Thirty ripe mango fruits were plucked under sterile conditions from different geographical locations in Enugu metropolis. The mango fruits were exposed to open environment for 5 – 7 days to allow decay. The decaying mango fruits were washed with sterile water to extract the microorganisms.
Using the streak plate method, the microorganisms were inoculated unto a petridish of nutrient agar and incubated for 24 hours at room temperature of 250C. A mixture of bacteria, moulds and yeasts were observed as microorganism involved in the decay of the mango fruits.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction 1
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Literature Review 8
CHAPTER THREE
3.1 Data Collection 22
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Results 25
4.1 Discussion 27
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 Conclusion/Recommendation 28
References 29
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The bacterial name of mango is mangifere indica. T he genus mangifera belongs to the family ariocardiaceae. It is a dicotyledonous plant. Mango originated in India spread into cultivation and common use in the Indian subcontinent by 2000B.C. The tree is now found through out the tropics and has become naturalized in many areas out side its country of origin. Mango is so important in Indian where annual production is around 8 million. Mangoes spread throughout southeast Asia during the first millennium B.C but did not reach Africa until about 1,000 years ago. They were introduced to the new world at the beginning of the eighteenth century. There are no defined limits of rainfall necessary for the successful cultivation of mangoes, provides that there is a distinct annual dry season when the crop flowers. First set tends to be least in very wet, humid areas and irrigation may be necessary in areas with little rainfall. Similarly, the crop will grow in a wide range of temperatures, but thrives when the temperature is around 250C. A very large number of cultiuvars is recognized, the best of them being those which have been selected for their delicious, delicately flavoured fruits whave very little fibre in their flesh. All such superior cultivars are propagated vegetative by budding, but there eve unfortunately many inferior mangoes grown from seed which have coarse, fibrous fruits often thought to taste of turpentine. There are around 60 species in the genus mangifera, most of them found in southeast Asia, from northern India to new Guinea, where they occur as tree in the savannas and in the lowland, wet forests several species have edible fruits and a few are cultivated in restricted areas in Asia, but only mangifera indica is wide spread and important.
The mango tree is large, spreading evergreen, sometimes having a distinct crown of branches, but often indeterminate shape with long pendulous branches and no definite crown. Many vegetatively propagated clones eve relatively small, compact trees about iom tall, where as trees grown from seed may be very large and up to 40m high. All mangoes are ranowned for the dense shade which they cast in hot, sunny climates. The alternate, simple leaves are 12 – 40cm long carried on petioles up to 10cm long with gulvinus at their base. The tree grows in flushes in which a number of thin, flaccid tan – red coloured leaves in produced; as they mature the leaves become stiff and dark green. These periodic growth flushes do not occur at regular intervals, nor do they necessarily occur all over a single tree at the same time.
The inflorescence is a terminal panicle 10 – 50cm long with three or four orders of branching and a very variable number (1,000 – 6000) of reddish, pink or almost white flowers. As few as 1 – 35 percent of them are hermaphrodite, the rest are made; both kinds of flowers occur in one inflorescence, but the ratio of males to hermaphrodites varies between cultivars. Hermaphrodite flowers have a dicidous calyx and four to five free petals about twice as long as the cadyx lobes. At the center of the flower a raised disc carries fives stamens, but only one (rarely more) has a sterile and represented by staminodes. A small greenish yellow, one – called ovary arises obliquely from the disc; it has a lateral style and contains a single pendulous ovule. The male flowers are similar but have no gynaecium. Manago trees come into bearing when 4 – 6yrs old, and become increasing productive until they are a bout 20yrs old, then yields decline. They do not flower profusely every year, but tend to produce large crops in alternate years because flowering and fruiting deplete their food reserves which must be replaced before a subsequent large crop is borne. After mature branches have flowered a new flush of growth occurs on them and this intwn produces inflorescences after it has matured and accumulated sufficient reserves of assimilates. Very large crops of fruit may deplete food reserves so much that subsequent flush of new vegetative growth, and so the next period of flowering, eve delayed. In some, but apparently not all, cultivars the onsert of the recurrent reproductive phase is correlated with the ratio of carbohydrates (most starch) to rotrongen in the tree and occurs when this ratio is large. A mature tree in full bearing may produce 1,000 inflorescences, and though the total number of flowers per tree is consequently enormous it is unusually for a large tree in full bearing to produce more than 2,500 fruits. As few as one third of the total number are subsequently shed; eventually only 0.1 – 0.25 percent of the hermaphrodite flowers on a tree produce mature fruit flowers eve shed most abundantly when wet, humid weather occurs mature fruit is affected by husbandry and can be increased by the used of fertilizers and organic manures. The flowers open during the right and early morning and they pollinated by short tongued insects attracted by their nectar. Though self in compatibility is rare and many flowers self fertilized, cross fertilization is also common. The fruit is a large avoid asymmetrical drupe which varies greatly in size in different cultivars and is from less than 5cm to as many as 30cm long. It matures 2 – 5 months, thick skin. The fleshy mesocop is bright orange, yellow in some cultivars, especially those propagated from seed, it is more or less fibrous and tends to be resinous with an unpleasant flavour, while in better selected clonal cultivars propagated by budding it has little fibre and addicious indicate flavour. The endocavp of the drupe is very have and fibrous. It endloses a single smooth, light brown seed which is within a papery envelope and which may have a single zygotic embryo, or several apomictic embryo, which develop from the tissues of the nucellus and which may or may not suppress the zygotic embryo. The fruits contain approximately 85 percent water 10-20 percent sugar and small amounts of protein; they eve a good dietary source of vitamin A and contain vitamins B and C. Trees grown from seed may be zygotic or apomitic embryos; four to six of the latter may occur in one seed. To avoid the risk of multiplying variable trees from zygotes it is necessary to propagate clones of desirable trees vegetatively by approach grafting or by shield budding. In United State, mangoes eve grown only in floride and on a small scale in Hawaui, usually as back yard trees. Their greatest importance is in India, which contains about 75% of the worlds area of mango production.
The ripe fruit is eaten raw as a desert or used in the manufacturer of juice, jams jellies and preserves unripe fruit can be made into pickles or chutneys.
There eve micro-organisms that attack mango fruits. Undamaged fruit may remain edible for some time but eventually it will decay as a result of the continued activity of its own enzymes and attack by microorganisms. Such fruit usually becomes inedible owing to the growth of moulds and yeast on its surface. There will also be change in taste, small and colour of the fruits.
1.2 AIM AND OBJECTIVES
To identify microorganisms associated with the spoilage of (mango fruits). Mangifera indica.
To provide measures to prevent microbial attack of mango fruits which leads to spoilage of mango fruits.
To suggest management of mango fruits which are spoilt as a result of microbial attack.
1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Thin work is concerned with the problems of spoilage of mango fruits due to microbial attack. This makes the mango fruits inedible and bed for consumption. It can lead to the introduction of pothogenic organism to the human system leading to dysentery, gastroenteritis e.t.c. Also to the fruit farmers it can result to huge economic loss.
1.4 HYPOTHESIS
Ho: Bacteria, yeast and moulds only are responsible for the spoilage of mango fruits.
H1: Bacteria only eve responsible for the spoilage of mango fruits.
The essence of this research work is to know the microorganisms that lead to the spoilage of mango fruits and their preventive measures.
1.6 LIMITATIONS
The writers encountered some constraints in carrying out this study.
The prevailing economic situation in the country, that is the depreciating value of the naira has affected the libraries in the country to get new stock of books.
| 1 - 5 of 96 Reviews |