Browsing by Author "Chore, Judith Kavulani"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Biochemical Changes and Microbial Profiles Affecting Quality and Vase Life of Cut Gladioli (Gladiolus Grandiflorus L. ‘Fado’) Following Pulsing and Cold Wet Storage(Egerton University, 2021-04) Chore, Judith KavulaniFloriculture in Kenya remains among the top three foreign exchange earners. Gladiolus is one of the famous cut flowers in the world. Annual losses amounting to 30,000 metric tonnes valued at USD; 166.6 is incurred by farmers due to postharvest challenges. The aimof this study was to determine the vase life and quality parameters of cut Gladiolus grandiflorus L. cv.‘Fado’ as affected by pulsing with 600 ppm 8-hydroxyquinoline sulphate plus 5% sucrose prior to wet cold storage duration(0 – 5 days). The Gladiolus were grown in the open field from corms at the Horticulture Research and Teaching Field, in the department of Crops, Horticulture and Soils, Egerton University, Kenya, during the season of September to December 2014. A two by six factorial experiment embedded in a Completely Randomized Design with four replicates was adopted using Proc GLM model in two way ANOVA. Differences in means were determined using Tukey’s test at 5% level of significance. Pulsing treatments and interactive wet cold storage durations significantly affected cut Gladiolus quality parameters including fresh weight (P< 0.0031; 11.67% increase).,dry weight (P˂ 0.0272 ;17.62% increase)., mean water uptake (P < 0.0001; 38.14% increase)., opened florets (P˂ 0.00095; 59.8% increase) and number of unopened buds (P <0.0256 ; 61-28.88% reduction). The pulsing and cold storage treatments and their interaction significantly (P˂ 0.0001., P˂0.0003.,P˂0.0001 respectively) affected the vase life of the cut Gladiolus (11.5 ± 0.0.148 days versus 4.75 ± 0.148 days; 142% increase).The pulsing treatment coupled with wet cold storage and their interactive effects significantly (P < 0.0001) affected the concentrations of the senescence biomarkers: Total Free Amino Acids, (P<.0001; 21.97% reduction)), Total Soluble Sugars (P < 0.0001; 101.16% increase) and Total Starch(P <0.0001; 309.39 % increased) on the third day in the vase compared with the control. The levels of Total Phenols, anthocyanins and microbial proliferation were also significantly affected (P< 0.0003 (104.14% increase)., P ˂ 0.0012 (26.98% increase)., P < 0.0001 (6.032% reduction) respectively) on the third day in the vase in pulsed spikes wet cold stored for 3 days.Gladiolus cut flowers can be wet stored at 3 ± 1°C up to a maximum of 4 days without any adverse effect on their subsequent vase life and quality. Small scale farmers can adopt pulsing cutG. grandiflorus cv.Fadowith subsequent storage of upto 4 days at 3 ±1 OC to manage bulking and transportation of their produce to reduce postharvest losses. This may increase domestic livelihood withenhanced foreign exchange and consequently food and job security in Kenya.Knowledge from this study will augment existing technologies in improving quality and market value of Gladiolus cut flower.Item Effect of extracts from selected Aloe plant species on the Anopheles gambiae, Sensu stricto and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes(Egerton University, 2012-08) Chore, Judith KavulaniMalaria control through insecticide application has significantly been compromised by the advent of resistance to the insecticide in the Anopheles mosquito vector. These developments have necessitated the need to bio prospect for and understand the mode of action of novel insecticide introduction. Larvicidal potential in extracts from Aloe plants on Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto and Aedes aegypti third instar (two days old) larvae were evaluated. Extracts were obtained from Aloe turkanensis, Aloe ngongensis and Aloe fibrosa plants using classical solvent extraction technique. Larvicidal potential of the extract were evaluated through bioassay of the extract on third instar An. gambiae s.s and Ae. aegypti larvae following 24 h exposure. The dose-response data obtained were analyzed by probit analysis to establish the median lethal concentration (LC50) of the extract to the larvae. The LC50 responses against third instar larvae of An. gambiae s. s. and Ae. aegypti were 0.08 mg / ml and 0.11mg / ml, respectively at 95% intervals. All the A. ngongensis plant extracts had larvicidal activity. Only the methanol, acetone and hexane plant extracts of A. fibrosa species showed larvicidal activities at LC50 concentrations ranging between 0.66 and 3.90 mg / ml at 95% confidence interval. Phytochemical tests showed presence of flavonoids, tannins and saponins in Aloe turkanensis plant extract. Apart from the hexane and chloroform plant extracts of Aloe ngongensis, those of methanol, acetone and ethyl acetate showed presence of flavonoids. All the Aloe fibrosa plant extracts of hexane, acetone and methanol showed presence of flavonoids and tannins. However, only the acetone and methanol plant extracts of Aloe fibrosa showed presence of saponins. None of the Aloe plant extracts gave positive test for phlobatannins, terpenoids and steroids. The phenolic functional group was prevalent in most of the plant extracts. The leased significant difference (LSD) of the means of the developmental stages of the Aloe exposed Ae. aegypti were significantly different from those of the negative controls at 5% level. The leased significant means of the egg deposits, egg viability and mortality were significantly different in the Aloe exposed Ae. aegypti at 5% level The findings of this study will contribute to current Anopheles vector control programs by providing information on potential additional anti-Anopheles compound(s) and molecular process (es) of subtractive hybridization with bioinformatics, that can be exploited in development of novel insecticides.