Chronic diseases have emerged as a formidable global health concern, with their prevalence steadily rising over the years. Several approaches to addressing these concerns include the use of medications, which are often expensive, contain synthetic chemical substances, and have reported adverse effects. The use of foods, especially proteins, as an alternative approach to addressing chronic health concerns by treating and managing chronic diseases is increasing. This review evaluates the intriguing role of food proteins in mitigating chronic diseases and improving our understanding of the therapeutic potential of different protein types, including those derived from legumes, nuts, and seeds, dairy, fish, and numerous other sources. They have been reported to offer promising avenues for managing chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic inflammation, weight management, bone health, glycemic control, muscle preservation, and many other health benefits. Although the exact mechanisms for these actions are still not properly elucidated, it is, however, understood that food proteins exert these health-beneficial effects by their unique nutritional and bioactive profiles, especially their bioactive peptides and amino acids. Practical applications are also discussed, including dietary interventions that are tailored towards incorporating protein-rich foods and the development of functional foods for disease prevention and management. Food proteins are a promising approach to combating chronic diseases that can turn around public health practices.

Spontaneous fermentation is currently used to produce lafun from cassava, leading to inconsistent product quality and decreased safety. Using starter cultures and optimising the selection of the raw materials can overcome this. This study evaluated the impact of various lactic acid bacteria (LAB) starters and varieties of cassava (bitter: IBA30527; vitamin A fortified bitter: IBA011371; and sweet: TMEB117) on the proximate, rheological, and volatile profiles of lafun. The varieties were fermented with four selected LAB (two strains of Weissella koreensis, Lactococcus lactis, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides). The use of fortified cassava showed higher potential to improve the quality of lafun. The combination of fortified cassava and Leuconostoc mesenteroides gave the highest nutritional value (ash: 4.37% cf. 1.33%; protein: 3.08% cf. 0.87%; and fibre: 7.43% cf. 1.43%). Fermenting the fortified cassava with Weissella koreensis-2 produced lafun gruel with the best viscoelastic properties, indicating an overall better product quality. The fortified cassava fermented with combined cultures of W. koreensis-1 and L. lactis resulted in a product with lower levels of carboxylic acids (cheesy) and lipid oxidation products (fried, rancid) but higher concentrations of carotenoid-derived compounds (fruity). The use of LAB in the controlled fermentation of fortified cassava could be a sustainable alternative to improve the physical, nutritional, and flavour properties of lafun.

The present study evaluated the detoxification and nutritional enrichment potentials of the fermented cassava waste pulp obtained through different processing methods of sweet (S) and bitter (B) cassava varieties by fermentation with Rhizopus oligosporus and Aspergillus niger. Four batches [two with both bark and cortex of the tuber removed (S- and B-), two with bark only removed (S+ and B+)] of cassava waste pulp (CWP) were produced from each of S and B varieties. CWP from the four treatments were then subjected to Rhizopus oligosporus, Aspergillus niger, and natural fermentation. Cyanide (mg HCN/kg), phytate (mg/100g), tannin (mg/100g), pH, crude protein (N X6.25) (%), ash (%), Fe, P, K and Ca (mg/100g) content of the unfermented and fermented CWP were determined using standard procedures. The range of the reduction (%) in cyanide content for Rhizopus oligosporus fermented CWP (RCWP), Aspergillus niger fermented CWP (ACWP), and naturally fermented CWP (NCWP) were 86.24 – 91.95, 79.68 – 84.34 and 72.96 – 78.58 while those for phytate were 58.82 – 71.20, 29.98 – 39.26 and 36.16 – 40.32 respectively. Fermentation had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the tannin content while the pH range of NCWP, RCWP and ACWP were 7.20 – 7.50, 5.41 – 6.40, and 3.83 – 4.21, respectively. The range of the increase (%) in the protein content for NCWP, RCWP, and ACWP was 346 – 375 , 671 – 728 and 508 – 542 while those of the ash content were 7.16 – 7.91, 6.72 – 6.84, and 5.42 – 5.63 respectively. Of all the examined minerals, only calcium increased by 5.68 – 26.89, 49.96 - 70.43, and 59.71 – 98.87 % in NCWP, RCWP, and ACWP respectively. Results from the present study are indicating that controlled fermentation offers greater benefit over natural fermentation and that the cassava variety and not the peeling method will determine the extent of detoxification and nutrient enrichment.

Pepper paste is a popular condiment used in many cuisines around the world. However, stored pepper paste can deteriorate due to microbial growth and other factors. This study used metagenomic analysis to study the microbial communities in stored pepper pastes produced in a cottage setting, with or without onions labelled ‘A’ and ‘B’, respectively. Microbial count and chemical analysis were also used to determine their keeping quality. The bacterial count in the pepper pastes increased over time. While there was no yeast growth in sample ‘A’, the yeast number in sample ‘B’ increased from 3.0 to 7.0 Log CFU as the day of storage increased. In the selective culturing, there was no Staphylococcus aureus in both samples, growth of enteric bacteria was found in both products towards the end of the storage period, and Salmonella species was only found at some point in ‘B’ (3.0 Log CFU). Proteus (51%) and Pediococcus (48%) were the highest competing genera in ‘A’, while Bacillus (84%) dominated ‘B’ microbiota. The acidity of the samples increased while the nutrients became depleted as storage day increased. At the end of the study, none of the samples without onions remained physically stable. Regardless of any visible deterioration, this study recommends consuming pepper with onions within 60 days and pepper without onions within 30 days.