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Tomato is a vegetable crop commonly grown in Nigeria and consumed by most people. It contains vitamins and vital nutrients that are essential for good health. This study was conducted to determine the effect of magnetization of irrigation water on the growth, yield and nutritional qualities of tomatoes under deficit irrigation. Tomato seeds (‘Roma VF’ and ‘UC 82B’ varieties) were planted in 96 buckets (11 liters capacity), 48 buckets for magnetized water (MW) and 48 buckets for non-magnetized water (NMW), grown in a greenhouse and harvested 82 days after planting. The irrigation water was treated with 30 pieces of 10×25×50 mm neodymium magnets (1.2 Tesla). The tomato plants were subjected to deficit irrigation to determine the effect on the performance of tomatoes at 100% (1 liter), 80% (0.8 liters), 60% (0.60 liters) and 50% (0.50 liter) water requirement. Each treatment was replicated 6 times for both MW and NMW. The MW increased the growth of ‘Roma VF’ and ‘UC 82B’ varieties by 5.44-38.10% and the stem girth by 21.13-49.01%. MW increased the yield of ‘Roma VF’ variety by 110.00%, 36.00%, 6.26% and 24.00% for 100%, 80%, 60% and 50% of water application, respectively but increased the yield of ‘UC 82B’ variety by 56.52% for 100% water application. MW also improved vitamin A and C content by 7.89-27.94% and 0.45-19.06%, respectively. The concentrations of Lead were slightly higher in the tomato irrigated with MW than in the NMW but values of other heavy metals were not consistent and very close for both MW and NMW.

Popcorn is an important crop that is grown for consumption and snacks production in Nigeria however; it has low production and poor yield to meet the demand in the country. This study was conducted to determine the effect of magnetic treatment of irrigation water (MTIW) on the percentage germination (GP), growth rate (GR), popping-quality and yield of popcorn under deficit irrigation. MTIW was produced by passing the water through pipe surrounded with neodymium magnet rated 1.3 Tesla. Popcorn (FRESHTOP variety) was planted in 16 buckets for MTIW and 16 buckets for non-magnetic water (NMW, as control). Four levels of water application as the treatments with 100% water requirements (1.5 liters), 80% (1.2 liters), 60% (0.9 liters) and 50% (0.75 liters) were applied to the popcorn irrigated with MTIW or NMW and monitored for 100 days. The popcorn was thinned to 1 bucket-1 and grown in a garden shed of 5 by 5m and 3m high at the center and 2.5m at the edges. GP of the popcorn at 100%, 80%, 60% and 50% for MW were 75%, 88%, 75%, 63% and for NMW, were 50%, 63%, 50% and 50%, respectively. Mean grain yield after shelled for 100%, 80%%, 60% and 50% with MTIW were 43.43, 50.86, 39.65 and 35.80 g/bucket and corresponding grain yield for NMW were 29.20, 39.43, 37.27 and 28.41 gbucket-1. Water applied at 80% produced the highest yield. MTIW increased the yield of popcorn by 48.73%, 28.88%, 6.39% and 26.01% for 100%, 80%, 60% and 50%, respectively. MTIW is recommended for growing ‘FRESHTOP’ variety popcorn.

The chemistry of Cassia siamea L., C. occidentalis L. (Fabaceae), Cnestis ferruginea Vahl ex DC (Connaraceae), Anthocleista djalonensis A. Chev (Loganiaceae), Solanum torvum Swartz and S. erianthum G. Don (Solanaceae) volatiles grown in Nigeria have been studied. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The main compounds of C. siamea were (E)-geranyl acetone (5.8%), 1-octen-3-ol (5.8%), linalool (7.8%), iso-italicene (15.4%) and (E)-beta-damascenone (11.0%). On the other hand, C. occidentalis consisted mainly of (E)-geranyl acetone (8.0%), hexahydrofarnesylacetone (24.0%) and (E)-phytol acetate (40.7%). The oil of C. ferruginea was comprised mainly of (E)-geranyl acetone (13.7%), (E)-alpha-ionone (9.5%), phytol (5.8%), pentadecanal (6.1%) and 1-octen-3-ol (5.5%). The main compounds of A. djalonensis were alpha-humulene (31.9%), beta-caryophyllene (17.8%), humulene epoxide II (12.7%) and caryophyllene oxide (5.9%). The main volatiles of S. torvum were (E)-phytol acetate (38.7%), pentadecanal (25.3%) and (E)-geranyl acetone (5.0%). Apart from methyl salicylate (4.5%), tetradecanal (2.2%), 2-pentyl furan (1.8%), hexahydrofarnesylacetone (1.6%) and hexadecanal (1.1%), all other compounds were either present in trace quantity or in amounts less than 1%. On the other hand, alpha-humulene (46.6%) and beta-caryophyllene (20.6%) were the compounds occurring in higher quantities in S. erianthum. The volatile oil contents of Cassia siamea, Cnestis ferruginea, Anthocleista djalonensis and Solanum torvum are being reported for the first time.