South African Consumers' Knowledge, Opinions and Awareness of Whole Grains and Their Health Benefits: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey.

Evidence indicates that whole-grain food consumption reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, and some cancers. Increasing whole-grain consumption in developing countries is likely to significantly benefit the health of the population. However, there is very limited information on consumer whole-grain knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in developing countries.

Decision tree scoring system to guide selection for consumer preference in sweetpotato breeding trials.

Background: Previously, a lexicon and protocol for quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) was established for the Uganda sweetpotato breeding program. The implication of QDA scores for priority sensory attributes on consumer preference should be determined to interpret results efficiently and make decisions effectively. The present study aimed to develop a gender-responsive decision tree to obtain an overall sweetpotato eating quality score to facilitate demand-led targeted breeding selection.

Nutrient density and oral processing properties of common commercial complementary porridge samples used in southern Africa: Effect on energy and protein intakes among children aged 6-24 months.

Child malnutrition is an endemic public health problem in Africa. Infants are supposed to receive complementary foods from about 6 months onwards, as breastmilk alone no longer provide adequate nutrients. Commercially available complementary foods (CACFs) form an important part of baby foods in developing countries.

Sensory guided selection criteria for breeding consumer-preferred sweetpotatoes in Uganda.

Prioritizing sensory attributes and consumer evaluation early in breeding trials to screen for end-user preferred traits could improve adoption rates of released genotypes. In this study, a lexicon and protocol for descriptive sensory analysis (DSA) was established for sweetpotato and used to validate an instrumental texture method for which critical values for consumer preference were set. The study comprised several phases: lexicon development during a 4-day workshop; 3-day intensive panel training; follow-up virtual training, evaluation of 12 advanced genotypes and 101 additional samples from two trials in 2021 by DSA and instrumental texture analysis using TPA double compression; and DSA, instrumental texture analysis and consumer acceptability tests on 7 genotypes in on-farm trials.

Perception of Gluten-Free Bread as Influenced by Information and Health and Taste Attitudes of Millennials.

Information on what drives consumers to like or dislike bread is needed to provide insight on developing gluten-free (GF) bread, using indigenous and sustainable crops in Africa, such as sorghum and millet. Consumer attitudes toward the health and taste aspects of food are major drivers of food choices. The objectives of this work were (1) to determine the health and taste attitudes (HTAs) and general perceptions of a group of millennial consumers in South Africa ( = 354), concerning GF breads; and (2) to determine whether HTAs affect the acceptability of sensory properties of commercial GF breads, as assessed by consumers ( = 173), under informed and uninformed conditions.

Towards Sustainable Shifts to Healthy Diets and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa with Climate-Resilient Crops in Bread-Type Products: A Food System Analysis.

Massive urbanization and increasing disposable incomes favor a rapid transition in diets and lifestyle in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As a result, the SSA population is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the double burden of malnutrition and obesity. This, combined with the increasing pressure to produce sufficient food and provide employment for this growing population together with the threat of climate change-induced declining crop yields, requires urgent sustainable solutions.

The Sensory Profiles of Flatbreads Made from Sorghum, Cassava, and Cowpea Flour Used as Wheat Flour Alternatives.

Sorghum, cowpea, and cassava are underutilised gluten-free sources of flour that have the potential to be used in bread products in sub-Saharan Africa. Excessive wheat imports affect the economies of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, driving the search for wheat flour alternatives. To extend the use of sorghum, cowpea, and cassava flours toward bread production, it is vital that the sensory properties of these flours are better understood.

Meat Quality Parameters of Boschveld Indigenous Chickens as Influenced by Dietary Yellow Mealworm Meal.

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of yellow mealworm larvae () meal inclusion in diets of indigenous chickens. A total of 160 mixed-sex indigenous Boschveld chickens were randomly divided into four categories: control soybean meal (SBM) and yellow mealworm with percentage levels of 5, 10 and 15 (TM5, TM10 and TM15, respectively). Five replicate pens per treatment were used, with eight birds per pen/replicate.

Effect of drying methods on chemical composition and antioxidant activity of underutilized stinging nettle leaves.

Stinging nettles provide low-cost quality nutrition for alleviating malnutrition. Previous research on stinging nettles focused mainly on the nutritional quality of fresh leaves. In this study, the effect of drying method on macronutrients, mineral content, ascorbic acid, β-carotene content and total phenols content and antioxidant activity were investigated.

Dynamic Oral Texture Properties of Selected Indigenous Complementary Porridges Used in African Communities.

Child malnutrition remains a major public health problem in low-income African communities, caused by factors including the low nutritional value of indigenous/local complementary porridges (CP) fed to infants and young children. Most African children subsist on locally available starchy foods, whose oral texture is not well-characterized in relation to their sensorimotor readiness. The sensory quality of CP affects oral processing (OP) abilities in infants and young children.

Sensory and physicochemical analyses of roasted marama beans [Tylosema esculentum (Burchell) A. Schreiber] with specific focus on compounds that may contribute to bitterness.

The role of phenolics and saponins in contributing to bitterness in marama beans, an underutilized legume, especially when roasted, was investigated. Marama beans were roasted at 150°C for 20, 25 or 30 min, then dehulled to separate cotyledons, and pastes were prepared from these. Water extracts were prepared from full fat and defatted flours from roasted and unroasted marama cotyledons.

Effect of the addition of soy flour on sensory quality of extrusion and conventionally cooked cassava complementary porridges.

Background: The sensory properties of the usual conventionally cooked cassava porridge consumed in some regions of Africa and porridges consisting of composited cassava and either defatted or full fat soy flour, with or without extrusion cooking, were evaluated to better understand consumers' acceptance. The composited and extruded porridges have superior nutritional quality and added convenience value in the case of extrusion cooked products.

Results: Extrusion cooking allowed preparation of porridges with 25% solids content (compared with 10% for conventional cooking) with a viscosity suitable for consumption by infants.

Quality characterization of wheat, maize and sorghum steamed breads from Lesotho.

Background: In Lesotho, traditional bread covers different types of dumplings prepared with cereal flour, water, salt and sourdough. This study characterized eight steamed breads prepared from wheat, maize and sorghum. Breads were prepared from both commercial and self-milled flours according to the procedures followed in rural and urban areas of Lesotho.

Relating physico-chemical properties of frozen green peas (Pisum sativum L.) to sensory quality.

Background: The acceptability of frozen green peas depends on their sensory quality. There is a need to relate physico-chemical parameters to sensory quality. In this research, six brands of frozen green peas representing product sold for retail and caterer's markets were purchased and subjected to descriptive sensory evaluation and physico-chemical analyses (including dry matter content, alcohol insoluble solids content, starch content, °Brix, residual peroxidase activity, size sorting, hardness using texture analysis and colour measurements) to assess and explain product quality.

Effect of micronisation of pre-conditioned cowpeas on cooking time and sensory properties of cooked cowpeas.

Background: Cowpea is mostly utilised as cooked whole seeds. This is often achieved only after boiling for up to 2 h, resulting in high energy consumption and a long time for food preparation. Micronisation of pre-conditioned cowpeas reduces their cooking time.

Effect of soy flour addition and heat-processing method on nutritional quality and consumer acceptability of cassava complementary porridges.

Background: The nutritional quality of cassava complementary porridge was improved through extrusion cooking and compositing with either defatted or full fat soy flour (65:35 w/w), and product acceptability by mothers with children of the target population was evaluated.

Results: The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) of extrusion- and conventionally cooked composite porridges was within the recommendations for complementary foods. The kinetics of starch digestibility showed that all porridges had a rapid rate of starch digestibility, but the rate was lower when defatted soy flour was added and lowest when full fat soy flour was added.

Undesirable sulphur and carbonyl flavor compounds in UHT milk: a review.

Ultra High Temperature (UHT) processing leads to the formation of "cooked" and "flat" flavors in milk. These undesirable notes occur due to the volatile formation of a variety of sulphur containing compounds, methyl ketones and aliphatic aldehydes, derived from the constituents of the milk's matrix during thermal processing and storage. The "cooked" flavor of UHT milk is associated with the presence of a variety of sulphur containing compounds while the "stale" flavor is characterized by the dissipation of these sulphur volatiles and an increase of the formation and presence of both methyl ketones and aliphatic aldehydes over time.

Rat bioassay of the protein nutritional quality of soy-fortified sorghum biscuits for supplementary feeding of school-age children.

Background: Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) remains a major deficiency disease among children in developing countries. The protein nutritional quality of soy-fortified sorghum biscuits was evaluated with respect to their potential as a protein-rich supplementary food. Three isonitrogenous diets based on 50:50 ratio decorticated sorghum:defatted soy flour biscuits, 100% sorghum biscuits, casein, and a protein-free diet were fed to male Sprague Dawley weanling rats.

Sensory quality of marama/sorghum composite porridges.

Background: The edible seeds of marama beans are a good source of protein and fat and can potentially enhance the nutritional quality of sorghum products. Utilisation of marama flour in a composite porridge depends on sensory acceptance. Heating of marama beans before milling is used to inactivate trypsin inhibitors.