Faculty of Science

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Open Access
Application Of ISO 22000 In Comparison With HACCP On Industrial Processing Of Milk Chocolate
(International Food Research Journal, 2013) Afoakwa, E. O; Mensah-Brown, H.; Crentsil, G. K.; Frimpong, K.; Asante, F.
Hazard analysis was conducted to identify critical control points (CCPs) during cocoa processing and milk chocolate manufacture and applied into a hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plan. During the process, the different biological, physical and chemical hazards identified at each processing stage in the hazard analysis worksheet were incorporated into the HACCP plan to assess the risks associated with the processes. Physical hazards such as metals, stones, fibres, plastics and papers; chemical hazards such as pesticide residues, mycotoxins and heavy metals; and microbiological hazards such as Staphyloccous aureus, coliforms, Salmonella, Aspergillus and Penicillium were identified. ISO 22000 analysis was conducted for the determination of some pre-requisite programmes (PrPs) during the chocolate processing and compared with the HACCP system. The ISO 22000 Analysis worksheet reduced the CCPs for both cocoa processing and chocolate manufacture due to the elimination of the pre-requisite programmes (PrPs). Monitoring systems were established for the CCPs identified and these included preventive measures, critical limits, corrective actions, assignment of responsibilities and verification procedures. The incorporation of PrPs in the ISO 22000 made the system simple, more manageable and effective since a smaller number of CCPs were obtained.
Open Access
Barriers to timely administration of hepatitis B birth dose vaccine to neonates of mothers with hepatitis B in Ghana: midwives’ perspectives
(SAGE Open Nursing, 2023-05-22) Adjei, Charles Ampong; Suglo, Damasus; Ahenkorah, Alfred Yanful; MacDonald, Shannon E.
Background: The global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis aims to reduce new hepatitis B infections by 90% by 2030. Yet, hepatitis B birth dose (HepB-BD) vaccination, which is effective in preventing mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B, remains low in sub-Saharan Africa. Given the essential role that midwives play in infants’ birth dose immunisation, we explore their perspectives on the reasons for delays and non-administration of HepB-BD to eligible neonates in Ghana. Methods: We conducted interviews with 18 midwives, stratified by region (Greater Accra and Northern regions). Participants were selected purposively. The data were transcribed, coded, and analysed following the Braun and Clarke data analysis procedure. Results: The participants conveyed a broad range of barriers to HepB-BD vaccination in Ghana. These include the mother’s denial of hepatitis B seropositivity; the mother’s ignorance of the impact of hepatitis B on their newborn; partners’ noninvolvement in post-test counselling; and the high cost of hepatitis B immunoglobulin and hepatitis B monovalent vaccine. Other reasons included vaccine unavailability and midwives’ oversight and documentation lapses. Conclusion: We recommend educating expectant mothers on the importance and effectiveness of HepB-BD vaccination during antenatal care (ANC) visits, as well as educating midwives on HepB-BD vaccination procedures. In addition, ensuring sufficient supplies and administering hepatitis B vaccines in the delivery ward should be done to guarantee that babies receive the vaccines on time. Importantly, Ghana needs policies that require HepB-BD vaccination as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) to ensure the investments and funding it needs.
Open Access
Bifurcation analysis of waning-boosting epidemiological models with repeat infections and varying immunity periods
(Elsevier, 2024-04) Opoku-Sarkodie, R.; Bartha, F.A; Polner, M.; Röst, G.
We consider the SIRWJS epidemiological model that includes the waning and boosting of immunity via secondary infections. We carry out combined analytical and numerical investigations of the dynamics. The formulae describing the existence and stability of equilibria are derived. Combining this analysis with numerical continuation techniques, we construct global bifurcation diagrams with respect to several epidemiological parameters. The bifurcation analysis reveals a very rich structure of possible global dynamics. We show that backward bifurcation is possible at the critical value of the basic reproduction number, 0 = 1. Furthermore, we find stability switches and Hopf bifurcations from steady states forming multiple endemic bubbles, and saddle–node bifurcations of periodic orbits. Regions of bistability are also found, where either two stable steady states, or a stable steady state and a stable periodic orbit coexist. This work provides an insight to the rich and complicated infectious disease dynamics that can emerge from the waning and boosting of immunity.
Open Access
Calculation Of Interfacial Tensions Between Macromolecular Solutions And Soltrol-130 From Contact Angles Measurements
(ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 2013-02) Sinayobye, E.; Mensah-Brown, H.; Yaya, A.; Kakane, V. C. K.; Baryeh, E. A.
The determination of the surface tension of some liquids or solutions has been carried out using a tensiometer. The determination of the contact angle between the liquids and a planar surface has also been carried out using photography. Polar and dispersive contributions of the surface tension were obtained by calculation while the polarities of the liquids and solutions were determined applying Wu equations. This method gave the different results for solutions prepared from macromolecular compounds (acroleine - ethanolamine macromolecular solution 1g/l, acroleine - diethanolamine macromolecular solution 1g/l, polyglutaraldehyde-ethanolamine macromolecular solution 0.7 g/l and polyglutaraldehyde - diethanolamine macromolecular solution 1 g/l) synthesized by Malonda from glutaraldehyde and acroleine. The dispersive and polar contributions of the surface tension were computed and used to calculate the interfacial tensions of solutions by the simple measurement of the contact angle. The results have revealed that the computed interfacial tensions were comparable to the values measured directly by the tensiometer for polyglutaraldehyde- ethanolamine macromolecular solution 0.7 g/l and polyglutaraldehyde - diethanolamine macromolecular solution 1 g/l) making an interface with Soltrol-130 of 17.1 and 16.9 dynes/cm compared to direct measured values of 17.2 and 17.7 dynes/cm respectively representing 1% and 5% error, respectively.
Open Access
Changes in Biochemical and Physico-chemical Qualities during Drying of Pulp Preconditioned and Fermented Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Beans
(Journal of Nutritional Health & Food Science, 2014-04-28) Afoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene; Budu, Agnes Simpson; Mensah-Brown, Henry; Takrama, Jemmy Felix; Akomanyi, Evans
This study investigated the effects of post-harvest pod storage as a means of pulp preconditioning on the souring production, flavour precursors development and free fatty acids during drying of fermented Ghanaian cocoa beans. A 4 x 4 full factorial experiment was conducted with pod storage (0, 7, 14, 21 days) and drying times (0, 2, 4 and 6 days) as the principal factors. The souring/acidification indices (pH and titratable acidity), total sugar, total nitrogen and free fatty acids (FFA) were studied using standard analytical methods. The results showed that titratable acidity, total sugars and total nitrogen in cocoa beans decreased during drying and with increasing pod storage durations probably due to their participation in Maillard non- enzymatic reactions to form flavour volatiles and colour pigments as Amadori intermediates. By contrast, FFAs and pH increased during drying and with increasing pod storage durations. Pod storage for up to 7 days followed by 6 days of fermentation and drying respectively produced beans with acceptable FFA values below 1.75% whilst enhancing the flavour precursors development and reductions in nib acidity. However, these observed changes were more dependent on pod storage than on drying.
Open Access
Changes in Nib Acidity, Proteolysis and Sugar Concentration as Influenced by Pod Storage and Roasting Conditions of Fermented Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Beans
(Journal of Food Science and Engineering, 2013-12-20) Ofosu-Ansah, Eric; Budu, Agnes Simpson; Mensah-Brown, Henry; Takrama, Jemmy Felix; Afoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene
Changes in nib acidity, protein and sugar concentration during roasting of pulp pre-conditioned and fermented cocoa (Theobroma cacao) beans were investigated. A 4 × 4 full factorial design with the principal experimental factors as pod storage (0, 3, 7 and 10 d) and roasting time (0, 15, 30 and 45 min) were used. The roasted samples were evaluated for pH, titratable acidity, protein content and sugars concentrations using standard methods. Increasing pod storage caused consistent increases in pH with concomitant decreases in titratable acidity, whereas increasing roasting time caused only marginal and insignificant changes in pH but significantly decreased the titratable acidity. The protein content decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with increasing pod storage and roasting time. Reducing sugars increased marginally with increasing pod storage treatments whiles increasing roasting time significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the reducing sugars of the beans for all pod storage. The non-reducing sugar and total sugar content of the beans decreased significantly from 3.493 mg/g to 2.641 mg/g and from 9.284 mg/g to 8.891 mg/g, respectively, for pods stored from 0 to 10 days while roasting time caused slight decreases in non-reducing sugars with a considerable decrease in total sugars. Pod storage up to seven days decreased considerable the nib acidity (non-volatile acids), non-reducing sugars and total sugars while roasting up to 45 min at 120 °C caused dramatic decreases in the nib acidity and reducing sugars with only marginal decreases in non-reducing sugars and total sugars.
Open Access
Changes in some biochemical qualities during drying of pulp pre-conditioned and fermented cocoa (Theobroma Cacao) beans
(African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 2015-01-01) Afoakwa, E. O; Kongor, J. E; Budu, A. S; Mensah-Brown, H; Takrama, J. F
Fermentation and drying are critical to the development of flavour precursors that generate into distinctive chocolate flavour notes during industrial manufacture. These processes also lead to reduction in acidity and free fatty acids of nibs, which dictates the levels of bitterness and colour development in chocolates. This study investigated changes in nib acidity, flavour precursors (sugars concentration and proteins) and free fatty acids during drying of pulp pre-conditioned and fermented cocoa beans using a 4 x 3 full factorial experimental design with pod storage (0, 3, 7 and 10 days) and drying time (0, 3 and 6 days) as the principal factors. Non-volatile (titratable) acidity, pH, sugars (reducing, non-reducing and total sugars), changes in protein content and free fatty acids of the beans were studied using standard analytical methods. Increasing pod storage consistently increased pH of the fermented nibs at the end of drying with consequential decrease in titratable acidity. The pH increased from 4.92 for the freshly harvested pods to 6.00 for pods stored for 10 days at the end of the drying process. Similarly, pH of the fermented beans increased with increasing drying time for all pod storage treatment except for pods stored for 10 days. The pH of fermented beans whose pods were stored for 3 and 7 days were 5.26 and 5.56 respectively after drying for 7 days. Protein, reducing sugars, non-reducing sugars and total sugars decreased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing duration of drying at all pod storage periods. Pod storage and drying significantly (p<0.05) increased the free fatty acids content of the fermented nibs. The FFAs of the dried beans increased from 0.47% for the unstored (freshly harvested) pods to 0.55% for pods stored for 3 and 7 days and 0.58% for pods stored for 10 days. However, FFAs content of all the dried fermented beans were below the acceptable limits of 1.75% oleic acid equivalent in cocoa butter at all pod storage periods. Storage of cocoa pod between 3–7 days with 7 days of drying (after 6 days fermentation) led to considerable reductions in nib acidity, reducing sugars, nonreducing, total sugars and proteins and acceptable FFA levels.
Open Access
Comparative analysis of comparison and non comparison based sorting algorithms
(International Journal of Computer Applications, 2020-10-28) Fenyi, Adolf; Fosu, Michael; Appiah, Bright
Sorting is one of the most important task in many computer applications. Efficiency becomes a big problem when the sorting involves a large amounts of data. There are a lot of sorting algorithms with different implementations. Some of them sort data by comparison while others don’t. The main aim of this thesis is to evaluate the comparison and noncomparison based algorithms in terms of execution time and memory consumption. Five main algorithms were selected for evaluation. Out of these five, three were comparison based algorithms (quick, bubble and merge) while the remaining two were non-comparison based (radix and counting). After conducting an experiment using array of different data sizes (ranging from 1000 to 35000), it was realized that the comparison based algorithms were less efficient than the noncomparison ones. Among the comparison algorithms, bubble sort had the highest time complexity due to the swapping nature of the algorithm. It never stops execution until the largest element is bubbled to the right of the array in every iteration. Despite this disadvantage, it was realized that it is memory efficient since it does not create new memory in every iteration. It relies on a single memory for the swapping array operation. The quick sort algorithm uses a reasonable amount of time to execute, but has a poor memory utilization due to the creation of numerous sub arrays to complete the sorting process. Among the comparison based algorithms, merge sort was far better than both quick and bubble. On the average, merge sort utilized 32.261 seconds to sort all the arrays used in the experiment while quick and bubble utilized 41.05 and 165.11 seconds respectively. The merge algorithm recorded an average memory consumption of 5.5MB for all the experiment while quick and bubble recorded 650.792MB and 4.54MB respectively. Even though the merge sort is better than both quick and bubble, it cannot be compared to the non-comparison based algorithms since they perform far better than the comparison based ones. When the two groups were evaluated against execution time, the comparison based algorithms recorded an average score of 476.757 seconds while the non-comparison obtained 17.849 seconds. With respect to the memory utilization, the non-comparison based algorithms obtained 27.12MB while the comparison ones obtained 1321.681MB. This clearly reveals the efficiency of the non-comparison based algorithms over the comparison ones in terms of execution time and memory utilization.
Open Access
Dynamics of an SIRWS model with waning of immunity and varying immune boosting period
(Journal of Biological Dynamics, 2022-07-29) Opoku-Sarkodie, Richmond; Bartha, Ferenc A.; Polner, Mónika; Röst, Gergely
SIRS models capture transmission dynamics of infectious diseases for which immunity is not lifelong. Extending these models by a W compartment for individuals with waning immunity, the boosting of the immune system upon repeated exposure may be incorporated. Previous analyses assumed identical waning rates from R to W and from W to S. This implicitly assumes equal length for the period of fullimmunityandofwanedimmunity.Werelaxthisrestriction,andallowan asymmetric partitioning of the total immune period. Stability switches of the endemic equilibrium are investigated with a combination of analytic and numerical tools. Then, continuation methods are applied to track bifurcations along the equilibrium branch. We find rich dynamics: Hopf bifurcations, endemic double bubbles, and regions of biostability. Our results highlight that the length of the period in which waning immunity can be boosted is a crucial parameter significantly influencing long term epidemiological dynamics.
Open Access
Dynamics of an SIRWS model with waning of immunity and varying immune boosting period
(Taylor and francis, 2022-07-29) Sarkodie, Opoku Richmond; Bartha, A. Ferenc; Polner, Mónika; Röst, Gergely
SIRS models capture transmission dynamics of infectious diseases for which immunity is not lifelong. Extending these models by a W compartment for individuals with waning immunity, the boosting of the immune system upon repeated exposure may be incorporated. Previous analyses assumed identical waning rates from R to W and from W to S. This implicitly assumes equal length for the period of full immunity and of waned immunity. We relax this restriction, and allow an asymmetric partitioning of the total immune period. Stability switches of the endemic equilibrium are investigated with a combination of analytic and numerical tools. Then, continuation methods are applied to track bifurcations along the equilibrium branch. We find rich dynamics: Hopf bifurcations, endemic double bubbles, and regions of bistability. Our results highlight that the length of the period in which waning immunity can be boosted is a crucial parameter significantly influencing long term epidemiological dynamics.
Open Access
Effect of Roasting Conditions on the Browning Index and Appearance Properties of Pulp Pre-Conditioned and Fermented Cocoa (Theobroma Cacao) Beans
(Journal of Nutritional Health & Food Science, 2014-02-06) Afoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene; Budu, Agnes Simpson; Mensah-Brown, Henry; Takrama, Jemmy Felix; Ofosu-Ansah, Eric
Appearance is an important quality determinant of cocoa beans and it is used as standard criteria to establish the degree of fermentation and drying of the beans. Changes in browning index and colour (L*a* b*) during roasting of pulp pre-conditioned and fermented cocoa beans were studied using standard analytical methods. Increasing pod storage and roasting time at 120o C led to variable increases in browning index (BI) and b*-values of the beans with decreases in the L* and a* values. Cocoa pod stored for 10 days showed the highest BI (1.144) with the least L* value (24.15) whilst beans from the unstored pods showed the least BI (1.007) with the highest L* value (25.55). The rates of change in BI and colour (L*, a*, b*) were however more pronounced during roasting than pod storage. Brown pigment formation (BI) and the L* value were more pronounced after 30 minutes of roasting in beans from pods stored for 3 to 7 days. The colour changes in beans from 10 days pod storage was significant (p<0.05) after 45 minutes of roasting. The beans from the pods stored for 3 to 7 days showed consistent decrease in L* and a* values with increasing roasting time whiles the beans from the 10 days of pod storage were observed to produce lower L* value (darker beans) after 45 minutes of roasting. Pod storage between 3 to 7 days could be used to improve the brownness and appearance of roasted cocoa nibs. Beans from cocoa pod stored between 3 to 7 days produced the most acceptable BI and L* value after roasting for 30 minutes at 120o C.
Open Access
Effects of Fermentation and Drying on the Fermentation Index and Cut Test of Pulp Pre-conditioned Ghanaian Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Beans
(Journal of Food Science and Engineering, 2013-11-20) Kongor, John Edem; Takrama, Jemmy Felix; Budu, Agnes Simpson; Mensah-Brown, Henry; Afoakwa, Emmanuel Ohene
Investigations were conducted to establish effects of fermentation and drying on the fermentation index (FI) and cut test of pulp pre-conditioned Ghanaian cocoa beans using a 4  3 full factorial experimental design with the principal factors being pod storage (0, 3, 7 and 10 d) and fermentation time (0, 3 and 6 d) to study the changes occurring during the fermentation process. The study also used a 4  3 full factorial design with pod storage (0, 3, 7 and 10 d) and drying time (0, 3 and 7 d) being the principal factors investigated to study the changes occurring during the drying process. FI and cut test of the beans were studied during fermentation as well as the drying process. FI of the beans increased significantly with pod storage and fermentation but decreased slightly during drying. FI of the unfermented beans increased slightly from 0.674 for the unstored pods to 0.763 after 10 days of pod storage. The FI of the fermented beans (six days fermentation) also increased from 1.390 for the unstored pods to 1.424 for pods stored for 10 days. It decreased from 1.389 at the start of drying for the unstored pods to 1.105 for pods stored for 10 days at the end of drying (seven days). FI of all the beans were however, above 1.0 at the end of fermentation and drying for all pod storage treatments. Cut test revealed that storage of pods for 3, 7 and 10 days increased the percentage of brown beans by 66%, 94% and 72%, respectively, by the sixth day of fermentation. Percentage of brown beans decreased to 61%, 76% and 63%, respectively, for pods stored for 3, 7 and 10 d at the end of drying (seven days). Cocoa pods can be stored for up to 10 days, fermented for six days and dried for seven days with the necessary formation of brown pigments characteristics of well fermented and dried cocoa beans
Open Access
Evaluation of selected local spices on sensory characteristics of fresh pork sausage
(International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 2017-12-14) Coleman, Fred Newman; Ohene-Adjei, Samuel; Barnes, Anna
This is to improve pork meat together with spices to enhace meat taste Xylopia aethiopica (African pepper) and Monodora myristica (African nutmeg) are used as spices in Ghanaian local dishes and as traditional medicine. The objective of this study was to substitute two spices in “normal” fresh pork sausage formulation with selected local spices and evaluate their effect on sensorycharacteristics of the product. A 4x4 factorial design was used with 4 spice treatments (Control – Syzygium Gaertner (clove), Allium cepa (onion), Piper nigrum (white pepper) and Myristica fragrans (nutmeg); African pepper (AP) substituted for white pepper; African nutmeg (AN) substituted for nut meg (Myristica fragrans); and combination of AP and AN (AP*AN) at 4 inclusion levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1% and 0.15%). AP and AN were obtained from the local market in Accra. They were cleaned, dried and blended. The spices were irradiated with dose of 10KGY to reduce microbial load. The experiment had three replicates each replicate was made up of lb treatments. Six trained panellists evaluated the sausages using a 15 cm continuous scale on six sensory parameters (crumbliness, juiciness, palatability, saltiness, off flavour and overall liking), the formulated sausages with the selected local spices at varying concentrations did not differ (p ˃ 0.05) from the control product in all the sensory parameters. However, AP treated sausage at 0.15% was overall rated high. The present study shows that Xylopia aethiopica and Monodora myristica can be used to substitute for Piper nigrum and Myritica fragrans resp
Open Access
Exploring the challenges and roles of nurses in delivering palliative care for cancer patients and co-morbidities in Ghana
(BMC Palliative Care, 2023-08-28) Appiah, Evans Osei; Awube, Menlah; Xu, Jiayun; Awuku, Adomaa Susana; Boateng, Susana Agyekum; Garti, Isabella; Kob, Pascal; Kumah, Joyce
Background Patients sufering from chronic and life-threatening diseases receive inadequate palliative care in lowincome countries, eventually leading to poor quality of life for these patients. Little is known about the experience of delivering palliative care in a low-resource country such as Ghana in comparison to higher-income countries. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the roles and challenges of nurses providing palliative care services for patients with cancer and life-limiting conditions at tertiary Hospitals in Ghana. Methods Thirty oncology nurses at a tertiary Hospital in Ghana participated. All nurses were providing end-of-life care to patients with cancer. A qualitative exploratory-descriptive design and a semi-structured interview guide developed by the researchers were used. Interviews lasted on average forty minutes to 1 h were audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Content analysis was carried out to generate themes and sub-themes. Findings Participants were between the ages of 25 and 40 years. A higher percentage of females (n=17, 57%) participated in the study than males (n=13, 43%). Two main themes were generated which were the delivery of palliative care and the provision of home care services. The current roles of nurses were centered around pain management, home care services, spiritual needs, and psychological care. Challenges that hindered the implementation of palliative care included distress over expected and unexpected patient mortality, difculty delivering bad news to patients and families, and frustration with health system resource shortages that negatively impacted patient care. Conclusion Palliative care is one of the essential services provided for patients with life-limiting conditions, and nurses play an active role in the provision of this care. Further research is needed to determine the most efective ways to deliver this care, particularly in developing nations like Ghana.
Open Access
Fermentation Capacity of Yeasts Using Mango (Mangifera indica Linn.) as Substrate
(Food Science and Quality Management, 2013) Kamassah, Anthony K.Q.; Saalia, Firibu K.; Osei-Fosu, Paul; Mensah-Brown, Henry; Sinayobye, Emmanuel; Tano-Debrah, Kwaku
The goal of this study was to address the problem of large post harvest losses of mangoes by employing yeast fermentation technology to produce a more stable, value-added product in this case fruit wine. The design of the study involved determination of the fermentative capabilities of four commercial yeast types on musts obtained from an improved (Keitt) mango cultivar that is popularly cultivated in some parts of Ghana for export. The characteristics of the mango musts that were monitored included total soluble solids (TSS), pH and total acidity (TA), microbial populations (aerophilic mesophiles, yeasts and Acetic acid Bacteria), alcohol content and colour over the course of the fermentations. Descriptive and hedonic sensory evaluation was carried out on the ferments obtained from all treatments. Results showed that two of the yeast types namely; Red Star Pasteur and Red Star Montrachet displayed superior fermentation characteristics and produced mango wines that were acceptable by both descriptive and affective sensory panels.
Open Access
The Fermentation Characteristics Of Single And Mixed Yeast Cultures During Pito Wort Fermentation
(International Food Research Journal, 2015) Avicor, M. N.; Saalia, F. K; Djameh, C.; Sinayobye, E.; Mensah-Brown, H.; Essilfie, G.
Pito is an alcoholic beverage obtained through yeast fermentation of the wort extracted from sorghum malt. The production methods are largely artisanal and the product quality varies from batch to batch even for the same brewer. The use of starter culture is a plausible approach to minimizing the variability in product quality. This work compared the fermentation profile of single yeast and mixed yeast cultures in sorghum wort fermentation during pito production. A 2 x 3 factorial design was used to study the quality characteristics of wort pitched with single and mixed Culture yeast strains during 24, 48 and 72 hours alcoholic fermentation. The physicochemical properties, microbial load and sensory characteristics of samples were determined. Fermentation time had significant effects (p<0.05) on the pito characteristics. Pito color (of 12.5 and 16.5 EBC units) was different for single and mixed cultures respectively. Panelists perceived the colours of pito obtained from single yeast culture fermentation to be different from that obtained from mixed culture fermentation. Volatile aroma compounds identified during the fermentation period included esters (4), aldehydes (3), organic acids (2), alcohols (3) and a diacetyl. Both single and mixed cultures showed similar characteristics during wort fermentation.
Open Access
The Influence Of Blanching, Anti-Browning Agent And Processing Time On Some Physico-Chemical Properties And Appearance Of Green Peppers (Capsicum Sinensis) During Canning
(African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, 2014-05) Mensah-Brown, H.; Afoakwa, E. O.; Hinneh, M.
Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) was used to generate twenty combinations of these factors: blanching time, processing time and sodium metabisulphite concentration. The optimized conditions were then adapted for the canning process of green pepper. Blanching time ranged from 0-1 min whereas processing time and sodium metabisulphite concentration ranged from 10-30 min and 0-0.2%, respectively. The canned products were analyzed for physico-chemical qualities using standard analytical methods. Results obtained from various physico-chemical analyses showed variable trends and influences of the linear, quadratic and exponential interactions on the measured quality indices such as pH of the drained liquid, drained weight of the canned product, leached solids and colour of the canned products. The results showed significant (p≤0.05) quadratic effect of sodium metabisulphite as well as linear effect of blanching time on the drained weight of the canned green pepper. Generally, the pH of the medium decreased (increased acidity) with increasing processing time, which was also positively associated with the extent or amount of leaching. Additionally, all three factors were observed to have affected (to variable extent) the colour of the canned products. Blanching and processing times also affected the degree of browning. There was a strong significant (p≤0.05) influence of the quadratic factors of blanching time, processing time and sodium metabisulphite concentration on the colour properties (a-values, b-values and L-values) of the canned products. Statistical analysis showed significant (p≤0.05) linear effects of blanching time and sodium salt concentration as well as the combined effect of both factors on all the colour properties. All the studied parameters had significant regression coefficients (p≤0.05) suggesting the studied parameters contributed significantly to the observed changes. Colour of the canned products changed from green toward redness with increasing blanching time at all concentrations of sodium metabisulphite. Optimal processing combination of 0 min blanching time, 10 min processing time and sodium metabisulphite concentration of 0.2% produced a highly acceptable canned pepper product with preferred physico-chemical and appearance properties.
Open Access
Mathematical Model to Extrapolate the Population of Ghana: An Application of Newton‟s Divided Difference Formula
(Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2015-05-02) Opoku-Sarkodie, Richmond; Acheampong, E.; Enu, Patrick; Bokoum, Amadu; Gardiner, F. A.; Manu, T. A.
This work presents the derivation of a mathematical model for extrapolating the population of Ghana using Newton’s divided difference formula. Newton’s divided difference formula was used because of the uneven time intervals at which the population census was conducted. A simulation was done using mathematical software to estimate the parameters in the derived model because the exact solution was quite difficult. The model was able to predict the population of Ghana with a residual percentage error within 10%. We will therefore recommend the usage of this model to be used for countries in which the population censuses were conducted at uneven time intervals as was the case with Ghana.
Open Access
Mean Vector Analyses of the Voting Patterns of Ghanaians for Three Consecutive Periods: A Case Study of the Greater Accra Region
(Research Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, 2014-08-25) Opoku-Sarkodie, Richmond; Amponsah, S. Gyimah; Gardiner, F.; Manu, T.
The aim of this paper was to find out whether the outcome of future elections in the Greater Accra region could be predicted based on empirical data. The voting patterns of the presidential elections in Ghana deserve notice, not because of their political significance but because of the theoretical weight they carry. The shifts in electoral fortunes between the two main political parties in the country, especially in the greater Accra region provide a unique leverage for assessing theories of voting behavior. The paper uses statistical tools to examine the electoral performance of the four major political parties in Accra and the Hotelling’s T2 Statistic to test whether a prediction could be made to predict future outcomes of elections. Our results revealed that there was not enough statistical evidence to predict future outcomes of elections in the greater Accra district.
Open Access
Mean vector analyses of the voting patterns of Ghanaians for three consecutive periods: A case study of the Greater Accra region
(Research Journal of Mathematics and Statistics, 2014-08-25) Opoku-Sarkodie, R.; Amponsah Gyimah, S.; Gardiner, F.; Manu, T.
The aim of this paper was to find out whether the outcome of future elections in the Greater Accra region could be predicted based on empirical data. The voting patterns of the presidential elections in Ghana deserve notice, not because of their political significance but because of the theoretical weight they carry. The shifts in electoral fortunes between the two main political parties in the country, especially in the greater Accra region provide a unique leverage for assessing theories of voting behavior. The paper uses statistical tools to examine the electoral performance of the four major political parties in Accra and the Hotelling’s T2 Statistic to test whether a prediction could be made to predict future outcomes of elections. Our results revealed that there was not enough statistical evidence to predict future outcomes of elections in the greater Accra district.

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