Roles of Foods Science on Human Nutrition
Chapter One
Preamble of the Study
It is universally accepted that an adequate and well-balanced diet is an essential for the enjoyment of good health but the scientific principles on which this belief is based are by no means widely understood. This is where food science comes in. This chapter bridges the gap between food science and nutrition and shows how they are related (Onimawo and Egbekun, 1998).
CHAPTER TWO
FOOD PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING
Processing is any alteration of food from the way it is found in nature. The relatively short shelf life of food commodities makes their processing into various products a viable alternative to promote all year round availability of these commodities in their processed forms (Murano, 2003).
Food processing is a technology in which raw food ingredients are converted into specific foods for consumption. Food processing is vital to the role food science has played in nutrition as it has made more nutritious food available to the public and in different forms. It has also made food available to those countries suffering from famine. Thanks to food processing. For this reason, this chapter deals with some processed food products (Ihekoronye and Ngoddy, 1985).
YAM PROCESSING
Yams can be processed into several types of food products some of which include:
- Yam flakes for fufu (e.g. pounded yam) which Cadbury (Nigeria) PLC unsuccessfully market tested in Nigeria in the seventies. This product when reconstituted into a viscoelastic dough-like product was intended to mimic a traditional pounded yam. Drum-dried yam flakes can be reduced to flour to give an instant yam flour, which is similar to the pounded yam.
- Cooked dried yam slices and cubes which when pulverized give an instant yam flour.
- Blanched, dried yam slices or cubes which when pulverized give a non-instant, functional yam flour.
- Cooked, flavoured, dried instant yam snack.
The basic technology for producing these yam products from yam involves peeling, slicing/cubing, blanching/cooking with or without pureeing, drying, pulverizing to flour, sieving and packaging, (Okaka, 2005).
CASSAVA PROCESSING
Cassava-based products important as human food include: garri, farinha de mandioca, cassava flour, fufu, ‘abacha’ and tapioca (Okaka, 2005).
CHAPTER THREE
FOOD FORTIFICATION AND ENRICHMENT
Food science plays a key role with respect to food fortification. Food fortification was established as a measure either to correct or prevent nutritional deficiencies in populations or to restore nutrients lost during food processing (Grossvenor and Smolin, 2002).
Currently, fortification and enrichment are two words often used interchangeably. However, taking into consideration the fact that the aim in both cases is to improve the nutritional value of foods, the term nutrification was suggested which would include both enrichment and fortification (Bauernfeind and Lachance, 1991).
FORTIFICATION
Fortification is a term used generally to describe the addition of nutrients to foods. The added nutrients may or may not have been present in the original food in order to prevent or correct a particular nutrient deficiency (Murano, 2003).
CHAPTER FOUR
FOOD PRESERVATION AND STORAGE
For thousands of years, humans have been treating food in order to protect it from spoilage. Food science has been part of providing a safe and adequate food supply. Without food science, people are restricted to local foods that must be eaten soon after slaughter or harvest. While this has some appeal, it severely limits the variety of foods in the diet, particularly at seasons where such foods are not available and increases the risk of malnutrition. Any irregularity such as change in climate, could affect the supply of food and result in starvation (Ihekoronye and Ngoddy, 1985). Therefore, food science plays a major role in producing more and safer foods by creating even more advanced means of preserving and storing foods (Brown, 2002).
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
It is now an established fact that food science has played key roles in human nutrition, and as a result of this, students of food science need to understand human nutrition.
With the knowledge of food science, it is now possible to transform a harvested produce to different food products. Also, it is good to know that food processors should fortify or enrich their food products to bring the nutritional deficiency of a particular food to the barest minimum.
The knowledge of food science has also been able to differentiate closely related terms like preservation and storage, fortification and enrichment, drying and dehydration, etc which to the nutritionists are regarded as same.
REFERENCES
- Bauernfend, J. C and Lachance, P. A. (1991). Nutrient Additions to Foods. Trumbull Publishers, Food and Nutrition Press, U. S. A, 1st Ed. Pp. 77.
- Bland, J. (1996). Contemporary Nutrition. J and B publishers U. S. A. 1st Ed. Pp. 110.
- Borenstein, B. (1971). Rationale and Technology of Food Fortification with Vitamins, Minerals and Amino Acids. Critical Reviews in Food Technology. Boca Raton Publishers, CRC Press, U. S. A. 1st Ed. Pp. 15.
- Brown, J. E. (2002). Nutrition Now. Wadsworth Group of Publisher, Canada. 3rd Ed. Pp. 1-2.
- Chopra, J. G. (1974). Enrichment and Fortification of Foods. Food and Nutrition Press, Trumbull Publishers U.S.A.1st Ed. Pp. 19.
- Endres, J. B., and Rockwell, R. E. (1994). Food, Nutrition and the Young Child. Macmillan Publishing Company, 866, Third Avenue, New York, 4th Ed. Pp. 1.
- Grossvenor, M. B. and Smolin, L. A. (2002). Nutrition from Science to Life. Harcourt College Publishers, 6277 Sea Harcourt Drive, Orlando, U. S. A. 1st Ed. pp.288, 315, 336, 445, 648.
