The primary basic need of man is food.  It is difficult to remember when man started thinking of how to produce food for himself.  He is busy in the modern era thinking of how to adapt old forms into new ones for his convenience in a world where time, space and comfort are important in several ways. The old consciousness of food ways is still relevant in time and space for food that is not convenient to carry to far distances. This has given rise to foods that are packaged and sold in stores which are convenient to carry for far distances without making one’s clothes or bags messy.

The first traditional way of processing cassava is harvesting tubers of yam when they are mature. They are peeled, washed and grounded in machine or the equivalent of zinc cut into a square form, punctured at equal intervals – small tiny holes looking like spiked shoes.  The meshed form of the cassava is put into a bag and tied, placed on a long branch of any tree prepared for the purpose, another one is placed across it and tied.  Another one is placed beneath and another one placed above it and tied.  The bag of cassava is retied for three days until it is dry.  The powder form is put into a sieve; the chaff is separated from the substance and fried in a big pot.  How our forbears got the idea of gari preparation is not known.  The consciousness is with us; we believe that if we miss the steps gari made will not be good for consumption and we might take ill.

Fufu is prepared differently. Tubers of cassava are uprooted, cut into slices washed thoroughly and taken either to a waterside and kept in a hole pending when they shall be soft; the outer layer covering each slice is removed, a sieve is placed over a bag. Flour percolates beneath the bag while the waste forms sediments in the sieve. The other method is the modern type of the former; the outer layer of the cassava is removed and the slices put into a basin and left for fermentation to take place. The work of sieving is done; fufu is made through this process. The texture of this form is softer than gari .

Few tubers of cassava are uprooted, peeled and sliced into tiny slices; they are boiled and soaked in water for a while. They are eaten with fresh fish, coconut or groundnuts.

Gari is exported in its dry form. It is refined and packaged as flour for those in countries where gari is not produced. This is the modern consciousness borne out of the necessity to reach indigenes of tropical countries where cassava is planted and processed and those who wish to consume it beyond their countries.

Yam is another staple food in most African countries. It is boiled and eaten with stew or a local sauce of pepper and salt. It could be pounded and eaten with fresh fish pepper soup or any other soup. It is roasted and eaten with pea or fish.  These are the major ways yam is eaten.

Modern consciousness has demanded the need for packaging the food in a convenient form for travellers and metropolitan dwellers to buy.  This has produced yam flour manufactured for easy consumption.  This type is sold within Nigeria, African countries, Europe, America and other countries and continents in the world.

Corn is one of the popular meals of Africans eaten in different ways. It may be roasted and eaten with pea or fish.  It could also be eaten with coconut. Corn has been produced in modern forms suitable for rural and urban dwellers. One finds pub-corn and cornflakes as foods in stores. These have been manufactured from the modern consciousness of man who is pitted against time, space and many schedules. These are not only convenient for non-farmers but farmers who could use them out of season. This last point is responsible for the continuous search for the production of foods for preservation out of season.

Plantain is the last example chosen for the demonstration of the urgent need for brains to be at work for the use of different foodstuffs for the production of foods out-of-season. Its essence is to prevent food scarcity and make foods available in stores all round the year. Plantain is boiled and eaten with stew or palm oil. It could be boiled, pounded and eaten with fresh fish pepper soup or any other soups.

Plantain flour is found in major stores in most cities of Nigeria and other countries. This is the modern form which is easy to ship and export to various countries in the world.  Local factories produce plantain chips which could last for about a week. They have tried but the need arises to think of how to make this type last for a longer duration of time.

Banana is of the family of plantain. There is now banana custard. This is a modern innovation which has brought about the production of egg and banana custard. This is the outcome of modern consciousness to satisfy people who could carry the product to any destinations.

In conclusion foodstuffs could be adapted to suit the contemporary period. There are food companies, researchers and scholars who are constantly thinking of different ways of preserving food, processing foodstuffs into foods for consumption. The modern society is different from the old one which had much time; also most persons were farmers.  Specialization has taken place. This has helped tremendously to improve knowledge for the development of humanity. The bulk of work lies with agricultural scholars, government, private sponsors and companies; these could work together to produce food for preservation all round the year as well as foods for consumption all round the year.

Concerning fruits, there are orange, banana, rasin, mango, grape, pineapple, guava, apricot, lemon, tangerine, apple, berry and lime fruits.  These are eaten in their natural forms seasonally.  Scholars, researchers and manufacturers have thought to preserve these around the year.  This consciousness has led to the opening of many industries for the manufacture of various juices.

The reasons for this consciousness are materialism and convenience.  People are interested in making money from the fruits available if they could convert them into drinks.  They are also aware that people travel often and will be willing to carry drinks along or buy the ones neatly put into plastic bottles to their offices and any other places.

The industries have also thought of using materials that could be disposable.  The containers could decay easily without been the problem of the waste industry.  This has helped tremendously in keeping the environment clean.

Indeed there are several brands that may not be listed here.  Many states have produced drinks which are peculiar to them as well as nations.  The focus of this paper is Nigeria and the juice industries.  There has been great improvement from the 1970s until the present; most of the drinks that were manufactured and sold in stores and supermarkets in the country were imported.  Now indigenous companies have started manufacturing drinks from the fruits available in the country which are spread geographically.

There are single fruit drinks.  Few of these are orange, lemon, mango and pineapple juices.  The natural process for some of these is to peel the outer skin of each and squeeze the juice into a glass cup to prove the possibility of producing drinks from the fruits.  It is known that stopping at that without preservatives will not proffer solution to the problem of preservation.  The duration of any juice depends on the quality and durability of the preservatives which must be tested to meet up the standard of NAFDAC in Nigeria.

Capri-some drink has an orange brand which satisfies anyone who wants only that flavour.  It tastes like orange which is not preserved with artificial ingredients, sweetness nor preservatives.  The ingredients are water, sugar, orange, juice concentrate, citric acid and vitamin C.  Chi company produces it in Lagos.

There are fruit drinks which are a combination of other fruits.  Don Simon is a mixed fruit drink made up of orange, banana, raisin, pomme, kwi, fraise et citron, sucre, acidifiant: acide critique et vitamin C.   The flavour of this is different from any single juice.  This particular one is rich and perhaps good for diabetic patients since it does not contain sugar.

Mixed Fruit Dansa is as it is named.  The contents are grape, orange, pineapple, mango, passion fruit, guava, apricot, banana, limes, sucrose, citric acid, vitamin C and water.  The nutritional contents are energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat, fibre and sodium.   The company is an indigenous one; it is based in Abule Oshun, Lagos in Nigeria.  The Dangote Company is responsible for the production of it.

Chi Exotic is made up of exotic pineapple and coconut nectar.  These fruits are produced in many parts of Nigeria especially the East.    The food contents are energy, carbohydrate, protein and energy.  This product is manufactured at Chivita avenue in Lagos.

5Alive is the brand name for another type of juice.  The contents are water, sugar, pineapple, orange, lemon, grape fruit, tangerine, lime, pineapple flavour, carmel, citric acid and vitamin C,  energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, sodium, vitamins A, C and E.   It is a rich fruit drink which is nice but may not be good for anyone whose doctor does not recommend it.  It is the product of Coca Company.

Chivita premium is different from Chi juice drink.  The contents are orange concentrate, mango, natural flavour and water.  This drink is sweet and nice to drink; it may be good for many persons since it preserves the natural flavour of each juice though when mixed it gives a taste that is neither orange nor mango but a mixture of both.

The consciousness of producing such juices has arisen out of modernity, coping with the exigencies of now-ness : accessibility, convenience, comfort and changes in culture and taste.  The juices are economic products of brains at work to carter for the needs of people; the constant worry is pirates of the products who are most likely to produce products which are sub-standard.  The substandard ones and those which use sub-standard preservatives are treats to human existence.  People must avoid the ones which have expired; there are times to discard them; they can not last forever but the companies have tried to make us have juices round the year.

Ngaage is of the Niger Delta University.

Barine Saana Ngaage