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Abstract

Six green leafy vegetables and herbs - spinach, amaranth, bengal gram, cauliflower, mint, coriander and carrots - were analyzed for moisture, protein, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, total iron, ionizable iron (as % of total iron) in vitro iron (% of total iron), copper, manganese and zinc. Moisture content of the leaves and carrots varied from 75.1 percent (bengal gram) to 95.4 percent (carrot) and protein from 9.83 percent (carrots) to 30.9 (mint) percent. Ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, total iron and ionizable iron contents were at a maximum in case of bengal gram leaves whereas level of ionizable iron and in vitro iron as a percent of total iron was highest in carrots. Copper, manganese and zinc contents were maximum in spinach.

Proximate Composition, Amino and Fatty Acid Profiles and Element Compositions of Four Different Moringa Species

“…It is thus the most important and readily available precursor for the important fat-soluble vitamin (FAO, 2001) since the conversion for other carotenoids is 1 µg to 0.084 RE. The amount of β-carotene in the leaves of M. oleifera from Malawi was 8.03 mg/100 g DM in our study, which was considerably lower than that reported for M. oleifera leaves from India (17.4 mg/100 g DM) (Subadra et al 1997) or M. oleifera leaves of unspecified origin (16.3 mg/100 g DM) (Singh et al, 2001). An adult female between 19 and 65 years of age has a mean vitamin A requirement of 270 g RE/day (FAO, 2001) corresponding to 1617 g β-carotene/day or 20.1 g DM of M. oleifera leaves from Malawi.…”

“…leaves were higher while those of Moringa spp. kernels were lower or similar (Singh, Kawatra, & Sehgal, 2001). High amounts of aluminium were measured in M. hildebrandtii leaf samples and in M. oleifera leaf samples from Malawi and Uganda, which might point to either high aluminium contents in the soils or abrasion in the mills.…”

Minerals and Arsenic Composition of Twenty Five Indigenous Leafy Vegetables of Jorhat District of Assam State, India

“…The results are comparable with the results obtained by Grace et al [25] in Chenopodium album and Solanum nigram contains 120.4 mg/100 g and 177.1/100 g of iron on dry weight basis, respectively; Singh et al [28] found total iron content of selected green leafy vegetables ranged from 22.3 to 84.4 mg/100 g on a dry matter basis and Kamga et al [20] reported that iron content varies from 3.34 mg to 38.79 mg/100 g on dry weight basis in three leafy vegetables. Iron is an important trace element in the human body, it plays crucial roles in haemopoiesic, control of infection and cell mediated immunity [29].…”

“…It is also a co-factor for an enzyme manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), is a potent antioxidant. The results are comparable with the results obtained by Afolayan and Jimoh [3] in four green leafy vegetables ranged from 8.3 to 11.8 mg/100 g; Singh et al [28] in green leafy vegetables ranged from 1.8 to 10.2 mg/100 g and Asaolu et al [33] in some green leafy vegetables ranges between 2.54 mg/100 g and 10.06 mg/100 g.…”

“…The deficiency of iron has been described as the most prevalent nutritional deficiency and iron deficiency anemia is estimated to affect more than one billion people worldwide [30]. The [25] in Chenopodium album and Solanum nigram contains 9.1 mg/100 g and 11.2/ 100 g of copper on dry weight basis respectively; Singh et al [28] reported that copper content of green leafy vegetables ranged from 0.8 to 1.0 mg/100 g and Zeghichi et al [23] reported that S. pecten-veneris contain copper 54 and 1.71 mg/100 g in Pakistan and Greece, respectively.…”