with thickness of the zone decreasing to minimum in the second cycle as storage increases to maximum. Storage increased to maximum in the second cycle of...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most important vegetable crops in the world. Effect of Neem leaf coating on the shelf life and quality retention of tomato fruits during storage was investigated. Three varieties of tomato fruits (UTC, Shase and Hoozua) obtained from Wurukum market in Makurdi were treated with Neem leaf coating to extend their shelf life and maintain their quality during storage. Significant variations were observed among the varieties in relation to most of the parameters studied. Irrespective of treatment, weight loss, postharvest decay, marketability and firmness decreased with increase in storage duration. Temperature ranged from 28.43 – 31.89°C. For weight evaluation, UTC ranged from 4.95 – 45.28, Shase ranged from 4.40 – 45.16 and Hoozua ranged from 4.62 – 59.48. Among the three varieties, UTC and Shase showed lower postharvest decay of 0.00 – 10.00 than Hoozua with postharvest decay of 1.00 – 10.00 and the lower postharvest decay was found in the tr...

Tomato is one of the most widely grown and extensively consumed horticultural crops in the world. Isolation, identification and pathogenicity of fungal organisms causing postharvest spoilage of tomato fruits during storage was carried out. Tomato fruits showing symptoms of rot were collected from the store house. Small sizes were cut and surface sterilized in 1% of Sodium hydrochloride and rinsed in several changes of sterile distilled water. They were plated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and observed for fungal growth. Identification was done macroscopically and microscopically. For pathogenicity, healthy tomato fruits were plugged with pure cultures of the fungal isolates and disease incidence and severity were evaluated. Five fungi namely Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium waksmanii, Botryodiplodia theobromae, Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotrichum asianum were isolated. Incidence of decay on healthy tomato fruits was 100% for all fungal isolates while the control was 0%. T-test reve...