Harnessing indigenous agro-processed flour blends as composite bioresources in functional food development

Abstract

Flours from inexpensive but perishable indigenous crops like cereals, legumes, roots, and tubers contribute about 90% of food calories intake worldwide. These can be processed as composites and prepared into readily available wholesome staple functional food products possessing multiple functions that provide some physiological, therapeutic, and nutritional benefits. This development entails blending flours from various plant sources (in different percentages) to produce a variety of food products. Their macronutrients compositions and diverse array of secondary metabolites associated with enhanced bioactive potentials can be annexed together to obtain balanced diets necessary for survival and confer substantial health benefits in preventing and managing chronic diseases. For an adult diet therapy to be accepted as healthy, it generally should averagely be able to provide calories daily in the following proportions: carbohydrates (55%), protein (22.5%) and fat (27.5%). This can be achieved using flour blends of most indigenous botanicals. The interest in producing functional food commodities from mixed flour is increasing globally and is currently captivating researchers’ curiosities. With lots of raw botanicals of comparative advantage and heavy post-harvest losses, African countries like Nigeria could use this technology to enhance the utilization of their agricultural bio-resources. These flour blend developments will accelerate the exploitation of native food crops toward producing ready -to-eat, highly nutritious functional food products like bread, cakes, and biscuits. This review highlights the nutritional quality, value, and health derivatives obtained from using underutilized plant materials as composite flour to prepare ready-to-eat bakery and staple functional food products. Diet therapy is a formidable means of prolonging life expectancy, as eating right and healthy can be a significant strategy in boosting immunity in this post-COVID-19 era.