Search

Majority of the world's population, especially those inhabited in the developing countries lack access to balanced diets because larger portion of the population live on staple plant-based foods which usually lack diversity and consequently resulted in micronutrient deficiencies. It has been established that micronutrient deficiencies arising from the consumption of plant and plant-based foods are mainly caused by failure of absorption rather than dietary deficiency. It is therefore necessary to explore the means through which substantial part of the available minerals would be made bioavailable. Fortunately, many simple, low cost household's traditional food processing techniques have the potentials to improve the bioavailability of many of these essential micronutrients including zinc, iron, vitamins B group and C majorly through reduction of the inherent anti-nutritional factors. This paper therefore discusses micronutrients absorption and bioavailability using iron and zinc as examples and the traditional food processing techniques that could enhance the bioavailability of some of these micronutrients in plant-based diets with the aim of ensuring nutrition security and eradicating hidden hunger among the indigenous people of Africa and other developing countries. This review also realised the need for more studies on the in-vitro and in vivo micronutrients bioavailability of plant and plant-based foods in order to effectively tackle micronutrient deficiency among the populace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African Yam Bean (AYB) (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) is an underutilized legume in Nigeria and Africa. This study evaluates the proximate analysis, mineral constituents, and antinutritional factors (ANFs) of six accessions of AYB, (TSS 10, TSS 57, TSS 84, TSS 95, TSS 96 and TSS 111) from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (I.I.T.A), Ibadan, Nigeria. All the analyses were done using standard methods. Statistical analysis was done using one-way ANOVA. Results of proximate analysis show that the following AYB accessions had the highest data; crude protein 26.60±0.14% (TSS 95), crude fat 3.10±0.14% (TSS 96), crude fibre 4.40±0.00% (TSS 10), ash 3.10±0.14% (TSS 95), gross energy 4.558±0.01Kcal/g (TSS 95), dry matter 94.75±0.7 (TSS 57) and moisture 6.36±0.61(TSS 10). Minerals results show that the following AYB accessions had the highest figures: calcium 0.289±0.00% (TSS 96); magnesium 0.161±0.00% (TSS 10); potassium 0.720±0.00% (TSS 95); phosphorus 0.206 ± 0.00% (TSS 95); sodium 591.88±0.00mg/g (TSS 57); iron 89.98±0.00mg/g (TSS 84) and copper 16.10±0.00mg/g (TSS 84). The following accessions recorded the highest values of ANFs: tannin 0.009±0.00% (TSS 84); saponin 0.139±0.01% (TSS 84); oxalate 0.116±0.00% (TSS 84); trypsin inhibitor 15.92±0.26% (TSS 57); phytate 0.2000±0.00% (TSS 111) and alkaloids 15.015±0.01% (TSS 57). This study concludes that AYB is rich in crude protein and crude fibre, however, the ANFs need adequate processing for adequate utilization as human foods and animal feeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]