ABSTRACT

Colocynthis citrullus (Egusi) are seeds of a creeping annual and intercropping plant made use in traditional farming practices while Irvingia gabonensis (Ogbono) are seeds of small mango-like fruit found in West Africa. The seeds when ground into paste are highly mucilaginous and are used in thickening soups. They also add to the nutritive value of soups. They also add to the nutritive value of soups. Samples of Colocynthis citrullus (Egusi) and Irvingia gabonensis (Ogbono) were randomly purchased from one retailer in Ogige Market Nsukka, Enugu State. proximate analysis were carried out on the samples which include moisture content, ash content determination, fat content determination and so on. They were further subjected to three different drying treatments (Sun, Oven and Smoke drying) to reduce the moisture content, and normal untreated samples were kept in nylon bag and stored in a refridgerator to serve as control. The seeds were cultured on Sabourand’s dextrose agar in the laboratory and incubated at 25⁰c for 5-7 days. They fungi isolated from Colocynthis citrullus were Aspergilus niger, Mucor mucedo, Rhizopus nigricans, Trichoderma viride, and Penicillium italicum of these the most frequently occurring fungi was Rhizopus nigricans followed by Mucor mucedo. The fungi isolated from Irvingia gabonensis were Rhizopus nigricans, Mucor mucedo, Trichoderma viride and Aspergillus flavus.  The most frequently occurring fungi was Mucor mucedo, then Trichoderma viride while Aspergillus flavus has the least frequency of occurrence. According to the conclusion, the fungi associated with these seeds were the group micromycetes. The drying treatments done shows that Oven dried and smoke dried samples has less moisture content, less fungal load and also less fungal variety. Thus the significance of these results were discussed.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of content

List of table

List of figures

CHAPTER ONE

1.0              Introduction

1.1                                      Statement of problem

1.2                                      Aim of this work

1.3                                      Objectives

1.4                                      Literature review

1.4.1    Melon (Colocynthis citrullus) and its Description

1.4.1.1 Botanical description

1.4.1.2 Nutritional benefits

1.4.1.3 Uses

1.4.2    Ogbono (Irvingia gabonensis) and its description

1.4.2.1 Botanical description

1.4.2.2 Nutritional benefits

1.4.2.3 Uses

1.4.3 Principles

1.4.4 Microbial Growth

CHAPTER TWO

2.0              Materials and method

2.1              Sample Collection

2.2              Samples Treatment

2.3              Proximate analysis

2.3.1        Moisture determination using oven method

2.3.2        Ash determination using muffle furnace

2.3.3        Fat determination using soxhlet apparatus

2.3.4        Method for crude fibre determination

2.3.5        Crude protein determination

2.3.6        Carbohydrate content determination

2.4                                      Drying treatments

2.5                                      Microbial analysis

2.5.1        Media preparation

2.5.2        Serial dilution

2.5.3        Inoculation into media

2.5.3.1 Pour plate method

2.5.3.2 Spread plate method

2.5.4 Fungi enumeration and Isolation

2.5.5 Mounting of growths from slide culture preparation

2.6       Identification of isolated fungi

2.7       Determination of % occurrence of the fungal isolates

CHAPTER THREE

3.0              Results

3.1              Pictures of fungal cultures and corresponding microscopy

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0              Discussion

4.1                                      Conclusion