International Journal of Agriculture and Biosciences

In view of the fundamental role of antioxidants such as beta carotene in human nutrition, this study was designed to determine the concentrations of this antioxidant in chicken egg yolks of the preponderant poultry breeds in Nigeria. Among the strains studied include Harco, White Leghorn, and Local chickens. Again, due to instability of beta carotene resulting from enzymatic and the photochemical destruction, storage duration on the beta-carotene contents of the eggs yolk of these poultry breeds was also studied. A spectrophotometer was used to determine the beta-carotene concentrations of the egg yolks at 450 nm. The results indicate that eggs from Black Harco breed had the highest concentration of beta-carotene when fresh but were most unstable upon storage, while those from local breed had the most stable concentration of beta-carotene upon storage.

Keywords: Beta-carotene, Concentration, Egg yolk of Chicken, Strain, Time

Food around the world is prepared and eaten in various ways. However, health and safety plays a major concern regardless of how the food is processed and eaten. Food safety standards and codings give reassurance in food imports and exports. Food imports and exports partnership could influence the tendency of between countries collaboration in food science and/or nutritional researches. The behaviour of between countries collaboration is hypothesised to be related with the continents economic status. Online survey was conducted to analyse the differing levels of research partnership between countries by categorising the countries into six main continents – Africa, Asia, Australiasia, Europe, North America and South America with the economic status of the country being divided into either high, medium or low. The majority of the articles represented research done through partnerships of countries come from same income level. The least-utilised partnership was that among countries from different income levels. The findings obtained from the current study indicate limited cooperation in global food science research. Therefore there is need to explore ways of increasing such research collaborations.

Keywords: Income,Collaboration, Continents, Nutrition

The study was undertaken to investigate the reproductive performance of crossbred cows raised at farm conditions in Bangladesh through nutritional intervention during the last trimester of pregnancy in different seasons of a year. Feeding intervention in monsoon consists of feeding urea molasses straw (UMS) instead of only rice straw with increased concentrate level. This resulted in increased total DM intake from 8.07 to 9.26 kg/d, DCP intake from 0.23 to 0.60 kg/d and ME intake from 54.57 to 75.92 MJ/d in crossbred cows. Feeding intervention decreased postpartum estrus period from 91.72 to 84.02 d, calving to conception interval from 104.45 to 95.89 d and increased calf birth weight from 21.54 to 22.94 kg, irrespective of breed type. Breed had also similar effect on these reproductive parameters irrespective of feeding type. In winter, legume forage supply was curtailed over that supplied traditionally and rice straw with concentrates was increased resulting in decreased total DM, DCP and ME intake of cows. Intervened feeding, irrespective of genotype of the cows, decreased postpartum estrus period from 88.42 to 83.72 d, calving to conception interval from 99.52 to 92.56 d, service per conception from 1.56 to 1.39 number and increased calf birth weight from 21.77 to 23.42 kg. Breed also affected the reproductive performance irrespective of feeding intervention. Feeding intervention in summer season was to reduce rice straw and concentrates, and to increase the supply of green grass to the cows. Intervened feeding resulted in pronounced increase in intake of all the nutrients as well as the feed cost. As in the case of winter, both feeding and genotype had significant effects on postpartum estrus period, calving to conception interval, service per conception and calf birth weight, when considered individually. From the results of the present study it may be concluded that feeding interventions have significant effect on reproductive performance of crossbred cows.

Keywords: Birth weight, Crossbred cows, Feeding intervention, Genotypes, Postpartum heat period, Service per conception

In beef cattle production, meat quality is one of important characters which has to be considered. Calpastatin (CAST) has important function in meat quality. Calpastatin is the endogenous inhibitor of calpain proteases and it plays an important role in the development of muscle and in meat tenderness. This aim of this study was to identify polymorphism of CAST gene of PO cattle. Random blood samples were collected from 30 animals. DNA was extracted from blood by QIAamp DNA blood mini kit (Qiagen). A 600 bp gene segment was amplified by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) using bovine specific primers. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in the amplified fragments were studied using HaeIII restriction enzyme. In this population, AA, AB, AC and AD genotypes have been identified with the 53.33, 20, 13.33 and 13.33 % frequencies, respectively. A, B, C, and D alleles frequencies were 0.77, 0.1, 0.07 and 0.07, respectively. AA genotype is the dominant genotype and the A allele is the dominant allele. It can be concluded that HaeIII locus of CAST gene of PO cattle were polymorphic.

Keywords: CAST gene, HaeIII, PCR-RFLP, PO cattle, Polymorphism

A comparative work on the effect of aqueous extract of Mucuna prurien leaves on the haematological indices of wistar rats were carried out using nineteen juvenile wistar rats. The body weights of the rats ranged from 0.10kg to 0.36kg. 250ml (aqueous extract and normal saline) per kg body weight of the rats was orally administered. 5ml (blood tonic) per kg body weight of the wistar rats was orally administered daily to the rats. The haematological parameters analyzed include the Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Total White Blood Cell count (TWC) and Differential White Blood Cell count (DWC). The result obtained from the microscopic analysis of the sample suggests that aqueous extract of Mucuna prurien leaves improves the blood.

Keywords: Aqueous extract, Haematology, Microscopy, Mucuna prurient, Wistar rats

The antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic and petroleum ether extracts of tangerine seeds were carried out on three test bacteria namely Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The tangerine seed extracts were obtained by first drying the seeds followed by soxhlet extraction using petroleum ether and ethanol. The extracts were used for antimicrobial studies by the agar-well diffusion method. The various zones of inhibition displayed on agar plates containing the bacteria were taken as a measure of the susceptibility of the test organisms to the extract. From the results, the zone of inhibition of the ethanolic extract on Staphylococcus aureus was 20 mm, Escherichia coli 15 mm and Klebsiella pneumonia 12 mm; while the zones of inhibition shown by the petroleum extract were 15 mm for Staphylococcus aureus, 9 mm for Escherichia coli and 7 mm for Klebsiella pneumonia. Ciprofloxacin was used as the control and the zones of inhibition it displayed were Staphylococcus aureus 40 mm, Escherichia coli 35 mm and Klebsiella pneumoniae 29 mm. Even though the zones of inhibition displayed on the agar plates were relatively small, the potential to use the tangerine seed extracts in the treatment of diseases produced by these bacteria especially skin diseases was established.

Keywords: Antibacterial activity, Ethanolic extracts, Petroleum ether extracts, Tangerine seeds

The study examined how the household factors of members of Farmers’ Multipurpose cooperative societies influence their abilities to repay group loans. The study was conducted in Anambra State, Nigeria. Data were collected using structured questionnaire that was administered to a total of 296 members of Farmers’ multipurpose cooperative societies randomly selected from the three geopolitical zones of the state. Ten selected farmers’ household factors were regressed on group loan repayment using multiple regression analysis. Frequency distribution, percentages and means were used to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of the selected farmers as well as those factors that lead to group loan default among these respondents. The regression coefficients from the lead regression function showed that household size, value of assets, off farm income, dependency ratio and total value of loans were household factors significant in influencing group loan repayment. The study also showed that the perception of possible loan forgiveness in the programme, impossibility of foreclosure of assets, failure of other farmers in the group to repay and thinking of the loan as national cake/grant were precursors to delinquency in group loans.

Keywords: Household factors, Group loan, Repayment

Sixteen young Maradi breed of goats averaging 11 + 2kg were used at Federal University of Technology Yola, Teaching and Research Farm, Adamawa state, in a 4 by 4 Randomized Complete Block Design for a period of 56 days to study the effects of utilizing maize Stover treated with 4% urea and supplemented with maize bran at 0, 50, 100 and 150g. Results showed that there was significant difference in Average daily feed intake and weight gain among the treatment, in T1 (154.28 and 41.61), T2 (197.42 and 83.83), T3 (246.84 and 102.68), and T4 of 293.35g/day and 120.54g/day, respectively. The feed conversion ratio was higher in T4 (2.56) no significant difference was observed between T4 and T3 (2.50), but significant difference exist between T1 (3.95) and T2 (2.39). The percentage digestibility of the experimental diets was higher in T4 (79.86), and that digestibility differs significantly among the treatments. The Nitrogen (N) balance was significantly higher in T4 and faecal N loss appeared to be highest in the T3 group (1.57g/day) and lowest in T2 (1.43g/d. Faecal collection showed that there was a gradual reduction of faecal output from 64.3, 62.1, 61.4 and 60.4g/day among the treatments, respectively. The chemical composition of the faeces and urine indicated that T1 has the highest composition of all the parameters analyzed. The dry matter, ash, crude protein and crude fiber of the faeces and the urine nitrogen content differ significantly among the treatment. However no significant difference was observed with respect to ether extract. The economy of production reveals that cost of feed was higher in T4 (N675.08) with a cost saving of N46.20 and N100.01 feed cost/kg/Naira gain. It is suggested that feeding 4% UTMS and maize bran inclusion at 150g will provide the farmer adequate and profitable live weight gain required during the dry season feeding programme, hence it should be use in the fattening programme.

Keywords: Maize bran, Maize Stover, Treatment, Urea

The antifungal activity of crude extracts of Eupatorium odoratum leaf was investigated using agar-well diffusion method. The plant was selected based on its ethno medical uses. The minimum inhibitory and minimum fungicidal concentrations of the leaf extracts were determined using two fold serial dilution method at concentration of 400mg/ml to 50mg/ml. The activity index was determined using the ratio of the tested extracts and the standard antifungal agent (Ketconazole). The result showed variable pattern of susceptibility, the extracts were active against most of the tested organisms. The activities of the ethanol extracts were higher than that of the aqueous extracts. The ethanol extracts of Eupatorium odoratum had the highest inhibition zone diameter on Xylohypha bantiana ((23±0.81) and Alternaria alternata (23±0.81) respectively. Wangiella dermatitidis was generally less susceptible to the plant extract than other isolates. The inhibiting effects differed significantly among the extracts and the control, with the exception of susceptibility of Alternaria alternata and Xylohypha bantiana to ethanol extract of Eupatorium odoratum leaf.

Keywords: Antifungal activity, Dematiaceous fungi, Eupatorium odoratum, Phytochemicals

This study was conducted in Ose Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo State to ascertain socio-economic characteristics and perceptions of farmers as related to the effect of climate variability on poultry production. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed in choosing the required sample of 100 farmers. Only 90 copies of the questionnaire could be retrieved. Males dominate poultry farming in the area. Majority (66.4%) of the poultry farmers were between the ages of 21-50 years. Most of them were married and had one form of formal education or the other with good number of years of experience in poultry keeping. Most of them perceived unpredicted rainfall, high relative humidity, excessive wind occurrences, increase in sun-intensity, unpredictable day-length pattern and increase in temperature. They observed increased heat stress, increased disease outbreak, reduced egg production, slow growth rate, reduced feed intake, reduced egg size, reduced egg weight, poor egg shell quality, yolkless egg, decreased water intake, dehydration, reduced feed conversion efficiency, increased mortality, difficult breathing, increased pest invasion and reduced poultry carcass. Perceived climate variability significantly affected egg production, growth rate, poultry carcass and caused disease outbreak. Climate variability was discovered to have affected poultry production in the study area. It is therefore recommended that the government should assist the farmers in purchasing of improved poultry breeds by subsidy because majority of farmers were discovered not to adapt to climate variability and/or climate by purchasing improved varieties, the government should establish formidable climate recording centres in Ose local government, and awareness should be heightened and policies formulated should restrict or reduce the emission/accumulation of green house gases.

Keywords: Climate variability, Farmers’ perception, Global warming climate change, Greenhouse gas, Poultry production