Development and Sensory Assessment of Ready-to-Eat Breakfast Cereal.

There is a gradual change in the eating trend of Ghanaians. People now prefer convenient semiprocessed foods as breakfast meals to raw ones. These breakfast meals make use of cereals and grains, which often suffer postharvest losses. Thus, this study was aimed at adding value to these food crops by producing a nutritious convenient breakfast meal in the form of flakes using yellow maize and coconut as main food components. Five different formulations of percentages, maize against coconut (80/20, 77.5/22.5, 75/25, 72.5/27.5, and 70/30), were developed using the Design-Expert's D-optimal design to produce the breakfast meals through drum drying and the products assessed for acceptability by consumer panel. Panellists rated the produced cereal high in overall acceptability during the sensory evaluation. The overall acceptability decreased with decreasing coconut percentage in the cereal product. The 70/30 formulation was most preferred by panellist. The protein, fat, ash, fibre, carbohydrate, and energy contents in all five formulations increased significantly after processing. Coliform count and Bacillus cereus counts were <10 cfu/g.

Cashew Apples in Ghana: Stakeholders' Knowledge, Perception, and Utilization.

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale), a crop projecting Ghana internationally beside cocoa, is usually cultivated for its nut, for both local and international markets. The cashew apple is underutilized in many African countries. This study is aimed at determining the knowledge, perception, and utilization of cashew apples in Ghana among stakeholders in the cashew value chain. Results from the study showed that the cashew industry consisted of farmers (89.1%), nut buyers (6.8%), extension officers (3.5%), and processors (0.6%) with uneven distribution of males (66.2%) and females (33.8%). Cashew apple utilization was low (<10%), though 84.37% had in-depth knowledge on the health benefits and value-added products made from the apples. Cashew apple is mainly utilized as fresh fruits or juice, with minor uses as an ingredient in food preparation, animal feed formulation, and production of mushroom, weedicide, ethanol, and manure. The cashew apple processors identified high cost of processing equipment, perishability of apples, lack of capital, market, technical know-how, and government support as challenges. Based on these findings, education of the stakeholders on value addition or processing of the apples at household and industrial levels and provision of stimulus packages to private processors are recommended to maximize cashew apple utilization in Ghana.

Effect of pretreatment on physicochemical, microbiological, and aflatoxin quality of solar sliced dried ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) rhizome.

Pretreatment of fruit and vegetables is necessary to reduce microbial proliferation and to preserve color of the produce. The effect of drying and pretreatment with potassium metabisulfite (KMBS) of concentrations 0.0%, 0.1%, 0.15%, 0.2%, and 1.0% and blanching at 100°C and 50°C using a tent-like concrete solar (CSD) dryer as compared to open-sun drying (OSD) of yellow ginger rhizomes was investigated using routine methods. The total color change and residual sulfur dioxide (SO2) were analyzed. KMBS reduced the yeast and mould load significantly from 3.6 × 104 ± 1.4 × 103 CFU/g in 0.0% (control) to <10 CFU/g in 1.0% KMBS and 100°C blanched fresh samples. Drying of the fresh samples for 5 days increased the yeast and mould load of all the treatments to as high as 1.15 × 105 ± 2.12 × 104 CFU/g for the 1.0% KMBS. Overall, the CSD had fewer microbial loads than the OSD but it was not significant. Aflatoxins and Salmonella sp. were not detected in any of the samples. The sulfur dioxide residue (SO2) for KMBS pretreated samples increased as the concentration of KMBS increased with the CSD retaining slightly higher amount than the OSD. The total color change index increased with increase in KMBS, and drying further increased the total color change index. On the whole, the blanched samples had the least color change among the pretreatments with 100°C CSD showing the least change among the dried samples.

Utilizing cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) for food and nutrition security: A review.

The critical role of indigenous crops in the socioeconomic growth of developing nations has necessitated calls for accelerated exploitation of staples. Cocoyam, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, is food for over 400 million people worldwide and is the most consumed aroid in West Africa. However, it remains an underexploited food resource. This study reviews existing literature and also makes use of primary data from interviews with indigenous cocoyam farmers, processors, consumers, and cocoyam scientists in the research Institutes of Ghana, to provide insight into existing nomenclature of the species, indigenous knowledge on food uses, nutritional value, and potential novel food applications of cocoyam. Adaptable technologies in conformity to new trends in food science that could be employed for in-depth molecular studies and further exploitation of the crop are also discussed. It is envisaged that the provided information would contribute to global efforts aimed at exploiting the full potential of indigenous crops for sustainable food and nutrition security.

Characteristics of Xanthosoma sagittifolium roots during cooking, using physicochemical analysis, uniaxial compression, multispectral imaging and low field NMR spectroscopy.

To effectively promote the industrial utilization of cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) roots for enhanced food sustainability and security, there is a need to study their molecular, mechanical and physicochemical properties in detail. The physicochemical and textural characteristics of the red and white varieties of cocoyam roots were thus analysed by low field nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry, multispectral imaging, uniaxial compression testing, and relevant physicochemical analysis in the current study. Both varieties had similar dry matter content, as well as physical and mechanical properties. However, up to four fast-interacting water populations were observed in the roots, dependent on the root variety and their degree of gelatinization during cooking. Changes in the relaxation parameters indicated weak gelatinization of starch at approximately 80 °C in both varieties. However, shorter relaxation times and a higher proportion of restricted water in the white variety indicated that this variety was slightly more sensitive towards gelatinization. A strong negative correlation existed between dry matter and all multispectral wavelengths >800 nm, suggesting the potential use of that spectral region for rapid analysis of dry matter and water content of the roots. The small, but significant differences in the structural and gelatinization characteristics of the two varieties indicated that they may not be equally suited for further processing, e.g. to flours or starches. Processors thus need to choose their raw materials wisely dependent on the aimed product characteristics. However, the spectroscopic methods applied in the study were shown to be effective in assessing important quality attributes during cooking of the roots.