BACKGROUND Pollinosis is found more frequently in urban areas than in rural environments. This could be partly related to the different types of pollen exposure in these dissimilar areas. The objective of this study was to compare the distribution of pollen in these environments across an urbanization gradient. METHODS Daily pollen abundances were obtained in France using Hirst-type sensors. ...

Pleurotus tuber-regium is a tuberous wild mushroom species, highly expensive, nutritious, very rich in proteins and known to possess medicinal values. The dwindling forests and the absence of commercial cultivation of this mushroom have resulted in scarcity of the sclerotia. The study was conducted to determine the optimum temperature, pH and light regime for the growth of P. tuber-regium and e...

Plantain and banana flour are important raw material in the baking and confectionery industry, and complementary food formulation. Five new plantain and banana hybrids developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at Highrainfall Station, Onne, Nigeria were screened for certain anti-nutritional factors and some heavy metals commonly found in foods. Results show that PI...

Dietary diversification necessitates the development of nutrient-rich and healthy food products from indigenous resilient crops for sustainable nutrition security in Nigeria. Both plantain lima bean are locally available, especially south west Nigeria, though is underutilized. The study developed pudding (momo) order to evaluate functional properties flour nutrient content product enhance utili...

Cooking banana and plantain (Musa spp. AAB and ABB groups), have over the years been affected by pest and diseases, resulting in various organizations developing disease resistant hybrids with superior agronomic potential. The characteristics of these improved varieties needs to be studied to ascertain their suitability for use in various food systems. This study aimed at evaluating the physica...

Volume fraction of fibres (A), aspect ratio of fibres (B) and fibres orientation (C) are considered as control factors in the determination of hardness strength, hardness strength of plantain fiber reinforced polyester composites (PFR P). These properties were determined for plantain empty fruit bunch (PEFB) and plantain pseudo stem (PPS). Hardness tests were conducted on the replicated samples...

In the Congo Basin, smallholder farmers practice slash-and-burn shifting cultivation. Yet, deliberate burning might no longer be sustainable under reduced fallow scenarios. We synthesized data from the Forest Margins Benchmark Area (FMBA), comprising 1.54 million hectares (ha), in southern Cameroon and assessed the impact of fire exclusion on yield, labor inputs, soil fertility, ecosystem carbo...

in many studies, the medicinal properties and impact of blond plantain on mechanisms of human physical activities has been proven. salinity is an important abiotic stresses with detrimental effects on seed germination. an experiment was conducted to study germination characteristics of blond plantain under water and salinity stress conditions at different temperatures. the experiment was conduc...

Plantain banana (M. sapientum var. paradisiaca, MS) has been shown to possess ulcer healing activity. The present work with plantain banana was undertaken with the premise that the drug promoting ulcer healing could have effect on wound healing also. Wound healing activity of MS was studied in terms of (i) percent wound contraction, epithelization period and scar area; (ii) wound breaking stren...