Food shortage in Zimbabwe: Can wild cereal grains be an alternative source of nutrition?

Abstract

Cereals are used as staple food in most countries all over the world including Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, poor rainfall patterns have hampered the production of traditional cereals like maize and wheat leading to poverty especially in third world countries. Five wild cereal grains namely; Amaranthus hybridus, Brachiaria brizantha, Panicum maximum, Rottiboellea cochinchinensis and Sorghum arundinaceum were studied to determine their nutritional value because of their drought tolerance. Two domesticated cereals were used for comparison. The macro nutrients determined were proteins, carbohydrates, fats and minerals. Amaranthus hybridus, a wild cereal, had the highest protein and fat content of 21.44% and 11.50% respectively, compared to all the other cereal grains. Brachiaria brizantha had the highest fibre content of 30.34% while the red variety of Sorghum bicolor had the least fibre content of 2.51%. Phosphorus was detected in all the cereal grains studied. Calcium was detected in all the cereal grains except in red variety of Sorghum bicolor. The nutritional composition of the cereal grains makes them potential alternative food sources.