Odunayo Clement Adebooye

Antihypertensive properties of aqueous extracts of vegetable leaf‐fortified bread after oral administration to spontaneously hypertensive rats

This study investigated the potential cardiovascular health benefits of leavened bread produced from wheat flour that contained 1%, 2% and 3% additions of leafy vegetable powders obtained from Amaranthus viridis (AO), Solanum macrocarpon (SM) or Telfairia occidentalis (TO). Dried breads were extracted with water at 60 °C followed by analysis for total polyphenolic content (TPC), as well as in vitro inhibitions of angiotensin-converting enzyme and renin activities. HPLC analysis of the bread extracts indicated the presence of mainly rutin, gallic acid, myricetin and caffeic acid. TPC of the vegetable-fortified breads was significantly (P < 0.05) higher (5.8–7.6 mg gallic acid equivalent, GAE/g) than that of control bread (5.5 mg GAE/g). Oral administration of 100 mg dried extract/kg body weight to spontaneously hypertensive rats led to reductions (up to 42 mmHg) in systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure in comparison with 20 mmHg for the control bread.

Chemical Composition and Quality Characteristics of Wheat Bread Supplemented with Leafy Vegetable Powders

The study investigated the effect of supplementation of the leaf powders of Telfairia occidentalis, Amaranthus viridis, and Solanum macrocarpon on the chemical composition and the quality characteristics of wheat bread. The bread samples were supplemented with each of the vegetable leaf powders at 1%, 2%, and 3% during preparation. The bread samples were assayed for proximate composition, mineral composition, physical, sensory, and antioxidant properties using standard methods. The addition of vegetable powders significantly increased the protein (9.50 to 13.93%), fibre (1.81 to 4.00%), ash (1.05 to 2.38%), and fat (1.27 to 2.00%). Supplementation with vegetable powder however significantly decreased ( ) the carbohydrate and moisture contents. Significant ( ) increases were recorded for all evaluated minerals as the level of vegetable powder increased. Supplementation with vegetable powder caused significant decrease in total phenolic content, percentage DPPH inhibition, metal chelating ability, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and total antioxidant capacity. Sensory results showed that there was significant decrease in sensory qualities with increasing supplementation. This therefore suggests that bread supplemented with vegetable powder could have more market penetration if awareness is highly created.

Analysis of the impact of production technology and gender on under-utilised indigenous vegetables production in south-western Nigeria

We quantified the impact of new production technologies on total land area allocated to production of six (ugu, igbagba, tete atetedaye, woorowo, ogunmo and odu) selected high-premium under-utilised indigenous vegetables (UIVs) in south-western Nigeria. Leaf yields and accruable returns were estimated by comparing the data for these parameters at the commencement of the project in 2011 (through a baseline survey) with the same set of parameters after three years (in 2013) of project implementation. Through a structured interview and focus group discussion involving 134 randomly selected respondents (59 women and 75 men) from the 350 UIVs cooperative members in the rainforest and derived savanna agroecologies in four states (Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti) of south-western Nigeria, we studied the gender gap between male and female farmers with respect to access to productive farm resources. The data obtained were analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. On average across south-western Nigeria in 2013, areas of 7.67, 7.0, 5.6, 1.9, 2.83 and 0.72 ha were planted to ugu, igbagba, tete atetedaye, woorowo, ogunmo and odu, respectively, compared to areas in 2011 of 0.3, 0.2, 0.6, 0, 0.32 and 0 ha, respectively. Yield analyses showed that the productivity of ugu, igbagba, tete atetedaye, woorowo, ogunmo and odu increased by 62%, 67%, 60%, 100%, 64% and 100%, respectively, as a result of the seeding rate technology applied between 2011 and 2013. More than 80% of the male and female respondents were aged between 31 and 60 years and possessed mean UIV farming experience of 18.7 years (males) and 13.4 years (females). The average farm area was 3.4 ha for men and 2.8 ha for women. The difficulty in accessing agrochemicals, modern technologies and marketing outlets was skewed towards females. We identified inadequate finance, lack of storage facilities, marketing outlets, multiple household responsibilities, lack of technology, lack of inputs and gender inequality as some of the problems associated with UIV production as perceived by both male and female respondents. Age (ru2003=u20030.290) and farming experience (ru2003=u20030.216) of female UIVs farmers, and age (ru2003=u20030.300), farming experience (ru2003=u20030.226), education (ru2003=u20030.363) and income (ru2003=u20030.224) of male UIV farmers were positively correlated with access to production resources (p≤0.01). In conclusion, there is a need to drop policies that are less favourable to rural women and to focus on the appreciation of their role as producers of wealth, and additionally to strengthen the network of public services in rural areas, including education and welfare services.

Technical Efficiency in Production of Underutilized Indigenous Vegetables

ABSTRACT Increased efficiency and productivity in agriculture are important to food security. Technical efficiency, as it affects sustainable production of selected underutilized indigenous vegetables, using innovative production practices or not, was analyzed. Primary data were collected from 300 respondents using questionnaires. The data were interpreted with a stochastic production frontier analysis and difference of means. A mean technical efficiency score of 74% for users versus 56% for nonusers incorporating innovative production practices in their operations indicated that users were more technically efficient. Opportunities exist to increase productivity in indigenous vegetable production through more efficient inputs utilization.

Extraction Optimization and Antioxidant Properties of African Eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon) Leaf Polyphenols

Optimization of the yield, total phenolic content (TPC), and total antioxidant activities (TAA) of polyphenol concentrates extracted from Solanum macrocarpon leaves was studied using response surface methodology. The process variables investigated included extraction temperature (30, 50, and 70°C), extraction time (2, 4, and 6u2009h), and dried leaf powderu2009:u2009water ratio (1u2009:u200910, 1u2009:u200920, and 1u2009:u200930u2009w/v). Box–Behnken design resulted in 15 experimental runs. The results showed the following optimum extraction conditions: temperature, 49.05°C; extraction time, 243u2009min; leaf powderu2009:u2009water ratio, 1u2009:u200922u2009w/v. The optimized extraction conditions gave polyphenol concentrate yield, TPC, and TAA values of 24.94%, 421.09u2009mg GAE/g, and 23.81u2009mg AAE/g, respectively. Results of the in vitro antioxidant activities of the polyphenol concentrate showed 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl hydrate, metal chelating ability, and ferric reducing ability values of 76.78%, 80.22%, and 56.46u2009mg AAE/g, respectively. The study concludes that the experimental values compared closely with the predicted values, which indicates suitability of the model employed for polyphenol extraction optimization from dried S. macrocarpon leaves.