Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is an economically important vegetable crop grown in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world. This paper was aimed to review nutritional quality and potential health benefits of edible parts of Okra. Okra is a multipurpose crop due to its various uses of the fresh leaves, buds, flowers, pods, stems and seeds. Okra immature fruits, which are consumed as vegetables, can be used in salads, soups and stews, fresh or dried, fried or boiled. It offers mucilaginous consistency after cooking. Often the extract obtained from the fruit is added to different recipes like stews and sauces to increase the consistency. Okra mucilage has medicinal applications when used as a plasma replacement or blood volume expander. The mucilage of okra binds cholesterol and bile acid carrying toxins dumped into it by the liver. Okra seeds are a potential source of oil, with concentrations varying from 20% to 40%, which consists of linoleic acid up to 47.4%. Okra seed oil is also a rich source of linoleic acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid essential for human nutrition. Okra has been called "a perfect villager's vegetable" because of its robust nature, dietary fiber, and distinct seed protein balance of both lysine and tryptophan amino acids. The amino acid composition of okra seed protein is comparable to that of soybean and the protein efficiency ratio is higher than that of soybean and the amino acid pattern of the protein renders it an adequate supplement to legume or cereal based diets. Okra seed is known to be rich in high quality protein especially with regards to its content of essential amino acids relative to other plant protein sources. Okra is a powerhouse of valuable nutrients, nearly half of which is soluble fibre in the form of gums and pectins which help to lower serum cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart diseases. The other fraction of Okra is insoluble fibre, which helps to keep the intestinal tract healthy. Okra is also abundant with several carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, which plays a vital role in human diet and health. Okra is rich in phenolic compounds with important biological properties like quartering and flavonol derivatives, catechin oligomers and hydroxycinnamic derivatives. Okra is also known for being high in antioxidants activity. Okra has several potential health beneficial effects on some of the important human diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, digestive diseases and some cancers. Overall, Okra is an important vegetable crop with a diverse array of nutritional quality and potential health benefits.

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The promotion and consumption of indigenous vegetables could help to mitigate food insecurity and alleviate malnutrition in developing countries. Nutrient and antinutrient compositions of eight accessions of Okra Pods were investigated. Molar ratios and mineral bioavailability of Okra pod accessions were also calculated and compared to the critical values to predict the implications for mineral bioavailability. Proximate and mineral composition of Okra pod accessions were determined using standard methods of Association of Official Analytical Chemists. The result of the study revealed that the proximate composition (g/100 g) in dry weight basis was significantly (P < 0.05) varied and ranged: moisture/dry matter 9.69–13.33, crude protein 10.25–26.16, crude fat 0.56–2.49, crude fiber 11.97–29.93, crude ash 5.37–11.30, utilizable carbohydrate 36.66–50.97, and gross energy 197.26–245.55 kcal/100 g. The mineral concentrations (mg/100 g) were also significantly (P < 0.05) varied and ranged: calcium (111.11–311.95), Iron (18.30–36.68), potassium (122.59–318.20), zinc (3.83–6.31), phosphorus (25.62–59.72), and sodium (3.33–8.31) on dry weight bases. The Okra Pods of “OPA#6” accession contained significantly higher amounts of crude protein, total ash, crude fat, calcium, iron, and zinc than all other accessions evaluated in this study. The results of antinutrients analysis showed that, except phytate, tannin, and oxalate contents of all the accessions were significantly (P < 0.05) varied. The range of phytate, tannin, and oxalate contents (mg/100 g) for Okra pod accessions studied were as follows: 0.83–0.87, 4.93–9.90, and 0.04–0.53, respectively. The calculated molar ratios of phytate: calcium, phytate: iron, phytate: zinc, oxalate: calcium and [Phytate][Calcium]/[Zinc] were below the critical value and this indicate that the bioavailability of calcium, iron, and zinc in these accessions could be high. The results of the study revealed that Okra pod contain appreciable amount of vital nutrients like protein, fiber, calcium, iron, and zinc and low in antinutrient contents with high mineral bioavailability. Therefore, increase in the production and consumption of these nutrient‐rich indigenous Okra pods will help to supplement/formulate the diets and alleviate the problems associated with malnutrition in the country.

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Food safety is a significant barrier to social and economic development throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Here, we reviewed the prevalence of major bacterial foodborne pathogens ( Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes , Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter spp.) in the rapidly growing Ethiopian dairy supply-chain. We identified 15, 9, 5 and 0 studies that had reported the prevalence of Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, and Campylobacter spp. in dairy foods, respectively. The studies reviewed reported a median prevalence of Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and E. coli O157:H7 of 6, 9 and 10%, respectively, in raw cow milk in Ethiopia, indicating a concerning occurrence of bacterial foodborne pathogens in raw milk. Implementation of good hygiene and production practices and assessment of interventions targeting the reduction of contamination in the dairy supply chain is needed to inform coordinated efforts focused on improvement of dairy food safety in Ethiopia.

The effect of wheat flour refined milling on nutritional and antioxidant quality of hard and soft grown in Ethiopia was evaluated. Bread was prepared with the supplementation of the white wheat flour with different levels (0%, 10%, 20%, and 25%) of wheat bran. Whole (100% extraction) and white wheat (68% extraction) flours were analyzed for proximates, minerals, and antioxidants. Results indicated that at a low extraction rate (68%), the protein, fat, fiber, ash, iron, zinc, phosphorous, and antioxidant contents of the samples significantly (P < 0.05) decreased by milling. The TPC (total phenolic content) of the white wheat flours, which ranged from 3.34 to 3.49 mg GAE (gallic acid equivalent)/g, was significantly (P < 0.005) lower than those of the whole wheat flours, whose TPC ranged from 7.66 to 8.20 GAE/g). At 50 mg/mL, the DPPH (2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl) scavenging effect of the wheat extracts decreased in the order of soft whole, hard whole, soft white, and hard white wheat flour, which was 90.39, 89.89, 75.80, and 57.57%, respectively. Moreover, the proximate and mineral contents of the bran‐supplemented breads increased significantly (P < 0.05) with the bran level of the bread, and the highest values (protein, 12.0 g/100 g; fat, 2.6 g/100 g; fiber, 2.5 g/100 g; ash, 3.3 g/100 g; iron, 4.8 mg/100 g and zinc, 2.33 mg/100 g) were found in 25% bran supplemented bread. The sensory evaluation of bread showed that all the supplementation levels had a mean score above 4 for all preferences on a 7‐ point hedonic scale. The results indicated that refined milling at 68% extraction significantly reduces the nutritional and antioxidant activity of the wheat flours. Bread of good nutritional and sensory qualities can be produced from 10% and 20% bran supplementations.

Functional and antioxidant properties of mucilage extracted from the pods of eight okra accessions grown in Benishangul‐Gumuz region, Western Ethiopia, were evaluated. This study had shown that the mucilage contents of the pods of eight okra accessions ranged from 1.25 to 3.45 g/100 g. Functional properties of the mucilage of okra pods varied significantly (p < .05) and had respective ranges of bulk density of 0.58–0.64 g/ml; water absorption capacity of 2.45–4.60 ml/g; oil absorption capacity of 0.02–3.64 ml/g; emulsifying capacity of 42.22%–74.45%; emulsion stability of 42.22%–74.45%; foaming capacity of 50.51%–62.50%, and foam stability of 36.04%–54.35%. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the mucilage of the pods of okra accessions ranged from 4.66 to 49.93 mg GAE/g and 8.18–18.72 mg CE/g, respectively. The effective concentration (EC 50) values (mg/ml) of mucilage of okra pods varied from 3.15 to 6.60 and 1.10 to 1.85 for DPPH scavenging and metal‐chelating activity, respectively. The study revealed that the mucilage of the pods of okra accessions was found to exhibit good functional properties and can offer a great potential in various food systems. Particularly, mucilage of the pods from OPA#5 and OPA#7 had desirable water and oil absorption capacities, whereas the mucilage of accession OPA#1 and OPA#6 had high emulsifying and foaming properties. The results also demonstrated that okra pod mucilage had potential sources of natural antioxidant.

The direct measurement of biomarkers of exposure in biological fluids such as urine has become important for assessing aflatoxin exposure in humans as it is the only tool that integrates exposures from various routes. For this reason, a study was conducted to assess aflatoxin exposure among young children in Ethiopia using urinary biomarkers. A cross-sectional study was conducted in ten Woredas (Districts) from Amhara and Tigray regional states of Ethiopia including 200 children (aged 1-4 years). A total of 200 urine samples were collected from 200 children and assessed for the levels of aflatoxin B (AFB), aflatoxin B (AFB), aflatoxin G (AFG), aflatoxin G (AFG) and aflatoxin M (AFM) using a validated LC-MS/MS method. Aflatoxins were detected in 34/200 (17%) of the urine samples whereby four out of five analysed aflatoxins were detected. AFM was detected in 14/200 (7%) of the urine samples in a range of 0.06-0.07 ng/mL. AFB, AFG and AFG were detected in respectively 9/200 (4.5%), 6/200 (3%) and 5/200 (2.5%) of the urine samples whereas AFB was not detected in any of the samples. In this study, there was no association between the different malnutrition categories (stunted, wasting and underweight) and aflatoxin exposure. However, the biomarker analysis showed a clear exposure of young children to aflatoxins. Therefore, awareness to the public is important to prevent potential health consequences of aflatoxins.