Variability in dehulling efficiency, colour, chemical composition and selected functional properties of raw and pre-treated bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) (BG) flour from red and ...black-eye varieties were studied. Functional properties were water and oil absorption, gelation, pasting, emulsification and foaming capacity. Pre-treatment of seeds (i.e. soaking, roasting and combined soaking and roasting) improved dehulling efficiency of BG varieties. Protein content of flour ranged from 15.6-19.6%, starch from 47.8-52.0% and sucrose from 1.9-5%. An improvement was observed for protein and ash content of pre-treated flour compared to raw flour. Heat treatments increased onset gelatinization temperature of flour. Black-eye BG flours that had higher starch content, also had better gelation capacity than red BG flours. All pre-treatment methods decreased flour emulsification capacity and stability. Dry-roasting caused a greater decline than other methods, whereas soaking had little effect on emulsion stability. Further, soaking increased foaming capacity, whilst a decline was observed in roasted flour. All pre-treatment methods increased oil absorption capacity of both BG flour varieties. Overall, soaked and combined soaked and roasted flour is recommended for BG flour to be incorporated in food products.
In vast swathes of Sub-Saharan Africa, maize is the staple food with consumption of up to 450 g/person/day. Additionally, maize is used as a weaning food for infants as well as for special ...ceremonies, caring for the sick, aged and pregnant women. Malnutrition persists in regions with heavy maize consumption, partly due to compositional maize characteristics, nutrient loss during processing and consumer preferences. This paper reviews the traditional uses and processing of maize, opportunities and necessary improvements to ensure (micro)nutrient security. Better use of maize can enhance its contribution to meeting the dietary needs and livelihood of Africa's growing populace.
Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is an indigenous legume crop, cultivated by subsistence farmers throughout sub-Saharan countries. Research findings indicate that the crop has great ...nutritional and agronomic potential, but it remains scientifically neglected. A baseline study was conducted in seven districts in semi-arid regions of rural Zimbabwe to gather knowledge on current production and utilization of bambara groundnut, assess its role in providing sustainable food and nutrition security for rural populations and determine priorities for follow-up research. Results revealed a variety of bambara groundnut processing techniques, which included boiling, soaking, roasting and milling across the surveyed districts. Reported constraints to processing and consumption included long cooking time, difficulties with milling and high firewood and water requirements. Fifty to eighty percent of respondents in all districts consumed bambara groundnut once or twice weekly from August to December. Preferred consumer attributes were taste, the satiating effect, nutritional benefits or a combination of these. Current, culturally acceptable processing techniques need improvement to support sustainable bambara groundnut processing while optimising nutrient bio-accessibility. Ultimately, community resilience to food and nutrition insecurity can be promoted by exchange of bambara groundnut processing knowledge amongst the production areas, involving the different stakeholders in the food supply chains.
Fermented dairy products can be rich in beneficial microbes and one such product with potential is mabisi. Mabisi is a traditional fermented milk product from Zambia made through spontaneous ...fermentation of raw milk at ambient temperature using a calabash (gourd), clay pot, plastic or metal container. The fermentation takes about 48 hours after which the product is stirred and ready for consumption. This study was aimed at determining the types of production methods of mabisi and identifying the critical production process parameters. A survey was conducted using interviews and observations to determine the existing production practices/technologies and to capture indigenous knowledge on mabisi production in nine provinces of Zambia. We found seven different production methods which we coined; tonga, thick-tonga, illa, barotse, backslopping, cooked and creamy types. Interestingly, the tonga-type mabisi was produced throughout the country by different ethnic groups. The main process parameters were found to be fermentation time and temperature, type of containers, presence/absence of backslopping, agitation, heating and cooling, removal of whey and addition of raw milk. And further found that mabisi is a versatile product consumed with a wide variety of foods. This basic information is crucial for production process optimisation and microbial communities dynamics studies.
The demand for maize in Sub-Saharan Africa will triple by 2050 due to rapid population growth, while challenges from climate change will threaten agricultural productivity. Most maize breeding ...programmes have focused on improving agronomic properties and have paid relatively little attention to postharvest qualities, thus missing important opportunities to increase the contribution to food and nutrition security. This paper considers current and potential food uses of maize in Africa and proposes six objectives to enhance the contribution of maize breeding programmes to food and nutrition security: (1) enhance nutrient density; (2) enhance suitability for use in bread and snacks; (3) improve characteristics for consumption as green maize; (4) improve characteristics that enhance the efficiency of local processing; (5) reduce waste by maximising useful product yield and minimising nutrient losses; (6) reduce the anti-nutrient content of grain.
•Maize is staple crop in Sub-Saharan Africa critical to food security.•Preferences for maize differ across Africa, supporting the need for local solutions.•Long-term success in breeding program is achievable through alignment of all value chain actors.•Six clusters of maize breeding objectives were identified.
Indigenous legume crops are pivotal in providing proteins and food security to sub-Saharan African rural communities, but most of these crops are underutilized because of the so-called hard-to-cook ...(HTC) phenomenon in combination with inadequate processing techniques. This review studies the case of bambara groundnut, which is third in importance after groundnut and cowpea and especially adapted to semi-arid areas. Published data on the HTC phenomenon implicate microstructural and compositional changes as factors leading to its development. Useful and sustainable techniques to process HTC legumes in developing countries include cooking with alkaline salts, milling, roasting, fermentation, and malting. Improvement of these processing techniques in relation to nutrient bioaccessibility, safety, and consumer acceptance of the products is urgently needed. Recommendations are to lessen the problems of food security in sub-Saharan African countries through, amongst other means, the optimization of bambara groundnut processing methods.
Consumption of pepeta, a traditionally processed immature rice product, is common in Tanzania, where it contributes to food security as an early rice food i.e. when there is no other food available ...at the household while the crops in the field not yet fully ripe. Many production steps are needed to guarantee a consistent, good quality pepeta product, and this hinders its utilization in other rice-growing sub-Saharan regions. This study aims to gain insight into the pepeta processing knowledge and final product, and assess variations in the processing conditions and parameters across the study area. A survey among 257 Tanzanian processors and consumers revealed that the pepeta product is widely known, rated second (73.5% respondents) as rice-based food after wali (cooked white rice, (100%)) and linked to traditions of the communities in the study area. Harvest of immature rice grain, roasting, pounding, cleaning, and packing are the main process steps of pepeta production. Method of rice harvest, rice suitability for pepeta production after optimum harvest, dryness of grains and number of pounding as indicator to terminate roasting and pounding process respectively, and packaging materials used varied significantly across respondents in the study area. Reported criteria considered by respondents for product acceptability did not vary significantly across study area. The criteria include colour (76.5%), general appearance (60.8%), texture (64.7%) and taste (52.9%). Immature rice paddy and pepeta were sold at a higher price than mature rice paddy and white rice, respectively, which implies that options to facilitate pepeta processing through, for instance, standardization of processing conditions and parameters could lead to increased income.
Summary
There is growing interest in Sub‐Saharan Africa for substituting maize with climate‐smart crops like sorghum and millets in local food processing. We conducted a survey to explore current ...variations in processing and consumption practices for Mahewu, a traditionally fermented cereal beverage from Zimbabwe. Processing involved cooking a cereal porridge, adding cereal flour or malt as a starter ingredient, and fermenting for 12–48 h. Ingredient availability was the main driver for porridge ingredient choice (42% of respondents) with the most preferred being maize (55% of respondents), pearl millet (22%) and sorghum (9%). Final product taste had the most influence on starter ingredient choice, with most respondents preferring pearl millet flour (23%), finger millet malt (22%), wheat flour (17%), and sorghum malt (13%). Our study proves that maize can be replaced with sorghum and millet in Mahewu processing, thus increasing the climate‐resilience of future food systems, and demonstrates that traditional practices harbour clues for adapting current practices.
The most preferred porridge ingredient in Mahewu processing is maize (55%), although some producers prefer pearl millet (22%) and sorghum (9%). The key determinant of Mahewu taste is the starter ingredient, the most preferred being pearl millet flour (23%), finger millet malt (22%), wheat flour (17%), and sorghum malt (13%). A survey on Mahewu processing conducted in Zimbabwe has revealed that maize is the most commonly utilised ingredient for the porridge step in Mahewu processing, although some rural producers also employ sorghum and millets. The primary factor influencing the taste of Mahewu is the choice of starter ingredient used to initiate fermentation.
Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is an underutilized crop native to sub-Saharan Africa. Its utilisation is limited due to the development of the hard-to-cook (HTC) phenomenon during ...storage. Various factors have been implicated in the development of the HTC phenomenon. Alkaline rock salts, such as gowa, are known to reduce cooking time. In this research, red bambara groundnuts were cooked in deionised water, 0.5 g/100 mL gowa and 0.5 g/100 mL NaHCO3. The salts caused 20 and 13% reduction in cooking time, respectively. The decrease of hardness and the kinetics of water absorption by the beans are even more influenced by the alkaline cooking. The comparative effect of NaHCO3 and deionised water on polyphenol profile in the beans and in the boiling water during cooking also showed clear differences among the samples. Catechin and epicatechin were the main polyphenols in bambara groundnuts for all treatments investigated and their release in water was faster in alkaline solutions. This study demonstrated that alkaline salts contribute to increased solubilisation of polyphenols in relation to cooking time reduction. Data indicate that the action of the salts favours polyphenol solubilisation thereby altering the structure of the lamellae and reducing hardness.
•Hard-to-cook phenomenon limits the utilisation of bambara groundnut.•Alkaline rock salts reduce cooking time of bambara groundnut.•Catechin and epicatechin were the main polyphenols in bambara groundnuts.•Release of polyphenols is faster in alkaline cooking than water.•Easy deformation did not entirely translate to the readiness of seeds.
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