Production and utilization of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) in Uganda

Jackfruit originated from East Asia, known to be the largest tree born fruit weighs up to 30kg and yields 50-80 tons per hectare annually. The fruit has large potential in Uganda and has been used in value added products on a small and rudimentary scale. This work assessed the production and utilization patterns of jackfruit with a view of determining its capacity to sustain industrial scale processing. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in jackfruit producing regions from April to June 2016. The study variables were household farm size, number of jackfruit trees, types, utilization methods and constraints associated with jackfruit production. A purposive sampling design was used to select districts, sub-counties, parishes and villages to participate in the survey. A total of 400 household heads from the study area were interviewed using a semi structured questionnaire. Responses and observations were recorded; secondary data was also reviewed for information on the total number of households in a district. The results showed that 32% of the respondents worked on 1-2 acres of farmland on which they have at least 2-7 jackfruit trees. About 57% of jackfruit trees were planted while the remaining 43% were inherited. The study area was estimated to have about 1.7 million fruiting jackfruit trees with the number of fruits per tree varying between 20-120 fruits and weighing11 kg, on average. Jackfruit harvest season in Uganda has two peaks in March to April and November to December, with the latter season yielding more fruit. Jackfruit is categorized into white, orange and yellow types based on the pulp color, hard or soft according to pulp texture. About 78% of households produced jack fruit mainly for home consumption, 16% of the households sold the fruit, and 6% fed it to animals while 1% of the household processed them into dried chips or jackfruit wine. The estimated jackfruit production per district in the study area was 0.3 million metric tons/annum. Although the study area has a potential of producing jackfruit for industrial processing, there is need to grow more jackfruit in an organized manner to meet the increasing and competing demands for both home consumption and industrial processing.Keywords: Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus, production, categorization, utilization, household, consumption, flake

Acceptability and nutritional contribution of grain amaranth recipes in Uganda

Grain amaranth is a highly nutritious crop. It is high in proteins and its proteins are of high quality. Compared to common starchy staples, grain amaranth also contains higher levels calcium, zinc, iron as well as vitamins A, E and folic acid. Grain amaranth has also been reported to exhibit nutraceutical properties. Despite its high nutritional value and nutraceutical properties, grain amaranth consumption in Uganda is low. This study was undertaken to evaluate the acceptance of grain amaranth containing recipes and to determine their potential nutritional contribution. A 24 hourrecall was conducted on a sample of 420 respondents drawn from nine sub-counties, three from each of three districts: The results of the 24 hour recall were used to calculate nutritional quality indices. The 24 hour recall results showed low nutritional quality indices for zinc, calcium, niacin, thiamin and lipids. In addition, diets for 74% of respondents were low in iron. A total of 17 recipes containing grain amaranth and other locally produced foods were then developed with the aim of producing productswith enhanced zinc, calcium, niacin, thiamin, iron and energy content. Products prepared based on the developed recipes were subjected to  proximate analysis and sensory evaluation while the recipes were assessed by farmer groups for acceptability. All the products developed were found to be highly acceptable, all scoring .7.5 on nine point scale. The presence of grain amaranth in the products enhanced the nutrient content of most foods, when compared to the traditional recipes without grain amaranth. The most marked positive changes attributable to presence of grain amaranth in the food formulations were observed in the levels of Zn, Fe and Ca. Grain amaranth markedly enhanced the nutrient content for the starchy staple dishes which dominate diets of low income households in the communities studied. These findings show that if incorporated into locally consumed dishes, grain amaranth would fill some of the dietary nutrient gaps. The high acceptability of the products containing grain amaranth and the recipes tested showed high potential for grain amaranth adoption once the recipes are disseminated.Key words: Amaranth, dietary assessment, sensory evaluatio

On-farm evaluation of effectiveness of improved postharvest handling of maize in reducing grain losses, mold infection and aflatoxin contamination in rural Uganda

Postharvest losses remain a challenge among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The uses of hermetic storage containers  (hermetic bags and metallic silos), tarpaulin sheet (plastic sheet) and raised racks reduce postharvest deterioration of grain. This study evaluated the effectiveness of selected improved drying and storage postharvest technologies and practices in reducing maize grain postharvest losses among smallholder farmers in Kamuli and Apac districts, Uganda. The assessed improved storage technologies were hermetic bags and metallic silos against woven polypropylene bags (common farmer practice). For drying, use of tarpaulins and raised racks were assessed against drying on bare ground (common farmer practice). Grain quality and quantity were determined at harvest as well as during drying and six months of storage using Longe 10H variety. Mean quantitative losses, mold infection and aflatoxin level of maize at harvest were 13.72 ± 5.44%, 59.01 ± 17.97% and 1.21 ± 0.7 ppb, respectively for traditional practice. Improved drying and storage technologies resulted in significantly lower (p≤0.05) losses, mold infection and aflatoxin level than the common  farmer practices. Drying on bare ground (3.04 ± 1.50%) resulted in 1.94 times and 7.07 times higher quantitative losses than drying on  tarpaulins (1.56 ± 1.09%) and raised racks (0.43 ± 0.58%). By the sixth month of storage, polypropylene bag storage resulted in 3.7 times and 84 times higher quantitative losses (23.7 ± 5.11%) than hermetic bags (6.33 ± 5.41%) and metallic silos (0.28 ± 0.22%), respectively. Polypropylene bag storage also resulted in 4.4 times and 6 times higher aflatoxin levels (45.82 ± 20.88 ppb) than hermetic bags and metallic silos, respectively. The interaction effects of type of drying technology and storage technology used on aflatoxin levels at the end of the storage period was significant. The highest mold infection and aflatoxin levels were observed when drying was done on bare ground and storage was in polypropylene bags and by the sixth month of storage, mold infection was 90.54 ± 5.48% and average aflatoxin content was 53.47 ± 22.79 ppb. Storage in metallic silos was the most effective in controlling mold infection and aflatoxin contamination, regardless of drying practice, while storage in polypropylene bags was the least effective. From the results, improved drying and storage technologies and practices were found to reduce postharvest maize losses, mold infection and aflatoxin level by over 50%. Use of raised drying racks and storage in metallic silos was found to be the most effective combination in maintaining maizequality and reducing postharvest losses. Key words: Aflatoxins, maize quality, mold infection, grain storage, postharvest losse

Contribution of forest foods to dietary intake and their association with household food insecurity: a cross-sectional study in women from rural Cameroon

To determine the contribution of forest foods to dietary intake and estimate their association with household food insecurity. Cross-sectional survey conducted among 279 households. Using a 7 d recall questionnaire, information on household food consumption was collected from women and used to determine the household dietary diversity score, food variety score and forest food consumption score (FFCS). Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) score was determined and Spearman rank correlation was used to establish the relationship between consumption of forest foods and HFIAS score. Women’s dietary intake was estimated from two 24 h recalls. The contribution of forest foods to women’s nutrient intakes was calculated and women’s nutrient intakes were compared with estimated average nutrient requirements. Rural forest-dependent households in twelve villages in eastern and southern Cameroon. Household heads and their non-pregnant, non-lactating spouses. Forty-seven unique forest foods were identified; of these, seventeen were consumed by 98 % of respondents over the course of one week and by 17 % of women during the two 24 h recall periods. Although forest foods contributed approximately half of women’s total daily energy intake, considerably greater contributions were made to vitamin A (93 %), Na (100 %), Fe (85 %), Zn (88 %) and Ca (89 %) intakes. Despite a highly biodiverse pool of foods, most households (83 %) suffered from high food insecurity based on the HFIAS. A significant inverse correlation was observed between the HFIAS score and the FFCS (r2=−0·169, P=0·0006), demonstrating that forest foods play an important role in ensuring food security in these forest-dependent communities. Forest foods are widely consumed by forest-dependent communities. Given their rich nutrient content, they have potential to contribute to food and nutrition security

Effects of grain source and processing methods on the nutritional profile and digestibility of grain amaranth

Amaranth grain is reputed to have a high nutritional value, and as a plant, be tolerant to adverse weather conditions. This suggests that grain amaranth could be useful in tackling malnutrition and the growing burden of cardiometabolic diseases. However, there is insufficient knowledge at present about how the nutrient composition and digestibility of amaranth grain varies with growing environment, crop genotype, and post-harvest processing. We investigated the effect of the source and processing of amaranth grains on the digestibility of protein and lipid present in the grains. There was variation in the composition and digestibility of raw grains from different sources, indicating a role of genotype and/or growing environment which warrants further investigation. The greatest differences in digestibility were measured between the different processing techniques. This indicates that efforts to increase the cultivation and consumption of grain amaranth need to be supported by education about effective processing and preparation techniques

Characteristics of a self-assembled fibrillar gel prepared from red stingray collagen

A translucent collagen gel was formed from a transparent acidic solution of red stingray collagen by adjusting to physiological ionic strength and pH in phosphate buffer and then incubating at 25?37°C. During fibril formation from red stingray collagen, the turbidity increased when the NaCl concentration was increased at constant pH and the rate of fibril formation was accelerated by higher pH or lower NaCl concentration. The T m of red stingray collagen fibrillar gel was estimated as 44.3 ± 3.5°C, which was higher than that of the collagen solution, 33.2°C. In addition, red stingray collagen gel maintained its shape without melting and was suitable for culture of mouse stromal cells at 37°C

Production and evaluation of precooked dehydrated unripe banana slices

This study was aimed at developing a process for production of easy to prepare dehydrated banana slices. Steaming unripe bananas for 7 minutes followed by hand peel stripping, slicing and dehydration in air dryers produced slices with better rehydration properties than slices produced without steaming, even when the latter were dehydrated by freeze drying. No significant change in total aerobic counts or yeasts and moulds counts occurred in dehydrated banana slices packaged in 250 gauge polyethylene bags and stored at ambient temperature for 3 months. The slices were found to be high in starch (~68.5%) and minerals. When shallow fried, the dehydrated banana slices were found to have acceptable flavour, appearance, taste and texture. Overall, they were considered acceptable by sensory panelists. The findings of this study indicate that steaming, in addition to easing peeling and reducing discolouration, improves rehydration and reduces cook loss. Key Words: Musa spp., dehydration, rehydration, pretreatments (African Crop Science Journal 2000 8(1): 93-98