The objective of this work was to study the effect of seaweed (Eucheuma cottonii) our addition on physicochemical and sensory characteristics of an Indonesian-style beef meatball. Seaweed flour (SF) was added to meatball batter at 0% (CON), 2.5% (SF2.5), 5.0% (SF5) and 7.5% (SF7.5) in weight/meat weight (w/w) basis. Proximate composition (moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and ash content), pH, cooking loss, hardness, water-holding capacity, instrumental color and sensory properties (color, texture, aroma, taste and overall acceptability) of the boiled meatballs were evaluated. The effect of seaweed our addition was very significant (P<0.01) on moisture, crude fat, crude fiber, ash, cooking loss, hardness, water holding capacity, lightness (L*), yellowness (b*) and all sensory properties, and was significant (P<0.05) on crude protein, pH and the redness (a*) of a boiled Indonesian-style beef meatball. The addition of seaweed flour at more than 2.5% resulted in darker meatballs, with less protein and fat, and a stronger seaweed aroma. The results suggest that seaweed flour could be added at 2.5% (w/w) to produce an Indonesian-style beef meatball with enhanced ber content.

Azanza garckeana is among the least utilized indigenous wild fruit trees of interest in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa. The tree's fruit and seeds have found their importance as food while their barks and leaves as medicine because of their vast nutritional and functional components. This paper reviews the utilization of the fruit in food processing demonstrating the potential this species has in the preparation of novel foods. There are few reports on macronutrients and micronutrient composition of the fruit and the seeds, and their utilization in food processing. Some researchers have identified key functional ingredients in the fruits as well as their seeds that could be of benefit when incorporated in the production of value-added food products. This paper not only advocates for the production of value-added food products from this fruit, but also its integration into farming systems to enhance nutritional security and provide ready income for communities in the dry areas in sub Saharan Africa.

Noodle consumption has been increasing in Nigeria as a result of rapid urbanization, increase in population growth, and desire for convenience food. Noodles are produced from wheat our which is not grown in Nigeria. In order to reduce wheat imports and improve utilization of local crops, various options have been developed to replace wheat flour partially or wholly in noodle production. This study was aimed at optimizing the level of major ingredients to obtain the best flour blend for noodle preparation with optimum nutritional quality. Pro-vitamin A cassava roots (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and African yam bean seeds (AYB) (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) were processed into ours. The ranges of these flours, based on preliminary findings, were computed into a central composite design of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to obtain 13 flour blends with five central points. The chemical compositions, anti-nutritional factors, and pasting properties of these flour blends were analyzed and measured. By maximizing total β-carotene, protein content, and minimizing fat content, the predicted model indicated the optimum blend of 70.52% cassava flour to 29.48% AYB flour. The best our blend sample of 69.23% cassava our to 30.77% AYB flour gave the actual value of total β-carotene 6.76 μg/g, with proximate analysis composition of protein 6.17%, fat 0.82%, moisture 8.95%, ash 1.77%, crude fiber 5.09%, and carbohydrate 82.30%. The anti-nutritional factors of the best blend were 8.21 mg HCNeqv/kg, 1.69 mg phytate/g and 0.37 mg tannin/g.

A process for preparation of a microgreen and fruit based beverage was optimized using spinach (Spinacia oleracea) microgreen, pomegranate (Punica granatum), pineapple (Ananascomosus) and sugar. The blended juice in different ratios was analysed for total soluble solids, viscosity, sedimentation, acidity, metal chelation activity, free radical scavenging activity and reducing power. The optimized beverage had, 17.26 mL 100 mL-1 spinach microgreen juice, 57.07 mL 100 mL-1 pomegranate juice, 1.01 g 100 g-1 sugar and 24.66 mL 100 mL-1 pineapple juice. The product was high in nutrients, particularly protein, minerals (sodium, potassium and iron), vitamins (vitamin C), bioactive compounds (total phenols and total carotenoids) and had high antioxidant activity (metal chelation activity, free radical scavenging activity and reducing power). The antioxidants and bioactive compounds present in juice were designed to help reduce oxidative stress during inflammatory cases such as arthritis.

An attempt has been made to evaluate antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties of extracts from onion (Allium cepa L.), garlic (Allium sativum), leaves of guava (Psidium guajava), papaya (Carica papaya), tea (Camellia sinensis), baen (Avicennia alba) and keora (Sonneratia apetala), respectively to apply as natural preservatives for tomatoes. The air-dried plant materials of the respective plant species were subjected to ethanol-methanol extraction, concentrated and stored at 4 °C before use. The extracts were dissolved in 95% ethanol for analysis of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Of the extracts tested, tea extracts showed the highest zone of inhibition against several pathogenic bacteria (E. coli 35.0±3.2 mm; P. aeruginosa 29.3±2.6 mm; S. typhi 28.4±2.1 mm and S. pyogenes 27.7±3.7 mm) using the disc diffusion method. In regard to DPPH free radical scavenging assay, keora and guava extracts showed the highest percentage of radical scavenging activity with the values of 89.64± 0.18 and 89.39± 0.88, respectively, which were in agreement with higher total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of these extracts obtained by the phosphomolybdenum method. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay for cytotoxicity assessment showed LC50 of 132.54 ± 18.99 µg/mL for the leaf extract of keora which was found to be most toxic among all studied extracts. The initial results indicated that the extracts could be used for food preservative applications based on the antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxicity properties of the tested extracts. However, efficacy, stability and safety issues need to be addressed with both in vitro and in vivo studies.

New functional foods and beverages can be developed using bioactive compounds present in pequi oil. Complex coacervation is an encapsulation method used for preserving bioactive molecules, especially those that are hydrophobic or sensitive to high temperatures. The objective of this work was to produce and characterize pequi oil microparticles using cashew gum/gelatin matrix (CG/GE) through complex coacervation. Gum Arabic (GA) was also studied in comparison with CG. The coacervation process was performed withoutpequi oil to determine the ideal proportions of the matrix components, followed by the embedding of the oil inthe microparticles for evaluation. Satisfactory microparticles were produced at pH 4.5 in the weight ratios of CG/GE = 2:1 and GA/GE = 1:3. Pequi oil release was greater in acidic pH, especially at pH 2 for the CG/GE matrix. The encapsulation efficiency for CG/GE and GA/GE was 72.53% (±4.80) and 82.77% (±6.09), respectively. The results showed that the CG/GE combination seemed very promising as anencapsulation matrix, especially for food applications involving pH values higher than 3.