December 2015

Morpho-anatomical characters of Zehneria capillacea (Schumach) C. Jeffrey and Zehneria scabra (L.F.) Sond Cucurbitaceae

Comparative studies on macro-morphology, foliar epidermis, stem and petiole anatomy of two indigenous wild cucurbits (Zehneria capillacea and Zehneria scabra) in Nigeria were carried out in order to improve the delimitation of the species based on these parameters. The morphological features of significance observed include variations in leaf and stem pubescence density, leaf shape, fruit shape and color, flower color,...

Author(s): Josephine Agogbua, Chimezie Ekeke and Bosa Ebenezer Okoli

December 2015

Participatory variety selection of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) genotypes for adaptation to the semi-arid agro-ecology of Northern Ghana

In a two-year study, participatory variety selection (PVS) was employed to evaluate the performance of 19 okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) c. v. Moench genotypes in a semi-arid agro-ecology in northern Ghana. The PVS sessions were organized at 65, 80 and 95 days after planting for 272 farmers to select the most preferred genotypes base on plant growth, maturity period and yield components. Results of this study indicate...

Author(s): Sugri I., Abdulai M. S., Larbi A., Hoeschle-Zeledon I., Kusi F. and Agyare R. Y.

December 2015

Cytotoxicity study on Maerua pseudopetalosa (Glig and Bened.) De Wolf tuber fractions

Ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts of the tuber parts of Maerua pseudopetalosa were subjected to further separation by column chromatography technique and eight fractions were obtained for the former and twelve for the latter one. The brine shrimp lethality assay was used for assessment of the toxicity. Remarkable cytotoxicity against brine shrimp larvae was shown, for the first time, by the ethanol extract. The...

Author(s): Manal A. Ibrahim and El Bushra E. El Nur

December 2015

Re-evaluating TiCl4 and UV assays for detection of vicine and convicine in high-throughput screening of immature and mature seeds of faba bean

Genomic resources have just started to focus on the faba bean; the genes for synthesis of vicine and convicine (V-C) have not been determined, and recently developed genetic markers for these anti-nutritionals have not been used to examine these traits in very large scale in faba bean. Simple, rapid and cost-effective technologies are crucial in crop breeding programs, especially in the developing world, and in some...

Author(s): Yurdagul Ferhatoglu and Albert Vandenberg