Nutritional evaluation of value added products incorporated with underutilized water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) leaves

Abstract

Water (Ipomoea aquatica) is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Convolvulaceae. It is an underutilized plant and neglected by people in their consumption pattern. The study was aimed to formulate and analyze value added products prepared from underutilized fresh spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) leaves and assess their sensory evaluation with the help of a 9-point hedonic rating scale in reference to appearance, taste, texture and flavour. Value added products were analyzed for proximate constituents and minerals using standard procedure of AOAC. Results showed that the protein content ranged from 3.89 to 11.98 g 100 g(-1), highest was found in pakora as it was a pulse based preparation. Chila had highest crude fiber content (1.96 g 100 g(-1)) which could be due to use of green leafy vegetables in the product preparation and lowest was observed in pakora (0.81 g 100 g(-1)). The highest fat content was observed in pakora (8.01±0.03 g 100 g(-1)), and lowest fat was found in chila (4.15±0.02 g 100 g(-1)). Iron content was highest in pakora (10.98±0.06 mg 100 g(-1)) where the presence of greens might be one of the contributing factors for higher iron content among the products. However, chila had a lowest content of 5.12±0.05 mg 100 g(-)1 of iron. The calcium content of the selected developed products ranged from 123±0.43 to 65.2±0.05 mg 100 g(-1). Pakora had higher calcium content in comparison to other developed products. Therefore it can be concluded that the incorporation of the leaves of water (Ipomoea aquatica) in various food items was highly acceptable by all age groups. Value added products developed by leaves of Ipomoea aquatica contain appreciable amount of fibre, iron, and calcium and could be explored further in preparation of the various traditional food products.