Climate change impacts on food security will involve negative impacts on crop yields, and potentially on the nutritional quality of staple crops. Common bean is the most important grain legume staple crop for human diets and nutrition worldwide. We demonstrate by crop modeling that the majority of current common bean growing areas in southeastern Africa will become unsuitable for bean cultivation by the year 2050. We further demonstrate reductions in yields of available common bean varieties in a field trial that is a climate analogue site for future predicted drought conditions. Little is known regarding the impact of climate change induced abiotic stresses on the nutritional quality of common beans. Our analysis of nutritional and antinutritional compounds reveals that iron levels in common bean grains are reduced under future climate-scenario relevant drought stress conditions. In contrast, the levels of protein, zinc, lead and phytic acid increase in the beans under such drought stress conditions. This indicates that under climate-change induced drought scenarios, future bean servings by 2050 will likely have lower nutritional quality, posing challenges for ongoing climate-proofing of bean production for yields, nutritional quality, human health, and food security.

Biofortification is an effective method to improve the nutritional content of crops and nutritional intake. Breeding for higher micronutrient mineral content in beans is correlated with an increase in phytic acid, a main inhibitor of mineral absorption in humans. Low phytic acid (lpa) beans have a 90% lower phytic acid content compared to conventional beans. This is the first study to investigate mineral and total phytic acid retention after preparing common household recipes from conventional, biofortified and lpa beans. Mineral retention was determined for two conventional, three biofortified and two lpa bean genotypes. Treatments included soaking, boiling (boiled beans) and refrying (bean paste). The average true retention of iron after boiling was 77.2–91.3%; for zinc 41.2–84.0%; and for phytic acid 49.9–85.9%. Soaking led to a significant decrease in zinc and total phytic acid after boiling and refrying, whereas for iron no significant differences were found. lpa beans did not exhibit a consistent pattern of difference in iron and phytic acid retention compared to the other groups of beans. However, lpa beans had a significantly lower retention of zinc compared to conventional and biofortified varieties (p < 0.05). More research is needed to understand the underlying factors responsible for the differences in retention between the groups of beans, especially the low retention of zinc. Combining the lpa and biofortification traits could further improve the nutritional benefits of biofortified beans, by decreasing the phytic acid:iron and zinc ratio in beans.

BackgroundBiofortified orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) varieties are being promoted to reduce vitamin A deficiencies due to their higher beta-carotene content. For OFSP varieties to have impact they need to be accepted and consumed at scale amongst populations suffering from vitamin A deficiencies.ObjectiveWe investigated the sensory and cultural acceptability of OFSP varieties amongst households with children aged between 2–5 years old in two areas in Central and Southern Malawi using an integrated model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Health Belief Model (HBM).MethodsSensory acceptability was measured using a triangle, preference and acceptance test using three OFSP varieties and one control variety, among 270 adults and 60 children. Based on a food ethnographic study, a questionnaire on cultural acceptability was developed and administered to 302 caretakers. Data were analyzed by calculating Spearman’s correlations between constructs and multiple linear regression modeling.ResultsThe sensory evaluation indicates that all three OFSP varieties are accepted (scores >3 on 5-point scale), but there is a preference for the control variety over the three OFSP varieties. Almost all caretakers are intending to frequently prepare OFSP for their child in future (97%). Based on regression analysis, the constructs ‘subjective norms’ (β = 0.25, p = 0.00) reflecting social pressure, and ‘attitudes toward behavior’ (β = 0.14 p = 0.01), reflecting the feelings towards serving their child OFSP, were the best predictors for caretakers’ behavior to prepare OFSP for their child.ConclusionsOur study shows that both sensory and cultural attributes can influence acceptability of varieties and consumption amongst households with children. Considering these attributes can improve the impact of biofortified crops in future programming, by reducing Vitamin A deficiencies through the intake of these nutrient-rich crops.

Background Edible insects are a novel source of animal protein. Moreover, edible insects contain iron concentrations similar to meat, potentially making them a valuable iron source for human consumers. Yet, it is unknown to what extent iron from insects is absorbed in humans. Objectives In this exploratory study, we assessed fractional iron absorption from house crickets (Acheta domesticus) consumed with refined (low-phytate, non-inhibiting) or non-refined (high-phytate, inhibiting) meals. Methods Intrinsically [57Fe]-labeled and control crickets were reared. Six iron-balanced experimental meals were randomly administered cross-over to 20 iron-depleted females (serum ferritin &lt;25 µg/L; 18–30 years), in two time-blocks of three consecutive days, two weeks apart. Three meals consisted of refined maize flour porridge with either [57Fe]-labeled crickets, [58Fe]SO4 (reference meal), or unlabeled crickets plus [54Fe]SO4. The other three meals consisted of non-refined maize flour porridge with the same additions. Blood samples were drawn to assess the 14-day isotope enrichment in erythrocytes, and meal-specific fractional iron absorption was calculated. In vitro digestion was used to explore possible explanations for unexpected findings. Results Mean fractional iron absorption from 57Fe-labeled house crickets with refined maize porridge (3.06%) and from refined maize porridge with unlabeled crickets (4.92%) was lower than from the reference meal (14.2%), with respective mean differences of -11.1% (95% CI -12.6, -9.68%) and -9.29% (-10.8, -7.77%). Iron absorption from all meals based on unrefined maize porridge was low (&lt;3%), and did not differ for the two meals with crickets compared to the reference meal. In vitro digestion showed that chitin, chitosan, and calcium limited iron bio-accessibility to a large extent. Conclusions Iron absorption from house crickets and fortified maize porridge with crickets is low, which may be explained by the presence of chitin and other inhibitors in the cricket biomass. This study was registered in the Netherlands Trial Register, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6821. This study was registered in the Netherlands Trial Register, Trial ID: NL6821, source ID: NL59400.081.16, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6821.

Zinc deficiency arising from inadequate dietary intake of bioavailable zinc is common in children in developing countries. Because house crickets are a rich source of zinc, their consumption could be an effective public health measure to combat zinc deficiency. This study used Optifood, a tool based on linear programming analysis, to develop food-based dietary recommendations (FBR) and predict whether dietary house crickets can improve both zinc and overall nutrient adequacy of children’s diets. Two quantitative, multi-pass 24-hour recalls from 47 children aged two and three years residing in rural Kenya were collected and used to derive model parameters, including a list of commonly consumed foods, median serving sizes, and frequency of consumption. Two scenarios were modelled: (i) FBR based on local available foods and (ii) FBR based on local available foods with house crickets. Results revealed that zinc would cease to be a problem nutrient when including house crickets to children’s diets (PRI coverage for zinc increased from 89% to 121% in the best-case scenario). FBR based on both scenarios could ensure nutrient adequacy for all nutrients except for fat, but energy percentage (E%) for fat was higher when house crickets were included in the diet (23 E% versus 19 E%). This manoeuvre, combined with realistic changes in dietary practices, could therefore improve dietary zinc content and ensure adequacy for twelve nutrients for Kenyan children. Further research is needed to render these theoretical recommendations, practical.