(1) Background: Probiotication is an important method in the food industry, and the use of probiotic dairy products has prevented lactose intolerant patients and vegetarians from their consumption. Hence, there is a need to incorporate probiotics in fruit juice without lactose; (2) Method: Probiotic viability, and physicochemical and sensory evaluation of stored probioticated pineapple juice using lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Pediococcus pentosaceus LaG1, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Pediococcus pentosaceus LBF2) as a single and mixed starter was investigated; (3) Results: There was an increase in the lactic acid production, and reduction in pH, vitamin C content, and colour during storage. At weeks 3 and 4, Propp2 and Pcontrol samples had the highest lactic acid content (317.9 mg/L and 160.34 mg/L). The vitamin C content ranged from 2.91–7.10 mg/100 g. There was a general reduction in total soluble solids during storage. The probiotic LAB were viable throughout the storage time (1.05–1.10 × 10⁹ cfu/mL) in the juice samples. There was no significant difference in terms of taste, aroma, colour, or appearance during the time of storage; (4) Conclusion: The pineapple juice supported the viability, lactic acid production, vitamin C development, and the antagonistic potential of the probiotic candidate. This result is useful for the development of probiotic fruit juice as functional foods and nutraceuticals with health beneficial effect.

Pepper (Capsicum annum) is an important spice in the world, but the production is constrained by soil salinity. Hence, this study aims to explore the use of organic manure and Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi in reducing the soil saline state for pepper cultivation. Two genotypes of cherry pepper were planted in the following treatment combinations; Cocopeat + poultry manure, Cocopeat + 10 mg/ml NaCL, 10 mg/ml NaCL + 250 g/4kg cocopeat, 10 mg/ml NaCL + 250 g/4kg cocopeat + 5 g of AMF, Cocopeat + 20 mg/ml NaCL, 20 mg/ml NaCL + 250 g/4kg cocopeat and 20 mg/ml NaCL + 250 g/4kg cocopeat + 5 g of AMF. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The agronomic and yield parameters were collected and analysed using ANOVA and means were separated using DMRT at 5% significance level. Results obtained showed that the tallest plants, highest number of nodes, number of fruits and fruit weight (kg) were observed in the control (14.85±0.49), (20.50±0.68), (8.67±0.52) and (1.38±0.08), respectively, although they were not significantly different from the addition of 250 g of poultry manure and 5 g of AMF to 4 kg cocopeat substrate.

Biofortification of cassava varieties has become a common means of improving essential elements to boost food quality. This study investigated the amount of macro and microelements present in some vitamin A-fortified cassava varieties developed by cassava breeders at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan. The roots of three pro-vitamin fortified cassava varieties IBA154800, IBA164785 and IBA164791 growing at the field of the IITA cassava breeding unit were harvested and were profiled for the macro and microelement using a Tecator digester and AAS. The Mg, Zn, Cu, K, Fe and Na contents were read in triplicates. Data collected were analysed using ANOVA and correlation (SAS 9.4 version) and the differences in the varietal means were separated using the least significant differences at a 5% level of significance. The macro elements Mg, K, and Na differed significantly across the varieties and ranged from 0.114 (IBA164791) to 0.143 (IBA164785), 1.463 (IBA164791) to 2.147 (IBA164785), and 29.138 (IBA164785) to 37.433 (IBA154800), respectively. The microelements Fe, Cu and Zn also differed significantly amongst the varieties and ranged from 19.021 (IBA164791) to 29.874 (IBA164785), 1.463 (IBA164791) to 2.147 (IBA164785), and 29.138 (IBA164791) to 37.433 (IBA154800), respectively. The relationship between Zn and Fe (-0.88), and between Na and Cu (-0.85) were significantly strong and negative. The relationship between Fe and Mg (0.89), Mg and Cu (0.85), and Mg and K (0.71) were significantly strong and positive. The biofortified variety IBA164785 had a higher improvement rate in the macro and microelements investigated.

Exopolysaccharides-EPS are long-chain biopolymer with branched, recurring unit of sugars and non-carbohydrate constituents connected to exterior of cells. Rhizobial, a legume nodulating organism is capable of producing EPS. This study investigated the characteristics’ of some Rhizobium EPS and their effects in shelf life extension of some Musa spp. Rhizobial-EPS was produced using yeast extract mineral medium purified by standard methods. The EPS was characterized to determine functional group, thermal stability, chemical compounds and the monosaccharide component using Fourier Transform Infra-red, Spectroscopy, thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and HPLC and their bio-preservative property on post-harvest quality of plantain and different banana was done. The Rhizobial-EPS functional groups were hydroxyl, carboxyl, amine, methyl and ethers associated with polysaccharides. Pentadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, oleic acid and heptacosanoic acid, and varied concentration of monosaccharides were detected in the exopolysaccharides. The TGA of the EPS shows a constant loss in weight with two quasi-sharp alterations and almost steady plateau. The EPS coated samples had the lowest weight loss across the samples and as such edible coating was effective in delaying weight loss. The weight loss of Musa paradisiaca (plantain) coated with (EPSA obtained from USDA 110), (EPSB USDA 532C) and (EPSC S2) at the first day were 314 and 314.5g. The initial weight loss of coated and uncoated Musa sp. (Apple Banana), Musa acuminata (Lady Finger), and Musa balbisiana (Cooking Banana), ranged from 72 – 72.7g, 96 – 97g and 95 – 98g respectively. The total sugar of EPS Coated Musa sp. ranges from 0.381 – 0.528mg/L, 0.392 – 0.576 mg/L and 0.41 – 0.598 mg/L at days 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The highest Titratable acidity and pH was observed in EPS coated sample. The results obtained from this study proves that EPS solution is a valuable product for fruit preservation and viable for commercial applications.

The roles of biologically synthesized Exopolysaccharides (EPS) from Rhizobium and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus (AMF) in tolerating biotic and abiotic stresses were investigated in this study. The treatments effect of Rhizobia, Rhizobial-exopolysaccharides (Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA 110) and AMF (Glomus clarum), singly and in combination were evaluated on two varieties (TZmI1466 and TZmI1297) infected by Bipolaris maydis (BM) and subjected to water stress. Screen house experiments were conducted using a complete randomized design with three replicates. The growth characteristics, root and shoot biomass and disease incidence data were collected and analyzed by descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA at α_0.05.Seed treatments with EPS had the highest significant (P < 0.05) effect on Bipolaris maydis (1.67) and drought in maize. The effect of Rhizobium, exopolysaccharide and AMF treatments against B. maydis showed that Rhizobium alone significantly increase the growth characteristics but suppressed the B. maydis effect. The exopolysaccharide improved all the growth parameters during water stress, while AMF-treated plants significantly improved plant height (43.41 cm ± 2.30), leaf area (114.08 cm² ± 7.89) and stem diameter (2.58 ± 0.10 cm). Maize variety TZm11297 performed best for the number of leaves (8.48 ± 0.12 cm²) and leaf area (116.97 ± 2.94 cm²) but not significantly different from other growth characteristics in TZm14466.Inoculation with AMF and Rhizobium demonstrated enhanced growth and development of maize plants. Microbial inoculants tolerated drought stress in maize thus, ensuring enhanced crop productivity.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is the raw material for various local dishes around the world with popular ones such as garri, eba, fufu, tapioca abacha and starch in Nigeria, however, microbial and nutritional quality information are scanty on these dishes. Consequently, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the microbiological and nutritional characteristics of Locally Fermented Fufu commonly sold in Amai, Delta State, Nigeria using appropriate standard methods. Data obtained from the sample analysis revealed the presence of various species of microorganisms, including Staphylococcus spp., Lactobacillus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and Bacillus spp. Aspergillus spp and Rhizopus spp however, Aspergillus spp was the predominant fungi. The outcome of the nutritional analysis of the fufu product reveals some parameters such as moisture content, protein content, carbohydrate content. The result revealed high carbohydrate (87.26%) indicating fufu as an energy-giving food, other compositions such as fiber content (3.75%) and ash content (2.22%) suggest that fufu promotes gut health and digestibility. The results of this study shed light on the cultural, macroscopic, microscopic, and nutritional characteristics of the of fufu samples. The proximate analysis of the fufu provided valuable insight to its nutritional content which specifies that fufu is rich in energy giving nutrient (carbohydrate).