Madonna N Mashabela

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Senior Researcher at Agricultural Research Council, South Africa

Background: Tribulus terrestris L. is a traditional herb regularly recognised as puncture vine, yellow vine, devils horn, goat head and caltrop, this is often a yearly shaggy herbaceous plant species with stems of up to 2m long, having a place to the family of Zygophyllaceae. Aim: The study explored the therapeutic potential of this herb as it is b...

Background: Tribulus terrestris L. is a traditional herb regularly recognised as puncture vine, yellow vine, devils horn, goat head and caltrop, this is often a yearly shaggy herbaceous plant species with stems of up to 2m long, having a place to the family of Zygophyllaceae. Aim: The study explored the therapeutic potential of this herb as it is b...

Background: Vernonia amygdalina Delile is a woody medicinal plant that is commonly used in various folklore medicine in South Africa against helminthic, protozoal and bacterial infections. Despite its high medicinal values, the chemical profile of this plant has not been fully elucidated and remains unclassified. Aim: The present study reports the...

Ginger (Zingiber officinale), a Zingiberacae family member, is a popular spice all around the world. This perennial creeping plant has long leaves, vivid green flowers, and a strong tuberous rhizome. Throughout history, several cultures and civilizations have recognized the potential of ginger in the treatment and prevention of disease. Various res...

With increased consumer knowledge of food safety and quality, there is a strong demand for preservative (synthetic)-free food and the use of natural products as preservatives. Natural antimicrobials derived from various sources are used to keep food safe from spoilage and pathogenic microbes. Plants are the primary source of antimicrobials and incl...

Background: There is a high loss of indigenous knowledge, resulting in negative effects on the health and lives of cultural people living in poor communities mostly in the rural areas, hence, an urgent need for indigenous knowledge conservation. Aim: This study is aimed at presenting the potentials of leafy indigenous vegetables as an essential so...

Indigenous leafy vegetables are naturally growing plants within Sub-Saharan African ecosystem. For several centuries, these leafy vegetables have served as a source of food to vulnerable rural communities including those in Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. Indigenous leafy vegetables are a good source of nutrients including carbohydrates, prote...

Application of nitrogen (N) is a common practice used to achieve profitable yields in horticultural crops and N application can be used as a tool to manipulate the enhancement of phytochemicals in vegetable crops to address consumer-oriented quality production. Our previous findings recommended 90kgha−1 for certain types of cauliflower varieties witho...

Wilting and decay are the general postharvest problems of fresh-cut cauliflower during marketing. The objectives of this study were; (i) to investigate the product physiological responses on transpiration and respiration rates (TR and RR) under different storage temperatures (1, 5, 10 and 15 °C) and relatively humidity (RH) (60, 76, 86 and 96%), in...

The influence of five nitrogen (N) application rates (60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 kg N/ha) were evaluated using limestone ammonium nitrate on the curd fresh and dry mass, size, chromaticity coordinates, L*, a*, b* and ascorbic acid content in cauliflower varieties (Largardo, Eskimo and CF-744) during the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Commercial standard 120...

In this study, influence of 3 types of photo-selective nets (pearl, red and yellow) and a standard black net on marketable yield, fruit quality and bioactive compounds after postharvest storage was investigated. Percentage marketable fruits were higher in green sweet peppers produced under the pearl nets. Fruits produced under the pearl nets showed...