The role of the new Food and Nutrition Evaluation Laboratory (FANEL) in developing shelf-storable orange-fleshed sweetpotato purée

This flyer outlines the progress made by the new Food and Nutrition Evaluation Laboratory (FANEL) since its inception in 2014 until July 2015. The laboratory was set up to increase regional capacity to carry out food science and nutrition analysis. It is a regional reference laboratory for assessment of nutritional quality, bioaccessibility of beta-carotene and safety of OFSP roots and products

Driving adoption of regional health nutritional standards

Poster prepared for a share fair, Addis Ababa, May 201

Popular orange-fleshed sweetpotato products in Rwanda: Biscuits and doughnuts

Golden Power Biscuits and mandazi (fried doughnuts) have emerged as the top products made with freshly prepared orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) puree at Urwibutso Enterprises. This flyer shares the process and recipe or preparing these popular products

Healthy sweetpotato-based bakery products for sub-Saharan Africa

Poster prepared for a share fair, Addis Ababa, May 201

Proximate composition and vitamin a contribution of biofortified orange fleshed sweet potato value added products

Orange fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) is rich in provitamin A carotenoids and can thus be utilized to tackle Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Puree with high amounts of β-carotene processed from OFSP roots is currently being incorporated in baked products such as bread, cakes, biscuits, and buns. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional composition of OFSP puree supplemented food products, that is, bread, buns, flakes, cakes, biscuits, muffins, soft cookies, golden biscuits and whole wheat flour bread. The composite products made from OFSP puree were analyzed for β-carotene content and proximate analysis. The highest concentration of β-carotene (19.86 mg/100g) was obtained in OFSP flakes. The concentration in buns with 20% puree was 0.58 mg/100g, while bread with 35% puree had a concentration of 3.02 mg/100g. Biscuits, cookies and cakes with high puree of 40% had β-carotene concentrations of 2.39, 1.83, and 2.30 mg/100g respectively. These concentrations are lower than in bread with 35% puree, and we see different proportions of ingredients and other factors such as cooking method, duration of cooking also play a major role in the final β-carotene concentration of the products. The total Retinol Activity Equivalents (RAE) for the OFSP products were significantly different with bread (35% puree) having a higher concentration of 216.67 μg/100g and OFSP buns (20% puree) having a lower concentration of 41.19 μg/100g. Orange fleshed sweet potato flakes had the highest concentration of 1443.2 μg/100g and whole wheat flour bread having the least of 6.9 μg/100g. The moisture content, total ash, crude fiber, crude fat, crude protein, and carbohydrate content of the OFSP products varied between 2.4-29.7%, 0.7-2.4%, 1.0-4.5%, 0.7-18.1%, 5.1-7.9% and 50.7-83.7%, respectively. The findings of this study show that different proportions of OFSP puree: wheat flour is not the only determinant on the final β-carotene concentration of the different OFSP products, the type and quantity of ingredients used, cooking time and method also contribute to the VA content. Diversification of OFSP food products helps increase its consumption and its added value.&nbsp

Food Safety Training Workshop. Theme: Managing food safety and quality in small-scale food processing for Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Managing food safety and quality in small-scale food processing for Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) value chains in Sub-Sahara Africa training workshop took place on 4th - 8th of December 2017 at the International Livestock Research Institute in Kenya. The training was attended by 27 participants (15 men and 12 women) from 11 countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, Tanzania, DRC, Malawi, USA, and UK). They also came from various sectors including government, academia, private-sector (food processors), non-profit organizations and religious organizations. The objective of the training workshop was to enhance compliance to food safety regulations by small-scale enterprises involved in RTB processing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The actors gained skills and knowledge from the training important in addressing food safety challenges that arise from lack of compliance to good Hygiene and Manufacturing Practices

Starch digestibility and beta-carotene bioaccessibility in the orange fleshed sweetpotato puree white bread.

Vitamin A is essential for vision, human health, growth, immune function, and reproduction. Its deficiency leads to anemia, xerophthalmia, and growth reduction in children. Foods enriched with naturally occurring carotenes have the potential, in this regard, and orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) stands out tall as it is rich in β-carotene (βC), a provitamin A carotenoid. In view of developing OFSP-based functional foods to address the vitamin A deficiency (VAD) issues, herein, OFSP puree-wheat composite breads have been prepared at 10% to 50% OFSP puree concentrations and bioaccessibility of βC has been estimated. The total βC is found to be 4.3, 9.2, 16.5, 23.3, and 33.6 µg/g in 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% OFSP bread, respectively. The corresponding calculated retinol activity equivalents (RAE) are 30.9, 66.4, 119.5, 170.4, and 246.2 RAE/100 g. The efficiency of micellarization of all-trans-βC, 13-cis βC, and 9-cis βC after simulated oral, gastric, and small intestinal digestion are 1.4% to 6.4%, 1.4% to 7.2%, and 1.1% to 6.9%, respectively. The amount of micellarized βC correlates linearly with the OFSP concentration in the bread. Furthermore, in vitro starch digestion decreases with significant reduction in the Rapidly Digestible Starch (RDS) amount coupled with increase in the Slowly Digestible Starch (SDS) and Resistant Starch (RS) fractions. Overall, OFSP-wheat composite bread holds adequate amount of provitamin A carotenoids. The amount of bioaccessible βC coupled with altered starch digestion of the OFSP wheat breads highlight their usefulness as novel functional foods that could address the VAD as well as glycemic issues toward improving human health

Effect of food safety training on behavior change of food handlers: A case of orange-fleshed sweetpotato purée processing in Kenya

Sweetpotato purée processing is new to Kenya and a rapidly growing value addition activity among informal, small, and medium-sized food enterprises (SMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Inadequate knowledge of food safety and poor hygiene practices by food handlers, low level of compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), and microbial contamination are major food safety challenges in orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) purée processing in Kenya. The extent of food safety training in enhancing food safety in rural-based SMEs and food processing environments has not been fully investigated. This study aimed at evaluating the impact of food safety training on food safety knowledge and hygiene practices of food handlers and in control of microbial contamination in OFSP purée processing in Kenya. Pre- and post-food safety training assessments were conducted to determine food handler's (N = 14) knowledge and practices on food safety. Food, water, and swab samples (n = 62) from the processing environment were collected before and two months after the training and analyzed for food hygiene indicator microorganisms. The findings indicate a significant (p < 0.05) improvement in overall food safety knowledge and practices of food handlers after the training. Poor knowledge scores were exhibited on aspects of cross-contamination, cleaning, and sanitation but these significantly (p < 0.05) improved after the training. Similarly, microbial counts on food equipment surfaces, installations, personnel hands, and in the final product (OFSP purée) significantly (p < 0.05) declined to acceptable levels after the food safety training. Total counts, yeasts and molds, S. aureus, Enterobacteriaceae, and total coliforms counts in the packaged OFSP purée were 2.6, 1.8, 1.5, 1.9, and 1.2 LOG CFU/g respectively hence suitable for its current application as an ingredient in baked products. The findings from this study indicate food safety training as an appropriate tool for improving food handler's knowledge and hygiene practices as well as enhancing microbial safety and quality of processed foods in SMEs if necessary food safety support resources are provided