ICRISAT Studies on Legume Food Quality and Perceptions
Joanna Kane-Potaka, at ICRISAT Smart Foods has kindly shared news of two recent studies.
Balanced amino acid and higher micronutrients in millets complement legumes for improved human dietary nutrition.
This study noted that even though legumes are an important protein source in developing countries, and with the rise in plant-based diets globally, few people look deeper than the
protein levels. Legumes have good protein levels yet are not a complete protein source, being low in one essential amino acid – methionine. We studied the combination of the millets and legumes and found they make a complete quality and highly digestible protein, while also having a basket of micronutrients. Read the full article in Cereal Chemistry. 2019;97:74–8
Changing Perception through a Participatory Approach by Involving Adolescent School Children in Evaluating Smart Food Dishes in School Feeding Programs – Real-Time Experience from Central and Northern Tanzania
In January 2020, ICRISAT went back to the four schools that we had worked with in Tanzania to survey the students to see if they were still wanting to eat the millet and pigeon pea meals that we had introduced more than 15 months earlier. We surveyed 680 of the 2,800 students and found:
- 80% and 70% of the students had changed their negative perception of finger millet and pigeon pea, respectively.
- >95% of the students wanted to eat the finger millet and pigeon pea dishes at school.
Please read the article in Ecology of Food and Nutrition Journal, March 2020
[Thanks to member Andrew B]
