Impact of various cooking methods on the micronutrient compositions of selected legumes in Eastern Nigeria

  • Authors

    • Agomuo Emmanuel Imo State University Owerri
    • Amadi Peter University of Port Harcourt
    • Iheka Chidiebere University of Port Harcourt
    • Duru Majesty Rhema University Aba
    2016-12-30
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v5i1.6711
  • Micronutrient, Frying, Boiling, Microwave Cooking, Pressure Cooking, Carotene, Breadfruit.
  • The impact of various methods of cooking on the concentration of some micronutrients in African Breadfruit (Treculia africana), Melon seeds (Citrullus vulgaris), Groundnut (Arachis hypogea), African oil bean (Pentaclethra macrophylla), Cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale) and Coconut (Cocos nucifera) samples were evaluated using standard methods. The results show that only the β-carotene and potassium contents of African Breadfruit were significantly affected by the various forms of heat processing applied. A significant (p<0.05) increase in the β-carotene content was observed for the melon seeds samples on application of heat by boiling (19223.61±4.00mg/100g) and microwave cooking (19028.59±62.12mg/100g), compared to the raw samples (12462.13±39.11mg/100g), which was equally observed for, groundnut, and cashew nut samples. Heat processing by boiling, pressure cooking, and microwave cooking significantly reduced the K content of the melon seeds, while heat processing by frying caused no significant effect. The Mg, Mn, Na, Zn, and Ca contents of the melon seeds were unaffected by the forms of heat applied. For the oil bean samples, the total carotenoid, K, Na, and Ca contents showed a significant decrease on application of the processing methods used in this study, while a similar result was obtained for the heat processed coconut samples, with an additional change in the Mg content, on application of heat. This study has shown that, Boiling, Frying, Pressure cooking and Microwave cooking affected the micronutrient composition of the selected legumes. Cooking by boiling showed the most retention of the micronutrients whereas the frying and microwave cooking methods showed more losses in micronutrient content.

  • References

    1. [1] Aremu, M.O., Olonisakin, A., Otene, I.W. and Atolaiye, B.O. (2005a). Mineral content of some agricultural products grown in the middle belt of Nigeria. Oriental Journal of Chemistry, 21(3), 419 – 425.

      [2] Bressani, R. (1985). Nutritive value of cowpea. In: Singh, S.R. and Rachie, K.O, editors. Cowpea research, production and utilization. New York, Wiley, pp. 353-360.

      [3] Carmody, R.N. and Wrangham, R.W. (2009). Cooking and the human commitment to a high-quality diet. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, 4, 427-434.

      [4] Chuli, Z. (2013). Effects of different cooking methods on the vitamin C content of selected vegetables. Nutrition & Food Science, 43(5), 438-443. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-11-2012-0123.

      [5] Cross, G.A. and Fung, D.Y. (1982). The effect of microwaves on nutrient value of foods. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 16(4), 355-381.

      [6] Evenepoel, P., Geypens, B., Luypaerts, A., Hiele, M., Ghoos, Y. and Rutgeerts, P. (1998). Digestibility of cooked and raw egg protein in humans as assessed by stable isotope techniques. Journal of Nutrition, 128(100, 1716-1722.

      [7] Fielding, J.M., Rowley, K.G., Cooper, P. and O’ Dea, K. (2005). Increases in plasma lycophene concentration after consumption of tomatoes cooked with olive oil. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 14(2), 131-136.

      [8] Fleck, H. (1976). Introduction to Nutrition, 3rd edition, Macmillan New York, pp. 207 – 219.

      [9] Ghavami, A., Coward, W.A. and Bluck, L.J. (2012). The effect of food preparation on the bioavailability of carotenoids from carrots using intrinsic labelling. British Journal of Nutrition, 107(9), 1350-1366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000711451100451X.

      [10] Harris, R.S. (1988). General discussion on the stability of nutrients. In: Nutritional Evaluation of Food Processing. Edited by Karmas, E. and Harris, R.S. New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, pp. 3-6. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-7030-7_1.

      [11] Hegsted, D.M., Chichester, C.O., Darby, W. J., Mcnutt, K.W., Stalvey, R.M., and Stotz, E.H. (1976). In: Present knowledge in nutrition (nutrition reviews’), fourth edition. The Nutrition Foundation Inc. New York,Washington.

      [12] Hendricks, D.G. (2002). Mineral analysis by traditional methods. In: Introduction to the Chemical Analysis of Food. CBS, New Delhi, India, pp. 123 – 130.

      [13] IVACG (1992).Reprints of selected methods for analyses of vitamin A and carotenoids in nutrition surveys.The nutrition Foundation, Washington, D.C. 16-18.

      [14] Jasraj, K.D. and Kiran, B. (2010). Effect of household cooking methods on nutritional and anti-nutritional factors in green cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) pods. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 47(5), 579-581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0112-3.

      [15] Jones, E. and Hughes, R.E. (1983). Foliar ascorbic acid in some angiosperms. Phytochemistry 22(11):2493–2499.

      [16] Kala, A. and Prakash. J., (2001). Chemical composition and sensory attributes of differently cooked starchy vegetables. Indian Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics, 38, 338-349.

      [17] Lee, K. and Clydesdale, F.M. (1981). Effect of thermal processing on endogenous and added iron in canned spinach. Journal of Food Science, 46, 1064-1067.

      [18] Moftugil, N. (1986). Effect of different types of blanching on the colour and the ascorbic acid and chlorophyll contents of green beans. Journal of Food processing and Preservation, 10, 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-4549.1986.tb00006.x.

      [19] Nagra, S.A. and Khan, S. (1988). Vitamin A (ß-carotene) losses in Pakistani cooking. Journal of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 46, 249-251. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2740460213.

      [20] Nimish, M.S., Jeya, R.S., Jeyasekaran, G. and Sukumar, D. (2010). Effect of different types of heat processing on chemical changes in tuna. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 47(2), 174-181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-010-0024-2.

      [21] Nnorom, I.C., Ewuzie, U., Ogbuagu, F., Okereke, M., Agwu, P. and Enyinnaya, I.P. (2015). Mineral contents of Ukwa, African Breadfruit (Treculia africana), from South-Eastern Nigeria: Effects of Methods of Preparation. International Journal of Plant and Soil Science, 4(3), 230-240. https://doi.org/10.9734/IJPSS/2015/12603.

      [22] Pike, R.I. and Brown, M.L. (1967). Nutrition; An Inegrated Approach. Wiley, New York, USA, pp. 92 – 93.

      [23] Shils, M. E. (1973). Magnesium. In: Introduction to Nutrition, H. Fleck (ed) (1976). 3rd edition, Macmillan New York, pp. 255.

      [24] Somogyi, J.C. (1990). Influence of food preparation on nutritional quality: introductory remarks. Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, 36(suppll), SI-S6. https://doi.org/10.3177/jnsv.36.4-SupplementI_S1.

      [25] Tapadia, S. B. (1995). Vitamin C contents of processed vegetables. Journal of Food Science Technology, 32, 513-515.

      [26] USEPA. (1987). Nonpoint source guidance. U.S.Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water and Office of Water Regulations and Standards, Washington, DC.

      [27] Veda, S., Kamath, A., Platel, K., Begum, K. and Srinivasan, K. (2006). Determination of beta-carotene in vegetables by in vitro methods. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, 50(11), 1047-1052. https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.200600076.

      [28] Vyas, D. and Changra, R.K. (1984). Iron Nutrition in Infancy and Childhood. Discovery and Innovation, 11, 75– 81.

      [29] Walker, A.F and Kohhar, N. (1982). Effect of processing including domestic cooking on nutritional quality of legumes. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of India, 41, 41-50.

      [30] Yuan, G.F., Sun, B., Yuan, J. and Wang, Q.M. (2009). Effects of different cooking methods on health-promoting compounds of broccoli. Journal of Zhejiang University Science B., 10(8), 580-588. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.B0920051.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Emmanuel, A., Peter, A., Chidiebere, I., & Majesty, D. (2016). Impact of various cooking methods on the micronutrient compositions of selected legumes in Eastern Nigeria. International Journal of Biological Research, 5(1), 10-14. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v5i1.6711