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Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera

Received: 24 July 2019    Accepted: 05 September 2019    Published: 19 September 2019
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Abstract

Moringa oleifera is one of the green leafy vegetables that are under-exploited and under-utilized. Available researches have shown that Moringa oleifera is rich in nutrients and can be used as a food-based strategy in combating nutrient deficiencies. The study was carried out to comparatively evaluate some nutrient contents of Moringa oleifera processed under different methods. The research analyzes and compares nutritional composition of dried and cooked Moringa oleifera leaves. The moisture content was determined by exposing the sample to heat under controlled conditions, the water from the material evaporated leaving the dry matter. The ash content was determined by burning off the organic matter leaving behind inorganic ash. Base on the principle that non-polar components of samples are easily extracted into organic solvent, crude lipid was determined using n-Hexane. The protein content was obtained by Kjeldahl method. Mineral analysis was also carried out to determine the amount of potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium and phosphorus The results shows that, the dried leaves of Moringa oleifera and cooked leaves contain: Moisture 3.0% and 5.0%, Ash 13.5% and 10.0%, fibre 8.5% and 10.0%, Crude lipid 5.0% and 7.5%, Crude protein 5.43% and 9.98%, Carbohydrate 62.57% and 59.52% respectively. The mineral content of the leaves (mg/100g): were Sodium (Na) 0.14 and 0.08, potassium (k) 5.10 and 2.60, Calcium (Ca) 0.28 and 0.22, magnesium (Mg) 0.29 and 0.25, phosphorus (P) 5.58 and 4.91 respectively. The results showed that, the cooked leaves of Moringa oleifera contain more nutrients than the dried leaves. However, carbohydrate and mineral composition are lower in the cooked leave. Nutrient loss is a consequence of nearly every cooking process. Exposure to heat, light or oxygen alters the nutrients found in food, and methods that involve water often reduce the amounts of nutrients as these get ‘washed out’ and left behind.

DOI 10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13
Published in Plant (Volume 7, Issue 4, December 2019)
Page(s) 71-75
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.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Moringa oleifera, Leaves, Cooking, Drying, Nutrients

References
[1] Fuglie, L. J. (2001). The Miracle Tree: the Multiple Attributes of Moringa. Church World Service, West African Regional Office, Dakar, Senegal. pp. 103-136.
[2] Kumari, P., Sharma, P., Srivastava, S. and Srivastava, M. M. (2006). “Biosorption Studies on Shelled Moringa oleifera Lamarck Seed Powder: Removal And Recovery Of Arsenic From Aqueous System”. International Journal Miner. Process. 78 131–139.
[3] Mishra, S. P., Singh, P., and Singh, S. (2012). Processing Of Moringa oleifera Leaves for Human Consumption. Bull. Environ. Pharmacol. Life Sci. 2 (1); 28-32.
[4] Potisate, Y., Phoungchandang, S. and Kerr, W. L. (2014). The Effects of Pre-drying Treatments and Different Drying Methods on Phytochemical Compound Retention and Drying Characteristics of Moringa Leaves (Moringa oleifera Lam.) Drying Technology, 32, 1970-1985.
[5] Habou, D. A., Asere A. and Alhassan A. M. (2003) Comparative Study of the Drying Rate of Tomatoes and Pepper Using Forced and Natural Convection Solar Dryers. Nigeria Journal of Renewable Energy, 14: 36-40.
[6] Flores, N. C. (June 2007); Drying foods. Guide E-322. New Mexico State University pp 2-3. University press p. 168.
[7] Morris, A., Barnett, A. and Burrows, O. J. (2004) Effect of Processing on Nutrient Content of Foods. Caj articles, 37 (3); 160-164.
[8] Wikipedia (2018) Cooking accessed from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/cooking on 19 August 2018
[9] Diaz, S. G. (2017) The Effects of Cooking on Nutrition accessed online from http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cooking-nutrient-content#section1 on August 19
[10] Official Method of Analysis of the Association of Official’s Analytical Chemist (AOAC)h, 7th edition. Arlington, Virginia, (2007).
[11] Cheesebrough, M. (1987) Medical Laboratory Manual for Tropical Countries (2nd ed). Cambridge Bulterworth, Heiemann, Ltd. p 605.
[12] Mouminah, H. H. S. (2015). Effect of Dried Moringa oleifera Leaves on the Nutritional and Organoleptic Characteristics of Cookies, Alexandria Science Exchange Journal, Vol.36, Pp 297-302
[13] Gibney M. J. (1989). Nutrition Diet and Health, New York, Chester Melbourne Sydney, Cambridge.
[14] Onyiriuka, S. O., Nwadinigwe, C. A.., Nwaji, M. N, Akpansi, L. E. S and Okoro, U. C. (1997) Principles of Organic Chemistry. (1st edition) pp: 12: 206-209.
[15] Ape, D. I., Nwogu N. A., Nwafor, E. C. and Umoren C. N. (2015), Comparative Proximate and Elemental Analysis of Four Species of Cowpea Beans Seed Coat (VignaUngucuilata) in Enugu State Nigeria, International Journal Of pure and Applied Science, InsanAkademika Publications, E-ISSN: 2301-4458, P-ISSN: 2301-8038 Pp 1-8.
[16] Okoli J. N. (2009). Basic Nutrition and Diet Therapy. University of Nigeria press Ltd. UNN Nigeria, Pp. 74.
Author Information
  • Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Sokoto, Nigeria

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    Muhammad Auwal Balarabe. (2019). Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera. Plant, 7(4), 71-75. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13

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    Muhammad Auwal Balarabe. Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera. Plant. 2019, 7(4), 71-75. doi: 10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13

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    AMA Style

    Muhammad Auwal Balarabe. Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera. Plant. 2019;7(4):71-75. doi: 10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13,
      author = {Muhammad Auwal Balarabe},
      title = {Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera},
      journal = {Plant},
      volume = {7},
      number = {4},
      pages = {71-75},
      doi = {10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.plant.20190704.13},
      abstract = {Moringa oleifera is one of the green leafy vegetables that are under-exploited and under-utilized. Available researches have shown that Moringa oleifera is rich in nutrients and can be used as a food-based strategy in combating nutrient deficiencies. The study was carried out to comparatively evaluate some nutrient contents of Moringa oleifera processed under different methods. The research analyzes and compares nutritional composition of dried and cooked Moringa oleifera leaves. The moisture content was determined by exposing the sample to heat under controlled conditions, the water from the material evaporated leaving the dry matter. The ash content was determined by burning off the organic matter leaving behind inorganic ash. Base on the principle that non-polar components of samples are easily extracted into organic solvent, crude lipid was determined using n-Hexane. The protein content was obtained by Kjeldahl method. Mineral analysis was also carried out to determine the amount of potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium and phosphorus The results shows that, the dried leaves of Moringa oleifera and cooked leaves contain: Moisture 3.0% and 5.0%, Ash 13.5% and 10.0%, fibre 8.5% and 10.0%, Crude lipid 5.0% and 7.5%, Crude protein 5.43% and 9.98%, Carbohydrate 62.57% and 59.52% respectively. The mineral content of the leaves (mg/100g): were Sodium (Na) 0.14 and 0.08, potassium (k) 5.10 and 2.60, Calcium (Ca) 0.28 and 0.22, magnesium (Mg) 0.29 and 0.25, phosphorus (P) 5.58 and 4.91 respectively. The results showed that, the cooked leaves of Moringa oleifera contain more nutrients than the dried leaves. However, carbohydrate and mineral composition are lower in the cooked leave. Nutrient loss is a consequence of nearly every cooking process. Exposure to heat, light or oxygen alters the nutrients found in food, and methods that involve water often reduce the amounts of nutrients as these get ‘washed out’ and left behind.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera
    AU  - Muhammad Auwal Balarabe
    Y1  - 2019/09/19
    PY  - 2019
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13
    T2  - Plant
    JF  - Plant
    JO  - Plant
    SP  - 71
    EP  - 75
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2331-0677
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.plant.20190704.13
    AB  - Moringa oleifera is one of the green leafy vegetables that are under-exploited and under-utilized. Available researches have shown that Moringa oleifera is rich in nutrients and can be used as a food-based strategy in combating nutrient deficiencies. The study was carried out to comparatively evaluate some nutrient contents of Moringa oleifera processed under different methods. The research analyzes and compares nutritional composition of dried and cooked Moringa oleifera leaves. The moisture content was determined by exposing the sample to heat under controlled conditions, the water from the material evaporated leaving the dry matter. The ash content was determined by burning off the organic matter leaving behind inorganic ash. Base on the principle that non-polar components of samples are easily extracted into organic solvent, crude lipid was determined using n-Hexane. The protein content was obtained by Kjeldahl method. Mineral analysis was also carried out to determine the amount of potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium and phosphorus The results shows that, the dried leaves of Moringa oleifera and cooked leaves contain: Moisture 3.0% and 5.0%, Ash 13.5% and 10.0%, fibre 8.5% and 10.0%, Crude lipid 5.0% and 7.5%, Crude protein 5.43% and 9.98%, Carbohydrate 62.57% and 59.52% respectively. The mineral content of the leaves (mg/100g): were Sodium (Na) 0.14 and 0.08, potassium (k) 5.10 and 2.60, Calcium (Ca) 0.28 and 0.22, magnesium (Mg) 0.29 and 0.25, phosphorus (P) 5.58 and 4.91 respectively. The results showed that, the cooked leaves of Moringa oleifera contain more nutrients than the dried leaves. However, carbohydrate and mineral composition are lower in the cooked leave. Nutrient loss is a consequence of nearly every cooking process. Exposure to heat, light or oxygen alters the nutrients found in food, and methods that involve water often reduce the amounts of nutrients as these get ‘washed out’ and left behind.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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