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The purpose of this study was to compare the physico-chemical properties and amino acid profile of three maize hybrid cultivars grown in Nigeria.

Two normal maize endosperm varieties, yellow SUWAN-ISR (YNM) and white ART/98/SW05-OB-WC (WNM), and one yellow QPM variety, TZE-POP-DT-STR-QPM (YQPM), were selected for the study. Physico-chemical properties, physical tests, proximate composition analysis, functional properties and characteristics and amino acid profile tests were carried out on the grains using standard methods.

Protein was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in YQPM (10.49 per cent) than in normal endosperm, YNM (8.83 per cent) and WNM (8.50 per cent). Amino acid profile of the grains revealed that total amino acid of YQPM (94.67 g/100 g of protein) and essential amino acid of YQPM (39.070) were the highest among the three, with highest significantly different value of tryptophan (0.388 g/100 g of protein) at p < 0.05. The cooking quality of YQPM was found to be better than the other two, with highest hydration capacity and increase in volume after cooking (90.8 ± 0.01 g/1000 grains and 147.53 ± 0.02 per cent).

YQPM will be highly beneficial in the tropics, where maize is grown as the major staple food to reduce hunger and malnutrition because of its amino acid balance and its better cooking quality.

The purpose of this study was to isolate Whitemouth croaker protein by alkaline solubilization process and evaluate their nutritional quality to evaluate the bioavailability of essential amino acids.

The proximate composition, essential amino acid composition, in vitro digestibility, apparent bioavailability, chemical score of amino acids and SDS-PAGE were determined for the isolated croaker proteins.

The isolated protein showed a high level of protein 92.21 percent and low amount of lipids 0.57 percent. The protein is rich in lysine and leucine, 108.73 and 96.75 mg/g protein, respectively. The protein isolate had high digestibility, 94.32 percent, which indicates proper utilization of this protein source, while the tryptophan had lower bioavailability (12.58 mg amino acid/mg protein). The high chemical scores were found for the amino acids lysine, methionine+cysteine (6.79 and 5.14). SDS-PAGE of proteins extracted showed appearance of the heavy chain of myosin (220 kDa), actin (50 kDa) and other fractions, with molecular weight between 20 and 50 kDa, such as troponin I, C and T.

The products obtained from croaker muscle can be incorporated as a high value supplements in human diets. The isolated protein exhibited a high content of essential amino acids and digestibility, indicating that the protein has a high nutritional quality.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the proximate composition, amino acid and mineral profiles of seafood for human consumption.

A total of 21 seafood species (eight seawater, one fresh water fish, six crustacean and six mollusc species) of commercial importance were chosen and purchased from the Istanbul local fish market. The sample to amino acids analyze was prepared in accordance with the hydrolysis technique described by Waters AccQ.Tag Chemistry Package Method (HPLC). Determination of iron (Fe), sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), selenium (Se), phosphorus (P) and iodine (I) was performed with thermo electron X7 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS).

The lipid contents of species were found to be very low and considered as lean. The highest total amino acid values of fishes, crustaceans and molluscs were determined in John Dory, hake, red scorpion fish, spiny lobster, Norway lobster, sea snail and pecten. The mineral content of seafood species were found to be 9.3‐157.11 mg/kg Fe, 558.13‐6095.89 mg/kg Na, 253.25‐1032.29 mg/kg Mg, 125.43‐17174.76 mg/kg Ca, 0.18‐7.76 mg/kg Se, 1586.45‐5811.16 mg/kg P and 0.086‐2.630 mg/kg I.

This paper is helpful to consumers and academics concerning the proximate, amino acid and mineral composition of 21 estimable seafood species (nine fish, six crustacean and six mollusc species).

In the backdrop of declining per capita availability of pulses, soybean is the alternate source to address protein deficiency in India. The study aims to assess the efficiency of soy products available in the market for meeting the daily requirement of essential amino acids (EAAs).

Extruded soy products, namely, soy nuggets, granules, soy flour manufactured from sprouts, spray-dried soy milk variants, ready-to-drink (RTD) soy beverage and silken tofu, were analysed for EAAs by high-performance liquid chromatography. In addition, efficiency of these products in terms of meeting the daily requirement of EAAs for an adult weighing 70 kg through a single serving (equivalent to 6 g protein) was also computed.

Leucine was the most concentrated EAA in all the soy products, except in variants of soy milk. Total essential amino acids’ (TEAAs) content in soy flour was significantly higher compared to soy nuggets and granules. Spray-dried plain soymilk exhibited a significantly higher level of TEAAs content compared to flavoured variant and RTD soy beverage. Among all the products, silken tofu exhibited the highest concentration of TEAAs. RTD soy beverage was the most efficient product for meeting the daily requirement of isoleucine and valine, soy flour for aromatic amino acids and silken tofu for lysine and leucine.

This work pertains to the determination of EAAs of commercial soy products and assesses their efficiency in terms of meeting the daily requirement of EAAs. This type of technical evaluation of soy products has not been conducted earlier.

The purpose of this study was to accelerate the fermentation process of minced mackerel fish (Scomber scombrus L.) mixed thoroughly with 20 per cent salt (w/w) and hydrolyzed by 0.2 and 0.4 per cent bromelain at 37°C.

S. scombrus L. was mixed thoroughly with 20 per cent salt (w/w) and hydrolyzed by the bromelain at levels of 0.2 and 0.4 per cent at 37°C. The physicochemical and sensory properties were evaluated after 60 and 90 days.

In a comparison of all of the aforementioned treatments, the results showed that the samples with higher bromelain levels (0.4 per cent) had higher concentrations of formal nitrogen (622 mg/100 mL) and total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N, 0.3 g/dL) after 90 days of fermentation (p < 0.01) . The sample with 0.4 per cent bromelain showed total free amino acids content of 13.3 g/100 g after 90 days of fermentation (p < 0.01). High levels of total fatty acids (15.6 mg/100 g) were found in samples treated with 0.4 per cent bromelain and allowed to ferment for 90 days (p < 0.01). The sauce colour became significantly highly saturated (p < 0.01) with the increase in fermentation time. Chroma was significantly increased by 44 and 66 per cent in fermented sauce samples with 0.2 and 0.4 per cent bromelain during fermentation for as long as 90 days (p < 0.01). Moreover, the addition of bromelain (0.4 per cent) resulted in mackerel fish sauce that was organoleptically preferred at the end of fermentation.

The results showed that an acceptable fish sauce could be produced from mackerel fish with supplementation with 0.4 per cent of bromelain, which reduced the fermentation time to 90 days and resulted in the most satisfactory results without compromising the product quality.

Leafy vegetables are known to be highly perishable because of high moisture content, which had resulted in applications of different preservative methods. However, these methods were not without certain limitations during storage. Osmotic pre-dehydration had been proved to be a better alternative because of high retention and improvement in nutritional qualities and stability during storage. This study aims to investigate the osmotic pre-dehydration of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) leaves.

Fluted pumpkin (T. occidentalis) leaves were pre-dried using sucrose, corn syrup and sodium chloride solutions as osmotic agents, while unosmo-predried leaves were used as the control. Both osmo-predehydrated and unosmo-predried leaves were dried in a hot air oven, whereas the effect of the osmotic agents on the nutritional qualities was investigated using standard protocols.

There were significant differences (p-values ranged from 0.001 to 0.030) in the proximate compositions of samples. Osmo-predried leaves recorded higher mineral contents in Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn and Na. Osmotic pre-dehydration by NaCl had a significant effect (p = 0.02) on ascorbic acid. The amino acid profile of the oven-dried leaves (unosmo-predried) showed that histidine and cysteine recorded high amino acid scores of 120.42% and 135%, respectively. Threonine (43.73%) recorded the highest essential amino acid score (without histidine). The economic evaluation indicated the percentage cost index difference of leaves treated with NaCl as 2.08%, sucrose (11.19%) and corn syrup (16.43%).

The high proportion of beneficial elements such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and appreciable chemical compositions of the osmo-predried leaves compared to unpre-dried leaves proved osmotic pre-dehydration as a value-added technique for preservation of leafy vegetables. The best osmotic agent was sodium chloride. This process could be applied on a small scale for the development of self-entrepreneurs and home-scale industries.

Child undernutrition is a persistent problem in Africa, especially in areas where the poor largely depend on starchy staples with limited access to diverse diets. The purpose of this study was to determine the protein quality, growth and rehabilitating potential of composite foods made from quality protein maize.

Four composite diets were prepared from quality protein maize, namely quality protein maize-soybeans; quality protein maize-soybeans-cowpeas; quality protein maize-soybeans-common beans and quality protein maize alone. A fifth diet was prepared from common maize alone. The control diet (Chesta®) was made from maize, soybeans, fish, bone and blood meal. The formulations were made to meet the greatest amino acid score and the desired amount of energy and fat according to the FAO/WHO (1985) recommendation for pre-school children. Albino rats were used in evaluating the protein quality of the formulations.

The food intake was significantly different (p < 0.05) among diets; with a trend of intake decreasing from quality protein maize-based to conventional maize alone diets (apart from the control diet). Protein efficiency ratio and net protein ratio varied significantly (p < 0.05) across the experimental diets. Protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) was 80 per cent (quality protein maize-soybeans-cowpeas), 87 per cent (quality protein maize-soybeans), 103 per cent (common maize alone), 98 per cent (quality protein maize), 80 per cent (quality protein maize-soybeans-common beans) and 53 per cent (control).

Two diets, namely quality protein maize-soybeans-common beans and quality protein maize-soybeans-cowpeas, showed the greatest potential to support growth and rehabilitation of undernourished rats. Human trial is proposed to validate the findings.

Despite adoption of quality protein maize in several parts of the country, there are no studies that have been done to determine the potential of quality protein maize to support optimal growth and rehabilitation of undernourished children. The objective of this study was, therefore, to evaluate the protein quality, growth and rehabilitating potential of composite foods made from quality protein maize.

The study aims to design metabolic syndrome (MetS) ingredient mix with optimum amino acid makeup using key foods with reported functional properties and study the efficacy of this mix to alleviate the symptoms of MetS among adult men and women with MetS.

In total, 25 MetS-specific ingredient mixes that included wheat flour, common legumes, fenugreek and flaxseeds were formulated by correcting their amino acid score. The suitability of these mixes was tested for the preparation of chapati (an unleavened Indian bread). Owing to its highest lysine content, the ingredient mix of whole wheat flour, oat flour, soybean, flaxseeds and fenugreek seeds was selected for the 12-week supplementation trial among patients with MetS.

The sensory scores of chapatis made using nine ingredient mixes was comparable with those of chapati made from whole wheat flour (control). The test chapatis had a significantly (p = 0.05) higher protein, ash, fibre and fat content, and lysine was also higher (591-1,006 mg/100 g) than the control chapatis (314 mg). Positive and significant changes in the anthropometry, body composition, fasting blood glucose levels, blood pressure and lipid profile of the patients with MS was seen after consumption of the selected ingredient mix.

Keeping in view the traditional vegetarian Indian meals which usually take care of including foods from different sources to improve their protein quality, the concern for providing protein quality to prevent metabolic abnormalities is significant for a large lacto-vegetarian population in India which depends on plant foods for obtaining essential amino acids. Obtaining optimum protein quality from meals along with maintaining a physically active lifestyle may help people have the appropriate fat to lean mass proportion which may have a protective role against MetS.

The effects of incorporation of Locusta migratoria (LM) powder at different levels (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%) on nutritional, qualitative and sensory properties of baked breads were investigated.

Chemical composition, mineral elements and functional properties of wheat flour, LM powder and their binary mixture systems were determined. The breads were assayed for proximate composition, minerals, amino acids profile, physical characteristics and sensorial properties.

LM powder have relatively high levels of protein (51.97% db), fat (23.15% db) and fibers (13.76% db). LM powder presented significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater water absorption capacity (WAC), oil absorption capacity(OAC), emulsion activity (EA) and foam capacity (FC) as compared to wheat flour. Blending wheat flour with various levels of LM powder significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved the functional properties of binary mixture systems. Protein, fat, fiber and ash contents of bread samples significantly increased with the addition of LM powder. No significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were recorded in specific volume between control breads and those breads containing LM powder up to 2%. Breads fortified with LM powder contained higher values of essential amino acids than the limits of FAO/WHO pattern, with exception of lysine. Sensory evaluation results showed that bread samples with the addition of LM powder at levels 1–4% had high overall acceptability.

Limitations of our study are the lack of approved and professional programs about management, collection, harvesting, processing, marketing and consumption of edible insects; therefore, these results should be generalized implications for industry. This present study, therefore, provides useful data to support public health nutrition aimed at improving the nutritional health of populations through the promotion of bakery products enriched with LM powder.

The main findings of this study indicated that the addition of 1–4% of LM powder into wheat flour enhanced sensory and nutritional properties of produced breads.

It is concluded that the addition of LM powder improves the nutritional and sensorial properties of the produced bread when the wheat flour is substituted with 1–4% of LM powder.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential food and industrial values of a tropical and underutilized indigenous plant.

Specimens of a dry‐milled plant, namely: Zizyphus spina‐christi, were subjected to chemical analysis to determine their proximate, mineral, sugar, and amino acid compositions using standard procedures.

The fruit pulp was found to be a good source of energy, carbohydrates and rich in Mg, Ca, Fe and Zn, whereas the seeds are rich in crude fiber. Essential amino acids are 32.96 percent in fruit pulp and 25.22 percent in seeds, whereas non‐essential amino acids are 61.25 percent in fruit pulp and 73 percent in seeds.

The nutritional composition of the plant materials suggests that they may find use in food formulation operations and as industrial raw materials.