Boran (n=15) and Nguni (n=15) cows were used in a study to determine the effect of breed, age and coat colour on the concentration of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90AB1), physiological rectal and skin temperature, and markers of health. The cows were exposed to summer heat stress and Boran cows had higher significant (P<0.05) skin temperature (35.1±0.42 °C) as compared to the Nguni cows (36.0±0.38 °C). Nguni cows had higher body thermal gradients than the Boran cows. Boran cows had thicker skin (P<0.05) and longer hairs (24.3±2.26 mm) than their Nguni counterparts (20.2±2.00 mm). The HSP90AB1 concentration was increased in Boran cows, although breed had no significant (P>0.05) influence. Significantly (P<0.05) high urea and total cholesterol was recorded in Boran cows. Coat colour had a significant (P<0.05) effect on the weight and rectal temperature of the study animals. Coat colour and age had no significant effect (P>0.05) on the concentration of HSP90AB1, although older cows (≥9 years) had higher concentrations (5.4±1.29 ng/ml). Age had a significant (P<0.05) effect on packed cell volume, neutrophil/lymphocyte, urea, total protein and gamma-glutamyl transferase whereas cows with ≥9 years had more concentrations than young ones. Age significantly (P<0.05) influenced hair length, skin temperature and the thermal gradients. Breed was positively correlated (P<0.001) to coat colour, age, body condition score, weight and temperature humidity index while negatively correlated to urea and total cholesterol. It was concluded that Nguni cows were more adaptable to hot environments than the Boran cows as the latter were unable to balance thermal load between their bodies and the environment.
Socio-economic dynamics determine the transition from diets characterized by the risk of famine, to those characterized by the risk of diet-related non-communicable disease (DR-NCD). This transition is of particular concern in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in which key socio-economic interactions that influence diet include economic growth and rapid urbanization; inequality and a growing middle class; and obesogenic food environments and an increasing prevalence of DR-NCD. In each case, countries in SSA are among those experiencing the most rapid change in the world. These interactions, styled as ‘keystones’, affect the functioning of other components of the food system and the diets that result. Data from the wealthiest quartile of countries in SSA suggest that these keystones may be increasing the risk of DR-NCD, widening inequalities in health outcomes due to unbalanced diets. To address this, new consumer and government capabilities that address these keystones are required. Food sensitive urban planning, supporting food literacy and fiscal management of consumption are examples
The consumption of animal by-products has continued to witness tremendous growth over the last decade. This is due to its potential to combat protein malnutrition and food insecurity in many countries. Shortly after slaughter, animal by-products are separated into edible or inedible parts. The edible part accounts for 55% of the production while the remaining part is regarded as inedible by-products (IEBPs). These IEBPs can be re-processed into sustainable products for agricultural and industrial uses. The efficient utilization of animal by-products can alleviate the prevailing cost and scarcity of feed materials, which have high competition between animals and humans. This will also aid in reducing environmental pollution in the society. In this regard, proper utilization of animal by-products such as rumen digesta can result in cheaper feed, reduction in competition and lower cost of production. Over the years, the utilization of animal by-products such as rumen digesta as feed in livestock feed has been successfully carried out without any adverse effect on the animals. However, there are emerging gaps that need to be further addressed regarding the food security and sustainability of the products. Therefore, the objective of this review highlights the efficacy and effectiveness of using animal by-products as alternative sources of feed ingredients, and the constraints associated with their production to boost livestock performance in the industry at large.
Food items, eating practices and the various forms of work associated with food are not only shaped by social and cultural contexts and meanings, they are also generative, actively forging connections among social beings, linking bodies to organic matter and anchoring human beings in nature. Since food is often connected to gendered divisions of labour and feminised work, it creates a locus for work, creativity and pleasure that transcend realms of human reproduction as shaped by the market, patriarchy and alienating labour. By drawing on auto-ethnography and observation, this article explores the meaning-making and human experiences that food work can generate, considering how feminist perspectives on food politics should focus not only on constraining relationships and discourses, but also on liberating and creative ones. By reflecting on a range of practices, representations and processes of food work, the article considers their implications for feminist explorations of agency and resistance.
Various studies interrogate the issue of food inflation from a commodity level vantage point but fail to relate how commodity prices manifest in retail prices, and ultimately, how it impacts food inflation. This study uses vertical price transmission analysis, with time series econometric techniques, to determine how underlying commodity prices manifest in final retail prices and the associated reasons for it. Implications for food inflation are also reflected on. Two value chains, namely wheat-to-bread and maize-to-maize meal are considered due to their importance as staples in low(er) income consumer diets in South Africa. Results indicate full price transmission in the wheat-to-bread chain but incomplete price transmission in the maize-to-maize meal chain. In addition, prices in the wheat-to-bread chain are determined at producer and consumer level and bi-directional transmission takes place, whereas maize prices are determined at retail level and transmitted through the chain, to commodity level. Symmetry in price adjustment was not rejected in both chains. Implications of the findings for staple food inflation is that it does not seem that the price determination and price transmission processes in these chains are contributing factors to the inflationary pressures that these chains have experienced over the past decade. Symmetric price transmission in both chains seems to suggest no opportunistic behaviour on the part of firms to exploit situations where commodity prices decrease.
The study was carried out to determine the aerobic plate counts (APC), Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella contamination levels in cooked (n=24) and raw (n=24) beef, pork and mutton samples, surface contact plates (n=48) and water samples (n= 40) from street vendors. A total of 8 street vendors who were willing to participate in the study were randomly selected. After biochemical tests, no significant differences were found in the microbial counts of meat sold by street vendors in Alice and King Williams town. Furthermore, no significant differences were found in the mean scores of raw beef, mutton and pork where APC (4.8, 3.7 and 2.8 Log CFU/g), Staphylococcus aureus (3.3, 3.7 and 2.8 Log CFU/g) and E. coli (1.0, 0.6 and 0.3 Log CFU/g) respectively. Salmonella tested negative in all the samples tested in the study. The results in the study were associated with cross-contamination during processing and storage. However, the levels of contamination in cooked meat were lower when compared to the standards set by Commission Regulation for determining the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat foods. Overall, poor hygiene of the street vendor, utensils, and holding area were major sources of contamination. It was therefore concluded that there were no differences in the microbial counts of meat sold in the informal markets of Nkonkobe and Buffalo City Municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Improved sanitation facilities, hygiene tools, and training will promote the production of safer food by the street vendors.
Koose, a West African delicacy, is a side dish prepared by deep frying thick cowpea paste. The current research determined the effect of deep-fat frying of cowpea paste on its total phenolic content (TPC), phenolic composition and antioxidant properties. Four cowpea cultivars comprising two reddish-brown, a brownish-cream and cream phenotypes were used. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine phenolic composition of the samples. TPC was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method while radical scavenging capacities were by Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, oxygen radical absorbance capacity and nitric oxide scavenging assays. The phenolic acids identified included benzoic and cinnamic acid derivatives. The predominant flavonoid classes were flavan-3-ols and flavonols. Deep-fat frying of the cowpea pastes decreased their TPC, radical scavenging capacities and total quantified flavonoids. The koose inhibited radical-induced oxidative cellular and DNA damage. It is concluded that koose is a potential functional food that can contribute to alleviating radical-induced oxidative stress.
A group of women in the rural Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
earns a living collecting scrap metal and paying to transport it for sale in
Durban. The sustainability of their livelihood is in question because of an
ever-shrinking supply of recyclable metals, fluctuating commodity prices,
and the logistical difficulties of transporting the materials to buyers further
along the recycling value chain. Using the sustainable livelihoods framework, this paper highlights the opportunities and challenges facing these
informal recyclers. It shows how the women have fashioned a livelihood
practice in the context of widespread rural poverty, isolation from recycling markets, and limited community assets. Implications for community
development include the need for a participatory sustainable livelihood
analysis to evaluate ways to counterbalance the instability and uncertainty
involved in informal recycling and to raise the incomes of the women
involved in this activity
Food production needs to double, with minimum waste, if hunger and poverty is to be alleviated in South Africa. The condemnation of liver during meat inspection represents a huge waste of a protein food resource. This paper measures the quantity of liver condemned in three abattoirs in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and assesses the causes and the monetary loss associated with these condemnations. A retrospective study (RS) (n = 51 302) involving the use of abattoir slaughter records from 2010–2012 and a post-mortem meat inspection (PMMI) (n = 1374) was conducted from July to December 2013. The RS revealed the leading cause of liver wastage as fasciolosis (5.95%, 4.48%, and 2.7%), fibrosis (2.74%, 2.37%, and 1.0%), and abscessation (1.11%, 2.78%, and 1.5%) for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 respectively. During the PMMI, the same factors caused liver condemnation in addition to calcification (8.3%, 6.8%, and 3.2%), Cysticercosis bovis (1.7%, 2.4%, and 1.3%) and improper evisceration (4.8%, 12.4%, and 27.1%) for the abattoirs X, Y, and Z respectively. A total of R 343, 330 (USD 45,271.07) was lost due to the condemnation of liver between 2010 and 2012. The further loss of 3290.4 kg of liver was calculated for the six month in 2013, and its financial value was R 59, 227.2 (USD 5889.82). The result of this study provide baseline information on major causes of liver wastage in cattle slaughtered in South Africa as well as the direct financial losses and demonstrate the huge waste of ideal protein food source.
This study examined the fatty acid and mineral compositions of raw and cooked beef and liver from Bonsmara (BD) and non-descript (ND) cattle, raised on natural pasture. Samples were collected from 80 cows and thermal-processed at 65°C for 120 minutes and 85°C for 60 minutes using sous-vide techniques, and then analysed for fatty acid and mineral compositions. The results did not show differences in individual fatty acid composition of meat samples between the breed (P>0.05). However, the raw beef sample had higher content of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA , 40.22% ± 3.79 ND, 42.53% ± 2.39 BD) and lower content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA , 11.02% ± 5.47 ND, 10.13% ± 6.73 BD) than liver (MUFA , 20.11% ± 4.76 ND, 21.08% ± 2.46 BD; PUFA , 30.73% ± 5.20 ND, 31.11% ± 2.37 BD) (P<0.05). The PUFA /MUFA and n-6/n-3 ratios, atherogenicity and desaturase indices were comparable between breeds, but higher in beef than liver. The total percentage of saturated fatty acid, MUFA and PUFA retained after cooking were numerically higher in liver than in beef (P>0.05). The results further revealed higher contents of Na, Mg, and Zn in raw beef than liver. However, the content of Na, Mg, and Zn in the beef and liver were not significantly (P>0.05) affected after cooking. Based on the PUFA proportion of the total lipids in beef (11.02%) and liver (31.11%) and n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio in beef (2.54) and liver (1.34), consumption of liver and beef from cattle raised on pasture could be beneficial to human health. Additionally, application of sous-vide technique can be used to minimize the nutritional losses in beef and liver.