El Sabagh A.

Comparative study on physicochemical properties of selected mango (Mangifera Indica L.) varieties in northern Bangladesh

M.M. Rashid, H. Khatun, M.F. Rayhan, M.E.A. Plabon, M.U. Hossain, M.A. Mozid, M.M. Kamal, M.K. Hasan, A. El Sabagh, M.S. Islam

ABSTRACT. Fruits and vegetables are important sources of nutrients for mankind. Among the various fruits available in Bangladesh, mango occupies a vital place in the human nutrition for its delicious taste and higher nutritious value. In this study, five mango varieties, viz. Fazli, Amrupali, Langra, Gopalbogh and Misribogh, were tested to evaluate the quality of these mango varieties available in Northern Bangladesh. Physiochemical characteristics, including moisture, ash, total carbohydrates, total solids, total soluble solids (TSS), pH, acidity, total sugars and ascorbic acid contents were evaluated. The results showed that there were significant (p< 0.05) differences among mangoes of all varieties for physicochemical parameters. In case of proximate composition, the mango variety Amrupali showed the highest ash content (2.34±0.15) and fat content (1.18±0.13). Protein content (0.94±0.12) and total fiber (2.67%) content was shown to be the highest by Gopalbogh and Misribogh, respectively. The selected mango varieties contained TSS of 12.87~20.55oBrix, pH of 4.45~4.67, titrable acidity of 0.07~0.42%, reducing sugar of 8.40~15.43%, non-reducing sugar of 9.24~10.48%, and total sugarof 18.88~25.12%. The study findings would be helpful for the consumers, dietitian and industry policymakers.

Keywords: mango; proximate analysis; quality traits.

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Salinity tolerance of black gram cultivars during germination and early seedling growth

M.K. Hasan, M.S. Islam, M.R. Islam, H.N. Ismaan, A. El Sabagh

ABSTRACT. A laboratory experiment regarding germination and seedling growth test was conducted with three black gram genotypes tested under three salinity levels (0, 75 and 150 mM), for 10 days, in sand culture within small plastic pot, to investi-gate the germination and seedling growth characteristics. Different germination traits of all black gram genotypes, like germina-tion percentage (GP), germination rate (GR), coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG) greatly reduced, as well as mean germination time (MGT) increased with increasing salt stress. At high salt stress, BARI Mash-3 provided the highest GP reduction (28.58%), while the lowest was recorded (15.79% to control) in BARI Mash-1. Salinity have the negative impact on shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry weights. The highest (50.32% to con-trol) and lowest reduction (36.39%) of shoot length were recorded in BARI Mash-2 and BARI Mash-1, respectively, under 150 mM NaCl saline conditions. There were signifi-cant reduction of root lengths, root fresh and dry weight, shoot length, shoot fresh and dry weight in all genotypes under saline condition. The genotypes were arranged as BARI Mash-1 > BARI Mash-3 > BARI Mash-2, with respect to salinity tolerance.

Keywords: Vigna mungo; NaCl; vigour index.

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Effect of storage containers and lengths of storage on the germination, moisture content and pest infestation of wheat seed

M. Golam Azam, M. Sohidul Islam, K. Hasan, M. Kaum Choudhury, M. Jahangir Alam, M. Obaidullah Shaddam, A. El Sabagh

ABSTRACT. A laboratory experiment was conducted at the Department of Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dianjpur-5200, Bangladesh to evaluate the storage containers and duration of seed storage on the germinability and health of wheat seeds. The experiment was carried out in two factors, viz. three storage containers naming i) sealed tin container, ii) plastic container, iii) gunny bag, and four storage periods of i) 15 days, ii) 30 days, iii) 45 days, and iv) 60 days. Completely randomized design (CRD) was used in this experiment with eight replications. The results revealed that the germination percentages (GP) of the seeds stored in the gunny bag decreased quickly from 66.1 to 32.8% due to contained with high moisture content in seed. But, slowly decreasing trends of GP from 80.4% to 69.2% was observed in the sealed tin container seeds with lesser moisture content than that of gunny bag and plastic container. The reduction of GP was so higher of 50.38% in the seeds contained in gunny bag than that of only 13.93% in the seeds contained sealed tin container. Wheat seeds stored in sealed tin container, plastic container and gunny bag significantly increased moisture content in ambient condition for 60 DAS. The moisture content of the seeds stored in gunny bag was found to rise remarkably more than other containers. This escalation of seed moisture content was closely related to the surrounding environmental conditions, like tempera-ture and relative humidity where seeds were stored. The rate seed deterioration in gunny bag and plastic container paralleled the level of invasion by storage insect was found. During storage period, insect infected the seeds, and the insect bitten seeds were also found higher in gunny bag and plastic container, but lower in sealed container. Wheat seeds should be stored in air tight sealed container and drying should be done after some days of storage (45-60 DAS).

Keywords: wheat; containers; duration; germination; moisture content; biotic factors

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