Elements of kitchen toxicology to exploit the value of traditional (African) recipes: The case of Egusi Okra meal in the diet of HIV+/AIDS subjects

Toxicology Reports Volume 4, 2017, Pages 474-483 open access Toxicology Reports Author links open overlay panelChiaraFrazzoliabFrancescaMazzantibMercy BihAchubcGuy BertrandPouokambdElieFokoubc https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxrep.2017.06.008 Get rights and content Under a Creative Commons license Highlights • The Egusi Okra soup is a traditional African meal of high nutritional value and protective against weight loss. • Kitchen toxicology highlights possible mitigation measures for toxicants and antinutritional effects. • Nutritional interventions benefit of the integration of kitchen toxicology practices in everyday life. • Kitchen toxicology helps to preserve recipes from risk factors during meal preparation, from raw ingredients to consumption. Abstract The Egusi Okra soup is a traditional African meal that is considered of high nutritional value and protective against weight loss. We introduce the concept of “kitchen toxicology” to analyse the recipe of the Egusi Okra soup and highlight possible mitigation measures for toxic and/or antinutritional effects in the wide spectrum of health and nutritional needs of HIV+/AIDS subjects. In particular, we focus on toxicants (environmental contaminants, process contaminants, substances leaching from food contact materials) dysregulating the immune status, as well as on interactions between nutrients, contaminants, and/or antinutrients which may lead to secondary/conditioned nutritional deficiencies or imbalances; in their turn, these can modulate the ability to cope with toxicants, and increase nutritional requirements. Recommendations are given for practices preserving the Egusi Okra soup from such risk factors, identifying points of particular attention during meal preparation, from purchase of raw ingredients through to food handling, cooking, storage, and consumption. The Egusi Okra soup is discussed in the context of a diet that is asked to mitigate complications (weight loss, opportunistic infections) and support antiretroviral therapy in African countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence. The paper discusses how nutritional interventions benefit of the integration of kitchen toxicology practices in everyday life. Toxicological risk assessment is crucial to understand the history and status of the person exposed to or affected by infectious diseases. Graphical abstract Unlabelled figure Download high-res image (190KB)Download full-size image Chemical compounds studied in this article Deoxynivalenol (PubChem CID: 16212213) Hexachlorobenzene (PubChem CID: 8370) Aluminium (PubChem CID: 5359268) Arsenic (PubChem CID: 5359596) Benzo(a)pyrene (PubChem CID: 2336) Perfluoro-octanoic acid (PubChem CID: 9554) Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (PubChem CID: 8343) Bisphenol A (PubChem CID: 6623) Selenium (PubChem CID: 6326970) Zinc (PubChem CID: 23994) Keywords Traditional diet Malnutrition Food safety Weight loss Immune system Dysmetabolic diseases Clinical toxicology Nutrition security 1 www.noodlesonlus.org. © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.