Food Science

Reduction of maternal and newborn mortality is still a global public health challenge. The other challenge is redefining the roles of traditional birth attendants with a view of integrating them into the formal health system. To this end, the Linda Afya ya Mama na Mtoto Project implemented in Kakamega county re-oriented 345 former traditional birth attendants into the new role of birth companions. It was therefore fitting to establish perceptions of stakeholders on this new roleTo establish perceptions of stakeholders on the birth companion role of former traditional birth companions. A cross-sectional qualitative design was applied in this study. Eighteen (18) in-depth interviews were conducted with health service providers, health managers, programme officers, and policy makers based on similar interview schedules. Ten focus group discussions were conducted with pregnant and lactating women, male spouses and community health workers. Raw data was transcribed and analyzed using Atlas Ti software. The following six themes emerged: the policy environment; perceived benefits, acceptability, challenges, the issue of integration into the formal health system and sustainability. The policy environment was not conducive for integration into the formal health system. However, across the board, the new role was highly acceptable linked to numerous perceived benefits; remuneration and travel difficulties were considered major bottlenecks to sustainability. The new birth companion role of former TBAs is widely acceptable and can be feasibly sustained and scale-up. Birth companionship is both a health system and client-centred high impact intervention. Governments should institutionalize new birth companion role of former TBAs as a way of incorporating them into the formal health system given the evidence on benefits to the client and health system. Conduct studies on cost-effectiveness of various sustainability and incentivizing mechanisms

The amino acid composition of proteins from leaves of Acalypha wilkesiana and Tridax procumbens was studied using gas chromatography. A. wilkesiana leaf protein had lower total essential, but higher total sulphur containing and aromatic amino acid content than T. procumbens leaf protein. Both proteins had high contents of essential amino acids, histidine, threonine and valine, though deficient in isoleucine. Thus both proteins may serves as good sources for the supplementation of histidine, threonine and valine

Green leafy vegetables play an important place in a well-balanced and healthy diet Aim: To determine the mineral and anti-nutrient content of fresh GLV, quantify the change on drying Results: Two common (Moringa oleifera and Trigonella foenum graecum) and two uncommon (Boerhaavia diffusa and Trianthema portulacastrum) greens were selected. Their ash content ranged from 1.75±0.19 (T. foenum graecum) to 3.63±0.16 g/100g (B.diffusa) in fresh leaves. In dried leaves the ash was between 10.57±0.19 (M. oleifera) and 18.98±0.26 g/100g. (T.portulacastrum).T.foenum graecum had the least iron (3.79±0.2mg), M.oleifera had the highest (4.43±0.16 mg/100g) iron. Phytate content was 2.46±0.13 (T.portulacastrum) to 5.24±0.20 (B.diffusa) mg in fresh leaves. Conclusion: Drying concentrates the nutrients and antinutrient content

The study examined the antioxidant and anti-lipid peroxidative activity of Corchorus olitorius. Antioxidant activity was examined in-vitro by 1,1,-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging method. Lipid peroxidation, examined by measuring malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in erythrocytes of three groups of mice fed different levels of C. olitorius, showed reduction in MDA from 1.38 to 0.94 ?mol/g Hb and 1.22 to 0.83 ?mol/g Hb in male and female mice respectively. No significant change in weights (p>0.05) were found in the liver, kidney, heart, spleen and lungs of the mice. Changes in body weights were significant (p<0.05) suggesting C. olitorius’ potential use in obesity management.

To assess socioeconomic status, empowerment level, and habitual food intake pattern among ethnic women living in the north-west part of Bangladesh. An observational study. Ethnic women of two selected districts (Dinajpur and Joypurhat). 106 females at their reproductive age (15-49 years) were selected for the study. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, women’s empowerment indicators in agricultural index, food frequency patterns were collected during interviewing the women. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess the habitual intake of dietary patterns. Results revealed that almost all of the ethnic women were over 19 years old in which the mothers/caregivers were the dominant groups (62.2%). The secondary schooling rate (27.3%) was higher among the mother or caregivers although Illiteracy was widespread (36.7%) for all ethnic women. Income strata between two districts showed that their mean monthly incomes (4418 ± 397.49 TK. and 5347.72 ± 743.21 TK. for Dinajpur and Joypurhat district respectively) were below the national income level and households from both districts spent their major proportion of income for purchasing the food items (mean; 1592.95 ± 98.13 TK.). The rate of women empowerment was very low for all five domains, and particularly 33% of women felled little decision power over the use of income domain. Further, the food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) showed that the entire studied women consumed rice daily, and almost all of the studied women (94%) never consumed wheat flour. Around 90% of women consumed dark green leafy vegetables between 1-2 days per week and half of the women consumed vitamin-A rich fruits and vegetables on average two days per week. The current observational study provides a piece of important information of ethnic women of the north-west part of Bangladesh, who were socioeconomically poor, less empowered and consumed inadequate nutrient-dense foods

Fudge is a traditional type of confectionary which is usually very sweet and extremely rich, prepared using sugar, butter, milk and flavor. In the present study, the investigator developed cocoa fudge adopting conventional technology and processing techniques involved roasting, grinding and heating. The developed cocoa fudge samples were analyzed for their physicochemical properties and proximate composition and were compared to those of commercially available fudge samples. The results revealed that there was significant difference in the proximate composition between the developed cocoa fudge samples and the standard fudge samples at p?0.05. No significant difference was observed in most of the determined physicochemical properties of the developed sample. Hence the study ascertain that the sensory qualities may be similar as there was no change in the physicochemical characteristic and would be acceptable by everyone. For wider supply and optimum utilization of cocoa, this conventional technology technique can be adopted.Further it may bring great income to the cultivars and in turn add the economy of our country.

Soft cheese, often referred to as “Wagashi” in Ghana and parts of West Africa, was produced from cow milk using sodom apple, lime juice and rennet as coagulants. The effects of these coagulants on the yield, physicochemical properties and sensory properties were evaluated. With 3000 ml of milk, the percentage of cheese yield was 23.58%, 21.8% and 19.8% for sodom apple, lime and rennet, respectively. The volume of whey obtained using sodom apple extract was 2100 millilitres, while lime juice and rennet produced 2000 ml and 2200 ml of whey, respectively. The average pH of sodom apple cheese was 5.02, while that of lime juice and rennet was 5.10 and 5.35, respectively. Total titratable acidity values recorded were low, ranging from 0.0072% to 0.00965%, with no significant difference between all the treatments. The moisture content was high in rennet cheese (62.18%), while that of lime and sodom apple were 59.45% and 52.33%, respectively. For free fatty acids, rennet cheese was highest at 12.95%, and lime samples recorded the lowest at 4.65%. Sensory acceptance of samples revealed an acceptance for lime as a coagulant, with the least mean rank of 43.9 over rennet (63.3). The implication of lime acceptance is the readily commercial use and production of soft cheese.

This research was carried out to study of variation of composite flour prepared from underutilized staple food (Foxtail Millet, Naked Barley) and Legumes (Beans). Sensory, nutritional and physical properties of these products were analyzed. These variations were compared with composite flour prepared from commercially available cereal(wheat, maize) and legumes(Beans). Four formulations were prepared using foxtail millet, naked barley and legumes. The proportion of staple food and legumes were chosen in such a way that the resulting formulations contained crude protein not less than 14%. The formulations were coded as control A (wheat, maize and soybean in the ratio of 7:7:6), B1 (Foxtail Millet and Beans in the ratio of 3:2), B2 (Naked barley and beans in the ratio of 3:2), B3(Foxtail Millet and Bean in the ratio of 1:1), B4(Naked Barley and Bean in the ratio of 1:1). Crude protein in formulations ranged from 15.13±0.75 to 15.87±0.67, crude fat from 2.63±0.14 to 4.41±0.11, total ash from 2.49±0.06 to 3.36±0.36, carbohydrate from 70.71±0.45 to 73.2±0.75 and energy per 100gm from 369.99±0.78 to 386±0.65. Formulations B2 had highest Water Holding Capacity (1.77±50), Water Solubility of B1 was highest 12.86±0.24. Bulk Density of all the formulations including control A ranged from 0.49±0.07 to 0.53±0.067. Sensory evaluation of the formulations also scored high as compared with the control in taste, aroma and consistency.

Blends of cassava flour and partially defatted soybean meal were processed in a single-screw extruder. Experimental design with feed moisture (16, 20, 24 g water/100g flour), amount of soybean (10–30 g soybean/100g flour) and barrel temperature (120, 145, 170 oC) as independent variables leading to 17 combinations that were studied using Box-Behnken Design of response surface methodology to investigate the effect of these input variables on extruder system parameters, namely: product temperature, residence time, machine throughput and specific mechanical energy. The recorded values for all responses varied from 121 to 175 oC, 42.34 to 65.11 seconds, 3.65 to 4.56 kg/hr and 159.01 to 213.63kJ/kg, respectively. Second-order polynomials were used to model the extruder responses as a function of process variables. All three variables affected responses significantly especially their linear terms (p<0.05) and all the fitted models were significant (p<0.05) and correlated well with experimental data (R2 ? 0.934).

Simple Lattice Design (SLD) was used to study the effect of level of inclusion of Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato (OFSP) on some physical parameters of bread made from composite flour while the whole wheat flour bread (sample A) served as control. The proximate composition of the various flour blends used for the preparation of the breads were determined using standard methods. The bread loaves were evaluated for their physico-chemical analyses, nutritional composition and sensory attributes. The physico-chemical analyses results obtained showed an increase in the range of 0.72 g/cm3 for BD, 0.97 g/g for WAC, 465.67 cP for trough, 1329.33 cP, 863.67 cP and decrease of 416.67 cP in setback values respectively. The chemical analyses results obtained showed an increase in the range of 32.72% for moisture, 15.63% for protein, 0.30% for crude fibre, 1.25% for ash, 72.73 g/100g for starch 0.95 mg/100g for Beta carotene, respectively. There was also a decrease in Crumb Hydration Capacity (CHC) and bread volume by 47.51 and 38.03%, respectively, with inclusion of the OFSP flour. It was concluded that a substitution of 79.75g of wheat flour and 20.25 g of flour gave the optimal mixture for the productions of enriched the bread