Pumpkin leaf is a dark green leafy vegetable found in the tropics, rich in water, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and magnesium, vitamins A, K and folate. It is scientifically known as Cucurbita moschata Duchesne. It is used for various soups in the West African sub-region. Squash & Pumpkin leaves are indeed edible. In many parts […]
Alligator pepper also known as Atare (in Yoruba), Chitta (Hausa) or Guinea Pepper mbongo spice, or hepper pepper is a West African spice made from the seeds and seed pods of Aframomum danielli. It is a close relative of grains of paradise, obtained from the closely related species, Aframomum melegueta. Unlike grains of paradise, which […]
Fufu is an essential food in most of West Africa, and it followed enslaved West Africans when they came to the Caribbean. It is often described as having a slightly tart and sour taste. It’s eaten across West Africa, in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, Benin, Sierra Leone and more, and it pairs well with […]
Pounded yam is one of the most important foods in Nigeria. This food is made from yam, a perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in many temperate and tropical regions, especially in Africa. With advances in technology, we don’t have to go through the stress of pounding yams using mortar […]
A popular West African food, waakye is a Ghanaian dish of cooked rice and beans, commonly eaten for breakfast or lunch. The rice and beans, usually black eyed peas or cow beans, are cooked together, along with red dried sorghum leaf sheaths or stalks and limestone. The red sorghum leaves add a distinct flavour and […]
The history of food chemistry dates back to the late 1700s, when many famous chemists were involved in discovering chemicals important in foods. In 1785, for example, Carl Wilhelm Scheele isolated malic acid from apples. In 1813, Sir Humphry Davy published the first book on agricultural and food chemistry, titled Elements of Agricultural Chemistry, in […]
Food chemistry is concerned with the analytical, biochemical, chemical, physical, nutritional, and toxicological aspects of foods and food ingredients. The long-term goals of research in food chemistry are to understand relationships between the structure and functional properties of food molecules and to improve the nutritional, safety, and organoleptic aspects of food. See: Definition of Food […]
Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating contaminated food. It’s not usually serious and most people get better within a few days without treatment. In most cases of food poisoning, the food is contaminated by microorganisms. Foodborne diseases annually cause as many as 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths worldwide. That means approximately one in […]
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein and very low-carbohydrate diet. Carbohydrates are the body’s preferred source of energy, but on a strict ketogenic diet, less than 5 percent of energy intake is from carbohydrates. The reduction of carbohydrates puts the body into a metabolic state called ketosis. Ketosis is when the body starts breaking […]
Despite being the first seasoning produced since 1909, Ajinomoto the number one brand of Monosodium Glutamate has continued to generate controversy despite approval by the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States has also classified MSG as a food ingredient that’s “generally recognized […]
