Small-size enterprises drying cassava in Africa mostly use fixed-bed dryers or pneumatic dryers. The objective of this study was to determine which of those two dryers is the best choice for this operation. Energy performance, product quality and costs were measured and analysed using a comparative experiment design. Each dryer was considered as a treatment and experiments were performed in quintuplicate at a cassava processing small-size enterprise in Ghana. The energy performance of the pneumatic dryer was superior because of the better contact between the cassava grits and the drying air, resulting in greater heat and mass transfer. The cassava flour obtained from the fixed-bed dryer had a higher Whiteness Index, but the same level of lightness, and the staff responsible for managing product quality was not able to visually distinguish them. As a result of the pneumatic dryer’s better energy performance, its operating cost was lower. The capital cost of this dryer was higher, but to recover the additional investment only 194 days of operation were needed. Therefore, it was concluded that pneumatic dryers are a better choice of equipment for cassava drying by small-size enterprises in Africa.

Although sorghum is widely cultivated in Africa, its utilisation for the production of lager type beer by breweries is relatively limited. Sorghum is used unmalted as a brewing adjunct, in limited quantities, with barley and commercial exogenous enzymes for lager type beer production. The use of sorghum malt as the sole raw material in brewing lager type beers is generally limited because of its low diastatic power and high tannin content among other factors. The objective of this study is to identify sorghum varieties that could be malted and used as the sole (100%) brewing material for lager beer production. Twenty-six sorghum varieties cultivated in Ghana were screened for malting and brewing potential based on germinative energy, green malt hydration, gelatinisation temperature, extract yield, limit attenuation, free amino nitrogen and diastatic power. Five of the varieties; Kadaga, Nakpaji, Kazea Nanga, Global 2000 and Kyere, of the twenty-six evaluated were found to have desirable characteristics for producing quality malt for lager beer production without the need for supplementary enzymes. Pilot scale malting and brewing trials are recommended to validate these findings.

Escalating energy costs in resource-limited cassava growing regions impede industrial exploits, which contribute to high postharvest loss in the cassava value chain. Studies have uncovered potentials for replacing up to 50% of spaghetti wheat flour (WF) with cassava flour (CF) (i.e., cassava-wheat flour spaghetti (CWFS)). Modification of the CWFS scheme is proposed to eliminate the CF drying energy and explore the direct use of dewatered cassava pulp (DCP) and WF to produce spaghetti (i.e., cassava dough-wheat flour spaghetti (CDWFS)). However, uncertainties regarding the energy and product quality impacts of CDWFS compared to conventional wheat flour spaghetti (WFS) are foreseeable constraints to the industrial adoptions. Therefore, the referred impacts were analysed based on established schemes for the feedstock production (i.e., CF, WF, and DCP) and laboratory demonstrations of the spaghetti processing. All three schemes showed comparable product yields (≈0.665-0.671 kg/kg dough). Egg incorporation to augment the protein content in the CWFS and CDWFS also proved strategic for achieving comparable compositions (moisture, crude fiber, and carbohydrate), energy content, and cooking qualities (cohesiveness, adhesiveness, and water absorption) with commercial WFS products. The CWFS and CDWFS schemes could mitigate the process energy by 5.64% and 14.25%, respectively, compared to the WFS. Hence, the CWFS and CDWFS schemes are promising for energy cost reduction and advancing sustainable spaghetti industries in energy-resource-limited cassava growing regions.

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) remains one of the most important food security crops in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). There is therefore a need for efficient, affordable, and adoptable cassava processing technologies for effective, quality, and safe processing of the cassava root in SSA. This review highlights the existing cassava root processing technologies and technological challenges that confront peeling, size reduction, fermentation, dewatering, roasting, drying, milling, and sifting in SSA. Much consideration is given to root peeling, mash dewatering, and drying processes, which require key improvements to ensure food quality, safety, scalability, sustainability, and food security. Manual cassava root peeling is dominant in SSA but time‐consuming, tedious, and unproductive. Mash dewatering technologies exist at both small‐ and large‐scale levels but are extremely slow and labor‐intensive. Mechanical drying has gained much adoption by medium‐ and large‐scale cassava processors, but the initial investment and operational costs are very high. Efficient and affordable mechanical cassava root peeling is key to facilitating productive cassava processing in SSA. Efficient, affordable, easy‐to‐maintain, automated, and integrated dewatering technologies are required for small‐ and large‐scale root processing, respectively, to reduce mash dewatering time for product quality enhancement. There is a need to improve the efficiency and scale down cassava root drying technologies to meet the capacity of small‐ and large‐scale cassava businesses. Existing technologies for cassava root size reduction, fermentation, roasting, milling, and sifting are practically adequate for cassava processing but need upgrading for excellent outputs, scalability, and sustainability.

Tatale is a popular Ghanaian traditional fried pancake that is prepared from pulped ripe plantain fruit (Musa paradisiaca), cereal flour and spices. In view of the seasonality and perishability of plantain in Ghana, the study was conducted to develop a nutritious, sensory acceptable and free-flowing (shelf-stable) plantain-based convenient food, Tatale mix, that could conveniently be reconstituted for the preparation of Tatale or Kaklo (deep-fried pulped plantain). The nutritional and sensory quality characteristics, and caking behaviour of the experimental Tatale mix were evaluated. The study revealed that the quantities of most nutrients in ripe plantain were similar to those found in the experimental Tatale mix but protein and fibre contents were significantly higher in the Tatale mix developed. The sensory characteristics of the three experimental Tatale mixes were highly acceptable to trained sensory panellists. Experimental Tatale mix prepared with wheat flour was adjudged the best nutritionally with excellent sensory attributes. The study also revealed that calcium stearate was by far the best anticaking agent compared to the starches (maize, potato, rice, wheat) used for the study. The different starch samples used as anticaking agents prevented caking of Tatale mix to acceptable levels (<3.5% caking) for eight (8) months of storage. Potato starch was the best among the starches used for lump prevention in Tatale mix and wheat starch being the worst. Tatale mix could also be stored under refrigeration temperatures to ensure flowability without addition of anticaking agents.