Bitter leaf is a leafy vegetable that is widely consumed and cherished in South-Eastern Nigeria. The effect of traditional methods of de-bittering of bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) on the proximate and vitamin contents was studied using potash, palm oil, and salt and boiling process in squeeze-washing at 3 pre-processing methods of squeeze-wash and periods of 3 to 8 minutes. The percentage retention and losses of nutrients increased simultaneously during squeeze-washing. The sample squeezed-washed with palm oil had nutrient retention ranging between 55 to 100% of moisture, ash, crude fibre, fat, vitamin A and vitamin C than other squeeze-washed samples. This could be due to the rigidity of the cells of the sample squeezed-washed with palm oil which did not allow much nutrient to leach into the squeezed leaf water; whereas, the loss of nutrient was practically of the same magnitude (27.3 to 80.5%) in all other samples. The loss of nutrients was observed to be influenced directly by the cause-and-effect of disintegration changes which usually leads to softening due to the severity of the squeeze-washing on the bitter leaf instead of cellular composition or level of nutrient initially present. Palm oil should be used in the squeeze-washing of bitter leaf for better nutrient retention.
Published in | International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 1) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24 |
Page(s) | 103-110 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Bitter Leaf, Palm Oil, Potash, Salt, Squeeze-Washing
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APA Style
Agomuo Jude Kelechi, Alaka Ignatius Chukwuemeka, Akajiaku Linda Oluchi, Taiwo Mayomi. (2015). Effect of Traditional Methods of De-bittering on the Proximate and Vitamin Contents of Fresh and Squeezed-Washed Bitter Leaf. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences, 4(1), 103-110. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24
ACS Style
Agomuo Jude Kelechi; Alaka Ignatius Chukwuemeka; Akajiaku Linda Oluchi; Taiwo Mayomi. Effect of Traditional Methods of De-bittering on the Proximate and Vitamin Contents of Fresh and Squeezed-Washed Bitter Leaf. Int. J. Nutr. Food Sci. 2015, 4(1), 103-110. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24
AMA Style
Agomuo Jude Kelechi, Alaka Ignatius Chukwuemeka, Akajiaku Linda Oluchi, Taiwo Mayomi. Effect of Traditional Methods of De-bittering on the Proximate and Vitamin Contents of Fresh and Squeezed-Washed Bitter Leaf. Int J Nutr Food Sci. 2015;4(1):103-110. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24
@article{10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24, author = {Agomuo Jude Kelechi and Alaka Ignatius Chukwuemeka and Akajiaku Linda Oluchi and Taiwo Mayomi}, title = {Effect of Traditional Methods of De-bittering on the Proximate and Vitamin Contents of Fresh and Squeezed-Washed Bitter Leaf}, journal = {International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences}, volume = {4}, number = {1}, pages = {103-110}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnfs.20150401.24}, abstract = {Bitter leaf is a leafy vegetable that is widely consumed and cherished in South-Eastern Nigeria. The effect of traditional methods of de-bittering of bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) on the proximate and vitamin contents was studied using potash, palm oil, and salt and boiling process in squeeze-washing at 3 pre-processing methods of squeeze-wash and periods of 3 to 8 minutes. The percentage retention and losses of nutrients increased simultaneously during squeeze-washing. The sample squeezed-washed with palm oil had nutrient retention ranging between 55 to 100% of moisture, ash, crude fibre, fat, vitamin A and vitamin C than other squeeze-washed samples. This could be due to the rigidity of the cells of the sample squeezed-washed with palm oil which did not allow much nutrient to leach into the squeezed leaf water; whereas, the loss of nutrient was practically of the same magnitude (27.3 to 80.5%) in all other samples. The loss of nutrients was observed to be influenced directly by the cause-and-effect of disintegration changes which usually leads to softening due to the severity of the squeeze-washing on the bitter leaf instead of cellular composition or level of nutrient initially present. Palm oil should be used in the squeeze-washing of bitter leaf for better nutrient retention.}, year = {2015} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Effect of Traditional Methods of De-bittering on the Proximate and Vitamin Contents of Fresh and Squeezed-Washed Bitter Leaf AU - Agomuo Jude Kelechi AU - Alaka Ignatius Chukwuemeka AU - Akajiaku Linda Oluchi AU - Taiwo Mayomi Y1 - 2015/02/10 PY - 2015 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24 DO - 10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24 T2 - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences JF - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences JO - International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences SP - 103 EP - 110 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2327-2716 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnfs.20150401.24 AB - Bitter leaf is a leafy vegetable that is widely consumed and cherished in South-Eastern Nigeria. The effect of traditional methods of de-bittering of bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) on the proximate and vitamin contents was studied using potash, palm oil, and salt and boiling process in squeeze-washing at 3 pre-processing methods of squeeze-wash and periods of 3 to 8 minutes. The percentage retention and losses of nutrients increased simultaneously during squeeze-washing. The sample squeezed-washed with palm oil had nutrient retention ranging between 55 to 100% of moisture, ash, crude fibre, fat, vitamin A and vitamin C than other squeeze-washed samples. This could be due to the rigidity of the cells of the sample squeezed-washed with palm oil which did not allow much nutrient to leach into the squeezed leaf water; whereas, the loss of nutrient was practically of the same magnitude (27.3 to 80.5%) in all other samples. The loss of nutrients was observed to be influenced directly by the cause-and-effect of disintegration changes which usually leads to softening due to the severity of the squeeze-washing on the bitter leaf instead of cellular composition or level of nutrient initially present. Palm oil should be used in the squeeze-washing of bitter leaf for better nutrient retention. VL - 4 IS - 1 ER -