Exploring the acceptability of amaranth-enriched bread to support household food security
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the acceptability of an identified staple product
enriched with amaranth grain, a traditionally used wild plant familiar to most of the population, after
households’ food security status revealed that the majority of them were either at risk or food insecure.
Design/methodology/approach – A two-phase non-experimental, quantitative survey design with
purposive sampling was used to explore the variety of foods consumed and the food security status of
lower skilled (n¼63) and higher skilled (n¼81) income-earning households. During the second phase,
recipe development and sensory acceptance of bread enriched with grain amaranth (n¼91) were
determined. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.
Findings – Food insecurity was evident among the majority of the lower skilled income households
while nearly one in four households in both groups were at risk to become insecure. Daily consumption
of chicken and maize meal was evident in lower income households while the frequency in higher
income households were significantly less. Bread was found to be the most consumed food product
among all households ( p¼0.001; r¼0.455). Supplementation of wheat flour with amaranth flour, a
nutritious traditionally familiar wild plant, to support households’ food consumption was investigated.
Results from sensory evaluation panels revealed that both bread samples with different percentage of
amaranth flour (15 and 25 per cent) were acceptable.
Originality/value – The most important contribution of this study is the re-introduction and
incorporation of a traditional food, amaranth, into a modern frequently consumed food to support
households’ nutritional and monetary demands to ultimately contribute to general well-being and
household food security
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences [2386]