Antioxidant Activity, Phytochemical and Antioxidant Levels of Musa Paradisciaca L. And Musa Sapientum L. At Various Ripening Stages (Published)
Musa paradisiaca L. (plantain) and Musa sapientum L. (banana) are tropical fruits that play a major role in the nutrition and health of people throughout the world. Analyses of the levels of antioxidants such as glutathione, caroteniods and vitamin E of two cultivars of Musa paradisaca and three cultivars of Musa sapientum revealed an increase in these antioxidants from the unripe to the overripe stage during ripening. The overripe stages of Musa paradisiaca L.cv. French (Bini plantain) and Musa sapientum L.cv. Bluggoe cacambou (Cooking banana) were found to contain the highest level of glutathione (54.10±0.60 μg/g fresh weight and 47.79±3.45 μg/g fresh weight, respectively). The highest level of lycopene occurred in the overripe stages of Musa paradisiaca L. cv. False horn (Auchi plantain) and Musa sapientum L.cv. Bluggoe cacambou (Cooking banana) with values 0.91±0.00 and 0.80±0.01 μg/gfresh weight, respectively. The highest level of vitamin E (20.20±1.99 μg/gfresh weight and 17.53±1.18 μg/gfreshweight) occurred in Musa paradisiaca L.cv False horn (Auchi plantain) and Musa sapientum L.cv Dwarf Cavendish (English banana). However β-caroetene was detected only in the unripe stage of Musa paradisiaca L.cv False horn (Auchi plantain) and the level of β-carotene was negligible. Phytochemical screening of the plantain and banana cultivars showed decreased levels of tannins, phenols and alkaloids but increased levels of saponins and flavonoids as ripening progressed except in Musa sapientum L.cv. Bluggoe cacambou (Cooking banana) where there was a decrease in the level of saponins. Antioxidant activity also increased with ripening in the plantain and banana cultivars, with their ripe and overripe stages having the highest values. Methanolic extracts of the plantain and banana cultivars showed higher antioxidant activity than that of aqueous extracts. The results obtained in this study showed that plantain and banana irrespective of the variety are good sources of antioxidants particularly when they are ripe and overripe.
Keywords: Antioxidant, Musa Paradisiaca, Musa sapientum, Phytochemical, ripening
Challenges of Ripening Of Sugarcane at Tendaho, Metahara and Wonji-Shoa Sugar Estates (Published)
Ripening in sugarcane refers to an increase in sugar content on a fresh weight basis before commercial harvest. In Ethiopian Sugar Industry ripening of cane especially at the early and late periods of crushing shows a decline against the mid periods of crushing. Thus, an effort was made to show the trend of ripening and associated losses by considering the problem of ripening at Tendaho, Metahara and Wonji-Shoa Sugar Estates. To have concrete information, cane plantation harvest result, meteorological and experimental data were used. Furthermore, reviews about ripening, research and developments of chemical ripeners, conditions and considerations for good response, environmental and economic issues related to ripeners were made. From the trend analysis and experimental data it is concluded that the conventional ripening method by withholding water has draw back in exploiting the maximum attainable recovery potential at Metahara, Wonji-Shoa and Tendaho Sugar Factories. At Wonji-Shoa, the loss in sucrose percent cane from the peak value attained in the crushing months ranged from 0.02 to 0.95 %. Similarly, at Metahara, the deviation in sucrose percent cane from the peak in the crushing moths ranged from 0.32 to 1.10 %. In general, maximum loss in sucrose percent cane was observed in the early and late periods of crushing. Temperature and residual moisture plays an important role in the ripening of cane and the challenge also seems to occur at Finchaa and newly emerging sugar factories located in the lowlands of the country
Keywords: Rainfall, Temperature, chemical ripeners, dry-off period, ripening, sucrose, sucrose loss.