5 research outputs found
Opportunities to commercialize cassava production for poverty alleviation and improved food security in Tanzania
Cassava is the world's fourth most important staple crop after rice, wheat and maize, and plays an essential role in food security. Due to cassava's growth characteristics and ability to grow in poor soils and regions prone to drought, it is preferred by resourcepoor farmers in many tropical countries. While cassava plays an important role as a food security crop for subsistence farmers, it is prone to rapid postharvest deterioration. Processing cassava for starch is another strategy for overcoming post-harvest losses, can add value to end products and has the potential to create additional employment opportunities along the supply chain. Cassava starch is an important source of biomaterial for different food and non-food industrial applications. Moreover, farmers producing cassava can increase their income by finding alternative end uses to home consumption. To meet the high demand for cassava in Tanzania, cultivar selection, production and processing all need to be improved. Enabling policies that create satisfactory business opportunities for small holder farmers, traders and processors for starch industries is also critical. The aim of this review is to explore the potential of the cassava subsector to contribute to the economy of sub-Saharan countries, particularly Tanzania, and to present how industrial use of domestic cassava starch can help tackle problems of unemployment and food security
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Assessing variation in physicochemical, structural, and functional properties of root starches from novel Tanzanian cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) landraces
Cassava is an ideal "climate change" crop valued for its efficient production of root starch. Here, the physicochemical properties and functionality of starches isolated from six cassava landraces were explored to determine how they varied from each other and from those previously described, and how they may be potentially used as value-added foods and biomaterials. Among genotypes, the parameters assayed showed a narrower range of values compared to published data, perhaps indicating a local preference for a certain cassava-type. Dry matter (30-39%), amylose (11-19%), starch (74-80%), and reducing sugar contents (1-3%) differed most among samples (p ≤ 0.05). Only one of the six genotypes differed in starch crystallinity (41.4%; while the data ranged from 36.0 to 37.9%), and mean starch granule particle size, (12.5 μm instead of 13.09-13.80 μm), while amylopectin glucan chain distribution and granule morphology were the same. In contrast, the starch functionality features measured: swelling power, solubility, syneresis, and digestibility differed among genotypes (p ≤ 0.05). This was supported by partial least square discriminant analysis, which highlighted the divergence among the cassavas based on starch functionality. Using these data, suggestions for the targeted uses of these starches in diverse industries were proposed