Processing Techniques to Reduce Toxicity and Antinutrients of Cassava for Use as a Staple Food

ABSTRACT: Cassava is a valuable source of food for developing countries, but it contains highly toxic cyanogen compounds and antinutrients. Cyanogens are found in 3 forms in cassava: cyanogenic glucoside (95% linamarin and 5% lotaustratin), cyanohydrins, and free cyanide. Different processing techniques exist to remove cyanogens and their effectiveness depends on the processing steps and the sequence utilized, and it often is time‐dependent. Pounding or crushing is the most effective for cyanogenic glucoside removal because it ruptures cell compartments, thus allowing direct contact between linamarin and the enzyme linamarase that catalyzes the hydrolytic breakdown. Crushing and sun‐drying cassava roots made into flour removes 96% to 99% of total cyanogens, whereas soaking and sun‐drying into lafun or fufu, or soaking and fermenting and roasting into gari or farina, removes about 98% of cyanogens. For cassava leaves, which have 10 times more cyanogens than roots, pounding and boiling in water is an efficient process to remove about 99% of cyanogens. Other strategies to reduce toxicity include development of low‐cyanogen cassava varieties and cassava transgenic lines with accelerated cyanogenesis during processing. Although phytate and polyphenols have antioxidant properties, they interfere with digestion and uptake of nutrients. Fermentation and oven‐drying are efficient processing methods to remove phytate (85.6%) and polyphenols (52%), respectively, from cassava roots. Sun‐drying the leaves, with or without prior steaming or shredding, removes about 60% phytate. Cassava is a nutritionally strategic famine crop for developing countries and, therefore, reducing its toxicity and improving its nutritional value is crucial.     

Short Duration Processing for High Quality Gari Production

High quality, cyanide-free gari was produced within 24 h by separating the process into distinct detoxification and flavour development phases. Grated cassava was rapidly detoxified by adding water (3:4 parts, v/w) and holding at 50°C for 6 h before dewatering in a screw press. Development of the characteristic gari flavour was initiated in the detoxified cassava mash by inoculating with detoxified, 3-day-fermented cassava liquor (2:5 parts, v/w) and holding the mixture at 50°C or ambient temperature for 12–18 h. Flavour development was then completed by dewatering the inoculated mash and toasting/garifying. Extensive sensory evaluation by a panel familiar with gari but which was otherwise untrained showed that there was no significant difference ( P> 0·01) between the product and traditionally processed gari in aroma, flavour and overall acceptability. The value of the rapid production of gari in providing this staple food for millions in developing countries, without exposing them to nutritional hazards from residual cyanide, is stressed.     

Effects of cassava processing methods on antinutritional components and health status of children

This study was conducted to evaluate cassava processing methods in Nigeria, its antinutritional components and the possible impact on the health status of children. The traditional method of cassava processing involved peeling of cassava tubers with a knife, manual grating, dewatering with logs of wood and/or stones, sieving with a cane‐woven sieve and frying in a local metal fryer on a wood fire. In contrast, the modern method involved the use of knives for peeling, a mechanical grater, a hydraulic press for dewatering, iron sieves for sieving and an improved metal fryer for frying on a coal fire. The products of both methods included gari (accounting for 70% of Nigeria's total cassava consumption) and lafun. The intake of gari and other foods in 129 3–5‐year‐old children in Benin City, Nigeria was also assessed based on a food frequency questionnaire. The children were classified into normal and protein‐deficient groups using lower/middle/upper‐arm circumference and clinical features of malnutrition. Based on the number of households in villages around Benin City who were involved in cassava processing, 90% used the traditional processing method compared with 10% using the modern method, although the latter controlled the commercial production and sale of gari. There were significantly (P < 0.05) higher intakes of protein and energy in normal compared with protein‐deficient children, but the latter group obtained higher percentages of protein and energy from gari. In addition, the correlation between the amount of gari consumed and clinical scores of malnutrition was low (R² < 0.2). This may be due to the children consuming gari from both methods and also from different sources. The average gari intake for these children was 320 g day^?1 and HCN levels may be as high as 10.24 mg day^?1. Some children who are exposed to these levels with poor nutritional status and lack of access to food varieties may develop sublethal effects in the short term. The higher protein intake by the normal children may also reduce the toxicity of HCN. We conclude that methods of processing cassava have profound effects on HCN retention and chemical composition of cassava products. In addition, the modern processing method is more efficient than the traditional method, with significantly reduced processing losses, labour input and levels of HCN. The HCN content in combination with the quantity and quality of protein in the diet has significant impact on the health status of children. Therefore, in susceptible children with poor nutritional status who consume inadequately processed cassava products with limited food choice, these may predispose them to the effects of HCN and thiocyanate. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Retention of carotenoids in cassava roots submitted to different processing methods

Large genetic variation in carotenoid content has been reported after screening roots from thousands of cassava genotypes. Moreover, these pigments have to withstand different processing methods before cassava is consumed. True retention of β‐carotene from cassava roots that had been boiled, oven‐dried, sun‐dried, shadow‐dried, or used for gari preparation was measured. True retention was also measured after storing for 2 or 4 weeks some of the products of these processing methods. Oven‐drying, shadow drying and boiling retained the highest levels of β‐carotene (71.9, 59.2 and 55.7%, respectively) and gari the lowest (about 34.1%). Higher retention was observed when dried roots were kept as chips rather than as flour. Storage of flour packed in plastic bags under vacuum unexpectedly resulted in higher losses than storage of flour packed in plastic bags without the application of vacuum. Losses were higher during the first 2 weeks and tended to be considerably lower during the second 2 weeks of storage. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Simple method to reduce the cyanogen content of gari made from cassava

The lactic acid content of gari, was determined by pH titration to be about 10 g lactic acid/kg gari. As the size of the gari particles increased from 400 to >1000 μm their total cyanide content increased from 5 to 21 ppm. The acetone cyanohydrin content of gari samples exposed to ambient laboratory conditions of temperature and relative humidity gradually decreased by 58% in 38 weeks whereas linamarin in cassava flour is 100% stable for 6 months. Cyanogens could not be removed from wet gari samples at 30 or 50 °C and were only slowly removed by repeated heating at 100 °C and rewetting. By mixing equal weights of gari (pH 4.1) and low cyanide cassava flour (pH 6.5), wetting and heating at 50 °C for 5 h, the cyanide content was reduced by about one half. Wetting a gari/flour (1:1) sample with 1.5 times its weight of water and standing in a 1 cm thick layer in the sun for 4 h reduced the cyanide content by about one half. This treated mixture may be cooked to prepare stiff porridge with lowered cyanide content, and may help reduce tropical ataxic neuropathy in West Africa.     

From cassava to gari: mapping of quality characteristics and end-user preferences in Cameroon and Nigeria

User’s preferences of cassava and cassava products along the value chain are supported by specific root quality characteristics that can be linked to root traits. Therefore, providing an evidence base of user preferred characteristics along the value chain can help in the functional choice of cassava varieties. In this respect, the present paper presents the results from focus group discussions and individual interviews on user preferred quality characteristics of raw cassava roots and the derived product, gari, – one of the major cassava products in Sub-Saharan Africa – in major production and consumption areas of Cameroon and Nigeria. Choice of cassava varieties for farming is mainly determined by the multiple end uses of the roots, their agricultural yield and the processing determinants of roots that support their major high-quality characteristics: size, density, low water content, maturity, colour and safety. Processing of cassava roots into gari goes through different technological variants leading to a gari whose high-quality characteristics are dryness, colour, shiny/attractive appearance, uniform granules and taste. Eba, the major consumption form of gari in Cameroon and Nigeria, is mainly characterised by its textural properties: smoothness, firmness, stickiness, elasticity and mouldability. Recommendations are made, suggesting that breeding will have to start evaluating cassava clones for brightness/shininess, as well as textural properties such as mouldability and elasticity of cassava food products, for the purpose of supporting decision-making by breeders and the development of high-throughput selection methods of cassava varieties. Women are identified as important beneficiaries of such initiatives giving their disadvantaged position and their prominent role in cassava processing and marketing of gari.     

Mild methods of processing cassava leaves to remove cyanogens and conserve key nutrients

Current methods for processing cassava leaves to remove cyanogens involve pounding followed by boiling in water or boiling intact leaves for 30 min or longer. Boiling in water rapidly removes cyanogens but also breaks down vitamins, proteins and S-containing amino acids, which are necessary to detoxify ingested cyanide. Two methods have been developed to remove cyanogens whilst conserving these key nutrients present in cassava leaves. The first method involves pounding leaves in a pestle and mortar for a minimum of 10 min until the leaves are well macerated, followed by washing the pounded leaves twice in twice their weight of water at ambient temperature, which reduces the total cyanide remaining to 8%. Two further washes reduce the total cyanide to 3%. The second method is to immerse cassava leaves in ten times their weight of water at 50 ± 3 °C for 2 h followed by one change of water and further immersion for 2 h at 50 °C which reduces the total cyanide remaining to 7%.     

EFFECT of UNIT OPERATIONS of PRODUCTION ON the CYANIDE CONTENT and ACCEPTABILITY of GARI

The effect of holding, pressing, initial moisture content, sunheating, and garifying, on pH, total titratable acidity (TTA) and residual cyanide content of cassava mash, cake and gari, were evaluated. A new method to make gari with very low residual cyanide was developed.
Increasing holding time decreased pH, cyanide content, but increased TTA of mash and gari when initial moisture content of mash was greater or equal to 63–65%. Reducing the initial moisture content of mash below 60% increased pH, reduced the residual cyanide, but increased the TTA in the mash. the optimum holding period was 72 h beyond which there was no reduction in residual cyanide content. Pressing and garifying further reduced the residual cyanide of cassava mash and gari, respectively. Sensory properties of gari prepared by the new laboratory method were similar to those of gari produced by the traditional method.     

Rising African cassava production,diseases due to high cyanide intake and control measures

Cassava is the staple food of tropical Africa and its production, averaged over 24 countries, has increased more than threefold from 1980 to 2005, and the population has more than doubled over that time compared with a 1.5 times increase worldwide. Agriculturally, cassava performs very well but the roots and leaves contain cyanogenic glucosides that are dangerous to human health. These cyanogens sometimes produce acute intoxication leading to death, they exacerbate goitre and cretinism in iodine‐deficient regions, cause konzo and are implicated in the occurrence of tropical ataxic neuropathy and stunting of children. Konzo is an irreversible paralysis of the legs with many thousands of cases, mainly amongst children, in Mozambique, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic and probably other tropical African countries. Attempts to alleviate cassava cyanide toxicity have included the development of an information network and distribution in developing countries of picrate kits, which measure total cyanide in cassava and urinary thiocyanate. A simple wetting method that reduces total cyanide in cassava flour three‐ to sixfold has been successfully field tested and is being introduced in Mozambique. Transgenic technology shows promise in increasing the rate of loss of cyanide from roots during processing. World health and agricultural bodies should pay more attention to emerging health problems associated with toxicity of cyanogens in cassava. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Nutritional Value of Cassava for Use as a Staple Food and Recent Advances for Improvement

ABSTRACT: Cassava is a drought‐tolerant, staple food crop grown in tropical and subtropical areas where many people are afflicted with undernutrition, making it a potentially valuable food source for developing countries. Cassava roots are a good source of energy while the leaves provide protein, vitamins, and minerals. However, cassava roots and leaves are deficient in sulfur‐containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine) and some nutrients are not optimally distributed within the plant. Cassava also contains antinutrients that can have either positive or adverse effects on health depending upon the amount ingested. Although some of these compounds act as antioxidants and anticarcinogens, they can interfere with nutrient absorption and utilization and may have toxic side effects. Efforts to add nutritional value to cassava (biofortification) by increasing the contents of protein, minerals, starch, and β‐carotene are underway. The transfer of a 284 bp synthetic gene coding for a storage protein rich in essential amino acids and the crossbreeding of wild‐type cassava varieties with Manihot dichotoma or Manihot oligantha have shown promising results regarding cassava protein content. Enhancing ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase activity in cassava roots or adding amylase to cassava gruels increases cassava energy density. Moreover, carotenoid‐rich yellow and orange cassava may be a foodstuff for delivering provitamin A to vitamin A–depleted populations. Researchers are currently investigating the effects of cassava processing techniques on carotenoid stability and isomerization, as well as the vitamin A value of different varieties of cassava. Biofortified cassava could alleviate some aspects of food insecurity in developing countries if widely adopted.     

Detoxification of cassava during gari preparation

Gari, a fermented cassava product, is widely consumed in many West African countries. The present study was undertaken to investigate the detoxification of cassava during the preparation of gari. The most important processing stages, with regard to elimination of cyanide, were the initial grating of the cassava and the final roasting of the product. The breakdown of linamarin was dependent primarily on the presence of endogenous linamarase and the lactic acid bacteria present during the fermentation were not directly involved in its hydrolysis.     

Quality of cassava foods in Sierra Leone

Gari and foofoo (fermented cassava foods) were purchased in the Freetown markets of Sierra Leone and analysed for factors associated with quality. Sellers were generally knowledgable about the source of the products which all originated from the country areas outside Freetown. The mean cyanide contents were higher (8.6 mg kg^?1 DM for gari and 28.2 mg kg^?1 DM for foofoo) than the amounts suggested by the Codex specification and, because of the distribution of the values around the mean, some samples necessarily contained unacceptable amounts of cyanide. Cyanogens were present as the cyanohydrin or as free cyanide; no glucoside was detected. Microbiological analysis of the samples showed high counts for total organisms, fungi and Enterobacteriaceae (10⁶–10⁷ g^?1). The mean water content of gari was 119 g kg^?1 which falls within the recommended limit of 120 g kg^?1 but again, due to the distribution of values around the mean, some samples had considerably higher water contents than that limit. Titratable acidity and pH were measured and the mean pH values were 4.18 for foofoo and 4.55 for gari. The particle size and swelling power of gari samples were also measured as these relate to consumer acceptance. The data show the quality of current cassava foods marketed in a major urban centre in Sierra Leone. As centralised processing develops, improvements can be made to those quality parameters which have been identified as important.     

Changes in the hydrocyanic acid concentration during traditional processing of cassava into ‘gari’ and ‘lafun’

Two sets of 48 cassava plants, harvested at three different times, were processed using one of the traditional methods to determine the effectiveness of hydrocyanic acid reduction to innocuous levels in the cassava products ‘gari’ and ‘lafun’. Dry matter content of the cassava was 37·6%; this changed significantly with the stages of processing to 84·5% in ‘gari’. This change was due mainly to pressing and roasting. Starch content remained constant during ‘gari’ processing. Hydrocyanic acid was significantly reduced from an initial concentration of 90·1 mg/kg fresh grated pulp to 25·8 mg/kg in ‘gari’. The fermentation step was found to be most effective in the reduction. Dry matter content during ‘lafun’ processing changed from 39·3% to 86·5% due mainly to sun drying for 96 h. Hydrocyanic acid was significantly reduced from 165·5 mg/kg in fresh grated pulp to 19·6 mg/kg in ‘lafun’. Soaking in static water was responsible for three-quarters of the decrease in hydrocyanic acid.     

Retention of Provitamin A Carotenoids in Staple Crops Targeted for Biofortification in Africa: Cassava,Maize and Sweet Potato

HarvestPlus, part of the Consultative Group on Internation Agriculture research (CGIAR) Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) uses conventional plant breeding techniques to develop staple food crops that are rich in micronutrients, a food-based approach to reduce micronutrient malnutrition known as biofortification. The nutritional breeding targets are established based on the food intake of target populations, nutrient losses during storage and processing and bioavailability. This review collates the evidence on the retention of provitamin A carotenoid (pVAC) after processing, cooking, and storing of the staple crops targeted for pVAC biofortification: cassava, maize, and sweet potato. Sun drying was more detrimental to the pVAC levels (27–56% retention) in cassava than shade (59%) or oven (55–91%) drying, while the pVAC retention levels (66–96%) in sweet potato were not significantly different among the various drying methods. Overall, boiling and steaming had higher pVAC retention (80–98%) compared to baking (30–70%) and frying (18–54%). Gari, the most frequently consumed form of cassava in West Africa had the lowest pVAC retention (10–30%). The pVAC retention of maize grain and cassava and sweet potato flour reached levels as low as 20% after 1–4 months of storage and was highly dependent on genotype. Therefore, we recommend that an evaluation of the pVAC degradation rate among different genotypes be performed before a high pVAC crop is promoted.     

Isolation of L-mannitol from ‘Gari’—a processed food from cassava (Manihot esculenta crantz) tubers

‘Gari’, a processed food from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) tubers was extracted with ethanol:water (75:25 v/v). A crystalline compound (m.p. 163°C, yield: 3.1%, 1.1 % w/w of gari) was isolated from the extract of the gari processed by mechanical method and by the traditional method, respectively. A combination of i.r., t.l.c, n.m.r., m.s. and polarimetric analyses was used to identify the crystalline compound as Lmannitol. This compound is believed by the authors to be the same as the one previously detected in cassava tubers as ‘mannit’.     

A review of cassava semolina (gari and eba) end-user preferences and implications for varietal trait evaluation

The purpose of this review is to support breeders and food scientists by examining research carried out on end-user preferences for gari and its derived dough product, eba, in Africa. The review focused on gari regarding the physical and chemical composition of raw cassava roots, methods of storage, the composition of gari with or without enrichment, and the sensory evaluation of gari and eba. The primary sensory attributes identified to describe gari are colour, taste, texture, aroma and flavour. Texture attribute of importance is crispiness for uncooked gari, and hand feel before consumption for eba. There was a significant correlation between the sensory characteristics of gari and the starch and cyanogenic potential (CNP) contents of the raw roots. Hence, the correlation of the end-user preferences with the chemical composition of the cassava roots could be helpful to breeders in refining selection criteria and developing high-throughput screening methods.     

An evaluation of enzymic and autolytic assays for cyanide in cassava (Manihot esculenta,crantz)

The total cyanide contents of cassava parenchymal tissue (peeled roots), cassava cortex (peel) and cassava leaves were evaluated by autolytic and enzymic assays. Autolysis of parenchymal tissue was studied under different conditions of _pH, time and temperature and addition of exogenous enzyme and antibiotic. Optimal conditions were determined to be 24 h at 37°C in acetate buffer (0.1M ; _pH 5.5) with 0.1 mg ml^?1 chloramphenicol. Total cyanide contents similar (about 90%) to those obtained by enzymic assay could be achieved only by the use of small sample sizes: < 1 g of parenchymal tissue, < 0.3 g of cortex and < 0.1 g of leaf tissue. This caused sampling problems because of the presence of cyanide gradients in cassava tissues, which could only be resolved by tissue homogenisation prior to analysis. A study using the enzymic assay of cyanide stability in such homogenates, at different _pH values and temperatures, has indicated that subsampling must be done within 15 min so as to prevent appreciable losses in the measured cyanide contents. The rate of loss of total cyanide was found to depend not only on the proportion of total cyanide which is non-glucosidic (free), but also on the proportion of the non-glucosidic cyanide present as cyanohydrins. The implications with regard to residual cyanide contents on cassava processing and the advantages of the enzymic assay over autolytic methods are discussed.     

Understanding cassava varietal preferences through pairwise ranking of gari-eba and fufu prepared by local farmer–processors

Within communities in Osun and Imo States of Nigeria, farmer–processors grew and processed a diverse set of improved and landrace cassava varieties into the locally popular foods, gari, eba and fufu. Local and 15 main varieties were grown in a ‘mother and baby trials’ design in each state. Mother trials with three replications were processed by farmer–processors renown in their community for their processing skills. Baby trials were managed and processed by other farmer–processors. The objective was to identify food quality criteria to inform demand-led breeding to benefit users, especially women, given their key roles in processing. Farmer–processors evaluated the overall quality of fresh roots and derived food products through pairwise comparisons. Improved varieties had higher fresh and dry root yield. Overall, landraces ranked first for quality of gari and eba, but several improved varieties were also appreciated for good quality. Landraces in Osun had higher gari yield and a higher swelling power compared to improved varieties. Colour (browning), bulk density, swelling power, solubility and water absorption capacity were the criteria most related to food product ranking by farmer–processors. Evaluation of varieties under farmer–processors’ conditions is crucial for providing guidance to breeders on critical selection criteria.     

The quality assessment of gari produced by using microwave energy

Summary A novel technique using microwave energy for roasting and drying or garification of fermented cassava mash is investigated. The quality of gari produced using this method compared favourably with the standards quoted in the literature and with those of commercial gari purchased from a London market, in terms of colour, swelling capacity, moisture, pH and total acidity.     

Total cyanide determination of plants and foods using the picrate and acid hydrolysis methods

A general method has been developed for determination of the total cyanide content of all cyanogenic plants and foods. Ten cyanogenic substrates (cassava, flax seed, sorghum and giant taro leaves, stones of peach, plum, nectarine and apricot, apple seeds and bamboo shoot) were chosen, as well as various model compounds, and the total cyanide contents determined by the acid hydrolysis and picrate kit methods. The hydrolysis of cyanoglucosides in 2 M sulfuric acid at 100^oC in a glass stoppered test tube causes some loss of HCN which is corrected for by extrapolation to zero time. However, using model compounds including replicate analyses on amygdalin, the picrate method is found to be more accurate and reproducible than the acid hydrolysis method. The picrate kit method is available free of charge to workers in developing countries for determination of cyanide in cassava roots and cassava products, flax seed, bamboo shoots and cyanide containing leaves. For eleven different samples of flax seed and flax seed meal the total cyanide content was 140–370 ppm. Bamboo shoots contained up to 1600 ppm total cyanide in the tip reducing to 110 ppm in the base. The total cyanide content of sorghum leaves was 740 ppm 1 week after germination but reduced to 60 ppm 3 weeks later. The acid hydrolysis method is generally applicable to all plants, but is much more difficult to use and is less accurate and reproducible than the picrate method, which is the method of choice for plants of importance for human food.