ESTIMATION OF SHEA TREES (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. GAERTN.) FRUIT PRODUCTION BY ASSESSING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN YIELD PARAMETERS AND DENDROMETRIC FEATURES IN NORTHERN OF CÔTE D'IVOIRE

Vitellaria paradoxa, commonly known as the shea tree, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae and represents a traditional African food plant. It has been claimed to have the potential to improve nutrition, boost food supply, foster rural development, and support sustainable land care. Despite its multiple potentials, statistical data relating to its production are non-existent and/or unexploited in several African communities. To contrast this tendency, the present study aims to assess the intra-seasonal variation in fruit production of a sample of 115 shea trees and then to establish a correlation between yield parameters and several dendrometric features. Dendrometric (i.e. tree height, trunk girth, and crown basal area) and pomological (i.e. fruit and nut length and width) parameters, as well as yield parameters by monitoring daily fallen fruit from each sampled shea tree, carried out for five years consecutively, were considered for this study. The results showed inter-year fluctuation of shea fruit/nut number and shea fruit/nut weight. In addition, the results showed a significant increase in the annual average of shea fruit/nut yield per tree and as well per girth and/or crown basal area interval class, randomly generated by Sturge and Yule's formula. Interestingly, potentially high producing trees emerged within each considered interval class. Then, observed intraclass variation between trees determining shea yield can be exploited in selecting elite shea trees.

Resource-use Efficiency of Shea Nut Processing in Kassena-Nankana West District, Ghana: DEA Approach

The Shea tree, Vitellaria paradoxa, has been seen as a very important economic God-given tree with numerous benefits for a longtime. The Shea tree, though under threat due to deforestation, still remain abundant in several communities in Ghana. That notwithstanding, shea nut processors have not been able to fully optimize the gains from the Shea tree and thus, this research examines the Resource-use efficiency of Shea nut processing in the Kassena-Nankana West District of Ghana. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to determine the overall technical, pure technical and scale efficiency of the Shea nut processing while bivariate Tobit was used to identify the sources or determinants of both technical and pure technical efficiencies. A SWOT analysis was carried out to identify the potentials and challenges faced by the Shea processors. It was discovered that on the average, the processors operated 50% of their potential overall technical efficiency, 55% of their potential pure technical efficiency and 92% of their potential scale efficiency. Determinants of processors’ technical efficiency include age, household size, experience, access to credit and membership of processors’ group. The SWOT analysis revealed challenges including poor transportation and difficulty in accessing credit. The study, therefore, recommends that, easy access to financial facilities and sensitization on savings are ways to boost processors’ use of new, efficient technologies to help enhance their Resource-use efficiency. Improvement on the road network to enhance easy movement of goods and services is highly recommended.

Genomic Resources to Guide Improvement of the Shea Tree

A defining component of agroforestry parklands across Sahelo-Sudanian Africa (SSA), the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is central to sustaining local livelihoods and the farming environments of rural communities. Despite its economic and cultural value, however, not to mention the ecological roles it plays as a dominant parkland species, shea remains semi-domesticated with virtually no history of systematic genetic improvement. In truth, shea’s extended juvenile period makes traditional breeding approaches untenable; but the opportunity for genome-assisted breeding is immense, provided the foundational resources are available. Here we report the development and public release of such resources. Using the FALCON-Phase workflow, 162.6 Gb of long-read PacBio sequence data were assembled into a 658.7 Mbp, chromosome-scale reference genome annotated with 38,505 coding genes. Whole genome duplication (WGD) analysis based on this gene space revealed clear signatures of two ancient WGD events in shea’s evolutionary past, one prior to the Astrid-Rosid divergence (116–126 Mya) and the other at the root of the order Ericales (65–90 Mya). In a first genome-wide look at the suite of fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis genes that likely govern stearin content, the primary determinant of shea butter quality, relatively high copy numbers of six key enzymes were found (KASI, KASIII, FATB, FAD2, FAD3, and FAX2), some likely originating in shea’s more recent WGD event. To help translate these findings into practical tools for characterization, selection, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), resequencing data from a shea diversity panel was used to develop a database of more than 3.5 million functionally annotated, physically anchored SNPs. Two smaller, more curated sets of suggested SNPs, one for GWAS (104,211 SNPs) and the other targeting FA biosynthesis genes (90 SNPs), are also presented. With these resources, the hope is to support national programs across the shea belt in the strategic, genome-enabled conservation and long-term improvement of the shea tree for SSA.

Forest Systems Services Provisioning in Africa: Case of Gambari Forest Reserve, Ibadan, Nigeria

This study, therefore, which is focused on forest systems services provisioning in Africa, case of Gambari Forest Reserve, Ibadan, Nigeria, provides policy makers, decision makers, ecologists, environmentalists, the academia, and other stakeholders with a document geared towards promoting national development through sustainable forest products utilization practices. In this study, a total of 200 key respondents participated in it, out of which 194 copies were returned and distributed among the seven main communities in the study area, namely, Ibusogbora, Oloowa, Daley north and south, Onipe, Mamu, Olubi, and Onipanu, respectively. The respondents stated that moringa 164 (84.5%), mint leaf (166 (85.6%), bitter kola 143 (73.7%), and shea tree accounts for 176 (90.7%), and the wood species utilized by producers in the study area include Leucaena leucocephala, Leucaena glauca, Gliricidia sepium, Tectona grandis, and Gmelina arborea, among others. The study recommends that there is need for African governments to restore public awareness campaign in the area of timber planting initiatives and sustainable forest resource management and increase allocation to fund forestry research in the African continent.

Formulation development of topical antibacterial lotion with theobroma cacao pod husk ash extract for treatment of shaving bumps

The aims of this study were to determine the emulsifying properties of Theobroma cacao pod husk ash (CPHA) methanolic extract combined with shea butter and explore the antibacterial activities and physicochemical characteristics of resulting emulsions toward the development of a topical antibacterial lotion formulation for shaving bumps treatment. The ash resulting from combustion of pod husks of freshly harvested ripe cocoa fruits was extracted with methanol and the extract evaporated to dryness. Shea butter was also extracted by traditional method from kernels from the shea tree. These natural-source materials were combined with pharmaceutical ingredients (buffer, viscosity enhancer, preservative) to develop fluid emulsion formulations. Stability characteristics (droplet size, viscosity, creaming, and pH) of the formulations were evaluated as well as their antibacterial activities against microorganisms isolated from after-shave bump swabs of adult male volunteers and against reference organisms; in order to select product(s) of best qualities suitable as shaving bumps medication. The prototype formulations exhibited suitable physicochemical properties and demonstrated inhibitory activities against several isolated shaving bump microbes and the reference organisms namely, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Two formulations were finally selected as having physicochemical and antibacterial qualities most suitable for shaving bumps therapy, which contained shea butter (20%), citrate buffer (5%), and parabens (0.3%), prepared using 5% CPHA extract solution with and without methyl cellulose (2%), respectively. The novel shea butter-incorporated emulsion-lotion formulations of CPHA extract provide a useful therapeutic option of topical medication for the treatment of shaving bumps in men.

Variation in Seedling Germinationand Growth in Five Populations Ofvitellariaparadoxa C.F. Gaertn.subsp. Nilotica: A Threatenedusefulfruit Tree Species in Uganda

Background: We studied seedlings germination and growth performance in an economically and socially important fruit tree species of Vitellaria paradoxaC.F. Gaertn.subsp. nilotica (Kotschy) in Uganda. The study aimed at determining variability in germination of the five shea tree seed lots and seedlings growth performance based on their growth traits. Five populations were considered from four agroecological zones of Uganda and 180 candidates plus trees (16 ethnovarieties) selected as seed trees based on their traits for faster growth and high oil yield. A total of 1204 biological seeds were collected and sown in a general tree nursery at Ngetta Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (NgeZARDI)during the month of June 2018 in a randomized incomplete block design with three replications. Results: Significant variation (χ = 526; p < 0.01) was observed in seedling phenotypic traits within and between populations. Regression equation for height growth and leaf size index were given asy = 0.3787 + 12.671x and y = 0.6483 + 15.413x respectively. Root collar diameter was more correlated to leaf size index (0.425) than to height growth (0.30). Clustering of shea tree seedlings based on phenotypic growth traits revealed one aggregated cluster indicating that most of the seedlings from the five populations were similar (Jaccard index 0.92, p < 0.01). However, clustering based on SNP markers revealed three different populations. We recorded higher growth (χ = 708; p< 0.001) in Arua shea population (19.69 cm)compared to the population average (19.04 cm). Red seeded; thin pulped and hairy fruited shea tree ethnovarieties assumed faster growth than the rest. Conclusions: The phenotypic analysis of shea tree seedlings revealed some fast-growing genotypes from the five studied populations. Thesegenotypes can be selected for faster growth for shea tree breeding in Uganda.