Badnaviruses (family Caulimoviridae, genus Badnavirus) have emerged as serious pathogens especially affecting the cultivation of tropical crops. Badnavirus sequences can be integrated in host genomes, complicating the detection of episomal infections and the assessment of viral genetic diversity in samples containing a complex mixture of sequences. Yam (Dioscorea spp.) plants are hosts to a div...

Textured polyester multifilament yam was subjected to swelling in single and mixed solvents (with varying ratio) at room temperature for different durations. The changes in the structure and properties of the yam were investigated by measuring birefringence, crystallinity, critical dissolution time, shrinkage on treatment, % change in bulk, residual shrinkage, crimp rigidity, dye uptake and dye...

A soluble viscous protein was purified from yam (Dioscorea opposita Thunb.) tuber mucilage tororo by chromatographic steps, and its functional properties were estimated. The purified dioscorin having the molecular weight of about 200 kDa exhibited high scavenging activities against hydroxyl radicals (IC50 = 195.1 microg/ml) and superoxide anion radicals (IC50 = 92.7 microg/ml). Moreover, it sho...

Hot water-insoluble cell wall polysaccharides of immature and mature Dioscorea dunietomin and D. rotundata yam tubers have been characterized in enzymatically destarched flours and were mainly constituted of cellulose followed by hemicellulosic polymers of xylose, galactose, mannose and arabinose. Immature tubers of both species contained a higher proportion of cell wall carbohydrates than matu...

Bilayer tablets of aceclofenac sodium were developed using carboxymethylated white yam (Dioscorea rotundata) starch (CWY) for a fast release layer (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5% w/w), and acid-hydrolyzed bitter yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) starch (ABY) for a sustaining layer (27% w/w). Sodium starch glycolate (SSG) and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) were used as standards. The starches were characteri...

Yam is an important food and cash crop in Nigeria. The seed system mostly farmer-based its challenges opportunities are not well documented. This study reports results of surveys, interviews, focus group discussions participant observations that describe local practices characterizing yam cultivation the five states Our findings show ware dynamic highly commercialized goods There a high demand ...

We examined the effects of ingestion of five types of insoluble fibre on growth and Zn absorption in rats fed a marginally Zn-deficient diet (6.75 mg (0.103 mmol) Zn/kg diet) with or without added sodium phytate (12.6 mmol/kg diet). The types of insoluble fibre tested were corn husks, watermelon skin, yam-bean root (Pachyrhizus erosus) and pineapple core, and cellulose was used as a control (10...

Amino acid substitutions within or near the active site of the viral neuraminidase (NA) may affect influenza virus fitness. In influenza A(H3N2) and B viruses circulating in Thailand between 2010 and 2015, we identified several NA substitutions that were previously reported to be associated with reduced inhibition by NA inhibitors (NAIs). To study the effect of these substitutions on the enzyma...

Although genetic transformation of clonally propagated crops has been widely studied as a tool for crop improvement and as a vital part of the development of functional genomics resources, there has been no report of any existing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of yam (Dioscorea spp.) with evidence of stable integration of T-DNA. Yam is an important crop in the tropics and subtropics prov...

An investigation was carried out to reveal the changes in the concentration of soluble carbohydrates under tuber dormancy in food yam (Dioscorea esculenta) tubers and in an economically important spice cum medicinal plant turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizomes under storage. Harvested, fully matured tubers of yam and rhizomes of turmeric were stored in wooden boxes under the conditions of 28 ? 2?C t...