This research was carried out to determine the effects of yeast concentration and total soluble solids on the quality of wine produced from pineapple. The experiment was a Response Surface Methodology in the form of Rotatable Central Composite Design (RCCD). Ripe pineapple fruit (Ananas comosus) was processed using pressure extraction to obtain the juice. The juice was divided into thirteen (13) portions. Each portion’s total soluble solids was adjusted using sugar syrup and then pitched with specified yeast concentration. All the thirteen (13) samples were fermented for 168 h at 25±3 °C and aged for seven weeks. The wine was analyzed for pH, titratable acidity, ash content, final total soluble solids and alcohol content using standard methods. The sensory attributes (colour, aroma, taste, mouth-feel, texture and general acceptability) of the wines were analyzed by a twenty-five member panelist using 9-point hedonic scale. The results of the physico-chemical analysis of the pineapple wines showed that pH , titratable acidity (tartaric acid) content, alcohol and final total soluble solids ranged from 3.58 – 4.58, 0.33 – 0.59 %, 4.33 – 10.66 %v/v, 3.35 – 5.65 °Brix respectively. The ash content ranged from 0.20 – 0.50 %. The mean sensory scores for colour, taste, aroma, texture, mouth-feel and general acceptance ranged from 3.28 – 7.96, 4.08 – 6.68, 4.04 – 5.96, 4.16 – 5.32, 4.00 – 5.84 and 4.04 – 6.72 respectively.  The mouthfeel of the pineapple wine samples did not differ significantly (P ≥ .05). Taste and alcohol exhibited significant model (P < .05), and were fitted into regression models. Pineapple has been found suitable for wine production. Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae var cerevisiae concentration of 6 %v/v and total soluble solids of 25 °Brix is suitable for production of pineapple wine and should be adopted.

This research was carried out to evaluate the appropriate levels of substitution of powdered cow milk with soy milk and cornstarch needed to produce yoghurt, evaluating its quality and potential for acceptance. Powdered cow milk was substituted with soymilk and cornstarch up to 30% to produce yogurt and market sample yogurt was used as control. Each composite blend milk samples was homogenized, pasteurized at 75°C for 5 min, cooled and inoculated with a mixed freeze-dried starter culture containing strains of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus at 45°C, fermented for 6 h and cooled to 4˚C. The proximate, chemical, microbial, functional and sensory evaluation of the composite yogurt samples was determined. The yogurt samples were coded ACS-1 to ACS-13 where ACS-13 represent control. The result of the proximate analysis showed that moisture content ranged from 82.04 – 88.71%, protein ranged 2.05 – 6.48%,  fat ranged from 2.14 – 3.62%,  carbohydrate ranged from 4.30 – 9.91% and ash content ranged from 0.53 – 1.48%. The pH ranged from 3.73 – 4.82. For microbial evaluation, the total viable bacteria count ranged from 1.90x107 – 11.60x107, total coliform count ranged from 0.50x107 – 3.90x107. For chemical and functional evaluation, the total solids ranged from 11.28 – 16.96%, titratable acidity ranged from 0.30 – 1.80%, syneresis ranged from 0.00 – 28.33%, water absorption capacity ranged from 0.00 – 75.53% and apparent viscosity ranged from 1337- 4863 cP. For sensory evaluation, yogurt produced with 100% powdered milk (ACS-1) was the most preferred while yogurt sample produced with 50% powdered milk, 30% cornstarch and 20% soy milk (ACS-10) was the least preferred among other yogurt samples. This study revealed the mix ratios of powdered cow milk, soy milk and cornstarch that were acceptable in accordance with yogurt standard and the extent the quality of yogurt was generally accepted with the use of processing adjuncts (soymilk and cornstarch).

People having access to physical, social and economic food that is sufficient, safe and nutritious to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, for an active and healthy life, could be a mirage without the involvement of local communities, in global effort to mitigate malnutrition. World leaders have identified the lacuna in the drive for food security and therefore, seek a sustainable approach through which biotechnology and functional food technology could be tailored to forestall food insecurity, especially in emerging global situations. Consequently, researchers in food microbiology, enzyme biotechnology, among other disciplines are making concerted effort to provide solutions to some emerging world problems such as banditry, wars, climate change, internal displacement, migration, among others. Emphasis on the role of functional foods and biotechnology for sustainable food security should be paramount on the global scale as championed by United Nations Organization (UNO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), World Health Organization/World Bank (WHO/WB) and World Food Programme on Malnutrition. Functional food components such as biotin, carotenoids, lycopene, monosaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, among others could be tailored to reduce the incidences coronary heart diseases, diabetes and free radicals in the body for improved nutrition, while nutritional education, alongside global support and empowerment initiatives for sustainability in agricultural biotechnological approaches would be highly imperative. It is therefore imperative for the global support agencies to reduce malnutrition to emphasize food functionality such as the role of carotenoids, fatty acids, lycopene, vitamins, minerals, biotin, fibre, etc in combating food insecurity through nutritional education, and in farming operations. It is in doing so that the role of food biotechnology would impact positively on the affected population, whereby foods are not just in abundance but also have the ability and capacity to provide the needed food ingredients to functionally prevent cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neutralize free radicals and prevent antioxidant activity in the body.

The research investigated the effect of drying temperature and time; and the proportion of different samples on the physicochemical and sensory properties of herbal tea from lemongrass, moringa leaf and ginger. The samples were analyzed using standard methods. The results obtained showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in the proximate composition (%) of the samples (with fats, protein, carbohydrate, ash, moisture, and fibre contents ranged from 0.01-4.01, 3.90-6.67, 67.59-78.91, 2.02-6.90, 3.14-6.01 and 8.89-12.02, respectively. The phytochemical analyses showed significant (P<0.05) variations that could be attributed to the effect of temperature of drying, duration and proportion of ginger, moringa and lemon grass leaves. The oxalates ranged from 0.01-3.89 mg/g, alkaloids (2.89-7.89 mg/g), saponin (0.22-5.47 mg/g), phytates (0.08-6.67 mg/g), phenols (0.01-4.01 mg/g, flavonoids (0.06-16.34 mg/g, steroids (0.33-7.83 mg/g and Terpenoids (0.02-7.98 mg/g). It was observed that the vitamins (mg/g) and minerals (mg/g) likewise showed significant (P<0.05) variations with  vtamins A, B1, C and D ranging from 7.57-12.05, 1.78-11.45, 2.77-11.91 and 4.32-12.11, respectively while the magnesium, calcium, manganese, potassium and sodium ranged from 3.64-8.89, 2.36-8.20, 0.00-0.04, 3.22-12.33 and 6.13-10.12, respectively. The samples with higher content of the lemon grass were observed to contain more flavonoids than others but increased concentration of the moringa and reduced the flavonoids content.

Two cocoyam varieties (Colocasia esculenta) known as taro grown in Cross-River State and Bendel were subjected to different processing conditions (boiling and drying) and the effect of boiling temperature, boiling time and drying temperatures were investigated. They were processed into flour using standard methods, packaged in low-density polyethylene bags and kept in the laboratory for analysis. The results obtained showed that crude fat, crude protein, ash, moisture, crude fibre and carbohydrate contents ranged from 0.42-0.92%, 6.03-9.01%, 2.13-3.90%, 5.20-12.07%, 0.43-0.77% and 73.32-81.73%, respectively. The anti-nutrients contents of the samples showed that oxalate ranged from 0.01-0.99 mg/g, alkaloids (0.12-0.73 mg/g), flavonoids (0.00-0.83 mg/g), phytate (0.01-1.90 mg/g), saponin (0.00-0.83 mg/g) and tannin (0.00-0.01 mg/g). The investigation revealed that there were significant (p<0.05) variations in the functional properties of the cocoyam samples with the water absorption capacity ranging from (1.56-3.01 mg/g), bulk density(0.58-0.82 mg/g), swelling index (1.54-2.91 mg/g), Oil absorption capacity (1.32-1.67 mg/g), while porosity ranged from 0.30-0.76 mg/g. There were also significant (p<0.05) variations in the thermal diffusivity of the samples with the samples of Cross River Cocoyam having higher thermal diffusivity compared to sample of Bendel Cocoyam. The higher thermal diffusivity observed in the cross river cocoyam could be due to the lower moisture content of the samples. The result of the pasting properties showed that the peak viscosity, peak time, final viscosity, breakdown and set back viscosities ranged from 10.88-15.81 N/m2, 7.87-20.87 mins, 8.00-9.97 N/m2, 15.10-17.90 N/m2, 6.0-7.5 N/m2 and 2.3-3.8 N/m2. The research discovered that sample with less pasting temperatures and high peak viscosity had better thickening effect as seen in sample of Cross River Cocoyam. The moisture sorption isotherms had sigmoid-shaped profiles for all of the three temperatures. The hysteresis effect at the three temperatures was distinctly expressed. The increasing temperatures resulted in less hysteresis effect on taro flour which meant the adsorption and desorption curves were closer.