ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Production of brown sugar (unrefined sugar) from sweet sorghum using appropriate technology

Over the years the consumption of sugar has outstripped production due to increasing demand. Ghana imports over $80 million dollars worth of cane and beat sugar annually to meet its domestic needs as local production is non-existent. Sugarcane as the sole source for sugar production in the tropics is limited due to its being restricted to grown only in clay loamy wet soils, thereby necessitating the use of sweet sorghum as an alternative raw material for sugar production. The study involved producing sugar from sweet sorghum using the round-bottom open-pan technology. The work evaluated the clarification pH and evaporation duration (EvD) processes of 4 sweet sorghum varieties which affect yield, sweetness, colour, flavour, texture and overall acceptability. The optimum condition (clarification at pH 10 and EvD at 45 minutes) produced the best brown sugars, whose flavour, sweetness, colour and texture were found to be more acceptable, irrespective of the sweet sorghum variety used compared to brown sugars produced at pH 7 and 8. The study also revealed that sweet sorghum varieties MI8E and S35 had high juice content compared to Keller and Dale which recorded the maximum sucrose content of juice extract. Brown sugars produced from Dale and Keller were found to sweeter compared to that of Ml 8E and S35. Sweet sorghum therefore appears to be a good material source for brown sugar production and possibly other types of sugar. The results further indicated that the production of brown sugar from sweet sorghum on a small-scale could be adopted and used in rural areas, as practically it only involves the use of simple stoves, pans and lime for a successful sugar production enterprise.

Source: KNUST
Production of Alum from Bauxite Waste from Awaso mine

Turbidity and colour has been one of the major challenges facing most Water treatment plants in Ghana. The effect of high levels of turbidity is the increase in the cost of production. The most efficient way of removing and reducing turbidity and colour is by the application of coagulants, which is mainly alum in Africa. Several methods have been established for the production of alum; the most efficient one has been determined to be the use of an acid to digest the bauxite waste. This method has been chosen to be the most efficient because it is simple and cost effective. It has been proven that a significant percentage of budgetary allocation for the treatment of water mostly in Africa and developing countries goes into the procurement of alum. The focus of this study is to determine a protocol that can be effective, efficient and cost less in the production of alum from bauxite waste. The environmental friendliness of the protocol developed was also very important and vital to the work and duly investigated. One of the most important variables also investigated was the molecular characteristic of the alum produced using an X ray diffractometer. This study developed a protocol, which leads to the production of alum from bauxite waste; the most effective protocol was the use of 165ml of sulphuric acid as the acid for digesting the bauxite waste, which was done strongly under refluxing conditions. The alum produced from the bauxite waste performed comparably well to the commercial Alum. It was also realized that for every 20g of bauxite used to produce alum using the white sample protocol about 1159g of alum is produced at a cost of 35Ghana cedis, which is, cheaper than the commercially available alum at a current market price of 80 Ghana cedis. The disposal of the sludge produced after filtration was highly acidic so the introduction of potash into the sludge before disposal was used as the means of reducing the acidic rate of the sludge. Using the X ray diffractometer and Jar test it was established that the alum produced from the lab performed comparably well as against the commercial alum. In the residual aluminium and sulphate test, the alum produced performed better than the commercial alum.

Source: KNUST
Production of citric acid from pineapple waste using aspergillus niger

The need to recycle waste materials should be paramount in our country since these materials are becoming environmental hazard. One such method by which the waste material could be recycled is through biotechnology. Pineapple peels, one of such waste materials that contribute to the environmental degradation of our towns and cities were collected, mashed and the juice extracted was utilized for citric acid fermentation. Four of such media were prepared with initial concentrations as follows; 50.942g/L, 82.04O0g/L, 1 19.872g/L and 158.272g/L. The media were inoculated with free spores of Aspergillus niger and incubated at 27 - 29°C. Four parameters of each fermentation media were analysed to determine how they influenced or were influenced by the fermentation process. These parameters were the pH, citric acid production, sucrose consumption and biomass production. The fungus was found to be successfully cultivated on all the four media, thus causing the media to be more acidic as a result of the production of citric acid, decreasing the pH from an average value of 4.03 to 2.20. All the four parameters were found to be significantly different at 5%. The differences that existed between these values might be due to a metabolic control mechanism such as substrate inhibition by the highly concentrated substrate above 1l9.872g/L. Thus the optimum sucrose was found to be 119.9g/L corresponding to the media supplemented with 400grams of sugar (M - 4S).

Source: KNUST
Production of a convenient breakfast cereal using coconut and yellow corn

There is a gradual change in the Ghanaian eating trend as people now prefer convenient semi processed foods as breakfast meals. These breakfast meals make use of cereals and grains, which often suffer postharvest losses. Thus, the study aimed to add value to these food crops by producing an enriched, convenient breakfast meal in the form of flakes using yellow maize and coconut as main food components. Five different formulations (80/20, 77.5/22.5, 75/25, 72.5/27.5 and 70/30) were developed using the Design Expert’s D-optimal design to produce the breakfast meals through drum drying and the products assessed for acceptability by consumer panel. The results showed an increase in nutritional value after processing and a significant reduction in moisture content, with all the other nutrients affected in divers’ ways. There was an increasing/decreasing trend with significant difference (prob>F) in nutrient value between the various formulations. Protein 9.8 – 8.27 and fibre 4.01 – 6.64 for 80/20 – 70/39 formulations respectively. Panelists rated the produced cereal high in overall acceptability during the sensory evaluation. The overall acceptability decreased with decreasing coconut percentage in the cereal product. The 70/30 formulation was most preferred by panelist. On microbial basis, the total coliform count and Bacillus cereus count were zero (<10 cfu/g) but after six months of preservation under room temperature, total viable count of 12.5x101cfu/g, 4.0 x101cfu/g, 1.0x101cfu/g, 44x101cfu/g and 0.5x101cfu/g were obtained in sample 80/20, 77.5/22.5, 75/25, 72.5/27.5 and 70/30 respectively. Yeast and mould count were zero in three formulations, except for sample 75/25 and 77.5/22.5 which had 0.5x101cfu/g and 1x101cfu/g counts respectively. The produced breakfast meal is generally accepted by consumers and safe for consumption at least up to six months after production.

Source: KNUST
Production of clay speaker enclosures

Clay is a moist sticky earth that hardens when dried, due to the unique properties or characteristics of clay, it is used to produce various house hold or domestic products such as cooking pots, water storages, flower pots etc. Clay is also used to build some parts of complex industrial machine which serves as a means of generating income. However, the local use of clay has been limited to a certain level. There is therefore the need for exploration into the issue to well understand and appreciate the unique properties and characteristics of the material to further expand or expose it use at the local level which will also reduce pressure on other raw materials. Written documents have shown that clay has been used to produce musical instruments in other countries. Ghana is a country that has boundless natural resources including clay which could be found in all the ten regions. Local potters and institutions use it in the best way they can but research has shown that the ability of clay is somehow limitless. This study is therefore being conducted with the aim to produce clay speaker enclosures. In order to achieve this aim the following objectives was set; to ascertain and describe the various forms of speaker enclosures, to identify the characteristics of clay suitable for the production of speaker enclosure and to design and produce clay speaker enclosure with the clay. Two types of clay from Ashanti region are selected for the study and these are Mfensi and Afari clay. Data regarding this clays will be collected both from the researcher’s own research experiments and other literally written documents. The qualitative research method is used, experiments and observations being the main forms of data collection instruments. Out of the accessible population, Mfensi clay is selected as sample purposively based on the information gathered. The results of the study show how best Mfensi clay can be used for producing more interesting products. It is recommended that various reasons for understanding the behavior of clay be brought to light for further research in other to develop, design and expose or bring out new products from our local clay.

Source: KNUST
Production of Digital Game for Teaching Solar System under Integrated Science and its Effects on Pupils’ Learning in Junior High Schools in Kumasi

Education is vital to national development, and Science education to a ground breaking economy. Therefore, academic performance is of utmost importance and its decline a source of worry to all stakeholders, necessitating efforts to determine its causative factors. However the greatest cause of decline presently has been attributed to educating today’s technology driven learners in old ways which are no more operative. Solar System is a challenging topic that must be taught in a way that will arouse admiration and incite the attention of learners. Conversely, Digital Game Based Learning have been proven an effective way of stimulating and optimizing students’ learning performance. Thus, this study investigated the traditional methods adopted for teaching Solar System under Integrated Science and their effects on learning, pupils’ knowledge and skills in digital games and devices, to produce a Digital Game to adjunct the teaching of Solar System and evaluated its effects on learning in two Junior High Schools in Kumasi. The study was guided by the descriptive and quasi-experimental research approach under the mixed method research design, with observation, interviews and questionnaire as research instruments. Convenience and purposive sampling techniques were adopted to sample two JHSs, 94 respondents– 90 form three pupils, 2 teachers and 2 head teachers. The study revealed lecture as the main teaching method employed for Solar System in both schools, which did not allow interaction, participation or hands-on activities, and made lessons uninteresting and boring leading to low performance. The developed digital game on the difficult-to-teach topic ‘Solar System’ proved pupils’ interest when active learning was pursued and improved their performance. It was therefore recommended that pupils’ knowledge and skills in digital games should be tapped on to deliver engaging, interesting, fun and active learning through digital games. It suggested that digital games be developed for all topics in Integrated Science to be used by teachers as supplementary tools during lessons.

Source: KNUST
Production of leather vessels from the indigenous Ghanaian leather

Anecdotal evidence and further report from leather experts shows that there is close to no enlightenment of the production of leather vessels in Ghanaian leather industries. Therefore the study was conducted as a result of the need to add leather as a supplementary material to the traditional materials such as clay, metal, wood and half-gourd used for producing vessels in Ghana. The purpose of the study was to find out how Ghanaian indigenous leather could be used in the production of leather vessels. The qualitative study employed three key techniques, namely: “cuir bouilli” leather hardening methods, the sand pounding technique, and assemblage and construction technique. Based on the results, the baking and hot wax methods adversely affected the indigenous leather positively in the hardening of the leather. The results also show that using only one part of the leather (the back, belly or butt) affected the quality of the leather vessels, but incorporating the various parts of the hide helped improve the quality and durability of the leather vessels. The implications of the results and future research directions are also presented.

Source: KNUST
Production of Some Organic Solvent using Microorganisms

Cassava and sweet potato pulps and starches have been show to contain the following sugar: hydrolysed and unhydrolysed cassava pulp and starch – maltose and glucose; hydrolysed and unhydrolysed sweet potato pulp – maltose, glucose, sucrose, fructose and rharnose; hydrolysed sweet potato starch – maltose and glucose. An unidentified sugar was suspected to be present in both the cassava and sweet potato pulps. A strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been isolated from palm wine. The alcohol tolerance of this strain was quite high – 9.3 (v/v). It fermented blackstrap molasses more efficiently than Baker’s Yeast. It also ferments hydrolysed cassava and sweet potato pulp and starches quite efficiently. The major fermentation product in each case was found to be ethanol

Source: KNUST
Production Of Selenium Enriched Oyster Mushrooms On Corn Cobs As Substrate

Selenium is essential in human diets because it has many metabolic functions. It is found in very small amounts in cultivated Pleurotus ostreatus; below the recommended daily allowance. This project was carried out to produce selenium enriched Pleurotus ostreatus by its cultivation on corn cobs to which selenium was added as sodium selenite. The mycelia development, extent of selenium uptake from the substrates, yield, biological efficiency and some physical parameters of the mushrooms were determined. The work was carried out in two trials and each trial laid out in a complete randomized design. In the first trial, the substrates were supplemented with selenium in the range 3-96 mg/kg substrate, but the selenium accumulated in the mushrooms harvested was far more than the recommended daily allowance of selenium and not suitable for consumption, hence, the need for the second trial. In the second trial, 0.3-1 mg/kg selenium were supplemented onto the substrate and oyster mushrooms that are able to provide the recommended daily allowance of selenium were produced. Mushrooms harvested on the substrates with Se concentrations of 0.3-1.0 mg/kg in the second trial accumulated between 3.811 µg/g of Se. This implies that 14.47g of mushrooms harvested on substrates with Se concentration of 0.3 mg/kg and 5g of mushrooms harvested on substrates supplemented with Se concentration of 1 mg/kg substrate are enough to provide the recommended daily allowance of selenium In addition, there were no significant differences noticed in the yield, biological efficiency, rate of mycelial growth and physical quality of the mushrooms harvested on the substrates supplemented with selenium concentrations of 0.3-1 mg/kg substrate as compared to the controls. Thus, Pleurotus ostreatus enriched with selenium can be produced as nutraceutical on corn cobs as substrate supplemented with selenium at 0.3-1 mg/kg substrate.

Source: KNUST
Production of particle board using Sawdust and Plastic Waste

The high demand for forest timber has led to high deforestation rate worldwide. This has caused negative impact on the environment. In Ghana, in the processing of these forest timbers for export and domestic purposes enormous quantities of wood residues including sawdust are produced annually and these residues are usually not put into commercial use. Moreover, Ghana and most countries in the world are engulfed with plastic waste emanating from drinking water manufacturers, plastic product manufacturers as well as packages of materials. Studies are being conducted on the search for the possible effective ways of utilisation of sawdust as well as possible ways of recycling these plastics. This study focuses on the use of sawdust in the production of particleboard using low density polyethylene as an adhesive. In the production, the sawdust was collected and separated whiles the polyethylene was collected, washed, dried and shredded. The two materials were mixed using plastic-sawdust combination (1:1.75, 1:2 and 1: 1.3). The mixture was pressed at a pressure of 6.5kgcm -2 in 1 hour and at two different temperatures (145 o C and 200 o C). The moisture content and densities as well as bending and compression properties of the boards were examined. Results show that the bending stress of the boards ranges from 0.7 to 3.07Nmm -2 whiles that of the compression stress ranges from 0.399 to 3.242Nmm -2 . The density of the boards also ranges from 316kgm -3 to 383kgm -3 at 3.0% - 4.7% moisture content. However, the highest bending stress of 3.07Nmm -2 and compression stress of 3.242Nmm -2 was obtained from the board with 1:1.3kg plastic-sawdust combination and temperature of 200 o C. Generally, the results of the physical and mechanical properties of the sawdust and low density polyethylene particleboard were comparable to medium density particleboards available. iv However, high temperature in the production was noticed to have resulted in boards with low moisture content, whiles the reduction of polyethylene in the plastic-sawdust combination of particleboards produced resulted in increased bending and compression stresses of the boards.

Source: KNUST
Production of silver-loaded zeolites and investigation of their antimicrobial activity

The production of silver-loaded zeolites either by ion exchange method or by isomorphous substitution of silver ions into zeolites frameworks and their antimicrobial activity is presented. Silver-loaded zeolites produced by ion-exchange in this work include silver-exchanged zeolite X, silver-exchanged zeolite A and silver-exchanged high-alumina Phillipsite. Silver-doped Analcime was produced by isomorphous substitution of silver ions into the Analcime framework. The silver-loaded zeolites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, particle size analysis and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Studies showed that the amount of silver ions loaded into the zeolites frameworks differed for each zeolite. XRD analysis showed little or no changes in the phase purity of all zeolites before and after ion exchange or before and after substitution of silver ions. SEM analysis and particle size analysis showed that the morphology of each zeolite particles was closely related before and after ion exchanged or before and after substitution of silver ions. The antimicrobial activity of these silver-loaded zeolites was investigated by exposing Escherichia coli K12W-T, Staphylococcus aureus NCIMB6571 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIMB8295 suspended in tryptone soya broth (TSB) to the silver-loaded zeolites. The first stage of the investigation involved the exposure of the strains to silver-loaded zeolites in TSB for a duration of 24 hours at different concentration of silver-loaded zeolites. The second stage involved the exposure of the strains to silver-loaded zeolites in TSB over a period of two hours. The persistency of antimicrobial activity of silver-loaded zeolites was investigated by retrieving i each silver-loaded zeolite from the first exposure cultures, washed copiously with de-ionised water and adding to fresh bacterial suspensions. To understand the mode of antimicrobial activity of the silver-loaded zeolites, the uptake of silver ions by the strains, composition of fatty acid, as well as the DNA content of Escherichia coli K12W-T was studied. The results obtained showed silver ions appeared to elute from the zeolites frameworks into the TSB in anomalous trend. All three microorganisms were completely inhibited within one hour with the silver-loaded zeolites retaining their antimicrobial activity. The release of silver ions from the zeolites frameworks followed first-order kinetics with varying rate constants and halflives. The fatty acid composition of all strains as well as the DNA content of Escherichia coli K12W-T were affected by the action of silver ions.

Source: KNUST
Production of tech process low-cost high protein beverage base from two cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) Varieties Cv. Asetena Pa and Adom

Cowpea is a high protein legume, which provides food security for the people of developing countries. There is minimum diversity of products made from cowpea in Ghana. Production of cowpea-based milk would increase the utilizability of the legume. This study evaluates the processing and formulation variables, which affect the flowability, stability, and beany flavor of “Tech Process” cowpea milk produced from dehulled cowpea. Soaking conditions, temperature and time of heat processing, pH, solids concentration, crude protein content, and total sugars had the most pronounced effects on flowability and stability of the milk. Processing temperature of 75 and 90°C for 45 and 60 minutes were adequate to prevent milk separation, gelling, and to reduce the beany flavor to some extent. Soaking at ambient temperature before heat processing produced crude protein in the range of 6.71% to 7.10% but soaking using 0.25% (NaHCO3 + yeast) produced milk with protein in the range of 11% to 12.4% and total solid content of between 5.06% and 8.17% maximum, given total sugar of 0.37% compared to 9.51g/l00g of cowpea flour. For good milk maximum flowability was achieved at 35% to 37% Filtration Efficiency (FE), with a viscosity of 1.5 x 100 cP. At this FE milk stabilized at 0.17 separation unit/minute.

Source: KNUST