Browsing by Author "Adelodun, Bashir"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 94
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    A review of the evaluation of irrigation practice in Nigeria: Past, present and future prospects
    (Academic Journals, 2018) Adelodun, Bashir
    Irrigation practice across the world is vital to successful green revolution all year round to achieving sustainable development goals in food security, socio-economic and rural development. However, irrigation practice in Nigeria has not achieved the set goals despite the huge investment involved. Moreover, the level of investment and abundant water resources ought to have expedited the goals of food self-sufficiency and socio-economic development in the country. This review attempts to uncover the underline issues regarding the irrigation practice in Nigeria through the evaluation of past and present practices, and its future prospects. The review showed that the major persistent issues that have been hindering the performance of irrigation practice to achieving the set goals were inconsistent government policies, lack of political commitment, low awareness and lack of technical know-how among the farmers on irrigation farming system, and untimely financial intervention. In addition, the communication gap between the government and the farmers was responsible for some cases of underutilization and abandonment of large-scale irrigation system. The study concluded that to achieve food security and socio-economic development through irrigation systems practice in Nigeria, there is need to provide proper policy framework, appropriate technology, and farmers’ awareness and their inclusion in the decision making process.
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    A review of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and airborne particulates and its use for virus spreading surveillance
    (Elsevier, 2021) Adelodun, Bashir
    According to the WHO, on October 16, 2020, the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, reached 235 countries and territories, and resulting in more than 39 million confirmed cases and 1.09 million deaths globally. Monitoring of the virus outbreak is one of the main activities pursued to limiting the number of infected people and decreasing the number of deaths that have caused high pressure on the health care, social, and economic systems of different countries. Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE), already adopted for the surveillance of life style and health conditions of communities, shows interesting features for the monitoring of the COVID-19 diffusion. Together with wastewater, the analysis of airborne particles has been recently suggested as another useful tool for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in given areas. The present review reports the status of research currently performed concerning the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 spreading by WBE and airborne particles. The former have been more investigated, whereas the latter is still at a very early stage, with a limited number of very recent studies. Nevertheless, the main results highlights in both cases necessitate more research activity for better understating and defining the biomarkers and the related sampling and analysis procedures to be used for this important aim.
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    A safe haven of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment: Prevalence and potential transmission risks in the effluent, sludge, and biosolids
    (Elsevier, 2022) Adelodun, Bashir
    The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which has caused millions of death globally is recognized to be unstable and recalcitrant in the environment, especially in the way it has been evolving to form new and highly transmissible variants. Of particular concerns are human-environment interactions and the handling and reusing the environmental materials, such as effluents, sludge, or biosolids laden with the SARS-CoV-2 without adequate treatments, thereby suggesting potential transmission and health risks. This study assesses the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in effluents, sludge, and biosolids. Further, we evaluate the environmental, ecological, and health risks of reusing these environmental materials by wastewater/sludge workers and farmers. A systematic review of literature from the Scopus database resulted in a total of 21 articles (11 for effluents, 8 for sludge, and 2 for biosolids) that met the criteria for meta-analysis, which are then subdivided into 30 meta-analyzed studies. The prevalence of SAR-CoV-2 RNA in effluent and sludge based on random-effect models are 27.51 and 1012.25, respectively, with a 95% CI between 6.14 and 48.89 for the effluent, and 104.78 and 1019.71 for the sludge. However, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the biosolids based on the fixed-effect model is 30.59, with a 95% CI between 10.10 and 51.08. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in environmental materials indicates the inefficiency in some of the treatment systems currently deployed to inactivate and remove the novel virus, which could be a potential health risk concern to vulnerable wastewater workers in particular, and the environmental and ecological issues for the population at large. This timely review portends the associated risks in handling and reusing environmental materials without proper and adequate treatments.
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    Adapting to the Changing Environment: Microbial Way of Life
    (Springer, 2022) Adelodun, Bashir
    Microorganisms are always faced with an ever-changing environment within their natural habitats both in planktonic form and/or microbial communities. Common of these changes include nutrient inadequacy, pH, temperature, osmolarity variations, radiation, heavy quantity superoxides and heavy metals. Different forms are considered when studying microbial adaptation to extreme conditions. Some specific metabolisms are equally vital for the survival of these microbes in such conditions although there is no general agreement to say that an environment is extreme for all organisms or microorganisms. This is because an environment considered extreme for an organism may be favourable for other organisms. However, due to some changes in the physicochemical conditions which have occurred from time to time in our environment, this said normal environment for some organisms has equally undergone some changes. We, therefore, tried to explore what could be considered as environmental changes and extreme environment, associated physicochemical factors and adaptation of microorganisms in these environments at their different levels of existence.
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    Adsorption of perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) on an ultrafine potato peel waste grafted β-cyclodextrin (UFPPW-β-CD)
    (Elsevier, 2024) Adelodun, Bashir
    Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are widely used in various consumer products. However, these compounds can cause various harm to the environment and health. Considering the high chemical stability, these compounds are not completely removed from the aqueous environment, and consequently, recent studies have detected their presence in water bodies. In this scenario, biomass-based adsorbents are promising. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was grafted in an ultrafine potato peel waste (UFPPW) to produce a novel, efficient, and sustainable adsorbent (UFPPW-β-CD) that was used to remove three different perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) from water. The efficient grafting was proved by several characterization techniques, which also demonstrated the main UFPPW-β-CD features. The UFPPW-β-CD was efficient for all PFSAs (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluoropentanesulfonic acid (PFPeS), and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS)), with removal percentage higher than 74 %. The increase in the Csingle bondF chain of PFSAs favored the adsorption due to the host–guest hydrophobic interactions between the Csingle bondF chains of the adsorbates and the hydrophobic cavity of the β-CD. Removal percentages and adsorption capacities at pH 3.0 were 74.6 % (49.92 µg g−1) to the PFBS, 82.6 % (65.66 µg g−1) to the PFPeS, and 90 % (100.89 µg g−1) to the PFHxS. The kinetic followed the General order model, while the equilibrium agreed with the Sips isotherm. The adsorption capacity increased with the increase in the Csingle bondF chain of the adsorbate, but the adsorption rate followed the opposite trend. PFSAs adsorption on the UFPPW-β-CD adsorbent was favorable and exothermic. UFPPW-β-CD could be used seven times, keeping its maximum adsorption capacity constant using ultrasound-assisted desorption. It can be concluded that UFPPW-β-CD is a sustainable adsorbent to uptake PFSAs from water, and this process is dependent on the size of the Csingle bondF chains.
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    An Analysis of Nanoparticles Derived from Coal Fly Ash Incorporated into Concrete
    (MDPI, 2022) Adelodun, Bashir
    The environmental benefits of incorporating coal fly ash (CFA) into the concrete manufacturing process as a partial substitute for Portland cement are well known. What is less studied is the potential release of CFA derived nanomineral and amorphous nanoparticles during this process of incorporation. A thorough understanding of this makes it possible to understand the risks of exposure to particulates that are harmful to human health when CFA is mixed into concrete. The general objective of this study is to analyze airborne particulates released when CFA is mixed into concrete at the point of manufacture, focusing on the levels of nanominerals, amorphous nanoparticles and hazardous elements (HEs) contained within that are considered harmful to human health. These airborne particulates can be easily inhaled by plant workers in the absence of personal protective equipment. The authors analyzed samples of ash itself and collected actual airborne particulates using self-made passive samplers installed at the manufacturing plant. Regarding the ash analyzed, iron (Fe) was found in large amounts in relation to calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and silicon (Si). The transport, disposal and application of CFA in civil construction projects can provide an increased efficiency and reduce overall costs associated with the production of concrete. However, CFA poses a threat to human health due to the significant amount of HEs, nanominerals, and amorphous nanoparticles found to be released into the environment at the manufacturing plant.
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    Analysis of Spatial-temporal Variability and Trends of Extreme Precipitation Indices over Chungcheong Province, South Korea
    (The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers, 2022) Adelodun, Bashir
    Extreme precipitation events have recently become a leading cause of disasters. Thus, investigating the variability and trends of extreme precipitation is crucial to mitigate the increasing impact of such events. Spatial distribution and temporal trends in annual precipitation and four extreme precipitation indices of duration (CWD), frequency (R10 mm), intensity (Rx1day), and percentile-based threshold (R95pTOT) were analyzed using the daily precipitation data of 10 observation stations in Chungcheong province during 1974-2020. The precipitation at all observation stations, except the Boryeong station, showed nonsignificant increasing trends at 95% confidence level (CL) and increasing magnitudes from the west to east regions. The high variability in mean annual precipitation was more pronounced around the northeast and northwest regions. Similarly, there were moderate to high patterns in extreme precipitation indices around the northeast region. However, the precipitation indices of duration and frequency consistently increased from the west to east regions, while those of intensity and percentile-based threshold increased from the south to east regions. Nonsignificant increasing trends dominated in CWD, R10 mm, and Rx1day at all stations, except for R10 mm at Boeun station and Rx1day at Cheongju and Jecheon stations, which showed a significantly increasing trend. The spatial distribution of trend magnitude shows that R10 mm increased from the west to east regions. Furthermore, variations in precipitation were very strongly correlated (99% CL) with R10 mm, Rx1day, and R95pTOT at all stations, except with wR10 mm at Cheongju station, which was strongly correlated with a 95% CL.
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    Antibiotic-resistant bacteria in natural water bodies: causes, routes, and remedies
    (Elsevier, 2023) Adelodun, Bashir
    A wide range of antibiotics has been used and recognized in medicine due to their effectiveness in improving human and animal health and their potential for crop growth and development. However, its continuous use has resulted in the emergence of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs)/antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs) deposited in the biotic components of the ecosystem. In addition to being a major pathway for antibiotics to disseminate, freshwater bodies are also reservoirs for these bacteria. In natural water bodies, ARGs/ARBs contaminated water is discharged from clinical settings, excrement from human bodies, surface runoff from agricultural fields, and wastewater treatment plant effluents. In the aquatic ecosystem, ARGs/ARBs threaten aquatic life, harm the ecosystem, and increase human mortality. In this chapter, we discussed how antibiotic-resistant bacteria exist in water bodies and identify the different sustainable approaches to protecting and conserving these scarce resources. ARGs and ARBs can be curtailed by implementing standards for the quality of discharges into water bodies, improving wastewater treatment methods, and, most importantly, reducing the use of antibiotics in agriculture and finding alternate methods to treat diseases.
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    Application of biosolid for berseem clover fertilization: Fodder characteristics and health risk assessment
    (Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, 2024) Adelodun, Bashir
    Finding sustainable methods for utilizing biosolids, also known as municipal sewage sludge (SS), presents a pressing challenge in modern waste management practices. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of SS amendment on growth, biochemical, proximate, and heavy metal bioaccumulation parameters of berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) fodder crop under field conditions. Trifolium alexandrinum was cultivated using different rates of SS mixing (i.e., T0: 0% as control with no SS application, T1: 5%, and T2: 10%). The results obtained showed a significant (p < 0.05) increment in growth, biochemical, and proximate parameters of T. alexandrinum with an increasing SS mixing rate. The highest productivity of T. alexandrinum fodder (1.92 kg m-2 fw) was observed in the T2 treatment as compared to the control treatment. The heavy metal analysis of shoot and root parts of T. alexandrinum showed that the contents (mg kg-1) of eight elements (Cd 0.02-0.13, Co 0.04-0.08, Cu 5.94-0.05, Cr 0.43-1.68, Fe 7.08-15.93, Ni 0.89-2.90, Mn 1.62-5.38, and Zn 3.30-7.04) increased significantly (p < 0.05) with SS mixing rate. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was below 1 except for Cu and Zn exhibiting their rapid uptake by plants from SS-treated soils. However, dietary intake modeling (DIM < 1) and health risk index (HRI < 1) studies showed that the levels of heavy metals did not exceed the permissible limits in any SS treatment. Overall, SS amendment has a positive impact on the growth, biochemical, proximate, and heavy metal characteristics of T. alexandrinum. Therefore, this study suggested a strategy for low-cost soil fertilization and fodder crop production which could sustainably benefit waste recycling.
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    Application of RUSLE integrated with GIS and remote sensing techniques to assess soil erosion in Anambra State, South-Eastern Nigeria
    (IWA Publishing, 2020) Adelodun, Bashir
    Soil erosion and mass movement processes spread across Anambra State in Nigeria, therefore making management and conservation techniques expensive and difficult in execution across the entire state. This study employed the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model with the integration of geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques to assess the risk of soil erosion and hotspots in the area. Remotely sensed data such as Landsat 8 imagery, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) imagery, Era-Interim coupled with world soil database were used as digital data sources for land use map, digital elevation model, rainfall and soil data, respectively, to generate the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) parameters. The results indicated vulnerability levels in low, medium and high cover areas of 4,143.62 (91%), 332.29 (7%) and 84.06 (2%) km2, respectively, with a total soil loss between 0 and 181.237 ton/ha/yr (metric ton per hectare per year). This study revealed that high rainfall erosivity, steep and long slopes, and low vegetation cover were the main factors promoting soil loss in the area. Thus, the amount of soil loss in Anambra State is expected to increase with climate change and anthropogenic activities.
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    Artificial Neural Network Modelling of Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Dissolved Oxygen of Rivers: Case Study of Asa River
    (Kaunas University of Technology, 2016) Adeniran, Kamoru Akanni; Adelodun, Bashir; Ogunshina, Matthew
    Water quality assessment involves the determination of a number of parameters using several analytical methods which are often tedious and time consuming. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used in this study to model the relationship between fifteen (15) water quality parameters used to predict other two (2) related parameters in other to reduce the burden of long experimental procedures. Water samples were collected from six (6) point and non point sources of pollution along Asa River in Ilorin during the peak of rainy season (June–Aug, 2014) and peak of dry season (Nov–Jan, 2015). Physical and chemical parameters inputted into the models include pH, turbidity, to tal dissolved solids, temperature, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, hardness, chloride, sulphate, phosphate, calcium, magnesium and nitrate. The output models include: biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen (DO). The three layer feed-forward model with back-propagation multi-layer perception (MLP) models architecture of 15-9-1 for BOD and 15-13-1 for DO yielded optimal results with 9 and 13 neurons in hidden layer for BOD and DO respectively. The ANN was successfully trained and validated with 83% and 17% of the data sets respectively. Performance of the models was evaluated by statistical criteria of average error (AE) and mean square error (MSE). The correlation coefficients of ANN mod els for prediction of BOD and DO were 0.9525 and 0.9556 respectively. Sensitivity analysis was also carried out to identify the most significant input-output relationship. Hence, the ANNs was able to show remarkable prediction performance to predicting the BOD and DO in Asa River, Ilorin.
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    Assessing the impact of food trade centric on land, water, and food security in South Korea
    (Elsevier, 2023) Adelodun, Bashir
    The observed and predicted changes in climate, as well as the growth in urban population, are creating severe stress on existing water resources in South Korea. By the importation of agricultural products from more water-rich countries through the virtual water concept, a country could save local water resources for other important uses. However, these imports from other countries could lead to certain vulnerabilities in the importing country derived from climate change. Therefore, through the application of the virtual water concept and the climate vulnerability index ((CVI) - measure of a country's vulnerability to indirect climate impacts), this study assessed the implication of virtual water imports and climate change through food trade, on the water, land and food security status of South Korea over the period of 2000–2017. The results showed that significant amounts of national water and land was saved through the importation of major upland crops. Virtual water imports increased significantly over time, rising from 16.2 Bm3 in 2000 to 16.5, 17.4, and 20.7 Bm3 in 2005, 2011, and 2017 respectively, with the USA, China, Australia, Brazil and Canada being the major exporters to South Korea. The study also revealed high CVI values for the oils and grains category of imported food, implying the high vulnerability of South Korea to climate change effects resulting from the import of these crops. The quantitative impacts and structural changes in virtual water trade, as well as the link between climate change, food security, international trade, and domestic water consumption could be evaluated for the sustainable management and allocation of resources. This study successfully identified and quantified the status of food trade and its environmental implications in the study area, providing insight into a better allocation of locally available resources.
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    Assessment of environmental and economic aspects of household food waste using a new Environmental-Economic Footprint (EN-EC) index: A case study of Daegu, South Korea
    (Elsevier, 2021) Adelodun, Bashir
    While the global food demand has continued to increase, the enormous natural resources required for its production are limited, in addition to the accompanying environmental degradation. Despite all these, food waste generation continues unabated, especially at the household level, further compounding the environmental impacts, economic cost, and food security issues. In this study, granular primary data of edible household food waste using direct-weighing from 218 households in Daegu, South Korea was used to assess the environmental (carbon footprint, and water footprint) and economic (wasted cost) impacts associated with their wastage. For the first time, the Environmental-Economic (EN-EC) Footprint index is proposed as a single indicator for environmental and economic impacts to assess the hotspot food waste products among the selected 42 major food waste items. This study presents that the selected food products had a significant contribution to an average edible food waste generation of 0.73 ± 0.06 kg (per household/day), 0.71 ± 0.05 kg CO2eq of GHG emissions, 0.46 ± 0.04 m3 of water footprint, and 3855.93 ± 527.27 won of economic loss, respectively. Based on the newly developed EN-EC Footprint index, we found that wasted animal-based food products had relatively high environmental and economic losses compared to non-animal-based food products. The findings of this study presented a novel method of estimating combined environmental and economic impacts associated with household food waste, which may further act as convenient guides for the waste management authorities and policymakers in addressing the mitigation of household food waste impacts.
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    Assessment of food waste generation and composition among Korean households using novel sampling and statistical approaches
    (Elsevier, 2021) Adelodun, Bashir
    Food waste management in Korea has become increasingly important as the country continues to champion the transition into a circular economy among the OECD countries to achieve sustainable development target goals. However, reliable primary data on food waste quantity and composition to achieve its prevention and managementtargets by understanding food waste patterns among Korean households is poorly documented. This study investigates the quantity and composition of food waste generation rates among the sampled households by considering two important influencing factors of seasonality and housing types in the Buk-gu province of Daegu, South Korea. The food waste generation rates from three different housing types during four representative seasons were assessed, considering the availability of different food types at different seasons. The identified 46 food waste items from sampled data were statistically analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis statistical test. The results showed that food waste generation rates were 0.88 ± 0.37 kg/household/day (0.26 ± 0.11 kg/capita/day), which varied seasonally. Significant seasonal variations (P < 0.002) in food waste generated from the selected housing types were shown by K–W mean rank analysis. The food waste generation rate followed the seasonal order of summer > autumn > winter > spring. The effect of housing type was also a pivotal factor affecting the food waste generation. This study adds to the ground-level insights of food waste generation trends in different seasons and housing types of Korea.
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    Assessment of socioeconomic inequality based on virus-contaminated water usage in developing countries: A review
    (Elsevier, 2021) Adelodun, Bashir
    Water is an essential resource required for various human activities such as drinking, cooking, and other recreational activities. While developed nations have made significant improvement in providing adequate quality water and sanitation devoid of virus contaminations to a significant percentage of the residences, many of the developing countries are still lacking in these regards, leading to many death cases among the vulnerable due to ingestion of virus-contaminated water and other waterborne pathogens. However, the recent global pandemic of COVID-19 seems to have changed the paradigm by reawakening the importance of water quality and sanitation, and focusing more attention on the pervasive effect of the use of virus-contaminated water as it can be a potential driver for the spread of the virus and other waterborne diseases, especially in developing nations that are characterized by low socioeconomic development. Therefore, this review assessed the socioeconomic inequalities related to the usage of virus-contaminated water and other waterborne pathogens in developing countries. The socioeconomic factors attributed to the various waterborne diseases due to the use of virus-contaminated water in many developing countries are poverty, the standard of living, access to health care facilities, age, gender, and level of education. Some mitigation strategies to address the viral contamination of water sources are therefore proposed, while future scope and recommendations on tackling the essential issues related to socioeconomic inequality in developing nations are highlighted.
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    Assessment of the factors shaping the public’s perception of physical and virtual water: A case study of Korean households
    (Elsevier, 2024) Adelodun, Bashir
    Water demand management is a crucial approach for ensuring sustainable water supply. To ensure an effective water demand management, it is essential to have a good understanding of public perceptions of water use. In this study, we examined the perceptions of water use and virtual water of Daegu inhabitants in South Korea, with a focus on understanding their sociodemographic characteristics, water-saving behaviors, environmental attitudes, and accuracy in estimating water use and virtual water content. The results indicated that the majority of respondents were aware of the need for water conservation but exhibited only moderate engagement in water-saving behaviors. They consistently underestimated their water use across various activities (portable drinking water, shower, toilet flush, laundry and car wash), indicating a lack of understanding regarding the magnitude of water consumption. Similarly, respondents had limited awareness of the virtual water content in different products, with inaccurate perceptions of water-intensive products. Sociodemographic factors such as gender, education level, annual income, and family size significantly influenced perceptions of water use, while environmental attitudes played a significant role in the perceptions of both water use and virtual water content. The study highlights the need for educational initiatives to enhance public awareness and understanding of water use and virtual water, particularly in addressing misconceptions and promoting sustainable water management practices. While the findings are specific to Daegu city, they provide insights that can inform water management strategies in other cities globally.
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    Assessment of the Spatiotemporal Changes in the Extreme Precipitation Climate Indices over the Chungcheong Region of South Korea during 1973–2020
    (MDPI, 2023) Adelodun, Bashir
    This study analyzed the changes and trends in twelve extreme precipitation-based climate indices obtained using daily data from 10 synoptic stations in the Chungcheong region of South Korea during the 1973–2020 period. The climate indices were used to assess the trends in the extreme precipitation characteristics of duration, frequency, and intensity using the innovative trend analysis (ITA) method. The results of the ITA were further compared with two other non-parametric test methods such as Mann–Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s rho (SR). The results showed that most stations exhibited significant increasing trends in all the investigated climate indices at a 95% confidence level as indicated by the ITA method, with only a few stations indicating significant decreasing trends in R95p, R99p, Rx3day, and Rx5day. The sub-trend analysis further revealed the dominance of neutral behavior around the low-value cluster, especially for the extreme precipitation duration. At the same time, increasing trends dominate the high-value cluster at most stations. Meanwhile, only R10mm, R99p, and R95p exhibited monotonic trends in the Boeun and Seosan stations, respectively. Further, the ITA exhibited superior performance over the MK and SR methods by indicating the presence of more significant trends in the climate indices at most stations. The distribution of the extreme precipitation indices for duration, frequency, and intensity indicate the pronounced risk of flood conditions around the north–central and some parts of southern regions, while the western region indicates a potential drought risk, which could greatly impact the water resources and consequently agricultural activities in the study area. The results of this study provide essential information for addressing the climate-related problems of water resource management and agriculture in the study area and other related climatic regions.
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    Bioremediation of Battery Scrap Waste Contaminated Soils Using Coco Grass (Cyperus rotundus L.): A Prediction Modeling Study for Cadmium and Lead Phytoextraction
    (MDPI, 2023) Adelodun, Bashir
    With the increasing demand for electronic devices that use batteries, e-waste is also becoming a major threat to the environment. Battery e-waste contains hazardous heavy metals that affect the health of the soil ecosystem. Thus, the present study evaluates the cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) phytoextraction potential of coco grass (Cyperus rotundus L.) grown in soils contaminated with battery scrap waste (BSW). Pot experiments were conducted to grow C. rotundus under different treatments (0%: control, T1: 1%, T2: 2%, T3: 3%, and T4: 4%) of BSW mixed with soil (w/w). The results showed that BSW mixing significantly (p < 0.05) increased the physicochemical properties and heavy metal (Cd and Pb) content in the soil. BSW mixing resulted in a reduction in growth and biochemical traits of C. rotundus and an increase in oxidative stress enzymes with an increase in BSW dose. The Pearson correlation studies also showed that soil HM concentration had a negative influence on the growth and biochemical parameters of C. rotundus. The bioaccumulation and translocation factor analysis showed that C. rotundus was a hyperaccumulator plant with a maximum accumulation of Cd and Pb (38.81 and 109.06 mg·kg−1) in root parts followed by the whole plant (277.43 and 76.10 mg·kg−1) and shoot (21.30 and 22.65 mg·kg−1) parts. Moreover, predictive models based on multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) approaches were developed for Cd and Pb uptake by C. rotundus. Mathematical modeling results showed that soil properties were useful to construct quality MLR and ANN models with good determination coefficient (R2 > 0.98), model efficiency (ME > 0.99), and low root mean square error (RMSE < 5.72). However, the fitness results of the ANN models performed better compared with those of the MLR models. Overall, this study presents an efficient and sustainable strategy to eradicate hazardous HMs by growing C. rotundus on BSW-contaminated soils and reducing its environmental and health consequences.
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    Biotransforming the Spent Substrate of Shiitake Mushroom (Lentinula edodes Berk.): A Synergistic Approach to Biogas Production and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Fertilization
    (MDPI, 2022) Adelodun, Bashir
    Agro-wastes, such as crop residues, leaf litter, and sawdust, are major contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, and consequently a major concern for climate change. Nowadays, mushroom cultivation has appeared as an emerging agribusiness that helps in the sustainable management of agro-wastes. However, partial utilization of agro-wastes by mushrooms results in the generation of a significant quantity of spent mushroom substrates (SMS) that have continued to become an environmental problem. In particular, Shiitake (Lentinula edodes Berk.) mushrooms can be grown on different types of agro-wastes and also generate a considerable amount of SMS. Therefore, this study investigates the biotransformation of SMS obtained after Shiitake mushroom cultivation into biogas and attendant utilization of slurry digestate (SD) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) crop fertilization. Biogas production experiments were conducted anaerobically using four treatments of SMS, i.e., 0% (control), 25, 50, and 75% inoculated with a proportional amount of cow dung (CD) as inoculum. The results on biogas production revealed that SMS 50% treatment yielded the highest biogas volume (8834 mL or 11.93 mL/g of organic carbon) and methane contents (61%) along with maximum reduction of physicochemical and proximate parameters of slurry. Furthermore, the biogas digestate from 50% treatment further helped to increase the seed germination (93.25%), seedling length (9.2 cm), seedling root length (4.19 cm), plant height (53.10 cm), chlorophyll content (3.38 mg/g), total yield (1.86 kg/plant), flavonoids (5.06 mg/g), phenolics (2.78 mg/g), and tannin (3.40 mg/g) contents of tomato significantly (p < 0.05) in the 10% loading rate. The findings of this study suggest sustainable upcycling of SMS inspired by a circular economy approach through synergistic production of bioenergy and secondary fruit crops, which could potentially contribute to minimize the carbon footprints of the mushroom production sector.
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    Combined Use of Sewage Sludge and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobia Improves Germination, Biochemical Response and Yield of Ridge Gourd (Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.) under Field Conditions
    (MDPI, 2022) Adelodun, Bashir
    This research investigated the combined use of sewage sludge (SS) and plant growth-promoting rhizobia (PGPR) for Ridge gourd (Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.) cultivated under field conditions. The different treatments of SS and PGPR such as 0% (soil as control), 5% SS, 5% SS + PGPR, 10% SS, and 10% SS + PGPR were applied to assess their impacts on seedling growth, biochemical response, and yield performance of Ridge gourd. The results showed that the highest seedling emergence (92.3 ± 2.1%), fresh biomass (9.6 ± 0.3 g), growth rate (1.4 ± 0.1 g/day), seedling length (15.5 ± 0.3 cm), root length (10.4 ± 0.3 cm), total chlorophyll (3.2 ± 0.1 mg/g), crop yield (13.8 ± 0.1 kg/plant), and average crop yield per harvest (2.8 ± 0.1 kg/plant) were observed in 10% SS + PGPR treatment. The enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD; µg/g) and catalase (CAT: µg/g) were significantly lowered after PGPR inoculation in higher SS treatments. The results of principal component (PC) and Euclidian clustered distance analyses showed a positive influence of SS dose on soil nutrient availability and Ridge gourd’s growth, biochemical responses, and yield performance. Moreover, the elemental analysis showed that the bioaccumulation factor (BAF < 0.90) and health risk index (HRI < 0.40) of selected metal elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) were within the permissible limits, indicating consumption of Ridge gourd fruits was safe. The outcomes of this study suggest the potential use of SS and PGPR for improved Ridge gourd production and contribution towards sustainable development goal (SDG) 12 on responsible consumption and production of vegetable crops.