Abstract
BackgroundBambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea) is an indigenous African leguminous crop commonly consumed in Ebonyi State in Nigeria. MethodsThis study determined the pesticide residue content, amino acids, toxic and biogenic elements of Bambara groundnut seeds obtained from three local government areas - Abakaliki, Ikwo, and Afikpo in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The digested samples were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission (ICP-OES) for determination of minerals and toxic elements, while High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) system was used to determine the amino acids and pesticide residue content. ResultsPesticide residue content varied from 0.001 ± 0.00 to 0.598 ± 0.03 µg kg−1 in Afikpo samples, 0.001 ± 0.05 to 0.50 ± 0.01 µg kg−1 in Abakaliki samples, 0.001 ± 0.00 to 0.47 ± 0.01 µg kg−1 in Ikwo samples. Pesticide residues detected in the samples were meaningless when compared to the maximum residue limit by World Health Organization (WHO). In the amino acid analysis, the composition of the essential amino acids was higher when compared to the WHO standard. Isoleucine was found to be the most abundant in the samples studied. The total percentage of amino acids in Afikpo sample (24.7 ± 1.4) were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than samples from Abakaliki (17.8 ± 1.0) and Ikwo (16.8 ± 0.1). The samples contained meaningless amounts of both macro and micro biogenic elements. Toxic elements such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, chromium and nickel were detected but lower than the WHO standard values. ConclusionThis study indicates that this legume may be safe for consumption.
Published Version
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