Abstract There are increased reported cases of rickets in Kenya coupled with scanty data on its cause. This study was carried out to determine risk factors associated with rickets for pediatric infants and children attending Maternal and Child Health clinic at Kiambu district hospital. A cross sectional analytical survey design was used. Systematic random sampling was used to select 377 infants and children in addition to their mothers and care givers for data collection. Simple random sampl...
ABSTRACT The global prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased from 6.4% in 1980, 12% in 2008 to 39% in 2014. These statistics show rising prevalence of overweight among women of reproductive age in many regions including Sub-Sahara Africa. Studies indicate sub-optimal dietary intake, body dissatisfaction, less physical activity levels and increase of body weight at postpartum period as the main contributors. It is also emerging from research done mainly in western countries that Afr...
ABSTRACT Scientific evidence on infant and young child feeding practices from developing countries show that progress is possible when effective strategies and sufficient resources are applied. However, significant gaps in complementary feeding continue to undermine child health. There is limited scientific data on complementary feeding practices and its relation to nutritional status of children aged 6-23 months old in Kenya’s urban slums. The study therefore investigated complementary fe...
ABSTRACT Overweight and obesity is an escalating problem worldwide, yet extensive data especially in Africa is still lacking. The main objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated socio-economic factors, physical activity, and dietary intake among women in Nairobi, Kenya. A crosssectional design was used. Data on socio-economic factors of the women, their physical activity and dietary intake patterns, as well as anthropometric measuremen...
ABSTRACT Kenya has one of the highest mortality rates among children under five. Inadequate dietary intake and low socio-economic status may contribute to the prevalence of malnutrition. The main objective of the study was to determine the dietary intake, hygienic practices, morbidity and nutritional status of children under five years in Mukuru slums.The study is important for planning and development of nutritional and good sanitation policies. Descriptive research design was used for ...
ABSTRACT The effect of addition of processed soybean flour on the physicochemical characteristics of fermented maize dough was studied. Soybean flours; Full-fat, Extruded, and Defatted soy-flours were processed and added to maize dough before and after fermentation of the dough. The soy were added to the dough at 0,10,and 20 percent concentrations. The dough samples were also fermented at 0,6,24 and 4 8 hours respectively. Two traditional food products; Ga kenkey and Akasa (Porridge) were al...
ABSTRACT The quality of palm oil depends on the method of extraction. Mechanized methods of extracting palm oil result in better oil quality. In Ghana over 80% of palm oil is produced by small scale processors whose lack of mechanization results in poor oil quality. A study conducted in 2011 resulted in the development of an improved traditional process (ITP) to augment the quality of palm oil from the small scale. This study sought to compare palm oils from different processing scales to IT...
ABSTRACT Fish farming in Kenya is faced with the challenge of high cost of feeds because of the high cost of fish meal, an important protein ingredient incorporated into feeds. Thus, there is the urgent need for cheaper alternative protein sources that have similar or higher protein quality to partially or completely substitute fish meal in feeds. The effects of substituting fresh water shrimps meal (FWSM) with black soldier fly larvae meal (Hermetia illucens – BSFM) or adult cricket meal ...
ABSTRACT Raw camel milk production and marketing chain in Kenya was investigated for microbial infections and implications. Milk samples were taken using simple random sampling method in a clustered sampling plan. There were three cluster levels, the production, processing and market levels. Analysis of samples in the laboratory for enumeration and characterization was by standard methods as described in the methodology. Data analysis was done by Pearson correlation coefficient and chi-squar...
ABSTRACT Mango production in Kenya has been on the rise. In 2013 about 581,290 MT were produced of which 40% were lost due to lack of proper postharvest management practices. The greatest loss was through pest and microbial spoilage and chemical deterioration of nutrients. The study aimed at developing methods to preserve the nutritional quality and reduce post-harvest losses in the mango value chain. Using a structured questionnaire, randomly administered to 40 mango farmers, post handling p...
The Tea Research Institute (TRI) developed TRFK 306 tea clone which is rich in anthocyanin as a strategy to diversify Kenyan teas. TRFK 6/8 was used as a control in the study being a standard clone used at the TRI. TRFK 306 can be utilized non-processed but there is no well researched, documented data on the best brewing conditions. Consumers add edible acids to its brew to improve the colour and taste but information on the acid effect is scanty. Information on the quality of products m...
A study was conducted on the newly developed purple tea clones in Kenya. Green tea quality analyses on theanine and catechins were done using HPLC, while total polyphenols were done using the Folin- Ciocalteu phenol reagent method. Sensory analysis was also done on green tea samples. Plain black tea quality parameters were determined (total theaflavins and individual theaflavins, brightness and total colour percentages, total thearubigins and fractions and total soluble solids) for all t...
vi ABSTRACT Mango (Mangifera indica L.) and Banana (Musa acuminata L.) are important tropical fruits ripen quickly and have a short postharvest life and commercialization window. In Mozambique, about 40 % of these fruits have been lost. In order to recommend small and medium enterprises in post-harvest fruit preservation, there is a need to develop appropriate alternative techniques for the post-harvest handling of fruits. In this work, the extension of the shelf-life of fresh mango and bana...
ABSTRACT The uses of composite flour in bread making are becoming more important as people become health conscious and accept the role of functional foods globally. The effect of partial replacement of wheat with 10% to 40% plantain flour and the subsequent effect of 1% to 3% gum arabic addition on composite bread quality attributes was investigated. It was hypothesized that wheat- plantain flour physicochemical properties did not differ from the control (100% wheat); and that neither substit...
ABSTRACT Biopreservation systems in foods are of increasing interest in the food industry. It is the use of naturally occurring microorganisms and/or their inherent antibacterial compounds of defined quality and quantity to extend shelf life and to enhance the safety of foods. Bacteriocinogenic LAB and/or their isolated bacteriocins are considered safe additives, useful to control the frequent development of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms in foods. The spreading of bacterial antibiotic...