Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the different methods of preserving vegetable left over after market hours among retailers of Bungudu local government area of Zamfara state-Nigeria. Out of the total number of markets in the local Government ten villages were randomly selected and in each of the village market, six vegetables sellers were choose at random and administered with the questionnaire making the total of sixty respondents. Result showed majority of the respondents were male and fall within the age range of 20-40 (64%), most of them acquired only Qur’anic education and spend ≤1-15 years in the business. Their source of vegetables is through wholesalers and majority of them (55%) used local basket in preserving their left over after market hours, this followed by spreading (20%), heaping (12%), sun drying (8%) and use of jute sacking (5%). The present study revealed that methods used by the vegetable retailers were traditional thus spoilage can still be high, due to. The government should therefore, enlighten the vegetables sellers on other methods like refrigeration, chilling, pickling, salting, freezing etc. which could be through radio, television, firm shows, poster and personal contact. More funds should be provided and good road network linking rural areas to market should be put in place to control loss incurred during transportation.
Key words: Left-over vegetables, preservation, retailers, Bungudu.
