Pulses play a signiicant and diverse role in the agricultural systems and diets of underprivileged populations worldwide. They are ideal produce for reducing poverty, improving human health and nutrition, and enhancing resilience of the ecosystem. Fermentation is a processing technique that has been used for decades to transform food produce with improved health, functional, and nutraceutical beneits. In tandem with the United Nations' (UN's) sustainable development goal Number 3, fermented food products from pulses with health beneits align with this initiative to end hunger, achieve food security, and improve nutrition. In solidarity with the celebration of International Year of Pulses 2016 (IYP2016) and considering the relative neglect of pulses as compared with other food groups, this chapter would be vital in positioning pulses and fermented products from them as readily available functional foods. With increased interest in fermentation, fermented pulse-based foods have been identiied as excellent sources of bioactive and functional foods. Thus, fermented pulse-based products present a viable alternative, relatively available, afordable, and cheap source of foods with properties beyond that of basic nutrition.
The emergence of food metabolomics, otherwise known as foodomics, has opened new frontiers and possibilities for scientists to characterize and simultaneously determine and obtain the comprehensive profile of the food metabolome. Qualitative and quantitative determinations of this metabolome offer insights into the underlying processes involved and details about the content of the food analytes. This had seemed technically challenging and impossible over time, but can now be done due to the advent of sophisticated analytical equipment and chemometric tools. The application of this technique offers enormous opportunities to obtain detailed information that can be correlated to various properties, functionalities and potentials in fermented foods. This chapter thus evaluated and documented studies presented in the literature on the food metabolomics study of fermented foods, with a view of appraising its prospects, applications and subsequent utilization in the study of fermented foods.
Acrylamide (ACR) is a possible human carcinogen, with neurotoxic properties. It is a heatgenerated food toxicant particularly found in carbohydrate-rich foods. Its occurrence is of global concern and constitutes a major challenge to food safety, due to its presence in several thermally processed foods worldwide. Since its discovery, ACR has been recognized as one of the most widely investigated heat-induced food contaminant, and several reports on its formation and occurrence since its discovery have been reported. However, information on the extent of ACR occurrence in foods consumed in different parts of Africa is rather too limited. This is particularly a concern considering that most carbohydrate-based foods, subjected to varying degrees of thermal processing, are consumed as staple diets almost on daily basis in the continent. As such, African populations may be exposed to high levels of ACR daily. Thus, this chapter covers the formation, occurrence and health impact of ACR in foods. It further summarizes previous studies looking at ACR reduction and mitigation strategies, especially those that may be applicable in the continent. Adequate sensitization of the populace about the prevention of ACR as a food contaminant is essential to ensure the safety of heat-processed carbohydrate-rich foods in the continent.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.