INTRODUCTION
1.1 Cereals
Cereals are monocotyledons belonging to various tribes of the grass family and they constitute various crops which serve as industrial raw materials and staple foods the world over. World cultivated cereals include wheat, maize, rice, barley, oat, rye sorghum, millet, among others. Some of the important characteristics of cereals include the following, high carbohydrate, low fat, and a fair content of protein. The functionality of these components in the different cereals determines, to a large extent, their uses as food and industrial raw materials. (Enwere, 1998).
Structurally, there are a few important features that cereals have in common and these form the basis for subsequent milling and processing operations. All cereals are plant seeds and as such contain a large centrally located starchy endosperm which is also rich in protein, a protective outer coat consisting of two or three layers of fibrous tissue, and an embryo or germ usually located near the bottom of the seed (Ihekoronye and Ngoddy, 1985).
Cereals have an easy-to-preserve advantage over other plant crops, in their being able to dry to a safe moisture level naturally in the field. In humid environments, cereals can be dried by artificial means. For the safe storage of cereal, the following conditions need to be implemented.
(1) Grains must be dried to an appropriate moisture content within a reasonable period for safe storage.
(2) Grains, once dried to a safe moisture level must be protected from excessive moisture generation and uptake.
(3) Grains for storage must be made free of insect pests by pre-storage chemical or physical treatment followed by insect proofing to suppress insect proliferation or attack (Okaka 2005).
Cereals are generally referred to as grains due to their granular nature.
Maize (Zea mays) originated in the Western hemisphere, but is now cultivated in many parts of Africa, North, South, and Central America, Europe and Asia (Matz 1969, Obi 1991). According to Purseglove (1992) there are different varieties of maize examples include pod corn, popcorn, flour or soft maize, sweet corn or sweet maize, waxy maize, flint maize and dent maize. The last two are also known as field corn or maize..
Spices have been defined by the Food and Drug Administration as aromatic vegetable substances used for the seasoning of food, and from them, no portion of any volatile oil or other flavouring portion has been removed, and are free from artificial colouring matter, adulterants and impurities. (Enwere,1998).
Spices add flavour to foods. They consist of rhizomes, barks, leaves, roots, flowers, fruits, seeds and other parts of a plant (Parry, 1969). Most are fragrant, aromatic and pungent. The flavouring agent in spices constitute only a small fraction of the dry matter. The bulk of the materials consists of carbohydrates, such as cellulose, starch, sugars, pentosans and mucilages. Spices also contain proteins, tannins, resins, pigments, mineral matter, volatile oils, terpenes, alcohols, sesquiterpenoids, esters, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, ethers among others. These and other compounds vary in different spices and flavouring agents (Enwere, 1998).
Published research on the use of plant materials, extracts and oils for the control of stored products pests show that over the past 12 years, a large number of plant species from a wide range of families have been evaluated. Jacobson, (1989), suggested that the most promising botanicals were to be found in the families Meliaceae, Rutaceae, Piperaceae, Annonaceae, Asteraceae, Labiatae and Canellaceae.
Insecticidal evaluation of some plant materials as grain protectants shows that Aristolochia ringines and Zanthoxylum xanthoxyloides were potent within 1-4 days of treatment. (Arannilewa and Odeyemi, 2007),
Ohazurike et al., (2006) reported that the efficacy of seed extracts of Jatropha curcas as maize grain protectants against storage pest Sitophilus zeamais, was dose dependent with higher doses providing greater protection for the maize grains. Xylopia aethiopica was shown to have good potential for short term cowpea storage.(Ojimelukwe and Okoronkwo,1999). Udo, (2005) evaluated the potential of some local spices as stored grain protectants against maize weevil, and reported that the spices showed good potentials as grain protectants. Among the spices used were Allium sativum, Piper guineense, Afromomum melequata, Tetrapleura tetraptera, and Xylopia aethiopica. Also Orji et al., (1991), reported the insecticidal activity of dried fruits of Xylopia aethiopica and Piper guineense on stored maize.
| Project details | Contents |
|---|---|
| Number of Pages | 70 pages |
| Chapter one | Introduction |
| Chapter two | Literature review |
| Chapter three | methodology |
| Chapter four | Data analysis |
| Chapter five | Summary,discussion & recommendations |
| Reference | Reference |
| Questionnaire | Questionnaire |
| Appendix | Appendix |
| Chapter summary | 1 to 5 chapters |
| Available document | PDF and MS-word format |
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