Search

Tom Brown (roasted-maize porridge) is one of the traditional weaning foods in Ghana. As an effort by the Ministry of Health to enhance the nutrient content of this low-nutrient-density weaning food, a product called weanimix, which is Tom Brown fortified with legumes (cowpeas or soybeans and groundnuts), was introduced more than two decades ago. Cowpeas are an indigenous African legume, popularly used by Ghanaians for various traditional dishes. While soybeans are not traditionally used, they can easily be incorporated into local diets. Commercial weanimix-type products in ready-to-cook flour form are currently available mainly at supermarkets, which target higher-income consumers. This paper examined: (1) the competitiveness between cowpeas and soybeans as an ingredient in weanimix; and (2) constraints to making weanimix more widely available to lower-income families. Local food processors, weaning mothers, commercial custom millers, and retailers were interviewed for both qualitative and quantitative data. Secondary price data were collected from different sources including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Descriptive analysis was carried out to address non-price factors of the issues, and enterprise budgeting and sensitivity analyses were conducted to address price factors. The study found that the higher price of cowpeas, compared to soybeans, is a minor factor in local processors' choice between cowpeas and soybeans. Rather, the current overwhelmingly popular use of soybeans in the weanimix-type products among the respondents was attributed to non-price factors such as the perception that soybeans are more nutritious. A main reason for the lack of availability of weanimix for mothers from lower-income families appeared to be low awareness of the product among consumers. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that typical differences in prices currently observed between weanimix-type products and Tom Brown seems to be larger than the difference in the cost of production between these products. It was also shown that the level of processing and retail margins greatly affect the retail prices of weanimix. Weanimix could be made more available to lower-income consumers if local companies expanded their outlet for the product from supermarkets to small shops or if grain and flour-type product vendors in the local markets (who currently prepare and sell Tom Brown) produced and sold weanimix. However, actions would need to be taken to help assure consumers of the quality of the product sold through market vendors. Key words: weaning food, cowpeas, soybeans, Ghana, INTRODUCTION In West Africa, cereals are the main ingredients in most of the traditional weaning foods. However, since the nutrient density of these weaning foods is low, it is almost [...]

Monoclinic and triclinic high-pressure phases of KHC[O.sub.3] were identified using in situ high-pressure single-crystal X-ray analysis. These monoclinic and triclinic phases, designated as phases IV and V, respectively, differ from three previously identified phases: I-III. The lattices of the two phases are superimposed along [a.sup.*.sub.IV] = 2 x [a.sup.*.sub.V] and hk0 and h0l nets of both phases lie on the same plane, i.e., the (100) plane is common in both lattices in real space. The space group of phase IV is P[2.sub.1]/b11 with lattice constants of a = 10.024(3) [Angstrom], b = 6.912(5) [Angstrom], c = 4.1868(11) [Angstrom], [alpha] = 115.92(4)[degrees], and V = 260.9(2) [[Angstrom].sup.3]. The crystal structure of phase IV, excluding the hydrogen atoms, was successfully determined by direct methods and is isostructural with a cesium hydrogen carbonate CsHC[O.sub.3]. Keywords: KHC[O.sub.3], high pressure, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, hydrogen bond

Abstract Koso-san (Xiang-Su-San in Chinese), a Kampo (Japanese herbal) medicine, is used clinically in East Asia for the treatment of depression-like symptoms associated with the initial stage of the common [...]

Abstract Direct ELISA was performed using normal human sera and human colostrum, to analyse the presence of antibodies which react with pharmacologically active pectic polysaccharides isolated from plants used in [...]

Compression mechanisms of [A.sup.2+][B.sup.4+][O.sub.3] ilmenites with compositions MgSi[O.sub.3] (stable at high pressures), MgGe[O.sub.3] (stable at moderate pressures), and MgTi[O.sub.3] (stable at ambient pressure) were investigated at high pressure by single-crystal structure analysis, using both synchrotron radiation and an MoK[alpha] rotating-anode X-ray generator. The distortions of A[O.sub.6] (A:Mg) and B[O.sub.6] (B: Si,Ge,Ti) octahedra under pressure were parameterized by bond length, shared-face area, site-volume ratio, and [A.sup.2+]-[B.sup.4+] interatomic distance across the shared edges and shared face. The A[O.sub.6] octahedral volume is much more compressive than the B[O.sub.6] octahedral volume. Of the three samples, both the A[O.sub.6] and B[O.sub.6] octahedra are most rigid in MgSi[O.sub.3]. The [A.sup.2+]-[B.sup.4+] interatomic distance becomes more shortened with increasing pressure than do the [A.sup.2+]-[A.sup.2+] and [B.sup.4+]-[B.sup.4+] distances. The compression of Mg-Si is more remarkable than that of Mg-Ge and Mg-Ti. The A-B interatomic distance along c is more compressed with increasing pressure than A-A and B-B along a. The short A-B distance across the shared face becomes more shortened than the A-A and B-B distances across the shared edge. The cation position moves in the direction of c with pressure and tends to approach the center of the A[O.sub.6] and B[O.sub.3] octahedra with increasing pressure. The regularity of the octahedra is enhanced at higher pressure. Both quadratic elongation and bond angle variance verify the reduction of the deformation of A[O.sub.6] and B[O.sub.6] octahedra with pressure.