The potential repositioning of South African underutilised plants for food and nutrition security: A scoping review

Abstract

Background: In South Africa (SA), there is a reported shift from the consumption of grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables by most households to the consumption of easily accessible, high-energy, ultra-processed foods. Despite their high nutritional value and affordability, indigenous, local, traditional wild and domesticated plant foods abundant in SA are still neglected and less consumed than conventional and exotic foods.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to undertake a scoping/mapping review to evaluate the potential role of underutilised local, indigenous and traditional plant species in addressing (through improving food and nutrition security) the adverse effects of the nutrition transition, which involves increased use of ultra-processed foods, on the health and nutritional status of current households in SA as well as preventing the same adverse affecting future generations.

Design: Online databases were used to identify literature published between 2000 and 2022.A total of 88 articles, books, book chapters and literature materials were selected using the Google Scholar search engine, where literature from Sub-Saharan Africa and global that used food and nutrition security, as well as underutilised and indigenous plant species.

Results and conclusion: Evaluation of the gathered literature revealed that the "food security" concept had been measured based on the available quantity of food. In contrast, the quality of food is severely neglected. The literature indicated a strong link between the "food environment" concept, ultra-processed foods and nutrition transition. The shift, especially by the youth, from consuming underutilised plant foods to ultra-processed foods has left older people to be the only consumers of underutilised plant foods. Monotonous preparation, the unavailability of nutritive local traditional and indigenous plant foods at supermarkets and the unappealing packaging methods of such foods were some contributors to the limited or no consumption-these challenges need to be addressed.

Keywords: Consumer trends and preferences; Food environment; Localised food chains; Localised food systems; Nutrition transition; Nutrition-sensitive; Ultra-processed foods.

Fig. 1

Selection of sources evidence.

Fig. 2

Relationship between the food environment, ultra-processed foods and nutrition transition.

Fig. 3

Different types of underutilised plant species: (A) Kei apple (Dovyalis caffra), (B) Moringa oleifera, (C) Amarula (Sclerocarya birrea), (D) Cleome (Cleome gynandra), (E) Amaranth (Amaranthus dubius) and (F) Pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan) [11].