Effect of incorporation of carrot pomace powder and germinated chickpea flour on the quality characteristics of biscuits.
The study on utilization of carrot pomace powder (CPP) and germinated chickpea flour (GCF) in biscuits was undertaken to upgrade the nutritional quality and assess the acceptability. The biscuits were prepared from composite flours by incorporating 5, 8 and 10 parts of germinated chickpea flour and similar corresponding parts of carrot pomace powder in to wheat flour. The biscuits were analyzed for their physical properties, chemical composition and sensory properties. The spread ratio of the biscuits increased from 6.1 to 8.4 with the increase of CPP and GCF in the blends. With the increase in the concentration of CPP and GCF, there was an increase in protein, ash and crude fiber contents. The crude fiber content of the biscuits supplemented with 10% CPP and GCF was the highest (3.2%). The biscuits supplemented with CPP and GCF up to 8% level were of acceptable sensory quality.
Germinated, toasted and cooked chickpea as ingredients for breadmaking
The effect of processing (germination, toasting and cooking) of chickpea beans was investigated on the resulting flours characteristics and their potential for obtaining gluten free breads. Rheological properties of dough were recorded using Mixolab® and breads were analyzed for their instrumental quality, nutritional and sensory properties. Chickpea based doughs showed low consistency and their rheological behavior was defined by the starch gelatinization and gelification. The bread made with cooked chickpea flour exhibited the lowest specific volume (0.58 mL/g), brightest crumb (L* = 76.20) and the softest texture, but cooking decreased the content of carbohydrates, ash and protein, although increased the protein digestibility. The highest specific volume was obtained in bread made with toasted chickpea flour, although crumb hardness was higher. Overall, processing of chickpea beans, concretely toasting and cooking led to flours that could be used for obtaining gluten free breads with the nutritional characteristics of the legumes and acceptable sensory characteristics.
Drivers of Live Cattle Price in the Livestock Trading System of Central Cameroon
Livestock production and trade are critical for the food security and welfare of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, animal trade consists mainly of live cattle commercialized through livestock markets. Identifying the factors contributing to cattle price formation is critical for designing effective policies for sustainable production and for increasing food availability. In this study, we evaluated the influence of a range of individual- and market-level factors on the price of cattle that were sold in all transactions (n = 118,017) recorded over a 12-month period from 31 livestock markets in the main cattle production area of the country. An information-theoretic approach using a generalized additive mixed-effect model was implemented to select the best explanatory model as well as evaluate the robustness of the identified drivers and the predictive ability of the model. The age and gender of the cattle traded were consistently found to be important drivers of the price (p < 0.01). Also, strong, but complex, relationships were found between cattle prices and both local human and bovine population densities. Finally, the model highlighted a positive association between the number of incoming trading connections of a livestock market and the price of the traded live cattle (p < 0.01). Although our analysis did not account for factors informing on specific phenotypic traits nor breed characteristics of cattle traded, nearly 50% of the observed variation in live cattle prices was explained by the final model. Ultimately, our model gives a large scale overview of drivers of cattle price formation in Cameroon and to our knowledge is the first study of this scale in Central Africa. Our findings represent an important milestone in designing efficient and sustainable animal health management programme in Cameroon and ensure livelihood sustainability for rural households.