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Cassava is a starchy crop with several industrial applications, but it deteriorates very fast after harvest. Refrigeration has been used to extend the storage life of the root and the starch isolated from the stored roots characterized. Hence, the purpose of this research is to investigate the chemical, functional, pasting and sensory properties of custard prepared from starch isolated from refrigerated cassava root.

Freshly harvest cassava root were cleaned and stored in a refrigerator operating at 4 °C for a period of one, two and three weeks. Starch was extracted from the fresh and stored roots using established method and custard prepared from each of the starch sample. The custard sample was analysed for amylose content, functional, pasting and sensory properties.

Amylose content in the pastes varied significantly from 18.45 to 25.45%. Refrigeration showed a significant impact on the swelling power of the custard, which could be linked to variation in amylose content. Colour and textural properties of the custard were similar across the samples suggesting a minimal impact of refrigeration on the isolated starch. Refrigerated cassava roots can produce acceptable custard with minimal changes in sensory properties if the storage period is closely monitored.

In a previous study, the authors have shown that starch and cooked paste may be made from stored cassava roots without substantial changes in the quality of these products. This study further confirms the possibility of using starch from the stored roots in food applications such as in custard formulation. No report has documented the properties of custard from starch obtained from refrigerated cassava root.

AgriBusiness entrepreneurship

Post-graduate and executive education classes in agribusiness: MBA, Executive Education programmes for senior managers; entrepreneurial studies and workshops for SMEs.

This case study is centred on Ibrahim, a businessman in Tanzania, who decided to start a business to process and sell cassava starch flour. Following a market survey, he realized that the demand for cassava starch surpassed the supply and planned to bridge this gap. To realize his business idea, he applied for and received a loan from an investment bank (Tanzania Investment bank), with which he bought processing machines and some acres of land for the cultivation of the crop. Unfortunately, he encountered a major setback because the sub-standard processing machine he bought stopped working after one week. He could neither repair his equipment nor buy new ones because the bank refused to extend his loan facility. Ibrahim was also having problems meeting a huge international and local demand for his cassava because of inadequate supply of cassava by local farmers.

This paper aims to understand the entire cassava value chain, which is made up of three major players: growers, processors and end-users; to understand the business case for opting to focus on one of the three areas, what arguments could be given for being a grower, a processor or an end-user; to understand that there are different types of end-user products: cassava starch flour, high-quality cassava flour, both of which can come from an intermediate product called “grates”; to understand the reason for the paradox, that there is (potentially) a high demand for cassava flour locally, and yet these end-users are not yet willing to patronize the local market because supply is low, and supply is low, not because farmers cannot produce more, but simply because they are not processing more – why is this?; to understand that the “processing” stage seem to be the rate-limiting-stage in the cassava starch production value chain – how can this process be improved?; to understand the case for aggregating local farmers into cooperatives to produce enough cassava roots to feed the need of industrial processors, and aggregators can also collect and pre-process into “grates” before selling to industrial processing companies; and to understand the importance of locating processing plants close to the farms.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This paper aims to examine the effects of substituting durum wheat semolina (DWS) with high-quality cassava starch (HQCS) in macaroni noodle production.

The effect of substituting semolina with cassava starch in macaroni production at six levels, namely, 0, 20, 30, 50, 70, 100 per cent, and variation in hydration levels of 45, 50 and 55 per cent and their interaction were studied.

As substitution of DWS with HQCS increased from 0 to 50 per cent at 45 per cent hydration, amylose content increased from 15.91 to 22.79 per cent. However, beyond 50 per cent substitution level, the amylose content dropped significantly to 20.10 per cent. Yet, this reduction did not affect the extrusion ability of the doughs. Analysis of variance revealed that changes observed in the dough properties were not significant (p > 0.05).

Trial productions of cassava macaroni noodles under factory processing conditions need to be explored. Also, cooking trials and consumer acceptability studies need to be conducted to pave the way for adoption by manufacturers.

Dried noodle products enjoy widespread popularity because of their shelf life, lower glycaemic indices, simplicity of preparation and moderate costs. This study showed the potential of substituting DWS with HQCS with no adverse effect on the dough and macaroni noodle characteristics.

The adoption of the process described in this study would result in increased utilization of cassava, broaden existing food base and provide household food security for both rural and urban population.

This paper has shown the suitability of substituting DWS obtained from imported durum wheat, with HQCS: indigenous to Africa, for the economic benefit of macaroni manufacturers.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of epichlorohydrin (ECH) concentration and reaction time on the food-grade resistant starch production and its pasting properties by using native cassava starch of Misiones-Argentina origin.

Cassava starch was modified using ECH (0.30 and 0.15 per cent) during 4 or 8 h. Digestibility was evaluated by determining resistant starch as total dietary fiber. Pasting properties and the cross-linking degree were studied using a micro-viscoamylograph (Brabender).

Resistant starch content was not influenced by ECH concentration and reaction time. Cross-linking was detected at higher reaction times (8 h) and ECH concentrations (0.30 per cent), where a decrease in viscosity peaks by more than 80 per cent was observed. Both pasting temperature and breakdown were increased, whereas a decrease in retrogradation was detected.

Starches can be suitable for different food applications. This is because of the ability to modify its pasting properties and the invariability of the in vitro digestibility of cassava starch as a result of using ECH (at concentrations approved by local and regional legislation) and reaction times of 4 and 8 h.

Information related to the modification of cassava starch using ECH is scarce or not available nowadays in literature.

Banana is an important tropical fruit with high demand in the market. The ripe fruits are less resistant to transport making logistics difficult. Moreover, as a climacteric fruit, it has a short post-harvest shelf life. Edible coatings/films, including active substances, have been used as an alternative for preserving fruits and vegetables during post-harvest period. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incorporating clove essential oil on the properties of cassava starch films and their effect on the post-harvest quality of different banana varieties.

Cassava starch films incorporating clove essential oil were developed and the films were characterized with respect to moisture, thickness, solubility, water vapor permeability (WVP), biodegradability, color and in vitro antifungal activity. Cultivars such as Prata-Anã, Grand Nine, BRS Tropical and BRS Conquista were coated with cassava starch, cassava starch film with clove essential oil (CSEO) and polyvinyl polychloride (PVC). The quality of fruits was monitored during eight storage days using mass loss, total soluble solids content (TSS) and titratable acidity (TTA).

Incorporation of clove essential oil significantly increased film thickness, reduced moisture content, solubility and WVP (p < 0.05) and did not affect the biodegradability and color of the films. The essential oil incorporated films showed antifungal activity against the fungi Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum musae, but not against the yeast Saccharomyces bourladii. CSEO and PVC coating were more efficient in reducing the mass loss, SS content and TTA of the coated fruits in all varieties studied. Both CSEO and PVC coatings improve the quality attributes such as TSS and TTA and reduced mass loss, of the banana varieties such as Prata-Anã, Grand Nine, BRS Tropical and BRS Conquista during storage.

The active film with essential oil showed antifungal activity and essential oil can be incorporated into other food systems. This study approaches a new possibility of film coating with essential oil for a banana that showed minimum weight loss and satisfactory quality and increased shelf life. This film coating demonstrates biodegradable characteristics that could be eco-friendly and sustainable to consumers.

Sago starch (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) is one of the starches imported into Japan. Recently, sago starch has been promoted as a healthy type of starch because it is gluten-free and non-allergenic. This study aims to identify the factors affecting sago starch import demand during the period 1978–2017 in Japan by using a double logarithmic linear function. The study revealed that the price of sago starch, GDP, aging population rate and tariff-rate quota policy are significant factors influencing sago starch importation in Japan.

This paper focuses on the quality characteristics of steamed and boiled blue whiting fish (Micromesistius poutassou) cracker, with the aim of encouraging and promoting the use of this small pelagic inexpensive, readily available fish in food production and reducing post-harvest losses of the fish.

The blue whiting fish cracker was developed using boiling and steaming methods. Minced blue whiting fish meat was mixed with cassava starch in the ratio of 50:50, and other ingredients were incorporated. The dough obtained was divided into two and stuffed into two different muslin cloths. One of the stuffed dough was steamed (100°C for 15 min), whereas the other was boiled in water for 90 min. The boiled and steamed doughs were cooled at 4°C for 12 h, sliced at 2 mm thickness and oven dried at 50°C for 12 h to obtain non-expanded blue whiting fish crackers. The non-expanded blue whiting fish crackers were fried in vegetable oil to obtain expanded blue whiting fish crackers. The quality characteristics of the expanded crackers were determined using standard methods, and data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance; the mean scores were compared using Turkey’s (HSD) test. The sensory evaluation was done using 25 untrained panellists, and results were analysed statistically.

The study revealed the steamed fish cracker has significantly higher nutritional composition in terms of the proximate, mineral, fatty acid and amino acid compositions. Potassium was the most predominant mineral in the crackers, and copper was the least predominant mineral. The saturated fatty acid contents were 43.2 per cent (steamed) and 48.6 per cent (boiled), whereas the unsaturated fatty acid contents were 55.5 (steamed) and 48.5 per cent (boiled). The n6/n3 ratio obtained for steamed and boiled fish cracker was 4.0. The steamed fish cracker had a higher L* value, whereas the Brown index (100 − L*) of the steamed fish cracker was lower (33.4) than that of the boiled fish cracker. The linear expansion was higher for the boiled blue whiting fish crackers (41.8 per cent). The boiled blue whiting fish cracker had higher expanded starch structure than the steamed blue whiting fish cracker. The aroma and taste were highly correlated with overall acceptability.

The paper reports the quality characteristics and overall acceptability of steamed and boiled blue whiting fish crackers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine investments in selected Feed the Future countries in Africa.

The authors examine three investments in Feed the Future countries (e.g. Rwanda and Uganda) in the context of non-traded goods, exports and imports. These investments include research and development in Ugandan cassava production, a value chain intervention in the coffee market channel in Rwanda and a program to increase the use of fertilizer for maize production in Rwanda. The authors also stress the importance of distributional impacts in terms of policymaking.

The results show that while there can be net gains from each investment discussed, the distributional effects of each are very different.

The findings will be useful for the development community and agribusiness policymaking.

This study analyses income inequality and distribution patterns among key actors in the cassava value chain. The study also identifies factors that influence profit of key actors in the cassava value chain.

The study was conducted in Oyo State, Nigeria, using primary data from 620 actors, consisting of 400 farmers, 120 processors and 100 traders in the cassava value chain. The Gini coefficient was used to estimate income inequalities within and between actors. Multiple linear regression was applied to identify factors that influence the profit of the actors in the cassava value chain.

The result shows a gender pattern in the participation in the cassava value chain: men dominate in the production, whereas women mostly engage in processing and marketing of processed cassava products. We also find that incomes are unequally distributed among actors, favouring traders and processors more than farmers in the value chain. Women are better off in processing and trading of value-added products than in the raw cassava production. Spatial differences also contribute to income inequality among farmers in the cassava value chain. An increase in farmers and processors’ incomes reduces inequality in the value chain while an increase in traders’ income widens inequality. Age is significantly negatively correlated with actors’ profit at 1%, while educational level significantly increases their profit at 5%. Processors and traders with large households have a higher profit. We also find that farm size, experience and labour input have significant positive effects on farmers’ profit only at 5%. Membership in an association increases farmers and processors’ profit at 1 and 10%, respectively.

The study recommends that agricultural policies that promote agrifood value chains should aim at minimizing income inequality by targeting vulnerable groups, particularly female farmers to achieve sustainable development in rural communities.

Existing studies recognise income inequality in agricultural value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are few rigorous quantitative studies that address this pressing issue. Our paper fills this knowledge gap and suggests ways to minimise income inequality in the agri-food value chain, using the example of the cassava value chain in Nigeria.