Food Security and Nutrition

Utilizing Undervalued Food Plants

Callistus Bvenura, Learnmore Kambizi

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781040262375
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Ciencias biológicas
• Subtopic: Botánica

Food Security and Nutrition: Utilizing Undervalued Food Plants explores the potential of underutilized and indigenous food plants to enhance food and nutrition security amid global challenges, such as climate change, water scarcity, and population growth. It emphasizes the importance of dietary diversification to reduce dependency on major staple crops, highlighting the nutritional and health benefits of lesser-known crops, such as fonio, pigeonpea, finger millet, and a wide array of wild vegetables and mushrooms. The book reviews innovative farming techniques, like the organic medium–enclosed trough system and hydroponics, which improve crop yield and nutrient content while conserving resources. Additionally, it addresses the commercialization potential of indigenous fruits and wild herbal teas, emphasizing their market value and health benefits. The book also discusses the reduction of goitrogenic compounds in certain crops to mitigate health risks.

By examining the unique nutritional profiles and local adaptability of these crops, the book advocates for their broader use to build a more resilient and sustainable food system. Through a combination of scientific research, practical farming methods, and market strategies, the book aims to promote food diversity, improve health outcomes, and support sustainable agricultural practices.

Key Features

• Highlights the critical role of dietary diversification in reducing dependency on major staple crops, advocating for the inclusion of lesser-known, nutrient-rich plants to improve overall health and nutrition.
• Introduces cutting-edge farming methods, such as the organic medium–enclosed trough system and hydroponics.
• Explores the market value and health benefits of indigenous fruits and wild herbal teas, offering strategies for their commercialization to boost local economies and food security.
• Addresses the reduction of harmful compounds, and provides practical solutions to mitigate associated health risks and enhance the safety of food consumption.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• About the Editors
• Contributors
• Chapter 1 The Future of Undervalued Indigenous Crops: A Brief Overview
• Chapter 2 The Contribution of Underutilized Fruits and Vegetables to Enhanced Food and Nutrition Security: A Review
• Chapter 3 Exploring the Hidden Potential of Undervalued Food Plants for Nutrition and Health Security
• Chapter 4 Optimizing Food and Nutrition Security: Exploring the Nutritional Potential of Finger Millet and Insect Protein for Enhanced Growth and Sensory Benefits in Broiler Chickens
• Chapter 5 Characterization of Selected Nutritional Traits in Spider Plant (Cleome gynandra L.) Leaves
• Chapter 6 Are Wild Mushrooms a Panacea for Food and Nutrition Insecurity?
• Chapter 7 The Potential of Underutilized and Undervalued Moringa Oleifera Plant Accessions for Nutritional and Food Security
• Chapter 8 The Cultivation, Nutritional Polyphenolic Contents, Bioavailability, and Health Benefits of Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.): An Updated Review
• Chapter 9 Exploring the Potentials of Underutilized Leafy Vegetable Corchorus olitorius L.
• Chapter 10 Exploring the Nutrient Profiles in Overlooked Food Plants for Enhanced Food Security and Nutrition
• Chapter 11 Mineral Constituents and Bioactive Compounds of Finger Millet Grain
• Chapter 12 Underutilized Plants and Hidden Hunger: Suitability of Hydroponics for Achieving Diet Diversity
• Chapter 13 Optimizing Nitrogen Fertilizer for Enhanced Growth, Mineral Enrichment, and Yield of Phaseolus vulgaris in Hydroponics for Improved Food and Nutrition Security
• Chapter 14 Novel Applications of Undervalued Herbal Teas for Food and Nutrition Security and the Prevention of Malaria
• Chapter 15 Cultural Perspectives, Nutritional and Health Values of Wild Edible Plants among the Batswana of Southern Africa
• Chapter 16 Exploring Some Cape Wild Foods: Implications on Future Food and Nutrition Security
• Chapter 17 Potential for the Exploitation of Nutritional Traits of Sweet Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) in Food Systems
• Chapter 18 Nutraceutical, Agricultural, and Economic Potential of Trachyandra ciliata (Wild Cabbage), an Underutilized Halophyte from the Western Cape Province, South Africa
• Chapter 19 Exploring the Nutritional Wealth of Edible Members of the Genus Vitex: Insights into Health Benefits and Nutrient Bioavailability
• Chapter 20 Exploring the Nutritional Profile of Tepary Bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) and Evaluating Seed Protein Alterations Caused by Chemical Mutagenesis
• Chapter 21 Exploring the Food Security and Nutrition Potential of Digitaria exilis
• Chapter 22 Leveraging Underutilized Food Plants for Food and Nutrition Security: Selected Nutritional Attributes in Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan) Seed
• Chapter 23 Organic Medium–Enclosed Trough System: A Climate-Smart Technology for Enhancing Indigenous Vegetable Productivity and Nutritional Constituents
• Chapter 24 A Survey of Goitrogenic Compounds in Selected Millets and Cruciferous Vegetables: Nutritional Downside
• Chapter 25 The Untapped Potential of Wild and Underutilized Fruits in the Development of Novel Commercial Products in Africa
• Chapter 26 Sustainable Food Production and Prospects: A Fundamental Guide to Hydroponic Agriculture
• Index