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Consumption of bread can be associated with some health issues, which can be improved by fortifying it with plants that are good sources of nutrients and bioactive compounds. This study investigated the effects of fortifying bread with 3 leafy vegetables on the quality of Nigerian wheat bread. Leave powders of coriander, moringa, and amaranths were added to wheat dough at 0% (control), 1%, 3%, 5%, or 7%, and the blends obtained were used to bake vegetable breads, which were then analyzed for proximate, minerals, total phenolics, antioxidant activity, reducing sugars, glycemic index, and sensory evaluation. Results showed that vegetable fortification significantly increased bread ash (from 0.84% in control up to 1.93% in fortified bread), crude fiber (from 1.68% to 3.29%), and nutritionally important minerals Ca, Mg, P, Fe, and Zn (up to 5.2-fold, 5.1-fold, 18.1-fold, 4.1-fold, and 14.0-fold, respectively); it reduced carbohydrates (from 65.65% down to 43.16%), crude lipids (from 2.25% down to 0.44%), and caloric value (from 1239.65 down to 1125.19 kJ/100 g), with little or no effect on proteins and moisture content. The fortification also improved the bioactive properties of the bread, as evidenced by a considerably higher phenolic content (from 0.40 up to 13.95 mg/100 g GAE) and increased antioxidant activities. There was a significant 1.1-to 3.4-fold decrease in the reducing sugars of composite breads with 5% and 7% vegetable powder, and the selected bread formulation with Moringa 7% lowered the glycemic index of rats by 3.5-fold. Fortification did not generally affect the appearance and taste of the breads but decreased other sensory parameters and overall acceptability; the bread sample enriched with 1% amaranth received the highest general acceptance. In conclusion, fortifying wheat bread with the 3 vegetables improves its nutritional quality and can be recommended as a new pathway for the development of more nutritious and healthy bread., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Despite the fact that several cases of unsafe pesticide use among farmers in different parts of Africa have been documented, there is limited evidence regarding which specific interventions are effective in reducing pesticide exposure and associated risks to human health and ecology. The overall goal of the African Pesticide Intervention Project (APsent) study is to better understand ongoing research and public health activities related to interventions in Africa through the implementation of suitable target-specific situations or use contexts. A systematic review of the scientific literature on pesticide intervention studies with a focus on Africa was conducted. This was followed by a qualitative survey among stakeholders involved in pesticide research or management in the African region to learn about barriers to and promoters of successful interventions. The project was concluded with an international workshop in November 2021, where a broad range of topics relevant to occupational and environmental health risks were discussed such as acute poisoning, street pesticides, switching to alternatives, or disposal of empty pesticide containers. Key areas of improvement identified were training on pesticide usage techniques, research on the effectiveness of interventions targeted at exposure reduction and/or behavioral changes, awareness raising, implementation of adequate policies, and enforcement of regulations and processes.

Maize is a major staple and plays an essential role in food and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Conservation agriculture (CA), a climate-smart agriculture practise based on minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention, and crop diversification, has been widely advocated but without extensive research on the impact it may have on maize nutrient composition, and food and nutrition security. This study assessed the grain yield, macro- and micronutrient mineral content, and nutrient yield of eight maize varieties grown in Malawi, and how these are affected by CA practises over two seasons. The minerals were analysed by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) coupled to optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and to mass spectroscopy (MS). Grain yield and Se content differed among the varieties, while C, N, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, P, and Zn were similar. The local variety Kanjerenjere showed lowest grain and nutrient yields. The open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) concentrated more minerals than the F1 hybrids, but the latter showed higher yields for both grain and nutrients. Typical consumption of the eight maize varieties could fully meet the protein and Mg dietary reference intake (DRIs) of Malawian children (1-3 years), as well as Mg and Mn needs of adult women (19-50 years), but their contribution to dietary requirements was low for Fe (39-41%) and K (13-21%). The trials showed that CA increased grain yield (1.2- to 1.8-fold) and Se content (1.1- to 1.7-fold), but that it had no effect on C, K, Mg, P, and Zn, and that N (1.1- to 1.2-fold), Mn (1.1- to 1.8-fold), and Fe (1.3- to 3.4-fold) were reduced. The high increase in grain yield under CA treatments resulted in increased yields of protein and Se, no effect on the yields of K, Mg, Mn, P, Zn, and reduced Fe yield. Conservation agriculture could contribute in reducing the risk of Se deficiency in Malawian women and children but exacerbates the risk of Fe deficiency. A combination of strategies will be needed to mitigate some of the foreseen effects of climate change on agriculture, and food and nutrition security, and improve nutrient intake., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Galani, Ligowe, Kieffer, Kamalongo, Kambwiri, Kuwali, Thierfelder, Dougill, Gong and Orfila.)

This paper reviews and analyses the importance of maize as staple food in Eastern and Southern Africa (E&SA) and contributes in understanding the nexus between maize nutritional composition and prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) in these regions. MNDs remain a major public health concern particularly for women and children, with calcium, iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, folate and vitamin A deficiencies being the most common. Estimates of their prevalence are among the highest in E&SA: iron-deficient anemia affected 26 to 31% of women of reproductive age, and deficiencies up to 53%, 36%, 66%, 75% and 62% for vitamin A, iodine, zinc, calcium and selenium, respectively, were measured in populations of these regions. Besides, these two regions show the highest worldwide maize per capita consumption (g/person/day) as main staple, with 157 in Eastern Africa and 267 in Southern Africa, including up to 444 in Lesotho. The analysis of food composition tables from these regions showed that 100 g of maize foods consumed by these populations could to some extent, contribute in satisfying dietary reference intakes (DRIs) of children and women in energy, proteins, carbohydrates, magnesium, zinc, vitamins B1 and B6. However, it provides very low supply of fats, calcium, sodium, selenium, vitamins C, A and E. The high occurrence of MNDs and considerable nutritional potential of maize consumed in E&SA can be explained by loss of nutrients due to processing practices, low food diversification and reduced nutrients bioavailability. Success cases of the main strategies to tackle the issue of MNDs in these regions by improving maize nutritional quality are discussed in this paper. Maize fortification was shown to improve nutrition and health outcomes of population. Increasing dietary diversity by complementing maize with other foods has improved nutrition through integration of micronutrient-rich foods in the diet. Mostly, biofortification has successfully contributed in reducing vitamin A and zinc deficiencies in rural communities more than nutrient supplementation, fortification and dietary diversity.

Background: Among neglected zoonotic diseases, leishmaniases caused by Leishmania parasite through infected female sand fly bite, are a group of diseases found in 98 countries and territories representing a critical burden of disease worldwide. Vector management plays a crucial role in reducing the burden of vector-borne diseases by WHO's global plan. The objective of the current study was to assess the susceptibility status of wild phlebotomine sand flies from Esfahan Province, central Iran, to the recommended insecticides by WHO., Methods: Sand flies were collected by mouth aspirator in Matin Abad desert Eco-resort and were tested using WHO adult mosquito test kit against Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) 4%, Deltamethrin 0.05%, Malathion 5% and Propoxur 0.1%. The number of knockdown sand flies were recorded during exposure time in ten minutes interval for DDT and Deltamethrin and they were allowed to recover for 24 hours. Knockdown Time 50 (KD 50 ) and KD 90 were generated for them using Probit software. They were mounted and identified by valid keys., Results: Among the tested insecticides against female Phlebotomus papatasi , DDT, Deltamethrin, and Malathion recorded the highest mortality rate of 100%, followed by Propoxur with 92.2% mortality for a one-hour exposure. For DDT, KD 50 and KD 90 were calculated 21.87 and 42.93 and for Deltamethrin, they were 23.74 and 56.50 minutes respectively. Total sand flies exposed with DDT and Deltamethrin shed their leg(s)., Conclusion: It is concluded that Ph. papatasi from central Iran is susceptible to DDT, Deltamethrin, Malathion, and Propoxur., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

(1) Background: Halogenated pesticides are abundantly used in Cameroon, but there is no information on the health risk of consumers from exposure to their residues in foods. (2) Methods: Residues of 20 halogenated pesticides were determined in 11 agricultural products collected in the 3 largest cities of Cameroon using QuEChERS extraction and gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD), and health risk from dietary exposure was assessed. (3) Results: Organochlorines pesticides aldrin, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) found in 85.0%, 81.9% and 72.5% of samples, respectively, were the most frequently detected. The highest average concentrations of residues were 1.12, 0.74 and 0.39 mg/kg for methoxychlor, alachlor and β-HCH, respectively, found in chilli pepper. Chili pepper (58.9%), cowpea (56.8%), black beans (56.5%) and kidney beans (54.0%) exhibited the highest residue occurrences. Levels above the European Union maximum residue limits (MRLs) were found for all the 20 pesticides, in 40.1% of the positive analyses, and the food samples contained 14 pesticides banned in Cameroon. Chronic, acute, cumulative and carcinogenic risk assessments revealed that lifetime consumption of maize, black beans, kidney beans, groundnuts and chili pepper contaminated with aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, HCB, heptachlor, o,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE and β-HCH, could pose health risks. (4) Conclusion: These results show that there is an urgent need of pesticide usage regulation, effective application of pesticide bans and management of obsolete pesticide stocks in Cameroon.