Nutritional Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Selected Underutilized Wild Edible Fruits in East Wollega Zone, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

ABSTRACT In Ethiopia, particularly in the East wollega zone, several underutilized wild edible fruits, such as Gardenia erubescens, Ficus mucuso, Dovyalis abyssinica, and Ziziphus spinachristi, are consumed only by local communities. However, information on nutritional composition, antinutrients, and antioxidant properties of edible parts of the fruits are limited. Given this, the study aimed to determine the nutritional composition, antinutrients, and antioxidant properties of the four selected wild edible fruits collected from the East Wollega zone following official standard analytical producers. The result on dry matter basis of the four wild edible fruits had moisture (9.83–13.10%), crude protein (3.01–5.31%), crude fat (1.40–3.31%), crude fiber (0.71–2.11%), total ash (4.84–9.23%) and utilizable carbohydrate (70.41–78.27%) and gross energy (316.05–342.63 kcal/100 g). The results also depicted high in utilizable carbohydrate and gross energy contents recorded in the Dovyalis Abyssinica. In contrast, high protein and fat contents were observed in the Ziziphus spina-chris and Ficus mucusa. The findings indicated that Ziziphus spina christi fruit was high in iron, zinc, and magnesium, while Ficus mucusa was high in calcium and phosphorus. Gardenia erubescens were low in oxalate and phytate contents. The molar ratios of the wild fruits in this study were below the standard and showed the high mineral bioavailability in all wild edible fruits. The Gardenia erubescens fruit was high total phenolic (230.76 mg/GAE/g) and flavonoid (112.85 mg CE/g) contents. The findings showed that among wild edible fruits considered in this study, Gardenia erubescens and Ziziphus spina-chris may have less anti nutrient activity that may favor mineral bioavailability.