Irvingia gabonensis seed fat as hard stock to formulate blends for trans free margarines

The Future of Food: Domestication and Commercialization of Indigenous Food Crops in Africa over the Third Decade (2012–2021)

This paper follows the transition from ethnobotany to a deeper scientific understanding of the food and medicinal properties of African agroforestry tree products as inputs into the start of domestication activities. It progresses on to the integration of these indigenous trees as new crops within diversified farming systems for multiple social, economic and environmental benefits. From its advent in the 1990s, the domestication of indigenous food and non-food tree species has become a global programme with a strong African focus. This review of progress in the third decade is restricted to progress in Africa, where multi-disciplinary research on over 59 species has been reported in 759 research papers in 318 science publications by scientists from over 833 research teams in 70 countries around the world (532 in Africa). The review spans 23 research topics presenting the recent research literature for tree species of high priority across the continent, as well as that in each of the four main ecological regions: the humid zone of West and Central Africa; the Sahel and North Africa; the East African highlands and drylands; and the woody savannas of Southern Africa. The main areas of growth have been the nutritional/medicinal value of non-timber forest products; the evaluation of the state of natural resources and their importance to local people; and the characterization of useful traits. However, the testing of putative cultivars; the implementation of participatory principles; the protection of traditional knowledge and intellectual property rights; and the selection of elite trees and ideotypes remain under-researched. To the probable detriment of the upscaling and impact in tropical agriculture, there has been, at the international level, a move away from decentralized, community-based tree domestication towards a laboratory-based, centralized approach. However, the rapid uptake of research by university departments and national agricultural research centres in Africa indicates a recognition of the importance of the indigenous crops for both the livelihoods of rural communities and the revitalization and enhanced outputs from agriculture in Africa, especially in West Africa. Thus, on a continental scale, there has been an uptake of research with policy relevance for the integration of indigenous trees in agroecosystems and their importance for the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. To progress this in the fourth decade, there will need to be a dedicated Centre in Africa to test and develop cultivars of indigenous crops. Finally, this review underpins a holistic approach to mitigating climate change, as well as other big global issues such as hunger, poverty and loss of wildlife habitat by reaping the benefits, or ‘profits’, from investment in the five forms of Capital, described as ‘land maxing’. However, policy and decision makers are not yet recognizing the potential for holistic and transformational adoption of these new indigenous food crop opportunities for African agriculture. Is ‘political will’ the missing sixth capital for sustainable development?

Trans fatty acids in food: A review on dietary intake, health impact, regulations and alternatives

Trans fats are desired by the edible oil industry as they impart firmness, plasticity, and oxidative stability to oil. However, clinical trials have demonstrated the adverse effects of trans fats in food on human health and nutrition. Regulatory actions have been taken up by government and non-government bodies worldwide to eliminate the presence of trans fats in the food supply. The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a "REPLACE" action plan to eliminate trans-fat from the global food industry by 2023. A few enabling technologies are developed to mitigate trans fats namely, trait-enhanced oils, modification in the hydrogenation process, interesterification, fractionation, blending, and oleogelation. Some of them have the drawback of replacing trans-fat with saturated fats. Interesterification and oleogelation are in-trend techniques with excellent potential in replacing trans fats without compromising the desired functionality and nutritional quality attributes. This review presents an overview of trans fatty acid for example, its dietary intake in food products, possible adverse health impact, regulations, and approaches to reduce the usage of trans fats for food application. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The requirement for the replacement of trans fatty acids (TFAs) in food supply globally has challenged the food industry to find a novel substitute for trans fats without compromising the desired functionality and nutritional property. This review presents detailed background on trans fats, their health impacts and current trends of reformulation of oils and fats to mitigate their presence in food supply chains. Information compiled in this paper will help food scientists and technologists, chemists, food processors, and retailers as there is an urgent need to find novel technologies and substitutes to replace trans fats in processed foods.