Nutritional Analysis of Cooked and Dried Leaves of Moringa oleifera

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is one of the green leafy vegetables that are under-exploited and under-utilized. Available researches have shown that Moringa oleifera is rich in nutrients and can be used as a food-based strategy in combating nutrient deficiencies. The study was carried out to comparatively evaluate some nutrient contents of Moringa oleifera processed under different methods. The research analyzes and compares nutritional composition of dried and cooked Moringa oleifera leaves. The moisture content was determined by exposing the sample to heat under controlled conditions, the water from the material evaporated leaving the dry matter. The ash content was determined by burning off the organic matter leaving behind inorganic ash. Base on the principle that non-polar components of samples are easily extracted into organic solvent, crude lipid was determined using n-Hexane. The protein content was obtained by Kjeldahl method. Mineral analysis was also carried out to determine the amount of potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium and phosphorus The results shows that, the dried leaves of Moringa oleifera and cooked leaves contain: Moisture 3.0% and 5.0%, Ash 13.5% and 10.0%, fibre 8.5% and 10.0%, Crude lipid 5.0% and 7.5%, Crude protein 5.43% and 9.98%, Carbohydrate 62.57% and 59.52% respectively. The mineral content of the leaves (mg/100g): were Sodium (Na) 0.14 and 0.08, potassium (k) 5.10 and 2.60, Calcium (Ca) 0.28 and 0.22, magnesium (Mg) 0.29 and 0.25, phosphorus (P) 5.58 and 4.91 respectively. The results showed that, the cooked leaves of Moringa oleifera contain more nutrients than the dried leaves. However, carbohydrate and mineral composition are lower in the cooked leave. Nutrient loss is a consequence of nearly every cooking process. Exposure to heat, light or oxygen alters the nutrients found in food, and methods that involve water often reduce the amounts of nutrients as these get ‘washed out’ and left behind.