Reduction of aflatoxin in freshly harvested maize using solar dryers.

Background: Aflatoxin-contaminated grain consumption over the years has been known to result in serious health hazards for its consumers. The present study investigated the effects of harvest seasons and drying methods on aflatoxins in freshly harvested maize. A 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 3 factorial design was used; two harvesting seasons (dry and wet), maize varieties (P3966W, P4063W and P4226), moisture contents (0.

Performance evaluation and optimization of a depodding machine: A response surface approach.

Depodding of moringa which is still being carried out manually by removing with hand or by hitting a bag containing the pods is time-consuming, labour intensive and not economical. The demand for quality oil-bearing moringa seeds that have a wide area of industrial applications necessitates innovative deppoding techniques that will improve its market value. To ameliorate these problems, moringa depoddding machine has been developed but studies on performance evaluation and optimal parameter setting are sparsely reported.