Evaluation of Nutrient Contents of Amaranth Leaves Prepared Using Different Cooking Methods

Amaranth is a commonly consumed vegetable in households in Southwestern Nigeria. Raw amaranth is known to be rich in micronutrients particularly Iron and Vitamin C, which are lost during cooking due to the method of preparation. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the method of preparation that best retains nutrients. Three common methods of preparing amaranth were identified; method 1 in which no heat was applied but amaranth leaves were finely chopped (samples A), method 2 which was steaming before chopping the leaves (sample B) and method 3 involved chopping of leaves before blanching (sample C). These three samples were subjected to proximate analysis and micronutrient determinations. Results were mean of three determinations. Result of proximate analysis showed that sample B method of preparation has highest percentage of crude fat per gram of sample (2.31 ± 0.45), protein (4.35 ± 0.15) and fibre (1.09 ± 0.06). Sample A has highest percentage of moisture (90.35 ± 0.27) and ash content (1.36 ± 0.28) while sample C has highest percentage per gram of sample in carbohydrate (4.89 ± 1.21) only. Micronutrient determination results showed that sample A was highest in Vitamin C (1.57 mg ± 0.06) and Iron (535.84 ppm ± 123.42), followed by sample C (1.21 ± 0.07) and (501.88 ± 215.19) respectively while sample B had the least vitamin C (0.79 ± 0.06) and Iron (354.18 ± 121.84). The study showed that samples A best retained the nutrient contents of Amaranth leaves after preparation.