Browsing by Author "Bekele Mamo"

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    Assessement of Sanitary Conditions of Food Service Establishments and Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude and Practices among Food Handlers in Burayu Town
    (Addis Abeba University, 2021-11) Bekele Mamo; Tamene Ayanadis
    Background: Poor knowledge, attitude and practices of hygiene can contribute to the outbreaks of food borne illness. Most foods could be affected by food borne pathogens mainly due to poor hygienic conditions and inappropriate food handling practices. Inadequate knowledge,negative attitude and practices on food hygiene and poor sanitary condition of food anddrink establishmentes are among the factors responsible for the occurrence of poor hygienic conditions and inappropriate food handling practices. Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice of food safety among food handlers and investigate sanitary condition of food service establishments in Burayu town. Method of study: Across-sectional descriptive study was conducted to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of food safety among selected food handlers(working on food preparation) and to investigate sanitary condition of selected food service establishments (butcher, café, milk house, and juice house).Food and drink establishments were selected by simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using pre-prepared standardized questionnaire and entered using Epi info and analysis was performed by using SPSS version 25. Results:- Overall,78.8% of the respondents have good knowledge on food hygiene and safety requirements.57.6 % of food handlers have positive attitude towards food safety and handling practices.Regarding the overall practice score of the food handlers, nearly half (51.1%) of the food handlers had good food safety and hygiene practice with a practice score or greater than 50%.Among assessed food and drink establishments,32(19.5%) of them had a green, 37(22.6%) of them yellow,and 29(17.7%) of them had red status and 66(40.2%) of them were not complying with the standerd. Conclusion- Overall, food handlers have good knowledge and practices with positive attitude towards food hygiene and safety requirements. Specifically, almost more than 70% of food handlers knew the fact that hand washing practices before work can reduce risk of food contamination. With regard to sanitary condition issues of the establishments, the study found out that their overall level of food and drinke establishmentes was poor.The largest proportion, 66 (40.2%) of food and drink establishmentes were not complying with the standard and also, 29 (17.7%) of food and drink establishments were at red status.
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    Characterization of Soil Fungi Capable of Striga Seed Bank Depletion Under in Vitro Conditions
    (Addis Ababa University, 2020-06-06) Bekele Mamo; Assefa Fassil (PhD)
    Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth is an obligate hemi-parasitic plant which severely threatens cereal production. Therefore, the use of soil-borne antagonists for Striga seedbank depletion is one of the useful control methods suggested for integrated pest management (IPM). The objectives of this study were to preliminary screen and evaluate effective soil fungi that are capable of decaying Striga seed using seed trap method. From the soil samples showing seed decay, fungi were isolated and characterized using standard methods. The effect of fungal spores to inhibit Striga seeds germination was also tested using synthetic stimulant GR-24 and was further studied using sorghum variety Teshale. Besides, effects of fungal spore on Striga seeds viability were also studied. Soil samples collected from Tahtay Adiabo (E22) showed the highest Striga seed decay (19.8%) whereas soil samples collected from Raya-Kobo (E46) showed the lowest activity (3.6%). A total of 43 fungal isolates were collected from the soil of which 20 isolates decayed more than 50% of the Striga seeds. Genus Fusarium was the dominant and only ten further characterized. All isolates were showed maximum mycelium dry weight at 25oC and different mycelium dry weight at different hydrogen ion concentration (pH). Effects of fungal isolate on Striga seeds germination inhibition using sorghum variety Teshale as test crop revealed that there were significant (p<0.05) differences among fungal isolates. The results indicated that inoculation of the Striga seeds with isolate (F-254) significantly (p<0.05) have showed the highest percentage of Striga seed germination inhibition of 74.4%, 82.8% and 92.8% of all the fungal isolates upon 15, 21 and 30 days of incubation, respectively. In terms of Striga seed viability analysis, the highest number of Striga seed mortality (70%, 86% and 92%) were obtained when the Striga seeds treated with isolate (F-254) at 15, 21 and 30 days of incubation, respectively which were statistically significant (p<0.05) difference from all fungal isolates. However, the lowest results (16.4%) and (29.6%) were obtained from isolate (F-301) at 15 and 21 days of incubation while 39.6 ±8.98 was recorded at 30-DOI with isolate (F-040). This study therefore provides preliminary information on the existence of potential fungal isolates as candidates for biocontrol against Striga seeds in the soil that could be further tested in the management of Striga seedbanks.