Nutritive value and effect of blanching on the trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor activities of selected leafy vegetables

Abstract

Proximate composition, energy, mineral and vitamin contentsand the effect of blanching methods and times on the trypsinand chymotrypsin inhibitor activities were studied usingcabbage, collard, turnip, peanut, and sweet potato leaves.Results of this study indicated that, crude protein, crudefat, carbohydrate and ash contents were in the range of 15.5–25.6%, 1.4–6.5%, 60.4–73.1% and 6.8–7.5%,respectively. Total dietary fiber was lowest in cabbage (28.2 g/100 g) and highest in the collard leaves (43.1%)while energy content per 100 g of vegetables was highestin sweet potato leaves (402 kcal) and lowest in cabbage(379 kcal). The mineral content per 100 g of vegetableswere in the range of 33.4–249.8 mg, 241.2–471.2 mg,12.1–75.1 mg, 14.9–98.9 mg, 0.5–3.5 mg and 0.9–3.1 mgfor Ca, K, Na, Mg, Fe and Zn, respectively. For ascorbicacid, riboflavin, thiamin and total carotenoids, concentrations in 100 g of vegetables were in the range of45.1–112.7 mg, 0.2–0.3 mg, 0.3–0.8 mg and 2.0–7.3 mg,respectively. The trypsin inhibitory activity per gram ofthe vegetables was highest in collard (60.1 TIU/g) andlowest in peanut leaves (41.0 TIU/g). Chymotrypsin inhibitoractivity was highest in the peanut (69.6 CIU/g) but lowestin the collard leaves (48.0 CIU/g). Both trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor activities were significantly (p<0.05) reduced by most of the treatments in eitherthe conventional or microwave blanching methods. In the conventional blanching method, trypsin inhibitor activitywas reduced by 0.5, 6.8, 11.9, 9.0 and 19.3 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potato and peanut leaves,respectively, when the vegetables were blanched for 2.5 minutes but after blanching for 10 minutes, the trypsininhibitor activity was reduced by 29.7, 34.9, 54.3, 52.3and 65.6 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potatoand peanut greens, respectively. For the microwave ovenblanching, trypsin inhibitor activity was reduced by 3.8,3.3, 32.7, 5.0 and 9.5 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip,sweet potato and peanut leaves, respectively when thevegetables were blanched for 30 seconds. When blanched for60 seconds, trypsin inhibitor activity was reduced by 16.2,45.8, 46.2, 51.0 and 42.4 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potato and peanut greens, respectively.Similar trends in the reduction of chymotrypsin inhibitoractivity were observed when the vegetables were conventionally blanched for 2.5, 5 and 10 minutes andwhen blanched by microwave oven for 30, 45 and 60 seconds.Based on the results of this study, the vegetables weregood dietary sources of minerals, vitamins, carbohydrateand proteins. Also, blanching was an effective method forreducing the trypsin and chymotripsin inhibitor activitiesin the leafy vegetables, however, further investigation onthe heating times for both conventional and microwaveblanching methods is suggested.