Nutritive value and effect of blanching on the trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor activities of selected leafy vegetables

Proximate composition, energy, mineral and vitamin contents and the effect of blanching methods and times on the trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor activities were studied using cabbage, collard, turnip, peanut, and sweet potato leaves. Results of this study indicated that, crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrate and ash contents were in the range of 15.5-25.6%, 1.4-6.5%, 60.4-73.1% and 6.8-7.5%, respectively. Total dietary fiber was lowest in cabbage (28.2 g/100 g) and highest in the collard leaves (43.1%) while energy content per 100 g of vegetables was highest in sweet potato leaves (402 kcal) and lowest in cabbage (379 kcal). The mineral content per 100 g of vegetables were in the range of 33.4-249.8 mg, 241.2-471.2 mg, 12.1-75.1 mg, 14.9-98.9 mg, 0.5-3.5 mg and 0.9-3.1 mg for Ca, K, Na, Mg, Fe and Zn, respectively. For ascorbic acid, riboflavin, thiamin and total carotenoids, concentrations in 100 g of vegetables were in the range of 45.1-112.7 mg, 0.2-0.3 mg, 0.3-0.8 mg and 2.0-7.3 mg, respectively. The trypsin inhibitory activity per gram of the vegetables was highest in collard (60.1 TIU/g) and lowest in peanut leaves (41.0 TIU/g). Chymotrypsin inhibitor activity was highest in the peanut (69.6 CIU/g) but lowest in the collard leaves (48.0 CIU/g). Both trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor activities were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by most of the treatments in either the conventional or microwave blanching methods. In the conventional blanching method, trypsin inhibitor activity was reduced by 0.5, 6.8, 11.9, 9.0 and 19.3 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potato and peanut leaves, respectively, when the vegetables were blanched for 2.5 minutes but after blanching for 10 minutes, the trypsin inhibitor activity was reduced by 29.7, 34.9, 54.3, 52.3 and 65.6 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potato and peanut greens, respectively. For the microwave oven blanching, trypsin inhibitor activity was reduced by 3.8, 3.3, 32.7, 5.0 and 9.5 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potato and peanut leaves, respectively when the vegetables were blanched for 30 seconds. When blanched for 60 seconds, trypsin inhibitor activity was reduced by 16.2, 45.8, 46.2, 51.0 and 42.4 percent in cabbage, collard, turnip, sweet potato and peanut greens, respectively. Similar trends in the reduction of chymotrypsin inhibitor activity were observed when the vegetables were conventionally blanched for 2.5, 5 and 10 minutes and when blanched by microwave oven for 30, 45 and 60 seconds. Based on the results of this study, the vegetables were good dietary sources of minerals, vitamins, carbohydrate and proteins. Also, blanching was an effective method for reducing the trypsin and chymotripsin inhibitor activities in the leafy vegetables, however, further investigation on the heating times for both conventional and microwave blanching methods is suggested.