A review on the consumption of vended fruits: microbial assessment, risk, and its control

Fruits are very beneficial to health and their consumption has been recommended in daily diets.However,when fresh fruits are harvested and processed into sliced ready-to-eat or vended forms for sale,hygienic procedures are neglected.Thus,they are easily infested by pathogens.In addition,uneducated vendors who sell these fruits often display or hawk them on the streets in contaminated containers,utensils,or dirty environments.This poses a great threat to the health of consumers.In the light of this realization,some microbial assessments have been carried out to ascertain the safety of these vended fruits,thus making it a necessity to exploit the outcomes of some of these microbial assessments on vended fruits in order to sensitize the consumers on the effect of their consumption and mitigate risk by improving their quality.This will assist to lower certain health concerns,an outbreak of diseases,and death.

Germination: an alternative source to promote phytonutrients in edible seeds

Consumption of less phytonutrient foods has shown to cause different chronic diseases,despite over 50,000 edible plant breed available in various countries around the globe.These edible plants consist of seeds that can be consumed which possessed high health benefits.Moreover,nutritive values such as phytochemicals of edible seeds increased after germination.Therefore,germination has been reported to enhance various bioactive compounds such asγ-amino butyric acid,polyphenols,and vitamins which lead to greater bioactivity such as anti-diabetic,anti-bacteria,and anti-cancer effects when these seeds are consumed.Consequently,germination can be regarded as a cheap and effective way to enhance the nutritional value of edible seeds.

Whole wheat cracker fortified with biocalcium and protein hydrolysate powders from salmon frame: characteristics and nutritional value

Objectives:This study aimed to develop whole wheat crackers fortified with biocalcium(BC)and protein hydrolysate(PH)powders from salmon frame at varying substitution levels.Materials and Methods:Whole wheat cracker fortified with BC and protein hydrolysate PH powders from salmon frame was produced.BC and PH powders or their mixtures at different ratios(3:1,1:1,1:3)were used to fortify the dough mix at a substitution level of 16.67%based on the whole wheat flour content.The physical,textural,sensory,and nutritional profiles of the crackers produced were examined and compared with crackers without fortification.Results:The weight,colour,textural properties,and thickness of the crackers varied with the addition of different ratios of BC and PH powders.The incorporation of BC/PH at ratio(3:1)showed no negative effect on sensory properties.The crackers thus produced possessed higher protein,fat,calcium,phosphorus,sodium,and cholesterol but lower carbohydrate,sugar,fibre,and energy value than the control crackers without fortification.The crackers contained 0.026-0.045 mg/100 g polyunsaturated fatty acid.Developed crackers had a denser structure and were less porous than the control crackers as shown in scanning electron microscopic images.In scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic(SEM-EDX)analysis,the crackers fortified with BC/PH at ratio(3:1)had higher calcium and phosphorus contents and intensity than the control.Conclusions:This study demonstrated that the addition of BC and PH powders obtained from salmon frame represent a promising means of increasing the nutritive values of crackers.