Effect of varietal attributes on the adoption of an orange-fleshed sweetpotato variety in Upper East and Northern Ghana.

Despite sustained economic growth and reduction in some of forms of malnutrition, Ghana still faces a national prevalence rate of 20.8% vitamin A deficiency (VAD) among for children 6-59 months old. Orange-fleshed sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) (OFSP) can significantly improve vitamin A intake and contribute toward reducing VAD, especially in Northern Ghana where VAD is 31% among young children. Several poverty and nutrition projects in Ghana have promoted the use of OFSP for its health benefits. This study assesses the effect of three varietial attributes on adoption of the first released OFSP variety in Northern Ghana namely, Apomuden. The study concluded that sweetness, taste and dry matter have joint significant effects on adoption of an OFSP variety. The positive and negative traits highlighted will inform the on-going breeding effort.

Goal-setting and volitional behavioural change: Results from a school meals intervention with vitamin-A biofortified sweetpotato in Nigeria.

Malnutrition, particularly vitamin A deficiency, is a major public health problem in many developing countries. This study investigated whether priming or self-generation of goals, or whether attention to instrumental or experiential goals together with use of a reminder condition or not, promotes dietary behaviour intentions and change. A set of 556 randomly selected children aged 7-12 in Osun state, Nigeria, participated in an four-week intervention and field experiment in which a meal based on orange-fleshed sweetpotato, rich in pro-vitamin A, was introduced on five occasions as a complement to the existing school meal. Baseline intentions, anticipated feelings and repeated measures of post-consumption and experience were assessed. The analyses included a generalised linear mixed model for consumption and a linear mixed model for feelings and experience. The results confirmed that attention to instrumental goals undermines goal pursuit, while a focus on experiential goals increases the persistence of pursuit. Priming of experiential goals should be recommended, especially because this approach evokes positive feelings after eating. There was no evidence of an effect from repeated pairing of goals with the school meal, but use of planning by stating intentions increased the amount eaten. These results have implications for how school meals programmes should be designed to better align personal motivation with behavioural change in relation to dietary health.

Chloroplast biogenesis 51 : modulation of monovinyl and divinyl protochlorophyllide biosynthesis by light and darkness in vitro.

It is shown that the monovinyl and divinyl protochlorophyllide biosynthetic patterns of etiolated maize (Zea mays L.), and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) seedlings and of their isolated etiochloroplasts can be modulated by light and darkness as was shown for green photoperiodically grown plants (E. E. Carey, C. A. Rebeiz 1985 Plant Physiol. 79: 1-6). In etiolated corn and cucumber seedlings and isolated etiochloroplasts poised in the divinyl protochlorophyllide biosynthetic mode by a 2 hour light pretreatment, darkness induced predominantly the biosynthesis of monovinyl protochlorophyllide in maize and of divinyl protochlorophyllide in cucumber. When etiolated seedlings and their isolated etiochloroplasts were poised in the monovinyl protochlorophyllide biosynthetic mode by a prolonged dark-pretreatment, light induced mainly the biosynthesis of divinyl protochlorophyllide in both maize and cucumber.

Chloroplast Biogenesis 49 : Differences among Angiosperms in the Biosynthesis and Accumulation of Monovinyl and Divinyl Protochlorophyllide during Photoperiodic Greening.

Various angiosperms differed in their monovinyl and divinyl protochlorophyllide biosynthetic capabilities during the dark and light phases of photoperiodic growth. Some plant species such as Cucumis sativus L., Brassica juncea (L.) Coss., Brassica kaber (DC.) Wheeler, and Portulaca oleracea L. accumulated mainly divinyl protochlorophyllide at night. Monocotyledonous species such as Avena sativa L., Hordeum vulgare L., Triticum secale L., Zea mays L., and some dicotyledonous species such as Phaseolus vulgaris L., Glycine max (L.) Merr., Chenopodium album L., and Lycopersicon esculentum L. accumulated mainly monovinyl protochlorophyllide at night.Under low light intensities meant to simulate the first 60 to 80 minutes following daybreak divinyl protochlorophyllide appeared to contribute much more to chlorophyll formation than monovinyl protochlorophyllide in species such as Cucumis sativus L. Under the same light conditions, species which accumulated mainly monovinyl protochlorophyllide at night appeared to form chlorophyll preferably via monovinyl protochlorophyllide.THESE RESULTS WERE INTERPRETED IN TERMS OF: (a) a differential contribution of monovinyl and divinyl protochlorophyllide to chlorophyll formation at daybreak in various plant species; and (b) a differential regulation of the monovinyl and divinyl protochlorophyllide biosynthetic routes by light and darkness.