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Recent Submissions
Understanding the Complex Aroma Profile of Durian Fruit: A Concise Review
(Journal of Food Science, 2025-02-12) Sospeter, Eliwanzita; Ding, Phebe; Fang, Teh Huey; Misran, Azizah; Abas, Faridah; Dey, Gargi
Durian fruit (Durio sp.) is a tropical fruit native to Southeast Asian countries known for its strong and unique characteristic smell. This review provides comprehensive information on durian fruit aroma, which is characterized by various volatile compounds, with esters and sulfur compounds playing a key role. Additionally, the contribution of ketones, alcohols and aldehydes to its unique aroma cannot be overlooked. The important precursors for the generation of these volatiles are branched-chain amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Moreover, the abundance and composition of aroma volatiles in durian fruit can be affected by various influencing factors, including genetic background, post-harvest handling, and processing. This review also provides the common methods used to extract and analyze durian aroma components, with solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry emerging as a suitable and precise method to extract and analyze the complex aroma chemistry of the durian fruit
Promotion of Indirect Somatic Embryogenesis of Coffea Arabica var Geisha and Improved N39-6 Hybrid through Auxin-Cytokinin Coordination.
(Journal of Agriculture, Earth & Environmental Sciences, 2025-01-02) Ramadhani, Fatuma Jumapili; Mtenga, Damian; Mwaipopo, Rehema Erasto; Aman, Nuhu Mbwebwe; Mbwambo, Suzanna; Kilambo, Deusdedit
Somatic embryogenesis has been used to produce different coffee varieties using auxin-cytokinin interaction. The procedure has been used to multiply millions of coffee plantlets worldwide although its success relies on a particular genotype. Despite the significance of auxin-cytokinin interaction in Coffea arabica micropropagation, little is known about their ability to promote callus-induced plantlets from C. arabica var Geisha (Geisha) and improved N39-6 hybrid in vitro. Thus, this study evaluated the potency of auxin-cytokinin interaction using Geisha and N39-6 coffee leaf explants. Geisha and N39-6 leaves were sterilized,excised into small fragments of around 1 cm2. These fragments were then cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) with different concentration of 2,4-D,2 iP, BAP, and sucrose to activate indirect somatic embryogenesis. Media with 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D and 2 mg/L 2iP promoted callus cell formation around the leaf regions, and the percentage of the area covered by callus cells was significantly higher in Geisha scoring 76-100% (46.3) compared to 76-100% (31.3) of N39-6 within 30 days. Then,callus-formed explants transferred on 1 mg/L 2,4-D and 4 mg/L BAP developed into friable and compact calli on Geisha and N39-6 explants respectively. However, N39-6 calli was heavier (172g) unlike Geisha (163.5g). Friable and compact calli established on the media supplemented with BAP 1.125 mg/L promoted the formation of globular, torpedo, and heart-shaped embryos in both explants. The MS media containing 1.125 mg/L BAP and 0.01mg/L Biotin advanced to the cotyledonary stage and produced roots in Geisha and N39-6 somatic embryos. The fully formed plantlets adapted well to the ex vivo environment. Our findings indicate that this methodology can be utilized to create plantlets for several genotypes. Nevertheless, to ensure that the majority of hybrid varieties can be cultivated in vitro, more research is required.
Quantitative Risk Assessment for Aflatoxin and Fumonisin from Maize Consumption in Northern Tanzania
(International Journal of Innovative Research & Development (IJIRD), 2018-09-13) Nyangi, Chacha Joseph, Sasamalo, Mahamudu Mohamed and Runyogote, Joseph
The study was on Quantitative risk assessment for population exposure to aflatoxin and fumonisin consuming maize in Northern Tanzania. This kind of assessment allow modelling maize consumption data (kg/kg body weight (bw)/day) using an estimated average weight of an adult of 60 Kg with previously collected data for total Aflatoxin (AF) and Fumonisin (FUM) contamination (μg/kg) maize samples from harvested, sorted, unsorted and maize flour from 2013/14 survey. Consumption was estimated by using national daily maize intake of 365 g/Kg BW/day and the exposure assessment was performed with the @RISK analysis software. Results from this assessment showed aflatoxin exposure was increasing from a mean value of 8.64, 8.96, 10.28 and 8.06 ng/kg BW/day for harvested, sorted, unsorted and maize flour respectively at the lower bound (LB). Maize flour had low exposure followed by sorted maize compared to unsorted and harvested maize. Fumonisin exposure was found to decrease from harvested, sorted, unsorted and maize flour with a mean value of 13.51, 6.87,3.31 and 1.77 ng/kg BW/day respectively. Margin of Exposure (MoE) from this study were all below 10,000 for all scenarios for both AF and FUM and this is of public health concern. Even though all samples had aflatoxin and fumonisin contamination below maximum tolerable limit (MTL) of 10 μg/kg and 2 mg/kg respectively for East Africa standards, there is still a serious long-term health implication due to high levels of maize consumption in the study region. Meeting MTL will not by itself guarantee food safety, but using the data collected and available on various health effects from AF, FUM and other mycotoxins, it is important to incorporate them into a risk assessment and show how excessive consumption of foods meeting MTLs can still carry significant health risks.
Increasing Trends of Legacy and Emerging Organic Contaminants in a Dated Sediment Core From East-Africa
(Frontiers in environmental science, 2022) Nipen, Maja; Vogt, Rolf D.; Bohlin-Nizzetto, Pernilla; Borgå, Katrine; Mwakalapa, Eliezer B.; Borgen, Anders R.; Schlabach, Martin; Christensen, Guttorm; Mmochi, Aviti J.; Breivik, Knut
Temporal trends of industrial organic contaminants can show how environmental burdens
respond to changes in production, regulation, and other anthropogenic and environmental
factors. Numerous studies have documented such trends from the Northern Hemisphere,
while there is very limited data in the literature from sub-Saharan Africa. We hypothesized
that the temporal trends of legacy and contemporary industrial contaminants in sub-
Saharan Africa could greatly differ from the regions in which many of these chemicals were
initially produced and more extensively used. For this purpose, a dated sediment core
covering six decades from a floodplain system in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was
analysed. The samples were analysed for selected legacy persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) [polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs)]
and chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) [alternative brominated flame retardants
(aBFRs), chlorinated paraffins (CPs), and dechloranes]. All groups of chemicals showed
a steep increase in concentrations towards the uppermost sediment layers reflecting the
more recent years. Concentrations of the individual compound groups in surface sediment
were found in the order CPs >> aBFRs ∼ ∑25PBDEs > dechloranes ∼ ∑32PCBs. Time
trends for the individual compounds and compound groups differed, with ∑32PCBs
showing presence in sediments since at least the early 1960s, while some CECs first
occurred in sediments corresponding to the last decade. Investigations into potential
drivers for the observed trends showed that socioeconomic factors related to growth in
population, economy, and waste generation have contributed to increasing
concentrations of PBDEs, aBFRs, CPs, and Dechlorane Plus. Further monitoring of
temporal trends of industrial organic contaminants in urban areas in the Global South
is recommended.
Ethnobotanical Survey of Plants Used in ihe Maasai Food System and Traditional Medicine Against Gout and Associated Conditions in Monduli-Tanzania
(Taylor & Francis, 2024) Clement, Richard P.; Runyogote, Joseph; Raymond, Jofrey; Chacha, Musa N.
An ethnobotanical survey was conducted to determine the
plant species used against gout and gout-associated con-
ditions (GACs) in Monduli, Arusha, Tanzania. The survey
that involved 21 Maasai traditional food system (TFS) and
traditional medicine (TM) practitioners revealed that the
study area had 101 plant species distributed in 84 genera
and 42 families. About 79% of the species were used as
medicine; some were used as food or for processing. The
medicinal plants (MPs) managed 69 health conditions
including gout, “Olgila” and GACs. The MPs had potential
nutritional and antioxidant agents against diseases includ-
ing metabolic diseases (MDs), like gout. The root parts of
the plants (54% species) were exploited the most; most
plants (94%) were sourced from the wild. Integrated con-
servation and promotion measures are needed to prevent
loss of TFS and TM knowledge.