Leaf concentrate and other benefits of leaf fractionation.

Abstract

Leaf concentrate is an extremely nutritious human food, containing approximately 50% (dry weight) highquality protein, together with numerous micronutrients, principally b-carotene, vitamins B 6 , B 9 , E and K, plus iron, calcium and magnesium. Many studies have shown that those consuming it recover quickly from nutritional anaemia and have a significantly improved general state of health. Today, over 40,000 people receive a daily serving of 10g of dried lucerne leaf concentrate. The fractionation of leaves was first reported over 200 years ago and has been the subject of extensive research and application since the 1940s. The process breaks down the original leaves into three products: residual fibre, 'whey' and leaf concentrate. The whey and the fibre are effective fertilizers, substrates for fermentation and/or animal feed. Through the use of all three products, leaf fractionation can be more productive, in terms of edible protein per hectare of land, than any other known agricultural method. This chapter presents the history and nutritional qualities of leaf concentrate, provides technical details of leaf fractionation at domestic and intermediate (community/semi-industrial) scales of production, and reviews studies that provide evidence for the effectiveness of leaf concentrate in improving human nutritional status. It concludes by reviewing the factors that have hitherto hindered the widespread adoption of leaf concentrate and leaf fractionation. The authors suggest how these may be overcome, and discuss the potentially wider role of leaf concentrate in alleviating human malnutrition, including its use in a locally produced ready-to-use therapeutic food.

Leaf concentrate compared with skimmed milk as nutritional supplementation for HIV-infected children: a randomized controlled trial in Burundi

“…Although our study compared LCP against SMP, parallel production of the two supplements is rendered eminently feasible by the unique capacity of the leaf fractionation concept to provide direct access to the edible fraction of the leaves and to provide feed for livestock. For example, lucerne grown on 1 ha can generate the production of 2000 kg of SMP if consumed directly by cattle; the same lucerne, fractionated into LCP for human consumption, fibre cake and whey for cattle can still produce 1800 kg of SMP, with the added production of 1200 kg of LCP (6) . In this context, our demonstration that the nutritional qualities of SMP and LCP are comparable is an important finding.…”

“…The acceptability of leaf concentrate, and any economic advantage that it may have over industrially sourced skimmed milk powder, remain to be determined. Much as local and sustainable production of leaf concentrate is espoused as a key selling point (6) , this remains somewhat theoretical and the development of the leaf fractionation concept is an ongoing process. In the case of Burundi, as in many tropical and subtropical countries, vegetables constitute a far greater component of the traditional diet than dairy products (32) and vegetable crops (including those with leaves that are suitable for leaf concentrate production, e.g.…”

“…Leaf concentrate was discovered in France in the 18th century and was developed as a foodstuff in England between 1940 and 1970 (13) . It has since been promoted by several non-governmental organizations, including Leaf for Life in the USA (14) and the Association pour la Promotion des Extraits Foliaires en Nutrition (APEF) in France (15) , as a sustainable form of protein and micronutrient supplementation for low-income communities (6) . In the present study, we investigated the potential benefits of dried lucerne (alfalfa) leaf concentrate as a nutritional supplement for HIV-infected ART-naïve children living in two cities in Burundi.…”

“…Leaf concentrate is a food-based nutritional supplement (6) that has been shown to be effective at preventing anaemia in adolescent girls (7) and pregnant women (8) in India. Although anaemia may actually be less prevalent among HIV-infected than among uninfected children (9) , it remains an important co-morbidity and, together with other nutritional deficiencies and diarrhoeal disease, is a strong predictor of poor outcomes among children after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) (10)(11)(12) .…”

Goat kid slaughter value and muscle quality after dietary supplementation with an alfalfa protein–xanthophyll concentrate

“…Positive results from a variety of farm animal species (Davys et al, 2011;Grela et al, 2008;Krauze and Grela, 2010) suggest that PX may have utility as a supplement in the diet of goat kids. There would be benefits from replacing 3 % of soybean meal with PX concentrate in the diet of goat kids.…”