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Oil was extracted from Parkia filicoidea seed, an African locust bean seed locally known as Mkundi and its quality was determined in order to unravel its potential as source of edible oils in Malawi. The quality of the oil was determined by analysis of the iodine value, peroxide, saponification value, acid value, impurity percentage, colour and cloud point. The result showed that Mkundi seeds contain about 12.06 ± 0.26% crude oil with an impurity of 4.2%. The colour of the oil was deep red. The iodine (mg I2/g), saponification (mg KOH/g), peroxide (mEq/g) and acid (mg KOH/g) values ranged from 20.13 to 21.23, 176.72 to 185.13, 1.92 to 2.20 and 3.36 to 4.60, respectively. These values fall within the ranges of edible oils found in the market and, therefore, Mkundi seeds are potentially a source of edible oil in Malawi. Key words: Parkia filicoidea, edible oils, quality, Malawi, African locust bean seed.

Cassava, cocoyam and sweetpotato constitute underexploited but yet important sources of starch for the Malawi industry. The functional properties of starches isolated from cassava, cocoyam and sweetpotato were studied and compared. Results revealed diverse functional properties among the starches from the different sources. With increasing temperature, water binding capacity, swelling power and solubility of the starches increased. Cocoyam and sweetpotato starches exhibited lower water binding capacity and swelling power, paste clarity and viscosity but higher degree of syneresis than cassava starches. Solubility was higher in cocoyam starches than sweetpotato and cassava starches. Cocoyam starches had higher gelatinization temperatures than sweet potato and cassava starches but similar transition enthalpies with cassava. Retrogradation studies by differential scanning calorimetry and turbidometry revealed higher levels of retrogradation for cocoyam and sweetpotato starches compared to cassava starches. Thus starches from sweetpotato, cocoyam and cassava would play different roles in various industrial applications. Key words: Sweetpotato, cocoyam, cassava, starch, functional properties.

Background \ud The diagnosis of lymphatic filariasis (LF) is based typically on either microfilaraemia as assessed by microscopy or filarial antigenaemia using an immuno-chromatographic test. While it is known that estimates of antigenaemia are generally higher than estimates of microfilaraemia, the extent of the difference is not known.\ud \ud Methods \ud This paper presents the results of an extensive literature search for surveys that estimated both microfilaraemia and antigenaemia in order to better understand the disparity between the two measures.\ud \ud Results and Conclusions \ud In some settings there was a very large disparity, up to 40–70%, between estimates of microfilaraemia and antigenaemia. Regression analysis was unable to identify any predictable relationship between the two measures. The implications of findings for risk mapping and surveillance of LF are discussed.

Characteristics of surveys used to develop the mf and ICT models. Standardization of mf prevalence based on blood volume. Table S1. Blood samples and diagnostic methods of surveys included in the global LF database (African region). Table S2. Paired estimates of LF prevalence based on blood smear and filtration methods. (DOCX 30 kb)

Environmental and demographic covariates used in the geostatistical modelling. Table S3. Description of the covariates explored to model the microfilaraemia and antigenaemia prevalence. Table S4. Correlation matrix of environmental and demographic covariates (continuous data) included in the modelling. Spearmanâ s correlation test was used to explore the colinearity between pairs of covariates. Table S5. Relationship between infection risk and each potential explanatory variable. (DOCX 34 kb)

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the physicochemical properties of starches isolated from Malawian cocoyams and compare them with those of cassava and corn starches. RESULTS: The purity of the isolated starches varied from 851 to 947 g kg−1 and pH from 4.93 to 6.95. Moisture, ash, protein, fat and amylose contents ranged from 104 to 132, 0.3 to 1.5, 3.5 to 8.4, 0.9 to 1.6, and 111 to 237 g kg−1, respectively. Cocoyam starches gave higher potassium and phosphorus but lower calcium levels than the other starches. The shape of starch granules varied from spherical to polygonal with cocoyam starches displaying smaller-sized granules than cassava and corn starches. Cocoyam starches gave a higher wavelength of maximum iodine absorption and blue value but lower reducing capacity values than cassava and corn starches. The extent of acid hydrolysis of the starches also differed. Cocoyam starches exhibited amylopectin molecules of higher molecular weights but amylose molecules of lower molecular weights than cassava and corn starches. Cocoyam starches exhibited lower water absorption capacity and swelling power, paste clarity and viscosity but higher solubility, gelatinisation temperatures and retrogradation tendencies than cassava and corn starches. CONCLUSIONS: The physicochemical properties of native Malawian cocoyam starches vary among the different accessions and differ from those of cassava and corn starches. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry