Impacts of Selected Seed Pretreatments on Emergence and Early Growth of Ceiba Pentandra (L.) Gaertn (Published)
The research work on seed pretreatment methods was carried-out to examine the effects on the emergence and early growth of Ceiba pentandra (Linn) Gaertn. The research was carried out at Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) nursery Jericho, Ibadan. Major pretreatments employed on the seeds of Ceiba pentandra were soaking in water at room temperature, soaking in water at boiling point, soaking in H2SO4, and soaking in organic manure (rabbit dung) with untreated seeds as control. Each of the treatments has three levels of administration except control with a single level. The research was laid in a completely randomized design with 20 seeds per treatment and each level of treatment was replicated five times. Growth parameters assessed were germination count, seedling height, seedling girth and number of leaves with germination percentage derived from germination count. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS package. From the table presentation of germination parameters and percentage derivative, Treatment 1 (soaking in water at room temperature for 12 hours) has the highest germination percentage of 100% followed by Treatment 7 (soaking in H2SO4 for 10 minutes) 70% and Treatment 13 (control) 70%. ANOVA stated that there was significant difference among the seedling height, seedling girth and number of leaves at 5% level of probability. In overall assessment, Treatment 10 (soaking in rabbit manure for 12h) has the highest mean value of height, 15.67 followed by Treatment 8 (Soaking in H2SO4 for 20 minute) with mean value of 15.45 In the area of number of leaves, Treatment 10 has the highest mean value of 18.67 followed by Treatment 2 with 18.02 while Treatment 7 (soaking in acid for 10 minutes) has the highest mean value of 2.77 in stem diameter followed by Treatment 10 with 2.68 mean value. It was concluded based on the result obtained from the research work that Treatment 10 (Soaking in Rabbit Manure for 12 hours) was highly and positively significant in treating seeds of C. pentandra majorly in the areas of seedling height and number of leaves that form the essential parameters of plant growth and development. It is therefore recommended that further research should be carried on other fresh organic manures with various plant species.
Keywords: Impact, Organic Manure, Pretreatment, kapok, room temperature
Different Processing Conditions Affect Palm (Thot Not) Wine Fermentation (Under Review)
Thot Not (coconut palm) trees are an integral part of the Khmer community in Van Giao Commune, Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province, Vietnam. Palm wine can be obtained from the young inflorescence either male (or) female ones palm wine is alcoholic beverage that are made by fermenting the sugary sap from various palm plants. It is collected by tapping the top of the trunk by felling the palm tree and boring a hole into the trunk it is a cloudy whitish beverage with a sweet alcoholic taste and very short shelf life of only one day, the wine is consumed in a variety of flavors varying foam sweet unfermented to sour, fermented and vinegary there are various products. Palm sap can be fermented (or) processed into an alcoholic beverage it just needs the correct yeasts, temperature and processing conditions. In our research, we investigate three yeast strains and decide to choose two strains Rh and C1 to get good sensory quality wine. Between Rh and C1, the first is superior to the later based on both sensory value and fermenting time (14 days for Rh and 18 days for C1). Althoug the strain C1 having longer fermenting time, it creates specific flavor and more CO2 so it’s suitable for sparking wine. From yeast strain Sacharomycess cerevisiae, pretreatment 75 ÷ 800C in 15 minutes, initial pH 5.0 ÷ 5.5, dry matter 20 ÷ 22% Brix, fermenting temperature 300C, palm wine is well fermented to 11.5 – 12.5% alcohol
Keywords: : Palm Wine, Alcohol, Pretreatment, Processing Condition, Yeast