A plant of the New World, the tomato is native to the Andes, in particular Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. Early explorers took seeds to Europe where tomatoes remained ornamental for many years. Botanists correctly classified them with the poisonous nightshade family and assumed that they too were deadly, when in reality only the leaves and stems are toxic. Even in the mid-19th century North Americans refused to eat them. Cookbooks said they should be cooked for three hours. The general population developed a taste for raw tomatoes in the 20th century.
Technically, the tomato is a fruit, since it is classified botanically as a berry. Typically in meal planning it is used as a vegetable. Today, tomatoes are used in diets around the world in a variety of ways. Italians use them in sauces and salads. Americans slice them for sandwiches, dice them for salads, stuff them with egg salad, and cook them with sugar and spice for ketchup. Mexicans mince them with cilantro, onions and chilies for salsa.
The French use them in ratatouille, the Spanish in gazpacho. The Swedes use tomato paste in their smorgasbords; and the Norwegians flavor a spread with them. Fried green tomatoes are part of the cuisine of the American South, while New Englanders bake them in sweet green tomato pie.
Tomatoes provide a variety of nutrients for very few calories. At 35 calories, a raw medium-sized tomato has two grams of fiber, which compares to eight grams in an ear of corn, or five grams in a half-cup of green peas, or three grams in a half-cup of broccoli. Half of the vitamin C requirements for a day can come from a medium-sized tomato. It is an excellent source of beta-carotene, potassium, iron and the antioxidant lycopene.
(Source: Health and Home September October 1998, P. 13 )
Making coals from Cocos through charcoal brick kiln
by Ellaine Grace L. Nagpala
Coconut (Cocos nucifera) remains to be the top cultivated crop in the Philippines. Out of the 12 million hectares of farmlands in the country, 3.1 million hectares of it is devoted to coconut production. With the vast size of farmland devoted to coconut farming, it can be said that a large percentage of the country’s population still depends on coconut for their living.
Over 3.5 million coconut farmers are widely distributed in different parts of the country, mostly in Southern Luzon and in different parts of Mindanao.
To help the coconut farmers gain extra income while attending to their farm activities, the group of Engineer Rosella B. Villaruel of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) in Region X1 came up with a charcoal brick kiln where coconut shells can be turned into quality charcoals.
What are kilns?
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber used to harden, burn or dry materials, it could be utilized in drying and heating wood to produce firewood and charcoal, or in firing-materials used in ceramic-making.
Traditional means
Kilns were first utilized in Bago Oshiro, Davao City under the Philippine-German Coconut Project (PGCP) in 1995.
In the Philippines, charcoals are traditionally produced using drum kilns where a standard oil drum with an approximate capacity of 55 gallons is used. With the use of a drum kiln, charcoals can be produced from 600 pieces of split coconut shells. However, charcoal workers encountered problems with regards to the operation, durability and efficiency of the drum kiln.
The charcoal brick kiln
The batch type brick kiln was fabricated as an alternative to the traditional methods of charcoal production and to ease the operations in charcoal making of the charcoal workers.
The brick kiln is made of 2”x4”x8” standard rectangular bricks, constructed in a dome-shape. The kiln’s dome structure is for the purpose of optimal carbonization process. Its inside has a base diameter of 1.2 meters and a net height of 1.10 meters with an approximate volume of 0.73 cubic meters. This prototype kiln can accommodate approximately 3,000 pieces of average split shells. This could be increased if the shells are semi-crushed.
The charcoals produced by the kiln from the coco shell wood passed the standard of a good quality charcoal which possesses a fixed carbon content of 86.5%, ash of 1.4%, volatile combustible matter of 9.6% and 2.5% moisture content.
The charcoal brick kiln is expected to last for five years or more with an initial investment of PhP 4,100 while the drum kiln has a serviceable life span of six months to one year, with each drum costing PhP 500.
User-friendly
One problem encountered by the charcoal workers with the drum kiln is its difficulty to operate. Since metals are strong conductors of heat, the drum kiln becomes difficult to handle as it turns very hot during the process.
Moreover, the smoke being emitted under the drum becomes a nuisance to the workers. As such, the brick kiln was designed to be user- friendly.
Bricks being resistors of heat makes the charcoal brick kiln easier to operate. The kiln was also designed in such a way that it will suppress the heat pressure inside and prevent it form leaking outside the kiln. In this way, the kiln will be convenient for the operators as they will no longer have trouble with the heat coming from the kiln. Also, the smoke coming from the kiln not be a problem for the workers since a ‘nose’ for the emission of smoke is included in the structure which is strategically placed at the top of the kiln. This way, it will be easier for the operators to recharge the kilns.
Time saving
The proper procedure for making good quality charcoals only requires 16 percent of the total time to produce charcoals with the brick kiln as compared to the drum kiln which requires 90 percent operation time.
With the charcoal brick kiln, 74 percent time more will be saved in charcoal making. For a farmer who needs to attend to his farm and his family, and his other chores, the 74 percent time that can be saved means more time to attend to his tasks.
In general, this implies that the kiln is not only designed to increase the capacity of charcoal produced but also for the benefit of the worker.
———- This article was based on ‘A comparative study between batch type brick kilns and drum kilns using decision tree analysis’ by Engineer Rose B. Villaruel and Mr. Kalvin Mesias Balucanag of the Philippine Coconut Authority in Region XI. The Batch Type Brick Kiln was funded by the Philippine Coconut Authority and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology.
Native to the Philippines, the oriental fruitfly (Bactrocera Philippinensis) is a very destructive pest to edible fruits like mango, guava, breadfruit and papaya.
Eradicating the fruit fly using bait control could be done in two stages using the Male Annihilation Technique (MAT) and the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT). First, the researchers reduced the population of male oriental fruit flies to a minimum so that mating would not occur. Male oriental fruit flies were trapped using methyl eugenol- a powerful male attractant, with an insecticide such as Naled (Dibrom) or Fipronil.
Cordelitos (lengths of 6-ply cotton string about 30-45 cm) or caneite (compressed fibreboard) blocks (50 mm x 50 mm x 12.7 mm), or coconut husk blocks (50 mm x 50 mm x 10 mm) were soaked in the bait material and distributed in the field at 400 pieces per square kilometer. This treatment was repeated every eight weeks. The baits were placed on top of tree trunks or wooden poles, well out of the reach of children or animals. This technique is called the Male Annihilation Technique (MAT).
Then the residual fruitflies were eradicated using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) or the sterile male technique. Sterilizing insects is a new technique where insects are either treated chemically, genetically, or with radiation to be infertile. In the case of male fruit flies, they are subjected to radiation to make them sterile. The method aims to wipe out the fly population by introducing sterile males that cannot produce any offspring when they mate with the female fruit flies.
Sterile flies have been used in many countries. In the past, both male and female flies were released. Sterile female flies’ eggs did not develop, however, some skin damage to the fruit did result. To counter this problem, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed a genetic technique that separates males from females in several fly species. Flies released in Hawaii were only male sterile flies. Continue reading “Eliminating the pesky fruit flies”
“The classic physics experiment involving sound, a tube of propane and fire. Created for Flash Forward 2006, but useful in any case where you are not allowed to have fire. I push through the tube 449 Hz then higher frequencies, then some jazz and then some rock. This is real life sound visualization. ” by twinrawk
