Assessment of levels of selected macro and microelements present in biofortified provitamin-A cassava varieties

Abstract

Biofortification of cassava varieties has become a common means of improving essential elements to boost food quality. This study investigated the amount of macro and microelements present in some vitamin A-fortified cassava varieties developed by cassava breeders at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan. The roots of three pro-vitamin fortified cassava varieties IBA154800, IBA164785 and IBA164791 growing at the field of the IITA cassava breeding unit were harvested and were profiled for the macro and microelement using a Tecator digester and AAS. The Mg, Zn, Cu, K, Fe and Na contents were read in triplicates. Data collected were analysed using ANOVA and correlation (SAS 9.4 version) and the differences in the varietal means were separated using the least significant differences at a 5% level of significance. The macro elements Mg, K, and Na differed significantly across the varieties and ranged from 0.114 (IBA164791) to 0.143 (IBA164785), 1.463 (IBA164791) to 2.147 (IBA164785), and 29.138 (IBA164785) to 37.433 (IBA154800), respectively. The microelements Fe, Cu and Zn also differed significantly amongst the varieties and ranged from 19.021 (IBA164791) to 29.874 (IBA164785), 1.463 (IBA164791) to 2.147 (IBA164785), and 29.138 (IBA164791) to 37.433 (IBA154800), respectively. The relationship between Zn and Fe (-0.88), and between Na and Cu (-0.85) were significantly strong and negative. The relationship between Fe and Mg (0.89), Mg and Cu (0.85), and Mg and K (0.71) were significantly strong and positive. The biofortified variety IBA164785 had a higher improvement rate in the macro and microelements investigated.