Bernard Somers, Daniel Giurleo, Bo Yuan, Ariane Vasilatis, David Byrnes, Steve Weller, James Simon and Qingli Wu
Rutgers University, USA
Purdue University, USA
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Nat Prod Chem Res
Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), spider plant (Cleome spp.), and nightshade (Solanum spp.) are popular African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) that are commonly incorporated into many ethnic African and some Asian recipes. These crops are easy to grow, and are rich sources of essential micronutrients. In this study, an HPLV-UV method was used to measure the β-carotene (vitamin A) and α-tocopherol (vitamin E) content of three amaranth, four spider plant, and eight nightshade accessions grown in New Jersey. The results of this study will be used to breed future Zambia, Kenya, and Tanzania varieties that contain high amounts of micronutrients to support efforts to combat malnutrition throughout Africa. The α-tocopherol content of amaranth accessions was found to range from trace levels to 1.13±0.02 mg/100 g while β-carotene ranged from 1.00±0.45 mg/100 g to 4.85±0.56 mg/100 g. Alpha-tocopherol content of spider plant accessions ranged from 3.04±1.77 mg/100 g to 7.32±2.21 mg/100 g and β-carotene ranged from 4.40±1.08 mg/100 g to 17.80±4.80 mg/100 g. The α-tocopherol content of nightshade accessions was determined to range from 6.41±0.28 mg/100 g to 22.97±1.99 mg/100 g while β-carotene ranged from 6.23±0.04 mg/100 g to 13.88±1.09 mg/100 g.
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