Browsing by Author "Asante, Eric Amoah"

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    Assessment of microbial quality of some traditional medicines on the Ghanaian market
    (2000-02-01) Asante, Eric Amoah
    It is of great importance to ensure the efficacy, stability and safety of Pharmaceutical products of which traditional medicines are no exception. Microbial contamination of Pharmaceutical products can have many adverse effects on the user. They may lead to spoilage through physical or chemical change and thus render the active constituents less potent and even toxic thereby presenting a 4 potential health hazard to users. In this study of “Microbial quality assessment of traditional medicines on the Ghanaian market” samples of traditional drugs were collected from manufacturing houses, pharmacies, licensed chemical shops, lorry stations and markets and tested for the presence or absence of micro-organisms and types of microorganism if present. In all 50 products were sampled for testing and were made up of 25 liquid preparations, 15 ointments and creams, 5 powders and 5 emulsions. It was found that 76% of the drugs tested were contaminated by either one or more of the following organisms: coagulase positive and negative staphylococci, E. coli and other enterobacteria, salmonellae, moulds, and yeast-like fungi. The study showed that most of the local traditional medicines on our market are not safe for use due to their poor microbial quality. Most of the products examined had harmful organisms, while others had aerobic viable counts in excess of the stipulated and acceptable limits of 1 per gram or per millilitre. The products might have been contaminated during production, packaging, handling or from the raw materials used. It is very essential to ensure microbial quality of all traditional herbal medicines on the Ghanaian market.
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    Cutting resistance assessment for three varieties of cassava roots
    (Journal of the Ghana Institution of Engineering, 2023-11-27) Amoah, Francis; Asante, Eric Amoah; Amuaku, Randy; Bobobee, Emmanuel Yaovi Hunnuor
    In this study, a model has been developed to assess the peel and root resistance to cutting. The evaluation was done with knife thicknesses of 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm using Duade kpakpa, Dudze and Sika bankye cassava varieties as experimental samples for three postharvest delays. The knife penetrated the tuber at 50 mm, 100 mm and 150 mm away from the proximal end. An average peel thickness obtained was in the range of 1.81 mm – 3.01 mm. The average diameters recorded ranged from 52.52 mm to 60.40 mm. The cutting resistance assessed for the Duade kpakpa, Sika bankye and Dudze cassava peels were 44.85 N, 50.01 N and 53.53 N, respectively with no significant differences (p < 0.05). The penetration resistance of the tuber decreased with increasing postharvest delay and increased with increasing knife thickness. The effect of the treatments on the response variables evaluated by factorial analysis showed that significant differences generally decrease with increasing interaction. Comparing the results, cutting resistances of 229.02 N, 223.09 N and 204.43 N in maximum were obtained for the Dudze, Sika bankye and Duade kpakpa cassava roots, respectively. The quantitative assessment by the PLSR model under the knife thicknesses (R2 = 0.9689; RMSE = 2.1020) was significantly better than the PLSR model under postharvest delay (R2 = 0.7845; RMSE = 4.0183). The technique employed in assessing the cutting resistance emphasized the cultivar differences and provided a measuring sequence and outstanding quantitative analysis.
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    Development and evaluation of agro-waste composite for sound insulation
    (Journal of the Ghana Institution of Engineering, 2023-11-30) Amuaku, Randy; Amanor, Godwin K.; Adu-Gyamfi, Fehrs; Asante, Eric Amoah; Kweitsu, Eric; Opare, Samuel
    The palm kernel shell is a by-product of palm kernel oil production and is commonly used in the natural biomass energy industry. Coconut husk fibre is extracted from the coconut fruit. To find a use for palm kernel shells and coconut husk fibre, a composite insulator plate was developed by the addition of a binder through a process of grinding, sieving, mixing, heating, hot-pressing and cooling in a mould. An Ahuja speaker AU60 was fixed at one end of a baffled tube and a sound level meter was placed 2 m away from the output to record sound transmission loss at 5s intervals for twenty minutes. The plates of 3, 4, 5, and, 6 mm thickness were fixed in the baffled tube at a distance of 475 mm away from the input one after the other to filter the input sound. The results showed that the setup without a composite insulator recorded the highest noise of 226.8 dB. The average recorded sound transmitted loss was 185.40, 72.47, 74.54, 76.06, and 82.85 dB for no insulator, 3, 4, 5 and, 6 mm composite insulators respectively. The introduction of the 3, 4, 5, and, 6 mm thickness composite insulators resulted in 55.3 %, 59.0 %, 59.8 % and 60.9 % reduction in noise level. The application of agro-waste composite material as a sound insulator in a baffled tube has proven to be effective by 58.7 % on average. The study has confirmed that agro-waste materials can be used in sound insulation applications.
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    Effect of mulch type, mulch rate and slope on soil loss, runoff and infiltration under simulated rainfall for two agricultural soils in Ghana
    (2011) Asante, Eric Amoah
    To study the effect of mulch type, mulch rate and slope on soil loss, runoff and infiltration of some agricultural soils in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, soil loss experiments were conducted. A rainfall simulator was developed to measure soil loss, runoff and infiltration for two agricultural soils. The average drop size was 1.49 mm. The unit provided mean velocity of 7.5 m/s, which is 83% of terminal velocity of natural rain, given kinetic energy of 4.91 x 10-5 Joules. The effectiveness of using maize stover (Zea mayz L.), Rice straw (Oryza sativa L.), Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), and Cyperus haspan L., as mulching materials were evaluated using the rainfall simulator which was set at rainfall intensities typical of the tropics. Soil samples, from two sites at KNUST (Anwomaso Research Farm) and Kotei (a suburb of KNUST) representing the main agricultural soils in the area were collected, placed at four different slopes, and covered with different rates of mulch materials. The surface runoff, soil loss, and infiltration were measured under each condition. The results with cyperus haspan compared favourably with elephant grass, which also compared favourably with results from rice straw and the rice straw also compared favourably with results from the maize stover. This finding confirms results from previous researchers. Runoff and soil loss decreased as mulch rate increases and increases with slope. It was determined that the mulch rate and field slope at which runoff and infiltration become equal were 2.25 t/ha and 3.14% respectively. Soil bulk density for the Anwomaso soil (sandy clay loam) increases linearly with increasing mulch cover and that of the Kotei soil (sandy loam) increases slightly, plateau and then decreases with increasing mulch cover.