Abstract
Research and development on these indigenous African cereal grains, acha (Digitaria exilis Stapf) and iburu (D. iburua Stapf), is experiencing renewed interest not just in Africa but the rest of the world. It is believed that acha and iburu may have nutraceutical properties, as it is used in some areas for managing diabetes. Value addition and exploitation of fonio (acha and iburu) in the development of health or speciality foods like acha-bread, biscuit, cookies, sour dough, traditional drinks, nonfermented steamed and granulated dumpling products are gaining interest. These grains may also contribute in addressing some very relevant challenges in today’s food formulation—both from functionality and health perspectives. The constraint of low yield is receiving attention in cereal breeding programmes which may give rise to a new generation of ‘healthy’ cereal grains in future. Further research on acha and iburu whole grains will hopefully lead to increase understanding of the health effects of grain components and to increase the intake of health-protective grain components. Moreover, with strong consumer demand for these grains due to their potential nutritional and health benefits, and because they help to satisfy the demand for a more varied cereal diet, efforts should be made to tackle the obstacles militating against production, improved quality, competitiveness and value-addition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adoukonou-Sagbadja H, Dansi A, Vodouhe R, Akpagana K (2004) Collecting fonio (Digitaria exilis Kipp. Stapf, D. iburua Stapf) landraces in Togo. Intl Plant Genetic Resources Institute. Plant Genet Resour Newsl 139:59–63
Adoukonou-Sagbadja H, Dansi A, Vodouhè R, Akpagana K (2006) Indigenous knowledge and traditional conservation of fonio millet (Digitaria exilis, D. iburua) in Togo. Biodivers Conserv 15:2379–2395
Adoukonou-Sagbadja H, Wagner C, Dansi A, Ahlemeyer J, Dainou O, Akpagana K, Ordon F, Friedt W (2007) Genetic diversity and population differentiation of traditional fonio millet (Digitaria spp.) landraces from different agro-ecological zones of West Africa. Theor Appl Genet 115:917–931
Agu HO, Jideani IA, Yusuf IZ (2007) Nutrient and sensory properties of dambu produced from different cereal grains. Nutr Food Sci 37:272–281
Agu HO, Jideani IA, Yusuf IZ (2008a) Storage stability of improved dambu produced from different cereal grains. Nutr Food Sci 38:458–472
Agu HO, Anosike AN, Jideani IA (2008b) Physicochemical and microbial qualities of dambu produced from different cereal grains. Pakistan J Nutr 7:21–26
Agu HO, Jideani IA, Humphrey JU (2009) Quality of dambu prepared with different cereals and groundnut. J Food Sci Technol 46:166–168
Alexander RJ (1995) Potato starch, new prospect of old product. American Association of Cereal Chemist Inc, USA
Anderson GH, Cho CE, Akhavan T, Mollard RC, Luhovyy BL, Finocchiaro ET (2010) Relation between estimates of cornstarch digestibility by the Englyst in vitro method and glycemic response, subjective appetite, and short-term food intake in young men. Am J Clin Nutr. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2009.28443, Accessed 13 December 2010
Aoe S (2008) Nutritional and physiological effects of dietary fiber in oats and barley. Japanese J Nutr Diet 66:311–319
Awika JM, Rooney LW (2004) Sorghum phytochemicals and potential impact on human health. Phytochem 65:1199–1221
Ayo JA, Nkama I (2003) Effect of acha (Digitaria exilis Staph) grain flours on the physical and sensory quality of biscuit. Nutr Food Sci 33:125–130
Ayo JA, Nkama I (2004) Effect of acha (Digitaria exilis) grain flour on the physico-chemical and sensory properties of bread. Int J Food Prop 7:561–569
Ayo JA, Nkama I (2006) Acha (Digitaria exilis) in West Africa. Int J Food Agric 1:129–144
Ayo JA, Nkama I, Haruna US, Bitrus Y, Onajaife F (2008) Effect of dough improvers on the physical and sensory quality of acha (Digitaria exilis) flour bread. Niger Food J 26:102–110
Badi SM, Hoseney RC (1976) Use of sorghum and pearl millet-flours in cookies. Cereal Chem 53:733–738
Balasubramanian S, Viswanathan R (2010) Influence of moisture content on physical properties of minor millets. J Food Sci Technol 47(3):279–284
Bultosa G, Hamaker BR, BeMiller JN (2008) An SEC-MALLS Study of molecular features of water-soluble amylopectin and amylase of tef [Eragrostis tef (Zucc) Trotter] starches. Starch 60:8–22
Chiremba C, Taylor JRN, Duodu KG (2009) Phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and consumer acceptability of sorghum cookies. Cereal Chem 86:590–594
CIRAD (2006) European Commission Research Headlines—Research project brings African grain to European tables. http://inco-fonio-en.cirad.fr/coordination. Accessed 10 November 2009
Codex Alimentarius (2010) 25 new or revised Codex standards or related texts or amendments to these texts and many new revisions. http://www.ift.org/public-policy-and-regulations/advocacy/~/media/Public Policy/InternationalAdvocacy/33rdSessionoftheCodexAlimentarius Commission.pdf. Accessed 13 December 2010
Conklin AR, Stilwell T (2007) Grain crops. In: Conklin AR, Stilwell T (eds) World food: production and use. Wiley, USA, pp 77–127
Deepa G, Sing V, Naidu KA (2010) A comparative study on starch digestibility, glycemic index and resistant starch of pigmented (“Njavara” and “Jyothi”) and a non-pigmented (‘IR64’) rice. J Food Sci Technol 47(6):644–649
de Lumen BO, Thompson S, Odegard JW (1993) Sulphur amino acid-rich proteins in acha (Digitaria exilis), a promising underutilized African cereal. J Agric Food Chem 41:1045–1047
Dendy DAV (1995) Sorghum and millets: chemistry and technology. American Association of Cereal Chemists, St. Paul
Dury S, Meuriot V, Fliedel G, Blancher BGF, Drame D, Bricas N, Dialite L, Cruz JF (2007) The retail market prices of fonio reveal the demand for quality characteristics in Bamako, Mali. In: Communication at 106th seminar of the Europian Association of Agricultural Economists. “Pro-poor development in low income countries: food, agriculture, trade, and environment”. Montpellier, France
Dziezak JD (1991) A focus on gums. Food Technol 45(3):116–118
Gaffa T, Jideani IA (2001) Sensory evaluation of different levels of Cadaba farinosa (Dangarafa) in kunun zaki and determination of its position among other saccharifying agents. J Food Sci Technol 38:405–406
Gaffa T, Jideani IA, Nkama I (2001) Nutritional composition of different types of kunu produced in Bauchi and Gombe States of Nigeria. Int J Food Prop 5:351–357
Gaffa T, Jideani IA, Nkama I (2002a) Traditional production, consumption and storage of kunu—A non alcoholic cereal beverage. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 57:73–81
Gaffa T, Jideani IA, Nkama I (2002b) Nutrient and sensory qualities of kunun zaki from different saccharification agents. Int J Food Sci Nutr 53:109–115
Gaffa T, Jideani IA, Nkama I (2002c) Soybean seed in kunun zaki beverage production. Pak J Biol Sci 5:970–973
Gaffa T, Jideani IA, Nkama I (2004) Chemical and physical preservation of kunun zaki—A cereal based non-alcoholic beverage in Nigeria. J Food Sci Technol 41:66–70
Gressel J (2008) Genetic glass ceilings: transgenics for crop biodiversity. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
IFT (2008) Kroger offers cholesterol-lowering bread. The Weekly IFT Newsletter: September 17, 2008. http://www.ift.org/food-technology/newsletters/ift-weekly-newsletter/2008/september/091708.aspx. Accessed 13 December 2010
Igyor MA (2005) Substitution of wheat flour with acha (Digitaria exilis) for bread making. Botsw J Technol 14:51–57
Irving DW, Jideani IA (1997) Microstructure and composition of Digitaria exilis Stapf (acha): a potential crop. Cereal Chem 73:224–228
Jenkins DJA, Kendall CWC, McKeown-Eyssen G, Josse RG, Silverberg J, Booth GL, Vidgen E, Josse AR, Nguyen TH, Corrigan S, Banach MS, Ares S, Mitchell S, Emam A, Augusin LSA, Parker TL, Leiter LA (2008) Effect of a low-gylcermic index or a high-cereal fiber diet on type 2 diabetes: arandomised trial. J Am Med Assoc 300:2742–2753
Jideani IA (1990) Acha—Digitaria exilis—the neglected cereal. Agric Int 42(132–134):143
Jideani IA (1997) Use of microbial polysaccharide, and some tropical cereal for use in non-wheat bread. Proceedings of an International Conference on Biotechnology for Africa. Foundation for African Development through International Biotechnology, Enugu Nigeria, pp 240–246
Jideani IA (1999) Traditional and possible technological uses of Digitaria exilis (acha) and Digitaria iburua (iburu): a review. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 54:363–374
Jideani IA, Akingbala JO (1993) Some physiochemical properties of acha (Digitaria exilis Stapf) and Iburua (Digitaria iburua Stapf) grains. J Sci Food Agric 63:369–371
Jideani IA, Ibrahim ER (2005) Some food potential of acha (Digitaria exilis) and iburu (D. iburua) grains emanating from current research. In: Okoli EC (ed) Proceedings of the 29th annual Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology conference/AGM, 11–13 October at the Women Development Centre Abakaliki, Nigeria, pp 60–61
Jideani VA, Podgorski SC (2009) In-vitro starch digestibility and glycemic property of acha (Digitaria exilis) porridge. Cereal Foods World Suppl 54:A48
Jideani IA, Owusu RK, Muller HG (1994a) Proteins of acha (Digitaria exilis Stapf): solubility fractionation, gel filtration and electrophoresis of protein fractions. Food Chem 51:51–59
Jideani IA, Owusu Apenten RK, Muller HG (1994b) The effect of cooking on proteins from acha (Digitaria exilis) and durum wheat. J Sci Food Agric 65:465–476
Jideani IA, Owusu RK, Muller HG (1994c) Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of reduced proteins from durum and Digitaria exilis (acha) In: Gluten protein 1993, Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Gluten Proteins. Association of Cereal Research, Detmold, Germany, pp 492–497
Jideani IA, Takeda Y, Hizukuri S (1996) Structures and physicochemical properties of starches from acha (Digitaria exilis), iburu (D. iburua) and tamba (Eleusine coracana). Cereal Chem 73:677–685
Jideani IA, Owusu Apenten RK, Muller HG (2000) Solubilisation and reductive alkylation of proteins from a tropical cereal Digitaria exilis Stapf—Acha. Niger Food J 18:1–11
Jideani VA, Alamu R, Jideani IA (2007) Preliminary study into the production of non-wheat bread from acha (Digitaria exilis). Nutr Food Sci 37:434–441
Jideani VA, Salami AR, Jideani IA (2008) Effect of Irish potato starch, yeast and sprouted soybean flour on the quality of acha bread. Br Food J 110:271–282
Jones JM (2009) The second C&E spring meeting and third international whole grain global summit. Cereal Foods World 54:132–135
Joshi A, Rawat K, Karki B (2008) Millet as “Religious offering” for nutritional, ecological, and economical security. Comp Rev Food Sci Food Saf 7:369–372
Kadan RS, Robinson MG, Thibodeaux DP, Pepperman AB Jr (2001) Texture and other physicochemical properties of whole rice bread. J Food Sci 66:940–944
Kahlon TS (2009) Evaluating healthful properties of cereals and cereal fractions by their bile-acid-binding potential. Cereal Foods World 54:118–121
Kamran M, Saleem N, Umer ZN (2008) Ready-to-eat (RTE) wheat bran breakfast cereal as a high-fibre diet. J Food Process Preserv 32:853–867
Kasarda DD (2001) Grains in relation to celiac disease. Cereal Foods World 46:209–210
Kleter GA, van der Krieken WM, Kok EJ, Gilissen LJWJ (2001) Exploitation and regulation of plants genetically modified to express nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. State Institute for Quality Control of Agricultural Products & Plant Research International, Wageningen. http://www.rikilt.wageningen-ur.nl/nutraceuticals. Accessed 15 November 2009
Kone SA (1993) Project to review the consumption of fonio millet. Gate, Germany. No. 1 Special Issue, pp 45–46
Koreissi Y, Brouwer I, Hulshof P, Zimmermann M (2007) Nutritional aspects of fonio and fonio products. In: 7th international food data conference on food composition and biodiversity. Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 21–24
Kowalski RE (2010) Plant sterols: a natural way to lower cholesterol. http://www.corowise.com/pdf/PlantSterols.pdf/. Accessed 13 December 2010
Kwon-Ndung EH, Misari SM (1999) Overview of research and development of fonio (Digiteria exilis Kippis Stapf) and prospects for genetic improvement in Nigeria. In: Genetics and food security in Nigeria. GSN Publication Nigeria, pp 71–76
Lasekan DO (1994) Chemical composition of acha (Digitaria exilis) flour. J Food Sci Agric 14:177–179
Lovis LJ (2003) Alternatives to wheat flour in baked goods. Cereal Foods World 48:61–63
Marquart L, DRJr J, Mclntosh GH, Poutanen K, Reicks M (2007) Whole grains and health. Blackwell Publishing, UK. ISBN 978-0-8138-0777-5
Mermelstein NH (2009) Analyzing for resistant starch. Food Technol 63:80–84
Morales-Payan JP, Ortiz JR, Cicero J, Taveras F (2002) Digiteria exilis as a crop in the Dominican Republic. In: Janick J, Whipkey A (eds) Supplement to: trends in new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandra
NRC (1996) Grains. Fonio (Acha), In: Lost crops of Africa, volume 1. National Academy Press, National Research Council Washington, DC, USA pp 59–75, ISBN 0-309-04990-3
Nzelibe HC, Nwasike CC (1995) The brewing potential of ‘acha’ (Digitaria exilis) malt compared with pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoides) malts and sorghum (Sorghum bicolour) malts. J Inst Brew 101:345–350
Nzelibe HC, Obaleye S, Onyenekwe PC (2000) Malting characteristics of different varieties of fonio millet (Digitaria exilis). Eur Food Res Tech 211:126–129
Obilana AB (2003) Overview: Importance of millets in Africa. In: Belton PS, Taylor JRN (eds) Afripro. Workshop on the proteins of sorghum and millets: enhancing nutritional and functional properties for Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, 2–4 April 2003. http://www.afripro.org.uk/papers/Paper02Obilana.pdf. Accessed 6 July 2009
Obizoba IC, Anyika JU (1994) Nutritive value of baobab milk (gubdi) and mixtures of baobab (Adanosonia digitata L.) and hungry rice, acha (Digitaria exilis) flours. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 46:157–165
Pasupuleti VK, Anderson JW (2008) Nutraceuticals, glycemic health and type-2 diabeties. IFT Press, Wiley-Blackwell publishing, Ames. ISBN 978-0-8138-2933-3
Philip T, Itodo I (2006) Acha (Digitaria spp.) a “rediscovered” indigenous crops of West Africa. Agricultural Engineering International: the CIGR Ejournal VIII:1–9. www.cigrjournal/index.php/Ejournal/issue/view/27. Accessed 13 December 2010
Pietta P (2003) In: Watson RR (ed) Functional foods and nutraceuticals in cancer prevention. Iowa State Press, Ames, pp 199–212
Poutanen K (2009) Healthgrain: EU approach to use more grains for health maintenance. Cereal Foods World Suppl 54:A9
Ranhotra GS, Loewe RJ, Puyat LV (1975) Preparation and evaluation of soy-fortified gluten free breads. J Food Sci 40:62–66
Rooney LW, Awika JM (2005) Overview of products and health benefits of specialty sorghums. Cereal Foods World 50:109–115
Satin M (1988) Bread without wheat. Novel ways of making bread from cassava and sorghum could reduce the Third World’s dependence on imported wheat for white bread. New Scientist (28 April), pp 56–59
Schober TJ, Messerschmidt M, Bean SR, Park S-H, Areudt EK (2005) Gluten-free bread from sorghum: quality differences among hybrids. Cereal Chem 82:394–404
Shewry PR (2002) The major seed storage proteins of spelt wheat, sorghum, millets and pseudocereals. In: Belton PS, Taylor JRN (eds) Pseudocereals and less common cereals. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–24
Shewry PR (2009) The health grain programme opens new opportunities for improving wheat for nutrition and health. Nutr Bull 34:225–231
Talukder S, Sharma DP (2010) Development of dietary fiber rich chicken meat patties using wheat and oat bran. J Food Sci Technol 47(2):224–229
Taylor JRN (2004) Grain production and consumption: Africa. In: Wrigley C, Corke H, Walker CE (eds) Encyclopaedia of grain science. Elsevier, London, pp 70–78
Taylor JRN (2008) Traditional African Grains. In: Traditional grains for low environmental impact and good health. Seminar/workshop organised by MISTRA and IFS, September 23. Gothenburg, Sweden, pp 24–27
Taylor JRN, Schober TJ, Bean SR (2006) Novel food and non-food uses for sorghum and millets. J Cereal Sci 44:252–271
Temple VJ, Bassa JD (1991) Proximate chemical composition of acha (D. exilis) grain. J Sci Food Agric 56:561–563
Wikipedia (2010) Fula people. http://en.wikipedia.wg/wiki/Fulani#External_links. Accessed 14 December 2010
Yadav BS, Sharma A, Yadav RB (2010) Resistant starch content of conventionally boiled and pressure-cooked cereals, legumes and tubers. J Food Sci Technol 47(1):84–88
Ylimaki G, Harrysh ZJ, Hardin RT, Thomson ABR (1988) Application of response surface methodology to the development of rice flour yeast breads. J Food Sci 53:1800–1805
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jideani, I.A., Jideani, V.A. Developments on the cereal grains Digitaria exilis (acha) and Digitaria iburua (iburu). J Food Sci Technol 48, 251–259 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0208-9
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0208-9