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The purpose of this paper is to indicate the need for and create an insightful understanding of the current factors contributing to consumer’s obesity levels due to their snack choices.

This paper reports on previous literature using publications from the Emerald Insight Journals, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Web of Science electronic database from 1999 to 2018 that validate and support existing literature. The retrieved literature is organised and classified into specific constructs.

Research into consumers’ choice of snacks from an environmental, cultural and health perspective is still underrepresented in the international scientific literature. More research is required on the specific effects of specific levels of the stated factors contributing to obesity. Health and cross-cultural studies are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the relation between snack choices and factors contributing to obesity that will help to implement more efficient health measures.

This paper is of value to academics studying consumers’ snacking behaviour and public health practitioners evaluating qualitative and quantitative methods to address the obesity epidemic.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the acceptability of an identified staple product enriched with amaranth grain, a traditionally used wild plant familiar to most of the population, after households’ food security status revealed that the majority of them were either at risk or food insecure.

A two-phase non-experimental, quantitative survey design with purposive sampling was used to explore the variety of foods consumed and the food security status of lower skilled (n=63) and higher skilled (n=81) income-earning households. During the second phase, recipe development and sensory acceptance of bread enriched with grain amaranth (n=91) were determined. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data.

Food insecurity was evident among the majority of the lower skilled income households while nearly one in four households in both groups were at risk to become insecure. Daily consumption of chicken and maize meal was evident in lower income households while the frequency in higher income households were significantly less. Bread was found to be the most consumed food product among all households (p=0.001; r=0.455). Supplementation of wheat flour with amaranth flour, a nutritious traditionally familiar wild plant, to support households’ food consumption was investigated. Results from sensory evaluation panels revealed that both bread samples with different percentage of amaranth flour (15 and 25 per cent) were acceptable.

The most important contribution of this study is the re-introduction and incorporation of a traditional food, amaranth, into a modern frequently consumed food to support households’ nutritional and monetary demands to ultimately contribute to general well-being and household food security.

A lack of available literature exists about sensory data on lucerne (which is mainly used for animal feed) as an underutilised protein source for human consumption in South Africa (SA). Developing tasteless lucerne products is meaningless. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to determine the descriptive sensory profile and consumers’ acceptability of lucerne.

Three lucerne cultivars and one spinach beet (Beta vulgaris var. cicla L.) cultivar were used: first, to determine sensory descriptive attributes by generic descriptive analysis; and second, to determine consumers’ acceptance of lucerne, which were evaluated for degree of liking for aroma, taste, mouthfeel and overall acceptability with a nine-point hedonic scale. Principal component analysis of attributes for all the lucerne cultivars was applied to identify any factors differentiating between these cultivars.

“SA Standard” showed the lowest value, of the lucerne samples, for fibrous appearance, chewy and fibrous mouthfeel, bitter taste and bitter and metallic aftertaste. “SA Standard” was the most acceptable lucerne cultivar, indicating its application in future studies to profile new emerging cultivars.

No sensory analysis studies have been performed on South African lucerne cultivars to determine their sensory acceptability. These cultivars could have potential for food nutritionists, food scientists and food product developers and the commercial market.

The aim of this review is to focus on the potential utilisation of lucerne which could contribute more effectively to human nutrition and food sustainability. It aims to explore a proposed cycle for the promotion of lucerne for human consumption. Furthermore it seeks to propose lucerne as a potential vegetable and to briefly discuss the chemical composition, protein application, safety and medicinal uses of lucerne.

A non‐experimental approach, namely a systematic literature study, was used. During the study searches were done on the scientific databases Science Direct, Sabinet online, Emerald, EbscoHost and SpringerLink. Moreover internet searches were undertaken on the search engine, Google Scholar. Additionally, available textbooks and theses were consulted. Different combinations of keywords as well as synonyms for keywords were used during the searches. Some keywords used included lucerne, alfalfa and legumes.

The high costs of animal protein have led to a growing interest in the industrial applications of lucerne in developing countries as lucerne is a valuable source of protein, suitable to produce nutritional food for human consumers. The full development of lucerne's potential is hindered by a lack of awareness among consumers as well as by a lack of capacity within a research community. Therefore the key steps in the proposed cycle can be used to aid in the diversification of lucerne in the market place.

To the author's knowledge there exists a lack of previous reviews on lucerne. It is important for scientists to become aware of the nutritional and entrepreneurial potential and contribution for human consumption purposes in the future in order for the lucerne industry to diversify.