Utilization of Pepeta, a locally processed immature rice-based food product, to promote food security in Tanzania

Abstract

Consumption of pepeta, a traditionally processed immature rice product, is common in Tanzania, where it contributes to food security as an early rice food i.e. when there is no other food available at the household while the crops in the field not yet fully ripe. Many production steps are needed to guarantee a consistent, good quality pepeta product, and this hinders its utilization in other rice-growing sub-Saharan regions. This study aims to gain insight into the pepeta processing knowledge and final product, and assess variations in the processing conditions and parameters across the study area. A survey among 257 Tanzanian processors and consumers revealed that the pepeta product is widely known, rated second (73.5% respondents) as rice-based food after wali (cooked white rice, (100%)) and linked to traditions of the communities in the study area. Harvest of immature rice grain, roasting, pounding, cleaning, and packing are the main process steps of pepeta production. Method of rice harvest, rice suitability for pepeta production after optimum harvest, dryness of grains and number of pounding as indicator to terminate roasting and pounding process respectively, and packaging materials used varied significantly across respondents in the study area. Reported criteria considered by respondents for product acceptability did not vary significantly across study area. The criteria include colour (76.5%), general appearance (60.8%), texture (64.7%) and taste (52.9%). Immature rice paddy and pepeta were sold at a higher price than mature rice paddy and white rice, respectively, which implies that options to facilitate pepeta processing through, for instance, standardization of processing conditions and parameters could lead to increased income.

Dry-heat processing at different conditions impact the nutritional composition andin vitrostarch and protein digestibility of immature rice-based products

“…The grains were harvested at 18 and 26 days after 50% heading (DAH), based on our previous study that reported 15-28 DAH as the optimum maturity for pepeta production. 6 The heading date (at 50% heading) was determined when 50 percent of the panicles in the rice field were at least partially visible. For each maturity level, 5 kg of harvested wet rice grains (in portions of 500 g) were vacuum-sealed in plastic bags (Princess®, S-492967-001, China) and stored at −20°C until further use.…”

“…Three control samples were also assessed: (i) raw ricea portion (500 g) of immature harvested rice variety TXD306 that had been dried to 13-11% using a hot air dryer (TG 200, Retsch GmbH, Haan, Germany) set at 50°C and milled into white rice for 2 minutes, not roasted; (ii) pepetaa locally prepared pepeta from corresponding fresh harvested rice variety TXD306 that has been manually roasted on an open wood fire (181-270°C, paddy temperature 80-129°C) for 3-8 min, immediately followed by hand pounding using a pestle and mortar for 1-3 min, as described in our previous study; 6,7 and (iii) cooked ricea portion (10 g) of milled raw rice sample used for determination of starch properties, microstructure and in vitro digestion analyses only, that had been well cooked in excess boiling water (ratio 1 : 25 w/v, respectively) until fully gelatinized. Cooked rice kernels were pressed between two glass slides to check for optimum gelatinization, i.e., when no clear white core was observed anymore.…”

“…5 In Tanzania, pepeta, a locally prepared rice flakes from immature grains, is common among rice consuming communities. 6,7 Currently, consumption of immature cereal-based products is gaining popularity worldwide due to their nutritional and health potential benefits compared to fully mature cereal grains. Nutritional components such as protein, reducing sugars, calcium, potassium, iron, β-carotene, vitamin C, and vitamin B2, B3 and B6 [7][8][9] and functional compounds like dietary fiber, fructo-oligosaccharides and phytochemicals ( phenolics and flavonoids) 1,3,10,11 decrease as cereal grain mature.…”

“…The production process is slow, labor intensive, with no established standards for harvesting, processing conditions and parameters. 6 This makes it impossible to guarantee a consistently good quality pepeta product and hinders its upscaling to the industrial production level.…”

“…Despite the valuable content of micronutrients pepeta, like that of cooked milled white rice, has a very high and fast starch digestibility properties. 6 Fast and high starch digestibility has been linked to high glycemic index (GI), associated with high occurrence of type II diabetes. [13][14][15] On the contrary, consumption of rice-based products with high digestible proteins can help improve the nutritional status (i.e.…”