Preetha Thomas

Dr. Preetha Thomas


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

3Years (2024-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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30 October 2024 in Sustainability
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
MMMeab Clara Mdimi
Meab Clara Mdimi
BDBenjamin Dent
Benjamin Dent
SRSimon Reid
Simon Reid
JMJeremia Makindara
Jeremia Makindara
PTPreetha Thomas
Preetha Thomas
Traditional African vegetables (TAVs) are an important component of an ecologically sustainable approach to addressing food and nutrition security in Africa. This review aims to identify the scope of the knowledge translation literature that exists across multiple aspects of the TAV value chain and to identify gaps in knowledge translation research. A scoping review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was conducted. The Population, Concept, and Context (PCC) framework was used to guide the development of inclusion and exclusion criteria for this review. The Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, and ABI/Inform databases were searched to identify the relevant studies which were then screened using the Covidence 2024 online software to select studies and extract information for analysis and reporting. A total of 182 studies/articles were selected and examined. The most significant knowledge documented about TAVs pertains to their vast genetic diversity contributing to their rich nutritional and medicinal properties, their ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as drought, pests, and diseases, as well as the effects of various post-handling techniques on the nutrient content of TAVs, with the production phase of the TAV value chain being the most studied. This review found that, although a breadth of knowledge about TAVs has been generated, there is still little documentation about transferring and utilizing this knowledge across the TAV value chain. This review identified that more research is needed to document the strategies and practices for the transfer and utilization of knowledge to ensure that it is utilized to enhance nutritional outcomes across Africa.

1 September 2024 in Preprints.org
Verified
Preprint
Open access
PDF file
MMMeab Clara Mdimi
Meab Clara Mdimi
PTPreetha Thomas
Preetha Thomas
SRSimon Reid
Simon Reid
BDBenjamin Dent
Benjamin Dent
JMJeremia Makindara
Jeremia Makindara
Traditional African vegetables (TAV) are an important component of an ecologically sustainable approach to addressing food and nutrition security in Africa (countries?). This review aims to identify the scope of the knowledge translation literature that exists across multiple aspects of the TAV value chain and to identify gaps in knowledge translation research. A scoping review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) was conducted. The Population, Concept, and Context (PCC) framework was used to guide the development of inclusion and exclusion criteria for this review. Web of Science, Scopus, Science direct and ABI/Inform databases were searched to identify relevant studies which were then screened using the Covidence online software to select studies and extract information for analysis and reporting. A total of 182 studies/articles were selected and examined. The most significant knowledge documented about TAVs is their vast genetic diversity contributing to their rich nutritional and medicinal properties, their ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as drought, pests, and diseases as well as the effects of various post-handling techniques on nutrient content of TAVs with the production phase of TAVs value chain being the most studied. This review found that although there is a breadth of knowledge created about TAVs, there is still little documentation of transferring and utilizing of this knowledge across the TAVs value chain. This review identified that more research is needed to document strategies and practices for the transfer and utilisation of knowledge to ensure it is utilized to enhance nutritional outcomes across Africa.