Nutrient composition of Parkia biglobosa pulp, raw and fermented seeds: a systematic review

There is increasing evidence that nutrient differences observed among crop varieties or animal breeds belonging to the same species are sometimes greater than differences between species. Parkia biglobosa is an important tree species that provides edible products and income to rural households in West Africa. To better understand intra-species nutrient variability of P. biglobosa edible products, a review on the nutrient content of its pulp and seeds (raw and fermented) was conducted. Google scholar and the keywords “P. biglobosa” AND “nutrition” were used to screen the available literature from 1980 onwards, and the Zotero software was used to manage references. A step-wise assessment of titles, abstracts and full papers, led to a selection of 69 papers from which data were retrieved following FAO INFOODS guidelines. After data harmonization and quality checks, 42 papers were retained and used to extract data to populate a nutrient database. Despite an apparent abundance of nutrient analyses focused on P. biglobosa’s edible products, the quality of data available was poor and very few authors presented additional information, such as soil characteristics, climate, maturity at harvest, etc. that could influence the nutritional content of the products. Many data gaps remain. The present study will stimulate further investigations into nutrient composition of P. biglobosa products and ultimately will contribute to selecting nutritionally “+” trees for multiplication and/or domestication of the species

Book Review: Tapping philanthropy for development: Lessons Learned from a Public-Private Partnership in Rural Uganda

Book Title: Tapping philanthropy for development: Lessons Learned from a Public-Private Partnership in Rural UgandaBook Author: Lorna Michael Butler and Della E. McMillan (Eds.)2015/289 pages/LC: 2014036411. A Kumarian Press Book

Food composition table of selected local tree species in Burkina Faso. Version 1.

Food composition tables (FCT) inform on the nutritional composition of foods consumed and are an essential resource for understanding and analyzing dietary intake data related to both individuals and communities, and for developing healthy recipes and food products. They are a fundamental piece of knowledge to support interventions related to improving nutrition, health, and food security in all contexts. They can also be used to assist forest landscape restoration initiatives based on tree planting, as these represent an opportunity to enhance the availability, access, and use of food tree species. Particularly for neglected and underutilized tree species, nutritional data are rarely available. The FCT included in this booklet selectively incorporate existing information and help to clearly spot the gaps, which should be addressed by further documentation efforts. The compilation of food composition data presented here focuses on 97 foods from 37 tree species from Burkina Faso, largely indigenous, with few exceptions, and undomesticated. Data were gathered through an extensive review of the literature and were compiled following international standards, i.e. guidelines and tools of the International Network of Food Data Systems (INFOODS)

A review of production, post-harvest handling and marketing of sweetpotatoes in Kenya and Uganda

Sweetpotato (Ipomea batatas) is a versatile crop that serves the roles of food and nutrition security, cash crop in both raw and processed forms. It is a source of livestock feed and has great potential as a raw material for industrial processing. The potential of sweetpotato has been greatly underexploited by the fact that it has been regarded as a poor man’s food and is mainly grown under marginal conditions for subsistence by most producers, who are rural small-scale farmers in developing countries, such as Kenya and Uganda. Losses in the highly perishable root crop and its leaves are exacerbated by lack of appropriate postharvest knowledge, technologies and facilities. Inadequate information on available cultivars also limits the maximum utilization of the crop and leaves. The current review examines production potential, postharvest handling practices, marketing, and physicochemical and nutritional properties of sweetpotatoes