Abstract:
Nutritional iron deficiency is the common cause of anaemia in developing world. However, Africa is
endowed with African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) rich in micronutrients. Surveys within East Africa
relate low AIV consumption to limited information on recipe preparation. The aim of this research is to
determine iron content of various formulated indigenous vegetable recipes. Experimental research
involved four randomly selected AIVs; African Nightshade (Solanum scabrum), Vegetable Amaranth
(Amaranthus blitum), Slenderleaf (Crotalaria ochroleuca) and Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Four single
and six vegetable combinations were boiled for ten minutes with and without traditional salt, then fried
for five minutes using onions and tomatoes, giving rise to twenty recipes. Iron content was evaluated
using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Iron content of raw indigenous vegetables was significantly (P
< 0.05) lower than boiled and fried AIVs. Fried AIVs had significantly (P < 0.05) higher iron content
compared to the boiled AIVs. Mean iron content of AIVs fried with lye was insignificantly (P > 0.05)
lower compared to those fried without lye. Fried AIVs should be recommended in areas with high
dietary iron deficiency; this could help alleviate anaemia.
