Cocoyam [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott]: Exploring the Production, Health and Trade Potentials in Sub-Saharan Africa

Otekunrin, Olutosin Ademola; Sawicka, Barbara; Adeyonu, A. G.; Otekunrin, Oluwaseun A.; Rachoń, Leszek

doi:10.3390/su13084483

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In Nigeria, prolonged poor macroeconomic performance, high-level conflicts, and insecurity are among the principal drivers of food insecurity as these were aggravated by the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in recent times [1,[18][19][20]. Nigeria (as of 12 October 2021) has an estimated population of 209,663,744 people with 86,849,507 living in extreme poverty (64% rural and 14% urban), under the poverty threshold of USD 1.90, which is equivalent to 41% of the total population [21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing Food Insecurity and Its Drivers among Smallholder Farming Households in Rural Oyo State, Nigeria: The HFIAS Approach

Otekunrin

Sawicka

et al. 2021

Agriculture

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Hunger and food insecurity take center stage in most debates in Africa, and in recent times with serious concerns about Nigeria. This study assessed food insecurity among farming households in rural Oyo State, Nigeria, using cross-sectional datasets from 211 farming households through a multi-stage sampling procedure. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) module was employed in assessing food insecurity status of farming households, and the ordered logit model (OLM) was used to analyze factors influencing food insecurity among farming households. The results revealed that 12.8% of the farming households were food secure while 87.2% had varying levels of food insecurity. The OLM results indicated that age, household head’s years of schooling, gender, farm size, farm experience, non-farm income, food expenditure, and access to extension service significantly influenced food insecurity among farming households. Based on the findings, efforts should be geared towards promoting households’ education-related intervention programs in order to improve their nutrition-related knowledge that can enhance their food security status. Additionally, there should be provision of rural infrastructural facilities such as piped water, rural electrification, and healthcare service that promote healthy living and enhance households’ agricultural productivity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nigeria was judged to be the highest producer of cassava, yam, and cowpea globally in 2012, and the country has remained top producer of cassava, yam, and cocoyam until now. The gains of increased food production have not translated to larger percentage of the country being food secure [1,15,20,22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Food Insecurity and Its Drivers among Smallholder Farming Households in Rural Oyo State, Nigeria: The HFIAS Approach

Otekunrin

Sawicka

et al. 2021

Agriculture

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“…4 Taro is a good functional food resource because it contains starch, other polysaccharides, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and so on. 4 Taro has very small granular starch, of size 0.5-5.0 μm. 5 Thus, it is easily digestible in the human body and can be used as a complementary food for people with digestive difficulties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation, structural characteristics, and application of taro polysaccharides in food

Zhang

Huang

2022

J Sci Food Agric

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Taro, a staple food for residents in Africa and parts of Asia, is an important source of carbohydrate. China has abundant taro resources. Taro contains polysaccharide, vitamins, minerals and other substances. Taro polysaccharides, as a significant active ingredient in taro, are mainly composed of monosaccharide units such as glucose, galactose, arabinose, mannose, and so on. Taro polysaccharides have antioxidant, lipid‐lowering, and immunomodulatory effects. In today's world, people are interested in food containing natural ingredients, which stimulates the potential of taro polysaccharides in the food, pharmaceutical, medical, and other fields. Herein, the extraction and purification, structural characterization, functional activity, and application of taro polysaccharides are reviewed to strengthen the cognition of taro polysaccharides. It provides references for further research and development of taro polysaccharides. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

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“…Taro ( Colocasia esculenta ) has a long cultivation history and is an important nutritional resource in the world, particularly in China. China ranked third with 18% of the global production (1,908,830 tons) (FAOSTAT 2021) and China ranked first in taro export (417.18 million US$ in 2018) ( Otekunrin et al, 2021 ). Taro corms have higher nutritional value as compared to most of the other root/tuber crops.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the presence of such a rich content of nutrients, it is important to understand the genetic basis of the nutrient composition. Particularly, the highest starch content in taro corms calls for a detailed understanding of the transcriptomic signatures that might regulate the related pathways ( Otekunrin et al, 2021 ). It has been reported that the growth of the main plant is completed in three phases i.e., phase I (1 to 6–8 weeks), II (8–24 weeks), and III (25–40/46 weeks).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Transcriptome Sequencing of Taro Corm Development With a Focus on the Starch and Sucrose Metabolism Pathway

Wang

HuiPing

et al. 2021

Front. Genet.

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Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is an important tuber crop and staple food. Taro corms have higher nutritional value and starch contents as compared to most of the other root/tuber crops. However, the growth and development of the taro rhizome have not been critically examined in terms of transcriptomic signatures in general or specific to carbohydrates (starch and sucrose) accumulation. In current study, we have conducted a comprehensive survey of transcripts in taro corms aged 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 months. In this context, we have employed a whole transcriptome sequencing approach for identification of mRNAs, CircRNAs, and miRNAs in corms and performed functional enrichment analysis of the screened differentially expressed RNAs. A total of 11,203 mRNAs, 245 CircRNAs, and 299 miRNAs were obtained from six developmental stages. The mRNAs included 139 DEGs associated with 24 important enzymes of starch and sucrose metabolism. The expression of genes encoding key enzymes of starch and sucrose metabolism pathway (GBSS, AGPase, UGPase, SP, SSS, βFRUCT and SuSy) demonstrated significant variations at the stage of 4 months (S4). A total of 191 CircRNAs were differentially expressed between the studied comparisons of growth stages and 99 of these were associated with those miRNA (or target genes) that were enriched in starch and sucrose metabolism pathway. We also identified 205 miRNAs including 46 miRNAs targeting DEGs enriched in starch and sucrose biosynthesis pathway. The results of current study provide valuable resources for future exploration of the molecular mechanisms involved in the starch properties of Taro.

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Cocoyam [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott]: Exploring the Production, Health and Trade Potentials in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 27 publications

References 31 publications

Assessing Food Insecurity and Its Drivers among Smallholder Farming Households in Rural Oyo State, Nigeria: The HFIAS Approach

Assessing Food Insecurity and Its Drivers among Smallholder Farming Households in Rural Oyo State, Nigeria: The HFIAS Approach

Preparation, structural characteristics, and application of taro polysaccharides in food

Comparative Transcriptome Sequencing of Taro Corm Development With a Focus on the Starch and Sucrose Metabolism Pathway

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