BANGLADESH JOURNAL OF FOREST SCIENCE
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
A Half-yearly Peer Reviewed Journal of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute
Sundarbans, the largest single continuous tract of natural mangroves in the world, is endowed with a diverse group of plants and animals and has recently been given the status of ‘World Heritage Site’ by the UNESCO.Thispaper gives a briefaccount of 31 species of insect pests attacking Sundarbans mangroves of Bangladesh. The pests include five species of defoliators, three stem borers, eight fruit borers, two gall makers, one sap sucker, one root feeder and 11 wood borers. These include 17 specks of Coleoptera, 11 species of Lepidoptera, two species of Diptera and one species of Homoptera.
Two sap samples of Nypa fruticans were collected in November 1996 and in April 1997 from the Chakaria Sundarbans for the production of sugar, vinegar and alcohol. The samples were first analysed to determine tire sugar contents by hand refractometer. The first sample contained around 10.0% sugar, while the second contained about 8.0%. Experiments were also conducted to produce vinegar trom the first sample and alcohol from the second, each with and without addition ofsugar. Various amounts of yeast,such as 0.2%, 0.6% and 1.0% (w/v) were added to determine the optimum yield of vinegar and alcohol by fermentation process. It was observed that, in both the cases, addition of 0.6% (w/v) yeast yielded the highest amount of acetic acid (4.3%) and alcohol (-5.0%) as azeotropic mixture. There was about 0.2% increase in acetic acid yield with 0.6% (w/v) yeast and further addition of 2.0% sugar to the original sample. The highest yield of alcohol, 5.5% (as azeotropic mixture) was obtainedwhen the sap solution contained 13.0% sugar and 0.6% (w/v) yeast. This shows that N. fruticans sap may be a prospective source for production of sugar, vinegar and alcohol in the country.
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