Browsing by Author "Wembabazi, Enoch"

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    Assessment of end user traits and physicochemical qualities of cassava flour: a case of Zombo district, Uganda
    (International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2021-01-13) Nanyonjo, Ann Ritah; Kawuki, Robert Sezi; Wembabazi, Enoch; Hale, Tufan
    Cassava breeding programmes in Uganda do not currently select materials based on flour making quality, explaining in part the low adoption rates of many released varieties. In this study, we describe end user trait preferences, processing qualities and physicochemical properties of cassava flour. We found that higher proportion of women than men showed preference for most attributes of cassava flour quality evaluated in this study. Preference for colour was 66% and 52% among women and men, respectively, while that for stickiness of Kwon was 26% (women) and 15% (men). Ease of peeling and stickiness of Kwon were key processing traits. Heap fermented flour had higher pasting temperatures, but lower viscosities than sun-dried flour, and had lower amylose content compared to fresh root starch. The results demonstrate the importance of gender sensitive participatory evaluation of breeding materials, in tandem with physicochemical evaluation during selection of best possible candidate breeding lines.
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    Influence of Weather and Purity of Plasticizer on Degradation of Cassava Starch Bioplastics in Natural Environmental Conditions
    (Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment, 2019) Ahimbisibwe, Michael; Banadda, Noble; Seay, Jeffrey; Nabuuma, Betty; Atwijukire, Evans; Wembabazi, Enoch; Nuwamanya, Ephraim
    The threat posed by plastics to the environment has prompted the development of bioplastics. Starch plasticized by glycerol is a key renewable resource in the production of high-quality bioplastics. Previous studies have availed information on the mechanical quality of starch-based bioplastics however there is limited information about their degradation pattern in the natural environment which this research presents. Bioplastics were buried in holes in loam sandy soil and weekly photographic data and weight were collected to reveal the effect of degradation. Weather parameters of rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, sunshine intensity and sunshine hours were recorded to establish influence of weather on degradation. A control set up in the laboratory was used to compare the results. Over time the tests revealed that as the hydrophilic enzymes break down the bioplastic, its weight initially increases (up to 87%) due to absorption of moisture and after saturation, the bioplastic is disintegrated which initiates decomposition and the bioplastic weight is steadily reduced. Degradation was further enhanced by invasion of soil organisms like worms, termites among other soil microbes. Rainfall (r = 0.857) increased the moisture in the soil which initially increased the weight of the bioplastic up to a point when the hydrophilic enzymes set into breakdown the bioplastic then the weight started to drop. This was the same case for relative humidity (r = −0.04) however; the sunlight intensity (r = 515) and hours of illumination indirectly affect the process by influencing microbial activity. An increase in the sunshine intensity increased the activity of soil organisms up to a point beyond which increased exposure caused the organisms to burrow deeper in the soil. Increase in microbial activity increased the rate of degradation of the buried bioplastics which took five to ten weeks to fully decompose (98.3%). The reduced time of degradation means that starch-based bioplastics have a high potential as sustainable substitute for petroleum-based plastics.
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    Spectroscopic Analysis of Heterogeneous Biocatalysts for Biodiesel Production from Expired Sunflower Cooking Oil
    (Journal of Spectroscopy, 2015) Wembabazi, Enoch; Mugisha, Patrick Joram; Ratibu, Asumani; Wendiro, Deborah; Kyambadde, Joseph; Vuzi, Peter California
    The study characterized heterogeneous biocatalyst synthesized from sucrose, saw dust, and chicken egg shells using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) technique. Acidic sulphonate (–SO3H) groups were more visible in the spectrum generated for carbonized and sulphonated sucrose than in carbonized and sulphonated saw dust. This was highlighted further by the significantly higher conversion percentage achieved for sulphonated sucrose (62.5%) than sulphonated saw dust (46.6%) during esterification of expired sunflower oil (𝑝 = 0.05). The spectra for calcinated egg shells also showed that the most active form of calcium oxide was produced at calcination temperature of 1000∘C. This was confirmed in the single-step transesterification reaction in which calcium oxide generated at 1000∘C yielded the highest biodiesel (87.8%) from expired sunflower oil.The study further demonstrated the versatility of the FTIR technique in qualitative analysis of biodiesel and regular diesel by confirming the presence of specific characteristic peaks of diagnostic importance. These findings therefore highlight the potential of FTIR-ATR as an inexpensive, fast, and accurate diagnostic means for easy identification and characterization of different materials and products.