ALBERT

Description: Aloe L. species (Aloaceae) are ethnobotanically very valuable plants in many communities and civilizations. Nonetheless, very few species are extensively studied to explore their applications in the pharmaceutical and medical, cosmetic and personal care, food and beverage, and detergent industries. This study evaluated the characteristics and quality of lab-based shampoos formulated from the gel of Aloe adigratana Reynolds. Five shampoo formulations, 20 mL each, were prepared from A. adigratana gel in combination with one to two drops of coconut oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, pure glycerin oil, lemon juice, and vitamin E. Gel mass is prepared from mature, healthy leaves collected from the natural stand. The phytochemistry of the gel of the plant was also studied using phytochemical screening, proximate composition, and GC-MS analysis studies. Shampoo formulations with higher proportion (40 to 50% v/v) of A. adigratana gel were found to have comparable characteristics and qualities with a marketed shampoo. They fall within the range of acceptable quality parameters of commercial shampoos. The phytochemical studies of A. adigratana gel showed that the plant is the source of highly valued compounds for the preparation of shampoos. The gel was found to be rich in saponins as well as dodecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, and phytol. Future works should focus in the development of refined protocol towards formulating A. adigratana-based shampoos.

Description: This study aimed at developing a suitable and reproducible protocol for in vitro micropropagation of Aloe adigratana Reynolds using explants from offshoots with the help of the most commonly used plant growth regulators (PGRs). Explants were initiated in full-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) media enriched with 0.2 mg/L benzylaminopurine (BAP) + 0.2 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Shooting experiment was conducted in full-strength MS media enriched with 0/0, 0.5/0.5, 1.0/0.5, 1.5/0.5, and 2.0/0.5 mg/L BAP/NAA. Likewise, rooting experiment was carried out in half-strength MS media enriched with NAA at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg/L and indol-3-butyric acid (IBA) at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg/L. Finally, acclimatization study was conducted in greenhouse, nursery, and open field. The shooting response of the plant was best in MS media enriched with 1.0 mg/L BAP + 0.5 mg/L NAA. This media formulation resulted in the shortest mean number of days to shooting (14.00 ± 2.30 days), the highest mean shoot number (4.00 ± 3.40), and the second highest mean shoot length (8.60 ± 2.10 cm). IBA enhanced rooting at higher concentrations (1.0 and 1.5 mg/L), but NAA did the same at lower concentrations (0.5 and 1.0 mg/L). All plantlets (n = 62) survived primary acclimatization. Secondary acclimatization in composted and matured soil media under nursery and open field (sun light) condition produced 88 to 93% survival rate. The death of plantlets in the secondary acclimatization is accounted to mechanical damage. This study demonstrated that the tested PGRs were useful in enhancing the in vitro micropropagation of the plant. Future studies need to focus on optimizing the protocol for large-scale, commercial micropropagation.

Description: This study was aimed to develop in vitro micropropagation protocol of Aloe trichosantha Berger using offshoots as explants. MS media supplemented with plant growth regulators helped explants develop shoots within about 14 to 17 days. The mean number of days to shooting has decreased from 16.8 ± 0.8 with 0.5/0.5 mg/L BAP/NAA supplement to 15.5 ± 0.5 with 2.0/0.5 mg/L BAP/NAA. While the mean shoot number has increased with increasing the concentration of BAP supplements, the reverse was true with mean shoot lengths, whereas supplement of 2.0/0.5 mg/L BAP/NAA has generated significantly more shoots (17 ± 3.8), and longer shoots were produced with the addition of 0.5/0.5 and 1.0/0.5 mg/L BAP/NAA. In regard to rooting, though higher concentrations of NAA have resulted in quick rooting, the rooting performance in terms of mean number and length of roots was better with low concentrations. All the plantlets subjected to greenhouse acclimatization in cocopeat have survived. Secondary acclimatization in composted and manured soil media has also resulted in 93 to 95% survival rate. Lighting conditions (nursery shade or direct sunlight) of secondary acclimatization did not lead to any difference in the survival rate of the plantlets.

Description: This paper reports the productivity of a small-scale pilot biofarm of grey oyster mushroom (Pleurotus sajor-caju (Fr.) Sing.). The pilot was tested in Mekelle city (Ethiopia) in a brick-walled dark room. Growing structures were constructed by erecting three wood poles and fixing them with three wooden side bars at multiple locations to make a prism-shaped rack with multiple triangular open shelves, each capable of carrying one bag of spawned substrate. Mushroom substrates were prepared from maize stalk and wheat bran supplement. Pasteurized chopped maize stalk and wheat bran were mixed at the ratio of 10:0, 9:1, 8:2, and 7:3—yielding four treatments. Five kilograms of substrate was taken from each treatment and was mixed with one kilogram of gypsum to produce a growing mass. Each mass was spawned with 200 g of inoculum under aseptic conditions and put in polyethylene bags. The treatments were replicated thrice and the bags were put on the growth racks in completely randomized design. The growing room was maintained at optimum conditions. Maize stalk substrates supplemented with 10% and 20% of wheat bran have resulted in statistically comparable productivities but statistically significantly higher than those grown on nonsupplemented and highly supplemented maize stalk substrates (p ≤ 0.05). The ingenuity of the design and the convenience of the construction of the racks, the availability of the substrates, and the simplicity of the management and maintenance of the biofarm rendered the piloted design suitable for home-based and small- and medium-scale mushroom biofarm entrepreneurship.