Food Science

The rapidly growing and changing food demands by urban dwellers has resulted in the need for cheaper and convenience foods. Street vended foods have shown epidemiological links with illness. Concerns have also been raised about these foods with respect to their potential for food poisoning outbreaks. The study sought to assess aspects of hygiene practices such as food preparation area, environment of food vendors, personal hygiene, handling and storage of food. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect data on the current status of food hygiene and sanitation practiced by street food vendors in Accra. Results indicated that out of the 50 respondents, 66% were in the age range of 26 to 30 years, of which 76% were females. Most of the vendors (54%) were senior high school graduates. Majority (76%) of the respondents were stationary vendors. Of the total respondents interviewed, 36% have not had any form of formal training in catering, 64% of the vendors prepare food at home and send to the premises to be sold, and 80% of the surroundings were clean. Fifty-eight percent (58%) dispose of refuse twice daily. Most of the respondents (86%) had short and clean nails. Forty percent (40%) of the vendors serve the food in polyethylene bags. Unsold food is stored by 56% of the respondents for sale the next day. Reheating (50%) and refrigeration (44%) are methods used by respondents to preserve unsold food. A large number (70%) of the vendors use sachet water to serve their customers as a source of drinking water. This study indicates that majority of food vendors in Accra exhibited good food hygiene practices. However there is a need for the vendors to be given regular education on hygienic practices to avoid food contamination and food poisoning.

Moringa is known to contain elements that are essential to life. Major roles played by elements include enzyme activation, nerve impulse conduction, oxygen transport, immune functions. The two major groups of elements are major and minor elements (trace elements). Major elements such as Na, Ca, K,P, Mg and trace elements such as Fe, V, Zn, Cr, Cu, Cd, Co , Mn, Pb, Al, Br were determined using both Neutron Activation Analysis(N.A.A) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometer(A.A.S). Further research is required to carry out the effectiveness of Moringa preparations in reducing the risks associated with diseases such as diabetes, hypertension.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutients content and antioxidant capacity of fresh immature fruits of twelve varieties from Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.). Protein and utilizable carbohydrate contents were evaluated by the method of Gornall (1949) and Dubois (1956), respectively. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was used to determine the quantities of minerals present in the samples. The antioxidant activity was measured using FRAP test.The highest protein content is observed in the variety V3 (36.055 ± 0.017 g/100 g). That in utilizable carbohydrate is observed in the variety V19 (9.2418 ± 0.014 g/ 100 g). The zinc, iron and copper contents are relatively low. Varieties V19 (60mg/kg), V52 (40 mg/kg) and V42 (14 mg/kg) showed the high contents of zinc, iron and copper, respectively. Evaluation of antioxidant activity in vitro of the extracts, from the different varieties of okra, by the reduction’s method of the ferric ion (FRAP), showed interesting activities. The highest ferric ion reduction capacity was observed with the V42 variety (62.93 mmol EAA / g). All the results obtained revealed that immature fruits of okra’s varieties V5, V16, V52 and V42 presented the higher nutritional and antioxidant potentials among all the varieties and could thus be recommended to children, women and older people for their diet.

The bark of the cinnamon tree has a long history both as a spice and as a medicine. It has been reported that the healing abilities of cinnamon come from three basic types of components in the essential oils found in its bark. This present study was to assess the microbial contamination that might arise as a result of recommended drying methods and the efficacy of extracts from different dried cinnamon parts on selected microorganisms. Oven dried samples recorded no microflora due to the high temperature in the oven destroying all vegetative cells in the samples. The root bark samples had a higher microbial count than the stem barks. None of the extracts from both the dried stem and root barks was effective at inhibiting the growth of E. coli. Cold water and ethanol extracts of the stem bark did not have an inhibitory effect on S. aureus. Hot water extracts of the shade dried samples did not show any inhibitory effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For the inhibition of P. aeruginosa, oven dried samples showed a higher zone of inhibition than samples dried under shade.

Bread is one of the major products of baked foods and is consumed worldwide. Autoclave of pumpkin seed help to increase the nutrient content of the bread. The objective of this study was to optimize the refined wheat flour, autoclave pumpkin seed powder and butter with respect to bread-making quality. The optimal Design was employed with the following variables of weight loss, porosity and specific volume of the bread. Models developed adequately described the relationships and were confirmed by validation studies. Refined wheat flour showed the greatest effect on models, which effect impaired porosity and specific volume of autoclave pumpkin seed bread. The optimum set of the independent variables was obtained graphically in order to obtain the desired levels of 100g for refined wheat flour, 10g for autoclave pumpkin seed and 6g for butter. Organoleptic evaluation of autoclave pumpkin seed bread shows that variation 4 with 100g refined wheat flour; 10g autoclave pumpkin seed and 6 g of butter had obtained high score for overall acceptability.

Elaeagnus angustifolia has wide range of distribution in the country and its oil has many food and health benefits. Its oil use for therapy of some disease included Dental diseases, diarrhea, stomach ulcers and prevention of bleeding. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physicochemical properties of the seed oil. Therefore Elaeagnus were collected of the surrounding gardens Semnan. Its core was separated. After drying, it was chopped by the mill, oil extraction was obtained by Soxhlet. Some traits were examined such as Peroxide value, acid and iodine value. 5% oil was obtained of Elaeagnus Angustifolia. The oil had high in linoleic acid and oleic acid its oil like sunflower oil and contains essential fatty acids omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acid. It also has good resistance to oxidation temperature. The mean iodine value was 120.73, oxidation stability 5:51 h, blue color 0.78 percent, red 2.79 percent, yellow 47.6%, peroxide 12.31 mill equivalents peroxide per kg of oil, non-soap compounds 5.17% , sterols 1283 mg/100gr oil, Tocopherol 94.3 mg/ 100gr oil, iron 0.62 ppm, copper 0.0366 ppm, Phospholipid 268.3 mg per gram, respectively.

Obesity has been pointed as a major issue plaguing in the World. Currently the Indian community has more of overweight / obese, people with excess body fat, abdominal adiposity, increased subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat, and deposition of fat in ectopic sites. Fat is still the number one nutritional concern for most people because the continuous consumption of fat may lead to certain major health disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, hypertension, some types of cancer, high blood cholesterol etc. Evidence suggests that lowering total energy intake along with a reduction in total fat intake can have a substantial impact on body weight and risk of chronic diseases. Thus, the fat replacers have opened the door for a new generation of reduced fat foods that have the taste and texture of the high fat foods that consumers enjoy, without unnecessary calories, cholesterol or fat. By considering the current issue prevailing in India, effort was taken to prepare a modified rice starch to replace fat in certain food products without affecting the taste, texture and flavor. Though 100 percent replacement of fat is impossible it is feasible to reduce the fat content to an acceptable level with the help of modified rice starch.

Several synthetic chemicals used as preservative of food crops have been banned in some countries because of their toxicological effects (adverse reactions). This study aims the use of plant extracts as natural preservatives of a sorghum beer "tchakpalo". The drink has been produced following the traditional technology improved by the addition of the Mentha spicata L. essential oil. This essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation with a Clevenger type apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography and by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The antifungal activity of this oil was evaluated by the method of diffusion in agar against the strains responsible of the alteration (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus and Penicillium digitatum) isolated from "tchakpalo". The extraction yield of essential oil was 0.27% after 135 minutes. The major compounds identified in this essential oil were: carvone (66.57%), limonene (16.33%) and 1.8-cineole (7.22%). Antifungal activity evaluation showed fungicidal effect of this essential oil on A. flavus at a concentration of 0.27 mg/ml and has shown fungistatic effect on the other two fungi at the concentrations tested. The addition of this essential oil at 0.05 % in the beverage produced has made it stable during two (02) months. It would therefore be advisable to continue the studies on a longer "shelf life" in order to confirm the conservative effect of this essential oil.

The glycemic index is a ranking of foods based on the post prandial blood glucose response compared with a reference food. Ten Healthy volunteers belonged to 35-60 years of age were recruited for the study. The glycemic response was found out before and after supplementation of test food and reference food. The blood sample was collected at zero, half an hour, one hour, one and half an hour and two hour intervals after giving 50g of glucose, 78 grams of Commercial Home Made Chocolate with 50 grams of carbohydrate and 200 grams of Developed Home Made Dark Chocolate (HMDC) samples containing 50 grams of carbohydrate. The blood sugar levels were measured in mmols/L using ascensia entrust diabetes care system. The glycemic index is calculated using the area under the curve (AUC) values. The subjects were healthy consuming sufficient amount of nutrients as recommended by Gopalan et al., 2007. Glycemic index and glycemic load value of the developed sample was. Thus the developed product was a low glycemic food compared to the standard product.

The present study aims to evaluate preventive effect of S.indicus on p-dimethylaminoazobenzene (DAB) induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. Oral administration of stem ethanol extract of the S.indicus (300mg/kg) effectively prevent the hepatocarcinogenesis as exposed by reduce in the levels of extend of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphate (ALP), total bilirubin, total cholesterol, lipid peroxidase (LPO) and raise the level of glutathione-S-transferase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) when compared to DAB induced rats. The histopathological changes of the liver sample compared with respective control. The present study shows a significant preventive effect of S.indicus (SI) on DAB administrated hepatocarcinogenesis in rats.