Abstract
Traditional foods are recognizable specific cuisine or food peculiar to a particular ethnic group, locality or society. Traditional foods are not only consume for their nutritional values but also for their medicinal and socio-cultural significance. However, information on the nutrient compositions of some of these indigenous dishes are not yet documented. This study is aimed at evaluating the proximate and mineral composition of commonly consumed traditional foods in Nasarawa state Nigeria. A cross sectional survey was adopted and recipes were collected across the ethnic groups for the commonly consumed traditional foods in Nasarawa state. The recipes of ten (10) commonly consumed traditional dishes were standardized in the laboratory, prepared and evaluated for proximate and mineral composition using standard procedures of analyses. The result shows that Moisture content of the foods ranged from 13.39 to 5.78g /100g, Crude fibre content was from 19.45 to 2.93g /100g, Crude protein ranged from 24.22 - 5.43g /100g, Crude fat 30.32 - 0.92g /100g and Ash 9.84 - 3.82g/100g, Carbohydrate content ranged from 57.31 - 27.17g /100g and the energy value content ranged from 458.63 - 326.68g /100g. The results of mineral composition further reveal that sodium ranged between 126.00 and 32.00ppm /100g, potassium between 22.36 and 6.72ppm /100g, calcium between 2.08 and 0.64ppm/100g, phosphorus between 2.17 and 0.80ppm /100g, Magnesium 7.25 and 2.74ppm /100g), while the values for iron, zinc and copper ranged from 4.74 to 2.32ppm /100g, 1.55 to 0.09ppm/ 100g and 20.49 to 0.17ppm /100g respectively. Conclusively, the consumption of these foods will help reduce the high level of non-communicable chronic diseases as they are gotten from natural sources.
Highlights
Food is anything which when ingested, digested and assimilated gives energy, replaces worn-out cells, facilitates growth and boost immune system (1)
The results of the proximate and mineral composition of commonly consumed traditional foods in Nasarawa State are presented in tables 1
This study has shown that the traditional foods which are less expensive and are mostly natural source base could be consumed to ensure good health and reduce the risk of non-communicable chronic disease
Summary
Food is anything which when ingested, digested and assimilated gives energy, replaces worn-out cells, facilitates growth and boost immune system (1). Food provides nutrients, such as protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin and minerals used in the body of organism to sustain growth and vital processes such as breathing, digesting of food, keeping warm and for keeping the immune system healthy. Food is one of the basis necessity of life (2). (1) defined traditional food as food that are in their original form, not modernized, not processed, not packaged and have a long history of supporting good health, such foods are consumed and are peculiar to a particular group, locality, community or society that have passed through generations The foods consumed by individual have direct impact on one’s ability to enjoy life. (1) defined traditional food as food that are in their original form, not modernized, not processed, not packaged and have a long history of supporting good health, such foods are consumed and are peculiar to a particular group, locality, community or society that have passed through generations
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