Abstract
Cereals are used as staple food in most countries all over the world including Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, poor rainfall patterns have hampered the production of traditional cereals like maize and wheat leading to poverty especially in third world countries. Five wild cereal grains namely; Amaranthus hybridus, Brachiaria brizantha, Panicum maximum, Rottiboellea cochinchinensis and Sorghum arundinaceum were studied to determine their nutritional value because of their drought tolerance. Two domesticated cereals were used for comparison. The macro nutrients determined were proteins, carbohydrates, fats and minerals. Amaranthus hybridus, a wild cereal, had the highest protein and fat content of 21.44% and 11.50% respectively, compared to all the other cereal grains. Brachiaria brizantha had the highest fibre content of 30.34% while the red variety of Sorghum bicolor had the least fibre content of 2.51%. Phosphorus was detected in all the cereal grains studied. Calcium was detected in all the cereal grains except in red variety of Sorghum bicolor. The nutritional composition of the cereal grains makes them potential alternative food sources.
Highlights
The staple foods in the average African diet are cereals, roots, tubers and to a less extent, animal products [9]
The dependents on cereals, of the poor families, accounts in part, for the protein deficiency which dominates amongst the general population as recognized by Food and Agricultural Organization [13] significantly high protein content in wild cereals which include, A. hybridus, S. arundinaceum and P.maximum, compared to domesticated varieties, Eleusine corocana and red Sorghum bicolor (p
Proteins and fats were found in varying concentrations in all the cereal grains
Summary
The staple foods in the average African diet are cereals, roots, tubers and to a less extent, animal products [9]. Cereals supply 46 percent of the energy requirements while roots and tubers supply 20 percent and animal products cater for only 7 percent of the energy requirements in an average African diet. Cereal grains contain phenolic compounds that have antioxidant properties [5]. Phenolic compounds are the most abundant antioxidants in the human diet [15]. In addition to their antioxidant properties, phenolic compounds have biological activities such as prevention of age related illnesses like cancer and coronary heart disease [28]. Natural antioxidants are able to protect the human body from free radicals and retard the progress of many chronic diseases
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