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Effects of Postharvest-Processing Technologies on the Safety and Quality of African Indigenous Leafy Vegetables

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Effects of Postharvest-Processing Technologies on the Safety and Quality of African Indigenous Leafy Vegetables Effects of Postharvest-Processing Technologies on the Safety and Quality of African Indigenous Leafy Vegetables Doctorate thesis to obtain the Doctorate in natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) Submitted to the Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Natural Sciences, in the Department of Chemistry, University of Hamburg Presented by Eliud Nalianya Wafula from Nairobi, Kenya Hamburg, September 2017 Date of defense and approval for publication of the dissertation: 29/09/2017 1. Evaluators of the thesis: Prof. Dr. Sascha Rohn 2. Evaluators of the thesis: Prof. Dr. Rolf Geisen i The research work was conducted at the Department of Safety and Quality of Fruits and Vegetables of the Max Rubner-Institut (MRI), Karlsruhe, Germany and at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in the Department of Food Science and Technology under the supervision of PD Dr. Charles Franz, Dr. Melanie Huch and Dr. Julius Maina Mathara during the period of April 2014 to September 2017. ii “No man has a chance to enjoy permanent success until he begins to look in a mirror for the real cause of all his mistakes”. Napoleon Hill. iii List of publications Publication in peer reviewed, scientific journals 1) Wafula, E.N., Brinks, E., Becker, B., Huch, M., Trierweiler, B., Mathara J.M., Oguntoyinbo F.A., Cho, G., & Franz, C.M.A.P (2017). Draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus fermentum BFE 6620 isolated from fermented cassava, a potential starter culture for African vegetable foods. Genome Announcements 5: e00801-17. 2) Wafula, E., Franz, C., Rohn, S., Huch, M., Mathara, J. M., & Trierweiler, B. (2016). Fermentation of African indigenous leafy vegetables. African Journal of Horticultural Science, 9: 1–13. Poster presentation at conferences 1) Wafula, E.N., Frommherz, L., Trierweiler, B., Mathara, J.M., Franz, C.M.A.P., Kulling, E.S.,& Huch, M. (2016). Fermentation of African nightshade with starter cultures to improve safety and quality. HORTNILEA, Summer school conference- Egerton University conference centre Njoro, Kenya. 2) Wafula, E. N., Franz, C. M. A. P., Rohn, S., Huch, M., Mathara, J. M., Trierweiler, B., & Becker, B. (2015). Fermentation of African leafy vegetables to lower postharvest losses, maintain quality and increase product safety. In: Tropentag, Management of land use systems for enhanced food security: conflicts, controversies and resolutions (p. 633). Berlin, Germany. 3) Wafula, E.N., Becker, B., Trierweiler, B., Mathara, J. M., Franz, C. M. A. P., Kulling, E.S., & Huch, M. (2014). Investigation of the effects of postharvest processing technologies on the safety and quality of African indigenous vegetables. HORTNILEA, Summer school conference- Kenyatta University conference centre, Nairobi, Kenya . iv Table of contents Table of contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of figures ............................................................................................................................... xii List of tables ............................................................................................................................... xvii List of annexes ............................................................................................................................ xix List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................... xx Zusammenfassung ..................................................................................................................... xxii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... xxv 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 General introduction .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Food preservation ...................................................................................................................... 2 1.2.1 Physical methods of food preservation ............................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Chemical preservation methods .......................................................................................... 3 1.2.3 The concept of hurdle technology ....................................................................................... 4 1.2.4 Biological preservation methods ......................................................................................... 4 1.3 African indigenous leafy vegetables .......................................................................................... 5 1.3.1 Diversity of African indigenous leafy vegetables ............................................................... 6 1.3.2 Nutritional benefits of indigenous vegetables ..................................................................... 6 1.4. Solanum species ........................................................................................................................ 8 1.5 Postharvest processing technologies ....................................................................................... 10 1.6 Microbial classification and community studies ..................................................................... 11 1.6.1 Conventional taxonomy .................................................................................................... 11 1.6.2 Molecular based taxonomy ............................................................................................... 11 1.7 Fermentation ............................................................................................................................ 13 1.7.1 Lactic acid bacteria ........................................................................................................... 14 v 1.7.2 Classification of lactic acid bacteria .................................................................................. 15 1.7.3 Homofermentative lactic fermentation .............................................................................. 15 1.7.4 Heterofermentative lactic fermentation ............................................................................. 16 1.7.5 Lactic acid bacteria starter cultures in food fermentation ................................................. 18 1.7.6 Food fermentation in Europe ............................................................................................. 20 1.7.7 Fermentation in Africa....................................................................................................... 21 1.8 Drying techniques in food preservation ................................................................................... 32 1.8.1 Sun drying.......................................................................................................................... 32 1.8.2 Solar drying ....................................................................................................................... 32 1.9 General objectives .................................................................................................................... 34 1.9.1 Specific Objectives ............................................................................................................ 34 2.0 Materials and methods ......................................................................................................... 35 2.1 Materials ................................................................................................................................ 35 2.1.1 Preparation of samples .......................................................................................................... 35 2.1.2 Preparation of leaves for fermentation .................................................................................. 36 2.1.3 Preparation of fermentation vessels ...................................................................................... 37 2.1.4 Chemicals .............................................................................................................................. 39 2.1.4.1 Chemicals and reagents for nutrient analysis ................................................................. 39 2.1.4.2 Chemicals and reagents for molecular biological work ................................................. 45 2.1.4.3 Chemicals and reagents for PCR analysis ...................................................................... 46 2.1.4.4 Solutions and reagents for gel electrophoresis ............................................................... 48 2.1.4.5 Antibiotics and chemicals for general use ...................................................................... 49 2.1.5 Culture media ........................................................................................................................ 50 2.1.6 Devices and equipment ......................................................................................................... 50 2.1.6.1 Analytical equipment ...................................................................................................... 50 2.1.6.2 Devices and equipment used for fermentation and molecular biological work ............. 50 vi 2.1.7 Solutions for fermentation ...................................................................................................
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