Physical losses could partially explain modest carotenoid retention in dried food products from biofortified cassava.

Aurélie Bechoff,Paul Ilona,Erick Boy,Keith Ian Tomlins,Ugo Chijioke,Andrew Westby,Xiu-Qing Li

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0194402

Abstract

Gari, a fermented and dried semolina made from cassava, is one of the most common foods in West Africa. Recently introduced biofortified yellow cassava containing provitamin A carotenoids could help tackle vitamin A deficiency prevalent in those areas. However there are concerns because of the low retention of carotenoids during gari processing compared to other processes (e.g. boiling). The aim of the study was to assess the levels of true retention in trans–β-carotene during gari processing and investigate the causes of low retention. Influence of processing step, processor (3 commercial processors) and variety (TMS 01/1371; 01/1368 and 01/1412) were assessed. It was shown that low true retention (46% on average) during gari processing may be explained by not only chemical losses (i.e. due to roasting temperature) but also by physical losses (i.e. due to leaching of carotenoids in discarded liquids): true retention in the liquid lost from grating negatively correlated with true retention retained in the mash (R = -0.914). Moreover, true retention followed the same pattern as lost water at the different processing steps (i.e. for the commercial processors). Variety had a significant influence on true retention, carotenoid content, and trans-cis isomerisation but the processor type had little effect. It is the first time that the importance of physical carotenoid losses was demonstrated during processing of biofortified crops.

Highlights

An insufficiency of vitamin A in the diet results in vitamin A deficiency (VAD)
Increase in carotenoid content due to concentration of carotenoids in gari is in accordance with other authors’ description [20, 21, 36]. These results show that even though significant levels of provitamin A carotenoids (pVACs) were lost during gari processing, pVACs were concentrated in the final product as a result of moisture loss and this resulted in improved nutritional value of the product in terms of provitamin A content compared to the roots
We found that True Retention in trans–β-carotene (TR) under unset conditions is similar to other studies under set conditions found in literature (TR ~ 50%) and that losses are confirmed to be high during gari processing from biofortified cassava under field conditions

Summary

Introduction

An insufficiency of vitamin A in the diet results in vitamin A deficiency (VAD). VAD is responsible for night blindness, increased susceptibility to infections, impaired growth and development and remains a major public health issue in many developing countries, with children and pregnant/lactating women being the most vulnerable [1]. Cassava is a major root crop in Low and Middle Income Countries [2]. Physical carotenoid losses during biofortified cassava processing the facilities and reviewing the manuscript but they did not design the work or did the analyses

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Conclusion