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An indigenous plant food used by lactating mothers in West Africa: the nutrient composition of the leaves of Kigelia africana in Ghana.

Glew RS; Amoako Atta B; Ankar Brewoo G; Presley JM; Chang YC; Chuang LT; Millson M; Smith BR; Glew RH

Ecol Food Nutr 2010 Jan; 49(1):72-83

https://doi.org/10.1080/03670240903433303

20036401

Although the leaves of Kigelia africana are used to make a palm-nut soup which is consumed mainly by lactating women in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the nutrient qualities of this underutilized and underappreciated plant food. Leaves of Kigelia africana, called "sausage tree" in English and "nufuten" in the Twi language of Ghana, were collected in Kumasi and analyzed for their content of nutritionally important fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, and trace elements. The dried leaves contained 1.62% fatty acids, of which alpha-linolenic acid and linolenic acid accounted for 44% and 20%, respectively, of the total. Protein accounted for 12.6% of the dry weight and, except for lysine, its overall essential amino acid profile compared favorably to a World Health Organization protein standard for school children. Kigelia leaf contained considerable amounts of many essential elements, including calcium (7,620g/g), iron (161g/g), magnesium (2,310g/g), manganese (14.6g/g), zinc (39.9g/g), and chromium (0.83g/g); selenium, however, was not detected. These data indicate that Kigelia africana leaf compares favorably with many other commonly-consumed green leafy vegetables such as spinach and provides a rational basis for promoting the conservation and propagation of the plant and encouraging its wider use in the diets of populations in sub-Saharan Africa.

Food; Amino-acids; Amino-compounds; Plants; Vegetation; Author Keywords: Kigelia africana; nutrients; leaves; minerals; fatty acids; protein; amino acids; Ghana

RH Glew, University New Mexico, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131

ECFNBN

20100101

Journal Article

rglew@salud.unm.edu

2010

1

0367-0244

DART

Ecology of Food and Nutrition

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