The environmental impact of the sugar industry waste in Sudan.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Sudanese sugar manufacturing waste on the communities surrounding the industries. The study employed a cross-sectional survey in which 311 respondents living in factory areas. The selected sugar industries included Kenana, Guneid, Halfa, Sinnar, Assalaya, and White Nile. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 19. Descriptive statistics, nonparametric statistics, and logistic regression were employed. The results showed that wastewater discharge has a significant (P < 0.05) effect on community health. Respondents indicated that the waste creates an ideal environment for parasites to reproduce, off-odors to develop, and ultimately contamination of water. A multinomial logistic regression model showed that wastewater (i.e., off-odors and mosquitoes) have significant (P 0.05) influences on causing health risks (i.e., malaria) to people living around sugar factories. The study also revealed that the lack of sugar industry wastewater management has significantly affected crop and animal production. The suspended particles and bagasse fly were significant (P 0.05) in causing eye and respiratory system diseases in the region. Health services provided by the industries significantly (P = 0.05) impacted community satisfaction. In this regard, the study designed a framework for enhanced handling the industrial waste to be adopted by the Sudanese sugar industry decision-makers. A framework was developed to reduce the impact of waste to the lowest possible level by improving management strategies sufficiently to minimize its impact.

Influence of postharvest treatments and storage conditions on the quality of Hass avocados.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of postharvest treatments on the shelf life of avocado. The experimental design consists of pre-packaging (hot water and wax), packaging (low-density polyethylene and biodegradable films), and storage temperatures (ambient and cold storage), which was arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The effects of combined postharvest treatments on the changes in the physical, chemical, and sensory quality of 'Hass' avocados during a 28-day cold chain simulation were evaluated. The quality parameters evaluated included puree viscosity, moisture content, dry matter, pH, total soluble solids, total titratable acid and subjective quality attributes. Storage conditions significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected the measured parameters. Cold chain conditions (5.5 °C for two days, 5 °C for six days and 4.5 °C for 20 days at 95% relative humidity) offered the most significant benefit in maintaining higher fruit quality. The combination of a wax coating, low-density polyethylene packaging, and cold chain conditions was beneficial in delaying ripening by approximately two weeks with minimum changes in moisture content (9.5%) and TSS (19.0%) and viscosity. Cold storage is essential in improving the shelf life and maintaining the quality of avocado fruits during export.

Performance evaluation of an indirect air cooling system combined with evaporative cooling.

This study developed an indirect air-cooling combined with evaporative cooling (IAC + EC) system for temporary storage of fruit and vegetables (FV) to improve the shelf life of fresh produce under hot and humid climatic conditions. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of IAC + EC in providing optimum storage environment of temperature and relative humidity (RH) for the tomato fruit compared to storage under ambient conditions. The IAC + EC system had a 53-m3 storage chamber able to store 3.8 tons of tomatoes. Solar energy during the day and a battery bank facility at night powered the cooling system. The structure was constructed and assembled at Ukulinga research center in Pietermaritzburg. The performance of the IAC + EC was evaluated based on the temperature and the RH measured hourly from 05h00-22h00 daily during a period of 28 days. Temperature and RH were measured in the psychometric unit, various positions in the storage chamber and at ambient conditions. There were significant variations (P < 0.001) in temperature and RH between storage and ambient conditions. The temperature inside the storage chamber was on average 7°C-16°C lower while the average RH was 13%-41% higher than ambient conditions. Temperature and RH at the exhaust end of the IAC + EC storage chamber were 16.40 °C and 88.9% compared to 30.9°C and 47.6% under ambient conditions. Such conditions can enhance the shelf life of FV of moderate respiration rates. Inside the storage chamber, temperature was 15.7°C-16.4°C while the RH was 89.6%-93.8% depending on location. The cooler efficiency varied from 88.04% to 95.6%. The IAC + EC system performed at the same level as evaporative cooling under dry and arid conditions. The results in this study are evidence that IAC + EC system can provide optimum storage conditions for FV as well as being a low-cost technology utilizable in hot and sub-humid to humid areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

Progress in research and applications of cassava flour and starch: a review.

The cassava flours and starches have elicited great use in the food and non-food industry. The diversity in cassava genotypes accounts for differences in end-product properties, and would require characterization of cassava varieties for suitability of culinary and processing. This review showed that screening criteria of cassava cultivars end-user properties include proximate contents, amylose content, structural, swelling, gelatinization and pasting characteristics, including freeze-thaw stability properties of cassava-derived flours and starches. Literature shows that the physiochemical properties vary with genetic factors (i.e. genotype). In this review, the amylose content was found to be the main genetic trait for discriminating the cassava varieties for gelatinization and pasting processes including resistant starches. Moreover, cassava derived raw materials (flours and starches) were found to have various application in baking, edible film, syrup, glucose, alcohol, and soups production.

Effect of low-temperature long-time and high-temperature short-time blanching and frying treatments on the French fry quality of six Irish potato cultivars.

Processing conditions are an important determinant of French fry quality. However, the effect of low-temperature long-time (LTLT) and high-temperature short-time (HTST) blanching and frying treatments has not been investigated in many cultivars. The current study investigates the effect of the sequential application of these treatments on French fries processed from six Irish potato cultivars (Fianna, Innovator, Mondial, Navigator, Panamera and Savanna). Blanching was effected at 75 °C for 10 min or 85 °C for 5 min and frying was effected at 160 °C for 2 min or 180 °C for 1 min. These treatments resulted in significant differences in the quality of the fries across the cultivars. The blanching treatments had a greater impact on the French fry quality than the frying treatments. LTLT blanching resulted in lower oil (12-13% fresh mass basis [fmb]), and higher protein (3.5-4.3% fmb) and mineral content in the French fries processed from Innovator, compared to HTST blanching. This was accompanied by a crispier crust, which required a greater puncture force (1.2-2.1 N) for penetration. Blanching with the LTLT treatment before HTST frying resulted in French fries that were the most acceptable to consumers and these were from Fianna, Innovator and Mondial. The current study demonstrates that the effect of French fry processing conditions is cultivar-dependent.

Effect of packaging materials and storage environment on postharvest quality of papaya fruit.

This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of packaging materials and storage environments on shelf life of papaya fruit (Carica papaya L.). A factorial combination of five packaging materials and two storage environments using randomized complete block design with three replications were used. The papaya fruits were evaluated for weight loss, percentage marketability, firmness, total soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar and total sugar content. The packaged and cooled fruits remained firmer than unpackaged and evaporatively cooled fruits. Higher chemical compositions were recorded in the control fruits stored under ambient conditions during the earlier times of storage. Packaging and cooling maintained the chemical quality of papaya fruits better than the control sample fruits towards the end of storage periods. The evaporatively cooled storage combined with packaging improved the shelf life of papaya fruits by more than two fold. The polyethylene bag packaging combined with evaporatively cooled storage maintained the superior quality of papaya fruit for a period of 21 days. This integrated agro-technology is recommended for postharvest loss reduction biotechnology in hot regions.

Effects of variety on the quality of tomato stored under ambient conditions.

Three processing and six fresh market tomato varieties harvested at "mature green" stage were evaluated for changes in quality. The total soluble solid, titratable acidity, sugar-acid ratio, pH, ascorbic acid content, colour and firmness were assessed. The storage room air temperature and relative humidity varied from 15.4(○)C to 16.2(○)C and 34.8% to 52.4%, respectively. At harvest, Marglobe Improved had better chemical quality characteristics compared with the other five fresh market varieties while towards the end of the storage period, chemical quality characteristics were maintained better in Fetane. The highest pH and sugar/acid ratio were obtained in Metadel compared with all other varieties throughout the storage period. Among the processing tomato variety, Roma VF had better chemical quality than other two processing varieties. Melkashola had the highest total soluble solid content in the group. Although the processing varieties ripened earlier than fresh market ones, they were notably firmer with better quality. The processing types were better in their chemical quality than fresh market genotypes. The fresh table tomato varieties had higher sugar-acid ratio and vitamin C. Marglobe Improved and Metadel could be selected in favor of higher nutritional quality whereas Fetane could be considered for maintenance of better overall quality characteristics.