Cereals and legumes are outstanding sources of macronutrients, micronutrients, phytochemicals, as well as antinutritional factors. These components present a complex system enabling interactions with different components within food matrices. The interactions result in insoluble complexes with reduced bioaccessibility of nutrients through binding and entrapment thereby limiting their release from food matrices. The interactions of nutrients with antinutritional factors are the main factor hindering nutrients release. Trypsin inhibitors and phytates inherent in cereals and legumes reduce protein digestibility and mineral release, respectively. Interaction of phytates and phenolic compounds with minerals is significant in cereals and legumes. Fermentation and germination are commonly used to disrupt these interactions and make nutrients and phytochemicals free and accessible to digestive enzymes. This paper presents a review on traditional fermentation and germination processes as a means to address myriad interactions through activation of endogenous enzymes such as α‐amylase, pullulanase, phytase, and other glucosidases. These enzymes degrade antinutritional factors and break down complex macronutrients to their simple and more digestible forms.

Cereal and legume diets make up the bulk of caloric sources for a majority of households in the developing world. They contain macro-and micronutrients as well as phytochemicals embedded as one matrix. Some phytochemicals are antinutritional factors which can bind nutrients thereby hindering their bioavailability. While there are other methods that can be used to enhance nutrient utilization from such foods, we summarize how food processing methods such as extrusion and nixtamalization are employed to break the food matrix and release these nutrients. Both extrusion and nixtamalization can break down complex carbohydrates into simpler, more soluble forms while at the same time inactivating or denaturing protein inhibitors and other antinutritional factors. Such disruptions of complexes within the food matrix are essential for harnessing optimum nutritional and health benefit from these foods.We present mechanistic approaches explaining how these processes enhance nutrient and mineral bioavailability and phytochemical bioactivity while minimizing the undesirable effects of antinutritional factors that coexist in the complex food matrix. K E Y W O R D Santinutritional factor, extrusion, nixtamalization, nutrients, phytochemicals

With the current global surge in diabetes cases, there is a growing interest in slowing and managing diabetes and its effects. While there are medications that can be used, they have adverse side effects such as hypoglycemia and weight gain. To overcome these problems, bioactive compounds commonly found in fruits, vegetables and cereal grains are used to slow starch digestion and transport of simple sugars across the intestinal epithelia thereby reducing plasma blood glucose spike. These effects are achieved through inhibition of amylases, glucosidases and glucose transporters present in the gastrointestinal tract and brush boarder membrane. The extent of inhibition by polyphenols is dependent on molecular structure, doses and food matrix. Glycemic lowering effect of polyphenols have been demonstrated both in in vivo and in vitro studies. However, when these compounds are incorporated in food systems, they can interact with other polymers in the food matrix leading to lesser inhibition of digestion and/or glucose transporters compared to isolated or pure compounds as often witnessed in most in vitro studies.

Compositing complementary flours with legumes of high protein quality such as soy can be effective in abating Protein Energy Malnutrition. Soy-fortified complementary flours were developed using locally available foods from Western Kenya and used to determine the fortification effect on protein nutritional quality, growth, and rehabilitation. Ten isonitrogenous diets containing 10% protein and one containing 20% protein were formulated from six foods; maize, pearl millet, finger millet, sorghum, cassava, and banana at ratios of 70:30 flour and soy with milk powder as control and fed to weanling male albino rats. Another group was fed on a protein free diet. Banana: Soy diet had significantly superior protein nutritional quality while Maize: soy had 70% Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score. True Protein Digestibility of the fortified diets lay within the acceptable margin for cereal: bean mixtures. Fortification with soy improved protein quality indices of flours in rats, and by extrapolation could support growth of young children if used as complementary foods.

Solanum nigrum complex is a green, indigenous leafy vegetable that grows in many parts of the world and its utilization can deliver more nutrients and phytochemicals into the diet. Even though it can help in alleviating the burden of hidden hunger, only the leafy part is utilized whereas the plant has edible berries. This study sought to address the problem of underutilization by looking at the benefits that can be derived from the berries. Four varieties of the plant were harvested through four stages; green, colour break, ripe and at senescence. Chemical analyses of the berries were done to determine the content and changes in macro and micro-nutrients and the phytochemical content of the berries as they ripened. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant difference between nutrient and phytochemical composition of the different S. nigrum varieties at different ripening stages. The results show that fibre, ash and protein increased at senescence while carbohydrates decreased. Magnesium was the most abundant mineral. As berries ripened, oxalates, total phenols, flavonoids and phytates decreased while Vitamin C, tannins and total carotenoids increased. Conclusively, the berries in this study have comparable nutritional value with other commonly consumed fruits and could, therefore, be incorporated into the family pot.

Fruits constitute a major part of the diet in many parts of the world, highly recommended for the nutritional value derived from them. Fruit maturity is an important determinant of the quality as it affects the appearance, an aspect of quality considered by most consumers. Sugar content, colour, size and firmness are some of the quality indicators associated with maturity. While the ripening and maturity indicators are well documented for climacteric fruits, non-climacteric fruits such as berries lag behind. African nightshade (Solanum nigrum L.)  edible berries are among them. This study evaluated the quality parameters of the edible berries of four varieties of African nightshade and found out that they accumulate glucose and fructose as they ripen with glucose being the most abundant sugar. Sucrose is only present during the senescence stage. Size remained relatively constant within each variety while firmness decreased progressively after veraison. Black NS differed with the others in colour besides fructose and sucrose content at 29.35 and 388.40 mg/100g, respectively. Giant NS recorded the highest glucose content at 172.44 mg/100g when ripe. Conclusively, the African nightshade berries are characteristically similar to other non-climacteric fruits adopted as part of the normal diet and should be considered as a valuable addition to the diet.