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Barriers hindering the development and implementation of verification programmes at some selected pineapple juice processing companies in Ghana See

Quality assurance measures during fruit juice production include verification of hygiene and temperature control to assure that microbiological contamination and proliferation are limited. However, most food companies in Ghana do not have adequate quality assurance systems. Bottlenecks that served as barriers to the development and implementation of verification programs in some selected pineapple juice processing companies were identified. Personal interviews and structured questionnaire...

Unearthing the potential of the Frafra potato (Solenostemon rotundifolius) flour in culinary application: sensory and nutritional analysis of its pastry products See

Frafra potato is an underutilized crop with enormous potential as a food security crop. Sensory attributes of bread and koose (a traditional Ghanaian pastry) produced from 10 varieties of Frafra potato flour as composite flour and nutritional values were analyzed. Bread and koose produced from partial substitution of Frafra potato flour were comparable to wholly wheat flour, especially 20% substitution with variety UW022 for bread and 30% substitution with variety UE021 for koose. Using a 9-...

Report on training of staff Food Research Institute accreditated laboratories and supporting units on the new ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 Standard, the General requirements for testing and calibration laboratories conducted at CSIR-Food Research Institute, Accra on 21st, 23rd – 24th January 2019 See

Following the revision of the ISO/IEC 17025; 2005 standard to the new ISO/IEC 17025; 2017 standard by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), it became necessary that staff of the accredited laboratories and supporting units of the CSIR-Food Research Institute be trained on the new requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. In light of this development, the training was aimed at giving participants who were staff of accredited laboratories and su...

Report on training of trainers on handling postharvest losses of selected fruits in season - watermelons, oranges and pineapples on 18th & 19th November at Gloriaka hotel, Winneba See

The Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Project is geared towards impact measurement and capacity building across the districts and regions of Ghana. As part of the project, a workshop was organized by the Central region RELC in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Food Research Institute on training of trainers on reducing postharvest losses of some selected fruits (watermelon, pineapple and oranges) in season. The workshop was done to empower local...

Report on training of trainers on handling postharvest loses of watermelons, mangoes and pineapples held on 27th & 28th January, 2020 at MOFA Regional conference room, Tamale, Ghana See

The Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Project is geared towards impact measurement and capacity building across the districts and regions of Ghana. As part of the project, a workshop was organized by the Northern region RELC in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Food Research Institute on training of trainers on reducing postharvest losses of some selected fruits (watermelon, pineapple and mangoes). This was held at Ministry of Food and Agricultu...

Technology transfer report on smallfish food project See

Technical report on optimization of a reduced PCR reaction volume and a single PCR condition for five different foodborne pathogens See

Foodborne pathogens have caused many disease outbreaks globally and more so in developing countries with huge economic effect. Food-borne pathogen identification is an important aspect of health care. The short shelf-life of some food products such as vegetables requires rapid and cost-effective methods for pathogen detection. Therefore this work was conducted to optimize a reduced PCR reaction volume and a single PCR condition that can simultaneously be used to detect five different foodborn...

Technical report on molecular detection of some foodborne pathogens in ready-to-eat grilled beef sausages from selected street vendors in Accra using optimized reaction volume and single PCR condition See

Instantaneous procedures that are sensitive for detecting bacteria pathogens in food are lacking and needed. Preventable food borne diseases continue to affect many particularly in developing countries and this has hindered food security in such areas. Improving pathogen detection methods by exploring the most modern techniques and optimizing these techniques to identify multiple organisms within the shortest period of time is desirable. Hence, this study set out to investigate the usefulness...

Report on training of fish processors on hygienic drying practices, use of drying platforms and value addition to dried small fish at Moree and Tema New Town See

Consultancy report on intensive training course on mushroom cultivation, processing and marketing technologies held from 1st to 5th April, 2019 See

This consultancy report outlines the course objectives, expected learning outcomes, the course content, descriptions of activities covered on each day of the training, course evaluation and directories of resource persons and participants

Report on cocoa fermentation monitoring See

Physicochemical properties and sensory attributes of local snacks fortified with powdered fish processing by-products and an underutilised fish species See

Fish processing by-products and small pelagic fish could provide minerals and protein in diets of vulnerable populations as these could be more affordable than seafood. The study objectives were to determine the proximate nutrient content of tuna processing by-products and burrito fish and also assess the acceptability of fish powder-fortified local carbohydrate snacks. Tuna trimmings, gills, frames and burrito were dried at 55oC for eight hours to moisture levels of 4.8% (trimmings), 8.9% (f...

Report on training of trainers on handling postharvest losses of selected fruits in season (watermelon and mangoes) held on 16th and 17th July at Nasco hotel, Koforidua, Ghana See

The Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Project 2019 is geared towards impact measurement and capacity building across the districts and regions of Ghana. As part of the project, a workshop was organized by the Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services (DAES) of Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Food Research Institute on training of trainers on reducing postharvest losses of some selected fruits (wa...

Comparison of the microbial composition of African fermented foods using amplicon sequencing See

Fermented foods play a major role in the diet of people in Africa, where a wide variety of raw materials are fermented. Understanding the microbial populations of these products would help in the design of specific starter cultures to produce standardized and safer foods. In this study, the bacterial diversity of African fermented foods produced from several raw materials (cereals, milk, cassava, honey, palm sap, and locust beans) under different conditions (household, small commercial pr...

Growth and yield of three Pleurotus species on rice straw See

Rice straw, composted Triplochition scleroxylon sawdust and rice straw – T. scleroxylon sawdust (1:1 w/w ration) combination were used as substrates to cultivate three species of the oyster mushrooms, Pleurotus ostreatus strain EM1, Pleurotus ostreatus floridarus strain POF and Pleurotyus pulmonarus strain PPO. Rice straw supported the best mycelial growth for the three strains and the rice straw – T. scleroxylon sawdust was the least suitable. On the other hand, the rice straw – T. scleroxyl...

Starches of two water yam (Dioscorea alata) varieties used as congeals in yogurt production See

The physicochemical properties of water yam (Dioscorea alata var. Akaba and Matches) starches were determined prior to their use as congeals for yogurt production. The moisture content ranged from 9.34% to 15.8% for A100 (100% Akaba) and M100 (100% Matches), respectively, indicating lower moisture content in the Akaba variety compared to Matches variety. Similar trend was observed for their water activity. The pH ranged from 5.88 to 6.93 indicating low acidity of the water yam starches. ...

CSIR-Food Research Technologies at a glance See

Mushroom technology See

Mushroom technology involves culturing of different strains of mushrooms (production of mushroom spawns) in a mushroom laboratory and cultivating mushrooms using various agricultural wastes such as rice straw, sawdust, plantain/banana leaves, cassava peels, yam peels, cocoa husks etc. Both edible and medicinal mushrooms are produced. Compared to other crops, mushroom cultivation has a shorter cycle of 3-4 months from composting to harvesting. Mushroom cultivation does not require large acres ...

Fufu flour technology See

The fufu flour technology helps reduce post-harvest losses of yams, cassava, plantains and cocoyams. This technology presents a more convenient way of having fufu available in all countries across the globe. It makes transportation easier and more convenient. The technology also presents a less laborious and time saving way of preparing fufu. Preparing fufu using flours are more hygienic and safer than the traditional way of preparing the delicacy. These advantages have caused the market dema...