• 2020-06-10
• Kekere O., Totolaye A.H
• Volume 2, Issue 1

Abstract

Leafy vegetables are important in most of the daily diets of man and can be used to alleviate nutrient deficiencies. This study investigated the effect of different drying methods on the nutritional and proximate quality of five selected leafy vegetables commonly eaten in dry form in South-Western Nigeria, to identify the best drying method for nutrient retention. Fresh samples of Talinum triangulare (waterleaf), Vernonia amygdalina (bitterleaf), Amaranthus viridis (green amaranth), Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) and Corchorus olitorius (jute mallow) were subjected to four commonly used drying methods namely: oven-drying, smoke-drying, sun-drying or air-drying. Plant analysis revealed that sun-dried samples contained the highest values in most of the nutritional parameters evaluated, followed by sun-drying and the least by oven-drying and smoke-drying. Air-dried samples retained the highest moisture, ash, lipid, crude fibre and protein followed by sun-dying and the least by oven-drying and smoke-drying. Plant sampled contained the highest carbohydrate content under smoke-drying method. The study concluded that sun-drying is the best drying technique for nutrient retention while air-drying is the most appropriate for retaining high proximate value in the leafy vegetables.