Frequent consumption of fruits can prevent nutrient deficiencies and promote health. However, the perishability and unaffordability of fruits had led to very low levels of fruit consumption in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the retention of nutrients and bioactive compounds of papaya fruit (Carica papaya L) with/without ascorbic acid pretreatment and drying under different techniques, to then estimate the vitamin A intakes for vulnerable population. Yellow pulp ripped papaya fruits (i.e., >75% level of skin color/stage level 4) (n = 14), with and without ascorbic acid pretreatment were dried using (a) solar drying: open‐air, tray driers, and glasshouse; (b) refractance window drying; (c) oven drying; and (d) freeze‐drying (control). The fresh fruit had high moisture content (87%) and an acidic pH. The dried papaya had a water activity of 0.5–0.6. The highest TPC, TFC, total carotenoids, and ß‐carotene were found in freeze‐dried papaya samples, followed by refractance window, and solar glass house (p < .05). The highest retention in total carotenoids (81.5%) and ß‐carotene (61.9%) relative to freeze‐drying was for the refractance‐window; 25 g of dried papaya could contribute to 38% of the retinol equivalents’ requirement for young children. Ascorbic acid pretreatment increased the retention of total carotenoids, ß‐carotene, TPC, and TFC (p < .05) by (6–11)%, (8–34)%, (7–58)%, and (6–30)%, respectively, for all the drying methods. Refractance window and solar glass house drying can improve diets and constitute a promising food systems’ intervention that can increase year‐round availability, accessibility, and affordability of vitamin A‐rich fruits like papaya.

Aflatoxins (AFs) are highly toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced mainly by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus , posing serious threats to global food safety, public health, and agricultural economies, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. This review synthesizes current evidence on the types, sources, and mechanisms of AF toxicity, emphasizing their widespread prevalence in staple crops such as maize, groundnuts, and rice. Climate change, poor agricultural practices, and inadequate storage conditions exacerbate contamination risks. Chronic AF exposure is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma, immune suppression, stunted growth in children, and acute poisoning episodes, such as the 2004 Kenyan outbreak that resulted in 125 deaths. Economically, AFs lead to an estimated USD 6–18 billion in annual losses due to trade rejections, healthcare costs, and productivity decline. This review also explores recent advances in sustainable and innovative mitigation strategies across pre‐ and post‐harvest stages. These include the use of atoxigenic biocontrol strains, genetic resistance, natural inhibitors, hermetic storage technologies, nanotechnology, biological detoxification, and climate‐smart agricultural practices. Additionally, emerging digital tools such as Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, blockchain‐based traceability, and machine learning models offer promising approaches for real‐time monitoring and predictive risk assessment. Despite these advancements, major challenges remain, including limited detection infrastructure, low awareness among smallholder farmers, and fragmented policy enforcement. The review concludes by emphasizing the need for integrated, multi‐sectoral interventions anchored in a One Health approach to reduce aflatoxin risks, promote food security, and safeguard human and environmental health globally.

Background: Plants deliver livelihood and food for millions of people in the world. Indeed, wild edible plants support rural communities in developing countries to overcome seasonal unfavorable conditions. In rural areas of Ethiopia, wild edible plants play an indispensable role in fighting food insecurity as emergency or supplementary foods. Hence, this research was aimed at studying the ethnobotanical assessment of wild edible plants in Dibatie district, Metekel zone, western Ethiopia. Methods: Ethnobotanical data was collected using a semi-structured interview, field observation, focus group discussions, a market survey, and the ranking of selected plants. Besides, voucher specimens were collected and stored at the National Herbarium of Ethiopia. Descriptive statistics, preference ranking, direct matrix ranking, and familiarity index were computed for data analysis. Results: This study has documented 54 wild edible plant species belonging to 33 plant families and 46 genera. Of these, most (38.90%) had tree growth habits. Wild edible plants bear mostly fruits (72.20%) as edible parts. Local people usually consume these plants freshly raw as complementary foods, though some wild edibles require processing. They were mostly harvested in the January (31.48%) and May (27.78%) months, with the least collected in September (7.41%). Most wild edible plants (78.57%) were available in uncontrolled habitats, while others (21.43%) live in farmlands, home gardens, and as live fences. Out of the recorded plants, about 98% had additional uses besides their nutritional values. Conclusion: Wild edible plants assist the livelihoods of the local people in food security, agriculture, energy sources, construction, medicines, ecological services, aesthetics, income generation, and household utensils. Nevertheless, wild edible plants are recently threatened due to various anthropogenic factors in the study area. Thus, they need wise use and in-situ and ex-situ conservation measures from all the concerned bodies for sustainable use in the future.

Updating the biochemical composition of coffee beans across the years is necessary. This is important to understand the vulnerability of coffee toward climate adaptation longitudinally. Accordingly, in this study the influence of growing area and traditional roasting on the biochemical composition of five common Ethiopian Arabica coffee beans collected in the harvest year of 2021/22 were investigated. With an average of 11.34 g/100 g, the Hararge and Jimma coffee beans had the highest crude fat content (p < 0.05). The crude protein content of the five varieties was in the range of 13–15 g/100 g, with respective highest and lowest contents in the (Hararge and Nekemte) and (Sidama and Yirgachefe) coffee beans (p < 0.05). The total phenolic content (TPC) of the coffee beans was in the order of Jimma (46.52) > Nekemte (44.55) > Sidama (44.31) > Hararge (39.02) > Yirgachefe (34.25) mg GAE/100 g. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of ascorbic acid, coffee bean extract from Jimma and Hararge against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical was 19.86, 20.22 and 20.02 μg/mL, respectively. The respective highest and lowest caffeine concentration was obtained in the Yirgachefe (10.38) and Hararge (7.55 g/100 g) coffee beans (p < 0.05). The Jimma, Sidama, and Nekemte coffee varieties had the highest chlorogenic acid content of 45 g/100 g (p > 0.05); whereas the lowest content was in Hararge coffee (36.78 g/100 g). While the caffeine concentration did not show significant (p > 0.05) difference, with all the coffee beans the roasting has reduced significantly the TPC, trigonelline and mainly the chlorogenic acid (p < 0.05). These data can update the existing facts on biochemical diversity of coffee beans in the country which can be used for evidence based innovations of climate adaptation in predicting the quality of coffee. Further recommendation of optimizing the traditional coffee processing method is supported from this study.

Previous attempts to increase the level of flaxseed in hens’ diet for the production of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs)-enriched eggs have been commonly associated with undesirable effects on production efficiency, lipid health indices, and oxidative stability of eggs, requiring adequate research attention. This study investigated the effects of feeding a moderate level of flaxseed (FS) and plant polyphenol extracts (PPEs) on fatty acid content, oxidative stability, and lipid health indices in eggs of slow-growing Sasso T451A laying hens. One hundred and five hens were assigned to five groups (seven replicates of three) and fed on FS (75 g flaxseed and no antioxidants), VE8 (75 g flaxseed and 800 mg vitamin E), TS8 (75 g flaxseed and 800 mg Thymus schimperi), DA8 (75 g flaxseed and 800 mg Dodonaea angustifolia), and CD8 (75 g flaxseed and 800 mg Curcuma domestica) extract per kg diets. The egg yolk content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5 n-3) in the DA8, TS8, and CD8 diets and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 n-3) in TS8 and CD8 diets significantly (p < 0.05) increased compared with the FS diet. The FS diet significantly increased the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in egg yolks, whereas the TS8 diet decreased it by 67% (p < 0.05). Little difference was observed in yolk fatty acid content between cooked and raw eggs. Production of n-3 PUFA-enriched eggs with favorable lipid health indices was possible through inclusion of PPEs extracted from local plant species grown in Ethiopia and a moderate dose of flaxseed in the diet of laying hens.

High temperature continuous deep fat frying of foods will result in the frying oil and food quality deterioration. Although the quality can be retained by using fresh oil, this approach will increase the production cost. In this study, quality improvement of used niger seed oil using adsorbent treatment was evaluated. Each adsorbent was mixed with 20 h used niger seed oil (15% w/v) at 150 °C and stirred for 30 min. The oil was recovered through centrifugation at 4200 rpm for 15 min. The tested chemical parameters of the oil increased after 20 h of frying (acid value (AV) (2.24–8.31) mg KOH/gm oil, free fatty acid (FFA) (1.13–4.17) %, and peroxide value (PV) (1.00–13.97 mEq oxygen/Kg of oil). The improvement in free fatty acid, peroxide value and oil recovery upon treatment of the fried oil with ash, bentonite, bleaching earth, silca gel and magnesium oxide (MgO) was (61, 57, 80), (66, 43, 88), (56, 21, 85), (61, 50, 70), and (73, 64, 40) % respectively. Ash and MgO effectively improved the physico-chemical characteristics of the used oil. Thus, the two were selected for further optimization of effective concentration and to evaluate their synergetic effect. Treatments with 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5 and 15.0 % of ash reduced the AV of the fried oil by 26, 39, 46, 53, 53 and 60 % respectively (p < 0.05). Also the combination of ash and MgO (1:1) improved the physico-chemical properties of the frying oil to nearly fresh quality.