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PROJECT TOPIC:  NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF OKRA
Department:  Plant Science
AMOUNT:  10,000
FORMAT:   MS WORD
PAGES:  77
 
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ABSTRACT

Okra, a high nutritional potential, is one of the underutilized indigenous vegetables in Ethiopia. A food based-intervention specifically dietary diversification is an affordable and sustainable strategy to meet the demand of adequate food supply and population growth. One way of ensuring dietary diversity is to search and promote underutilized indigenous plant species such as okra. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine nutritional and anti-nutritional factors content of the seeds of eight okra accessions (OPA#1, OPA#2, OPA#3, OPA#4, OPA#5, OPA#6, OPA#7 and OPA#8) grown in Assosa Agricultural Research Center in Benishangul Gumuz region, Ethiopia. Molar ratios of the seeds were also calculated and compared to the critical values to predict the mineral bioavailability. All the analyses were conducted using official standard procedures and grade standard reagents. The results of this study revealed that the proximate composition (g/100 g) of the seed accessions varied significantly (P<0.05) and had respective ranges for moisture content 9.27-12.70, crude protein22.51-38.09, crude fat18.64-36.84, crude fibre 1.94-5.96, crude ash 4.53-6.05, utilizable carbohydrate18.69-37.77 and metabolisable energy 324.88-423.84 kcal/100g. The mineral composition (mg/100g) also varied significantly (P<0.05) with range of calcium66.37 to 103.66, iron8.33 to 20.29, potassium90.00 to 187.92, zinc 3.92 to 6.42, phosphorus 16.94 to 1497.23 and sodium 15.06 to 27.81. The seeds of accession of OPA#6 contained high amounts of crude protein and fat, whereas OPA#8 was high in calcium, iron and potassium. The range of phytate, tannin and oxalate content (mg/100g) of the seed of okra accessions ranged from 0.39 to 0.46, 0.71 to 3.78, 0.74 to 0.75, respectively. The calculated molar ratios of phytate:calcium, phytate:iron, phytate:zinc, oxalate:calciumand phytate*calcium/zinc were 0.0025 to 0.0037, 0.0017 to 0.0041, 0.0063 to 0.106, 0.0020 to 0.0051 and 0.0140 to 0.0175, respectively, below the critical value, indicating high bioavailability of calcium, iron and zinc in all accessions. The results of this study revealed that seeds of okra contain appreciable amounts of essential nutrients and are low in anti-nutrient content implying high mineral bioavailability. Hence, increasing the production and consumption of these nutrient rich underutilized okra seeds could help in food fortification, dietary diversification and alleviation of problems associated with malnutrition in the country.

Key words: Okra, Seed, Accession, Proximate composition, Minerals, Anti-nutritional factors

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Natural Plants play important role to preserve our health. Man has familiarized himself with plants and used them in a variety of ways from the very beginning of his existence.. Plants are finding use as pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals, cosmetics and food supplements, even as traditional source of medicines and also play vital role for the sources of prescription drugs in allopathic medicines. In current time there is more demand of use of plant and natural product rather than synthethic ones. Okra is a multipurpose crop due to the varied use of its leaves, buds, flowers, pods, stems and seeds The whole okra plant is edible and has various food, non-food and medical applications (Adelakun et al,2016 ). The seed is the nutritionally richest part of the okra. Influence of pre-treatment on yield chemical and antioxidant properties of a Nigerian okra seed (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench). The plant contains in its fruit leaves and stem, a mucilaginous material that has several food and medicinal uses. The green stems of mature plants after the picking of fruit are generally used for preparation of crude mucilage extract (Koekemoer, et al,2018). The okra mucilage is a glycoprotein comprising of about 10% protein and 80% polymeric carbohydrates. It has large water binding properties due to hydroxyl group of sugar. The okra mucilage helps to stabilize blood sugar by curbing the rate of which from the intestinal tract (Kalu et.al, 2006). The fruits are harvested when immature and eaten as a vegetable

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