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Against a milieu of fragmented research that documents indigenous practices related to food security, and the heterogeneous settings from which the studies have been conducted, this study aims to synthesize the evidence of indigenous knowledge-food security nexus to strengthen the call for the revitalization of indigenous knowledge (IK) as part of the mechanisms to manage food security challenges being aggravated by climate change.

Drawing on insights from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this study reviews 122 articles accessed from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, which covered indigenous methods used for producing, gathering, processing, preserving and storing diverse food sources that indigenous people deploy in securing their food systems.

The surge in attention to focus on IK-food security nexus tends to be influenced by the growing acknowledgement of climate change impacts on food systems. Essentially, the IK-based practices adopted address all the four food security pillars that are specified by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) as availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. The main motivation behind the continued use of IK-based ways relates largely to the interest to be food secure against climatic shocks and partly to the desire to maintain people’s food cultures and food sovereignty.

This study deploys the food security pillars provided by the FAO (2012) to demonstrate that IK-based ways of food management are capable of addressing all the four food security dimensions, a critical observation toward revitalizing IK in managing growing food security challenges that are intensified by climate change in SSA.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the antioxidant and type II diabetes related enzyme inhibition properties of phenolic extract from raw and traditionally processed Indian under‐utilized food legume grains, Bauhinia purpurea L. (purple camel's foot seeds).

The methanolic extract was prepared from the raw and traditionally processed seed samples and analyzed for total phenolic content. The antioxidant activity and type II diabetes related enzyme inhibition properties of methanolic extract and their relationship with phenolic content was demonstrated.

The methanolic extract of raw seed materials contained total free phenolic content of 14.45±1.62 g catechin equivalent/100 g extract DM. Encouraging levels of ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP, 1203 mmol Fe[II]/mg extract), inhibition of ß‐carotene degradation (45.37 percent) and scavenging activity against DPPH (63.60 percent) and superoxide (42.14 percent) radicals were exhibited by the raw samples. Further, it also recorded 80.69 percent of α‐amylase and 63.74 percent of α‐glucosidase enzyme inhibition characteristics under in vitro starch digestion bioassay. Sprouting+oil‐frying caused an apparent increase on the total free phenolic content, antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacity, while soaking+cooking as well as open‐pan roasting treatments show diminishing effects.

Identification of suitable processing technique offered a good strategy to improve the phenolic content and health relevant functionality of B. purpurea seeds, which could be envisaged as a dietary ingredient in the formulation of supplementary foods with therapeutic value to manage type II diabetic patients.

The purpose of this paper is to review phytochemical potential of acacia and its associated health advantages. Acacia a moderate-sized, deciduous tree and recognised as health-promoting species because of availability of essential bioactive components. The bioactive compounds such as tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, fatty acids and polysaccharides (gums) present in the plant parts of acacia, namely, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, twigs and seeds, have medicinal value and thus are used to overlay the formulations of plant-based drugs and value-added foods.

Major well-known bibliometric information sources such as Web of Science, Scopus, Mendeley and Google Scholar were searched with keywords such as “nutrition value of acacia”, “bioactive compounds”, “health benefits”, “processing and safety” were chosen to obtain a database of 1,428 papers. The search considered papers in the English language from the past 18 years of publication in journals (2004–2022). The article selection process consisted of the screening of titles and abstracts, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Articles that did not have acacia components as a study objective were taken into consideration for exclusion. A final database of 87 scientific sources was made after sorting and classifying them according to different criteria based on topic relevance, country of origin and year of publication. Articles with other random descriptors were also searched to complement the discussion of the results obtained.

The literature reflected that acacia contains all necessary phytochemicals like polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, glucosinolates, alkaloids and carotenoids along with essential macro, micro-nutrients. Furthermore, processing methods such as soaking, cooking, roasting and dehusking significantly reduced the anti-nutritional factors present in acacia seeds of different species. This review also focused on the processing methods that are used to eliminate or lower down the anti-nutritional factors from the seeds. Previous findings related to acacia plant parts with respect to food development are explored and mentioned.

This review emphasised mainly on recent studies that had been reported on ethnomedical acacia plants therapeutically, commercially and exponentially for further studies to increase the utilisation in food processing.

This study aims to examine the effect of traditional fermentation on gari’s total heavy metal and mineral nutrient content.

This study used a quantitative approach, descriptive-analytical design to baseline the risk of heavy metals and experimental design to assess the effect of traditional fermentation. Data were analyzed using descriptives, univariate and multivariate analysis.

Although gari is rich in mineral nutrients (total calcium 3.9 ± 0.1 g/kg, copper 5.5 ± 0.02 mg/kg, iron 97.1 ± 5.8 mg/kg, potassium 9.1 ± 0.29 g/kg and zinc 3.4 ± 0.11 mg/kg), the significant levels of heavy metals (total arsenic 1.2 ± 0.01, cadmium 2.5 ± 0.04, lead 1.7 ± 0.01, mercury 2.8 ± 0.01 and tin 1.7 ± 0.02 mg/kg) present are a cause for concern. The results further suggested that traditional fermentation has reductive effects on some heavy metals and stabilizing or concentrating effects on mineral nutrients.

This paper provides evidence that traditional fermentation may have exploitable differential effects on heavy metal contaminants and mineral nutrients that should be further explored.

Thise study reports fermentation implications for mitigating food with high heavy metal contaminants with minimal nutrient loss.

This study fulfills an identified need to optimize traditional fermentation to ensure food safety and nutrient security.

This study aims to examine the effects of various physical and chemical pre-treatments on antioxidant properties of tree bean (Parkia roxburghii G. Don) in combination with storage conditions.

The whole pods and seeds of tree bean were treated with gamma rays (γ-rays), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and stored at room temperature (RT, 25°C) for 30 days. The physical and chemical pre-treated seeds and pods were compared with the same stored at RT and refrigerated storage at 4°C and −20°C. During storage, physical (moisture content) and antioxidants like total phenolics, ascorbate content, reduced glutathione, total flavonoids, along with free radical scavenging activities (FRSA) were measured.

Chemical pre-treatments with NaOCl, ClO₂ and H₂O₂ significantly accelerated (p = 0.05) the total phenolics (1.9 mg/g FW in seeds and 2.4 mg/g FW in pods), flavonoids content (0.3 mg/g FW each in seeds and pods) and ABTS activities (73.3 per cent in seeds and 92.3 per cent in pods) at 30 days of storage. A significant decrease (p = 0.05) in ascorbate content (6.1 mg/g FW in seeds and 3.5 mg/g FW in pods), reduced glutathione (5.1 mg/g FW in seeds and 3.7 mg/g FW in pods), FRAP (0.3 mg equi Fe/g FW in seeds and 0.4 mg equi Fe/g FW in pods) and reducing power (1.8 mg/g FW in seeds and 3.7 mg/g FW in pods) was observed under all the treatments at 30 days of storage. However, DPPH increased under γ-irradiation and decreased under chemical pre-treatments, storage at RT and refrigerated storage. The overall result showed that pre-treatment of H₂O₂ at 10-20 mM maintains antioxidants and radical scavenging activities in tree bean during storage.

The application of H₂O₂ at 10-20 mM prior to storage of tree bean maintains the physical, antioxidant properties and FRSA in tree bean seeds and pods as compared to natural ambient conditions. Hence, this technique will help in improving the keeping quality of this legume and avoid spoilage after harvest for an extended period.

The paper aims to investigate the iron, zinc, carotenoid, vitamin E, anthocyanin, and phenolic contents, antioxidant activity and the effect of the boiling of rice on such parameters.

Iron and zinc content were investigated using atomic absorption spectrometry. Meanwhile, simultaneous extraction and detection methods using high performance liquid chromatography were applied for carotenoids, tocopherol, and tocotrienol analyses. For anthocyanin and phenolic determination, pH differential method and Folin Ciocalteu method were used, respectively. Antioxidant activity of samples was examined using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and superoxide radical scavenging methods.

The n790 cultivar has a higher iron, zinc γ tocopherol (1,869.64 mg/kg), α tocopherol (1,883.97 mg/kg), anthocyanin (205.54 mg cyanidin 3 glucoside equivalent/100 g dry matter), and phenolic (728.9 mg catechin equivalent/100 g dry matter) contents. Jowo cultivar has higher lutein (1,314.21 mg/kg), α carotene (823.29 mg/kg), and β carotene (71.73 mg/kg) contents. Meanwhile, γ tocotrienol is the most abundant tocotrienol found in all samples. N790 cultivar had the highest antioxidative potential in FRAP, and superoxide radical methods. Boiling did not significantly affect the zinc content, however, different response was found in carotenoid, tocopherol, and tocotrienol content. Moreover, boiling decreased the antioxidant activity of extract.

Black- and red-colored rice could substitute white rice in Indonesian diet to achieve better nutrient intake.

Providing information on nutrient and bioactive compound of Indonesian underutilized colored rice can help to change the dietary habit and to alleviate nutrient deficiency in Indonesia.

The purpose of this paper is to econometrically examine whether indigenous enterprises can upgrade under open economy by using micro-firm data.

In order to make clear the impact of outward development on the indigenous manufacturing export enterprises' productivity from micro level and to propose policy recommendation, the research group selected indigenous manufacturing export enterprises in Kunshan China as research objects and made a large-scale survey. Based on micro-firm data from survey, the paper carries out empirical analysis.

After controlling some other variables including innovation activity, human capital and enterprises scale, empirical result shows that export activity, establishing connections with FDI enterprises, industry clusters formed under open economy all have significant and positive effect on upgrading of indigenous enterprises.

This paper is the first to use micro-firm data obtained from survey to examine factors affecting indigenous enterprises' upgrading capability of China.

Indigenous knowledge is an essential element for unveiling the evolutionary journey of socio-culture phenomena. One of the key challenges in foresight exercises is to incorporate social-culture issues such as culture, lifestyle and behavior (referred as indigenous knowledge) into the study. However, the statistical trends of those factors tend to be either not available or limited unlike the population or economic related factors. The purpose of this study is to present the use of valuable data from indigenous knowledge to enhance the foresight exercise through the better understanding of social dynamics and changes.

The fragmented form of indigenous knowledge is analyzed and converted into a structured data format and then interpreted to unveil the evolutionary journey of socio-cultural phenomena. This study applies a scenario development method to visualize the results of foresight by comparing before and after the integration of indigenous knowledge. Finally, an assessment was conducted to reflect the value enhancement resulting from the integration of indigenous knowledge into the foresight process.

With the proposed approach, the foresight study on the future development of Thai food was demonstrated. The findings of this study show that the use of indigenous knowledge on eating behavior, cooking style and food flavor helps improve the alternative scenarios for the future development of Thai foods.

Indigenous knowledge can be applied to develop plausible scenarios and future images in foresight exercises. However, by nature, indigenous knowledge is not well-structured and, therefore, needs to be analyzed and turned into structured data so that it can be interpreted before integrating into the foresight process.

This study is one of few studies addressing the opportunities for integrating indigenous knowledge into foresight process. Indigenous knowledge can unveil the evolution of socio-cultural changes to improve the results of foresight study, especially the cases where statistical data and trends may not be sufficient to foresee future development.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the personal profile and entrepreneurial activities of indigenous Ghanaian women and to provide updated research to raise awareness about the significant impact of the indigenous women‐run small to medium‐sized enterprises on Africa countries' economies.

The study employed a mixed methodology research design where both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Mail surveys were used to collect data from 241 indigenous Ghanaian women and in addition, 20 of these women were purposefully selected and interviewed.

Indigenous Ghanaian women were found to exhibit many similarities with their counterparts in other countries in terms of their personality traits. However, they differed in other aspects such as their educational backgrounds and modes of entrepreneurial skills acquisition. Through their entrepreneurial activities the women have made substantial contributions to the economic growth of Ghana in terms of innovation, job creation, and reduction in poverty and unemployment.

The main limitation is the restricted locale of the sample. The sample however is a reasonably representative of all the ten municipalities and indigenous communities in Ghana, and as a result the findings can be generalized to all indigenous women entrepreneurs in Ghana.

The paper shows that the indigenous women's small businesses are very important to economic and social development. Indigenous women's entrepreneurship, properly harnessed, has great potential as a tool for transforming African economies.

This paper contributes to the literature due to the scarcity of publications about indigenous women's economic activities in Africa. The paper is useful for policy makers in Africa and researchers wishing to pursue indigenous entrepreneurship and gender studies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of indigenous technological capability and interpersonal trust on product innovation through supply-chain learning under a dynamic environment.

The proposed model is tested with a sample of 300 manufacturers in China.

The results show that the learning from customers partially mediates the relationship between indigenous technological capability and product innovation, as well as between interpersonal trust with customers and product innovation. In addition, the influence of indigenous technological capability on learning from customers is weakened under a dynamic environment as well as the influence of learning from customers on product innovation.

This study illustrates the comparative roles of indigenous technological capability and interpersonal trust in learning customer knowledge and promoting innovation. It also enriches the innovation research by understanding the learning roles of indigenous technological capability and interpersonal trust under a dynamic environment.