Nutritional value and mineral content analysis of selected landrace barley (Hordeum vulgare L) varieties grown in highland area of Wolaita zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

In the highland area of Wolaita zone, almost all agrarian communities cultivate landrace barley as a basic grain and consume it daily as a staple food by preparing various types of traditional dishes, but has no scientific research-based nutritional information on these varieties and hence this study was conducted to investigate and validate mineral and nutritional information for landrace food barley varieties (Duiya, Gaga, Koysha and Murka) grown in Kawo Koysha district of Wolaita Zone. The sample digestion was carried out by an optimal wet digestion procedure with percentage recovery developed for four barley samples using the standard addition (spiking) method. The concentration of minerals (mg/100g of dry weight) investigated in the barley grains are in the ranges: Na (30.48–59.72), K (141.46–171.7), Mg (44.17–54.71), Ca (62.91–95.5), Mn (2.95–10.98), Fe (16.62–28.98), Cu (3.58–7.51) and Zn (1.04–5.30) whereas the nutrients content (%) observed are in the ranges of moisture (8.09–10.13), ash (2.83–3.78), crude fiber (3.63–4.82), crude protein (8.01–9.64), crude fat (0.93–1.82), carbohydrate (70.63–75.65) and energy (cal/kg) (333.69–347.66). The results indicate that the barley varieties are rich in dietary minerals and nutrients; of all categories K and Carbohydrate of Murka Variety were the highest average values and hence, suitable for human consumption though they are unimproved landrace varieties.