The cyanide overload of 40 cassava (gari) processing workers, 25 frequent consumers of cassava foods and 20 cigarette smokers (all Nigerians) were assessed using a new simple kit method for determination of thiocyanate (cyanide metabolite) in urine. The mean thiocyanate measured in the urine of three groups of cassava processing workers were 9.48±2.8, 8.70±2.23, and 7.46±2.57 ppm. The mean thio...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prospective production of ethanol from cassava in Indonesia. The study was conducted in two parameters, engineering perspectives and economic evaluation that involves several economic parameters (e.g. gross profit margin, internal rate return, payback period, cumulative net present value, breakeven point, and profitability index on sales to investme...

Cassava mosaic disease is a major constraint to cassava cultivation worldwide. In India, the disease is caused by Indian cassava mosaic virus (ICMV) and Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV). The Agrobacterium Ti plasmid virulence gene virE2, encoding a nuclear-localized, single-stranded DNA binding protein, was introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana to develop tolerance against SLCMV. Leaf di...

Cassava storage roots are an important staple food throughout the lowland humid tropics. However, cassava suffers from a poorly understood storage disorder, known as postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD), which constrains its exploitation. In an attempt to broaden the understanding of PPD, nine different cassava cultivars were analyzed for specific compounds accumulating during the proc...

Cassava starch is used extensively to produce isotropic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, non-toxic and biologically degradable films. The similarity in composition, mineral content, microscopic, thermal, physicochemical and rheological properties between cassava and cocoyam starches being reported in literature, it is expected that, cocoyam could be used to increase the supply in equivalent sta...

Dried cassava products are perceived as one of the potential sources of mycotoxin ingestion in human foods. Processing either contributes to the reduction of toxins or further exposes products to contamination by microorganisms that release metabolic toxins into the products. Thus, the prevalence of microbial metabolites in 373 processed cassava products was investigated in Nigeria. With the us...

We investigated the fungal entomopathogens Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae to determine if endophytic colonization could be achieved in cassava. An inoculation method based on drenching the soil around cassava stem cuttings using conidial suspensions resulted in endophytic colonization of cassava roots by both entomopathogens, though neither was found in the leaves or stems of the...

Cassava (Manihot esculenta, Crantz) is emerging as a dominant staple of primary or secondary importance in many developing countries of the humid and sub-humid tropics in Africa and elsewhere. Since it can withstand drought, it is sometimes a nutritionally strategic famine reserve crop in areas of unreliable rainfall. This paper reviews reasons for the spread of, and increasing interest in, cas...

Effects of addition of alum (0.00 -1.0% w/w) on pasting and some physicochemical characteristics of cassava starch were investigated with view to evaluate the potential of alum as a cassava starch modifying agent. The modified starch was prepared by pre-treatment of the native starch with alkaline at room temperature prior to modification using alum. Alum modified cassava starch were characteri...

A s scientists and engineers engaged in nanotechnology and materials science, we are trained to examine highly complex problems and consider how our understanding can be applied toward a solution. We generally focus on intricate details of a fairly narrow and highly defined realm within chemistry, physics, materials, or other fields. However, it can also be extremely rewarding to apply these sk...