Cowpea leaf powder : A cheap nutritional supplement for the vulnerable population

Abstract

Cowpea leaves are a good source of some amino acids, vitamins, minerals and proteins. Beside this cowpea leaves are known to be rich in iron, calcium and vitamin C. Their content in cowpea leaves is 20.1 mg, 290 mg and 410 mg, respectively per 100 g. The leaves thus have a potential to be used to combat anemia in cowpea growing areas. Cowpea is cultivated on 12.5 million hectares of land worldwide and has a production of 3 million tones. Cowpea leaves are consumed in 18 countries in Africa, 7 countries in Asia and the pacific. India is the largest cowpea producer in Asia. Products have already been formulated to some extent in India by some researchers. The present work attempts to take this work further. For this purpose leaves of four cowpea varieties (Pant Lobia 1, Pant Lobia 2, Pant Lobia 3, Pant Lobia 4 and PGCP 12) were taken up for the study. Cowpea Leaf concentrates have been developed by cleaning washing and oven drying the leaves at 45-50 0 C. The concentrate have been evaluated for their nutritional content. The analysis revealed the moisture content to range from 6 per cent to 12 per cent. For fat it ranges from 0.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent. For fibre the values range from 9.22 per cent to13.6 per cent. Mean total ash content was found to be 10.82 per cent in the present study, highest being 11.21 per cent in Pant Lobia 3 and lowest being 9.88 per cent in PGCP 12. For total carbohydrates the values ranges from 46.35 per cent to 30.05 per cent. physiological energy ranged from 283.3 kcal/ 100g to 304.78 Kcal/100 g. cow pea leaf varieties were found to be nutritionally rich in protein, fibre, total ash, physiological energy and less in fat and therefore can be used for combating and reducing the Protein energy malnutrition (PEM), lifestyle related disease, heart related diseases. Among all the varieties PGCP 12 appears to be the nutritionally rich in most of nutrients therefore may be used to develop nutritionally rich food supplements.How to cite this article : Jethwani, Poonam, Dutta, Anuradha and Singh, Y.V. (2015). Cowpea leaf powder : A cheap nutritional supplement for the vulnerable population. Food Sci. Res. J., 6(2): 279-284.

A review of the contribution of cowpea leaves to food and nutrition security in East Africa

“…The utilization of cowpea leaf concentrates, which are known to be rich in micronutrients, has been one of the modern techniques of its utilization (Jethwani, Dutta, & Singh, ). Other value‐added products of cowpea leaves that have been used in high‐end markets such as supermarkets include the vacuum‐packed, solar‐dried, powder, canned, and frozen forms (Jethwani et al, ; Okello et al, ; Onyeoziri, Kinnear, & Kock, ). However, the incorporation of cowpea leaves into other renowned and widely acceptable products as it has been done with other indigenous and underutilized crops, for example, orange‐fleshed sweet potato roots, remains less explored (Owade et al, 2018b).…”

“…In Kenya, cowpea leaves are consumed as potherbs just as other AIVs . The utilization of cowpea leaf concentrates, which are known to be rich in micronutrients, has been one of the modern techniques of its utilization (Jethwani, Dutta, & Singh, 2015). In Asia, the leaves are boiled then sun-dried and stored for later use (Zia-Ul-Haq, Ahmad, Amarowicz, & Feo, 2013).…”

“…The utilization of cowpea leaves in its different forms in the rural areas in Tanzania is to the tune of 30% of the households (Ochieng et al, 2016). Other value-added products of cowpea leaves that have been used in high-end markets such as supermarkets include the vacuum-packed, solar-dried, powder, canned, and frozen forms (Jethwani et al, 2015;Okello et al, 2015;Onyeoziri, Kinnear, & Kock, 2018). This aims at beating the constraints of seasonality in terms of availability of cowpea leaves.…”

“…This aims at beating the constraints of seasonality in terms of availability of cowpea leaves. The utilization of cowpea leaf concentrates, which are known to be rich in micronutrients, has been one of the modern techniques of its utilization (Jethwani, Dutta, & Singh, 2015). Other value-added products of cowpea leaves that have been used in high-end markets such as supermarkets include the vacuum-packed, solar-dried, powder, canned, and frozen forms (Jethwani et al, 2015;Okello et al, 2015;Onyeoziri, Kinnear, & Kock, 2018).…”

Nutritional Properties and Utilization of Cowpea Seeds, Leaves and Their Health Benefits

“…16 The utilization of cowpea leaf concentrates, which are known to be rich in micronutrients, has been one of the modern techniques of its utilization. 6 Other value-added products of cowpea leaves that have been used in high-end markets such as supermarkets include the vacuum-packed, solardried, powder, canned and frozen forms. 6 However, the incorporation of cowpea leaves into other renowned and widely acceptable products as it has been done with other indigenous and underutilized crops, for example, orangefleshed sweet potato roots, remains less explored.…”