Browsing by Author "Mongi, Richard J."

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Assessment of post-harvest handling practices: knowledge and losses of fruits in Bagamoyo district of Tanzania
(IISTE, 2013) Kereth, Gudila A.; Lyimo, Monica; Mbwana, Hadijah A.; Mongi, Richard J.; Ruhembe, Carolyne C.
The harvesting practices, knowledge and post-harvest losses of fruits along the supply chain in Bagamoyo District were investigated. 142 farmers, 50 retailers and 10 wholesalers dealing with fruits were involved in the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The results indicate that, 90.14% of the respondents harvested fruits when they are just ripe and the great market losses were reported to occur due to rotting (microbial) at 63%, physiological at 20% and 17% by insects and rodents. Along the supply chain, mechanical damage was observed to be the major type of loss during harvesting (79%) and transportation (56%) while microbial damage was observed by majority (67%) during marketing. Poor infrastructure from farm to the market was observed to account for large percentage of losses in the market. The findings also shows that all farmers (100%) interviewed have no knowledge on post-harvest losses and management. In the view of the findings, it can be concluded that, post-harvest handling practices and knowledge of stakeholders involved in fruit sub sector in the country are not good enough to prevent the losses. It is therefore imperative to improve educational knowledge, skills and fruits quality from the field to reduce post-harvest losses.
Effect of solar drying methods on total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of commonly consumed fruits and vegetable (mango, banana, pineapple and tomato) in Tanzania
(Academic Journals, 2015-05) Mongi, Richard J.; Ndabikunze, Bernadette K.; Wicklund, Trude; Chove, Lucy M.; Chove, Bernard E.
The effects of solar drying methods [Cabinet direct (CDD), cabinet mixed mode (CMD) and tunnel (TD) drying] on total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacities of commonly consumed fruits and vegetable in Tanzania were investigated. The TPC and FRAP in mangoes (Mangifera indica cv. Dodo, Viringe and Kent), bananas (Musa acuminata, cv. Kisukari, Kimalindi and Mtwike), pineapples (Ananas comosuss cv Smooth cayenne) and tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum cv. Tanya, Cal J and Onyx) were evaluated using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods, respectively. There were significant (p<0.05) variations in TPC (mg GAE/100 g DM) and FRAP (μmol/100 g DM) among the fresh fruit and vegetable samples. The highest TPC was in tomato (476.6±8.6 - 538.9± 1.4) and lowest in banana (139.3±2.3 - 189.2±2.7). Drying methods had significant (p<0.05) effect on TPC and antioxidant values of the samples. All fresh samples had higher TPC levels but declined significantly in dried samples with the exception of tunnel dried tomatoes. Among the dried samples, the tunnel dried samples had less TPC loss (6-16%) than the cabinet dried samples (17-42%). The cabinet direct and mixed mode samples were not statistically different (p>0.05) from each other. However, tunnel dried samples had less FRAP loss (6-13%) which were statistically different (p<0.05) from the cabinet dried samples (14-56%). Percentage TPC and FRAP recoveries (%) differed significantly (P<0.05) between the varieties within the fruits/vegetable for both drying methods. A strong 2 2 correlations between TPC and FRAP in both fresh (R = 0.970) and dried samples (R =0.8636) suggests that solar drying methods have significant effects on total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of fruits and vegetables with tunnel drying method giving significantly less effects.