Nutritional Composition of Five Varieties of Pap Commonly Consumed in Maroua (Far- North, Cameroon)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the nutritional composition of five varieties of pap (cereal product) commonly consumed in Maroua, city of the Far-North Region of Cameroon. The proximate composition (moisture, ash, protein, lipid, and crude fibre) was determined by standard AOAC methods. Minerals (calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese) were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and phosphorus was determined colorimetrically. Amino acid composition was determined by ion-exchange chromatography. All the pap varieties had a very high carbohydrate content (79.47-85.29 g/100 g dry matter). Appreciable levels of phosphorus and potassium were recorded in all the pap varieties (137.5-231.0 mg/100 g dry matter and 198.20-322.22 mg/100 g dry matter, respectively). Consumption of each pap (100 g) by children 1-2 year old would meet 9.86-17.46% and 0.08-19.51% of their daily recommended intake respectively for protein and minerals. Leucine and glutamic acid were the most abundant essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids respectively in the pap. Essential amino acids in most of the pap samples met the recommended children requirement of the FAO/WHO/UNU for 1-2 year old children except methionine+cysteine and lysine.Brought to you by | MIT Libraries Authenticated Download Date | 5/12/18 5:52 PM

Nutrient content of some Cameroonian traditional dishes and their potential contribution to dietary reference intakes

“…These observations corroborated by earlier reported trends of leucine and glutamic acid being the most concentrated essential and nonessential amino acids, respectively, in some pap commonly consumed in Maroua‐Cameroon (Ponka et al. ).…”

“…These values were higher compared to the values obtained from five varieties of pap commonly consumed in Maroua‐Cameroon (Ponka et al. ; a). On the other hand, consumption of 100 g of each dish would meet 2.7–7.8%, 16.2–38.4%, 33.6–56.8%, 2.1–6.1%, 7.2–21.6%, 8.9–37.8%, 36.228–55.9%, and 23.3–34.4% of the dietary reference intakes, respectively, for calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, zinc, copper, and manganese.…”

“…These values were also higher compared to the values obtained from five varieties of pap commonly consumed in Maroua‐Cameroon (Ponka et al. ).…”

“…; Ponka et al. ). However, food composition data for Cameroon are limited, both in terms of the number of foods and the nutrients listed.…”

“…Because eating habits differ from one region to another in Cameroon, one of the effective approaches to fight against malnutrition is to make an inventory of food ready for consumption in each of the 10 regions of Cameroon and investigate their nutritional values. In this regard, some works were done on dishes of Littoral, Centre, West, and Far north regions of Cameroon (Kana et al 2008;Fokou et al 2009;Gimou et al 2014;Ponka et al 2015). However, food composition data for Cameroon are limited, both in terms of the number of foods and the nutrients listed.…”