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Food Research Institute has since its inception provided technical and scientific assistance to satisfy the needs of the private sector and other stakeholders for the socioeconomic development of Ghana. Over the years, the Institute has developed into the premier organization for food research and post-harvest management technologies that are targeted at supporting the food sector by carrying out its mandate of conducting applied market-oriented research. The CSIR-FRI’s operations are d...

As an affiliate institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR-Food Research Institute has since its inception provided technical and scientific assistance to satisfy the needs of the private sector and other stakeholders for the socioeconomic development of Ghana. Over the years, the Institute has developed into the premier organization for food research and post-harvest management technologies that are targeted at supporting the food sector by carrying out its ma...

Studies have established high prevalence of aflatoxin contamination in grains and cereals pro duced in Ghana. Mitigation strategies have focused mainly on capacity building for farmers, agricultural extension officers, bulk distributors and processors to the detriment of the market women who act as the final link between consumers and producers. This study used supervised machine learning algorithms by means of Classification and Regression Trees (CART) to inves tigate aflatoxin knowledg...

Fish is readily available to fishing communities. Given the high nutritional value of fish, these communities are expected to have better nutritional status, compared to non-fishing communities. However, this assumption is not well studied across coastal fishing communities in Ghana. Hence, this cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the nutritional status, dietary patterns, and fish consumption of children living in coastal fishing communities in Ghana. Nutritional status of 3...

In this study, the drying behaviours of banana and ginger under single-stage and double-stage hot-air convective drying were compared. Banana and ginger slices were blanched before drying at 40°C, 50°C or 60°C in the single-stage drying method. In the double-stage drying, samples were dried at 70°C during the first hour and then at 40°C, 50°C or 60°C till the end. Moisture content, colour and shrinkage were measured by standard methods. The drying data were fitted to six drying models us...

Corruption is a global issue and a challenge in Ghana, however in the last few years, it has taken over aspects of the Ghanaian society, from government, public and private sectors, and creating a negative impact on all governance arrangement and performance in Ghana. The prevalence of corruption points to a humongous dishonesty in the Ghanaian society. Some causes of corruption in Ghana are political monetization, low level of literacy, non-enforcement of relevant laws, bureaucracy, and fusi...

We estimated how micronutrient needs of young children, aged 6–24 months were covered by the standard (traditional) diets in Ghana and Benin, and the contributions of partial breastfeeding and national nutrition programs aimed at improving micronutrient status to overall micronutrient intakes. Estimates of micronutrient intake from standard diets were based on previous surveys, using the food composition table of West Africa (INFOOD). Recommended micronutrient intakes were based on World Heal...

The fruit and vegetable industry remains one of Ghana’s most promising agricultural sectors mainly because of heightened awareness of the health benefits associated with their consumption. However, food safety is of ultimate concern due to the association of foodborne hazards resulting in escalation of foodborne illness. This report is a review of key foodborne hazards in Ghana’s horticultural value chain. The study identified the risk factors and hazards that contaminate fruits and vege...

Edible mushrooms commonly found in forest reserves are important for food security but they are underutilized in Ghana. The Atewa forest reserve in the Eastern Region and Bia Biosphere in the Western Region are among the largest forest reserves in Ghana. However, human activities including illegal mining activities pose a threat to the existence of the rich mushroom diversity within these forests. The objective of this study, therefore, was to collect, characterize and domesticate mushrooms f...

Organic fertilizer commercialization may present a great opportunity to help deal with the issue of solid waste management and help improve the declining soil problems in many developing countries. Ghana’s solid waste is predominantly organic, which is suitable for organic fertilizer production. Tis paper seeks to establish relationship between organic fertilizer usage and crop farm performance and assess its commercialization potential. The study employed a farmer-survey and key informant in...

Over 70% of plantain produced in Ghana is traded along the fresh market which is a hotspot for postharvest loss. This study sought to assess the economic impact of plantain ripening among traders in three satellite markets of Accra. Using the interview technique, primary data was obtained from320 respondents within 3 satellite markets. Ripening was found to increase the market value of plantain whereas over-ripening reduced the market value of plantain. Money to the tune of over two million ...

This study sought to determine the influence of ripening stages and thermal treatment on the quality charac teristics of the overripe plantain puree. The plantain was stored during ripening stages (7, 8, 9, and 10) to obtain the overripe plantain; steam without peel and steamed with the peel to develop puree. Microbial count, phys icochemical properties, and sensory evaluation of developed purees were evaluated. The results showed that puree from overripe plantain at ripening stage 8 had ...

Wagashie, a West African traditional cottage cheese is a dairy product commonly consumed in Ghana due to its nutritional quality. Nonetheless, it can serve as a medium for the growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms as producers and retailers do not employ adequate food hygiene measures in its handling. Additionally, despite its widespread consumption, there is little or no information about the sensory properties of traditional wagashie. This study was carried out to ascertain ...

Detection of the internal damage and insect infestation on intact mango fruit during harvesting, storage, and exportation is particularly challenging. Visual comparison of infestation by spot detection has proven unreliable in determining the presence of insects in seeds and the extent of spoilage in the fruit. The study aimed toward identifying a non-destructive, rapid, and correct method for detecting spoilage in mango seeds. Ninety-eight (98) mature green mango fruits were harvested from a...

The aim of this study was to determine the optimum ingredient formulation for an instant rice-based cereal enriched with tigernut and soybean flours. An extreme vertices design involving three (3) components (brown rice flour, tigernut flour and soybean flour) was used. A slurry of the three (3) was dried on a single drum dryer at 120 °C and 5 rpm. Mixture regression modeling was used to assess the impact of each component on the functional quality and sensory attributes properties of the dru...

Four mango fruit varieties of average slice thickness 0.6 cm and slice area 10 cm 2 were dried using a mechanical dryer at variedtemperatures, 55°C, 65°C, and 75°C. In general, the moisture content (MC) for all samples analyzed decreased with increasingdrying time. Palmer and Haden varieties recorded the lowest MCs of 8.7% (w.b.) and 9.3% (w.b.), respectively, when dried for14 h at 65°C. Palmer variety with the highest initial MC of 87.2% (w.b.) recorded a low final MC of 8.7% (w.b.) when drie...

The impact of different drying techniques on the properties of yellow cassava flour and its food application was investigated in this study. Flour was made from three cultivars of yellow cassava by solar-, hot air oven-, or drum- drying. Their functionality was determined by standard methods, and their digestibility was evaluated in vitro. The flours were used in the preparation of fufu, which was evaluated by sensorial and instrumental methods. The digestibility of drum-dried flours was high...

β-Carotene is an important plant pigment with high vitamin A activity. The kinetics of β-carotene degradation and moisture sorption behavior of yellow cassava flour produced by different drying techniques was investigated during storage. The βcarotene degradation kinetics were described using a first-order kinetic model, while the moisture adsorption data was fitted to five mathematical equations using nonlinear regression. During storage, the reaction rate constant for β-carotene degradati...

The objective of this study was to assess consumer behaviour towards tilapia and tilapia products and provide information linking production with consumption patterns and preferences as well as to predict factors that influence consumer preference, purchase behaviour, and willingness to patronize tilapia fillets using classification and regression trees. A total of 960 responses were obtained using convenient sampling. The findings of this survey indicate that tilapia is eaten mainly bec...