Food Science and Agriculture: Research Highlights Vol. 9

Effect of Soybean Fortification on the Nutritional, Functional and Sensory Properties of Fermented Maize Pap

B. C. Nwokeke — 2026-09-12

Fermented maize pap (ogi or akamu) is a traditional cereal-based food widely consumed in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. Although fermentation can improve cereal digestibility and sensory quality, maize pap remains predominantly carbohydrate-based and relatively limited in protein. Soybean (Glycine max L.) is a protein- and lipid-rich legume that can complement the amino-acid limitations of maize and modify the functional characteristics of cereal-based foods. This study evaluated the effect of graded soybean fortification on the proximate composition, flour yield, functional properties and sensory acceptability of fermented maize pap powder. Yellow maize was naturally fermented for 72 h and converted to pap powder, while soybean was soaked, dehulled, blanched, dried and milled separately. The resulting flours were blended at 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40 and 50:50 (maize : soybean) ratios. Moisture, ash, crude fibre, fat, protein and carbohydrate were determined using standard procedures, while bulk density, water absorption capacity, pH, swelling index, solubility and flour yield were evaluated using established methods. Thirty semi-trained panelists evaluated reconstituted pap using a nine-point hedonic scale. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and treatment means were separated at p < .05 using the least significant difference procedure. Soybean incorporation increased protein, fat and ash contents, with protein increasing from 8.80% in the control to 15.28% at 50% soybean. Fibre reached its maximum value at 40% soybean rather than increasing continuously. Water absorption capacity increased from 0.81 to 0.90 g/g, whereas swelling index and solubility decreased. Flour yield varied among formulations and was highest at 20% soybean. Overall acceptability was highest for the control (6.90) and the 10% soybean blend (6.50); the 20% blend recorded 5.80 and was not statistically comparable with the control because the difference exceeded the reported LSD of 0.24. Thus, the study demonstrates that soybean fortification can improve the nutritional and selected functional properties of fermented maize pap, but increasing soybean concentration can reduce sensory acceptance. A 10% soybean formulation provides the most conservative fortified option under a stated decision rule combining protein improvement with an overall acceptability score of at least 6.0. The study does not establish infant feeding efficacy, microbiological stability, mineral bioavailability or prevention of protein-energy malnutrition.

Tubers as an Alternative Food Source in Indonesia: A Critical Narrative Review of Agronomic, Nutritional, Technological and Food-system Evidence

Tajidan Tajidan — 2026-09-12

Indonesia's staple food system remains organised around rice, and successive administrations have proposed root and tuber crops as the principal vehicle for reducing that dependence. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.), taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott), the yams (Dioscorea spp.) and the elephant foot yams (Amorphophallus spp.) are simultaneously described as climate-resilient insurance crops, as nutritionally deficient inferior goods, and as industrial feedstocks, and these characterisations are rarely reconciled. This review critically evaluates the evidence underpinning the proposition that tubers can function as an alternative staple food source in Indonesia, drawing on agronomic, nutritional, postharvest, behavioural and policy literature published between 1998 and mid-2026, together with foundational earlier work. Evidence is strongest for three propositions: that tuberous crops tolerate marginal soils and erratic rainfall better than irrigated rice; that their unprocessed forms are energy-dense but protein-poor and, apart from carotenoid-rich sweet potato genotypes, micronutrient-poor; and that postharvest physiological deterioration of cassava storage roots is an oxidative wound response amenable to genetic and chemical intervention. Evidence is considerably weaker, and frequently contradictory, on the questions that determine policy outcomes: whether tuber-based products can displace rice in habitual diets, whether smallholder returns are competitive once industrial demand is accounted for, and whether large-scale tuber cultivation on converted land is agronomically or socially sustainable. Much Indonesian evidence consists of small, single-season, single-district studies with limited statistical control and no replication, while the strongest mechanistic and clinical evidence originates outside Indonesia and may not transfer. Substitution framings that treat tubers as caloric replacements for rice are poorly supported; complementary framings that position tubers within diversified diets, fortified composite products and non-food value chains have stronger empirical foundations but weaker policy uptake. Priorities include multi-season varietal trials in Indonesian agroecologies, controlled feeding studies of tuber-based composite staples, and longitudinal analysis of household demand under realistic relative prices.

Agroforestry for Sustainable Agricultural Production under Climate Change: A Critical Review of Multifunctionality, Trade-offs and Design Conditions

Nirakar Bhol — 2026-09-12

Agroforestry is increasingly promoted as a climate-smart land-use strategy because trees can alter carbon storage, microclimate, water and nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and the temporal distribution of farm outputs. Yet the label "multifunctional" can obscure substantial variation among systems and can encourage the assumption that adding trees necessarily improves both production and environmental performance. This critical narrative review evaluates when, how and with what trade-offs agroforestry supports sustainable agricultural production under climate change. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 20 June 2026 was considered, with earlier seminal evidence eligible where conceptually necessary. Evidence was synthesised across silvoarable, silvopastoral, shade-perennial, multistrata, windbreak, boundary-planting and improved-fallow systems, with emphasis on carbon mitigation, adaptation, productivity, biodiversity, hydrology, soil function, economic performance and adoption. The strongest evidence supports increases in woody biomass carbon and, relative to treeless cropland or pasture, frequent gains in soil organic carbon and several regulating ecosystem services. Evidence for climate adaptation is mechanistically persuasive for thermal buffering, erosion control and resource-use complementarity, but long-term demonstrations that these processes consistently stabilise yields during extreme events remain less abundant. Commodity yields may decline when shade, tree density or competition exceed crop-specific thresholds, even where total system output, carbon storage or profitability improves. Hydrological responses are non-linear, and conversion of natural forest to agroforestry cannot be treated as a conservation gain. Socioeconomic outcomes depend on delayed tree returns, tenure security, labour, knowledge, markets and policy design. The synthesis therefore supports a conditional rather than categorical interpretation of agroforestry: climate-smart performance emerges when tree species, density, spatial arrangement and management are matched to limiting resources, baseline land use, farmer objectives and future climate exposure. Research and policy should prioritise long-term, multi-outcome comparisons that measure whole-system production, risk, greenhouse-gas balance, biodiversity and livelihood outcomes together rather than optimising a single service in isolation.

Edible Flowers as Emerging Functional Foods: A Critical Synthesis of Nutritional Composition, Bioactive Constituents, Bioaccessibility and Health Evidence

Maneesh Sonkar — 2026-09-12

Edible flowers are moving from ornamental garnish and traditional culinary use towards a broader role as functional foods and ingredients. Their appeal rests on sensory diversity, low energy density in the fresh state, and substantial interspecific variation in dietary fibre, minerals and specialised metabolites, particularly phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, carotenoids and, in selected taxa, glucosinolates and volatile compounds. This critical narrative review evaluates whether these compositional attributes translate into credible health benefits and identifies the methodological conditions needed for such claims. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 18 June 2026 was selected through multidisciplinary scholarly sources, supplemented by citation searching and bibliographic verification. The evidence consistently shows that edible flowers are chemically heterogeneous rather than a nutritionally uniform food category. Antioxidant capacity, enzyme inhibition, antimicrobial effects and anti-inflammatory or neuroprotective activities are frequently demonstrated in chemical assays, cell systems and model organisms, but the strength of inference declines sharply when these findings are extrapolated to normal dietary intake. Simulated digestion studies show that bioaccessibility is compound- and matrix-dependent, and the limited human evidence primarily demonstrates absorption and metabolism rather than prevention or treatment of disease. Processing can improve shelf life and ingredient functionality while also altering phenolic and pigment profiles. Safety remains integral to any functional-food proposition because botanical misidentification, intrinsic toxicants, pesticide residues, heavy metals and microbial contamination can offset potential benefits. The most defensible interpretation is therefore that selected, correctly identified, food-grade edible flowers are promising sources of sensory and bioactive diversity, whereas claims of clinically meaningful health effects remain insufficiently substantiated. Progress requires standardised composition reporting, realistic serving-size exposure estimates, validated digestion and metabolism models, well-characterised food matrices, safety surveillance and adequately powered human intervention studies.

Natural Sweeteners at the Interface of Health and Food Processing: A Critical Narrative Review of Metabolic Evidence and Technological Functionality

Prerana Shere — 2026-09-12

Natural sweeteners occupy an increasingly important position in sugar-reduction strategies, yet the category combines chemically and physiologically dissimilar ingredients whose health value and processing behaviour cannot be inferred from natural origin alone. This critical narrative review integrates evidence on plant-derived high-intensity sweeteners, rare sugars, polyols, honey and plant syrups, and sweet-tasting proteins, with emphasis on the relationship between human health evidence and food-processing functionality. Human trials and quantitative syntheses provide the clearest support for acute attenuation of postprandial glycaemic responses with D-allulose and D-tagatose, whereas longer-term effects on body composition and cardiometabolic outcomes remain less certain. Steviol glycosides may modestly reduce fasting glucose, but the certainty of evidence is low and effects on glycated haemoglobin are not established. Honey and maple syrup contain bioactive constituents and have shown favourable changes in selected cardiometabolic markers under controlled substitution conditions, but both remain concentrated sources of free sugars. For xylitol, the dental literature suggests potential anticaries value but is methodologically uneven; recent cardiovascular biomarker and mechanistic studies of xylitol and erythritol introduce safety questions that require prospective dietary studies rather than causal extrapolation from circulating concentrations. Processing performance is equally heterogeneous. High-intensity glycosides and sweet proteins provide sweetness but little bulk, while rare sugars and polyols better reproduce sucrose-related solids functionality yet alter browning, crystallisation, texture and gastrointestinal tolerance. Honey and fruit or tree syrups contribute flavour, colour and minor bioactives but complicate claims of sugar reduction. Extraction, purification, enzymatic conversion, fermentation and non-thermal preservation can improve ingredient yield or quality, although processing may also modify phenolics, sensory attributes and reaction products. The evidence therefore supports a matrix-specific, substitution-based approach in which health outcomes, sensory acceptance, technological function, dose and processing history are evaluated together. Future research should prioritise longer controlled trials, source-standardised ingredients, realistic food matrices and integrated health-processing endpoints.

Storage Entomology and Management of the Stored Grain Pest Sitophilus oryzae L. Using Different Botanicals

G. Sahoo — 2026-09-12

Grain storage is a major challenge in developing countries, where insect infestation contributes to losses in stored food grains. Among stored-grain insects, Sitophilus oryzae L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an economically important internal feeder of cereal grains. This review examines storage entomology associated with S. oryzae, the influence of abiotic factors on its occurrence and infestation, and the reported bio-efficacy of plant-based materials used for its management. The reviewed studies indicate that temperature, relative humidity, and grain moisture influence pest occurrence, oviposition, development, and survival. A range of botanicals, including plant powders, extracts, vegetable oils, and essential oils, have been evaluated as grain protectants. Reported effects include adult mortality, reduced oviposition and egg hatching, suppressed progeny emergence, reduced grain damage and weight loss, and repellent activity. The manuscript also reviews specific botanicals, including bael, chrysanthemum, garlic, karanj, castor, turmeric, chilli, cinnamon, clove, black pepper, tobacco, coriander, and eucalyptus. Essential oils and other plant-derived products show variable activity depending on botanical source, formulation, dose, exposure period, stored commodity, and storage conditions. Overall, the reviewed evidence indicates that locally available botanicals may contribute to the management of S. oryzae in stored grains, although their performance should be interpreted in relation to the conditions under which each study was conducted.