Proximate Composition and Nutritional Profiling of Vegetables Consumed by Lactating Mothers to Improve Their Dietary Intake in a Peri-urban Area of Nairobi Metropolitan | Chapter 9| Food Science and Agriculture: Research Highlights Vol. 4

 

Background: African leafy vegetables have been found to have high levels of micronutrients, which makes them good vehicles for micronutrient intervention. The vegetables are easy to grow, and they possess familiar tastes to many African communities. Vegetable plants are all plants whose leaves, fruits and roots are used in the preparation of sauces. For this purpose, spontaneous leafy vegetables play an important role in the diets of all the populations of the world, particularly in Africa. Many of them are resilient, adaptive, and tolerate adverse climatic conditions more than the exotic species. Spontaneous leafy vegetables represent high-quality nutritional sources, for the poor segment of the population, especially where malnutrition is widespread. They are valuable sources of nutrients, especially in these areas where they contribute substantially to protein, minerals, vitamins, fibres and other nutrients which are usually in short supply in daily diets.

 

Aim of the Study: This study was therefore designed to analyse the vegetables that were used for nutritional intervention in lactating mothers for proximate composition and micronutrient contents, so as to be able to calculate their contribution to dietary micronutrient intake.

 

Materials and Methods: The micronutrients analysed were beta-carotene for vitamin A, iron and zinc. The vegetables, such as Amaranthus (A. dubius), black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) and cow pea leaves (Vigna unguiculata), were grown and consumed by the mothers in a periurban area of Nairobi Metropolis. Vegetables were sampled over a four-week harvest period. The analyses were done on raw, boiled and stewed vegetables. Proximate composition was assessed by standard AOAC methods. Vitamin A was analysed as beta-carotene using a colourimetric method. Data analysis was done using one way-ANOVA at P≤0.05.

 

Results: The results showed that there is a statistically significant difference in beta-carotene, iron and zinc between the three vegetable groups and no statistically significant difference in the micronutrients in the method of cooking of each vegetable. There is a statistically significant difference in the amount of total ash, moisture, soluble carbohydrates and energy between the three vegetables; however, there is no statistically significant difference in the amounts of lipids, crude protein and crude fibre between the three vegetables. The three leafy vegetables were found to manifest high levels of beta carotene, iron and zinc, and the levels did not reduce very much after boiling and stewing. Amaranth contributed to the lactating mothers' mean RDA intake of vitamin A, iron and zinc than any other vegetable.

 

Conclusion: In view of this, studied leafy vegetables constitute good sources of nutrients and could contribute to preventing diseases and remedy rural population diets' deficiency. This therefore means that green leafy vegetables can be used to improve the dietary intake of lactating mothers, children and other vulnerable populations nutritionally. Planting of such vegetables should be encouraged in all settings, including people living in concrete jungles. They can grow their vegetables in multistory gardens, hanging bags and organophosphates.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Evayline Nkirigacha-Miriti
Pwani University, P.O. Box 195-80108, Kilifi, Kenya.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/fsarh/v4/6051