The estimated prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) was 29% among all low and middleincome countries and 48% for Sub-Saharan Africa in 2013 (1). This burden is predicted to contribute to 105,700 excess deaths globally, with 62,500 of those occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Increasing vitamin A intake through biofortification of staple foods, such as cassava or maize, with provitamin A caroten...

Breeding efforts have focused on improving agronomic traits of the cassava plant however little research has been done to enhance the crop palatability. This review investigates the links between cassava traits and end-user preference in relation with sensory characteristics. The main trait is starch and its composition related to the textural properties of the food. Pectin degradation during c...

BACKGROUND Biofortification of cassava with pro-vitamin A can potentially reduce vitamin A deficiency in low-income countries. However, little is known about consumer acceptance of this deep yellow variety of cassava compared to the commonly available white varieties. We aimed to determine the sensory and cultural acceptability of the consumption of pro-vitamin A rich cassava in order to identi...

BACKGROUND Whereas conventional white cassava roots are devoid of provitamin A, biofortified yellow varieties are naturally rich in β-carotene, the primary provitamin A carotenoid. OBJECTIVE We assessed the effect of consuming yellow cassava on serum retinol concentration in Kenyan schoolchildren with marginal vitamin A status. DESIGN We randomly allocated 342 children aged 5-13 y to receiv...

Background: Whereas conventional white cassava roots are devoid of provitamin A, biofortified yellow varieties are naturally rich in b-carotene, the primary provitamin A carotenoid. Objective: We assessed the effect of consuming yellow cassava on serum retinol concentration in Kenyan schoolchildren with marginal vitamin A status. Design:We randomly allocated 342 children aged 5–13 y to receive ...

13 Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), a key carbohydrate dietary source for millions of people in 14 Africa, faces severe yield loses due to two viral diseases: cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) 15 and cassava mosaic disease (CMD). The completion of the cassava genome sequence and the 16 whole genome marker profiling of clones from African breeding programs 17 (www.nextgencassava.org) provid...

The objective of this work was to identify sources of resistance to dry root rot induced by Fusarium sp. in cassava accessions. A macroconidial suspension (20 μL) of 11 Fusarium sp. isolates was inoculated in cassava roots, from 353 acessions plus seven commercial varieties. Ten days after inoculation, the total area colonized by the pathogen on the root pulp was evaluated by digital image anal...

Every innovation is targeted towards adoption; a process which involves several levels of risks. Bio-fortified Vitamin A cassava variety is an innovation targeted not only to solve the yield of farmers but to increase the nutritional intake of Nigerian household. The research specifically seeks to investigate; the risks involved in the adoption of vitamin A cassava variety; the risk attitude of...

In Mozambique, epidemics of the cassava-associated paralytic disease, konzo, have been reported in association with drought or war: over 1100 cases in 1981, over 600 cases in 1992-1993, and over 100 cases in 2005. Smaller epidemics and sporadic cases have also been reported. Large epidemics have occurred at times of agricultural crisis, during the cassava harvest, when the population has been d...

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) play central roles in plant developmental processes, hormone signaling transduction, and responses to abiotic stress. However, no data are currently available about the MAPK family in cassava, an important tropical crop. Herein, 21 MeMAPK genes were identified from cassava. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that MeMAPKs could be classified into four subfa...