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AN ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WOROWO ( SENECIO BIAFRAE ); EMPHASIS ON COMMON DRYING METHODS
Author(s) -
FAMUREWA J.A.V.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of food processing and preservation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1745-4549
pISSN - 0145-8892
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2009.00466.x
Subject(s) - senecio , ascorbic acid , food science , proximate , chemistry , horticulture , biology , botany
Worowo (Senecio biafrae) is a leaf vegetable which grows in African countries, most especially Nigeria. This study is investigating the effect of different common drying methods on the physical and chemical properties of Senecio biafrae. The leaves were cleaned and divided into five equal samples, each sample was dried using cabinet dryer at 40, 50 and 60C, sun and kiln dryer at 95C, respectively. Sensory characteristics, proximate, mineral and vitamin C compositions were determined on the fresh and dried samples. The results showed that the fresh leaf is very rich in protein (32.71%) and ascorbic acid (51.98%). Cabinet drying at 50C was found most suitable among the drying methods because it was able to retain all the sensory characteristics of the vegetable with no significant difference in proximate, ascorbic acid and mineral contents from other drying methods. Cabinet drying at 50C was therefore recommended. PRACTICAL APPLICATION Considering the enormous advantages of vegetables in human health, the problem of seasonality should be solved. In an attempt to solve this problem, drying is employed to make sure that vegetable is available all year round. It has been established by research works that drying does affect the nutritional compositions of food products. Also, due to many reasons, many products are underutilized, among which is Senecio biafrae. It is, therefore, pertinent to study which of the commonly adopted drying methods will better preserve the nutritional qualities of this underutilized vegetable.