Proximate compositions, amino acid profiles, and sensory evaluation of ‘okpa’ prepared and enriched with three leafy green vegetables

Background: Under-nutrition is a global health problem that affects all age groups especially the vulnerable ones particularly young children. Objectives: The study examined proximate compositions, amino acid profiles and sensory qualities of ‘Okpa’ prepared and enriched with fluted pumpkin, bitter leaf and scent leaf. Materials and methods: The ‘Okpa’ was prepared by thoroughly mixing the flour with palm oil, uziza, pepper, salt, water and the three vegetables. Three samples labelled A (Okpa + scent leaf), B (Okpa +fluted pumpkin and C (Okpa +bitter leaf) were prepared. Proximate and amino acid analysis were done following standard procedures and twenty panelists evaluated their sensory qualities.  Results: This indicated that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in samples crude protein contents and values ranged from 12.38% (A)-15.10% (C). (Okpa + Bitter leaf) had highest ash content of 7.91% while (Okpa + Scent leaf) had the least (4.44%). Carbohydrate content of samples ranged from 47.73% (C)-56.12% (A). Total dietary fiber content of (Okpa + Scent leaf) was the highest (8.62%). Amino acid profiles, (Okpa + Bitter leaf) was significantly higher in leucine, lysine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, valine, histidine and threonine with values of 9.48, 5.21, 4.11, 4.81, 1.26, 4.41, 2.95 and 3.11g/100g, respectively.  Sensory qualities of samples showed that (Okpa + Scent leaf) was accepted more than the others because it scored highest in colour, texture, taste and flavor while (Okpa + Bitter leaf) was the least accepted. Conclusion: Addition of bitter leaf to Okpa improved nutrient content and could be used instead of the usual scent leaf and sometimes fluted pumpkin often used.