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There are clear signs that the South African food system is failing as we experience increasing trends in hunger, rising food costs, lack of dietary diversity, child stunting, foodborne illnesses, food waste and an obesity epidemic coupled with malnutrition. A literature review was conducted to identify underutilised or emerging new food sources and technologies (UEFST). They were identified as indigenous African crops (IACs), insects, fermentation, cultured meat and seafood, food waste recovery and algae. Criteria were developed to assess these UEFST to evaluate their ability to provide affordable, nutritious, safe and relevant food for South Africans (ANSSA). A survey was conducted with food professionals from industry, academia and government to evaluate these UEFST against the ANSSA criteria. Findings indicate that the two most promising UEFSTs - IACs and food waste recovery - could be available to South Africans within three to five years. These sources were rated highest in their ability to meet the ANSSA criteria identified. The two underutilised or emerging food sources with the longest time frame to commercialisation were cultured meat and seafood and algae (5 to 10 years), with cultured meat and seafood scoring the lowest of all six UEFST against the ANSSA criteria.

Mushrooms are high-value products that can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungi and are domestically cultivated using lignocellulosic biomass obtained from agricultural byproducts and woody biomass. A handful of edible mushroom species are commercially cultivated at small, medium, and large scales for culinary and medicinal use. Details about different lignocellulosic biomass and their composition that are commonly used to produce mushrooms are outlined in this review. In addition, discussions on four major processing steps (i) producing solid and liquid spawn, (ii) conventional and mechanized processing lignocellulosic biomass substrates to produce mushroom beds, (iii) maintaining growth conditions in climate-controlled rooms, and (iv) energy requirements and managements to produce mushrooms are also provided. The new processing methods and technology outlined in this review may allow mushrooms to be economically and sustainably produced at a small scale to satisfy the growing food needs and create rural jobs. Key points • Some of the challenges faced by small-scale mushroom growers are presented. This review is expected to stimulate more research to address the challenges. Graphical abstract

Providing safe and secure food for an increasing number of people globally is challenging. Coping with such a human population by merely applying the conventional agricultural production system has not proved to be agro-ecologically friendly; nor is it sustainable. Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata (L) Walp) is a multi-purpose legume. It consists of high-quality protein for human consumption, and it is rich in protein for livestock fodder. It enriches the soil in that it recycles nutrients through the fixation of nitrogen in association with nodulating bacteria. However, the productivity of this multi-functional, indigenous legume that is of great value to African smallholder farmers and the rural populace, and also to urban consumers and entrepreneurs, is limited. Because cowpea is of strategic importance in Africa, there is a need to improve on its productivity. Such endeavors in Africa are wrought with challenges that include drought, salinity, the excessive demand among farmers for synthetic chemicals, the repercussions of climate change, declining soil nutrients, microbial infestations, pest issues, and so forth. Nevertheless, giant strides have already been made and there have already been improvements in adopting sustainable and smart biotechnological approaches that are favorably influencing the production costs of cowpea and its availability. As such, the prospects for a leap in cowpea productivity in Africa and in the enhancement of its genetic gain are good. Potential and viable means for overcoming some of the above-mentioned production constraints would be to focus on the key cowpea producer nations in Africa and to encourage them to embrace biotechnological techniques in an integrated approach to enhance for sustainable productivity. This review highlights the spectrum of constraints that limit the cowpea yield, but looks ahead of the constraints and seeks a way forward to improve cowpea productivity in Africa. More importantly, this review investigates applications and insights concerning mechanisms of action for implementing eco-friendly biotechnological techniques, such as the deployment of bio inoculants, applying climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices, agricultural conservation techniques, and multi-omics smart technology in the spheres of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, for improving cowpea yields and productivity to achieve sustainable agro-ecosystems, and ensuring their stability.

Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a root crop that remains largely underutilized and undervalued despite its abundance and affordability. In comparison to other root vegetables, such as potatoes, yams, carrots, and cassava, taro stands out as a plentiful and low-cost option. As global hunger increases, particularly in Africa, it becomes essential to address food insecurity by maximizing the potential of existing food resources, including taro, and developing improved food products derived from it. Taro possesses a wealth of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals, thereby making it a valuable nutritional source. Additionally, while not a significant protein source, taro exhibits higher protein content than many other root crops. Consequently, utilizing taro to create food products, such as plant-based milk alternatives, frozen desserts, and yogurt substitutes, could play a crucial role in raising awareness and increasing taro production. Unfortunately, taro has been stigmatized in various cultures, which has led to its neglect as a food crop. Therefore, this review aims to highlight the substantial potential of taro as an economical source of dietary energy by exploring the rich fiber, potassium, vitamin C, protein, and other micronutrient content of taro, and providing a foundation for the formulation of novel food products. Furthermore, this paper assesses the nutritional benefits of taro, its current utilization, and its antinutritional properties. It emphasizes the need for further research to explore the various applications of taro and improve on-farm processing conditions for industrial purposes.

SUMMARYThe National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) is one of the government’s social justice and equity initiatives to provide learners in poor schools with nutritious meals that will enable them to progress academically. The programme is funded from the Conditional Grant managed by National Treasury. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, schools closed intermittently, and government suspended the NSNP indefinitely. The Minister of Education announced that when schools reopen, the NSNP will be restored. Conditions over time improved and schools reopened. However, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) reneged on their promise to reinstate the NSNP. This sparked public outcry. Interest groups such as Equal Education, Equal Education Law Centre, and SECTION27 took the Minister of Education to court for violating the constitutional and statutory duties. The outcome of this case had dire consequences for all stakeholders. Using qualitative research within an interpretivist paradigm, we critically analyse the court case between Education Law Centre and Others v The Minister of Education. We also undertake an empirical study in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Six school leaders (five principals and one deputy principal) are interviewed to determine their experiences and perceptions of measures taken when NSNP was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three themes emerge, namely the ramifications of COVID-19 on poor parents and children: the schools’ inability to provide nutritious meals to children, and creative ways to help needy children from malnutrition and starvation. Findings reveal that some schools were unable to feed learners, due to financial constraints and lack of capacity, while others found innovative ways to provide learners with nutritious meals.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.751731.].[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.751731.].

Significance:Food insecurity in South Africa represents a critical social justice issue in which hunger has become 'normalised' along racial lines due to historical inequities, demonstrating how food access intersects with systemic racism and inequality.  Legal frameworks and rights-based approaches, like the Equal Education legal case during COVID-19, show how social justice interventions can protect vulnerable populations' right to food, particularly for marginalised children and communities. Evidence from successful cases like Brazil's Zero Hunger Campaign and South Africa's Equal Education case shows that interdisciplinary interventions - combining legal, educational, health, and social protection measures - are more effective than single-domain approaches in addressing food insecurity.

Noodle is one of the wheat-based pasta, encompassing variants such as macaroni, spaghetti, and vermicelli. Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) noodle is alternative to wheat with enhanced nutrition and offers gluten free alternative to wheat noodles with low glycemic index. It exhibited inadequate structural integrity with high solid loss and reduced water absorption capacity. Their cooking and textural quality were improved through substituting 50% pearl millet flour with defatted soy flour. It was produced through flour mix subjected to extrusion followed by drying for safe storage, cooling at ambient condition, packaging and storage. Following Central Comosite Rotatable Design, optimum condition was obtained as 71°C barrel temperature, 34.4% moisture content and 178rpm screw speed of extrusion processing. The solid loss, hydration capacity, cooking time and density were determined at optimized level of extrusion processing conditions. Their respective values were 12.5%, 1.84g/g, 240sec and 1155kg/m3 with desirability of 0.70. The gluten free noodles can be promoted to upgrade the nutritional content of popular snacks amongst youth and children.

•The cost of the nutritious food basket is higher than the cost of current food basket.•The cost of a sustainable food basket is lower than cost of current food basket.•Allocating the largest percentage of income to the provision of food baskets in Zone 5 of Iran.•Allocating the lowest percentage of income to the provision of food baskets in Zone 8 of Iran. Sustainable diets are characterized by being culturally acceptable, economically fair, affordable and accessible to all, nutritionally sufficient, safe and healthy, and are efficient in their utilization of human and other natural resources. The aim of the present study was to determine the difference in the cost and affordability of providing nutritious and sustainable food baskets in different zones of Iran 2016 through 2019. In this repeated cross-sectional study, the expenditure and income data of 128,716 Iranian households that participated in the “Household Income and Expenditure Survey” 2016 through 2019 were used. The data were categorized into 11 zones according to the zone classification of the previous National Integrated Micronutrient Survey. The sustainable and nutritious food baskets were modeled using linear programming and ideal programming. The cost of the baskets was calculated by summing the average price of each food item based on the amount (in grams) of each item in the food basket. Affordability was estimated based on the total cost of each basket compared to the average monthly disposable income of the household. Data were analyzed using R software (version 4.3.0). One-way analysis of variance and posthoc statistical tests were used to compare the difference between the average cost and affordability of food baskets in different zones. In all zones, the cost of a nutritious food basket was higher than the cost of a current food basket, and the cost of a sustainable food basket was lower than the cost of receiving the current food basket. The highest cost of current and sustainable food basket was in Zone 1 (93001.89 and 73290.27 Rials, respectively) and the lowest cost of those baskets was in Zone 10 (81484.38 and 63655.62 Rials, respectively). As for the nutritious food basket, the highest cost basket was seen in Zone 1 (116277.05 Rials), but the lowest cost one was in Zone 3 (29210.98 Rials). In terms of affordability, for all three food baskets, households in Zone 5 had the highest (74.34%, 57.49%, and 92.12%, respectively) and households in Zone 8 had the lowest (24.28%, 19.20%, and 30.00%, respectively) percentage of income spent on preparing food baskets. The findings indicate that, overall, in all different zones of Iran, the cost of the nutritious and sustainable food basket was higher and lower than the current food basket, respectively. Regarding affordability, households in Zone 5 allocated the largest percentage of their income to preparing food baskets. These findings emphasize the importance of future planning and policy implementation focused on food support, particularly in drought-affected and deprived zones. Additionally, targeted interventions could focus on enhancing the affordability of the nutritious and sustainable food basket for vulnerable populations.

The optimum conditions of radio frequency explosion puffing (RFEP) of yam-wheat-cornstarch snacks were explored. The impact of electrode gap (180–190 mm), sample thickness (1–4 mm), and sample height (10–40 mm), on the heating rate and heating uniformity, was evaluated. The process parameters (puffing temperature: 60–100 °C; puffing pressure difference: 0.08–0.28 MPa; residence time: 5–25 min) for the production of snacks were optimized by using quadratic-orthogonal-rotation combination design (QORCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). The quality of snacks was evaluated in terms of crispness, hardness, color difference Δ E , and moisture content. The best quality snacks were obtained with optimized conditions of electrode gap of 185 mm, geometry of 50 × 2 × 20 (length × thickness × height) mm, puffing temperature of 81 °C, puffing pressure difference of 0.17 MPa, and residence time of 16 min. The product qualities reached experimentally under the optimized conditions were 14 of crispness, 3117.36 g of hardness, 7.96 of color difference Δ E , and 12.88% (w. b.) of moisture content. Radio frequency explosion puffing could become a potential method for developing nutritious puffed snacks.