Prospective Role of Indigenous Leafy Vegetables as Functional Food Ingredients.

Indigenous leafy vegetables (ILVs) play a pivotal role in sustaining the lives of many people of low socio-economic status who reside in rural areas of most developing countries. Such ILVs contribute to food security since they withstand harsher weather and soil conditions than their commercial counterparts and supply important nutrients such as dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, ILVs contain bioactive components such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, dietary fibre, carotene content and vitamin C that confer health benefits on consumers. Several studies have demonstrated that regular and adequate consumption of vegetables reduces risks of chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, metabolic disorders such as obesity in children and adults, as well as cardiovascular disease. However, consumption of ILVs is very low globally as they are associated with unbalanced and poor diets, with being food for the poor and with possibly containing toxic heavy metals. Therefore, this paper reviews the role of ILVs as food security crops, the biodiversity of ILVs, the effects of processing on the bioactivity of ILVs, consumer acceptability of food derived from ILVs, potential toxicity of some ILVs and the potential role ILVs play in the future of eating.

Effects of amaranth addition on the pro-vitamin A content, and physical and antioxidant properties of extruded pro-vitamin A-biofortified maize snacks.

BACKGROUND: Pro-vitamin A-biofortified maize snacks with added leafy vegetable may have a potential as nutritious and health-promoting products, especially in addressing vitamin A deficiency, which is prevalent in developing regions. The objective of the study was to determine the effects of adding amaranth leaf powder on the physical, antioxidant properties and pro-vitamin A content of extruded pro-vitamin A-biofortified maize snacks. Extruded snacks were processed using four pro-vitamin A-biofortified maize varieties that were composited with amaranth leaf powder at 0%, 1% and 3% (w/w) substitution levels. RESULTS: At higher amaranth concentration, the expansion ratio of the snacks decreased, while their hardness increased by as much as 93%. The physical quality of the snacks may therefore need improvement. As amaranth was increased, the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the snacks increased as well as the pro-vitamin A content. CONCLUSION: Pro-vitamin A-biofortified maize with added amaranth has a potential for use in nutritious and healthy extruded snacks. There are limited studies reporting on processing pro-vitamin A maize with complementary plant foods, which is common with white maize in southern Africa; thus the current study serves as a baseline.