Fermented food products, especially those derived from cereals and legumes are important contributors to diet diversity globally. These food items are vital to food security and significantly contribute to nutrition. Fermentation is a process that desirably modifies food constituents by increasing the palatability, organoleptic properties, bioavailability and alters nutritional constituents. This review focuses on deciphering possible mechanisms involved in the modification of nutritional constituents as well as nutrient bioavailability during the fermentation of cereals and legumes, especially those commonly consumed in developing countries. Although modifications in these constituents are dependent on inherent and available nutrients in the starting raw material, it was generally observed that fermentation increased these nutritive qualities (protein, amino acids, vitamins, fats, fatty acids, etc.) in cereals and legumes, while in a few instances, a reduction in these constituents was noted. A general reduction trend in antinutritional factors was also observed with a corresponding increase in the nutrient bioavailability and bioaccessibility. Notable mechanisms of modification include transamination or the synthesis of new compounds during the fermentation process, use of nutrients as energy sources, as well as the metabolic activity of microorganisms leading to a degradation or increase in the level of some constituents. A number of fermented products are yet to be studied and fully understood. Further research into these food products using both conventional and modern techniques are still required to provide insights into these important food groups, as well as for an overall improved food quality, enhanced nutrition and health, as well as other associated socioeconomic benefits.

Aflatoxin (AF) contamination presents one of the most insidious challenges to combat, in food safety. Its adulteration of agricultural commodities presents an important safety concern as evident in the incidences of its health implication and economic losses reported widely. Due to the overarching challenges presented by the contamination of AFs in foods and feeds, there is an urgent need to evolve cost-effective and competent strategies to combat this menace. In our review, we tried to appraise the cost-effective methods for decontamination of AFs. We identified the missing links in adopting microbial degradation as a palliative to decontamination of AFs and its commercialization in food and feed industries. Cogent areas of further research were also highlighted in the review paper.

Mycotoxins present a great concern to food safety and security due to their adverse health and socio-economic impacts. The necessity to formulate novel strategies that can mitigate the economic and health effects associated with mycotoxin contamination of food and feed commodities without any impact on public health, quality and nutritional value of food and feed, economy and trade industry become imperative. Various strategies have been adopted to mitigate mycotoxin contamination but often fall short of the required efficacy. One of the promising approaches is the use of bioactive plant components/metabolites synergistically with mycotoxin-absorbing components in order to limit exposure to these toxins and associated negative health effects. In particular, is the fabrication of β-cyclodextrin-based nanosponges encapsulated with bioactive compounds of plant origin to inhibit toxigenic fungi and decontaminate mycotoxins in food and feed without leaving any health and environmental hazard to the consumers. The present paper reviews the use of botanicals extracts and their phytochemicals coupled with β-cyclodextrin-based nanosponge technology to inhibit toxigenic fungal invasion and detoxify mycotoxins.

Extraction is a vital prerequisite in most scientific studies involving the isolation and analysis of compounds from biological/environmental systems. The use of large quantities of organic solvents in performing both conventional and modern methods of extraction of these substances stirs issues of safety, environmental concern and cost-effectiveness. Subcritical water extraction (SWE) offers a suitable, safe, cost-effective and environmentally safe alternative compared to other methods as it takes advantage of the special properties of supercritical water under high temperature and pressure conditions (100–374 °C, >50 bar) to extract non-polar analytes. This review presents a critical appraisal of the principles and dynamics of SWE, and the current applications as a viable tool in the extraction of compounds from various biological matrices. Although more research is needed to improve full SWE applications, its adoption in the extraction of phytochemicals as well as other bioactive molecules including mycotoxins from both plant and animal components seems promising and needs to be properly exploited.