Food Science

A total of 350 fruits and vegetable samples were collected from local markets in Ghana and subjected to pesticide residue and heavy metal analyses. Residues of some organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), such as gamma-HCH, methoxychlor, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, p,p’-DDE, and p,p’-DDT, as well as synthetic pyrethroid pesticides (SPPs), such as permethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, fenvalerate, deltamethrin were found in a number of samples at different concentrations. The results obtained showed that 37 % of the fruit and vegetable samples analyzed contained no detectable level of the monitored OCPs, 22 % of the samples gave results with levels of organochlorine pesticides residues above the MRL, while 41 % of the samples showed results below the MRL. The majority of the analyzed samples contained detectable concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn and Cr. All the metal concentrations were far below their respective limit. Daily intake limit was calculated and compared with their respective tolerable limits. Synthetic pyrethroid pesticides were detected in 66 % of the samples without violation. The daily intake of heavy metals and pesticide residues revealed that all the monitored pesticides and heavy metals were far below the recommended tolerable levels except aldrin and dieldrin in fruits and aldrin, dieldrin and endrin in vegetables suggesting a great potential for systemic toxicity particularly in children considered the most vulnerable population subgroup. Based on observations made in these studies, it is proposed that more extensive monitoring investigation covering all foodstuffs be carried out to find the exact position of heavy metals and pesticide residues.

This study was conducted to determine the proximate composition as well as the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Mn, As, Zn, and Cd in the muscles, liver and gizzards of chicken consumed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Proximate analysis was done on the different parts of chicken using standard methods and the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Mn, As, Zn, and Cd were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean levels of trace metals were ranged between 0.210±0.014-0.268±0.014mg/kg for Pb; 0.342±0.017-0.437±0.033mg/kg for Ni; 0.483±0.221-0.518±0.025mg/kg for Mn; 0.030±0.025-0.048±0.002mg/kg for As; 2.567±0.025-2.981±0.06mg/kg for Zn; and 0.024±0.04-0.17±0.025mg/kg for Cd. The mean moisture contents of various parts were 67.03±0.03, 66.0±0.002 and 67.23±0.004% for muscle, liver and gizzard respectively. The protein content ranged from 26.22±0.005 -28.35±0.03%; 1.32±0.05-1.23±0.121% for ash; and 0.91±0.01-1.11±0.111% for fat. The results indicated that chicken meat in this study were rich sources of nutrients. The concentrations of trace metals in this study were below tolerance limits except Pb, which was slightly higher than the WHO/FAO permissible limit. Therefore, it can be concluded that chicken meat in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State has a high nutritional value and it is safe for human consumption.

There is a decline in the intake of fruit and vegetables and the diets have shifted toward more sugars and fats, due to urbanization. Vegetables being a rich source of soluble and insoluble fibres can be incorporated in various food products to improve the functional properties of these products. Bakery products are consumed by a wide range of population and hence bakery products, such as bread,biscuits, rusks and cookies serve as a vehicle for the incorporation of functional foods and dietary fibre. Vegetables such as broad beans, cluster beans and French beans rich in dietary fibre were selected and processed to prepare dry powder.This powder was incorporated in the bakery product rusk at 10%,20%,and 30%, level to the standard rusk recipe. The rusks were prepared separately using broad beans, cluster beans and French beans powder. The rusk biscuits were then organoleptically evaluated for the acceptability. Nutrient analysis were carried out for the standard and the fibre incorporated rusk that were selected after sensory evaluation. The glycemic index of the formulated rusk was determined to check if the fibre incorporated, reduced the glycemic load of the rusk. The study revealed that 10 percent level of incorporation of the different vegetable powders was found to be acceptable. The crude and dietary fibre content increased in the formulated rusk. The glycemic index of the beans powder incorporated rusk was less when compared with the standard rusk.

Food substances worthy of consumption have nutritive values of great dietary effect which in the first place attract people to eat them. As they contain the required nutrients, they also may contain some anti-nutritive substances which may or may not be in trace amounts. In this study sixteen commercial baby foods, comprising five different brands, available on the Ghanaian market have been analysed for their anti-nutrients content (oxalate and cyanogenic glycoside) adopting the method of Andrew and Visser (1951) and the Official Methods, (AOAC 915.03, 17^th Ed) together with their mineral Fe and Zn content using the method of Hernandez et al. (2004) with modification.  The total oxalate concentration levels in the 16 selected cereal brand baby food products ranged from 0.08 to 0.27 mg/g. The HCN concentration levels in the 16 selected cereal brand baby food products ranged from 0.07 to 0.36 mg/g. The concentration levels of Fe and Zn in the brand samples ranged between 24.12-220.76 mg/kg and 0.82-33.88 mg/kg respectively. The concentration levels ranged between 1.67-12.88 mg of total oxalate per serving for BFN-3 (rice based product) and BFB-2 (milk and honey based product) respectively whilst that of cyanogenic glycoside is 1.96-17.06 mg per serving for BFF-1(Lactea based product) and BFN-1 (fiber based product) respectively. Fe concentration levels ranging between 0.68-4.41mg per serving for BFC-3 (fruit and wheat based product) and BFN-4 (oat based product) respectively whilst that of Zn is 0.01- 1.15 mg per serving for BFBN-3 (muesli with apple) and BFN-3 (rice based product). Fourteen of the 16 cereal brand baby foods contained less than 10 mg oxalate per serving, defined as a low oxalate food. Differences in anti-nutritional factors within the brands were observed. The results of the analysis suggest that  oat based product, appear to offer better nutritional value partly due to its low ANF coupled with its relatively high mineral iron content.

The study was designed to evaluate the effects of moist heat on the nutritional, anti-nutritional and phytochemical composition of the nuts of Tetracarpidium conophorum (African walnut). African walnut was subjected to cooking at 100oC. The raw and boiled nuts were chopped and air-dried. The nutritional composition of Tetracarpidium conophorum investigated on shows: protein(%) 26.83, 25.90 and 26.23; crude fibre (%) 1.50, 1.20 and 1.10; fat(%) 16.36, 16.43 and 16.43; carbohydrate (%) 42.33, 43.60 and 44.63; moisture (%) 9.17, 9.33 and 8.92; ash (%) 3.80, 3.53 and 3.33 for all the samples of raw air dried, boiled air dried and boiled oven dried respectively. Evaluation of anti-nutritional factors (mg/100) revealed, phytates 31.67, 16.67 and 13.33; oxalates 12.17, 7.83 and 5.33 for raw air dried, boiled air dried and boiled oven dried respectively. Analysis on the phytochemical composition of the walnut (mg/100) revealed, alkaloid 12.32, 7.33 and 6.67; saponin 21.67, 13.33 and 8.33; flavonoids 2.33, 2.47 and 2.50; terpenoids 7.67, 9.23 and 6.40; steroids 12.30, 12.37 and 12.10; phenolics (GAEG) 35.10, 28.37 and 20.17; ORAC (% inhibition) 46.30, 32.50 and 25.10 respectively on the raw air dried, boiled air dried and boileded oven dried. With respect to the findings, there were significant (p>0.05) decrease in all the samples on the nutritional, anti-nutritional and phytochemical compositions of the samples except the fat and carbohydrates that showed increment on the compositions through raw air dried, boiled air dried and boiled oven dried processing. The moisture content of boiled air dried recorded highest among the samples, while the phytochemical compositions revealed the steroids to be stable in all the samples.

An attempt is made to study the family dietary patterns and its association with socio-economic variables among Gond community of Melnadih village, Karra Gram Panchayat, Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh, India. A homogenous population with varied occupational categories was selected by using 24-hour recall method of in-depth interview to obtain information from participants on their intake of foods on the previous day. A sample of 42 household(s) was selected randomly to assess the dietary intake. It is reported that agriculture practicing households have a mean calorie (1645.02 Kcal.) and mean protein (45.40 gms) consumption which is low when compared with wage labor category with a mean calorie of 2286.43 Kcal. and mean protein value of 57.50 gms. and with other services. A consumption unit of 2.9 indicates that ideal family size can avail the minimum requirements of balanced diet and can meet the daily average energy and protein requirements for the Indian population.

Instant yam (pre-gelatinized) flour was made from different yam species by varying steaming methods and time. Diced cubes were steamed in autoclave for 5 min and Barlet steamer at for 10, 20 and 30 min. Raw and pre-gelatinized cubes were dried and milled. Pasting properties of flour and sensory analysis of reconstituted dough were determined. Pasting properties of samples steamed for 5 min in autoclave were close to those steamed for 20 min in Barlet steamer, which were not significantly (p<0.05) different from those steamed for 30 min. Pre-gelatinized D. dumetorum flour could serve as thickening agent in instant food products. Its cultivation should be encouraged for industrial application.

The proximate, antinutrient, mineral and amino acid composition of ripe and unripe Blighia sapida (ackee) seed were quantified using standard analytical techniques. Fat, fibre and ash were higher in the unripe seed while protein and carbohydrate were more in the ripe seed. The protein content of the ripe and unripe Ackee seed were 11.67% and 9.63% respectively; values obtained for fat were 18.00% and 22.50%, ash 2.83 and 4.17%, fibre 9.33% and 14.33%, moisture values 9.17% and 7.00%, carbohydrate 49.00% and 41.19%. The mineral constituents (mg/kg) for sodium 12.85±0.45, phosphorus 7.14±0.32, Zinc 3.10±0.09, and potassium 16.55±0.05 were higher in the ripe ackee seed while iron 43.75±1.16, manganese 3.09±2.81, calcium 2.85±0.15 and copper 2.15±0.45 were higher in the unripe ackee seed respectively. Eighteen amino acids were found in the samples in this study; 9 essential amino acids with histidine and 9 non-essential amino acids. Glutamate, aspartate and leucine, were the most abundant amino acids in the samples. The ratios of essential amino acids (EAA) to non-essential amino acids (NEAA) in the ripe and unripe ackee seeds was 0.71. The values of the common antinutrients; cyanide, phytate and oxalate were similar in both seed samples; however, trypsin inhibitory activity was higher in the unripe ackee seed. This study shows that ackee seeds can be a potential alternative source of livestock feed.

This research gives an account of influence of cultural factors on consumers eating habits. Food carries religious, sexual, political and social connotations. The contents of a consumers grocery cart, table setting, serving rituals, time of consumer meal reveals the consumers political preferences, class, gender, religion and nationality. The objective of this study was to find out the role of demographics and psychographics cultural factors, also to study the transition of consumers taking place from local to foreign food. To explore the reasons of consumers to eating out behavior their taste preferences and changing trends in food consumption. The sample included 150 respondents, which included children and students, businessmen, salaried, housewives. Convenience and purposive sampling was used. The tools used were multiple regression, cross tabs and frequency distribution. They were applied and the data was analyzed and interpreted. The survey revealed the findings that there is a significant relationship between age and income on food preferences, Respondents’ in spite of opening up of foreign eateries prefer the food offerings in their local outlets and opening up of new outlets, the greater the capacity of consumers to eat out. Food products offered by the foreign eateries must have a blend of both local and foreign touch to increase their sales in the Local market .A good quality of food plus an entertaining environment by the out must also be provided.

Ten (10) brands of industrially manufactured Soft Drinks in Nigeria were randomly selected and subjected to bacteriological analysis by the pour plate count method. 1ml of each brand of the soft drinks were dispensed into different sterile Petri dishes while 12mls of molten Nutrient Agar and MacConkey Agar respectively were poured into the petri dishes at about 37oc, thoroughly mixed, allowed to set and incubated aerobically at a temperature of 37oc for 24 hours. The number of colonies was counted for viable cells per ml of the original sample. The colonies isolated from the samples include Ribena: Staph aureus 11(2.6%), E.coli 2(19%), Klebsiella pneumonia 2(3.2%); Pepsi Staph aureus 0(0%), E.coli 0(0%), Klebsiella pneumonia 0(0%). Coke: Staph aureus 0(0%), E. coli 29(27.8%), klebsiella pneumonia 0(0%). Schweppes: Staph aureus 57 (13.4%), E.coli 0(0%), Klebsiella pneumonia (0)0%. Lucozade boost: Staph aureus 3(0.7%), E. coli 0(0%), Klebsiella pneumonia 0(0%), Maltina: Staph aureus 48 (11.3%), E.coli 41(39.4%), klebsiella pneumonia 0(0%). Sprite: Staph aureus 24 (5.6%), E.coli 32(30.7%), Klebsiella pneumonia 0)0%), orange juice: Staph aureus 0(0%), klebsiella pneumonia 0(0%). Malta Guinness: Staph aureus 92 (21.7%), E. coli 0(0%) klebsiella pneumonia 61 (98.8%) Fanta: Staph aureus 189 (44.6%), E.coli 0(0%), klebsiella pneumonia 0(0%). The highest number of colonies was found in fanta while lucozade boast yielded the lowest number of colony, pepsi and orange juice, showed no growth. Staph aureus had the highest prevalence while klebsiella pneumonia yielded the lowest number of organism. It is also recommended that regulatory agencies should ensure strict adherence to established standards, manufacturers should ensure that the soft drinks must be free from contaminants, and workers should regularly be screened.