Retention of Β- Carotene, Iron and Zinc in Solar Dried Amaranth Leaves in Kajiado County, Kenya
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Date
2014
Authors
Chege, P.
Kuria, E. N.
Kimiywe, Judith
Nyambaka, H. N.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Global Society of Scientific Research and Researchers
Abstract
Amaranth is one of the underutilized vegetable with high nutritive value. Availability of amaranth leaves is
seasonal and therefore preservation for use in other seasons is necessary. Solar drying is one of the
recommended methods for vegetable preservation. Minimal information exists on nutrient content of amaranth
leaves grown in dry areas. There is also scarce information on the effect of solar drying on the β – carotene, iron
and zinc in amaranth leaves. The amaranth leaves were obtained from Kajiado County, an arid area. The β -
carotene in fresh and solar dried amaranth leaves were analyzed using UV-VIS Spectrophotoscopy, while iron
and zinc using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). Results show that, the nutrient content for β-
carotene, iron and zinc in fresh amaranth leaves was 5.75 ± 0.04 SD, 8.47 ± 0.05 SD and 3.18 ± 0.04 SD
mg/100 g, respectively. This changed to 4.46 ± 0.04 SD, 7.98 ± 0.02 SD and 3.03 ± 0.03 SD with solar drying.
This indicates retention of 77.5%, 94.3%, and 95.4% for β-carotene, iron and zinc, respectively. There was no
significant (P> 0.05) change in β-carotene, iron and zinc with solar drying. Solar drying also led to high
concentration of nutrients per unit where the amount of β-carotene, iron and zinc in 100 grams of solar dried
leaves was noted as 40.11 ± 3.21 SD, 71.85 ± 6.93 SD and 27.28 ± 1.43 SD mg/100 g, respectively. This study
recommends the use of solar drying to preserve the amaranth leaves.
Description
Keywords
Amaranthus cruentus, solar drying, β – carotene, iron, zinc
Citation
International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR) (2014) Volume 13, No 2, pp 329-338