The paper posits that Nigeria like most developing countries is not immune to protein deficiency among its population because of the often prohibitive prices and overdependence on conventional animal protein source which are in limited supply. The consumption of edible insects is a way out of this predicament. Entomophagy is common practice in the tropics only varying with location, insect(s) consumed, and ethnic group. Again, it posits that insects as a source of protein is better than many conventional sources of protein; it juxtaposes the protein value of some edible insects with conventional animal protein sources like beef, pork, fish, eggs, and milk. Furthermore, many advantages that go with entomophagy are indicated. It identified some militating factors against entomophagy, and maintained that people are not eating insects because of prejudices and not because insects are inferior nutritionally. Finally, it offers practical recommendations that could lead to more people consuming insects.
This research studied proximate, phytochemical and antioxidant properties of Diodia sarmentosa leaves. The ethanol and aqueous extracts of the leaves significantly inhibited 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPHo) radical formation with IC50 values of 10.994 and 10.121 μg/mL respectively, compared to the ascorbic acid standard (IC50 value = 17.916 μg/mL).The aqueous extract exhibited more inhibitory effect on thiobarbituric acid-reactive species (TBARS) with IC50 values of 2.657 μg/mL while the ethanol extract had an IC50 value of 8.53 μg/mL compared to butylated hydroxytoluene standard (IC50 = 2.142 μg/mL). For the total antioxidant capacity assay, the aqueous extract had higher ascorbic acid equivalent values than the ethanol extract. However, the two solvent extracts showed antioxidant activity. Diodia sarmentosa leaves possess useful phytochemicals which are indicative of its antioxidant properties.
Vitamin C is considered an essential vitamin that is commonly found in most fruits and vegetables. It is susceptible to easy degradation, especially during pre-treatment and storage. This study aimed at forecasting the degradation of vitamin C in commonly consumed vegetable (cabbage) dipped in different pre-treatment solutions at different time intervals. The samples after dipping at different time intervals were prepared for analysis. Evaluation of the ascorbic acid content of the vegetable was determined using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). This consists of an isocratic elution procedure with ultraviolet-visible detection at 245 nm. The half-lives and rate constants were calculated using the integrated law method. Forecasts were determined using time series analysis. Degradation of vitamin C in this study followed a first-order kinetic model, and the average coefficient of determination (R2-value) was greater than 0.9413. The rate constants of vitamin C degradation for the vegetable dipped in different pretreatment solutions (sodium chloride, sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfite and vinegar) at different time intervals were 0.0804, 0.1049, 0.0706 and 0.0553 minutes-1; half-lives were 8.2322, 7.3896, 10.9675, and 12.1086 minutes, respectively. The vegetable dipped in different pretreatments for 90 minutes exhibited ln(C) forecast of -2.2057, -4.6307, -1.1746, and 0.0789, respectively. The coefficient of correlation for sodium chloride, sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfite, and vinegar are 0.084, 0.093, 0.063 and 0.059 respectively. The kinetic models were formulated using predicted initial contents, processing time, and measured contents. The vegetable dipped in vinegar pretreatment solution using ln(C) =ln(C0) - 0.0553t gave the best model. From the results, the most appropriate pretreatment solution for enhancing the shelf life of cabbage is synthetic vinegar (prepared from acetic acid) because it has a lower rate constant, lower coefficient of correlation, and the longest half-life.
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