Effect of cooking locally available common bean (Obwelu) on iron and zinc retention, and pumpkin (Sweet cream) on provitamin A carotenoid retention in rural Uganda

Abstract

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Potential of pumpkin to combat vitamin A deficiency during complementary feeding in low and middle income countries: variety, provitamin A carotenoid content and retention, and dietary reference intakes

“…A study by Carvalho et al (2014) indicates that either boiling or steaming pumpkin retains over 100% of PVACs, b-carotene and a-carotene. These findings are consistent with Buzigi, Pillay, and Siwela (2020b) and Azizah et al (2009), who showed that either boiling or steaming pumpkin retained over 100% of b-carotene and a-carotene. Moreover, over 100% PVAC retention was also observed after boiling or steaming provitamin A biofortified pumpkin (Carvalho et al 2015).…”

“…Over 90% of childhood VAD in LMICs is found in SSA and Asia (Stevens et al, 2015). However, based on Table 2, several LMICs from SSA (Buzigi, Pillay, and Siwela 2020b;Pepping, Vencken, and West 1988) and Asia (Koh and Loh 2018;Norshazila et al 2014;Pandey et al 2003;Usha, Lakshmi, and Ranjani 2010), cultivate pumpkin. Therefore, these findings may indicate that there is an existing opportunity to promote and support the utilization of pumpkin as a CF to combat childhood VAD in SSA and Asia.…”

“…It is worth noting that IYC are not fed on raw pumpkin, and using raw pumpkin to evaluate the contribution of PVACs toward meeting vitamin A requirements would be questionable because cooking methods greatly affect the PVAC content of pumpkin (Azizah et al 2009;Sungpuag et al 1999;Veda, Platel, and Srinivasan 2010). However, there is evidence that PVAC retention in pumpkin is over 100% after cooking it using common cooking methods for pumpkin such as boiling and steaming, used in LMICs (Buzigi, Pillay, and Siwela 2020b;Carvalho et al 2012). The main limitation of this study generates from the fact that many of the studies we reviewed did not test for all the PVACs, yet pumpkin is a potential source of the three known PVACs, b-carotene, a-carotene, and b-cryptoxanthin (Hidaka, Anno, and Nakatsu 1987).…”

Food price volatility and socio-economic inequalities in poor food consumption status during coronavirus disease-2019 lockdown among slum and non-slum households in urban Nansana municipality, Uganda

“…For example, respondents might have forgotten to mention all the foods they consumed in the previous 7 days, leading to over estimation of poor food consumption status. It is worth noting that Uganda food aid recipients, mainly HHs headed by women were worried about on how they would cook food aid items such as common bean [ 36 ], which have a long cooking time [ 60 ]. Therefore, it is likely that some HHs that received food aid items did not consume it because they lacked fuel for cooking.…”

Lactating mothers' perceptions and sensory acceptability of a provitamin A carotenoid–iron‐rich composite dish prepared from iron‐biofortified common bean and orange‐fleshed sweet potato in rural western Uganda

“…The village health team members (community health workers) identified five expert peer mothers from the local community and invited them to Bwera Hospital kitchen to participate in the preparation of the study composite dishes. Expert peer mothers were encouraged to prepare the composite dishes using locally acceptable home-based methods used in the community to prepare common beans and sweet with prior soaking because they argued that soaking softens common beans to reduce cooking time and saves fuel as reported in a previous Ugandan study (Buzigi et al, 2020c). The IBCB and NIBCB were cooked separately using a local stove (Esigiri) until they were soft and ready for human consumption.…”