Antinutritional Levels of Tubers of Colocasia esculenta, L. Schott (Taro) and Dioscorea alata (Yam) Cultivated in Ethiopia

Abstract

The potential uses of the starchy roots as a food and as an income-generating product in the rural areas could not be satisfactorily done in the developing countries especially in Ethiopia. Therefore Promoting and supporting the use of taro and yam can make a major contribution to the food security of Ethiopia and of the world as well. The present study focused on, the quantitative determination of antinutrient contents of the taro and yam samples cultivated in southwestern Ethiopia (Keffa zone, Benchmaji zone and Sheka zone). The parameters investigated were antinutrient factors such as: oxalate, Phytate and tannin. Antinutrient factors were determined by different standardized analytical methods and the results of both taro and yam samples were compared and analyzed accordingly. The result indicated that, the antinutrient levels of both raw taro and yam samples in this study were: Oxalate (0.062-0.085, 0.054-0.063 mg/100 g), Phytate (31.17-161.13, 55.72-179.74 mg/100 g) and tannin (4.18-6.72, 3.06-4.54 mg/100 g), respectively. The raw taro and yam tubers analyzed in this study were very low compared to the recommendations for patients with calcium oxalate kidney stones. In this study, in general, antinutritional contents of the current study had no significant health hazard even at raw level in comparison to their critical toxicity effect.