No. 2 (2024) Current Issue

Published December 1, 2024

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Articles

  • Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) as a remedy to human livelihood challenges: a review
    5-11
    Views:
    43

    Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is a unique plant predominant in different ecosystems in Africa. This review assessed its value in relation to human nutrition, health, and related aspects. Our synthesis shows that baobab leaves, seed oil, and fruit pulp were utilised in different forms. Baobab tree products such as fruit pulp, leaves, and seed oil contain high levels of macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, carbohydrates, and proteins. Therefore, promoting the utilization and processing of baobab products for improved human nutrition is key. However, the determination of optimal parameters through elemental traceability as well as the relationship between geographical locations and nutrient composition of the baobab plant is required. Altogether, promoting innovative utilization of baobab products by exploring processing techniques to develop novel food and product formulation from Adansonia digitata tree products sheds a green light to sustain human livelihoods.

  • Evaluation of the synergistic effect of yeast and Chicory-inulin on rumen fermentation parameters and estimation of methane emission
    13-18
    Views:
    33

    Probiotics and prebiotics are feed additives that have been extensively utilised in animal nutrition for a considerable duration. However, only some studies have investigated their synergistic effects on rumen fermentation parameters and their role in minimizing methane emission. Therefore, this study examined the impact of combining chicory-inulin with yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on rumen fermentation parameters and methane emissions in weaned dairy goats. The feeds were formulated into eight diets and offered to 24 Saanen×Toggenburg crossbred weaned female dairy goats weighing 14±0.5 Kg in a Completely Randomized Design with a (4x2) factorial arrangement. The diets were Rhodes grass hay and chicory supplementation at four levels: 0, 10, 20, 20, and 30% as the main effects and with (+) and without yeast (-) yeast as interaction levels. The findings indicated that the inclusion of yeast and Chicory had a significant effect (p<0.05) on rumen pH, ammonia nitrogen concentrations, production of volatile fatty acids), and estimated methane emission. The highest pH was recorded in T1- with 7.27. It was followed closely by T1+ with 6.73. T1+ recorded the highest methane (39.67 mmol/L), while T4- had the lowest (32.42 mmol/L). This study concludes that Chicory-inulin has prebiotic properties by maintaining pH levels and affecting amounts of ammonia nitrogen. The lack of a significant interaction effect between yeast and Chicory in methane emission implies that their combined influence may not significantly affect methane emissions in the current study's experimental settings.

  • The effects of spraying with onion and garlic extracts on the growth of the plant Anethum graveolens L. and its antioxidant effectiveness
    19-24
    Views:
    24

    This experiment was conducted during the 2022–2023 agricultural season in a mixed clay soil at one of the fields of the Faculty of Agriculture, Basra University. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of spraying dill plants (Anethum graveolens L) with aqueous extracts of onion and garlic on their growth. The plants were sprayed with garlic aqueous extract at three concentrations (0, 20, 30 g L-1) and onion aqueous extract at three concentrations (0, 15, 25 g L-1), with three applications at a 15-day interval between each spray. The experiment was designed using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD).

    The obtained results showed that the plants sprayed with garlic aqueous extract exhibited significant improvements in most characteristics, except for the fruit content of total dissolved carbohydrates and the yield of fruits from volatile oil. Specifically, the plants sprayed with a concentration of 30 g L-1 outperformed the other two concentrations in terms of plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, and 1000-seed weight for each experimental unit. On the other hand, the plants sprayed with a concentration of 20 g L-1 significantly outperformed in terms of floral inflorescence number per plant and seed yield. Additionally, the plants sprayed with a concentration of 30 g L-1 had the highest chlorophyll content and antioxidant effectiveness of dill leaves (%). However, spraying with garlic extract did not have a significant effect on the fruit content of total dissolved carbohydrates and the yield of fruits from volatile oil.

    Regarding the plants sprayed with onion extract, they showed overall superiority in most traits, except for the chlorophyll content of the leaves. Specifically, the plants sprayed with a concentration of 15 g L-1 significantly excelled in plant height, while the plants sprayed with a concentration of 25 g L-1 outperformed in terms of floral inflorescence number per plant and seed yield. The plants sprayed with a concentration of 25 g L-1 also had the highest content of total dissolved carbohydrates in fruits and the highest antioxidant effectiveness of dill leaves and seeds (%). However, the plants sprayed with a concentration of 15 g L-1 had the highest yield of volatile oil. The interaction between the two factors (garlic and onion extracts) had a significant effect on all studied traits, except for the chlorophyll content of the leaves.

  • Assessment of backfat thickness and its relationship with reproductive performance of sows – preliminary findings
    25-30
    Views:
    37

    Backfat thickness (BFT) is an important trait that influences reproductive performance in sows. This study investigated the relationship between sow BFT at farrowing and the number of live born (LB), stillborn (SB), and Mummies (Ms) in different parities (P) (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8). Backfat thickness was measured at point P2 (BFT at the last rib, at the junction of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae 3–5 cm from the midline of the spine (mm). In total, 216 sows were measured on day 109 of gestation (when they entered farrowing). Descriptive statistics showed that the mean BFT was 14.55 mm SEM 0.171 SD 2.576. Parity had a significant effect on BFT, with a Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared value of 22.728 (df = 7, p = 0.002). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons using Dunn's test in R revealed that P1 exhibited a significantly higher BFT than P3 (p = 0.001) and P4 (p = 0.025). Spearman’s correlation coefficient indicated a very weak negative relationship between BFT and LB, whereas there was a strong relationship between BFT and SB and Ms. However, the correlations were not significant p>0.05. This finding suggests that assessing the BFT before farrowing is a helpful tool for guiding sow management and pig production. Additionally, these findings offer data that can be used to inform culling policies.

  • Phenotypic characterization of Satu Mare Tumbler pigeon breed
    31-34
    Views:
    27

    The aim of this study was to determine morphological characteristics of the tumbler pigeon breed of Satu Mare. This pigeon breed was first described in 1932 and was very close to extinction at the end of the 20th century. Data collection was carried out in two stocks having birds from three breeders (Bertalan Juhos, Cosmin Lupu and Werner Hartmann) in Satu Mare. In addition to the breeder, sex and color variety were also evaluated. The performed conformation measurements were statistically compared using multifactor analysis of variance. Lupu’s birds were longer compared to other breeder’s stock, while beak and wing was longer in Juhos’s stock. Thoracic perimeter was smaller whereas queue length was the longer for Juhos’s birds. Cocks’ values were significantly exceeding values of hens, except beak length. Recessive red pigeons had longer body than blue birds. Beak length of recessive yellow pigeons was significantly longer that it was computed for black birds. Wingspan was longer for dun birds than it was estimated for recessive yellow pigeons. These differences show that there is reasonable genetic variability in the breed which is desired in small populations. Due to the variability within the breed, stabilising selection might be favorable, with a special account for avoiding inbreeding.

  • The effect of different dietary manipulations on haematological properties in Japanese quail
    35-41
    Views:
    35

    Quantitative and qualitative dietary conditions are crucial for physiological functions. Blood haematology, the indicator of immune regulation, is critically affected by dietary conditions. Despite their importance, the effect of macro- and micronutrient manipulation remains unknown. We used feed restriction, energy or protein restriction, and supplementation of leucine, methionine, or both on top of restricted-feeding to study the effect on haematological properties in Japanese quail. Fifty-six birds of six weeks of age were distributed into seven treatments; control, 20% feed restriction, 20% energy restriction, 20% protein restriction, supplementing 20% leucine, 20% methionine, or both on top of restricted feeding. Haematological properties, including white blood cell count, number and percent of lymphocytes, mid-range (eosinophil + basophil), granulocytes, red blood cell count, haemoglobin levels, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular haemoglobin were analysed. We found that quantitative feed restriction, energy restriction, and amino acid supplementations showed no significant effect compared to the control group. However, protein restriction reduced all indices, suggesting the importance of proteins in maintaining leukocyte and erythrocyte indices. The present study revealed that neither moderate calorie restriction nor moderate specific amino acid supplementation have an impact on blood haematology, while 20% protein restriction has a notable effect.

  • Thinning and final cutting control in black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) stands: a methodological approach – Short communication
    43-46
    Views:
    8

    Planning, implementing and inspecting forestry operations require more extent application of certain assessment methods. These methods may need to be improved and, in some cases, their simplification is necessary in order to ease their usage in practice. Knowledge and application of auxiliary tables and functions, data on volume and methods to estimate yields are needed for the planning of any kind of forestry operations, depending on the level of planning. The main purpose of this paper is to propose relatively rapid and simple methods to estimate the volume at thinning and final cutting, and the gross above ground volume at the harvest of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) stands, as well as to introduce tending operation models tailored for black locust. All these measures could be beneficial to forest authorities and foresters who are responsible for planning and production.

  • Assessing the impact of salinity stress on some morpho-physiological traits of two chickpea genotypes under hydroponic conditions
    47-53
    Views:
    20

    Evaluating the performance of crop species to salinity stress is considered an intricate task due to differences in performance, response and susceptibility at different phenological stages of chickpea crop. Assessment of the performance of chickpea genotypes in response to NaCl-induced salinity stress at the initial vegetative phase is of great importance to have a crystal idea about the threshold level of tolerance. An experiment was carried out under hydroponic conditions to evaluate the performance of two chickpea genotypes (ELMO and ORION), in response to different salinity levels (0, 25, 50 and 75 mM NaCl) as factorial arrangement under completely randomized design with three replications. The average of shoot and root dry matter weight was significantly higher for the ELMO genotype at the control treatment (1.143, 0.4133 g respectively), while it was significantly lower in the two genotypes ORION and ELMO at the highest salinity level (0.267 and 0.2700; 0.0433 and 0.0533 g respectively). The root to shoot ratio was significantly higher in both genotypes in the control and the lowest salt level (25 mM NaCl), without significant differences among them (47.98, 43.30, 37.10 and 36.25% respectively). The relative water content and stomatal conductance were significantly higher in the ORION genotype (88.01%; 335.40 mmol m-2 s-1) compared to ELMO (84.09%; 299.10 mmol m-2 s-1), and increasing salinity level caused a proportional decline in both traits, where they were significantly lower at the highest salt level (75Mm) (77.45%; 87.50 mmol m-2 s-1). Results indicate genotypic variability in response to NaCl-induced salinity stress under hydroponic conditions and the physiological traits are more expressive and reliable as selection criteria than morphological ones.