Dried veggies

الوصف

Vernonia amygdalina (VA) popularly known as bitter leaf is a common and popular vegetable in Nigeria used as a spice in many delicacies and as medicine. Most people believe that when vegetable like bitter leaf is preserved by the drying method, most of the essential minerals are lost. In this study, the effect of air, sun, oven and solar drying methods on the organic and dietary elemental composition of its leaves was evaluated using standard analytical procedures. Drying increased significantly the concentration of all the organic constituents evaluated. The ashed content was markedly enhanced by drying and it range from 2.*6% in fresh sample to *1.*0% in sun-dried sample, the fibre content range from 1.*2% in fresh sample to 4.*2% in air-dried sample, also the lipid content from 0.*2% in fresh sample to 2.*4% in air-dried sample. A significant increase in mineral content was observed upon drying except magnesium and copper whose concentrations were found to be high (*8.*3 and 0.*1 mg/**0 g) in fresh sample. The lead content also decreases upon drying, showing a way of reducing the quantity of lead intake. The concentrations of calcium and iron increased upon drying. The results of this study suggest that drying improves the concentration of both organic and dietary elemental constituents and ovensolar drying methods could be useful in preserving VA leaves in a more hygienic way and ensure its all-the-year round availability and possibly elimination of most nutrient deficiencies. The human body requires a number of minerals in order to maintain good health. A number of minerals essential to human nutrition are accumulated in different parts of plants like VA as it accumulates minerals essential for growth from the environment [9]. Macro- and micro elements influence biochemical processes in the human organism Study of elements with respect to indigenous medicinal plants such as VA reveals that major and trace elements have significant roles in combating a variety of human ailments and disease Green leafy vegetable production has less competitive advantage among other agricultural products. The green leafy vegetable production appears to be less attractive to farmers. It has been confirmed that the production, practices, processing and marketing of vegetables, especially the commonly consumed ones such as VA have received negligible attention In Nigeria, leafy vegetables are rarely processed, presumably due to the general lack of basic preservation facilities for freezing, canning or dehydration. Fresh medicinal plants including VA may deteriorate a few days after harvesting; therefore, there is a need for preservation to extend their shelf-life Drying is one of the ancient preservative methods used in extending a herbs shelf-life The outstanding preservative method practised in many homes in Nigeria is sun-drying. A relatively small quantity of harvested leafy vegetables are, however, sun-dried resulting in poor quality products with variable moisture contents and microbial loads thus affecting storage stability [ Deficiency in nutrients like iron, calcium, potassium etc. are among the cases of malnutrition . Dried vegetables could be the solution to seasonality of vegetables consumption and possibly elimination of these micronutrient deficiencies.