Abstract:
Nutrient contents of foods widely grown and commonly consumed in Morogoro
Municipality were determined, aiming at establishing nutrient composition databases
of foods in the study area. Data was collected in dry (July to September) and wet
(January to March) seasons. A total of 144 respondents were selected from eight
wards using simple random technique. Selected nutrient contents of raw and cooked
foods were analyzed according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists
(AOAC, 2000). Results show that majority (93.06%) of the households grew maize
and variety of green leafy vegetables namely pumpkin leaves (90.28%), cowpeas
leaves (88.89%) and sweet potato leaves (78.47%). Green leafy vegetables are
consumed daily (95.13%) with stiff porridge (ugali) (93%) made from refined maize
flour as a staple dish sometimes with beans, a major source of protein in the area.
Majority (83%) had two meals per day; the rest had three meals a day. Nutrient
contents of selected foods compare well with those reported elsewhere, however,
major differences were found in carbohydrate contents in raw maize flour (67%), and
cooked green banana variety mtwike (18%), these values were lower than reported.
Calcium and iron contents were higher in raw amaranthus (0.74%) and cassava
leaves (0.012%) than reported (0.011% and 0.003%, respectively). Content of
nutrients also differed between raw and cooked food. This was so apparent in leafy
green vegetables, whereby difference was found between raw amaranthus (739
mg/100g calcium) and cooked amaranthus (292 mg/100 g calcium). The loss could
be due to the practice of throwing away cooking water before the final steps of
cooking. Based on these findings, it can be recommended that further studies on
determination of nutrient contents of foods produced in different zones of the country
need to be conducted to enable people to choose foods appropriately based on their
nutrients and energy needs.
