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Background: Yoghurt is one of the most popularly consumed fermented products which provides several nutritional benefits. Yoghurt products often include flavour and colour additives however, growing awareness of the risks associated with synthetic food additives has necessitated the need to explore more natural colour and flavour as food additives. Methods: This study evaluated the effect of beetroot puree as flavouring and colourant in yoghurt production and quality. To develop the yoghurt product, incubation time and proportion of beetroot puree were optimized based on the resulting pH, titratable acidity, colour, and viscosity using response surface methods. Results: Optimum yoghurt formulations were obtained in products containing 2 %, 2.03 % and 8 % beetroot puree following an incubation of 2.5h. Increasing beetroot puree did not affect the pH and titratable acidity of the yoghurt samples but slightly influenced the viscosity of the yoghurt. The colour of yoghurt was mainly affected by the puree concentration. A consumer acceptance test was conducted on the optimized products compared to a control sample without beetroot. Yoghurt incorporated with 8 % beetroot puree was the least preferred with a mean score of 6.08, whereas yoghurt incorporated with 2.03 % beetroot puree was the most preferred (7.42), with a higher acceptance than the control (7.28). Conclusion: /Implications for industry: Findings from the study provide evidence for exploration of beetroot yoghurt as a natural product alternative to the use of synthetic flavour and colour additives in yoghurt.

Pentadesma butyracea seed butter or fat (PBSB) is a vegetable fat extracted from the seeds of the P. butyracea plant. The butter has potential use in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. The study investigated traditional PBSB processing methods in Ghana and evaluated their effects on yield, physicochemical parameters, and fatty acid composition. Four traditional extraction methods were identified and evaluated, and these methods are direct wet extraction of PBSB from a fresh mixture of the seed paste and water (DEW); wet extraction of PBSB from a 12-hour fermented mixture of the seed paste and water (FWO); direct wet extraction of PBSB from a fresh mixture of the seed paste, salt, and water (DES); and wet extraction of PBSB from a 12-hour fermented mixture of the seed paste, salt, and water (FSO). Results of physicochemical properties of the PBSB samples showed moisture content of 0.06-0.07%, free fatty acid of 1.38-2.43%, iodine value of 56.50-56.85 Wijs, peroxide value of 5.58-8.52 mEq/kg, relative density of 0.91, refractive index of 1.462-1.464, percent impurities of 0.015-0.017%, saponification value of 165.57-178.02 mg KOH/g, and percent unsaponifiable matter of 2.60-3.18%. The PBSB yield varied in the range of 21.68-26.97%, with the highest average butter yield observed for FWO. Seventeen fatty acids were characterized in the PBSB samples, and they included ten saturated fatty acids, five monounsaturated fatty acids, and two polyunsaturated fatty acids. Key fatty acids found in the PBSB samples were oleic acid (51.21-51.31%), stearic acid (43.22-43.33%), palmitic acid (2.91-3.07%), linoleic acid (0.49-0.51%), linolenic acid (0.12-0.20%), and arachidic acid (0.14-0.15%). PBSB samples produced by the various traditional extraction methods in Ghana recorded similar physicochemical characteristics as unrefined shea butter per the Regional Standard for Unrefined Shea Butter (CXS 325R-2017) as well as Cook Brand Margarine, a common commercial baking fat, and thus, their potential food application such as an alternative shortening/ingredient could be explored in a future study.

This study ascertained the indigenous knowledge and uses of Pentadesma butyracea plant through a focus group study. The proximate, mineral, antinutritional compositions, and antioxidant activity of P. butyracea seed were also determined using standard analytical methods. The results of the focus group study showed that P. butyracea is essentially used for its butter which is prepared by women processors who hand down the skill of butter processing to their children. The butter is used for cooking, frying, and preparing traditional delicacies, and the plant is known to possess some therapeutic potential. The seed recorded the following mean proximate values: fat content of 35.82%, carbohydrate of 50.97%, 1.81% ash, 2.68% protein, 1.34% crude fibre, and moisture of 7.39%. The most abundant mineral in the seed is potassium (32.93 mg/100 g). Calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, and zinc were at levels of

AbstractHuman beings have battled with oxidative stress and its related illnesses such as inflammatory diseases, heart diseases, and even cancer for decades. Spices and herbs are known for their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that could mitigate oxidative stress. However, post-harvest loss of such spices make their production seasonal and solar drying could curtail this problem. Solar drying of ginger will add value and reduce post-harvest loss, yet consumer preference needs to be established. This study carried out a survey by administering semi-structured questionnaires to 398 willing respondents in the Accra metropolis to seek information on the knowledge of the health benefits and sicknesses that consumers had used ginger to treat as well as the acceptability of solar dried ginger locally. Respondents enumerated 22 illnesses in the category of anti-inflammatory disorders, stomach discomfort, weight loss, and an aphrodisiac which they had used ginger to cure. More than half of respondents (74.3%) had used ginger to cure upper respiratory infections with an almost unanimous response to the local production of dried ginger for all-year availability.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) rhizomes are mostly used as spice and medicine due to their high aroma intensity and medicinal bioactive compounds. However, the volatile compounds of ginger, partly responsible for its aroma and medicinal properties, can be affected by the pretreatment, drying method, and extraction processes employed. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of pretreatment and drying on the volatile compounds of yellow ginger variety at nine months of maturation. The effect of potassium metabisulfite (KMBS) and blanching pretreatment and drying on the volatile compounds of ginger using head space solid-phase microextraction with GCMS/MS identification (HS-SPME/GCMS/MS) was investigated. KMBS of concentrations 0.0 (control), 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, and 1.0% and blanching at 50°C and 100°C were used for pretreatment and dried in a tent-like concrete solar (CSD) dryer and open-sun drying (OSD). The different concentrations of KMBS-treated fresh ginger rhizomes did not result in any particular pattern for volatile compound composition identification. However, the top five compounds were mostly sesquiterpenes. The 0.15% KMBS-treated CSD emerged as the best pretreatment for retaining α-zingiberene, β-cubebene, α-farnesene, and geranial. The presence of β-cedrene, β-carene, and dihydro-α-curcumene makes this study unique. The 0.15% KMBS pretreatment and CSD drying can be adopted as an affordable alternative to preserve ginger.

A comparison of concrete solar dryer (CSD) to stainless steel solar dryer (SSSD) in terms of the effect of drying and 10% vinegar pretreatment on antioxidant activities of ginger rhizome using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity method, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) Assay, and total antioxidant methods was investigated. The effect of the two solar dryers and open-sun drying (OSD) on bioactive compound composition of the 10% vinegar pretreated sliced ginger using ethanol and aqueous extracts with GCMS/MS identification was also evaluated. The antioxidant activities of ethanol and aqueous extract of the 10% vinegar pretreated ginger using FRAP, DPPH, and total antioxidant methods were all higher than that of the dried samples, with CSD having the highest antioxidant activities among the dried methods. Drying reduced the main bioactive compound, which is gingerol, from 47.97% in the fresh sample to 32.49% in the OSD sample. The CSD sample demonstrated close likeness to the fresh sample with regard to retaining the highest gingerol and α-zingiberene. Hence, CSD can be adopted for commercial processing of ginger to reduce postharvest losses of the crop.

The preparation practices, handling and raw materials for street food vending could be sources of toxic metals in street food vending business which is yet to be explored in-depth as microbial contamination. The concentrations and dietary risk of the toxic metals Al, Fe, and Pb were assessed in fufu and fried-rice, two commonly consumed street-vended foods in Ghana. The mean concentrations for Pb found to be between 3.30 and 11.25 mg kg−1 in the cooked foods, far exceeded the maximum tolerable daily intake of 0.3 mg kg−1 body weight per day for consumers. Al and Fe concentrations were between 3.04 and 18.49 mg kg−1 and 1.44 and 7.82 mg kg−1, respectively. Hazard index was less than 1 at the 5th percentile level of consumption, but greater than 1 at the 50th and 95th percentile level of consumption; indicating risk of metal toxicity with increasing probability as the level of consumption and HI increase. The patronage of street vended foods is unlikely to reduce. Hence vendors must be educated on safe preparation and handling processes such as the use of stainless steel utensils will likely reduce the levels of the toxic metals to acceptable levels. Keywords: Food contamination, Metal toxicity, Toxicology, Human health risk