Preliminary Analysis of Grains Bought from Four Markets in Kano State

Abstract

The new order in world trade demands strict adherence to the rules of food quality and safety as an essential factor in the selection of raw materials for production since the quality of end products is dependent on that of the raw materials for its production. Therefore, in order to determine the quality of some agricultural grains bought from four markets (Yankaba, Dawanau, Tarauni and A. Rimi) in Kano State, Nigeria. These grains were examined for test weights, pest infestation, level of impurities, and germination potential to determine their export and processing standards. The results showed some difference among the different grains in term of weight, which can be attributed to their difference in physical properties. The result showed that there was some level of impurities present in grains sold in these markets, but no live adult insect was present in all the grain sample. The result also showed that cowpea from respective markets did not meet the standard economic threshold of insect egg free. Cowpea samples had the highest level of insect damage, an average of 2.9 % insect damage was observed. From the result, the average seeds germination in maize and sorghum samples was high (95 % and 88 % respectively) and acceptable according to recommended standards. Determining these terms is important to end users during purchasing, storage, consumption, exportation, and processing, as such will help to increase their knowledge about condition of agricultural produce in our various agricultural market for satisfactory purchasing. There are some food safety standards met by grains sold in these markets, and most commodities sampled too had standards that are either acceptable or unacceptable for consumption, export and processing purpose.