Nutritional and antinutritional evaluation of indigenous Ethiopian okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seed accessions

Abstract

Okra, of high nutritional potential, is one of the underutilized indigenous vegetables in Ethiopia. A food based-intervention specifically dietary diversification is an affordable and sustainable strategy to meet the demand of adequate food supply and population growth. One way of ensuring dietary diversity is to search and promote underutilized indigenous plant species such as okra. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine nutritional and anti-nutritional factors content of the seeds of eight okra accessions (OPA#1, OPA#2, OPA#3, OPA#4, OPA#5, OPA#6, OPA#7 and OPA#8) grown at Assosa Agricultural Research Center in Benishangul Gumuz region, Ethiopia. Molar ratios of the seeds were also calculated and compared to the critical values to predict the mineral bioavailability. All the analyses were conducted using official standard procedures and grade standard reagents. The results of this study revealed that the proximate composition (g/100 g) of the seed accessions varied significantly (P<0.05) and had respective ranges for moisture content 9. The seeds of accession of OPA#6 contained high amounts of crude protein and fat, whereas OPA#8 was high in calcium, iron and potassium. The range of phytate, tannin and oxalate content (mg/100g) of the seed of okra accessions ranged from 0.39 to 0.46, 0.71 to 3.78, 0.74 to 0.75, respectively. The calculated molar ratios of phytate:calcium, phytate:iron, phytate:zinc, oxalate:calcium and phytate*calcium/zinc were 0.0025 to 0.0037, 0.0017 to 0.0041, 0.0063 to 0.106, 0.0020 to 0.0051 and 0.0140 to 0.0175, respectively, below the critical value, indicating high bioavailability of calcium, iron and zinc in all accessions. The results of this study revealed that seeds of okra contain appreciable amounts of essential nutrients and are low in anti-nutrient content implying high mineral bioavailability. Hence, increasing the production and consumption of these nutrient rich underutilized okra seeds could help in food fortification, dietary diversification and alleviation of problems associated with malnutrition in the country.

Nutrient composition and anti-nutritional properties of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) calyx flour

“…Also, the range of crude protein contents obtained for okra calyx flour were within the range (10.25-26.16%) reported for crude protein contents of okra flour by Gemede et al (2016). However, the values obtained for the crude protein contents of okra calyx flour were lower than that of okra seed flour of 41.11%, 22.14%, 18.96% and 22.51-38.09% reported by Adelakun et al (2009), Soares et al (2012), Dhruve et al (2015) and Habtamu et al (2018), respectively. Protein is responsible for the growth in children and restoration of tissue loss in human body (Obahiagbon and Erhabor, 2010; Gemede et al , 2016).…”

“…The values of moisture content, ash, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and carbohydrate ranged 8.1-8.9%, 8.4-9.0%, 14.3-15.3%, 1.4-2.1%, 16.9-18.2% and 47.1-49.4%, respectively. The values obtained for the moisture contents of okra calyx flour were lower than that of okra seed flour of 10.38%, 13.99% and 9.27-12.70% reported by Adelakun et al (2009), Soares et al (2012) and Habtamu et al (2018), respectively. However, the moisture content of 5.52% and 6.31% reported for okra flour by Ndamitso et al (2012) and Ukegbu and Okereke (2013) were lower than that obtained for okra calyx flour.…”

“…The values obtained for the ash contents of okra calyx flour were higher than that of okra seed flour of 3.42%, 4.01%, 5.21% and 3.65-6.05% by Adelakun et al (2009), Soares et al (2012), Dhruve et al (2015) and Habtamu et al (2018), respectively. Also, the values were higher than the values of 7.75% and 5.23% reported for okra flour by Ndamitso et al (2012) and Ogungbenle and Omosola (2015) respectively.…”

Screening, Isolation and Characterization of Heat Stress Tolerant Trichoderma Isolates: Sustainable Alternative to Climate Change

“…Previous studies have confirmed the role of potassium ions as the key element in the process of photosynthesis, protein synthesis, enzymatic activities and cellular metabolism whereas sodium plays an important role as vacuolar osmotic. Similarly, elevated phosphorus imparts a pivotal role in photosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism and energy regulation (Habtamu et al, 2018;Gupta et al, 2019;Saheed, 2020).…”

Vitamin-C and Mineral Composition Analysis of Some Fresh Vegetables in Patuakhali, Bangladesh

“…Various values have been previously reported for Amaranthus cruentus, Valcárcel-Yamani and Lannes [16] found ranged at 180.1 -217.0 mg/100g in amaranth seeds, Topwal [17] found Calcium ranged at 160 -212 mg/100g, Soriano-García et al [18] as 159 mg/100g. In case of Abelmoschus esculentus, Habtamu et al [19] found mean calcium content was 81.77 mg/100g which was similar to the present study and higher than those reported for okra seed by Ndangui et al [20] as 78.65 mg/100g, but lower than those reported as 112.50 -345.83 mg/100g [21]. In this study, the lowest calcium content found in Cucumis sativus (12±.36 mg/100g) which was less than Abbey et al [22] as 20.45 to 25.47 mg/100g.…”