Page 88 - University of Pretoria RESEARCH REVIEW 2018

Using technology to create SMART foods
Naushad Emmambux, Department of Consumer and Food Sciences, and DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security
The triple burden of malnutrition in Africa relates
to deficiencies in macro and micronutrients, and
to overweight and obesity and the associated non- communicable diseases. It is estimated that in South Africa about 25% of children under the age of three are stunted as a result of nutritional deficiencies, and about 60% of women are overweight or obese.
Professor Naushad Emmambux is leading a team of researchers in developing SMART foods and
food ingredients to combat child malnutrition – the acronym stands for Safe, Marketable, Affordable, Ready
to eat and Tasty. The focus is on indigenous grains and locally available food, such as maize, sorghum, teff, Bambara groundnut, cowpeas and orange flesh sweet potato.
Emmambux and fellow researchers have shown that processing
technologies can reduce the viscosity of indigenous grains, making such grains suitable for infant feeding and nutrient dense. They have also tested different processing technologies. The team’s experiments have shown that extruded cassava-soy porridge with wheat bran or grape pomace (by-products of the food processing industry) can have a lower glycaemic index and satiety due to the presence of dietary fibre. Other manufactured products which have commercial potential are gluten-free expanded
snacks from maize and orange flesh sweet potato, quick cooking high-protein gluten-free pasta from sorghum and cowpeas, maize and orange flesh sweet potato.
The technique to reduce energy density is either by developing
novel fat replacers, or by reducing
the glycaemic index through
starch modification. The team has developed modified starch that contains nanomaterials to mimic fat in emulsion type sauces with an 80% oil reduction. They are also working on lowering the glycaemic index of starch through the production of resistant starch in maize meal.
In 2018, some of their findings were published in LWT Food Science and Technology, Food Hydrocolloids and Starch-Stärke.
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