Olajumoke O. Lawal, Margaret A. Agiang, Ima O. Williams, Yetunde E. Alozie and Mbeh U. Eteng
This investigation studied the mineral and toxicant levels in different yam (Dioscorea rotundata) diets consumed by the Igboora people of Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. The yams were harvested and purchased from local farmers and transported to the University of Calabar. Five groups of diets were prepared visà- vis, boiled yam (BY), a mixture of pounded yam with soup and stew (PYSS), boiled yam with stew (BYS), fried yam with stew (FYS) and boiled yam with palm oil (BYPo). The raw yam was also analysed for its mineral and antinutrient composition and this served as control. The soup PYSS was prepared with the tender leaves of Okra (Abelmuschusesculentus) known locally as ‘Ilasa’. The samples were homogenized, pelleted, dried in an air oven (Gallenburg, UK) at 550c for 24 hours, milled and analysed in triplicates using standard procedures. The mineral contents in (mg/100g)dw were Na(10.26 to 16.26), K(13.48 to 18.58), P(7.97 to 9.74)and Mg(28.21 to 28.90). The anti-nutrient concentration were (0.13 to 0.19), (1.91 to 4.37), (0.54 to 0.83) all in mg/100gdw for hydrocyanate, phytate and oxalate respectively. The results showed that the mineral concentration in all the diets were below therecommended daily allowances and the concentration of anti-nutrients in all the samples were below the toxic levels and so may not affect the bioavailability of the minerals.
